What did you pay to hold your seat?

[8YearsLate]

Hey All,

To put it gently, I'm hemorrhaging money, having only just now found out about FAP. Waiting on approval, etc...

Anyway, excited as I may be to see some II's roll in, I'm also terrified because of A) potential travel costs / lost wages and B) in the event I'm offered an acceptance...

How much are they going to want to hold the seat, and how fast did they want it? Is this type of information published somewhere? Because I've had trouble finding it. If not, do ya'll mind chiming in on:

-how much you paid to hold your seat,
-deadline to pay,
-and school name (if you don't mind)

Any other information would be helpful, too (are there any assistance programs / do loans cover that / was it refundable / did you apply MD too, and did you notice a big difference in these policies, etc.)

Thank you so much!

P.S. Before someone chimes in to say, "cross that bridge when you get to it," I can't do that, because I can't pull (hundreds? thousands?) of dollars out of my as$$ overnight. Would need to start saving now. Thanks!

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[Kardio]

For DO schools, this information should be available on the ChooseDO Explorer:

Become an Osteopathic Medical Doctor

Want to know more about why you should consider a career in osteopathic medicine? Start here.

choosedo.org

IIRC, many want a $2,000 deposit. The timeframe for paying is usually dependent on when you’re accepted.

MD schools typically want a much smaller deposit.

 

[DrStephennmnm]

Wow 2k to hold your seat is crazy, I guess that's just another pro of MD then. And OP I wouldn't worry about travel cost as I'm pretty sure most if not all interviews are online

 

[calivianya]

It gets really expensive if you’re holding multiple seats.

If money is tight, my best advice would be to make sure your favorite school’s interview is the earliest, and schedule schools you‘re less crazy about after, so at least you have a chance to just put a deposit down in only one spot if you get multiple schools offering you IIs at roughly the same time.

Because having them in the reverse order, where you may end up putting down multiple deposits before the end of the season because your acceptances go from least to most favorite, really sucks.

 

[Ho0v-man]

When I applied, I think most schools wanted it sometime in December if you’re accepted in the first half of the cycle. But then it was a month or less in the second half.

 

[8YearsLate]

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I appreciate it.

 

[ParaMagic1]

When I applied, I think most schools wanted it sometime in December if you’re accepted in the first half of the cycle. But then it was a month or less in the second half.

For a majority of the schools, if given acceptance prior to Nov 15, you have until Dec 15 to make your decision. After that it varies.

 

[Ho0v-man]

For a majority of the schools, if given acceptance prior to Nov 15, you have until Dec 15 to make your decision. After that it varies.

Gotcha. I applied in like 2015 so couldn’t remember specifics lol

 

[8YearsLate]

For DO schools, this information should be available on the ChooseDO Explorer:

Become an Osteopathic Medical Doctor

Want to know more about why you should consider a career in osteopathic medicine? Start here.

choosedo.org

IIRC, many want a $2,000 deposit. The timeframe for paying is usually dependent on when you’re accepted.

MD schools typically want a much smaller deposit.

This is beyond helpful...not sure why I haven't utilized this more. I've been searching piecemeal for this info. Thanks!

 

[Tiran145]

Do schools definitely gouge on this one. I ended up getting into 4 DO schools and even put down a 1500 dollar deposit to DMU that I lost when I was accepted to an MD school later in the cycle. It sucks but you just have to play the game. Maybe you can ask family for help? MD deposits are like 100 bucks and mine was refundable even.

 

[Neopolymath]

It's an attempt to weaken your desire to leave when you get off that MD wait-list lol.

 

[8YearsLate]

Do schools definitely gouge on this one. I ended up getting into 4 DO schools and even put down a 1500 dollar deposit to DMU that I lost when I was accepted to an MD school later in the cycle. It sucks but you just have to play the game. Maybe you can ask family for help? MD deposits are like 100 bucks and mine was refundable even.

I won't have any help with family, but this info has all helped me prepare ways to be strategic. Good to know the MD deposits are so much less and refundable. I wonder why the discrepancy is so huge. I get making it nonrefundable and higher (maybe $300-500) to encourage retention but $1-2 k? That's a blatant money-grab, and unnecessary, especially when the entire app process for DO is already more expensive.

 

[Isoval]

Depends on the school, but like others have said, most are in the 1-2000$ range.

Recognizing that we're the exception, TCOM does not require a deposit (ditto with all of the Texas state MD schools due to TMDSAS traffic rules).

 

[Tiran145]

I won't have any help with family, but this info has all helped me prepare ways to be strategic. Good to know the MD deposits are so much less and refundable. I wonder why the discrepancy is so huge. I get making it nonrefundable and higher (maybe $300-500) to encourage retention but $1-2 k? That's a blatant money-grab, and unnecessary, especially when the entire app process for DO is already more expensive.

It’s a total money grab, like others have said they want to prevent applicants from moving over to MD when they got off the MD waitlist...never stopped me though

 

[8YearsLate]

Depends on the school, but like others have said, most are in the 1-2000$ range.

Recognizing that we're the exception, TCOM does not require a deposit (ditto with all of the Texas state MD schools due to TMDSAS traffic rules).

Well, I hope eventually the entire country follows suit. It's simply unfair to ask $2k out of pocket from an applicant that you know is either a kid just getting out of college and busting ass for mcat not working much, or a non-trad like me who is working doubles in a mask just to pull off this app cycle. It's just...a little distasteful IMO. I love everything about DO philosophy, history, technique, approach, learning style, pt interaction etc... it just seems....out of place.

 

[Goro]

Do schools definitely gouge on this one. I ended up getting into 4 DO schools and even put down a 1500 dollar deposit to DMU that I lost when I was accepted to an MD school later in the cycle. It sucks but you just have to play the game. Maybe you can ask family for help? MD deposits are like 100 bucks and mine was refundable even.

I agree 100%. MD schools are forbidden by LCME to charge hefty deposits.

Just think of it as insurance, and you'll make it back when you're an attending.

 

[8YearsLate]

If anyone is still following this....I just got approved for FAP....went to go add more schools but then it brought me to the credit card payment page. Like....how does this work? And is it even worth adding more schools at this point? I am only adding 8-10 schools where I'm above the 10%.