In this post I will break down exactly how much I spent during the entire med school application process from the MCAT to deposits holding an acceptance. This will give you an idea of the costs to apply and then plan accordingly. I’ll also toss in where I saved money, some of which I mentioned in this post.

The MCAT

• MCAT Test Fee: $225
• MCAT Practice Exams from the AAMC (3 at $35 each): $105
• Lost wages due to giving up shifts to study: $360

Total MCAT Cost: $690

How I Saved Money

• I chose to self-study as opposed to taking an expensive review course. $1500-$2000 in savings.
• I borrowed the Examkrackers MCAT Complete Study Package from a friend. $110 in savings.
• I used practice tests and material from the local library. $35 per test.

Primary and Secondary Application Fees

• Applications to 7 MD schools through AMCAS: $346
• Applications to 8 DO schools through AACOMAS: $390
• Secondary application fees to 13 different medical schools: $1,110

Total Application Fees: $1,846

How I Saved Money

• I chose not to complete secondary applications for 2 MD schools. Approx. $200 in savings.

Interview Costs (7 Interviews)

• New Suit, Shirt and Tie: $220
• Flights to 4 cites for 5 interviews: $823
• Hotels (2 nights): $140
• Rental car for one interview: $100
• Gas money to the other 2 interviews: $50

Total Interview Costs: $1,333

How I Saved Money

• One flight was free as I earned a voucher on a previous flight. $300 in savings.
• At three interviews I stayed with student hosts instead of hotels. $210 in savings.
• I turned down interviews to 2 DO schools and 1 MD school. Perhaps $1200 in savings.
• I scheduled back-to-back interviews saving another flight. $400 in savings.

Miscellaneous Costs

• Nonrefundable deposits to hold acceptance spots at two osteopathic schools: $2,000
• Deposit to confirm acceptance at Creighton University: $100
• Thank you notes with gift cards for everyone that wrote me a letter of recommendation: $55

Total Miscellaneous: $2,155

Grand Total: $6,024

Wow, that’s a lot of money. No doubt about it, applying to medical school is expensive. I feel like I did a lot to cut down on costs too. Adding up my potential savings comes to approximately $4,290.

Hopefully you can use this post to gauge how much you will spend to apply to medical school. I recommend planning ahead and saving that money, unless you’re lucky enough to have parental support.

Have I missed any other costs? Does this compare to your experience applying to medical school?

Now I’m in full preparing for med school mode. Right now, this mostly means spending time with friends and family. Soon it will mean working out all the details for a move halfway across the country. I’m also going over the “DMU Primer” which is reviewing some basic science stuff.

I hope you have enjoyed the more frequent posting the last couple months. In case you’ve missed some of the newer posts, here are a few highlights:

My review of the Examkrackers MCAT Complete Study Package

10 Great MCAT Study Tips

How To Save Money During The Medical School Admissions Process

Thanks for reading and commenting. The blog has been growing in readers lately and it would be great for this to continue. Tell your friends and share articles you find useful!

Getting fifteen secondary applications within the span of a few weeks is naturally overwhelming. Each school is different. Most have web-based applications, some do not. Some want pictures. Most have additional essay questions. All need varying amounts of application fees varying from $50 to $250.

All this amounts to a staggering amount of information to keep track of. In this post I’ll describe how to organize all that information and keep it in a secure place using Google Docs.

Here’s what to do.

First, create a separate folder for secondary applications. Then, create a unique document for each school. I titled the documents with the name of the school and when I got the application. This document will be where you collect any and all information pertaining to that application.

Here are 4 examples of what you might might put in it. Keep it simple.

1. A To Do List. May include sending extra transcripts, paying the application fee, uploading or printing a picture, finalizing references and completing essay questions.

2. Address to Send The Application (for paper applications).

3. Application Fee Amount.

4. Essay questions.

Most of the time I used these documents to work on essay questions. Having all the information in one place was handy too, especially keeping track of when I received the application. When I finished the essay questions I would print and edit them, then copy and paste them into the application. Easy as pie.

That’s it. It’s a simple system but it works and it cuts down on a lot of paperwork. Hope it’s useful to those currently in the application process.

Applications

Cut Schools Out. Wherever you are at in the process you can decide to cut schools out. Do more research on the schools and you may find one you absolutely cannot see yourself at. Cut it from your list and save money on more application fees and potentially the costs of an interview (flight, hotel, food etc).

Fee Assistant and Waiver Programs. Have your application fees reduced or waived by seeing if you qualify for the Fee Assistance Program for AMCAS (MD) or the Fee Waiver Program for AACOMAS (DO).

Interviews

Combine Nearby Interviews. If you have been invited to nearby schools for an interview try hard to make it all one trip. Schools understand you are on a budget. If you explain your situation you may be able to move your interview day. Back to back interview days can be tiring, but considering the time and money involved in a separate trip it is well worth it. I did this combining interviews for Creighton University and Des Moines University into one trip.

Ask For A Student Host. Many schools have programs where current students will host interviewees. You save the money of a hotel and gain an up-close perspective of student life at the school. Be nice and bring your host a gift for their hospitality (I brought coffee and it was a hit).

Save On The Suit. Male or female, you may be tempted to buy expensive interview attire. Why bother? Application committees are unlikely to be impressed (if they can even tell the difference). Find something you’re comfortable in or use something you already have. I bought an awesome suit from Burlington Coat Factory for $160 and I’m looking forward to wearing it for a long time.

Avoid Renting A Car. I spent a few minutes researching a bus route to a hotel near a school. Hotels will often arrange airport pickup as well as a ride to the school. Ask your hotel.

Flexible Travel Dates. I earned two free flight vouchers by giving up seats on overbooked flights. One I used for another interview and the other I will use to fly home to visit the fam during the school year. They are basically as good as cash to me.

Hope these tips are helpful. Do any of you have some money saving tips for the application process?

Photo Credit

If you are applying to medical school for the 2011 cycle, hopefully you have started working on your primary application. If not, it’s ok, you still have some time. Click for AMCAS (MD applications) or AACOMAS (DO applications) to get get going!

Here is a checklist of things you need to keep track of for your application.

Transcripts. You must send your transcripts from every college you attended (even if you only took a class) to AMCAS or AACOMAS.

Letters of Reccomendation. If you have not asked for letters of reccomendation yet, today is the day. If you’re applying to DO schools, do they need a letter from an osteopathic physician?

Personal Statement. This is your time to shine. Do you have a good working 1st draft? Have you asked for feedback from multiple sources who know you well? Make sure you edit carefully! Check out this post from a med student on how to ace the personal statement. Hat tip: Pre Med Hell

MCAT. If you’ve taken it already, great. If not, do you have a study plan? Have you thought about what you will do if your score is not as high as you would like?

AMCAS or AACOMAS (or both). Even if you have your personal statement done and all your activities listed, this can be a huge time sink. The most time consuming part? Probably entering in every grade from every class you have taken. It’s maddening.

Money. Applying to medical school is expensive. Do you have enough money saved up? Think around $500 for the primary application, and then about $100 per secondary application. Then flying for interviews. It all adds up very quickly.

The application is long, but do not be discouraged. In the big scheme of actually getting into medical school, you are towards the end of the road. Finish strong.

Photo

Sitting down to a delicious beer and Philly cheesesteak I reflected on where I had been. Seven schools. Five DO, two MD. Seven different states. Four trips that involved flying. A bunch of money (I’ll break it down for you all soon, applying is expensive).

I realized I was done with all the hard work of the application process. No more essays, no more prepping for interviews, no more smiling all day long. Now I get to sit back, relax, and wait. The relaxing part is the hardest.

I have heard from every school except one which is a state MD school. I’ve narrowed my choices down to that MD school and a DO school. And I’m waiting. Waiting to hear from the state school. Waiting to hear if a scholarship is possible at the DO school.

Waiting.

One thing I didn’t realize about osteopathic medical schools is that they have early and expensive deposits. They want deposits 2-3 weeks after you are accepted.

This was tough to do, but I didn’t really have a choice. I have three more upcoming interviews but the deposit was due today. If I didn’t pay it I would lose my spot in the class.

It is essentially a $1000 insurance policy in case I do not get in anywhere else (assuming I would want to go to another school). While a grand is tough to swallow if I end up going somewhere else, in the big scheme of things it’s not a huge deal. And if I end up going to the school it goes towards tuition anyway.

Man, this process is long and financially costly. Hopefully I’ll know where I’m going within the next month though. I’m not complaining though, I’m going to be a doctor!

It feels great to type that. I recently heard back from my first interview and was granted an acceptance. I was also accepted at my second interview.

All the hard work, the long hours studying in undergrad, the revisions of the personal statement, the tedious application process and the nerve wracking interviews, well, it’s all starting to pay off.

Not that the work was not rewarding itself at times, but ultimately the purose was to get into med school. And I have accomplished that goal.

Unfortunately I have had little time to reflect. I’ve had three interviews in as many weeks. Sandwhiched in between has been 12 hour scribe shifts, Christmas parties, family problems and flight delays. Last week I came home from an interview at 11PM Friday night, worked at 6:30AM the next day, then worked a string of 12 hour shifts until Wed when I left for another interview. I finally made it home yesterday.

I’m tired and looking forward to a break.

But I made it into med school. And that is awesome.

Biggest take home lesson?

The interview is as much about the school evaluating the candidate as it is about the candidate evaluating the school. The school goes out of it’s way to display the best possible picture of life at their institution of learning. Keep that in mind as you go on interviews, it may put you at ease a bit.

Best question during the actual interview? (which by the way was only 25 minutes out of the 5 hour interview day)

If you happen to come to this university (and I hope you do) when we the faculty are watching you walk across the stage during graduation, how we will remember you? This question caught me a little off guard, but has provoked a lot of thought since the interview. I essentially answered it talking about my perceived personal strengths.

So what’s next? I am the lucky recipient of five more interview requests. One is this Friday, another the following Thursday.

All the interviews are at Osteopathic schools. I applied to five MD schools and have one rejection so far, but no interviews. Let’s get a move on MD schools!

I will be updating as I continue with the interview process. It is finally starting to feel like all the hard work on this journey is coming to fruition. The beginning of the next journey is becoming more tangible. I can hardly wait!

Whew.

It’s nice to know that my applications are complete and schools are reviewing them. It’s better to know that they like what they see and they want to know more.

I’m excited and anxious. I thought about how I would answer interview questions last night. The thought crossed my mind, “Do I really want to do this? Am I really sure I want to commit my life to medicine?”

How can you be 100% sure about something? I don’t know. Could there be a calling out there that fits better with who I am, that would make me happier? I suppose. But I do know, medicine fascinates me. I love the interaction with people, the opportunity to be there in difficult times, the responsibility of leadership, the influence a physican can have on a community, the problem solving, the intellectual stimulation, the commitment to life-long learning. I could go on.

As I pondered my life path, I considered what careers I would enjoy more. The only thing that really stood out to me was playing basketball in the NBA. While I have a sick jumpshot and once scored 27 points in a 7th grade basketball game, I just don’t see that as a realistic opportunity.

Of course this is all a little premature, I have not been accepted yet.

Good luck to all applying. It’s a long haul. Look forward to a guide showing how I’m using Google Docs to streamline the interview process.