<p>I was wondering what the average cost of applying to med schools is, including: apps, secondaries, MCAT+Prep Course, and interviewing for lets say 10 schools- and not including hotels, b/c i have family members in numerous states?</p>
<p>I am a Freshman in College and want to prepare financially now, to know how much to save and if i need to work more.</p>
<p>THANKS</p>
<p>There are a great many variables which make it difficult to advise. Eastern seaboard with buses and trains? Not so much. Flying in and out of a regional non-hub airport in the Mid-South ? Very expensive. </p>
<p>MCAT prep is likely to be $3K for a full in-person Kaplan course and some supplemental materials plus test fees. </p>
<p>Maybe 25 apps to yield 10 interviews? Another $2000-2500.</p>
<p>The rest is primarily travel costs and you may know your situation better than any of us.</p>
<p>My D spent a whole boat-load of cash (airfare, hotels, interview suit). Truly huge numbers. I never ever want to add it all up.</p>
<p>Prep class (on-site classroom)-- currently $1900 (will be higher by the time you need it)</p>
<p>Application fees-- $100-$250 per school (includes both primary and secondary application fees)</p>
<p>Transportation-- $3000+ (depends on where you live and how many schools you interview at)</p>
<p>Misc expenses (transcripts, criminal background check, etc)-- $500</p>
<p>D1 was told by the pre-med advisor at her school to plan at at least $5000 for applications + transportation, assuming she applied to 10 schools and interviewed at 5.</p>
<p>YMMV</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Join me where I am at curm (look at my location on my screenname.)</p>
<p>OP, if you qualify, there is the Fee Assistance Program
<a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/fap/[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/fap/</a></p>
<p>Okay, thanks. I am in New England so i will be applying to schools here for the most part. The farthest i plan on applying is illinois, minnesota and missouri.</p>
<p>Yeah, it can get expensive really quickly. Anything requiring in-person interviews and lots of applications is bound to add up.</p>
<p>Regarding MCAT prep, some undergraduate schools (mine included, though I didn’t apply) have some funds that will pay for the class. I think that at my school there was one scholarship (maybe two?) funded by the pre-med honor society. I can’t remember if there was a need component to the scholarship. If nothing else, it might be worth looking into.</p>
<p>In the throes of it right now:</p>
<p>Kaplan MCAT course: $1200 (listed at $1700+, but I got lots of discounts via their website and a deal they have with my school’s alumni association)
MCAT: $250
Primaries: $160 for first + $32 each for 12 more schools = $544
Secondaries: $85 average (some as low as $60, some $110) for 13 = $1105
Interview suit + shoes: $400 (a splurge for me!)
Mizzou interview: no expense (it’s my undergrad school)
Northwestern and Mayo interviews: $225 for flight from St Louis to Chicago to Minneapolis to St Louis + $120 on food and shuttles and misc stuff (saying with friends in both places) = $345
Duke interview: $180 flight + $110 hotel room + say, $50 misc = $340 [tentative]</p>
<p>Grand total: about $4,200</p>
<p>Let’s hope that getting into my top choice school = priceless :)</p>
<p>My daughter’s costs ran very close to Kristin’s (including the interview suit 
)…between $4000-$4500. Her flights were to Cleveland and Pittsburgh - I believe she flew out of Newark - and were not super expensive. A number of her interview schools were within driving or subway distance which saved a ton. She applied to twelve schools if memory serves.</p>
<p>She was at school in the UK at the time and interviewed during two trips home but those trips were also tied to other events so I never thought about the cost as part of her application total. I think that the budgeting $5000 suggestion is a good place to start.</p>
<p>yeah, forgot about the interview suit—add $400 to her other costs.</p>
<p>
So if you apply to 20 and interview at 10…:eek:…:(</p>
<p>The costs need to be considered in framing your application strategy. Had D been more confident of her results in-state, she could have saved some cash that she could have then used to move to and set up her “shoe-box” apartment (which is another cost that catches some less than fully aware). And remember, if you are depending on loans or grants for moving and setting up, those $ aren’t there till school starts. </p>
<p>My D had to borrow some cash from our friendly local banker to float her through till the funds hit the bank. I have heard/read many stories of M1’s with maxed out high-interest credit cards from the app season and move-in. Not a good way to start.</p>
<p>I agree with Curm, be sure to have a slush fund available to carry you over until the funding comes through, usually many days after you have moved in, paid the deposit, rent, utility deposits (if that applies to you), stocked up at the grocery store, etc.</p>
<p>When DD was applying, I added up ‘current’ expenses at one point, I think it was just before we bought plane tickets for interview#5 and we were over $5000. I was very blessed when she was admitted to choice #1 before we paid for the tickets for the interviews set up in January! Canceling the flights for #5 was a tribute to why you want to use Southwest whenever possible, we ate a big chunk of change on the ticket that could not be canceled.</p>
<p>D was also fortunate in being accepted at one of her top choices in December…early enough in her cycle to pull apps at a number of schools that were lower on her list. It possibly saved us a few bucks. </p>
<p>I wish such luck to every med school applicant. She ended up getting off of the wait list at her first choice in early May but the pressure was off in December and she would have been happy to go to her earlier choices.</p>
<p>“Slush fund” is a good way of putting it. Neither the D’s grant money for last summer or her loan money was processed in a timely fashion.</p>
<p>
That should be everyone’s expectation. Sometimes even a couple of weeks into the semester. Plan ahead.</p>
<p>Whoa! I hadn’t even thought of this! </p>
<p>D1 is a grasshopper kinda kid who lives from paycheck to paycheck and has maxed out her credit card already. She’s planning (hoping? wistful thinking?) she’s going to go to Europe this summer to celebrate getting accepted into med school and I know that will wipe out what little savings she may have by then. Maybe I ought to try to put a kibosh on the idea. (Yeah, like that’s going to happen…she’s never listened to me before. About anything.)</p>
<p>
lol. Gee. Twin-kies. 
Mine did the same thing. The cupboard was realllllly bare. Hence the trip to the friendly banker.</p>
<p>What some folks don’t understand about airfare is the much higher costs when you don’t have flexibility in your schedule. You might can fly to NYC and take a train to New Haven for a reasonable cost, but you’ll miss a day more of a class you can’t afford to miss. Save that day and you’ve just cost yourself a few hundred dollars.</p>
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</p>
<p>Was the bankers name per chance Curmudgeon?</p>
<p>
I bet she listened to you when she was a toddler 
Wait…there is some period called “trouble two.” The trick is not to set the expectation too high. If your loved one listens to you one out of 5 times, you should consider it as a success. Even better, think it in this way: Whatever you need to tell him, you had done so before she entered the middle school. After that, it is “auto-pilot” in the sense that she decided what to do all by herself, but your influence is still there.</p>
<p>Back to the topic of this thread: I do not keep track of how much DS has spent. But my wild estimate for the total cost is between 6000-8000.</p>
<p>
Oh, come on now. He ain’t near done. (Unless he wants to be.) Second looks? Late interview invite? He’ll crack the 5 figure barrier. Mine sailed past that speed-bump like it wasn’t there.</p>
<p>Wow now im terrified. How did you guys all pay for that?</p>