<p>D will be a Junior at her college this fall. She still has almost a year before she applies to Med school. Typically how many schools do people apply to? I realize that this may depend on GPA/MCAT score/ECs/prestige of UG school ( to some extent ) / available finances / personality of student. But are there some norms? D mentioned a number > 25 and I was shocked.</p>
<p>25 is higher than the norm. I think 16 was the average two years ago. It may have crept up a little. If there is a problem with the app (GPA or MCAT), 25 may be reasonable.</p>
<p>probably somewhere between 10-20 is probably typical.</p>
<p>The rule of thumb that I’ve picked up from people here…</p>
<p>1) apply to all instate med schools</p>
<p>2) apply to privates that are suitable for your stats.</p>
<p>3) apply to some OOS publics that are known to accept a decent number of OOS students.</p>
<p>S2 will be applying next summer…this is what I think he plans on doing…</p>
<p>1) instate …we only have 2 
University of Alabama Birmingham and Univ of South Alabama…UAB is the preferred school.</p>
<p>2) privates…He’s thinking Vandy, Emory, Tulane, Duke, all the Catholics, and maybe some NE ones depending on his MCAT. He has a 4.0 GPA…both cum and science. I think Baylor does take OOS kids…I know it’s private, but I think it gives preference to Tx kids.</p>
<p>3) OOS publics…still working on this…trying to determine which ones are likely to accept OOS students. Does Indiana take OOS kids??? I think BigRedMed told me Nebraska takes OOS kids.</p>
<p>^
You seem awfully worried for a parent whose child has a 4.0.</p>
<p>Uncanny–you invest 21 years in raising a kid and you’ve earned the right to be anxious!</p>
<p>Med school admission is such a roll of the dice–even for strong stat kids. The whole process is nerve-wracking even at a [parental] remove.</p>
<p>Besides, guess who is going to be helping to pay for med school? Yep. The parent(s).</p>
<p>(And yes, I know there are student loans, but no parent wants to see a young doc graduate neck deep in debt so will help out where they can.)</p>
<p>I suppose it’s difficult for a student to comprehend, at least for me, as my parents are more detached from my situation.</p>
<p>Perhaps they just hide it. I don’t know.</p>
<p>If you match your stats and other significant points on application to Med. Schools in a smart way, you do not need to apply to many. Some people, for instance, apply to Harvard, because of “why not?”. Well, if you can afford “why not’s” then you can apply to very many. While gong to interviews, D. has met a girl (or heard about) who applied to 125 Med. Schools. I was only curious about why she did not apply to the rest of them?
Based on results, D. has applied smartly. She applied to 8, got accepted to 4, 2 pre-interview rejects, 2 WL’s. D. has asked me to compile a list based on her own criteria. She confirmed the list with pre-med advisor, who suggested few more. One she added, the rest did not get added because they were not meeting D’s presonal criteria.</p>