When to Apply
The earliest date when medical schools begin
accepting applications varies; the exact
dates for each school are indicated in Table
6.1. As a rule, your application should be
submitted in July or August of the year
preceding your planned enrollment. Naturally,
the earlier your application is received, the
earlier you will receive consideration. Thus,
in the case of superior students, it may ensure
an early acceptance that would reduce
anxiety and make it unnecessary to apply to
additional schools. Moreover, prolonged
delay in applying means that you will be
competing for a smaller number of openings
since part of the class may be filled by the
time your application is received. Deadlines
for receipt of applications at each college are
also listed in Table 6.1.
Early Decision Program (EDP)
From the students' point of view, applying to
medical school is both an expensive and an
emotionally trying experience. From the medical
schools' point of view, selection is both
a time-consuming and laborious process. To
reduce the burden somewhat for both par-
ties, the procedures of early decision have
been introduced and adopted by some schools.
Thus, if you are anxious to attend a particular
school and you feel that you have a good
chance of gaining admission, you should submit
your application before the early deci-
sion deadline (usually August 1) to the
selected school (but to none other at this time).
Once your supporting data have been received,
an interview will be scheduled if desir-
able and a prompt decision will be sent to you
(usually about October 1). If this decision
is in the affirmative you are obligated to
accept the offer and refrain from seeking admis-
sion elsewhere. If you are rejected, you can
then go ahead and apply to as many schools
as you wish. Only if you have a sincere
interest in attending a particular school and only
if you have a good chance of being accepted
should you use the early decision approach.
Medical schools participating in the early
decision plan are indicated in Table 6.1. It
should be realized that schools offering this
option will fill only a part of their freshman
class by this means. The remainder of the
places, which will probably be the bulk of the
class, will be filled by students applying
under the standard procedure.
How Many Schools to Apply to
There are over 125 U.S. medical schools. Most
of these will undoubtedly not be suitable
for you to apply to because a very large number
of schools offer places almost exclu-
sively to their own state residents. This makes
you eligible for admission only to schools
in your home state as well as privately owned
institutions nationwide. Many individuals,
for a variety of personal reasons, are not
willing or able to relocate very far from their
existing residence. In addition, private
schools are very costly and thus may be out of
range, especially for those not willing to run
up a large debt. Prestigious medical schools
are inundated with very highly qualified
applicants, making it extremely challenging for
an average, solid applicant to secure a place.
All of these factors significantly reduce the
number of medical schools potentially available
to you.
Making matters more difficult in this regard is
the fact that the list of prospec-
tive schools will shrink further if you
eliminate minority-run schools and institutions
designed to develop a specially focused
physician, such as primary care or research-
oriented one. Nevertheless, your choices of
prospective schools, while reduced, will still
be adequate in number.
When selecting from the preliminary list you
formulate, your approach should be to:
1. Apply to your state schools but only if you
would seriously consider attending
if accepted, no matter what the location. Thus,
for example, not every New York
City resident will apply to SUNY--Buffalo when
there are state schools nearby
(Stony Brook and Downstate).
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