How much does it cost to get into medical school these days? Time<\/em> and Newsweek<\/em> magazines are rampant with stories of cheating scandals among pre-med students. There are similar rumors sickening the hearts of would-be doctors and patients concerning the enormous amounts of \u201cextra fees\u201d to be paid in order to accepted into certain schools or concerning the expediency of being a trustee\u2019s son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving the seamier aspects aside, how much does it cost to get accepted to medical school legally?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hypothetical prospective, Joe, starts the painful process in the spring of his junior year of undergraduate studies. This first step is to take the Medical College Admissions test. This test, known as \u201cMCAT,\u201d is similar to the SAT scores everyone took to get into college, only harder. It contains the usual vocabulary questions, mathematics is so elementary that you forgot how to do it (e.g. high school geometry), a trivia test under the pseudonym of \u201cGeneral Knowledge,\u201d a basic science section which usually concerns more advanced science courses. The grueling 5 hour test is usually given on the first weekend in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(This weekend is picked purposely by the MCAT people because they know it\u2019s the first weekend of nice spring weather for students living in Northfield)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The test costs a modest $25.00. For $25:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
1. You get to take the test.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
2. You get to have your scores sent to 6 schools<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

   The average Carleton applicant for the 1975-76 class applied to 9 medical schools. (Information kindly supplied by Dr.. Ross Shoger, Carleton\u2019s pre-med advisor) It costs Joe extra money to have his scores sent to three more schools. At $2.00 apiece for each school, that\u2019s a total of @25 plus 3×2 =$31 for MCAT people. (If Joe wants to take a practice test to prepare for \u201cthe biggie,\u201d it costs a mere $12.00).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   In June before his senior year, Joe starts actually applying to medical schools, \u2026it does no good to write to the school of one\u2019s choice and ask for a catalog or application blank. All one gets in return is a letter saying: \u201cI am sorry, we are not sending out catalogs because we have too many requests.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   AMCAS is a centralized method of applying to AMCAS-affiliated med schools. Approximately 90 percent of medical schools are AMCAS affiliated. Joe fills out one application form similar to the one he one he filled out to get into college. For $30, AMCAS xeroxes this form and sends it to 5 schools of his choice. For $2 plus postage, Joe could do the same thing himself. For the four additional schools, it costs$10 apiece to get AMCAS to send out a xerox copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   In all, AMCAS gets $70. In addition, Joe must send in letters of recommendation, and pay $1 to the registrar office to send an official copy of his transcripts. He is not finished yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Trickling in from July to January are requests from each medical school for \u201cadditional processing fees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Fees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   These are requested by the school generally as soon as they have \u201cprocessed\u201d your application where they know you don\u2019t have a \u201cC\u201d average. These extra fees range from $10 to $30. The average is about $20. $20 per school x 9 schools is $180 in extra fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   By this time, it is January. Joe is $292 in the hole and has not even had an interview yet. Almost all the medical schools require interviews. Let\u2019s be conservative and say that Joe only goes to two interviews. Most of the medical schools are in more populous states like New York, Illinois and California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Again, choosing the most conservative figures possible, suppose that Joe has one interview in Chicago and one interview someplace close to Northfield or his home so that transportation and lodging, etc. costs are lowered. Round-trip plane fare from Minneapolis to Chicago is about $85. $4 for the bus to and from Minneapolis to Northfield. $5 for bus, cab fare and food from O\u2019Hare airport to the med school and back. The interview in Chicago costs $104, Joe could spend only half that much in a second interview by getting a ride with some Ole, eating and sleeping in his high school buddy\u2019s apartment, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   The process would still cost about $156 for interviews. Meanwhile, three schools require additional transcripts covering the terms that had elapsed since Joe applied last spring. 3 terms x 3 schools, $9 for transcripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   After all this, it is now a year later, and Joe Hopeful is still waiting to hear from many of the schools he applied to. He has shelled out $447 and gotten nothing but anguish in return. He may get in and he may not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   If he gets in, it will cost another $100 to hold a place in the class.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

   \n

   <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   Spectrum Frontpage | Spectrum Literary Feats As Owen explains below: this is a one shot deal. No more Spectrum after this one. The Price of Med School Admissions article is rescued here for the first time. Originally, the columns of text were mixed up in order, making this detailed accounting of costs pretty much incomprehensible. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1540","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1565,"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1540\/revisions\/1565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classof1975.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}