Cost of Applying

Time for numerical disclosures...

On Friday, I submitted by TMDSAS application for the Texas medical programs I am applying to. One huge plus of getting in to a medical school in Texas is their incredible tuition. Their out-of-state cost is better than in-state for quite a few schools. With two of my kids graduating high school by the time I finish medical school, it sure would be nice for them to be able to chose from a lot of affordable places, too. Cost of submitting to 7 schools: $180. (Wish I could say "Cost of being a physician: Priceless" but it does come with a pretty hefty price tag.)

I caught a typo on my application after I submitted it--no going back and changing it! Sigh. I had a nightmare last night that I hit submit on my AMCAS right now. (Still some cleaning up do to. I will submit this week.)

The TMDSAS was tedious! They want you to account for every 3-month period from the time you graduate from high school. When you've been out of high school for 20 years like I have, that's a ton of detail to include. All in all, I'd say that taking that trip down memory lane helped me include more items in my AACOMAS application.

AACOMAS is for the system for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. Unlike AMCAS and TMDSAS, there is no letter service. That's because the AACOMAS site is powered by Interfolio. Unfortunately, that means one more system to figure out and an additional cost of $6 per letter I send, or about $18 per school. OK, OK, maybe it seems petty to worry about the price of the application process, but, hey, I'm trying to figure out how to do med school while simultaneously launching my kids off to college. It adds up. Pretty quickly.

I submitted my AACOMAS application to 7 additional schools. Perhaps 7 was over-kill. I'm pretty comfortable that I will get a comfortable number of interviews from these schools. Cost: $367.  Secondaries ranged from $50-$100 each.

I have heard plenty of people tell me not to worry about costs when applying to school. These people are usually 10 years younger than me--still "non-traditional," but no idea of the reality of sending children to college. I ruled out all of the DO programs that had tuition at $50,000 or more. Michigan State has a fantastic philosophy, but they also have a $78,000 annual tuition for out-of-staters. Even if I could get residency after the first year (and I'm not sure I could), the dollar-cost averaging still doesn't make sense.

AMCAS has a financial need program that lowers the cost of the MCAT and waives the application fee for the first 12 schools you apply to. The cut-off is 300% of the Federal poverty level. For a married couple with no kids, this program may not be much help, but with my family size, my husband and I could make over six-figures and I would still qualify. Sweet! Most schools waive the secondary fee for those who qualify.

That takes me to an absurd number of 26 schools I'm applying to. I think I laughed at my friend last fall who sent in that many applications. Now that I've spent some time in her shoes...well, you know.

We are squirrelling away money now to cover the cost of travel for interviews. Wish me luck!