The Shuffle

Medical school applicants cannot hold more than one acceptance past May 15. Before that magical date, you can sit tight, waffling back and forth, filling out pro/con charts, and otherwise hem-and-ha over which school is right for you. Once accepted applicants are forced to take a stand, the flood-gates open, so to speak, and there is pretty active movement happening on waitlists throughout the country. Schools suddenly find themselves with openings and there is a rapid shuffling to fill them. My husband was hoping that tomorrow might bring an acceptance for me from my state school. Considering that I withdrew my application from them a week ago, it is highly unlikely.

So why did I do it? I'll spill the beans. Out-of-State University of Awesomeness is a Texas school. Have I already sung the praises of Texas medical schools? Let me tell you, they are fantastic! You see, Texas is pretty darn picky with their out-of-staters. State law requires that at least 90% of students are Texas residents. Some admissions offices set that number at 95%. That said, many applicants don't bother to apply to Texas since (1) the chance of getting in is so low and (2) Texas has its own application system for its eight medical schools. [FYI: Baylor is a private school, but it does receive some state funds and shows a preference for Texan applicants. Baylor uses the national AMCAS application.] Though I wasn't a fan of sending transcripts and entering data into an entirely separate and time-consuming database (TMDSAS), I was very pleased with the entire application process. My state school interviews many, many, many more people than they intend to offer positions to. Roughly one-quarter of interviewees are offered admission. Some schools offer admission to about half of their interviewees. Texas schools tend to do a more thorough screening prior to interview. That means that some schools extend acceptances to nearly three-quarters of the applicants that they interview. Got multiple Texas interviews? There is a good chance you'll get in to at least one of them.

Texas does a Match Day for med school that is similar to residency matching. As an out-of-stater, I did not go through the match process, but found it fun to follow on applicant forums. Even without applying early decision, Texas residents (as a whole) were more likely to know where they would end up significantly earlier than the typical med school applicant. Out-of-state applicants are offered admission on a rolling basis. My acceptance came three weeks after interviewing at one school.

But I really haven't gotten to my favorite part. Texas is affordable! The tuition at Texas medical schools is some of the lowest in the nation. My in-state school has a rate of $35,000 per year. Out-of-state tuition at a Texas school is lower than that. Tuition for Texas residents ranges from about $15,000 to $18,000 per year. If you are awarded a competitive scholarship as a non-resident, you may qualify for in-state tuition during your first year. Unlike many states, you can establish residency during your first year and be reclassified. (That is, if you actually meet legal residency requirements.)It's pretty amazing. I am planning on a career in family medicine. The affordable tuition in Texas really makes it possible to pursue that path without feeling over-burdened with debt.

There are other reasons why I am ready to move to Texas. Lots of them. But the freedom of moving into a new career relatively late in life without much debt is one of the greatest feelings imaginable.

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!