How Many Medical Schools Should I Apply To?

Apply to 25 or more schools, leaning toward 30 or higher if your GPA, MCAT, or overall application has any real weaknesses. That’s more than most advisors recommend, but it meaningfully lowers your risk of finishing the cycle without a single acceptance.

Picking the number is only half the problem. You still need to decide which schools belong on that list, and that means weighing your odds at each one alongside tuition, location, and specialty strengths, all on a tight budget and a hard deadline.

How Many Medical Schools Are Applied to On Average?

According to the AAMC, the average number of schools students apply to through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is 16.

That’s only an average, though. What matters more is your own chances of acceptance, where you want to spend the next four years, and whether a program offers the extracurriculars, specialties, and research opportunities you care about.

Secondary applications and interview travel both add real time and cost, so build your list from programs you’d be glad to attend, not ones you’re padding the count with.

How Many Medical Schools Should I Apply to?

We recommend applying to 25-30 schools. 

That’s more than most admissions consultants suggest, but after working with thousands of applicants, we’ve found it meaningfully lowers the risk of finishing the cycle without a single acceptance. The extra effort of a few more applications is small compared to the impact on your odds.

Lean toward 30 if there’s a real reason to worry about your application, a low GPA, a weak MCAT, or thin experience. Talk to med students, mentors, or advisors who’ve been through the process, and be honest with yourself about where your application actually stands.

More schools also means more secondary applications to write, and you’ll want real time set aside for that. Schools charge a fee for nearly every secondary they send, which is part of why almost every applicant gets one regardless of actual interest. Since we recommend turning each secondary around within 7-14 days, applying to 30+ schools at once can mean a brutal stretch of writing in a short window.

Don’t wait for secondaries to start arriving before you draft your answers. Most schools ask some version of the same handful of questions every cycle, so you can have strong drafts ready before your inbox fills up. Our Secondary Prompts Database covers essentially every MD and DO program in the country, is updated every application cycle, and includes expert tips and strategies for each school’s specific prompts.

Target vs. Reach vs. Safety Schools

Spreading your applications across target, reach, and safety schools matters just as much as the total number you apply to, and the strength of your application determines how you should split that list.

Target Schools

Programs where your GPA, MCAT, and overall application are a solid match for the school’s typical admitted student.

Reach Schools

Prestigious programs with average metrics that exceed your own. You never know exactly how an admissions committee will weigh your specific background, so a well-chosen reach school is still worth the application.

Safety Schools

Programs where your application exceeds what’s typically expected, giving you a strong likelihood of acceptance.

We recommend allocating 50% of your applications to target schools, 25% to safety schools, and 25% to reach schools. Applying to 28 schools, for example, amounts to roughly 14 target schools and 7 each for reach and safety.

Not sure which category a school falls into based on your specific stats? The Medical School Chance Predictor gives you a data-driven read on your odds at each program, so you’re not guessing at how to build this list.

How to Decide Which Medical Schools to Apply to

Your chances of acceptance aren’t the only factor here. Choosing where to apply is a time-consuming, meticulous process, so start researching as early as possible. Reach out to current students in programs you’re interested in and, if you can, visit your top schools in person to get a real feel for the campus and city.

1 | Where You Have the Best Chance of Acceptance

This isn’t the only consideration, but it’s an important one. Our Medical School Chance Predictor gives you a data-driven read on your odds at each school based on your own GPA, MCAT, and profile, rather than relying on raw averages alone.

2 | School Tuition and Fees

Average medical student debt now sits around $260,000, and tuition varies widely by school. Costs range from free at a handful of programs to $20,000 a year at the low end and over $100,000 a year at the most expensive schools. Many programs also charge out-of-state students significantly more, sometimes double, than in-state students.

3 | The Cost of Living

Tuition is only part of the expense. Cost of living varies enormously by state, and rent alone could run anywhere from several hundred to a couple thousand dollars a month. Food, transportation, and everyday expenses add up fast on top of that.

4 | School Location

Location drives more than just tuition and cost of living. Texas law requires public medical schools in the state to reserve at least 90% of seats for Texas residents, leaving out-of-state applicants competing for the remaining 10% or less. You’ll also want to think about how far you’re willing to be from family and support for four years.

5 | Osteopathic Medicine

DO programs typically require lower GPAs and MCAT averages for acceptance. If you’re considering becoming an osteopathic doctor, applying to osteopathic programs means applying through AACOMAS instead of AMCAS, which has several differences worth understanding before you start.

6 | Personal Interests in Medicine

Do you already have a specialty in mind? Most strong programs offer a well-rounded range of opportunities, but some schools are known for particular strengths, like research or primary care.

7 | Reputation and Ranking of the School

A school’s ranking reflects its funding, resources, and quality of training, and gives you a sense of how competitive admission will be. Check current medical school rankings as you build your list.

8 | Gut Feeling

Which schools excite you most? Every factor above matters, but so does how comfortable you feel with the program, the people, and the city where you’d spend the next four years.

Building the Right List Takes Time

There’s no perfect number of schools, but there is a wrong approach, like picking a number out of thin air without weighing your own odds, budget, and timeline. Start early, do the research, and build a list that reflects both your realistic chances and where you’d actually want to spend the next four years.

Once your list is set, the next challenge is staying on schedule. Our Premed Timeline breaks down exactly when to take the MCAT, request letters, and submit your application, so that building your school list doesn’t become a bottleneck for the rest of your cycle.

Medical School Application FAQ: How Many Schools to Apply To

Is it bad to apply to too many medical schools?

Not inherently, but there’s a practical ceiling. Each additional school adds application fees, a secondary essay, and potentially an interview to travel to. Once you’re applying to 30-35+ schools, the workload can start working against you if it means rushing secondaries or spreading your research too thin across schools that were never a great fit to begin with.

Should I apply to MD and DO schools at the same time?

Only if your stats fall below MD averages and you’ve honestly considered what going DO means for your specialty options. If you have a realistic shot at MD acceptance, adding DO schools to your list isn’t really a strategy so much as a backup plan, and your energy is better spent applying to more MD programs instead.

MD and DO use separate application systems (AMCAS and AACOMAS), so pursuing both means managing two primaries and two sets of secondaries. If you do go this route and end up with acceptances to both, take the MD. Our full MD vs. DO breakdown covers the data behind that recommendation in detail.

How do I know if a school is a reach, target, or safety school for me?

Compare your GPA and MCAT to a school’s typical admitted range. If your stats sit below the school’s average, it’s a reach. If they’re right in line, it’s a target. If they exceed the average, it’s a safety. The Medical School Chance Predictor does this comparison for you across every school on your list.

How much does it cost to apply to multiple medical schools?

Costs add up fast. AMCAS charges a $175 fee for your primary application, plus a per-school fee for each additional program, and most secondaries charge their own fee on top of that, typically $30-$200 per school. Applying to 25-30 schools can realistically cost thousands once primary and secondary fees, and interview travel, are factored in. Our full breakdown of medical school application costs covers every fee you’ll encounter, from the MCAT to Casper to tutoring.

Do out-of-state applicants have lower acceptance rates?

It depends heavily on the school. Public schools generally favor in-state residents, and some states enforce this by law. Texas, for example, caps out-of-state enrollment at public medical schools to 10% or less. Out-of-state applicants aren’t shut out everywhere, but it’s worth checking each school’s in-state vs. out-of-state admissions data before counting on an acceptance.