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How many schools are you applying to?


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Just wanted to reach out and see how many schools you guys are applying to and get some input. I have about 7 on my list, but wondering if I should up it to 10-12? I have about 4 reach schools, 2 target schools and 1 "safety" school. My rough stats are: 

 

GPA: 3.71c/3.62s 

GRE: 160 v  154q  4.0 writing

 

HCE:

1200 hours medical assistant

560 hours direct support staff (CNA type role)

1040 hours physical therapy assistant

 

Volunteering: 50 hours with public library doing science programs

 

Research: Internship at pharma company ~ 6 months

3 semesters of ecology research with professor, 3 poster presentations

 

Extracurriculars: various clubs, TA for class 

Letters: 2 MDs and 1 professor. 

Shadowing: 30 hours, PAs & MD

 

Thanks for your input! 

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I wonder if applied schools are able to see the list of programs which one applies on CASPA. What if they do not like to see the long list, they might think this person has no confidence in getting in or may be they will think why did this person applied to like 20 schools. Just the thought! It would be good question to ask if they are able to see the schools we apply to...

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I wonder if applied schools are able to see the list of programs which one applies on CASPA. What if they do not like to see the long list, they might think this person has no confidence in getting in or may be they will think why did this person applied to like 20 schools. Just the thought! It would be good question to ask if they are able to see the schools we apply to...

 

No, they can't but I had one or two schools last year ask me to list the other schools I applied to on my supplemental.

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I have schools asking this too on their supplemental, but it is optional. Does it hurt either way to answer or not?

I had a school ask me that during the interview. I was honest and got in. Others who said they lied didn't get into that program. Anecdotal, and from a small sample size, but there you go.

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I had a school ask me that during the interview. I was honest and got in. Others who said they lied didn't get into that program. Anecdotal, and from a small sample size, but there you go.

 

I had the opposite occur (told the truth, waitlisted).  

 

I think the point is really to see if the the school that asks is an outlier (i.e Is it your reach school?  Is it your safety school?  Are you applying to Duke, Yale, etc and the school that asks is some random, small school that isn't widely known?  They may scrutinize that or ask more questions - and rightfully so - they are usually right.)  They could also be looking for the people that apply to 30 programs and are just throwing mud at the wall trying to see what sticks with little regard for the 'right fit' programs.  Realistically there should be a trend in the programs you pick.  Do you want to stay in 1 area or state?  Do you need to consider a spouse or family?  Are you applying to programs of the same caliber that you are competitive for?  Don't throw darts at a map and any answer you have is probably fine.

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The main thing to consider is if you would accept a seat and attend every single school you applied to if you got in.  I find it so weird when people post about getting accepted to a school but not attending due to waiting until next year for top choice, money, not wanting to move, etc.  Just make sure that if you apply to 15 schools, that you would attend any one of the 15 schools if they are the only one that accepts you. 

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I'm not sure yet. I have 25 on my list but I know that's too many. This is my second time applying (applied pretty late last cycle) and I *really* want to get in this time, obviously. I'm sure I'll remove some but I don't know how many.

I don't think it's too many. I spoke with a fellow on the admissions board for a CA school and he said that if he were applying today he would apply to at least 25. The market is just flooded with PA hopefuls now and I would personally rather put myself out there as much as possible. Last year I applied to 12, this year I've submitted 19 so far with more to go. Good luck!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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They cannot see how many schools you applied to, BUT there's a caveat to that.  One of my schools wanted a print out directly from the ETS website of my GRE score on interview day.  At the bottom of the score page is a list of all the schools you sent your results to.  So they would see all the schools you applied to that require a GRE (unless you cut off that part of the print out.)  Not that this probably matters in the grand scheme of things, but something to ponder over. 

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