How many schools to apply to?

[Josealga]

To those applying, got accepted, and current physician assistants, how many school did you apply to? I have approximately 14-20 (adding and subtracting some form my list) schools in mind. I just want to see what other people's opinions about this are. Thanks 

[cop to pa]

PAEA published some findings about 2 years ago. They showed that those applying to 1 program had a 5% chance of acceptance. Those applying to 12 or more had a 49% chance of being accepted to at least one. There was no statistical advantage to applying to more than 12 programs.

 

Find the ones you are both competitive at, and want to attend.

[MT2PA]

It's partly a numbers game (as mentioned above) but also about applying smartly.  If half of your schools are reach schools, you'll probably need to apply to more to realistically get an acceptance.  Every year is different - every school looks for or prefers different qualities, you never know who you are up against, how many applicants each program gets each year, etc.  If you are a generally strong applicant, 10 should be plenty.  If you are a weak applicant, you have to decide if the tiny chance that the one extra school you apply to will be "the one" vs spending a ton of money when your odds just aren't great to begin with.

[surfsup]

I agree w/ MT2PA. If you are a weak applicant you can apply to 20 schools and not get in. Make sure everything is in order on your application to get an interview. How many schools can you realistically see yourself going to? Check out their PANCE scores, faculty members, length of program, cost, etc? I think 14-20 is excessive and expensive. Try to narrow it down to 10 or less. If and when you interview at these schools you can compare programs. You might find that some are not a good fit for you. 

[DiggySRNA]

I'm applying to about 7 schools this cycle.

 

Originally had ~15 schools but I worked on my overall application and cut the number of schools by 50%.