Does anyone know if the statistics of people wanting to become a doctor has gone down and by how much. Just curious.
As I understand it, both total applications and mean MCAT scores are down…GPA has essentially remained level. This is like the second/third year in a row that this has happened. The decrease in applicantion quantity is actually 5 or 6 app cycles old…started with the entering class of 97/98. Curiously, during the first 3 cycles of decreased numbers of applicants, their mean GPA & mean MCAT scores went up – making for a smaller, more competitive pool. But, for all entering classes from 2000 onward, both numbers & mean scores have dropped.
Why do I know this? I sit on the KCOM Alumni Board of Directors and at every meeting, Fall & Spring, the Admissions Dept provides us with a thorough overview of MD, DO and KCOM's applicant pool.
hrmm I think it actually might have gone up this year. While I was in the pre med office here I saw a newsletter saying that this year might be the first year that applications might have gone up. It was basing it off by the number of people who signed up for the april and august mcat and the number of aamc med school applications opened or filed?
the artcile said it was just all preliminary. It kinda makes sense too. Ive seen a lot more post baccs at school then when I started. I think a big reason is the economic troubles so people are coming back to school and trying again.
but I really can't back this up, so take it with a grain of salt. Im not sure that it matters much anyways. Its hard to get into med school regardless of how many people are trying.
Bevo,
I certainly hope that you are correct! The Alumni Board will not receive a report on this year's applicant pool until we met again in April. At that time, I will be able to report back with accurate figures for both MD & DO schools.
Here’s the AAMC URL for applicant statistics…naturally they aren’t yet posting this year’s data (but they have it…the med schools get it starting in April). http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/start.htm
I’ve been told that the pool is up this year, and no reason, yet, to t hink that it won’t go up again this next year.
Cheers,
Judy