Originally published in Orientation 1999

The number of students applying to medical schools throughout the country fell almost to 5 percent during the 1998 school year, according to a study released this week by the Journal of American MEdical Association (JAMA).

The number of students applying to Boston University Medical School mirrored the national drop of 4.7 percent. At BU Medical School, the number of applications fell from 10,026 in 1998 to 9,898 this year, said BUMS spokesman Robert Brogna.

Contrary to the national trend 4,791 students applied to Harvard Medical School in 1999, the greatest number of applicants in 20 years, according to Harvard MEdical School spokesman Bill Schaller.

The Sept. 1 issue of JAMA revealed that 1998 was the second consecutive year the number of medical school applicatnts decreased. 1997 figures were down from 8.4 percent from the prior year.

The total number of applicants for the 1998 school year was 41,004, down from 43,020 in 1997, according to a survey completed by all 125 accredited U.S. medical schools.

Rob Bellow, a first-year BUMS student, thinks the decrease in applicants can be partly attributed to the rising cost of a medical education.

In my opinion, the estimated $225,000 of debt is a deterrent, he said.

Bellow added that the decrease might have resulted from high competition for acceptance to medical schools.

Many parents want their kids to be doctors, but when students take the MCAT and dont do as well as they expected, they dont apply, said Karen Carrigan, a first-year BUMS student.

Originally posted here:

Medical school applications drop nationwide, study says