Fewer students are opting not to apply for medical school because of financial reasons than those deciding not to apply for law schools and business schools because of money strains in a troubled economy, according to a recent Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions survey. The survey, released Nov. 18, also found medical school applicants are the most “reserved” group of students on Facebook and other social networking sites. Dr. Jeff Koetje, assistant director of pre-health programs at Kaplan, worked on compiling the survey, which asked admissions officers at all 131 Association of American Medical Schools-approved U.S. medical schools about financial aid and other factors that may have been affected by the recession. Based on survey results from the 82 medical schools that responded, only 20 percent of medical school admissions officers reported more applicants declined admissions for financial reasons in 2009 compared to 2008. This number compares to 28 percent of applicants to MBA programs, according to business school admissions officers, and 39 percent of law school applicants, according to law school admissions officers.Cost of tuition for medical schools at private universities like Harvard can total more than $40,000, Koetje said. And that’s not including other fees like room and board, books and equipment. “Cost is a very important issue for students,” Koetje said. Tuition for the LSU School of Medicine at New Orleans is about $13,000 per year. He said fewer students may not apply for medical school during the recession for financial reasons because, a lot of the time, students have been planning medical school careers years in advance. “Pre-med students have oftentimes been pre-med since they were young,” Koetje said. “There is a deeply-ingrained commitment level.”And it’s not that students applying to law school and business school don’t have that level of commitment, he said, it’s just that those programs are more flexible. He said many students choose to wait a few years before entering an MBA or law program because of the economy. Medical schools have much stricter time limits for admissions. Koetje said the University has one of the highest number of undergraduates who apply to medical school every year in the U.S. Last year, 311 students applied, he said.  Luke Verret, biology junior, said he decided he wanted to go to medical school when he was in high school. He said the economy hasn’t affected his decision. “I was planning to take out student loans anyway,” Verret said. “[Medical school] is expensive for most people, so I imagine that people would need help through loans regardless of the economy.” The Kaplan survey asked admissions officers about the role social networking sites play in the admissions process as well. Only 30 percent of medical school admissions officers or a colleague had received a friend request on Facebook or MySpace from potential students, according to the survey results. This number compared with 48 percent of law school admissions officers, 50 percent of business school admissions officers and 71 percent of college admissions officers. Verret said he wouldn’t want to friend request an admissions officer, but he understands some do look at Facebook during the admissions process. According to the Kaplan survey, 13 percent of admissions officers said they have visited a student’s social networking site to help evaluate that applicant.
 
 
 
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