Office of
Health Professions Advising

In recent years, the national average for the number of schools applied to is 11. In our experience, Duke students usually apply to 12-20 schools.

Estimating Cost of Application

Cost is certainly a factor in deciding the number of schools to which you will apply. The AMCAS fee is $160 which includes your first designated medical school. Each additional school is $30.00. Medical schools also charge an application fee when they send you their secondary (supplemental) application. This application fee ranges from $50 – $125, with an average of about $75. If you interview at 5 schools, calculate the cost of airfare, hotels and meals.

The following table breaks down some of the costs you will want to consider in deciding the number of schools.