Cost of Application: Multiple Programs Same Specialty

ERAS has listed the 2014 fee schedule for the main residency match. There are some interesting implications of the fee structure.

It is important to note the qualification for the fees is “Under the Same Specialty” and are divided into tiers.

Tier 1: Programs Up to 10 - $92 
Tier 2: Programs 11-20 - $9 each

Tier 3: Programs 21-30 - $15 each
Tier 4: Programs 31 or more - $26 normal;

Thus a typical American graduate applying to internal medicine that is going to apply for 15 programs the cost of application will be - 92 for first 10 + 9 per program for next 5 = 137$. Compare this with a typical foreign medical graduate (with mean application number approx 100 programs) whose math adds up to 92 for first 10 + 9 per program for next 10 + 15 per program for next 10 + 26 per program for last 70 = 152$

Table 1: Cost of application to multiple programs. Column 1 (number of programs), Column 2 (Total cost), Column 3 (Cost per program)

Included is table 1 that depicts the cost of application to the number of programs if you know how many programs you are going to apply to. This data table is applicable to only same specialty applications and will not work if you are applying to more than one specialty.

Figure 2

There is an interesting angle to this expense, as seen in figure 2, if you calculate the cost (in dollars) per program, the most cost effective number of programs to apply to is 20. This may be ideal for American medical graduates who do not have to submit an application to as many programs as foreign trained applicants. The cost per application falls precipitously till 20 programs but then steadily climbs as the number of applications increase. The cost per program application is listed in the third column of table 1 for reference.