Source: Harvard Medical School Admissions

"National statistics parallel the rise in Harvard-Radcliffe applications," she says.

Whitney B. Edmister, a pre-med tutor in Currier, says he has also noted a decrease in applicants to medical school, but that there is a definite increase since he applied to medical school six years ago.

Edmister, who applied to medical school in 1991, says it was much easier to get in then. As a matter of fact, he says the number of applicants has doubled in the past six years.

"When I applied, I remember that two out of three applicants [got into medical school]," he says. "Currently, I think it's slightly less than one out of three."

Reasons for Decline

Edmister and Michelson say that although there has been a decline in the number of new applicants to medical school, the numbers do not necessarily reflect this because many students are re-applying.

"I know for a fact...that the number of new applicants to medical school has dropped slightly," Edmister says. "But the total of number has increased because there are a number of applicants who did not get in on their first try and have taken time off [and are re-applying]."

Michelson agrees with Edmister, saying many students are taking time off after college to make sure they really want to go to medical school.

"I don't think there are as many new applicants," Michelson says. "I think more students are also taking some time to think about this."

Edmister says the number of students' applying to medical school has dropped partially because students are discouraged by the ever-changing health care field as well as the uncertainty of the amount of money doctors will make once they start practicing.

"[Students] know that it's a difficult process," says the second-year resident tutor. "Also, medicine is really in flux right now. There are a lot of questions about how much doctors are going to be able to make when they are done with the process."

The lingering questions over the future salaries of doctors may deter low-income students from applying to medical school because the high debt they will accumulate in school is not guaranteed to "pay off" when they graduate, according to Edmister.

Additionally, residency cutbacks and managed care are definitely "big issues," he says.

"It's unclear how much control doctors are going to have over the care of their individual patients in the near future," Edmister says.