After a decade of growth, medical school applications for fall 1997 were down. Analysts point to the robust economy and the impact of managed care as possible explanations.

• Applications dropped 8.4 percent from fall 1996 to about 43,000.

• The 1996 fall term set a record of 46,968 applications for 16,000 first-year slots.

• The applications for fall 1998 could also be down, thanks to rollbacks in affirmative action in California, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

• Minority applications fell 11 percent from 1996 to 1997.

Some speculate that concerns about managed care -- in which insurance companies more and more dictate what doctors can and can't do -- is discouraging some potential applicants. Others note that in a weak economy, applications go up because medicine is seen as a secure, stable profession.

Cost may also be a factor. Tuition at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, to take one example, is $27,250 a year.