No state school in New Hampshire

luv2rad8 said:

I don't think anyone has written about this topic before. I am a resident of New Hampshire and the only medical school in the state is obviously Dartmouth. As a private institution, they are not required to accept state residents however they do accept 10% of their student body who are residents. (which means 8-10 spaces) My GPA was very competitive and my MCAT was okay. I was not extended an interview. Currently I'm waitlisted @ 1 school but I am starting the application process again. I was wondering if anyone knew of any schools which offered residency reciprocity to those who don't have a state supported medical school. I know UVM offers reciprocity to Maine residents but I hadn't heard of any other schools.

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university of new england does to new england residents. but its d.o, so i dont know if your into that or not.

luv2rad8 said:

I don't think anyone has written about this topic before. I am a resident of New Hampshire and the only medical school in the state is obviously Dartmouth. As a private institution, they are not required to accept state residents however they do accept 10% of their student body who are residents. (which means 8-10 spaces) My GPA was very competitive and my MCAT was okay. I was not extended an interview. Currently I'm waitlisted @ 1 school but I am starting the application process again. I was wondering if anyone knew of any schools which offered residency reciprocity to those who don't have a state supported medical school. I know UVM offers reciprocity to Maine residents but I hadn't heard of any other schools.

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I think it is rather odd that not all the state in the United States have a state-supported medical school. Then, again, there could be some connections as you have mentioned that cause some states to essentially funnel their residents into a neighboring state's medical school. I wonder if the main reason for a state not having a medical school are these connection as well as budgetary issues. I am not sure Alaska has any medical schools, but how also would it have any connections to another state? Well, it would be interesting to broaden the scope of this thread not only in the state of New Hampshire but to any state not having its own medical school.

pride4jc727 said:

I think it is rather odd that not all the state in the United States have a state-supported medical school. Then, again, there could be some connections as you have mentioned that cause some states to essentially funnel their residents into a neighboring state's medical school. I wonder if the main reason for a state not having a medical school are these connection as well as budgetary issues. I am not sure Alaska has any medical schools, but how also would it have any connections to another state? Well, it would be interesting to broaden the scope of this thread not only in the state of New Hampshire but to any state not having its own medical school.

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alaska's state school is the University of Washington School of Medicine (actually for washington, wyoming, alaska, montana, and idaho)

edfig99 said:

alaska's state school is the University of Washington School of Medicine (actually for washington, wyoming, alaska, montana, and idaho)

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Thanks for the info, edfig99! So I assume that the reason why these states except for Washington don't have med schools is that there is some sort of agreement with another state to funnel their residents into that school?

pride4jc727 said:

Thanks for the info, edfig99! So I assume that the reason why these states except for Washington don't have med schools is that there is some sort of agreement with another state to funnel their residents into that school?

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yup - http://uwmedicine.washington.edu/Education/WWAMI/

I think that there are a few things at work here:

1. The population of New Hampshire is 1.3 million making it one of the smallest states by population (ranked 41st). A good medical school needs affiliated hospitals and patients... I suspect that there just aren't enough patients to go around because NH already has one med school affiliated medical center and then there's the close proximity to the many fine medical centers in Boston that would tend to draw off some NH patients with unusual conditions.

2. The citizens of New Hampshire hate taxes. If they don't feel the need to pay taxes to educate physicians (because plenty who are educated in neighboring states are happy to relocate to NH), then why would the state sponsor a med school?

Why should it be the state's responsibility to educate future physicians? Obviously, some states feel the need and others do not. You don't have the right, as a citizen, to a state-subsidized medical education. Maine is another state with no allopathic med school. IIRC, Delaware doesn't have a med school. Does North Dakota?

BTW, Vermont has a medical school that is very friendly to out of state students.

You could go south to Taxachusetts and establish residency there for a shot at UMass....

luv2rad8 said:

I was wondering if anyone knew of any schools which offered residency reciprocity to those who don't have a state supported medical school.

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Check out UConn. I know their tuition is broken into three tiers - cheap for in-state, middle for NH, ME, and RI, more expensive for everyone else. I'm not sure if that "help the New England students who don't have a state school" approach extends to admissions decesions, or if it's just for the bill.

pride4jc727 said:

I think it is rather odd that not all the state in the United States have a state-supported medical school. Then, again, there could be some connections as you have mentioned that cause some states to essentially funnel their residents into a neighboring state's medical school. I wonder if the main reason for a state not having a medical school are these connection as well as budgetary issues. I am not sure Alaska has any medical schools, but how also would it have any connections to another state? Well, it would be interesting to broaden the scope of this thread not only in the state of New Hampshire but to any state not having its own medical school.

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It is kind of crappy, but many states just don't feel they have a true need. With New England, I think the biggest problem is that the population is somewhat transient. The states are so small that many people kind of flow between or commute to another state for work. You're pretty unfortunate to be in the land of private schools. Does UConn give any edge to new england applicants?

luv2rad8 said:

That's where I am waitlisted....any other suggestions? Thanks

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ahh. hang in there. i know most of vermonts class are new england residents. i myself will be applying there next year..moving to new hampshire/hanover in a few months actually.most of uconns class are ct residents, but they seem to be more lenient towards northeast out of staters than say...cali out of staters..other than that, thats it for any new hampshire preference really....btw, are u from dartmouth or u nh??or neither.

LizzyM said:

Why should it be the state's responsibility to educate future physicians? Obviously, some states feel the need and others do not. You don't have the right, as a citizen, to a state-subsidized medical education. Maine is another state with no allopathic med school. IIRC, Delaware doesn't have a med school. Does North Dakota?

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Closer to home, Rhode Island has Brown but doesn't have a state school.

BTW, Vermont has a medical school that is very friendly to out of state students.

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So does NY. The SUNYs seem pretty willing to accept out-of-state applicants, and you pay in-state tuition starting your second year. And I think NJ policies are similar.

You could go south to Taxachusetts and establish residency there for a shot at UMass....

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I guess you could, but that's not a quick route to success - for residency, you need to either have graduated from a Mass high school or have lived in-state for the past five years! (And being an undergrad in a Mass college doesn't count toward that residency requirement.) Of course, at the end of those 5 years you get to apply to a higly regarded state school with CHEAP tuition...

MarathonsRcool said:

ahh. hang in there. i know most of vermonts class are new england residents. i myself will be applying there next year..moving to new hampshire/hanover in a few months actually.most of uconns class are ct residents, but they seem to be more lenient towards northeast out of staters than say...cali out of staters..other than that, thats it for any new hampshire preference really....btw, are u from dartmouth or u nh??or neither.

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Have you considered living in Vermont? I don't know what your situation is, but Hanover is right on the Connecticut River (NH-VT border). If you lived in Norwich, VT, you'd be literally just across the bridge from Hanover, a 5-minute drive from Dartmouth - and you might be able to get a head-start on your VT residency.

HanginInThere said:

Have you considered living in Vermont? I don't know what your situation is, but Hanover is right on the Connecticut River (NH-VT border). If you lived in Norwich, VT, you'd be literally just across the bridge from Hanover, a 5-minute drive from Dartmouth - and you might be able to get a head-start on your VT residency.

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funny you mention that, because i have been meaning to look into residency requirments for vermont. is it stringent?? i remember looking into new york's a while back and they make it pretty darn difficult to gain residency. ive been trying to wiegh my options, i could live on campus at dartmouth and use fasttransit or whatever its called to get around, or live somewhere else, as you mentioned, such as vermont and purchase a vehicle.

MarathonsRcool said:

funny you mention that, because i have been meaning to look into residency requirments for vermont. is it stringent?? i remember looking into new york's a while back and they make it pretty darn difficult to gain residency. ive been trying to wiegh my options, i could live on campus at dartmouth and use fasttransit or whatever its called to get around, or live somewhere else, as you mentioned, such as vermont and purchase a vehicle.

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I really don't know. I think if you live in Vermont for at least a year before applying you're okay, but if you don't move there until after you're accepted to school you need special permission to gain residency. But please don't take my word - I'm trying to remember second-hand information I got over a year ago. Call UVM and talk to someone who can give you a real answer.

And New York actually does make it easy, at least according to the admissions officers at my Upstate interview.

LizzyM said:

Does North Dakota?

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Yes! North Dakota does have one. University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Grand Forks, ND. I lived there for 2 years after my family immigrated to the US and my father was doing research there. That place is so insanely flat its mind boggling. Really cold in the winter... I remember having to dig ourselves out of the house one year after a snowstorm. Plus, when spring comes around and the ground thaws... in come the mosquitoes... I'm glad I live in VA now.

But yes, they do have a med school and its mostly for in state people. Interestingly enough 132 people applied and 45 ended up matriculating. Now that must have been a pretty huge acceptance rate.

As a native Mainer who's lived in Mass for years (but still not long enough to establish residency: you have to live in MA as an independent for 5 years before your application will be considered), I definitely got the shaft. Even the Maine programs are only halfway points. Historically, Dartmouth, UVM, and UNE (DO) have had agreements with the state of Maine that Maine will pay a certain premium to have their applicants considered in a separate pool, so getting in may be easier as a Maine resident. However, there's no tuition break at any. So you can get in easier, but you're still footing a huge bill.

It was also recently announced that (and I may be wrong on some of the details here) the UVM partnership is going, and Maine is establishing a "medical school" of sorts with Tufts. Basically, you would do your first two years at Tufts Med in Boston, then move to Portland and do your rotations at Maine Medical Center. I think anyway. If you're interested: http://www.mmc.org/mmc_body.cfm?id=4666. In the end, you end up with a diploma from Tufts/Maine Medical Center. A pretty cool relationship, really.