Help! Just looking for advice about where to apply

[yogidoc19]

Thanks for the help everyone!

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[yogidoc19]

Forgot to mention, originally from CA but have been on east coast for school. Will try to apply as CA resident for apps- not sure if they will allow this but plan to contact admissions. Also, does anyone have any info about this by chance? I've lived in CA my whole life except for school/gap year. My parents still live there and have my whole life. Not sure how they determine residency in my case...

 

[gyngyn]

Forgot to mention, originally from CA but have been on east coast for school. Will try to apply as CA resident for apps- not sure if they will allow this but plan to contact admissions. Also, does anyone have any info about this by chance? I've lived in CA my whole life except for school/gap year. My parents still live there and have my whole life. Not sure how they determine residency in my case...

Almost any other state would be a better choice than CA (for residence).

 

[yogidoc19]

Almost any other state would be a better choice than CA (for residence).

Hi, thanks so much for the response! is that because they are just too hard to get into with my stats (even when claiming residency)?
I just noticed through the MSAR some of them accept NO OOS applicants and don't even interview a single one.

My advisors are not so helpful on this aspect so I won't be offended just am not sure what to do. My only other option I guess would be to claim PA residence as I will have been here for a year in august?

PA does not appear to have many benefits for being in state either (lots of private schools) so my thought was at least in CA they may "consider me" if i'm in state since they barely interview ANY OOS. If I am totally off base please let me know and I'll see If I can qualify for PA

 

[gyngyn]

Hi, thanks so much for the response! is that because they are just too hard to get into with my stats (even when claiming residency)?
I just noticed through the MSAR some of them accept NO OOS applicants and don't even interview a single one.

My advisors are not so helpful on this aspect so I won't be offended just am not sure what to do. My only other option I guess would be to claim PA residence as I will have been here for a year in august?

PA does not appear to have many benefits for being in state either (lots of private schools) so my thought was at least in CA they may "consider me" if i'm in state since they barely interview ANY OOS. If I am totally off base please let me know and I'll see If I can qualify for PA

Last year UCLA alone produced 1011 excellent applicants to medical schools.
Only 964 CA applicants (from any school) got to stay in CA.
In other words, UCLA alone produced more than enough pre-meds to fill every seat in CA that might go to a CA applicant.
Only 15% of CA applicants got to stay in CA. Almost twice that number had to leave.
CA is the largest exporter of pre-meds in the country.

There are only 2 schools with a stated preference for CA applicants. One of them is a mission-based school whose charter is to produce MD's for the IE (and they ony have a couple dozen spots for those who did not attend UCR), the other is UCD. Unless you are a compelling applicant for one of these schools, almost any other place would be a better state of residence.

 

[yogidoc19]

Last year UCLA alone produced 1011 excellent applicants to medical schools.
Only 964 CA applicants got to stay in CA.
In other words, UCLA alone produced more than enough pre-meds to fill every seat in CA that might go to a CA applicant.
Only 15% of CA applicants got to stay in CA. Almost twice that number had to leave.
CA is the largest exporter of pre-meds in the country.

There are only 2 schools with a stated preference for CA applicants. One of them is a mission-based school whose charter is to produce MD's for the IE (and they ony have a couple dozen spots for those who did not attend UCR), the other is UCD. Unless you are a compelling applicant for one of these schools, almost any other place would be a better state of residence.

Thanks that's really helpful and gives some perspective. I will try to claim PA residency status and apply to schools here. I will still apply to Davis (reach) and the new medical schools in CA (kaiser if they get accreditation) most likely but i'm not oblivious to the fact that I will not get into the other UC's or CA schools with my current stats. I worked my butt off these last two years since applying and will be happy to get in to any school at this point. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions! Thanks again

 

[Goro]

Hi, this is my first time posting here so please be patient with me! (sorry for the essay)

I am a 24y.o. re-applicant who applied to some DO schools in summer 2016 and did not get in. I am a few weeks away from finishing a post-bacc and applying with their committee letter this summer. I plan to work in clinical research while applying this year. I am having trouble figuring out how to compile a school list because in my Junior/Senior year of undergrad my grades dropped due to working almost full time (family financial issues) and now in the Post bacc they are MUCH better.

My stats after my post bacc is over will be:
sGPA= 3.3 overall (3.85 in post bacc)
cGPA= 3.4 overall (3.85 in post bacc)
MCAT= 507 Cars= 127 BIO= 129 (91%) CHEM= 126 Psych=125

Experiences throughout undergrad/gap year (graduated in 2016 with degree in biochem/spanish/honors citation):
A lot of volunteer tutoring in chemistry/Spanish
Underserved children's yoga instructor (children's certified- 1 year)
Volunteer children's lacrosse coach (1 season)
Scribe in ER and primary care that serves mostly latino uninsured community (2.5 years, too many hours to count but definitely 3000+) Spanish translator for physicians
Medical assistant (1 year full-time)
Volunteer Clinical Intern abroad in Spanish-speaking country (1.5 months)
Research intern (volunteer) molecular bio lab (8 mo)
Volunteer intern at Cancer support non-profit (8mo)
Nanny (financial issues during junior year 1 yr)
Spanish immersion program at university (1.5 years)
Club lacrosse team (2 years)
Professional science fraternity member 4 years

LOR's will be from two science prof and two physicians I have worked with (one MD-OB/GYN and one DO-ER)

I really would like to be at a school within 45min of a major city. The school itself can be suburban and just close to a city or within the city. I would also love to be able to use my Spanish-skills in medicine and therefore appreciate schools that focus on serving this community. Other than that I don't have any big requests but the sooner they have students interact with patients the better in my opinion.

Basically, I would love some honest help identifying schools that I would have a GOOD chance getting in to. DO/MD either is fine. Thank you in advance!!!!

Chances will be best with DO schools. I can't think of any MD schools that reward reinvention with an MCAT of that score. So, if you're boning for the MD, then you're going to need to retake, and aim for 513+.

Note: PA does not have any state schools. Penn State is, perversely, a private school. Ditto U Penn

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks that's really helpful and gives some perspective. I will try to claim PA residency status and apply to schools here. I will still apply to Davis (reach) and the new medical schools in CA (kaiser if they get accreditation) most likely but i'm not oblivious to the fact that I will not get into the other UC's or CA schools with my current stats. I worked my butt off these last two years since applying and will be happy to get in to any school at this point. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions! Thanks again

Come back with your list and we'll all be happy to help.

 

[yogidoc19]

Chances will be best with DO schools. I can't think of any MD schools that reward reinvention with an MCAT of that score. So, if you're boning for the MD, then you're going to need to retake, and aim for 513+.

Note: PA does not have any state schools. Penn State is, perversely, a private school. Ditto U Penn

Thanks so much for the help and yeah thats what I figured re-MCAT but I just don't have the time to dedicate a re-take before this cycle and would rather not delay another year. I didn't actually apply to any MD schools the first time around so I guess to them I will be "applying" for the first time- if that even makes sense. I am going to apply to some of the lower tier/new ones and the ones in Philly because they accept a lot of people from my post bacc program but other than that I planned on applying probably 12-15 DO and 5 or so MD. PA confuses me because people have told me you have better chance as a resident but is that not true given almost all are private? Sorry I'm just very confused by all the residence stuff.

 

[Goro]

Thanks so much for the help and yeah thats what I figured re-MCAT but I just don't have the time to dedicate a re-take before this cycle and would rather not delay another year. I didn't actually apply to any MD schools the first time around so I guess to them I will be "applying" for the first time- if that even makes sense. I am going to apply to some of the lower tier/new ones and the ones in Philly because they accept a lot of people from my post bacc program but other than that I planned on applying probably 12-15 DO and 5 or so MD. PA confuses me because people have told me you have better chance as a resident but is that not true given almost all are private? Sorry I'm just very confused by all the residence stuff.

Private schools may appear to have an in-state bias, but what that really means is that there are a lot of talented applicants in that state.