All of that is true. The current policy is that 70% of the first 150 enrolled students must be equally distributed between the 4 congressional districts (ignoring that 105 isn't divisible by 4...*sigh*). The other spots, including the 151-174th spots, can basically be anyone the school wants, as long as the OOS enrollment doesn't break a certain percentage of the class - 20%, if I recall. As the centers of education and educated people in Arkansas, the districts containing Fayetteville and Little Rock are always the most competitive. The others are...uh...not as competitive.
I definitely would not do that. To me, the only way the Rural Practice Program is of any use to you is if you (think you) are dead-set on primary care of some kind AND are on the waitlist. They move the Rural Practice people to the head of the list, so you're basically guaranteed to get accepted. The scholarship/loan forgiveness sounds enticing, but if you're going to practice primary care, you'll have hospitals tripping over themselves to pay your loans in exchange for service, especially if you really do want to practice in rural Arkansas. Basically, the benefit the program offers is available to you anyway, and you can easily get it without the risk that you'll fall in love with dermatology and/or want to get the hell out of the state. Most people change their minds on specialties several times, so don't feel like your opinions now are going to hold throughout school. They might, but they probably won't.
I don't think that you really get to meet more people in the community when doing rural practice, just a larger percentage. In fact, you'd probably have considerably more patients working in a city. I do understand the appeal of being a known figure in the town you live in, however. I'm just a city slicker and couldn't stand living anywhere that small.
I'd say you're in good shape to get one, but UAMS, like most schools, isn't really all that generous. There just aren't as many people with stats as high as yours applying to go to school in Arkansas. Keep in mind, though, that it's going to be tough to keep/renew that scholarship. Lots of people do decently or well but don't crush the MCAT and go on to obliterate med school. I think you'll find there's very little correlation between undergrad performance and med school performance, both in class and on Step exams. Consequently, there are a lot of sleepers vying for that scholarship money.
Both are right. There are <400 in-state applicants. The rest of the applicants are from out of state.
From District 4 last year, 62 people applied and 27 were accepted. This comprises a 43.5% acceptance rate for that district. The cumulative GPA for applicants is a 3.5 while the MCAT is a 23.6.
Basically, if you're above a 25 and a 3.5, you stand a pretty decent chance being from district 4.
Here is a chart that I made using data from the link.
Map of congressional districts in Arkansas
The three personal letters are not required, but they are allowed.. and you submit them via AMCAS. It has nothing to do with the supplemental application.
That being said, who wouldn't want 3 more people singing their praises?
