Applying In-State Only

[octopi314]

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I have some friends who say that if you want to practice in a your home state then you should only apply to in-state medical schools. They claim that it is harder to get a residency in your home state if you attend medical school elsewhere. Is this true or should people apply more broadly?

 

[Resilience]

I'm not the most educated on this subject, but I would assume as long as you rock step1, you can go where you want. If you are still concerned, I would say yeah, choose your state school over any low tier OOS school, but if we are talking about a top tier OOS school, then you will be fine returning to whichever state you want (also, assuming you do well on step1).

It also depends on which state we are talking about.

Also, don't forget your primary objective: getting into medical school. It is often thought that your state school is your best shot at an acceptance, but this is quite often not the case. DO NOT assume you will get into your state school. Only apply to just your state schools if you would rather reapply than attend an OOS school. Apply broadly and get in somewhere. Then if you are fortunate enough to have a choice of schools, think about residency possibilities.

 

[gyngyn]

I have some friends who say that if you want to practice in a your home state then you should only apply to in-state medical schools. They claim that it is harder to get a residency in your home state if you attend medical school elsewhere. Is this true or should people apply more broadly?

The first step in getting your desired residency is getting into medical school. If this means OOS so be it.

 

[bakedbeans18]

This is complete and utter bs.

First of all, what happens if you are someone who lives in New Mexico (only one school in the state) or from California (multiple state schools, but among the most competitive to get into?)

If you do well on Step I and CS/CK, you can more or less pick where you'll end up, as long as your letters are okay. I will be attending a school in a completely different state to my home state - their students match to alot of places for residency, including alot of the top programs in my home state. Your friend doesn't know what s/he is talking about.

 

[octopi314]

Wat?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. The person I was talking to claimed that this is what our pre-med advisor said. They claimed that they were told to keep reapplying in-state MD and forgo applying OOS DO if they wanted to work in their home state. I always though the most important thing was getting into medical school and you could always get into residency elsewhere. Just wondering whether this information is correct.

 

[bakedbeans18]

Sorry if this is a dumb question. The person I was talking to claimed that this is what our pre-med advisor said. They claimed that they were told to keep reapplying in-state MD and forgo applying OOS DO if they wanted to work in their home state. I always though the most important thing was getting into medical school and you could always get into residency elsewhere. Just wondering whether this information is correct.

If you earn an MD, it doesn't matter what state you are from, or what state the medical school from which you earn your MD is in. There are lots of residency programs in all 50 states. Do well at any medical school, and you can go wherever you want. Also, if you don't do superbly in medical school, that is probably okay too - you can still apply to less competitive fields or community hospital programs in your home state.

Also, get a new advisor if that is the nonsense they spew out at students.

 

[gyngyn]

Sorry if this is a dumb question. The person I was talking to claimed that this is what our pre-med advisor said. They claimed that they were told to keep reapplying in-state MD and forgo applying OOS DO if they wanted to work in their home state. I always though the most important thing was getting into medical school and you could always get into residency elsewhere. Just wondering whether this information is correct.

No need to apologize. This is just such strange advice. This amounts to whatever the opposite of strategy is.

 

[octopi314]

No need to apologize. This is just such strange advice. This amounts to whatever the opposite of strategy is.

Ya that's what I thought initially when she told me this. But, when she claimed that this is what our advisor had said and I started to wonder whether my entire application strategy was wrong. I should probably start taking whatever advice she gives me with a grain of salt.

 

[octopi314]

If you earn an MD, it doesn't matter what state you are from, or what state the medical school from which you earn your MD is in. There are lots of residency programs in all 50 states. Do well at any medical school, and you can go wherever you want. Also, if you don't do superbly in medical school, that is probably okay too - you can still apply to less competitive fields or community hospital programs in your home state.

Also, get a new advisor if that is the nonsense they spew out at students.

Thanks for the response! I plan to apply to a fair amount of OOS schools and just wanted to make sure that this wasn't limiting my residency options.