Arizona (or Massachusetts), not California, is the worst state to be in as a pre-med.

[SplashMountain12]

I recently came across this table from the AAMC, showing that applicants from Arizona have a 69.9% chance of not matriculating into any medical school, a cool 10.9% higher than the national average, and the highest failed applicant rate in the country. An applicant from, California on the other hand, has a 58.6% chance of not matriculating to any medical school, which is actually 0.4% lower than the national average, implying that, on these statistics alone, it is easier for an applicant from California to gain acceptance than most students nationally.

This data, of course, doesn't tell the whole story. Californian applicants do, indeed, have a higher bar to clear. Matriculation data shows that the average Californian matriculation has an MCAT of 513.4 while the average Arizonian has a 510.1. Interestingly, California does not have the highest matriculation MCAT. The honors belongs to Massachusetts, with a 513.9. So, by that measure as well, California is not the most difficult state to have a successful application in.

One could argue here that this matriculation data shows just how competitive it is to be a pre-med in California. In fact, the average Californian applicant has 508 MCAT. However, does this point to a large amount of competitive premeds, or the quality of Californian schools? Take Arizona as a comparison (average applicant has a 503.7). Arizona has some of the worst K-12 education in the country (ranked 49th I believe) and has three largely mediocre major universities. Is it fair to say that students in California (with a much better public school system and better overall universities like UCLA, Berkeley, and Stanford) have greater access to resources and preparation, allowing them to excel on the MCAT? While one could argue that the outliers scoring 520+ at Berkeley and Stanford are skewing the data, with 6,237 data points, I find it more plausible that the entire pool of applicants does better on the MCAT than many other states.

While there is definitely various interpretations to this data, I think its fair to say that it is not as impossible as everyone makes it out to be to get accepted as a Californian.

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[Ms Procrastinator]

Why is mass the worst state to be in as a premed?

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Why is mass the worst state to be in as a premed?

One state school, no DO schools. State school has an average MCAT of 514. Other reasons

 

[Goro]

I recently came across this table from the AAMC, showing that applicants from Arizona have a 69.9% chance of not matriculating into any medical school, a cool 10.9% higher than the national average, and the highest failed applicant rate in the country. An applicant from, California on the other hand, has a 58.6% chance of not matriculating to any medical school, which is actually 0.4% lower than the national average, implying that, on these statistics alone, it is easier for an applicant from California to gain acceptance than most students nationally.

This data, of course, doesn't tell the whole story. Californian applicants do, indeed, have a higher bar to clear. Matriculation data shows that the average Californian matriculation has an MCAT of 513.4 while the average Arizonian has a 510.1. Interestingly, California does not have the highest matriculation MCAT. The honors belongs to Massachusetts, with a 513.9. So, by that measure as well, California is not the most difficult state to have a successful application in.

One could argue here that this matriculation data shows just how competitive it is to be a pre-med in California. In fact, the average Californian applicant has 508 MCAT. However, does this point to a large amount of competitive premeds, or the quality of Californian schools? Take Arizona as a comparison (average applicant has a 503.7). Arizona has some of the worst K-12 education in the country (ranked 49th I believe) and has three largely mediocre major universities. Is it fair to say that students in California (with a much better public school system and better overall universities like UCLA, Berkeley, and Stanford) have greater access to resources and preparation, allowing them to excel on the MCAT? While one could argue that the outliers scoring 520+ at Berkeley and Stanford are skewing the data, with 6,237 data points, I find it more plausible that the entire pool of applicants does better on the MCAT than many other states.

While there is definitely various interpretations to this data, I think its fair to say that it is not as impossible as everyone makes it out to be to get accepted as a Californian.

There's a difference between being a pre-med who applies to med school, and one who applies to his/her state school.

IS applicants to U AZ-P and U-AZ-T fare as follows:

apps IS
T 867
P 817

apps OOS
T 6296
P 3897


IIs IS
T 320 (37%)
P 162 (20%)

IIs OOS
T 200 (3.2)
P 186 (4.8)

Matriculants-IS
T 81 (9.3)
P 62 (7.6)

Matriculants OOS
T 36 (0.57)
P 18 (0.46)

If one considers that the general rule of thumb for # of accepts is at least 2x the number of seats, then Arizonans have about a rough 1/5 chance of getting into their state schools.

So I interpret the data as:

1) the pre-med training that Arizona students get is either not impressive to OOS schools AND/OR
2) that there is a TX effect and med schools know that Grand Canyon Staters prefer to stick close to home AND/OR
3) too many Arizonans are ignoring their state schools in the hopes of going elsewhere, AND/OR
4) what gonnif said

 

[solitarius]

If you ever get into medical school, you'll see the mass phenomena of CA people schools like SUNY, Iowa, Vermont, Michigan State, etc. You'll see them at Step 2 CS, conferences, and possibly on the residency interview trail.

 

[Goro]

If you ever get into medical school, you'll see the mass phenomena of CA people schools like SUNY, Iowa, Vermont, Michigan State, etc. You'll see them at Step 2 CS, conferences, and possibly on the residency interview trail.

Yup. We have a fair share of people from CA at my school. Helps being on this side of the Missouri River.

 

[altblue]

If you ever get into medical school, you'll see the mass phenomena of CA people schools like SUNY, Iowa, Vermont, Michigan State, etc. You'll see them at Step 2 CS, conferences, and possibly on the residency interview trail.

The interview I had at Western Michigan had around the same number of people from CA compared to MI. Kalamazoo isn't exactly seen as desirable in-state let alone out-of-state which might tell you how hard Cali applicants have it lol

 

[Dwan]

I had plenty of interviews and acceptances as an applicant from CA, just not from CA itself. That's usually what the complaint is about.