As a California Resident....This is a l

[berriesandcream]

This is a totally legitimate question, and in no way wasteful paranoia, but as a Californian, does a hypothetical MCAT of like a 33+ balance out a GPA of about 3.65? This is assuming all other averages: good LOR, applying early, shadowing, research, volunteer. Thanks

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[rHinO1]

Look at the data for medical school matriculants from CA:
https://www.aamc.org/download/86002/data/table21mcatgpastatemat09.pdf

You should have noticed you are slightly above average for MCAT and GPA, which is good.

Now, look here:
https://www.aamc.org/download/157450/data/table24-mcatgpagridall2008-10.pdf.pdf

You should have been able to determine that a 3.65 GPA and 33 MCAT puts you in the neighborhood of 80% acceptance rate. This is also good.

These charts will provide you with far more information that what anyone here can tell you.

 

[berriesandcream]

Hm those help, thanks!

 

[OGMD]

Getting in somewhere...most likely
Getting into a CA school....0-100% chance. no one knows

 

[burningheat]

you will get in somewhere if you apply to a few, but no way to know california...

 

[berriesandcream]

you will get in somewhere if you apply to a few, but no way to know california...

Getting in somewhere...most likely
Getting into a CA school....0-100% chance. no one knows

that's comforting. thank you! anywhere (even nonCA) is better than nowhere

 

[toastedcheese]

I'm in CA, have a 3.5 and 38. I was rejected by all the California schools, but am getting interviews and acceptances elsewhere. You just need to apply nation-wide. We don't have a state "safety" school.

 

[TarHeelEMT]

When you say "balance out," you seem to be implying that one or the other is bad while the other is good. I'm just not sure which one...

 

[bookfreak89]

I'm in CA, have a 3.5 and 38. I was rejected by all the California schools, but am getting interviews and acceptances elsewhere. You just need to apply nation-wide. We don't have a state "safety" school.

It basically comes down to this.

7/8 Cali MD schools are ranked in the Top 50 + large number of applicants = who knows what will happen

 

[poshdoctor]

I'm in CA, have a 3.5 and 38. I was rejected by all the California schools, but am getting interviews and acceptances elsewhere. You just need to apply nation-wide. We don't have a state "safety" school.

What about Loma Linda and UC Irvine??

 

[toastedcheese]

Loma Linda is a religious school (Mission Statement: "The school's overriding purpose is the formation of Christian physicians."). That is not going to be an option for many people. The accepted applicants average for Irvine last year was 3.7/32, and there are 104 matriculated students out of 3,716 applicants. I was rejected from there this year with my 3.5/38; maybe others have had better luck.

Just randomly looking through the MSAR, other states have these schools that mainly take only in-state applicants:

Florida state: 3.7/29 - 114 matriculated students out of 1834 applicants
Mercer: 28/3.6 - 92 matriculated students out of 794 applicants
S. Illinois: 29/3.7 - 72 matriculated students out of 1093 applicants
U of Mississippi - 28/3.7 - 120 matriculated students out of 290 applicants
New Mexico - 29/3.6 - 73 matriculated students out of 206 applicants

I assume there are other states that are similar to California, New York maybe. But I don't think it is incorrect to say that we don't have a safety state school in the way that, say, someone from New Mexico does. As bookfreak said, because of the high number of applicants and the high average scores your chances of getting a CA spot are decreased.

 

[berriesandcream]

Loma Linda is a religious school (Mission Statement: "The school's overriding purpose is the formation of Christian physicians."). That is not going to be an option for many people. The accepted applicants average for Irvine last year was 3.7/32, and there are 104 matriculated students out of 3,716 applicants. I was rejected from there this year with my 3.5/38; maybe others have had better luck.

Just randomly looking through the MSAR, other states have these schools that mainly take only in-state applicants:

Florida state: 3.7/29 - 114 matriculated students out of 1834 applicants
Mercer: 28/3.6 - 92 matriculated students out of 794 applicants
S. Illinois: 29/3.7 - 72 matriculated students out of 1093 applicants
U of Mississippi - 28/3.7 - 120 matriculated students out of 290 applicants
New Mexico - 29/3.6 - 73 matriculated students out of 206 applicants

I assume there are other states that are similar to California, New York maybe. But I don't think it is incorrect to say that we don't have a safety state school in the way that, say, someone from New Mexico does. As bookfreak said, because of the high number of applicants and the high average scores your chances of getting a CA spot are decreased.

Sorry to hear about your CA rejections. I was hoping for either UCLA, UCSD, or USC (I don't stand a chance at UCSF). At least you have other acceptances, am I correct?

Sadly, that makes sense. I mean, looking at the CA schools, yeah they're prestigious. So, I'm hoping other's state's "safety" schools are OOS friendly?

 

[berriesandcream]

It basically comes down to this.

7/8 Cali MD schools are ranked in the Top 50 + large number of applicants = who knows what will happen

Sad but true fact :/

Also, bookfreak, you're a 2016-er! are you also a Californian?

When you say "balance out," you seem to be implying that one or the other is bad while the other is good. I'm just not sure which one...

I'm implying that a 3.5 GPA might not be the BEST for a CA school (or any school)? SO if I can compensate with a "good" MCAT score?

 

[rHinO1]

Sorry to hear about your CA rejections. I was hoping for either UCLA, UCSD, or USC (I don't stand a chance at UCSF). At least you have other acceptances, am I correct?

Sadly, that makes sense. I mean, looking at the CA schools, yeah they're prestigious. So, I'm hoping other's state's "safety" schools are OOS friendly?

That's what I thought, but I got interviews at UCD, UCI, and UCSF... but not from UCSD, UCLA, and USC. It is a crap shoot, so who knows. Make sure you apply everywhere.

 

[toastedcheese]

That's what I thought, but I got interviews at UCD, UCI, and UCSF... but not from UCSD, UCLA, and USC. It is a crap shoot, so who knows. Make sure you apply everywhere.

Agree. berriesandcream, you do have a chance at UCSF. The main point is, you have a small chance everywhere, but for us CA people this is no high-probability school unless you just have a killer app. The key is to apply to enough places so that your total chance of getting in to one of them is high. If you have a 10% chance of getting into any one school and you apply to only 15 schools you'll have a 79.4% chance of getting in to a least one of them; apply to 30 schools, it's 95.8%. Just don't apply to five or so Cali schools and expect to get in. Low probability.

You can use the MSAR to find what schools accept OOS students. I went for schools that have >25% of their incoming class from OOS. I'm not sure how true this is, but you can calculate your LizzyM score, which is GPA*10 + MCAT, and compare that to the average of the schools. If you get a 33 MCAT, yours will be 69. UC Irvine's is 69, UCLA's is 72, UCSD is 74, Virginia Commonwealth (which accepts OOS) is 67. My school selection was about 1/3 above my score, 1/3 around my score, and 1/3 below my score.

My spread of interviews has been from #18 to unranked (per the US News and World Report) with rejections and acceptances throughout that range. There is just no great way to know where you're going to land until you give it a try. Good luck.

 

[berriesandcream]

Agree. berriesandcream, you do have a chance at UCSF. The main point is, you have a small chance everywhere, but for us CA people this is no high-probability school unless you just have a killer app. The key is to apply to enough places so that your total chance of getting in to one of them is high. If you have a 10% chance of getting into any one school and you apply to only 15 schools you'll have a 79.4% chance of getting in to a least one of them; apply to 30 schools, it's 95.8%. Just don't apply to five or so Cali schools and expect to get in. Low probability.

You can use the MSAR to find what schools accept OOS students. I went for schools that have >25% of their incoming class from OOS. I'm not sure how true this is, but you can calculate your LizzyM score, which is GPA*10 + MCAT, and compare that to the average of the schools. If you get a 33 MCAT, yours will be 69. UC Irvine's is 69, UCLA's is 72, UCSD is 74, Virginia Commonwealth (which accepts OOS) is 67. My school selection was about 1/3 above my score, 1/3 around my score, and 1/3 below my score.

My spread of interviews has been from #18 to unranked (per the US News and World Report) with rejections and acceptances throughout that range. There is just no great way to know where you're going to land until you give it a try. Good luck.

The whole thing is VERY helpful. I am planning on applying OOS too, so grabbing a MSAR and calculating the LzzyM is helpful! thing is, i'll be submitting before I get my MCAT score back. Do I guess at a score then find a LIzzyM? how would I go about doing the 1/3,1/3,1/3 thing without a score?

 

[rHinO1]

The whole thing is VERY helpful. I am planning on applying OOS too, so grabbing a MSAR and calculating the LzzyM is helpful! thing is, i'll be submitting before I get my MCAT score back. Do I guess at a score then find a LizzyM? how would I go about doing the 1/3,1/3,1/3 thing without a score?

You can't. Get your app verified with one safety school, then add the rest after you get your scores back.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

What about Loma Linda and UC Irvine??

People are reluctant about applying to Loma Linda because of the religious standards. UCI and UCD are the two "easier" ones to get into. I wouldn't consider either of them anywhere close to a safety though.

http://www.meded.uci.edu/Admissions/ProfileFirstYear.html

Besides, both UCI and UCD have pretty specific missions (rural care) that a lot of people don't meet.

Maybe when UCR and UCM open their med schools...