At what point should I not apply to another state's state school?

[neuropsyance]

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Hello everyone,

I've downloaded the spreadsheet with all the stats, schools, and their in state-acceptance and interviews percentages. I'm wondering at what percentage of in-state acceptances should I not even apply? 80%, 70%, 60%?

Just wondering.....I want to apply to every school I can where my stats match and I have a reasonable chance of getting an interview.

Thanks,
neuro

 

[theseeker4]

Hello everyone,

I've downloaded the spreadsheet with all the stats, schools, and their in state-acceptance and interviews percentages. I'm wondering at what percentage of in-state acceptances should I not even apply? 80%, 70%, 60%?

Just wondering.....I want to apply to every school I can where my stats match and I have a reasonable chance of getting an interview.

Thanks,
neuro

Depends not just on their IS vs OOS numbers, but also your stats relative to their mean. If you are a lot higher than their mean, it could be worth applying to an OOS school that only takes 10% of their class from OOS (assuming you want to go there). If you are lower than their mean by a significant amount, obviously it would be pointless applying to the school, or likely a waste of money if not "pointless," even if you were IS or they take a huge number of OOS students.

If you want a more specific answer about what schools you should apply to, post a thread in the WAMC sub-forum listing your MCAT, sGPA and cGPA, your ECs, state of residence, and where you want to go, and people will weigh in regarding school choices for your particular situation.

 

[MedPR]

Hello everyone,

I've downloaded the spreadsheet with all the stats, schools, and their in state-acceptance and interviews percentages. I'm wondering at what percentage of in-state acceptances should I not even apply? 80%, 70%, 60%?

Just wondering.....I want to apply to every school I can where my stats match and I have a reasonable chance of getting an interview.

Thanks,
neuro

I wouldn't apply to any state school that I didn't have ties to. I have low stats and didn't apply to any OOS public school except Wright state and Cincinnati. Wright state has low stats. Not sure about Cincinnati.

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[ChartaBona]

I didn't apply to UConn because according to my old MSAR: out of 2k OOS applicants, only 15 matriculated. Class size was 85.

UVM, on the other hand, is about 70% OOS.

 

[Anathema]

I'm always scared of applying to OOS but I'll probably do it if it's 70% or less bias. The flip side is that the ones that have low IS bias have thousands of applicants.

 

[Josh7]

As already stated... Just look at the MSAR. Obviously schools like Mich and UCSF are more OOS friendly than places like University of Washington.

Your stats should be higher than the average if a school only accepts ~30% OOSers on average since you're being chosen for less slots than the in staters.

 

[annonymous819]

I didn't apply to UConn because according to my old MSAR: out of 2k OOS applicants, only 15 matriculated. .

This is a critical distinction right here and can get lost if you only look at OOS% in matriculation data.

Some schools have a very high OOS % in their matriculating class, making them look friendly. Say school A has a 50% OOS rate out of 200 per class, but there are 3000 applicants for those spots. So the school may look favorable in terms of percentage of matriculants, but in reality you are competing for 100 spots amongst 3000 OOS applicants. Then the most important data you want is how many they accepted not how many matriculated. Some schools accept 2:1 acceptances:matriculants. So your acceptance:applicant ratio in this example is about 200:3000=0.07

On the flip side, school B may only have 10% OOS matriculants, but very few OOS applicants apply. In our example 10% would be 20 spots, but if only 500 kids apply and they have to accept 40 OOS kids to fill 20 seats your acceptance:applicant ratio is 40:500=0.08.

On first glance school A looks more OOS friendly since it has a higher % OOS, but in reality you have a better shot at school B. One example I can think of off hand is the Texas schools. They only take 10% OOS, but in reality so few OOS kids apply that the acceptance:applicant ratio is favorable.

There are other intangibles like ties to the state, but you get the idea. It isn't just about OOS% in an incoming class, it's far more important how many kids were competing over a finite number of spots.

 

[neuropsyance]

Thanks for the input everyone, I really appreciate the help. One more question.

If my GPA is 0.1 lower than the average for a school, but my MCAT is 2 - 3 points higher than the average, would that be reason enough to apply to a school that only takes 30% of OOS?

I know there is no real absolute answer to this and that a degree of luck is involved, but just curious.

Thanks,
neuro

 

[Praefectus]

This is a critical distinction right here and can get lost if you only look at OOS% in matriculation data.

Some schools have a very high OOS % in their matriculating class, making them look friendly. Say school A has a 50% OOS rate out of 200 per class, but there are 3000 applicants for those spots. So the school may look favorable in terms of percentage of matriculants, but in reality you are competing for 100 spots amongst 3000 OOS applicants. Then the most important data you want is how many they accepted not how many matriculated. Some schools accept 2:1 acceptances:matriculants. So your acceptance:applicant ratio in this example is about 200:3000=0.07

On the flip side, school B may only have 10% OOS matriculants, but very few OOS applicants apply. In our example 10% would be 20 spots, but if only 500 kids apply and they have to accept 40 OOS kids to fill 20 seats your acceptance:applicant ratio is 40:500=0.08.

On first glance school A looks more OOS friendly since it has a higher % OOS, but in reality you have a better shot at school B. One example I can think of off hand is the Texas schools. They only take 10% OOS, but in reality so few OOS kids apply that the acceptance:applicant ratio is favorable.

There are other intangibles like ties to the state, but you get the idea. It isn't just about OOS% in an incoming class, it's far more important how many kids were competing over a finite number of spots.

👍 Perfectly stated. Also, look into OOS tuition. Some schools might be hovering around 60-70k/yr, so they might not be worth it in the long run.

 

[annonymous819]

Thanks for the input everyone, I really appreciate the help. One more question.

If my GPA is 0.1 lower than the average for a school, but my MCAT is 2 - 3 points higher than the average, would that be reason enough to apply to a school that only takes 30% of OOS?

I know there is no real absolute answer to this and that a degree of luck is involved, but just curious.

Thanks,
neuro

If you're within a SD, go for it, med school applications is about throwing as much crap at the wall as possible and waiting for something to stick.

but don't get to caught up in "30% OOS," my state school takes about 30% OOS (~45 kids) but has insane OOS tuition so there accepted:matriculant ratio is like 3:1, yet for some reason they have about 7000 OOS applicants for these 60 spots.

60*3=180, 180:7000=2.5% chance of acceptance

 

[ChartaBona]

Thanks for the input everyone, I really appreciate the help. One more question.

If my GPA is 0.1 lower than the average for a school, but my MCAT is 2 - 3 points higher than the average, would that be reason enough to apply to a school that only takes 30% of OOS?

I know there is no real absolute answer to this and that a degree of luck is involved, but just curious.

Thanks,
neuro

Look up the LizzyM score. For simplicity's sake, think of 1 point on the MCAT as having the same weight as each 0.1 cGPA, so a 4.0/ 30 would have about the same shot as a 3.6/ 34. I never knew how to classify myself because my writing score was so low. I learned at my first interview that starting in 2013 there will be no writing section. I feel cheated, lol. 4.0/37L.

 

[neuropsyance]

Look up the LizzyM score. For simplicity's sake, think of 1 point on the MCAT as having the same weight as each 0.1 cGPA, so a 4.0/ 30 would have about the same shot as a 3.6/ 34. I never knew how to classify myself because my writing score was so low. I learned at my first interview that starting in 2013 there will be no writing section. I feel cheated, lol. 4.0/37L.

Yeah I'm actually going to be taking the MCAT for the first time early April. I won't have to do the writing section 🙄. Not to mention if I do the new behavioral section I get a gift card or something I hear 😀.

 

[ShenanigansMD]

The whole West Coast is notoriously a waste a money if you're out of state. I found this out the hard way.

 

[phikapdoctor]

The whole West Coast is notoriously a waste a money if you're out of state. I found this out the hard way.

What if you live out west?
Obviously Texas and Cali are out.


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[ShenanigansMD]

What if you live out west?
Obviously Texas and Cali are out.


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Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado only if you're an in-stater in general. California just sucks no matter what.

 

[neuropsyance]

I only have one state school to depend on. Anyone ever considered moving to another state and establishing residency before applying?

 

[BABSstudent]

What if you live out west?
Obviously Texas and Cali are out.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app please excuse punctuation and spelling

Even if you live on the west coast, these schools are tough to get into.

For example, Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho all get instate tuition to UW. However, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho all get 20 seats guarenteed at the school. No more, no less. That means you have to be in the top 20 of the state to get in.

Washington has it a little easier, but we are the most populated state of five WWAMI states. Still makes it tough and we have to fight with OOR people for these seats.