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Best State for undergrad?
Started by finger6
If you can move to Texas and establish residency to be considered in-state by the time you apply to medical school, that's the answer. Not sure about specific Texas schools, but that doesn't seem to matter too much
PR wins with 56.1% of IS applicants gaining acceptance and matriculation!
WV: 52% IS matriculation.
AR: 50.7%
SC: 48.8%
Others listed here: https://www.aamc.org/media/6016/download?attachment
TX is only 33.7%, which is still pretty good when compared to CO (10.1%), MD (12.1%), UT (15.3%) or AZ (17.3%).
Of course, a comparison of the average stats of these matriculants will paint an even clearer picture: https://www.aamc.org/media/6071/download?attachment
WV: 52% IS matriculation.
AR: 50.7%
SC: 48.8%
Others listed here: https://www.aamc.org/media/6016/download?attachment
TX is only 33.7%, which is still pretty good when compared to CO (10.1%), MD (12.1%), UT (15.3%) or AZ (17.3%).
Of course, a comparison of the average stats of these matriculants will paint an even clearer picture: https://www.aamc.org/media/6071/download?attachment
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Texas. Can't beat BBQ, onion rings, cows, and 10 gallon hats.
I just want to answer something implicit in your question:
Generally, you don't establish residency in a state just by attending school there. From that perspective, there aren't states that are better for an undergrad to attend UNLESS you're specifically working outside of that to establish residence.
Usually, your college "residence" is considered transient with your permanent address at home. You have to jump through some extra hoops to establish residence in your college state if that's the goal: like living there year-around, getting a permanent address that's not on campus, and getting employment in that state.
I mention this because many, many of my students think they're going to be able to apply as MyState residents for medical school and are not eligible for it.
Generally, you don't establish residency in a state just by attending school there. From that perspective, there aren't states that are better for an undergrad to attend UNLESS you're specifically working outside of that to establish residence.
Usually, your college "residence" is considered transient with your permanent address at home. You have to jump through some extra hoops to establish residence in your college state if that's the goal: like living there year-around, getting a permanent address that's not on campus, and getting employment in that state.
I mention this because many, many of my students think they're going to be able to apply as MyState residents for medical school and are not eligible for it.
Parental advice here (so take what you need and leave the rest): Don't choose your undergraduate school based on this long-term objective. There are many factors in choosing an undergrad school, and any combination of those could more significantly impact (positively or negatively) your attractiveness as a med school candidate than merely geographical location. Such as:
(1) Degree programs that interest you
(2) Depth, breadth, and variety of coursework available both within and outside science and mathematics
(3) Desirability of the school's geographic location as a place to live (not as a function of med school favorability)
(4) Campus life
(5) Cost -- this is a big one
(6) Proximity to your support network of family and friends. Don't undervalue the potential benefit of this, when you're considering undertaking a rigorous premed course of study
(7) If the premed path doesn't work out -- you lose interest, you find yourself really struggling to get decent grades, or you just don't get into med school for any reason whatsoever -- will the school provide you a sufficient springboard to other careers or advanced degrees?
You have plenty of time to build a resume and a narrative for applying to med school. What you do with your undergraduate experience is much more important than where you do it.
Gonna confirm this- Going to college in Texas does not confer you Texas Resident status.
Pikablue
Full Member
Going to be biased and say California because the quality of education is great at UCs and Cal States, but I'm not sure if this matters when you're coming out of state and paying that out of state tuition. Plus the weather cant be beat. I hate snow haha
As awesome as we are, an IS matriculation percentage of 18% means that most well-qualified CA applicants still get exported to other states...
The oft-repeated and simple answer (paraphrased)? The cheapest state for you to go to school.
Moved to hSDN
Moving to a different state for medical school is not recommended unless you are a resident of California and already have a low undergrad GPA.
If this is the case, then move to a place where you have family/friends that can support you--it's your excuse, and will be your support network while you're there working your butt off.
There are a bunch of rules pertaining to domiciles and residency rules when it comes to medical school, and believe me, you're not the first one with this idea. So don't think that you can just get a P.O. box or rent a room and pay the darn rent or something. LOL.
There is no magic formula for getting into medical school.
Invest in a MSAR and see how many OOS (out-of-state) students are accepted to each school (esp. private schools; they tend to accept more OOS) vs. IS (in-state) residents. Due to popuation size and number of medical school seats, California has the lowest medical student: population ratio. That means that it's most difficult to get into medical school there.
If you want an easy answer, I'd say
-Texas (has its own application system, however, which is designed to prevent against the very thing that you're talking about--don't mess w/Texas 😉)
-New York
-Michigan
-Illinois (but most IS schools accept more IS so this is iffy)
As I mentioned above, there is no easy answer. You need to tailor your medical school app to your story and your "hook." All of this has to fit together in a coherent way. Don't screw yourself over moving out of state for no reason. Be smart and plan it out wisely.
Feel free to P.M. if you want more advice. <3
If this is the case, then move to a place where you have family/friends that can support you--it's your excuse, and will be your support network while you're there working your butt off.
There are a bunch of rules pertaining to domiciles and residency rules when it comes to medical school, and believe me, you're not the first one with this idea. So don't think that you can just get a P.O. box or rent a room and pay the darn rent or something. LOL.
There is no magic formula for getting into medical school.
Invest in a MSAR and see how many OOS (out-of-state) students are accepted to each school (esp. private schools; they tend to accept more OOS) vs. IS (in-state) residents. Due to popuation size and number of medical school seats, California has the lowest medical student: population ratio. That means that it's most difficult to get into medical school there.
If you want an easy answer, I'd say
-Texas (has its own application system, however, which is designed to prevent against the very thing that you're talking about--don't mess w/Texas 😉)
-New York
-Michigan
-Illinois (but most IS schools accept more IS so this is iffy)
As I mentioned above, there is no easy answer. You need to tailor your medical school app to your story and your "hook." All of this has to fit together in a coherent way. Don't screw yourself over moving out of state for no reason. Be smart and plan it out wisely.
Feel free to P.M. if you want more advice. <3
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