Best state to be a resident of?

[fakin' the funk]

I'm trying to advise a friend who is considering moving out of California to improve chances of getting into an in-state school. So which states are the "easiest" to get into their in-state schools?

I would put Vermont and Ohio at the top of the list (lots of med school seats at in-state schools relative to population of state, MCAT & GPA averages aren't sky-high) and put California way way way way down at the bottom. Any other good states? Thanks

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[Mateodaspy]

It depends on the quality of medical education he's after -- if he wants an excellent one; his chances will be improved at admission by moving to Cali or Texas... Ohio and Vermont will give him a better chance at admission in general, but the schools aren't quite as good...

I'm trying to advise a friend who is considering moving out of California to improve chances of getting into an in-state school. So which states are the "easiest" to get into their in-state schools?

I would put Vermont and Ohio at the top of the list (lots of med school seats at in-state schools relative to population of state, MCAT & GPA averages aren't sky-high) and put California way way way way down at the bottom. Any other good states? Thanks

 

[Quentin Quinn]

Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Nebraska, Arkansas, South Carolina and New Mexico are all pretty easy.

Colorado, Cali, Arizona, and pretty much every state w/o a med school... good luck.

 

[tinkerbelle]

i'd move to texas

 

[PineappleGirl]

You can add UMASS to the bottom of the list.

You have to be a resident of MA for 5 years before you can even APPLY!

 

[virilep]

this topic has already been discussed a lot. look up the thread. it's huge. and hey... I'm from KENTUCKY! hahaha. but yeah, it's one of the better ones. but look up the thread.

 

[tinkerbelle]

actually PA has tons of schools as well. That might be a good place to live.

 

[getunconcsious]

I'd vote for Washington. UW is in the top 10 medical schools, and their in-state admission percentage is MUCH greater than California's.

 

[KatieJune]

It depends on what his stats are....how desperate is he? just to get into ANY school or does he have decent stats, just not competitive for CA?

 

[MichiMO]

AZ does have a medical school and they accept 1 in 4 who apply and usually get up to about 30 on their waitlist every year.

 

[Perrin]

Mississippi - The University of Mississippi Medical Center

avg MCAT - 29
avg gpa - ~3.4
# of applicants - 250
# accepted - 100

-SEC football
- only a couple of hours from Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Florida.
-Great weather
-southern girls are gorgeous
-The state of health care in Mississippi is such that the range of pathologies seen at the medical center is wider than almost anywhere else
-the epicenter of most Blues music

 

[bbaek]

Mississippi - The University of Mississippi Medical Center

avg MCAT - 29
avg gpa - ~3.4
# of applicants - 250
# accepted - 100

-SEC football
- only a couple of hours from Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Florida.
-Great weather
-southern girls are gorgeous
-The state of health care in Mississippi is such that the range of pathologies seen at the medical center is wider than almost anywhere else
-the epicenter of most Blues music

are the southern girls REALLy gorgeous? kinda reminds me of the commercial, think it was for Yahoo!, where the punker is knitting and his friends find out and make fun of him. then in the next scene he's knitting somewhere, i think georgia, and there are some conservative southern girls who i believe were very pretty.

but i thought southern girls-gorgeous type was actually a stereotype. unless i am wrong....

 

[dmoney41]

actually PA has tons of schools as well. That might be a good place to live.

Every time this thread comes up someone says that. It's one of the worst states because pretty much none of them show serious preference to PA residents or give you a big (or any, usually) tuition cut. Pitt gives you like a whopping 3k tuition break for instate, woo!

 

[Perrin]

are the southern girls REALLy gorgeous? kinda reminds me of the commercial, think it was for Yahoo!, where the punker is knitting and his friends find out and make fun of him. then in the next scene he's knitting somewhere, i think georgia, and there are some conservative southern girls who i believe were very pretty.

but i thought southern girls-gorgeous type was actually a stereotype. unless i am wrong....

I thought it was a stereotype until I went to college here. There are a lot of very good looking women and most of them are pretty low maintenance. Don't let the conservative facade fool you though. They act prim and proper in class, but when there is a home football game, the clubs and bars are packed with girls your parents warned you about.

 

[Llenroc]

Ohio is good. 5 public MD schools, and one DO school. Ohio State and Cincinnati are top 50 schools. Wright State and MCO are fairly easy to get into. NEOUCOM is mostly for the 6 year BS/MD program. Ohio Univ. has a DO school located in rural Southeast Ohio.

Also, there's Case Western, a top 25 private school which gives some preference to in state residents.

It's hard to beat. There are lots of out-of-state med students going to school in Ohio (perhaps the most of any state), because this state probably has too many public medical student seats relative to population.

 

[USCTex]

I thought it was a stereotype until I went to college here. There are a lot of very good looking women and most of them are pretty low maintenance. Don't let the conservative facade fool you though. They act prim and proper in class, but when there is a home football game, the clubs and bars are packed with girls your parents warned you about.

Coming from LA, Southern girls are the most attractive in the country...Love'em

 

[Kazema]

Every time this thread comes up someone says that. It's one of the worst states because pretty much none of them show serious preference to PA residents or give you a big (or any, usually) tuition cut. Pitt gives you like a whopping 3k tuition break for instate, woo!

Yeah I can attest to that. Not a single interview at a PA state school for me yet (I don't really count Pitt as a state school).

I can get an interview at a NY state school but not a PA one. Go figure .

 

[Stitch626]

According to TMDSAS (the Tx match system - logistically it's run like the residency match), 40.7% of those that applied to med school in Tx in 2004 were accepted. This is not including Baylor.

8 schools in major cities (San Antonio, Dallas, Houston) and rurals areas. There should be a school that your personality melds with.

 

[BGGA]

NY: 4 state schools, 1 DO school, a many good private schools.

 

[Fantasy Sports]

If you're a genius, probably California.

If you're bad, good, or a poor genius, Texas has a school for you (and at $8500/yr nonetheless)

 

[baylorshannon]

ah...Texas. There is a residency requirement - 12 months of in-state residence with evidence of employment. You can't claim that you are a TX resident if you live here to go to school. Sorry. Also, the seven schools on TMDSAS must take 90% TX residents to continue to receive state funding.

 

[SocialistMD]

ah...Texas. There is a residency requirement - 12 months of in-state residence with evidence of employment. You can't claim that you are a TX resident if you live here to go to school. Sorry. Also, the seven schools on TMDSAS must take 90% TX residents to continue to receive state funding.

That's something I've never understood and maybe someone here can explain it to me. Baylor receives almost as much money as the public schools (thus their tuition is so cheap), but they don't seem to have to adhere to the same Texas resident percentage. Is it because they charge the out-of-staters more? Does anyone here know the conditions of their receiving state money?

 

[tigress]

Every time this thread comes up someone says that. It's one of the worst states because pretty much none of them show serious preference to PA residents or give you a big (or any, usually) tuition cut. Pitt gives you like a whopping 3k tuition break for instate, woo!

thank you! yes, PA is definitely bad in this regard -- look at the admissions/matriculant stats and you'll see that while the state schools here have some preference, it's darn sure not much! and tuitions suck here

 

[superdevil]

Ohio is good. 5 public MD schools, and one DO school. Ohio State and Cincinnati are top 50 schools. Wright State and MCO are fairly easy to get into. NEOUCOM is mostly for the 6 year BS/MD program. Ohio Univ. has a DO school located in rural Southeast Ohio.

Also, there's Case Western, a top 25 private school which gives some preference to in state residents.

It's hard to beat. There are lots of out-of-state med students going to school in Ohio (perhaps the most of any state), because this state probably has too many public medical student seats relative to population.

well put.

i suppose i have three answers for this question.

1) just to be a homer for once, its tough to beat ohio for the sheer variety of med schools we have (from prestigious private school case to enormous ohio state to ou's DO school and everything in between).

2) if you're a really competitive applicant and want to stay close to home, cali (UCLA,UCSF, Stanford) or new york (NYU, columbia, cornell, einstein, sinai...yikes!) are both incredible.

3) if you just want to get in: texas. so many schools, so protective of in-staters. alternatively, you could live in a state where, statistically, you could have a great shot as an in-stater: louisiana, mississippi, south dakota, north dakota, nebraska, etc.

 

[midwesternguy]

how about wisconsin? two instate med schools: UW and MCW

UW is top 25 and takes roughly 90% of students from instate applicants, and MCW is top 40 and takes 50% of its students from WI. Plus, although MCW is private, there is some reduction in tuition for WI residents. Not too shabby.

 

[constructor]

well put.

i suppose i have three answers for this question.

1) just to be a homer for once, its tough to beat ohio for the sheer variety of med schools we have (from prestigious private school case to enormous ohio state to ou's DO school and everything in between).

2) if you're a really competitive applicant and want to stay close to home, cali (UCLA,UCSF, Stanford) or new york (NYU, columbia, cornell, einstein, sinai...yikes!) are both incredible.

3) if you just want to get in: texas. so many schools, so protective of in-staters. alternatively, you could live in a state where, statistically, you could have a great shot as an in-stater: louisiana, mississippi, south dakota, north dakota, nebraska, etc.

new york also has a bunch of state schools that are easier to get into, so new york residents don't have to be that competitive to stay in the state. in california, however, it's a different story - there's nowhere to run if you're only mediocre.

 

[superdevil]

new york also has a bunch of state schools that are easier to get into, so new york residents don't have to be that competitive to stay in the state. in california, however, it's a different story - there's nowhere to run if you're only mediocre.

true. in light of that, i suppose that new york is actually the best state in terms of med schools.

of course, some will still say texas, which is also pretty hard to argue with.

 

[gbiz]

I have to put my midwestern two cents in...

Id vote for Ohio for sheer just getting in to any old school, but also having a good public in state (OSU) and a good private (Case).

Michigan, where I am from... well we have Wayne State, which is like Ohio's MCO for admissions, except its a better recognized school. MSU CHM is, well, MSU is weird, nobody can figure them out. They also have a really good DO program. But the biggest advantage to Michigan is you are considered in state for University of Michigan... that affect is seriously diminished if you arent from UMich undergrad (negligable if you are from Wayne State, like I am; they dont like WSU undergrad), but if you are from UMich undergrad, you chances of getting into UMich Med is significantly enhanced.

Also, UMich undergrad is in the top 5 for every race listed on AMCAS's website for number of people enrolled into med school (number 1 for caucasians)

 

[AStudent]

Michigan: 3 Allopathic, 1 Osteopathic. Not as populous as Cali, or NY and the climate deters some applicants from the south.

NY: 4 state schools, 1 DO school, a many good private schools.

 

[vikaskoth]

this site will show you the numbers instead of everyone making guesses

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2004/2004slrmat.htm


http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/ - this second link should just be a sticky in this forum, i'm sure it would answer a bunch of questions people post here

 

[BenYossarian]

That's something I've never understood and maybe someone here can explain it to me. Baylor receives almost as much money as the public schools (thus their tuition is so cheap), but they don't seem to have to adhere to the same Texas resident percentage. Is it because they charge the out-of-staters more? Does anyone here know the conditions of their receiving state money?

I may be wrong...but I think the education is only cheap for texas residents.

Also...as far as money goes...texas schools will exploit a loophole that allows out of staters to get in state tuition. I don't think any of the out-of-staters in my class pay out of state tuition.

 

[baylorshannon]

I may be wrong...but I think the education is only cheap for texas residents.

Also...as far as money goes...texas schools will exploit a loophole that allows out of staters to get in state tuition. I don't think any of the out-of-staters in my class pay out of state tuition.

I've heard of some rule that says that if an out-of-stater gets a scholarship at a Texas school, then they are eligible for in-state tuition. I thought someone just made that up, though. Nevertheless, there are still alot of non-texans competing for that 10% that can be accepted. I wouldn't know, since I'm a resident, but I would imagine that it is pretty difficult to get accepted to any schools here.

 

[MadameLULU]

I've heard of some rule that says that if an out-of-stater gets a scholarship at a Texas school, then they are eligible for in-state tuition. I thought someone just made that up, though.

At the public med schools (at least UTSW), they get a scholarship that is equivalent to paying in-state tuition.

 

[freaker]

Coming from LA, Southern girls are the most attractive in the country...Love'em

I assume you mean from Los Angeles and not Louisiana? Louisiana has got some nice ladies, too.

I've personally lived in New York, DC, southern California, London, and in the south.

Trust me, go to a football game at the Grove, and you'll see what everyone is talking about. Ole Miss has a very attractive student body. Tennessee ain't bad, either.

Whatever. I'd personally recommend looking at Texas, Ohio, or South Carolina.

 

[2badr]

Mississippi - The University of Mississippi Medical Center

avg MCAT - 29
avg gpa - ~3.4
# of applicants - 250
# accepted - 100

-SEC football
- only a couple of hours from Memphis, New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham, and Florida.
-Great weather
-southern girls are gorgeous
-The state of health care in Mississippi is such that the range of pathologies seen at the medical center is wider than almost anywhere else
-the epicenter of most Blues music

UGH!! You also have to be a resident of that state to apply.

I was born there and my parents still live there as well as a ton of family members. I was really torn between staying where I am now and going back home to establish residency. Oh well....

You are right about the wide ranges of illnesses. A lot of that unfortunately is due to a lack of (or access to) adequate healthcare (definitely that ole ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure working here). It's amazing how some people in parts of this country still continue to die from such preventable diseases/illnesses . Some parts of the state are like pictures out of a magazine...and I don't mean that as a compliment.

 

[Perrin]

UGH!! You also have to be a resident of that state to apply.

I was born there and my parents still live there as well as a ton of family members. I was really torn between staying where I am now and going back home to establish residency. Oh well....

You are right about the wide ranges of illnesses. A lot of that unfortunately is due to a lack of (or access to) adequate healthcare (definitely that ole ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure working here). It's amazing how some people in parts of this country still continue to die from such preventable diseases/illnesses . Some parts of the state are like pictures out of a magazine...and I don't mean that as a compliment.

The thread's title is asking for states that it is good to be a resident of. Yes, the health care in mississippi sucks. I love going to school here, but until they implement some tort/lottery reform, I won't practice here. We are going through a medicare/medicaid crisis currently (too many elderly and indigents than the state can support). So, if you are interested in health reform and politics, you can get in at the ground floor here in Miss.

 

[freaker]

Yeah, Mississippi majorly needs tort reform. I can't believe they've been as slow enacting it as they have, given the conservative leanings of the place.

 

[PineappleGirl]

Anyone have any more info on Arizona?
How long do you have to be a resident before you can apply?
I've looked around their website but can't find anything on residency requirements.

Also, these AAMC links vikaskoth posted have me ready to pack my bags for Puerto Rico. Anyone know what the residency requirement is there?

 

[frantic983]

We have a school for everyone:
MSU CHM
MSU COM
U of M
Wayne State

Be careful on residency restrictions though at U of M, they can be quite tricky.

 

[opinionkitten]

Anyone have any more info on Arizona?
How long do you have to be a resident before you can apply?
I've looked around their website but can't find anything on residency requirements.
?

1 year, and u of a seems pretty easy to get into

 

[PublicEnemy]

i don't like being from nj.

i liked illinois.

 

[abraxas20]

Doing to the happy "I am from KY" dance

the Wildcats call me home....

 

[Dr Who]

Anyone have any more info on Arizona?
How long do you have to be a resident before you can apply?
I've looked around their website but can't find anything on residency requirements.

Also, these AAMC links vikaskoth posted have me ready to pack my bags for Puerto Rico. Anyone know what the residency requirement is there?

Of the three accredited med schools only the University of Puerto Rico school of medicine requires you to be an island resident or have "strong" ties to the island.
The other two, Ponce and UCC accept mainland residents without any problem. Ponce is the better known of the two, and in my opinion the better school. Just do a search for Ponce, theres a lot of info on SDN, or you can PM me.

 

[tlex]

I'd vote for Washington. UW is in the top 10 medical schools, and their in-state admission percentage is MUCH greater than California's.

According to the AMCAS site somebody linked to, only 16.1% of Washington residents attend med school in state (at the UW). California is a little higher at 19.3% -- probably not a good move to make (unless you appreciate the rain up here). Plus you only get one shot to have a good interview in Washington. In California you could interview at a number of schools.

 

[notdeadyet]

The other two, Ponce and UCC accept mainland residents without any problem. Ponce is the better known of the two, and in my opinion the better school. Just do a search for Ponce, theres a lot of info on SDN, or you can PM me.

Keep in mind that Ponce requires fluency in Spanish as many of the lectures/discussions are in that language. You'd want to have more than your three years of high school Spanish before packing your bags.

 

[PineappleGirl]

Keep in mind that Ponce requires fluency in Spanish as many of the lectures/discussions are in that language. You'd want to have more than your three years of high school Spanish before packing your bags.

I've taken a bunch of upper level Spanish classes and consider myself proficient in Spanish. I've certainly got more than a basic high school knowledge of the language and have lived for several months in Mexico. Although, I'd be wary of jumping into a med school in which basic sciences were taught in Spanish. But, if I go hang out for a year and establish residency, I could probably become fluent.
What I'd like to know is how long you need to be a resident of PR to apply to UPR. It doesn't say anywhere on their website and I've tried looking for Dept of Ed links for Puerto Rico but can't find anything. Is it a year like most other states? I've looked a lot at Ponce and really like the school, but you just cannot beat the tuition at UPR. To me it would definitely be worth taking a year off and establishing residency to get that sweet resident rate.

 

[prettygirl1908]

Texas of course. We are our own little nation. A medical education for Texas residents can sometimes be cheaper than an undergraduate education!

 

[LVDoc]

Texas is probably your best bet. What other state has its own matching system, and a universal requirement to enroll at least 90% in-state matriculants at each school.

California is horrible, and even though we have 10 medical schools (MD/DO), there are way too many applicants, and quite a few private schools with no in-state mandates.

 

[CanuckRazorback]

I don't know if anyone mentioned Arkansas. Every single in-state applicant automatically gets an interview. There's only one school (UAMS), but chances of getting in are 50/50.

 

[virilep]

I don't know if anyone mentioned Arkansas. Every single in-state applicant automatically gets an interview. There's only one school (UAMS), but chances of getting in are 50/50.

yeah arkansas is known to have the least selective in state process. i got that info from my pre-med advisor. haha