CA resident or FL resident?

[mayaalk]

Do I have have better chances applying as a florida resident to CA and Florida medical schools or applying as a CA resident to CA and Florida medical schools? I go to a UC and graduated from CA high school (currently a CA resident) but have lived in Florida for 5 years and my dad also lives there so I can become FL resident during my gap year.

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[elevatormusic]

Florida resident applying to Florida schools!

Source: Floridian @ a UC.

 

[KnightDoc]

Do I have have better chances applying as a florida resident to CA and Florida medical schools or applying as a CA resident to CA and Florida medical schools? I go to a UC and graduated from CA high school (currently a CA resident) but have lived in Florida for 5 years and my dad also lives there so I can become FL resident during my gap year.

Those just so happen to be two of the worst states to be coming from, so there is no obviously better choice there. You should make your decision based on whether you'd rather have an IS preference in CA or FL.

 

[mayaalk]

Florida resident applying to Florida schools!

Source: Floridian @ a UC.

Do you think I will have better chances at getting into Cal schools as a FL resident compared to CA resident?

 

[mayaalk]

Those just so happen to be two of the worst states to be coming from, so there is no obviously better choice there. You should make your decision based on whether you'd rather have an IS preference in CA or FL.

Depending on the med school?

 

[KnightDoc]

Depending on the med school?

What do you mean? Of course, everything is individual by med school. It's just that, in the aggregate, CA and FL are among the toughest states in the country.

The national matriculation rate is around 43%. For CA, it is 40% (17% IS and 23% OOS -- meaning 23% of CA applicants matriculate OOS) and for FL it is 34% (20% IS and 14% OOS). They both suck, but they are just aggregate numbers which don't necessarily reflect on you. The best advice is to pick the state where you want the IS preference, because in all states, that is very significant for the public schools.

 

[KnightDoc]

Do you think I will have better chances at getting into Cal schools as a FL resident compared to CA resident?

Never.

 

[gyngyn]

The mean MCAT for successful FL matriculants is 511.2.
CA matriculants need a higher score: 513.5. https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-10/2020_FACTS_Table_A-20.pdf
Only two CA MD schools have a stated preference for IS applicants (they are both relatively small schools).

 

[KnightDoc]

The mean MCAT for successful FL matriculants is 511.2.
CA matriculants need a higher score: 513.5.

Yup! It's a double edged sword, and this is probably what @elevatormusic was referring to in giving his advice above.

CA has roughly double the number of applicants and IS seats, and at better schools, so it has more IS maticulants, with a lower IS matriculation rate, and with higher scores. FL has roughly half the applicants and IS seats, resulting in fewer IS matriculants, but with a higher IS matriculation rate and with lower scores at comparatively less prestigious schools.

None of this changes the fact that both CA and FL (and every other state) have IS admission preferences, so as long as your stats are in range for any given school, you'll have a better chance coming from CA for CA schools and from FL for FL schools, regardless of what the aggregate stats say.

 

[Doctoscope]

Avoid CA residency, and go for FL.

 

[KnightDoc]

The mean MCAT for successful FL matriculants is 511.2.
CA matriculants need a higher score: 513.5. https://www.aamc.org/system/files/2020-10/2020_FACTS_Table_A-20.pdf
Only two CA MD schools have a stated preference for IS applicants (they are both relatively small schools).

While they might not have a stated preference, when I ran the numbers two years ago, UCSF had a 4.32% IS admit rate and 2.55% OOS while USC had 7.20% and 2.67% and Stanford had 2.76% and 2.43% (the only one I saw that wasn't materially different). I didn't do the analysis for UCLA, which is the only other school I might have looked at. And, this is even with IS yields being way higher than OOS.

If there was no preference, how would one explain UCSF offering interviews to 261/3517 IS as compared to 215/4243 OOS in order to enroll a class that ends up being 115 IS and only 34 OOS? I think this evidences a preference at every stage of the process (IIs and As). To me, it look like they do what they need to do to get a 75% IS enrollment, which is very consistent with the mission of a state school, even a T10. If this weren't so, why don't all of the T10 have a 75% CA enrollment?? (I know, I know, all schools attract candidates due to regional preferences, but still, Harvard isn't 75% MA or New England, Penn isn't 75% PA, etc.! THOSE private schools don't have meaningful IS preferences.)

I became so disillusioned by the OOS numbers that I decided to look no further, but my observation is that the UCs definitely have a preference, even if they don't state it! There is no other way to account for such a divergence in favor of one state (coincidentally, CA) over the other 49, as though CA has more, better qualified candidates than the other 49 states combined.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Avoid CA residency, and go for FL.

I agree with this. Since you can only claim one state residency, I think your chances are better in Florida. Unless you are an absolutely outstanding applicant, I would choose Florida residence over CA. CA does indeed favor in-state applicants but the competition is fierce. As noted above, the average matriculant MCAT score is 2 points higher in CA. FL residency will make for an easier road to acceptance.

 

[Banco]

I feel like competition for California pre-meds is fiercer. Doesn't Florida have a bunch of medical schools that favor instate students? I'd probably go for that if I could.

 

[r2med]

Do I have have better chances applying as a florida resident to CA and Florida medical schools or applying as a CA resident to CA and Florida medical schools? I go to a UC and graduated from CA high school (currently a CA resident) but have lived in Florida for 5 years and my dad also lives there so I can become FL resident during my gap year.

Do you really have to make a choice? I don't think AMCAS asks for residency. Even if you took a gap year in FL and became a FL resident, you may still be considered CA resident based on high school and college? I don't know, but worth looking into.

 

[wysdoc]

Do you really have to make a choice? I don't think AMCAS asks for residency. Even if you took a gap year in FL and became a FL resident, you may still be considered CA resident based on high school and college? I don't know, but worth looking into.

AMCAS may not ask for residency, but the individual schools do ask questions to determine it.
OP's dad is a FL resident.
OP says "I have lived in FL for 5 years" - if those 5 years are the most recent 5 years, he/she is already a FL resident.
Going to CA for college does not make you a CA resident, but if their dad moved from CA to FL and he/she has never lived in FL full time, it might take a gap year there to qualify.

 

[r2med]

AMCAS may not ask for residency, but the individual schools do ask questions to determine it.
OP's dad is a FL resident.
OP says "I have lived in FL for 5 years" - if those 5 years are the most recent 5 years, he/she is already a FL resident.
Going to CA for college does not make you a CA resident, but if their dad moved from CA to FL and he/she has never lived in FL full time, it might take a gap year there to qualify.

I thought completing high school in a state made you a resident of that state for higher degree purposes, no? (FYI - OP said currently a CA resident and could become FL resident during gap year)

 

[KnightDoc]

I thought completing high school in a state made you a resident of that state for higher degree purposes, no? (FYI - OP said currently a CA resident and could become FL resident during gap year)

Whatever you end up doing, which depends on specific state rules, yes, you have to make a choice!

AMCAS certainly does ask for residency, and that's what all schools key off of. Otherwise, you could simply tell each school across the country that you are a resident of their state, grab whatever preference comes with that, and sort it out later after you see where you have As!!

 

[r2med]

AMCAS certainly does ask for residency

I stand corrected. I just checked and yes, AMCAS does ask for "Legal residency" where you type the county and state.

 

[gyngyn]

While they might not have a stated preference, when I ran the numbers two years ago, UCSF had a 4.32% IS admit rate and 2.55% OOS while USC had 7.20% and 2.67% and Stanford had 2.76% and 2.43% (the only one I saw that wasn't materially different). I didn't do the analysis for UCLA, which is the only other school I might have looked at. And, this is even with IS yields being way higher than OOS.

If there was no preference, how would one explain UCSF offering interviews to 261/3517 IS as compared to 215/4243 OOS in order to enroll a class that ends up being 115 IS and only 34 OOS? I think this evidences a preference at every stage of the process (IIs and As). To me, it look like they do what they need to do to get a 75% IS enrollment, which is very consistent with the mission of a state school, even a T10. If this weren't so, why don't all of the T10 have a 75% CA enrollment?? (I know, I know, all schools attract candidates due to regional preferences, but still, Harvard isn't 75% MA or New England, Penn isn't 75% PA, etc.! THOSE private schools don't have meaningful IS preferences.)

I became so disillusioned by the OOS numbers that I decided to look no further, but my observation is that the UCs definitely have a preference, even if they don't state it! There is no other way to account for such a divergence in favor of one state (coincidentally, CA) over the other 49, as though CA has more, better qualified candidates than the other 49 states combined.

There is a significant component of applicant's preference.

 

[KnightDoc]

There is a significant component of applicant's preference.

Yeah -- no matter how you slice it, CA schools are really awesome and really difficult to break into, especially from OOS, given the high level of competition IS. While Stanford is probably nearly everyone's dream, and UCLA and UCSF would be great for a variety of reasons, after studying the numbers I realized that my time and effort would be better spent on schools where I'd have a more realistic chance, not being a rock star and coming from OOS.

The answer to OP's question is that he'd be far better off being a CA resident if he's targeting CA schools. If not, he'll have a better shot of actually being admitted to a FL school as a FL resident, given their higher IS admit rate and lower stats!