cali post bacc

[mizzoudude]

I am new to SDN and am sorry if I post this message twice:
I am graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia in May ('05) with a 3.29 in bio (undergrad) with a 27 MCAT. I applied to many schools and got rejected by all. I hate Missouri's cold weather and am looking to move to Calfornia. I plan to work there for a year, as by June I will be a certified polysomnography tech...thereby working for a year and establishing residency. Scripps, Mills, USC, SFSU, CSU-Hayward are all listed as top schools in Cali....anyone have any experience with a post bacc in Cali?? I want to definately increase my MCAT score (as it is not great), slightly improve my GPA (as I know it is hard to get a GPA back up) and also show adcoms that I can do well in hard courses. Or should I also retake prereqs? I have good EC's, shadowing, and work experience (as a house orderly and neurodiagnostic tech). Please give me some advice and opinion as if I am taking the right route?

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[jays2cool4u]

I am new to SDN and am sorry if I post this message twice:
I am graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia in May ('05) with a 3.29 in bio (undergrad) with a 27 MCAT. I applied to many schools and got rejected by all. I hate Missouri's cold weather and am looking to move to Calfornia. I plan to work there for a year, as by June I will be a certified polysomnography tech...thereby working for a year and establishing residency. Scripps, Mills, USC, SFSU, CSU-Hayward are all listed as top schools in Cali....anyone have any experience with a post bacc in Cali?? I want to definately increase my MCAT score (as it is not great), slightly improve my GPA (as I know it is hard to get a GPA back up) and also show adcoms that I can do well in hard courses. Or should I also retake prereqs? I have good EC's, shadowing, and work experience (as a house orderly and neurodiagnostic tech). Please give me some advice and opinion as if I am taking the right route?

You might want to sit tight or go east. From what I have read in the forums, establishing residency in California might not be a good idea. California is probably the most competitive state in the U.S. for med. school admission.

 

[mizzoudude]

Please let me know why Cali is the hardest state to get into med school is...is it because of the poplation and the sheer amount of people who apply? I really want to move out there and achieve my goals of becoming a physician. Please anyone with experience with California post bacc experience, post something. It will give me info/support/advice/etc. I am starting to work a lot and save money to move. I would appreciate any further information. Thank you all.

 

[imrep1972]

Please let me know why Cali is the hardest state to get into med school is...is it because of the poplation and the sheer amount of people who apply? I really want to move out there and achieve my goals of becoming a physician. Please anyone with experience with California post bacc experience, post something. It will give me info/support/advice/etc. I am starting to work a lot and save money to move. I would appreciate any further information. Thank you all.

I attended a State school for my post bacc... with very few exceptions i would recommend against that (I would not go to Hayward) because they typically are looked down upon. The other schools you mentioned I do not know specifically but I have heard similar things about them.

California is the hardest state to get into med school from because there is something like 50 million people in the state and only a few schools. If you look at stats for many schools across the country that take out-of-state students, California is almost always at or near the top of the list of states students are from.

If you truly want to do med school, I would recommend getting in anywhere you can (translation, don't get hung up on post-bac and med school *in* Cali) and focus more on residency and practice in California down the road. That is when you will have more time/money to be able to enjoy where you live, anyway.

One other thing: if you plan to practice in Cali, be prepared to make less money (as a general rule) and have a higher cost of living. That is, unless you are willing to live and practice in "less desirable" parts of Cali - ie. Fresno, Bakersfield, Modesto, etc. I know of Primary docs who are making as little as $70K out here, and $100K for IM/FP is considered a good income in most metro areas. Meanwhile, a house in OC *averages* $500K and is more expensive in LA or SF.

 

[wannabedoc34]

I suggest you go to either NY, Texas or Ohio. They got tons of med schools to choose from! Stay away from California (atleast for now).