california northstate

[evergreenrose]

I just started researching schools for 2019 and it seems the consensus around here and everywhere else is that it’s a sketchy school? And If that’s the case, what about their step score average? is the lack of federal loan a big issue if there's good residency option?

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[Goro]

This is the only MD school I cannot recommend to anyone.

 

[RangerBob]

There’s a whole thread about the school.

Having to borrow private funds to pay for med school is a huge issue. Most limit how much you can borrow in aggregate, and most will put you in repayment while you’re in residency. Full repayment-not IBR. There is no IBR and minimal, if any, hardship forbearance. It’s all at the discretion of the lender.

Personally, I wouldn’t consider applying to the school. And I grew up in CA. Trust me-the Midwest isn’t so bad (in many ways I like it more than CA). CA is great, but other places are too. For whatever reason Texans, Californians, and New Yorkers think everywhere other than their slice of pie is a less desireable place to live.

The school you go to sets the stage and is the start of your formation as a physician-do you really want to be associated with a school that blatantly puts the needs of its investors above that of its students? That won’t distribute federal loans when its eligible to and in the best interest of its students?

 

[realitysickness]

I didn't apply to CNU for the reasons alluded to in this thread and elsewhere on SDN even though I'm really hell-bent in staying in CA.

That being said one of my friends goes to CNU and really loves it there. After shopping around, she was able to get a lower interest rate loan from a private lender (compared to the fixed rate offered by the feds). Plus CNU has a higher Step 1 score than all the UCs except UCSF I believe...

 

[FlarpTarp]

CNUCOM and its not even close. CNUCOM has a average USMLE Step 1 Score for the inagural class of 230, this years average was 235--thats top 30 med school range and higher than just about every UC except UCSF.

CNUCOM's dean is the ex-dean of UC Davis SOM and the school has lots of staff who taught at UCSF. The applicant pool it accepts is VERY qualfied and a California MD is a California MD.

I didn't apply to CNU for the reasons alluded to in this thread and elsewhere on SDN even though I'm really hell-bent in staying in CA.

That being said one of my friends goes to CNU and really loves it there. After shopping around, she was able to get a lower interest rate loan from a private lender (compared to the fixed rate offered by the feds). Plus CNU has a higher Step 1 score than all the UCs except UCSF I believe...

This is 100% true, the private loans that CNU has are better than the federal loans. They are fixed intrest rate, offer income based repayment, deferement during residency as well as a 3 year intrest free grace period post residency. I was shocked when my friend showed me this, I really wish I chose this and stayed in California.

 

[Noeo]

I was accepted into the class of 2023 and plan to matriculate there. I really loved the school. Theres also lots of opportunities for research and they even have a 3D printer. I’m from the area so I don't have to pay for housing/food, just tuition which makes it more affordable than my other offers. 🙂

 

[Vladimir7]

The high STEP 1 score could be very well due to the students they choose to accept, not necessarily the teaching or facilities at the school.

For example, Mizzou is not necessarily at T20, yet their STEP 1 is T20. Why? Because many highly talented students go to Mizzou when not offered a spot at Wash U in St. Louis.

 

[george_butler_the_3]

I just started researching schools for 2019 and it seems the consensus around here and everywhere else is that it’s a sketchy school? And If that’s the case, what about their step score average? is the lack of federal loan a big issue if there's good residency option?

Lack of federal loans is a blessing in disguise as some of these people have mentioned. Federal Grad PLUS loan has an interest rate of 7.6%, Northstate has gone to lenders and made them "compete" with one another to offer the students money. In return, I think they have like 5-6 lenders that offer students really good interest rates as low as 4.5%. Now lets say you borrow 300k, every year post graduation that extra 3% interest adds 100k more than the lesser 4.5% interest. Which is a lot of money. These lenders also offer income based repayment, grace period, and deferment. Also, unlike the federal loans, there is no origination fee which is a big big deal that no one mentions--its 4.5% of total borrowed money.

The most recent class had a average STEP 1 score of 236. Its very high. To put it into perspective, UC Davis has a STEP 1 score of 220.

They have smart students, MSAR states 514 and 3.54 GPA.

As others have mentioned, the rotation sites they have are probably one of the best factors to consider this school. They are associated with Kaiser, Sutter, and Mercy. And those institutions have LOTS of hospitals in California.

Their innaugral class will be graduating this year and from what I've heard they will most likely do well in the match. I went to Touro a DO program in NorCal and all of the PD's Ive talked with are very impressed with the students from Northstate.

 

[george_butler_the_3]

The high STEP 1 score could be very well due to the students they choose to accept, not necessarily the teaching or facilities at the school.

For example, Mizzou is not necessarily at T20, yet their STEP 1 is T20. Why? Because many highly talented students go to Mizzou when not offered a spot at Wash U in St. Louis.

A lot of their faculty are part time at UCSF SOM/UCD SOM. Also most, if not all, of medical school is all about how well YOU do and not so much about the teachers. I learned everything from outside high yield sources, and Im sure many other physicians/current medical students will echo my remarks

 

[Goro]

To reiterate:
Why NOT to apply to CNU (from the wise @gyngyn and @Med Ed...perhaps they have something to add to this)

1. Their method of selecting the inaugural class was slapdash. They didn't use AMCAS, just faxes and PayPal. This disregard for modern systematic processing makes one wonder if their profit motive was more important than thoughtful consideration.

2. This class ended up with twice as many men as women. The second Class still has more men than women. If their mission precludes thoughtful evaluation of candidates, one wonders what other important elements of education are being missed.

3. A review of faculty credentials STILL reveals a significant lack of scholarship.

4. In a state that is at least 30% Mexican American, they only had a single representative from this group. In the 2nd Class this number has risen to 7, which still is < 10%.

5. They had the chance to enable their students to be able to get federal loans. They refused, and still do so. This says that their profits are more important than their students. Compare this to another new school (UNLV) that covered the bridge to federal loans by offering free tuition.


6. Because of these and other points too numerous to mention, the PD's I know are reluctant to consider these graduates in the same light as other applicants at the moment.

7. The LCME did not really "allow" CNU to have a class starting 2015. The LCME granted preliminary accreditation in June (not unusual), and then CNU took the unprecedented step of seating a class less than three months later. Literally ever other new medical school accredited in the modern era has gone through at least a partial AMCAS cycle. This is why the LCME is apparently pissed off at CNU, and why [students] might end up paying a price later. The only reason for CNU to have done this was to get money flowing in the door ASAP. Again, every other new medical school has used the gap between preliminary accreditation and white coat to shore up the faculty and curriculum.

8. Just compare their mission statement to any other medical school. It’s telling.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

California MD is a California MD.

That literally has no added value.

 

[FlarpTarp]

1. Seems like they still did a fine job, they had a 100% STEP 1 first time pass rate with exceptionally well USMLE STEP 1 Scores

2 and 4. Perhaps they selected the best applicant regardless of race, age, and sex. As a URM from California I firmly hate this nonsense.

3. Their dean was the dean of UCD SOM for 20 years, their anatomy profesor teaches part time at UCSF SOM, they have clerkship directors with excellent ties to PD's.

5. This has been mentioned above and responded to by many people. The lack of federal loans turned out to be a good thing. To quote the guy above me. "Federal Grad PLUS loan has an interest rate of 7.6%, Northstate has gone to lenders and made them "compete" with one another to offer the students money. In return, I think they have like 5-6 lenders that offer students really good interest rates as low as 4.5%. Now lets say you borrow 300k, every year post graduation that extra 3% interest adds 100k more than the lesser 4.5% interest. Which is a lot of money. These lenders also offer income based repayment, grace period, and deferment. Also, unlike the federal loans, there is no origination fee which is a big big deal that no one mentions--its 4.5% of total borrowed money."

6. None of the PD's ive talked to have said anything of the sort. In fact the responses ive gotten is quite the opposite and far more logical. They said that if the student is qualfied with good shelf and step scores and is competent, why on earth would you not consider them? I dont even go to this school, but a UC nearby and I know that this is not true. The med students at my school interact with the med students at CNU all the time both at clinic and other events, they are great canidates.

7. They clearly didnt need that gap. The students performed well on STEP 1.

8. What exactly is wrong with their mission statement?
I will quote it below:

"To Advance the Art and Science of Medicine through Education, Service, Scholarship, and Social Accountability


California Northstate University College of Medicine is four-year MD program dedicated to educating students to become competent, patient-centered healthcare professionals. Education will be provided using an innovative, integrated basic and medical science system-based curriculum. Service will be encouraged with faculty supervised service learning clinics. Scholarship will be encouraged with hypothesis driven Self-Directed Student Scholarly Research. Social Accountability, both locally and globally, will be the focus of the Masters Colloquium Course and Global Health discussions and opportunities, with the goal of graduating healthcare providers who can meet the challenges in the 21st century."

 

[Vladimir7]

Yeah I honestly do not see why everyone wants to come here..and this is from a CA resident. Sky high living expenses everywhere, overpopulated and traffic infested cities throughout, ridiculously high taxes and these ever worsening deadly fires. I only applied to 3 CA schools because I'm honestly ready to get out of here, "beautiful" as it may be..

 

[PeleHonuaMea]

Lack of federal loans is a blessing in disguise as some of these people have mentioned. Federal Grad PLUS loan has an interest rate of 7.6%, Northstate has gone to lenders and made them "compete" with one another to offer the students money. In return, I think they have like 5-6 lenders that offer students really good interest rates as low as 4.5%. Now lets say you borrow 300k, every year post graduation that extra 3% interest adds 100k more than the lesser 4.5% interest. Which is a lot of money. These lenders also offer income based repayment, grace period, and deferment. Also, unlike the federal loans, there is no origination fee which is a big big deal that no one mentions--its 4.5% of total borrowed money.

The most recent class had a average STEP 1 score of 236. Its very high. To put it into perspective, UC Davis has a STEP 1 score of 220.

They have smart students, MSAR states 514 and 3.54 GPA.

As others have mentioned, the rotation sites they have are probably one of the best factors to consider this school. They are associated with Kaiser, Sutter, and Mercy. And those institutions have LOTS of hospitals in California.

Their innaugral class will be graduating this year and from what I've heard they will most likely do well in the match. I went to Touro a DO program in NorCal and all of the PD's Ive talked with are very impressed with the students from Northstate.

Are they just regular private loans? If so, how are they able to approve fresh out of college students ~$60k/yr @4%? Do the students need their parents/guardians to cosign? What if they dont have parents with good credit? Or do they not check credit?... If that's the case, I'm genuinely amazed!

But if they're not regular private loans, what kind of loans are they?

 

[Noeo]

Yeah I honestly do not see why everyone wants to come here..and this is from a CA resident. Sky high living expenses everywhere, overpopulated and traffic infested cities throughout, ridiculously high taxes and these ever worsening deadly fires. I only applied to 3 CA schools because I'm honestly ready to get out of here, "beautiful" as it may be..

Cause man, this is my home. I wanna make it better. Plus my family is so close by, and I think that's very important. On top of that the other two MD schools I was accepted cost more in the long run because i'd have to pay for housing/food, where as with CNU I can just stay at home. Also, Elk Grove is super chill, its rural and not overpopulated and traffic infested 😀

 

[Vladimir7]

Cause man, this is my home. I wanna make it better. Plus my family is so close by, and I think that's very important. On top of that the other two MD schools I was accepted cost more in the long run because i'd have to pay for housing/food, where as with CNU I can just stay at home. Also, Elk Grove is super chill, its rural and not overpopulated and traffic infested 😀

Well I'll accept the it being home thing... thats very fair. More power to ya.

 

[george_butler_the_3]

Are they just regular private loans? If so, how are they able to approve fresh out of college students ~$60k/yr @4%? Do the students need their parents/guardians to cosign? What if they dont have parents with good credit? Or do they not check credit?... If that's the case, I'm genuinely amazed!

But if they're not regular private loans, what kind of loans are they?

They use local lenders from what I heard, as in local credit unions who are investing in creating physicians to serve that area. They have a pretty huge in-state bias for being a private school, for that exact reason. I believe they also offer Sallie Mae and iHelp, which are larger financial institutions. According to their financial aid website they don't need a cosigner. But then again...I didnt use a cosginer for my federal loans and I was a college student fresh out without a job...

 

[realitysickness]

1. Seems like they still did a fine job, they had a 100% STEP 1 first time pass rate with exceptionally well USMLE STEP 1 Scores

2 and 4. Perhaps they selected the best applicant regardless of race, age, and sex. As a URM from California I firmly hate this nonsense.

3. Their dean was the dean of UCD SOM for 20 years, their anatomy profesor teaches part time at UCSF SOM, they have clerkship directors with excellent ties to PD's.

5. This has been mentioned above and responded to by many people. The lack of federal loans turned out to be a good thing. To quote the guy above me. "Federal Grad PLUS loan has an interest rate of 7.6%, Northstate has gone to lenders and made them "compete" with one another to offer the students money. In return, I think they have like 5-6 lenders that offer students really good interest rates as low as 4.5%. Now lets say you borrow 300k, every year post graduation that extra 3% interest adds 100k more than the lesser 4.5% interest. Which is a lot of money. These lenders also offer income based repayment, grace period, and deferment. Also, unlike the federal loans, there is no origination fee which is a big big deal that no one mentions--its 4.5% of total borrowed money."

6. None of the PD's ive talked to have said anything of the sort. In fact the responses ive gotten is quite the opposite and far more logical. They said that if the student is qualfied with good shelf and step scores and is competent, why on earth would you not consider them? I dont even go to this school, but a UC nearby and I know that this is not true. The med students at my school interact with the med students at CNU all the time both at clinic and other events, they are great canidates.

7. They clearly didnt need that gap. The students performed well on STEP 1.

8. What exactly is wrong with their mission statement?
I will quote it below:

"To Advance the Art and Science of Medicine through Education, Service, Scholarship, and Social Accountability


California Northstate University College of Medicine is four-year MD program dedicated to educating students to become competent, patient-centered healthcare professionals. Education will be provided using an innovative, integrated basic and medical science system-based curriculum. Service will be encouraged with faculty supervised service learning clinics. Scholarship will be encouraged with hypothesis driven Self-Directed Student Scholarly Research. Social Accountability, both locally and globally, will be the focus of the Masters Colloquium Course and Global Health discussions and opportunities, with the goal of graduating healthcare providers who can meet the challenges in the 21st century."

Trying to privately message you but unable to. Do you mind messaging me?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Last year the mean step1 for american IM applicants was like 233, so, not super impressed with the 236. It's not 1998 anymore dawg

 

[PeleHonuaMea]

They use local lenders from what I heard, as in local credit unions who are investing in creating physicians to serve that area. They have a pretty huge in-state bias for being a private school, for that exact reason. I believe they also offer Sallie Mae and iHelp, which are larger financial institutions. According to their financial aid website they don't need a cosigner. But then again...I didnt use a cosginer for my federal loans and I was a college student fresh out without a job...

Hmmm.... I know Sallie Mae, major banks and FCUs generally require credit when applying for private student loans. And your rate is dependent on your credit ...which is why I'm impressed by the quoted 4%!

Im sure learning something new from SDN every day.

 

[differentiating]

2 and 4. Perhaps they selected the best applicant regardless of race, age, and sex. As a URM from California I firmly hate this nonsense.

Don't want to start any URM debates here, but I have just two comments: 1. I have a hard time believing that only 1 Mexican-American applicant was qualified enough to be selected for the first class, and 2. Personally, I think it's huge to have representation, especially in the Latinx community. I had never seen a Latina physician until I got to medical school, despite California's large Hispanic population.

5. This has been mentioned above and responded to by many people. The lack of federal loans turned out to be a good thing. To quote the guy above me. "Federal Grad PLUS loan has an interest rate of 7.6%, Northstate has gone to lenders and made them "compete" with one another to offer the students money. In return, I think they have like 5-6 lenders that offer students really good interest rates as low as 4.5%. Now lets say you borrow 300k, every year post graduation that extra 3% interest adds 100k more than the lesser 4.5% interest. Which is a lot of money. These lenders also offer income based repayment, grace period, and deferment. Also, unlike the federal loans, there is no origination fee which is a big big deal that no one mentions--its 4.5% of total borrowed money."

I mean, decreased interest rates are nice and all, but I'd be really worried about the fine print and questionable protections available with private loans. I also think that it's still very sketchy to not even make federal loans an option. (And as a note, the majority of med school loans are Stafford loans, not Grad PLUS, so the interest rate differential isn't as high.)

6. None of the PD's ive talked to have said anything of the sort. In fact the responses ive gotten is quite the opposite and far more logical. They said that if the student is qualfied with good shelf and step scores and is competent, why on earth would you not consider them? I dont even go to this school, but a UC nearby and I know that this is not true. The med students at my school interact with the med students at CNU all the time both at clinic and other events, they are great canidates.

I know I've seen a few on the interview trail but didn't interact with them for various reasons, so I agree that (at least in noncompetitive specialties) they should be fine for residency matching. But it's definitely a risk coming from an unknown entity. This year's match list will hopefully give future applicants a better sense of what to expect.

7. They clearly didnt need that gap. The students performed well on STEP 1.

As people pointed out before, this reflects more on the students themselves than on the curriculum at the school.

Personally, as a Californian who really wanted to stay in-state for medical school, I wouldn't have applied here if it was an option - largely because the loan situation is a major red flag in my book. But it really is a personal choice as to whether there are enough benefits to outweigh the notable cons.

 

[Med Ed]

To reiterate:
Why NOT to apply to CNU (from the wise @gyngyn and @Med Ed...perhaps they have something to add to this)

I can't say anything that hasn't already been said. Judging the enterprise by Step 1 averages, current interest rates, the dean's CV, or the lack of negative anecdotal feedback from PD's is all rather silly. At the end of the day the entity exists to make money. If it does, it will continue on. If it does not, it will either be closed or sold off. End of story.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Cause man, this is my home. I wanna make it better. Plus my family is so close by, and I think that's very important. On top of that the other two MD schools I was accepted cost more in the long run because i'd have to pay for housing/food, where as with CNU I can just stay at home. Also, Elk Grove is super chill, its rural and not overpopulated and traffic infested 😀

I mean, nothing prevents you from going back to CA for residency or after residency. The staying at home to save money is legit though.

 

[Vladimir7]

I mean, nothing prevents you from going back to CA for residency or after residency. The staying at home to save money is legit though.

Or never return lol. I mean I thought California was everything too, then i stayed in North Carolina and Georgia for a few months each and was like wow. $2.00 for gas, decently sized homes WITH YARDS starting at 200k, low tax, very nice and homely people, SEASONS (the summer heat sucks), i can drive for 10 hours and not be in the same state... the list goes on.

 

[Vladimir7]

I should stop, before I turned this into a California bashing thread.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Or never return lol. I mean I thought California was everything too, then i stayed in North Carolina and Georgia for a few months each and was like wow. $2.00 for gas, decently sized homes WITH YARDS starting at 200k, low tax, very nice and homely people, SEASONS (the summer heat sucks), i can drive for 10 hours and not be in the same state... the list goes on.

Yeah, I loved California. I was stationed in SD for 4 years and really liked it. But I really enjoy living elsewhere as well. The rest of the country has some amazing places to live.

 

[Noeo]

I used to live in Georgia (Alpharetta). They have cheap homes that are huge and that’s all pretty swell but if you aren’t black or white then move the frick away. There was sooooo much racism there, I hated it. Of course n=1 and your experience might vary but for me the black people were racist towards me and so were the whites. California is the greatest place on earth.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Or never return lol. I mean I thought California was everything too, then i stayed in North Carolina and Georgia for a few months each and was like wow. $2.00 for gas, decently sized homes WITH YARDS starting at 200k, low tax, very nice and homely people, SEASONS (the summer heat sucks), i can drive for 10 hours and not be in the same state... the list goes on.

Did you really mean to say that?

 

[Toutie]

Did you really mean to say that?

lol...I assume he meant homey. BUT...then again, I've been to Georgia and there are some pretty homely people there. 😛

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

California is the greatest place on earth.

The constant wildfires, ridiculous cost of living, absurd politics, and trust fund homeless hipsters reveal that statement was a lie.

 

[RangerBob]

The constant wildfires, ridiculous cost of living, absurd politics, and trust fund homeless hipsters reveal that statement was a lie.

It’s not so bad if you get out of LA and SF. Homes are still ridiculous where I live, and taxes are as well, but I have almost no traffic and see the ocean regularly. Yosemite and the redwoods aren’t an unreasonable distance away. But they’re starting to get crowded by those same hipsters...

Still, CA is definitely overrated, and Californians need to see more of the US and see how great it is.

I still don’t get why I pay so much more in taxes but we all get much worse services than elsewhere. I literally walked in and out of a DMV my intern year (decent sized but smaller city) and had my license and plates within 15 minutes of entering. That includes the wait.

And they were friendly!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

It’s not so bad if you get out of LA and SF. Homes are still ridiculous where I live, and taxes are as well, but I have almost no traffic and see the ocean regularly. Yosemite and the redwoods aren’t an unreasonable distance away. But they’re starting to get crowded by those same hipsters...

Still, CA is definitely overrated, and Californians need to see more of the US and see how great it is.

I still don’t get why I pay so much more in taxes but we all get much worse services than elsewhere. I literally walked in and out of a DMV my intern year (decent sized but smaller city) and had my license and plates within 15 minutes of entering. That includes the wait.

And they were friendly!

I had to pay like $250 to register my car every year in CA. I also had to wait for hours just to turn in the form before having to wait a couple of weeks to go back and pick up the plates the first time I got them. And that was with making an appointment. When I registered it in VA, I just walked in, waited about 20 minutes, then paid $91 to register it for 2 years and got my plates at the same appointment. And they were super nice!

 

[PeleHonuaMea]

I had to pay like $250 to register my car every year in CA. I also had to wait for hours just to turn in the form before having to wait a couple of weeks to go back and pick up the plates the first time I got them. And that was with making an appointment. When I registered it in VA, I just walked in, waited about 20 minutes, then paid $91 to register it for 2 years and got my plates at the same appointment. And they were super nice!

HaHa! I'll one up you!

To get car registration in paradise:
1) go to an establishment to have your car inspected and pay for your "safety check". This can sometimes take up to 1-2hrs. Depending on the inspectors mood and direction the wind is blowing.
2) take proof of your safety check and stand in line for 2 hrs at the DME to pay for your car registration. How much for our SUV you ask? Not much, only $700/year.
3) then you drive BACK to whoever did your safety check to show them your newly paid registration and get your "safety tags". Yes, they're literally just stickers. Why couldn't they give it to you the first time? Shhhhh... You ask too many questions!

It's an all day event just to get your car registered. I wish I was kidding.

Why is it so expensive? Because we have to fund our 10billion dollar, 20mile rail somehow 😕. Also wish I was kidding.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

HaHa! I'll one up you!

To get car registration in paradise:
1) go to an establishment to have your car inspected and pay for your "safety check". This can sometimes take up to 1-2hrs. All depends on the inspectors mood and direction the wind is blowing.
2) take proof of your safety check and stand in line for 2 hrs at the DME to pay for your car registration. How much for our SUV you ask? Not much, only $700/year.
3) then you drive BACK to whoever did your safety check to show them your newly paid registration and get your "safety tags". Yes, they're literally just stickers. Why couldn't they give it to you the first time? Shhhhh... You ask too many questions!

It's an all day event just to get your car registered. I wish I was kidding.

Why is it so expensive? Because we have to fund our 10billion dollar, 20mile rail somehow 😕. Also wish I was kidding.

Sorry, mate. I still one-up you. I bought my car in Hawaii, so not only did I experience all of that, but then I had to go through all the hell of getting it shipped to California and all the stupid registration bull****--because California does not have a military exemption if you reside in California anywhere but a military base. Which means I also got to pay sales tax on it twice.

 

[Vladimir7]

Did you really mean to say that?

O LOL. I always thought of homely as nice and friendly... but I just looked it up, definitely NOT what I meant.

 

[MyOdyssey]

O LOL. I always thought of homely as nice and friendly... but I just looked it up, definitely NOT what I meant.

Perhaps you meant to say comely, not homely.

 

[PeleHonuaMea]

Sorry, mate. I still one-up you. I bought my car in Hawaii, so not only did I experience all of that, but then I had to go through all the hell of getting it shipped to California and all the stupid registration bull****--because California does not have a military exemption if you reside in California anywhere but a military base. Which means I also got to pay sales tax on it twice.

lol! Shootz... u win!

O LOL. I always thought of homely as nice and friendly... but I just looked it up, definitely NOT what I meant.

😆😆🤣🤣

 

[hellohellohi]

just an observation, but it’s seems it's always the same 3 usernames that keep commenting about how great of a school northstate is, and regularly make an appearance the moment northstate is mentioned around these forums (see: google)... sketch

 

[evergreenrose]

I didn't apply to CNU for the reasons alluded to in this thread and elsewhere on SDN even though I'm really hell-bent in staying in CA.

That being said one of my friends goes to CNU and really loves it there. After shopping around, she was able to get a lower interest rate loan from a private lender (compared to the fixed rate offered by the feds). Plus CNU has a higher Step 1 score than all the UCs except UCSF I believe...

Um, no. A simple search shows that UCI's step score average was 238, higher than CNU.... What are your sources for the other UC's?

 

[pendaflex1]

Um, no. A simple search shows that UCI's step score average was 238, higher than CNU.... What are your sources for the other UC's?

Hi where did you find UCI's 2018 step score average? Can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[Vladimir7]

On that note, where are people finding their "CNU is only 2nd to UCSF" stats??? According to the CNU website itself, the class of 2019's average step 1 (which means they took it around 2016-2017) was 228. CNU Student Achievement

Now, what were some of the 2016 averages for the beloved California schools? Let's see,
UCSF - 238
UCLA - 231 (could be higher, but they have a mission)
UCSD - 234
Stanford - 238
USC - 234-238
UCD - 220 (also have a mission, to the rural/underserved)
UCI - 237

So...I'm assuming CNU did better in their following years, better than 228, but I find it hard to believe that when it comes to UC's, they are second to UCSF.

 

[pendaflex1]

Yeah it is hard to believe, but our class (c/o 2020) did score an average of 236. Don't know if thats "better than all UC's besides UCSF," but its pretty good regardless!

 

[hellohellohi]

On that note, where are people finding their "CNU is only 2nd to UCSF" stats??? According to the CNU website itself, the class of 2019's average step 1 (which means they took it around 2016-2017) was 228.

Now, what were some of the 2016 averages for the beloved California schools? Let's see,
UCSF - 238
UCLA - 231 (could be higher, but they have a mission)
UCSD - 234
Stanford - 238
USC - 234-238
UCD - 220 (also have a mission, to the rural/underserved)
UCI - 237

So...I'm assuming CNU did better in their following years, better than 228, but I find it hard to believe that when it comes to UC's, they are second to UCSF.

Yeah it's because some of the students that go there love overexaggerating and fudging stats on these forums instead of doing proper research.

Hi where did you find UCI's 2018 step score average? Can't seem to find it anywhere.

Use google, type UCI average step score, should be on the first page.

 

[Med Ed]

Let us not forget the median MCATs of the California schools:

Stanford - 519
Keck - 517
UCLA - 517
UCSD - 517
UCSF - 517
UC Irvine - 515
CNU - 513
UC Davis - 512
UC Riverside - 509
Loma Linda - 508

Most of these schools have median stats that are essentially indistinguishable. Most of them appear to generate average Step 1 scores in the 230's, also indistinguishable in any practical sense.

Given the ubiquity of Step 1 study materials, and the universal focus of medical students on preparing for Step 1, it comes as no surprise that CNU step scores are fine. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the CNU preclinical curriculum does not harm board prep.

 

[pendaflex1]

Yeah it's because some of the students that go there love overexaggerating and fudging stats on these forums instead of doing proper research.

Use google, type UCI average step score, should be on the first page.

have you done your own "proper research"? doesn't look like theres any info on avg step score for UCI this year, 2018.
Honestly, I speak for most of my classmates that we could care less about having "better step scores than other UC's." We did well, period.
Like Med Ed says CNU preclinical curriculum doesn't harm board prep. In a year, he'll be saying the same thing about our clinical curriculum after our match results.
Just northsplaining.

 

[hellohellohi]

have you done your own "proper research"? doesn't look like theres any info on avg step score for UCI this year, 2018.
Honestly, I speak for most of my classmates that we could care less about having "better step scores than other UC's." We did well, period.
Like Med Ed says CNU preclinical curriculum doesn't harm board prep. In a year, he'll be saying the same thing about our clinical curriculum after our match results.
Just northsplaining.

No one is saying CNU won't prepare you, as most med students use the same resources to study for the step, hence the scores (which is what Med Ed stated). I'm just saying, don't give out false information i.e like how CNU's step score is #2 out of the UC's when it's false info. Google is your friend, search well and you will find that UCI's (I didn't check the other UC schools) as of last year was higher than CNU's. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

[pendaflex1]

No one is saying CNU won't prepare you, as most med students use the same resources to study for the step, hence the scores (which is what Med Ed stated). I'm just saying, don't give out false information i.e like how CNU's step score is #2 out of the UC's when it's false info. Google is your friend, search well and you will find that UCI's (I didn't check the other UC schools) as of last year was higher than CNU's. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Yeah i think we're all talking about CNU's 2018 step 1 avg of 236... and not last year's score of 228, which was obviously lower than other UC's. Don't know if its too hard for you to understand that we're trying to compare step avgs from the same year...

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah i think we're all talking about CNU's 2018 step 1 avg of 236... and not last year's score of 228, which was obviously lower than other UC's. Don't know if its too hard for you to understand that we're trying to compare step avgs from the same year...

You missed the point. The point was that people claimed CNU was second only to UCSF. And for the year where data is completely available, that is false. And for this year where CNU apparently did better, there is not complete data for all the UCs, which means you still can’t claim they did better than all but UCSF.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Guys average step score is a horrible way to guage quality of a school

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Guys average step score is a horrible way to guage quality of a school

That too.