California-phobia?

[aphobic]

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I've been lurking these forums and noticed a lot of comments mentioning that med school applicants from california are somewhat discriminated outside of california.

But why? A lot of stuff has been implied, from competitiveness of california applicants to the sheer number of california applicants to preferences for in-state applicants. But I'd like a more solid answer+explanation.

Thanks =)

 

[nogolfinsnow]

I've been lurking these forums and noticed a lot of comments mentioning that med school applicants from california are somewhat discriminated outside of california.

But why? A lot of stuff has been implied, from competitiveness of california applicants to the sheer number of california applicants to preferences for in-state applicants. But I'd like a more solid answer+explanation.

Thanks =)

What do you mean? My school is 3k miles from California and California transplants make up about 1/4 to 1/3 of our class (including me). I think at private schools Californians have just as good a chance as people from other states. At state schools Californians will get lower priority just like everyone else not from that school's state.

 

[Brent8927]

I've never heard of CA students being discriminated against out of state, unless it's a state school, where you would expect they will exhibit preference for in-state applicants.

I interviewed at, and will be attending, Loyola, and was told about 10% of their class is from California. 50% are from Illinois, but this is because the bulk of their applicants are from the Midwest, not because of a regional preference.

I've also been told CA students generally do very well at getting into NY schools.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I've been lurking these forums and noticed a lot of comments mentioning that med school applicants from california are somewhat discriminated outside of california.

But why? A lot of stuff has been implied, from competitiveness of california applicants to the sheer number of california applicants to preferences for in-state applicants. But I'd like a more solid answer+explanation.

Thanks =)

OOS is fine ... in fact, there are certain schools -NY, RFU etc - that really like CA applicants. The HUGE two edged sword of CA is the instate, aka UC, schools. They are fantastic schools, there are 4 (I believe as of now) state schools, BUT they are extremely competitive and do not have the forgiving nature known in some other state school systems. I have friends who interviewed at Harvard and Yale, but didn't get offers from certain UC schools.

 

[JJMrK]

OOS is fine ... in fact, there are certain schools -NY, RFU etc - that really like CA applicants. The HUGE two edged sword of CA is the instate, aka UC, schools. They are fantastic schools, there are 4 (I believe as of now) state schools, BUT they are extremely competitive and do not have the forgiving nature known in some other state school systems. I have friends who interviewed at Harvard and Yale, but didn't get offers from certain UC schools.

5: SD, LA, SF, Davis, Irvine.

 

[bigbad]

5: SD, LA, SF, Davis, Irvine.

+ soon to be riverside 😀

 

[BJPENNSTATE]

most of the comments on SDN is that it's HARD for cali applicants to attend a CALI med school, not the other way around.

u'll definitely get into any U.S. school outside of cali if u have 3.6/30 combo and apply broadly, however, with that score...ur not going to a UC med school (only if ur URM)

 

[flaahless]

most of the comments on SDN is that it's HARD for cali applicants to attend a CALI med school, not the other way around.

u'll definitely get into any U.S. school outside of cali if u have 3.6/30 combo and apply broadly, however, with that score...ur not going to a UC med school (only if ur URM)

Foolish. Plenty of non-urms get in with those numbers.

The problem is that there are a LOT of CA residents with very strong numbers, which makes it difficult to stand out to adcoms. Some students shoot for the 38/40 only to end up moving OOS. Some have strong numbers and fantastic ECs but fail to show that on their app and end up getting rejected pre-secondary. Others are really great applicants with strong apps but apply late. Others have experiences that mirror another student that the school already accepted, and end up getting waitlisted.

There are a variety of reasons why CA is difficult. To increase your chances, make your application as strong as possible and try and have unique experiences and interests. This will give you an app that stands out rather than one that looks like 1500 others with 30/3.6.

 

[bigbad]

most of the comments on SDN is that it's HARD for cali applicants to attend a CALI med school, not the other way around.

u'll definitely get into any U.S. school outside of cali if u have 3.6/30 combo and apply broadly, however, with that score...ur not going to a UC med school (only if ur URM)

Who exactly would be considered an URM?

Basically everyone except white/any type of asian?

Great...

 

[JaggerPlate]

5: SD, LA, SF, Davis, Irvine.

DOH. I forgot SF.

 

[JaggerPlate]

+ soon to be riverside 😀

and I think Merced eventually right??

 

[Brent8927]

and I think Merced eventually right??

I believe a Merced medical school is in the planning phase, but maybe not as far along as the Riverside idea.

 

[WannaBePreMed]

I've been lurking these forums and noticed a lot of comments mentioning that med school applicants from california are somewhat discriminated outside of california.

But why? A lot of stuff has been implied, from competitiveness of california applicants to the sheer number of california applicants to preferences for in-state applicants. But I'd like a more solid answer+explanation.

Thanks =)

UC system = public state funded => Instate Student Preferred

To me it almost seems like UC's have different criteria(besides the numbers) for choosing their medical students.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I believe a Merced medical school is in the planning phase, but maybe not as far along as the Riverside idea.

When will Riverside start taking applications??

 

[NotAndrew]

Who exactly would be considered an URM?

Basically everyone except white/any type of asian?

Great...

Hispanics count as URMs. Silly boy.

 

[WannaBePreMed]

When will Riverside start taking applications??

From their site: http://medschool.ucr.edu/faqs.html#open

"When is the medical school anticipated to open and what will be the enrollment?
Current plans call for the medical school to accept its first four-year class of 50 medical students in fall of 2012. At full build-out, plans call for total enrollment of 400 medical students, or 100 per class."



From UC site:http://www.universityofcalifornia.ed.../article/17838

"Based on more than three years of planning led by UC Merced's Dean of Natural Sciences Maria Pallavicini, in September 2006, UC Merced submitted to the UC Office of the President a preliminary program proposal to establish a School of Medicine. The proposed school will help meet health care workforce demands by training physicians through expanded professional training in medical education and research. Current plans call for the enrollment of the first class of 32 students in 2013 though factors such as approval process, funding and hiring of leadership will affect the time line."

 

[Pinkertinkle]

With the budget crisis california and thus UC faces on an annual basis I doubt UCR medical school will accept anyone prior to 2020.

 

[bigbad]

Hispanics count as URMs. Silly boy.

I know. That's why I said everyone except whites and asians.

 

[NotAndrew]

I know. That's why I said everyone except whites and asians.

Hispanics are a subset of Whites. No Joke.

 

[Brent8927]

With the budget crisis california and thus UC faces on an annual basis I doubt UCR medical school will accept anyone prior to 2020.

Unfortunately you're probably right. Who knows when a Merced medical school would start accepting students...

 

[Brent8927]

Hispanics are a subset of Whites. No Joke.

True. So are Middle Easterners, I believe. Though somtimes they're considerd Asian. They're really everything kind of all mixed together.

To make things a bit more confusing, I used to work for a non-profit near SF, where we would enter Hispanics as Native American rather than White. Which to me honestly makes more sense, since the average Hispanic has much more indigenous blood than Spanish/White blood.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Hispanics are a subset of Whites. No Joke.

Sweet ... I am claiming URM. If anyone gives me any beef, I'm directing them to you!!

 

[chessknt]

and I think Merced eventually right??

UCMerced is a joke. Look at it on google maps and youll see what I mean.

 

[WannaBePreMed]

UCMerced is a joke. Look at it on google maps and youll see what I mean.

I looked, and it's not very pretty.

 

[Brent8927]

I looked, and it's not very pretty.

But it probably looks really pretty on the architect's drawings 🙂

 

[batman1983]

most of the comments on SDN is that it's HARD for cali applicants to attend a CALI med school, not the other way around.

u'll definitely get into any U.S. school outside of cali if u have 3.6/30 combo and apply broadly, however, with that score...ur not going to a UC med school (only if ur URM)

a 3.6/30 combo would probably be enough to get into med school if you were a non-CA resident of the state school backup. However, since the UCs are so competitive to get into, I think a CA resident needs a higher GPA/MCAT combo just to get into med school.
I agree with you that the UCs seem to have a completely different criteria to evaluate applicants. I know lots of ppl that have interviewed at top 10 schools, but no UC invites, and then I know ppl with ridicolously low stats that got invites/acceptances from UCs. I think the UCs are geared towards applicants that are URMs, want to work with URM patient populations, and/or have done research.

 

[BlueElmo]

UCMerced is a joke. Look at it on google maps and youll see what I mean.

Believe it or not, some of my friends only decided to go to Merced because they were guaranteed to transfer into another UC after 2 years there. I agree Merced is a joke.

 

[BlueElmo]

So 3.6/30 from a UC undergraduate is not enough for UC medical schools? I'm talking about the lower tier ones like Irvine and Davis.

 

[WannaBePreMed]

So 3.6/30 from a UC undergraduate is not enough for UC medical schools? I'm talking about the lower tier ones like Irvine and Davis.

Lol Davis and Irvine,lower tier....

 

[BlueElmo]

Lol Davis and Irvine,lower tier....

Well they are compared to UCSF and UCLA, admissions-wise.

 

[riceman04]

most of the comments on SDN is that it's HARD for cali applicants to attend a CALI med school, not the other way around.

u'll definitely get into any U.S. school outside of cali if u have 3.6/30 combo and apply broadly, however, with that score...ur not going to a UC med school (only if ur URM)

LOL...not sure if I want to interpret the bolded statement as a backhanded comment...depends on my mood.

For now, lets just assume you are making conclusions haphazardly based on unsupported anecdotal evidence. Maybe I'll feel different about said statement tomorrow, but for now I'll just pass you off as belonging in the "foolish" pile.

 

[riceman04]

a 3.6/30 combo would probably be enough to get into med school if you were a non-CA resident of the state school backup. However, since the UCs are so competitive to get into, I think a CA resident needs a higher GPA/MCAT combo just to get into med school.
I agree with you that the UCs seem to have a completely different criteria to evaluate applicants. I know lots of ppl that have interviewed at top 10 schools, but no UC invites, and then I know ppl with ridicolously low stats that got invites/acceptances from UCs. I think the UCs are geared towards applicants that are URMs, want to work with URM patient populations, and/or have done research.

evidence?
Just curious!!!!
Thanks

 

[WannaBePreMed]

Well they are compared to UCSF and UCLA, admissions-wise.

Fair Enough 😉

 

[batman1983]

So 3.6/30 from a UC undergraduate is not enough for UC medical schools? I'm talking about the lower tier ones like Irvine and Davis.

Thats hard to say, but I would not think so unless you have a profile that satisfies one or multiple of these criteria: research, URM, or working with URM patient populations(health disparities).

evidence?

Just curious!!!!
Thanks

Im not trying to disparage any group, but I do think the UCs look for applicants of certain profiles with some examples:

URM==>differences in avg nonsubjective metrics(GPA/MCAT) between accepted URMs and non-URMs, programs(indirectly including PRIME)/offices within the UC medical schools for the recruitment/retention of URMs.
Working with URM patient populations==>UCs' missions statements to reduce health disparities, PRIME, Drew, etc
Research==> The UCs strong research schools and I think this one is pretty self explanatory based on their reputation, mission statements/values, and profiles of applicants interviewed/accepted at UCs that did not fit one of the other two criteria.

 

[riceman04]

Thats hard to say, but I would not think so unless you have a profile that satisfies one or multiple of these criteria: research, URM, or working with URM patient populations(health disparities).



Im not trying to disparage any group, but I do think the UCs look for applicants of certain profiles with some examples:

URM==>differences in avg nonsubjective metrics(GPA/MCAT) between accepted URMs and non-URMs, programs(indirectly including PRIME)/offices within the UC medical schools for the recruitment/retention of URMs.
Working with URM patient populations==>UCs' missions statements to reduce health disparities, PRIME, Drew, etc
Research==> The UCs strong research schools and I think this one is pretty self explanatory based on their reputation, mission statements/values, and profiles of applicants interviewed/accepted at UCs that did not fit one of the other two criteria.

So the programs you mentioned are tailored towards individuals (not just URM's) who are interested in working in underserved communities. But you would be right in assuming the majority of those who apply to these programs happen to be URM's. However, these programs are quite small in comparision to size of classes for the traditional, non-specialized programs. Furthermore, these students who do opt to apply in these programs must be reviewed within the "normal" applicant pool (the one exception is Drew). I am not ready to accept your assumption that standards for acceptance for URM's are lower at UC's due in part b/c of a proposition that was passed a very long time ago that effectively banned the use of race/ethnicity in the admissions process (I forget the actual prop no. but it was introduced by Ward Connerly). That is a fact...

What I wanted was factual evidence, rather than that which is anecdotal predicated on a limited understanding of what programs are offered by certain schools.

You are right in suggesting that UC's are trying to address the issue of the lack of quality and access to healthcare by underserved populations....but honestly, many other schools are implementing programs to do the same. And I do not think that is their way of justifying admitting students who would normally not fulfill the requirements for admission into medical school.

I guess my frustration stems from my experience where I get accepted to these awesome schools (Rice and UPenn) and students go out of their way to avoid working in groups with me until I have proven that I am a hard worker and can definitely outperform my classmates. And unfortunately, based on experience, I cannot help but conclude it is b/c of my race.

BTW: I don't mean to come off as rude or mean

best of luck to you