Can CSU students get into medical school in California?

[missbones]

Been reading some pretty disheartening comments on hsdn and elsewhere from people on adcoms or current med students in California stating that unless you apply disadvantaged, you wont get into a California med school with a CSU as your undergrad.

Can anyone confirm or deny this or provide insight? I plan to speak to a counselor on campus next week. Just wanted as many viewpoints/experiences as possible. Also this thread might be helpful to other CSU students.

I am a cc --> CSU transfer. Just decided to go pre-med in my senior year so I potentially have 4 more semesters ahead of me to complete all the chem prereqs. I'd like to know what my chances are and if would be smarter for me just to graduate with my BA and then try to get into an SMP or Post-bacc at a more prestigious institution in order to improve my chances for acceptance in California, instead of continuing on my current plan to just postpone graduation in order to take the required pre med classes.

my gpa is around 3.56-59. I have 4 units I failed at the CC level. Am I dead in the water adding this to my CSU status?

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[Chemokine7]

Been reading some pretty disheartening comments on hsdn and elsewhere from people on adcoms or current med students in California stating that unless you apply disadvantaged, you wont get into a California med school with a CSU as your undergrad.

Can anyone confirm or deny this or provide insight? I plan to speak to a counselor on campus next week. Just wanted as many viewpoints/experiences as possible. Also this thread might be helpful to other CSU students.

I am a cc --> CSU transfer. Just decided to go pre-med in my senior year so I potentially have 4 more semesters ahead of me to complete all the chem prereqs. I'd like to know what my chances are and if would be smarter for me just to graduate with my BA and then try to get into an SMP or Post-bacc at a more prestigious institution in order to improve my chances for acceptance in California, instead of continuing on my current plan to just postpone graduation in order to take the required pre med classes.

my gpa is around 3.56-59. I have 4 units I failed at the CC level. Am I dead in the water adding this to my CSU status?

I know people who went to a CSU and got into UCLA and USC but they had solid MCAT scores to back up their high gpa. If you have a high gpa at a csu and a low MCAT score, it will not reflect too well. One of my interviewers even said that he believes CSU gpas are way inflated compared to UCs. So make sure you do well in your MCAT and do not leave the adcom room to question it.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Same here... I know CSU kids in the CA med schools, but all had 30+ MCAT.

I know people who went to a CSU and got into UCLA and USC but they had solid MCAT scores to back up their high gpa. If you have a high gpa at a csu and a low MCAT score, it will not reflect too well. One of my interviewers even said that he believes CSU gpas are way inflated compared to UCs. So make sure you do well in your MCAT and do not leave the adcom room to question it.

 

[plsfoldthx]

doesn't everyone in med school have 30+ mcat?

 

[Meat]

Check out my MDapplications link to the left. CSU student, good GPA, solid MCAT, some research, volunteering, etc. I was a bit late to the game (started doing health care activities two years before applying). I was murdered at the UC level in CA. Not one interview. Not even secondaries at UCSD or UCSF.

I'm sure some will say "obviously something was wrong with your application," which may have been true, but not ONE UC invite with my numbers? I assumed there was some state hate.

Good luck man! I would suggest transferring to a UC.

EDIT: I do have a URM friend at my school that had a USC and UCLA interview. So its not totally impossible.

 

[missbones]

Check out my MDapplications link to the left. CSU student, good GPA, solid MCAT, some research, volunteering, etc. I was a bit late to the game (starting doing health care activities two years before applying). I was murdered at the UC level in CA. Not one interview. Not even secondaries at UCSD or UCSF.

I'm sure some will say "obviously something was wrong with your application," which may have been true, but not ONE UC invite with my numbers? I assumed there was some state hate.

Good luck man! I would suggest transferring to a UC.

Did you apply early?

 

[Meat]

Did you apply early?

Submitted end of June, verified mid / late July, all secondaries in early August. Certainly could have been earlier.

I also had 4+ years Butchering experience and spoke about it to some extent. Maybe this didn't sit well with adcoms

 

[silverhorse84]

CSU grad here. Got into USC and was waitlisted at Irvine (never sent a letter of interest, which they highly suggest, so who knows what would have happened). Had a 3.6something GPA, and 30 MCAT. No, I'm not URM

Ignore what other people say - unless you want to go to a "top" medical school you'll be fine. Get a good GPA and a good MCAT, speak the truth in your essays and interviews, you'll be fine.

 

[Meat]

Ignore what other people say - unless you want to go to a "top" medical school you'll be fine. Get a good GPA and a good MCAT, speak the truth in your essays and interviews, you'll be fine.

👍 For sure. Do the best you can, you'll totally make it!

 

[missbones]

CSU grad here. Got into USC and was waitlisted at Irvine (never sent a letter of interest, which they highly suggest, so who knows what would have happened). Had a 3.6something GPA, and 30 MCAT. No, I'm not URM

Ignore what other people say - unless you want to go to a "top" medical school you'll be fine. Get a good GPA and a good MCAT, speak the truth in your essays and interviews, you'll be fine.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking of doing the USC post bacc...

 

[lord_jeebus]

Been reading some pretty disheartening comments on hsdn and elsewhere from people on adcoms or current med students in California stating that unless you apply disadvantaged, you wont get into a California med school with a CSU as your undergrad.

I was all over that recent CSU thread, and I don't think anyone said it was impossible - just that it is much easier coming from Berkeley/UCLA/UCSD.

That said, with your GPA you will need a strong MCAT and maybe a post-bac.

 

[longhorn09]

Have you tried Loma Linda?

 

[missbones]

I was all over that recent CSU thread, and I don't think anyone said it was impossible - just that it is much easier coming from Berkeley/UCLA/UCSD.

That said, with your GPA you will need a strong MCAT and maybe a post-bac.

These are the statements that you made, among what others said, that pretty much made me feel like I had no chance because I lack "near perfect GPA" and "extraordinary accomplishments":

"Those very few successful applicants from the Cal State system tended to have extraordinary accomplishments outside of the classroom, near-perfect GPAs, and high MCATs"

"Can the CSULB student overcome this disadvantage? Of course, but most don't. It's not just a matter of scoring high on the MCAT. You would need to distinguish yourself in ways going above and beyond most pre-meds."

"Again, the few CSU students that were accepted, in my adcom experience, were not accepted because they had great numbers (although they had to have that also just to be looked at) but because they had unusual life achievements."


I also asked in that thread about people who attend post-baccs at CSUs and how they could have any kind of success rate if little to none of CSU med school applicants make it in, as you were saying. Since you didn't respond on that thread would you mind addressing this here if you have any experience in that area?

 

[missbones]

Have you tried Loma Linda?

Not interested. I'm very anti-christian.

 

[476515678234896]

I've heard of CSU students getting in. But like everyone else said though...they were at the top of their class and had a competitive MCAT score.
Do well in your prereqs and take the MCAT. Then assess whether you're competitive or not. Right now it's too early to tell.

 

[mspeedwagon]

I'm assuming you mean everyone that gets into a CA M.D. program... then the answer is likely yes (with a few exceptions).

Of course 30 is close to the 80% percentile, which means only 20% of all test takes score at or above. So no, not "everyone" scores 30+.

Side-note in response to another poster: Loma Linda is a terrible place to apply unless you are a 7th day adventist. They send you an automatic secondary (thus get your money) and then reject you (for the most part).

doesn't everyone in med school have 30+ mcat?

 

[lord_jeebus]

These are the statements that you made, among what others said, that pretty much made me feel like I had no chance because I lack "near perfect GPA" and "extraordinary accomplishments":

"Those very few successful applicants from the Cal State system tended to have extraordinary accomplishments outside of the classroom, near-perfect GPAs, and high MCATs"

"Can the CSULB student overcome this disadvantage? Of course, but most don't. It's not just a matter of scoring high on the MCAT. You would need to distinguish yourself in ways going above and beyond most pre-meds."

"Again, the few CSU students that were accepted, in my adcom experience, were not accepted because they had great numbers (although they had to have that also just to be looked at) but because they had unusual life achievements."


I also asked in that thread about people who attend post-baccs at CSUs and how they could have any kind of success rate if little to none of CSU med school applicants make it in, as you were saying. Since you didn't respond on that thread would you mind addressing this here if you have any experience in that area?

I was talking about my medical school in particular. Your odds at getting into a medical school somewhere in the US are not as bad, if your numbers improve. I think that if you improve your grades from this point, maintain 3.9+ in postbac and 30+ MCAT, you will be able to attend medical school somewhere in the country. You can't be picky though.

 

[U Turn]

A high school friend of mine graduated from San Jose State last year and is currently an M1 at UCLA. She had a 3.9 GPA and a 32 MCAT from what I remember. She's not an URM but apparently adcoms at her interviews were impressed that she's a hardcore mountain climber and has climbed numerous mountains including Mt. Everest and Mt. McKinley.

 

[lord_jeebus]

A high school friend of mine graduated from San Jose State last year and is currently an M1 at UCLA. She had a 3.9 GPA and a 32 MCAT from what I remember. She's not an URM but apparently adcoms at her interviews were impressed that she's a hardcore mountain climber and has climbed numerous mountains including Mt. Everest and Mt. McKinley.

Sounds like "extraordinary accomplishments outside of the classroom, near-perfect GPAs, and high MCAT" to me 🙂

 

[missbones]

I was talking about my medical school in particular. Your odds at getting into a medical school somewhere in the US are not as bad, if your numbers improve. I think that if you improve your grades from this point, maintain 3.9+ in postbac and 30+ MCAT, you will be able to attend medical school somewhere in the country. You can't be picky though.

I already have ~110 units. So the best I can do is maintain and raise it maybe .1 in 2 years... Postbac seems like the best option for me. I really don't want to leave California.

 

[Maneuver]

CSU GPA's ARE inflated. You shouldn't have more than one or two B's. Certainly no C's, D's, or F's.

 

[MichaelRW]

doesn't everyone in med school have 30+ mcat?

seriously? 😴

 

[lord_jeebus]

I already have ~110 units. So the best I can do is maintain and raise it maybe .1 in 2 years... Postbac seems like the best option for me. I really don't want to leave California.

If I were you, if prereqs are all fulfilled I would apply simultaneously to med schools and post-bacs - just in case you get in somewhere. But you'll probably need the post-bac.

Even with the post-bac, your odds of staying in CA are not good. 4 years is not that long and if you work hard you should be able to come back for residency.

 

[missbones]

If I were you, if prereqs are all fulfilled I would apply simultaneously to med schools and post-bacs - just in case you get in somewhere. But you'll probably need the post-bac.

Even with the post-bac, your odds of staying in CA are not good. 4 years is not that long and if you work hard you should be able to come back for residency.

I'm not sure I understand this. If my pre-reqs are fulfilled why would I do a post bacc?

 

[lord_jeebus]

I'm not sure I understand this. If my pre-reqs are fulfilled why would I do a post bacc?

GPA boosting, especially if your GPA in the prereqs is similar to your overall GPA

 

[missbones]

GPA boosting, especially if your GPA in the prereqs is similar to your overall GPA

I guess you consider my gpa extremely bad because most other people I've talked to said it was fine/competitive. My gpa is a 3.5ish mostly because of those 4 units I failed. I have only one other c and the rest are As, A- and a few B+'s, I think 5.

 

[JokerMD]

yes, its possible.

 

[amikhchi]

Calstate northridge grad 3.47gpa and 36 mcat... Absolutely no love from any california schools... Congrats to those who got in from csu system, but looking back I wouldve gone to ucla... I'm rather confident if I had went to ucla (got accepted to all UCs for undergrad) I would be in med school right now with my 31 and wouldn't have had to retake mcat...

Oh well...

 

[missbones]

Calstate northridge grad 3.47gpa and 36 mcat... Absolutely no love from any california schools... Congrats to those who got in from csu system, but looking back I wouldve gone to ucla... I'm rather confident if I had went to ucla (got accepted to all UCs for undergrad) I would be in med school right now with my 31 and wouldn't have had to retake mcat...

Oh well...

What are your ECs/volunteering/shadowing etc. Please be honest

 

[amikhchi]

i've gone over this in several threads, and honestly they are avg i'd say, about 200 hrs of shadowing over the course of about 2 years, about 150 hrs of other volunteer community service, about 120 hrs of research (through my school), and an undocumented amount of hours that would probably fall under ECs, but not community service or clinical experience...

i know my gpa is on the low end, doesn't need to be stated, but my mcat is also on the higher end... anyone i talk to says it's "weird" that i get no interviews from CA schools, or that "something must be wrong with your application"... i think it's the CSU...

 

[missbones]

i've gone over this in several threads, and honestly they are avg i'd say, about 200 hrs of shadowing over the course of about 2 years, about 150 hrs of other volunteer community service, about 120 hrs of research (through my school), and an undocumented amount of hours that would probably fall under ECs, but not community service or clinical experience...

i know my gpa is on the low end, doesn't need to be stated, but my mcat is also on the higher end... anyone i talk to says it's "weird" that i get no interviews from CA schools, or that "something must be wrong with your application"... i think it's the CSU...

sounds like it. I think id rather just stop taking pre-reqs, graduate, get into a uc post bacc and see how it goes from there. Its just scary because you can only get loans for those programs and most dont want you to work so what do you do after 2 years of debt debt debt if you dont get in?

 

[Meat]

i've gone over this in several threads, and honestly they are avg i'd say, about 200 hrs of shadowing over the course of about 2 years, about 150 hrs of other volunteer community service, about 120 hrs of research (through my school), and an undocumented amount of hours that would probably fall under ECs, but not community service or clinical experience...

i know my gpa is on the low end, doesn't need to be stated, but my mcat is also on the higher end... anyone i talk to says it's "weird" that i get no interviews from CA schools, or that "something must be wrong with your application"... i think it's the CSU...

Maybe there are just too many UC applicants applying for us CSU kids to be competitive. Why even interview CSU students when UC students are lining up with similar scores (albeit possibly slightly lesser scores in some cases). Maybe from the prospective of an adcom, with so many people to pick from the UC system, why even interview a CSU kid unless he / she has some REALLY unique features.

All speculation of course. I certainly wish I would have had some UC interviews. Don't let this discourage you OP, there are plenty of other med schools out there 😀

 

[teenmachinery1]

i've gone over this in several threads, and honestly they are avg i'd say, about 200 hrs of shadowing over the course of about 2 years, about 150 hrs of other volunteer community service, about 120 hrs of research (through my school), and an undocumented amount of hours that would probably fall under ECs, but not community service or clinical experience...

i know my gpa is on the low end, doesn't need to be stated, but my mcat is also on the higher end... anyone i talk to says it's "weird" that i get no interviews from CA schools, or that "something must be wrong with your application"... i think it's the CSU...

200 hours of shadowing is NOT anywhere remotely near the average.

 

[amikhchi]

what's the average? ~4 hours a week for about 2 years with the exception of breaks and special circumstances

 

[lord_jeebus]

Shadowing hours is never the issue. People don't get accepted because they shadowed a lot.

 

[JJMrK]

It's possible but you put yourself at a disadvantage.

 

[lovemesomeTJ]

sounds like it. I think id rather just stop taking pre-reqs, graduate, get into a uc post bacc and see how it goes from there. Its just scary because you can only get loans for those programs and most dont want you to work so what do you do after 2 years of debt debt debt if you dont get in?

Get to work in the real world, I guess.

UC post-bacs are for URM students who consider themselves disadvantaged and can back this claim up in their essays. I think the only one that might not require this is UC Berkeley, and it is not apart of the UC Post-Bac Consortium (or whatever it's called) that provides you with the extra help of getting in (I believe). If you meet this criteria, then all is well. But if not, you're going to need to figure out another alternative.

I really don't see what the big deal is about California. Born and raised, all of my family and majority of my friends are here, and I could give a rat's *** about staying here for the rest of my life. Not to knock you and your motivations, but my goal is MEDICAL SCHOOL, not medical school in California. If you do exceptionally well at a school anywhere else in the country, you won't have trouble coming back here. To me, 4 years is a breath of fresh air from California and a chance to see another part of the country and how it lives. But again, we all have our motivations and reasons for our desires so I wish you luck in remaining in California.

 

[missbones]

Get to work in the real world, I guess.

UC post-bacs are for URM students who consider themselves disadvantaged and can back this claim up in their essays. I think the only one that might not require this is UC Berkeley, and it is not apart of the UC Post-Bac Consortium (or whatever it's called) that provides you with the extra help of getting in (I believe). If you meet this criteria, then all is well. But if not, you're going to need to figure out another alternative.

I really don't see what the big deal is about California. Born and raised, all of my family and majority of my friends are here, and I could give a rat's *** about staying here for the rest of my life. Not to knock you and your motivations, but my goal is MEDICAL SCHOOL, not medical school in California. If you do exceptionally well at a school anywhere else in the country, you won't have trouble coming back here. To me, 4 years is a breath of fresh air from California and a chance to see another part of the country and how it lives. But again, we all have our motivations and reasons for our desires so I wish you luck in remaining in California.

USC takes non URM students. But other than that I was also looking into Mills, which has a high success rate of placing post-bacc students at UCs.

 

[casillas]

I can't say whether there is a bias, but it is not impossible. I met a few CSU students during UCSF second look weekend. so it definitely happens.

 

[Appless]

I can't say whether there is a bias, but it is not impossible. I met a few CSU students during UCSF second look weekend. so it definitely happens.

it happens, but as a whole CSU are going to be less competitive then UC students. They are seen as inferior schools like it or not and probably 95% of people who want to be pre meds end up at a UC somewhere. Furthermore,the opportunities at a CSU are going to be less which regardless of whether or not the CSU name matters, will hurt your app. Research is obviously a huge part in getting into UC schools as well as USC and other top schools and at CSUs, research just isnt going to happen at near the same level as a UC if it happens at all since not even all CSUs can grant phds for science. UCs have the monopoly on research in cali. Unfortunately, you should have transferred to a UC. Your chances arent over but you need to have other areas such as a great mcat to help you out. CSU gpas are indeed insanely inflated. If you dont just straight dominate the mcat, I would look into a SMP type post bac

 

[missbones]

Follow up question:

I have one more year of undergrad left, minimum because its too late to apply for fall graduation.

I have taken bio 1 (this semester), and stats several years ago. I was planning on taking chem 1a fall, chem 1b spring. Should I stop pre-reqs completely, just finish up my major (only need 2 courses) and maybe add a minor to maintain FT status? Then apply for post bac/SMP for summer or fall 2011? I wonder if it will hurt my chances to spend another yr with no pre-reqs or if its a bad idea to keep taking them at a CSU if I intend to go to a post-bac anyway?

 

[Musclemass]

Getting admission to the CSU system is the opposite of competitive, it's almost open. There are no doubt many capable students at CSUs for reasons of economics, circumstances, etc., but med schools know the score and probably anything much less than a 4.0 and a strong MCAT is going to be a problem.

probably 95% of people who want to be pre meds end up at a UC somewhere.

Not true, many go to private schools or go out of state. Funding and diversity problems at many UC campuses make them a less attractive choice to many.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

I graduated from a CSU with a bachelors in psychology. If my applications weren't free I wouldn't even bother applying, but since it will be free I will apply just for the hell of it, even though I know I won't be going to school here in CA. I could probably also put down that I am a mex-american urm without lying since my family came from mexico and I am a first generation US born, but I don't consider myself an urm because I don't consider myself mex-american, nor do I look it, act it, or feel like it. I will check off "other" and put down "human".

So why bother applying? Out of spite and to waste their time, of course. 😀

Sometimes this process/field/people in this field make me feel like I'm on Gossip Girl. 🙄 I think someone on here actually said that being in med school is kind of like going back to high school in a Gossip Girl like setting.

 

[missbones]

I graduated from a CSU with a bachelors in psychology. If my applications weren't free I wouldn't even bother applying, but since it will be free I will apply just for the hell of it, even though I know I won't be going to school here in CA. I could probably also put down that I am a mex-american urm without lying since my family came from mexico and I am a first generation US born, but I don't consider myself an urm because I don't consider myself mex-american, nor do I look it, act it, or feel like it. I will check off "other" and put down "human".

So why bother applying? Out of spite and to waste their time, of course. 😀

Sometimes this process/field/people in this field make me feel like I'm on Gossip Girl. 🙄 I think someone on here actually said that being in med school is kind of like going back to high school in a Gossip Girl like setting.

I get the feeling. My high school record gave me the capability to attend any school in California I wanted, including Berkeley, UCs etc. I chose community college in the local area to figure out wtf I wanted to do before spending thousands of dollars. Plus my parents wouldn't drop a dime, but their income made it impossible for me to obtain financial aid. Basically Wah wah wah.

I'm wondering if I can even get into a reputable post bacc like scripps or mills or usc tho... still being a csu student and all