Changing residency mid cycle

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fareedn

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I'm moving from TX to CA in the middle of the cycle, and wanted to get some advice if I should update my state residency on amcas or directly with schools?
How does it affect my chances for CA schools? I applied mid August and have not received any IIs so far (LM 75). I have not applied to any TX schools!

Thanks!
 
You should change your address on AMCAS. I cant recall if you are able to change your state residency.

It will be unlikely to move the needle at CA schools which are notoriously difficult for their in state students to be accepted into.
 
I can't imagine why someone would want to do this. If anything, you're going from the best state for premeds to the worst state for premeds.

The number of medical schools in Texas and the closed nature of TMDSAS means that you are facing a much smaller competitive pool relative to AMCAS and AACOMAS. TX schools, to my knowledge, are also much less costly paths to the MD than OOS schools.

Conversely, CA has several esteemed medical schools that view themselves primarily as national resources due to their relative strength as institutions compared to flagship schools in many other states, so there is fierce competition, not only from CA students who would like to stay there, but also from students all across the country that would love to live and train there.

Even if you could change your residency status mid-cycle, I can only see downsides. If you plan on applying TMDSAS, it will probably cause downstream problems there. If you don't, I suspect you'll probably be considered a TX resident anyway (and thus assumed to be applying TMDSAS by OOS schools), where you'll probably experience some bias as well. There's a reason why TX students only apply to AMCAS for a handful of strong mission-fit schools they hope will overcome that bias.

In other words, this seems like the worst of both worlds.
 
CA schools which are notoriously difficult for their in state students to be accepted into.
Is that true? I keep seeing that mentioned but a quick look on MSARS shows:

UCSF
In-State | 4262 applicants | 134 matriculated | 3.14%
OOS | 5179 applicants | 40 matriculated | 0.77%

UCLA
In-State | 4783 applicants | 104 matriculated | 2.17%
OOS | 5843 applicants | 60 matriculated | 1.03%

UC Irvine
In-State | 4923 applicants | 95 matriculated | 1.93%
OOS | 1954 applicants | 18 matriculated | 0.92%

UC Davis
In-State | 4963 applicants | 132 matriculated | 2.66%
OOS | 2369 applicants | 5 matriculated | 0.21%

USC
In-State | 4330 applicants | 99 matriculated | 2.29%
OOS | 4045 applicants | 20 matriculated | 0.49%
 
I am not a lawyer, but I don't quite know if domicility is measured from the day you move or the day you matriculate. You should look up each University's policies (registrar office, usually). I think you need to live in the state for a certain period of time. I'm not sure future residency is advantageous by itself.
 
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