Competitiveness in CA

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blulegend

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I've been checking this site out for a few weeks now and it's helped greatly. I'm a 3rd year student who is trying to get back to California for residency.

What kinds of things are CA programs looking for that perhaps the rest of the country isn't as interested in?

How is the competitiveness of the CA programs? Much more?

What programs are student friendly for externship rotations?

Thanks in advance.
 
My sense, being from a CA school is that all the west coast programs are very competitive. At my school they said the board scores of entering residents are getting higher and higher every year, and what used to be a superb score (like 240+) is now more like high average for their residents.

As far as externships, I know that UCLA likes to interview all their students that do Sub-I's with them, so if you extern there you are pretty much guaranteed an interview. Something to consider...
I don't know if that is standard policy at all programs or what.

Good luck to you!!!
 
Doing an away elective at the program of your choice in California is probably a good idea. Apply early for those aways -- I started eyeing a list of electives around December of M3. Then I sent my earliest application in February. (And give yourself 2-3 weeks prior to the deadline to gather all the appropriate materials -- transcript, photo, letters if required, etc). You're probably still safe if you apply in March; by May or June I'm not sure, they might already fill up with students.

My feeling is that most programs will strongly consider offering you an interview (even if they don't offer it automatically) if you have done a rotation with them -- particularly if your application is at least average as a whole, and above average in some way.

Having said that, choose a place that you think you might LIKE before you do an away with them. Don't just go by reputation. If the pgrm has a great reputation but students basically get ignored by the faculty, you'll have a hard time asking for a LOR if you need one. If you've researched, asked around, read Scutwork.com reviews (etc) and the place sounds like you don't want to be there, be cautious about going. Pay attention to the reviews of students who rotated there, as well as those of residents. Why? Because you're a student now and how students are treated during their rotations gives you an idea about whether it's a good place to rotate at. Nothing is worse than wasting a month of getting up at 5am and working your butt off, and spending the money on travel and accommodations, for a program that you decide you don't even want to apply to.
 
khos said:
My sense, being from a CA school is that all the west coast programs are very competitive. At my school they said the board scores of entering residents are getting higher and higher every year, and what used to be a superb score (like 240+) is now more like high average for their residents.

As far as externships, I know that UCLA likes to interview all their students that do Sub-I's with them, so if you extern there you are pretty much guaranteed an interview. Something to consider...
I don't know if that is standard policy at all programs or what.

Good luck to you!!!

Anasthesia in Cali is very competitive compared to anasthesia elsehwere. I go to Loma Linda, which is considered a lower-tier medical school. However, the average USMLE for last year's incoming anasthesia class was 235.

I'm not going into anasthesia, but all of the residents I talked to said that you definitely have to do a rotation at the school to be considered. I get the sense that this is important for most of the california schools.
 
I haven't done any away rotations in california schools, but I do have two interview invites in the Los Angeles area. I agree that cali is more competetive than programs elsewhere, and you probably need something in your CV that will set you apart, whether it be good board scores, research, or letters from influencial anesthesiologists.
 
eagle26 said:
I haven't done any away rotations in california schools, but I do have two interview invites in the Los Angeles area. I agree that cali is more competetive than programs elsewhere, and you probably need something in your CV that will set you apart, whether it be good board scores, research, or letters from influencial anesthesiologists.

I suspect I know which two schools you're talking about. I have 2 invites from LA schools also and I'm from NY. Nothing special about me. Avg student. One letter from a very respected dude. Did not do any away rotations in Cali. They must like my awesome personal statement. No spelling mistakes. I swear.

However, getting interviews is one thing; I suspect matching is another story. I'll go to those interviews. But I'm not getting my hopes up. Right now, I think there are many more good programs in the east anyway. But, everybody keeps on talking about cali weather... Haven't been back there in a while. Forgot how it is like... 😕
 
I think a good question to ask is: Anyone from California would rather go elsewhere?

I read somewhere that eventually, California would separate itself from the continental United States. Something about fault lines and tectonic plates. End result is that California would become a nice semi-tropical island and will be disowned by the U.S. If you ask me, you guys should all get out while you still can.
 
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