Does it matter where you spend your gap year?

[prairiemusic]

Hello friends,

I'm in kind of a weird geographical situation and I'm not sure which state I'll use for my residency when I apply. I'm from the Midwest (hence the username) and I went to college in a big city on the East Coast, where I met my current girlfriend. I would like to stay on a coast or in a big city if at all possible, and my home state school has weird prereqs that I don't meet so I can't apply there :/

My girlfriend has a job offer in Seattle, and I think I want to move there with her after we graduate for my gap year. Will this hurt my med chances? UW looks crazy hard to get into (although if I'm there for a year before applying I think I could get residency?) and obviously there are just more school opportunities on the East Coast... also a little worried about adcoms wondering why I moved for a girlfriend and whether I'll be flexible enough to move for a school or residency, yknow? As always, any and all advice is appreciated.

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[calivianya]

Moving for a SO is perfectly acceptable, as long as it goes both ways... i.e., she's willing to move for you when/if you get in somewhere other than where her job is. I'd have that conversation with her ASAP, if you haven't already.

Three of the interviews I've had, the interviewers asked me about my support system. I told them I'd had the discussion about moving for med school with my husband well before we got married, and he said he'd be happy moving wherever I got into school as long as we could stay together. I also mentioned that he works in a pretty high demand field and could find a job literally anywhere. It doesn't seem like being in a serious relationship has been a red flag for me thus far.


TLDR; I wouldn't move for her if she's not going to be willing to move for you later.

 

[prairiemusic]

We have had the conversation and she's willing to move... with reservations. She doesn't want it to affect her career and she isn't willing to just agree to move Anywhere (e.g. Iowa is a no go, it's gotta be a big city). I'm mostly the same way but I would be willing to live in the middle of nowhere for a few years if it meant I could become a doctor. She's reluctant to agree to move when she's only been at a job for a year and would rather have at least 3 years' experience before looking for a new job, which means a likely med school scenario is me moving out and her joining me after a couple years. I hate being long distance and while I would consider it for her, I'd like to avoid it if at all possible. Your husband sounds wonderful btw, I wish it were that easy for us lol

 

[HomeSkool]

If you change your legal state of residence, your odds at the public universities in question would change accordingly.

 

[Welshman]

We have had the conversation and she's willing to move... with reservations. She doesn't want it to affect her career and she isn't willing to just agree to move Anywhere (e.g. Iowa is a no go, it's gotta be a big city). I'm mostly the same way but I would be willing to live in the middle of nowhere for a few years if it meant I could become a doctor. She's reluctant to agree to move when she's only been at a job for a year and would rather have at least 3 years' experience before looking for a new job, which means a likely med school scenario is me moving out and her joining me after a couple years. I hate being long distance and while I would consider it for her, I'd like to avoid it if at all possible. Your husband sounds wonderful btw, I wish it were that easy for us lol

Iowa City is a fine town, don’t knock it before you try it

 

[calivianya]

We have had the conversation and she's willing to move... with reservations. She doesn't want it to affect her career and she isn't willing to just agree to move Anywhere (e.g. Iowa is a no go, it's gotta be a big city). I'm mostly the same way but I would be willing to live in the middle of nowhere for a few years if it meant I could become a doctor. She's reluctant to agree to move when she's only been at a job for a year and would rather have at least 3 years' experience before looking for a new job, which means a likely med school scenario is me moving out and her joining me after a couple years. I hate being long distance and while I would consider it for her, I'd like to avoid it if at all possible. Your husband sounds wonderful btw, I wish it were that easy for us lol

We'd been together for around two years before I even started taking the pre-med courses - I think that had a lot to do with it.

Also in the interest of fairness, he does have his preferences and was strongly against moving to New England, especially NYC, unless I only got in to one school and it was up there. He made it clear he'd still come, but would resent the hell out of it if we had to move north. Fortunately, I have gotten into a school in the south, so life's good.

 

[prairiemusic]

LOL yeah I've been tentatively premed since before we met and really committed to it this year so this isn't news to her. We're coming up on three years together. Congrats on the acceptance! I'm sure there are more to come

EDIT: meant to quote @calivianya, sorry I'm still a little new to forums

 

[prairiemusic]

If you change your legal state of residence, your odds at the public universities in question would change accordingly.

How much does it improve chances at UW though? Is it worth the risk, or should I try for residency in the state where I currently live?

 

[HomeSkool]

How much does it improve chances at UW though? Is it worth the risk, or should I try for residency in the state where I currently live?

For that I'll have to defer to someone more familiar with UW's admissions practices. Sorry!

 

[prairiemusic]

For that I'll have to defer to someone more familiar with UW's admissions practices. Sorry!

No worries! Where would be the best place to ask this?

 

[HomeSkool]

No worries! Where would be the best place to ask this?

Try the UW-specific thread: 2016-2017 University of Washington Application Thread

 

[Welshman]

How much does it improve chances at UW though? Is it worth the risk, or should I try for residency in the state where I currently live?

Compare instate vs out of state II ratio.

UW has an arrangement with the surrounding states which counts them as IS technically, idk if this is reflected in the numbers though.

If you’re looking for the best states to be premed efle or someone posted a nice map of it. I would read through the stickied threads they’re by far the most helpful resource on these fora

 

[Catalystik]

How much does it improve chances at UW though? Is it worth the risk, or should I try for residency in the state where I currently live?

Without residency in Washington State (or a WWAMI state***), your chances are essentially dismal unless you're applying MD/PhD, as I recall.

***WWAMI=Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho WWAMI | UW Medicine

 

[Welshman]

Some small states like Iowa and Vermont literally inviterview all or most of their IS applicants, I’d keep that in mind too

 

[Catalystik]

Acceptance statistics based on state of residency: Acceptance Statistics | UW Medicine

Per the site's FAQ: Out of region applicants must have an exceptional record of service or come from a disadvantaged background to be considered.

 

[prairiemusic]

Acceptance statistics based on state of residency: Acceptance Statistics | UW Medicine

Per the site's FAQ: Out of region applicants must have an exceptional record of service or come from a disadvantaged background to be considered.

I'm a URM although that doesn't appear to be the kind of disadvantaged background they mean. I wouldn't say my record of service is exceptional but I sure have volunteered... Looks like I'll have to be a resident. Thank you all for looking this up