Does it suck to be a Cal. resident?

[Monkeymaniac]

Someone said that being a California resident sucks azz.
What's going on? If one wants to go to a UofC medical school,
I thought that being a California resident is a huge advantage.
Can anyone tell me why it's not?? Thanks.

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[Funky]

Someone said that being a California resident sucks azz.
What's going on? If one wants to go to a UofC medical school,
I thought that being a California resident is a huge advantage.
Can anyone tell me why it's not?? Thanks.

the reason why it may suck is if you have the stats of an average matriculate (3.5 gpa 30 mcat), you have a very low chance of getting into your state school. If you lived in most other states, you would have a very good chance of staying in state.

So you basically have to be amazing to be accepted to a UC school pretty much.

 

[Disinence2]

No its awsome to be a CA resident. In fact i really want to do my residency in CA

Apply to Albany, they take lots of CA poeple

 

[etf]

No its awsome to be a CA resident. In fact i really want to do my residency in CA

Apply to Albany, they take lots of CA poeple

yeah, every facet of california residency is wonderful, except during the medical school admissions process. there's never a free lunch - even the one's at your interviews cost you a secondary fee/travel expenses...

 

[instigata]

Apply to Albany, they take lots of CA poeple

Except for me!!!!!!

But being a California Resident IS great...it only sucks if you don't get accepted anywhere

 

[gotmeds?]

If you're a very strong applicant, it's great. California has a lot of excellent state schools with low tution -- one in the top 5, two in the top 20, and two in the top 50. The problem is that CA has a lot of great applicants applying to these schools, so for the average applicant (GPA ~3.5, MCAT ~31), it's tough to get in. Add to that the whole crapshoot that is the med school application process and even a lot of great applicants don't make it.

 

[Shpamme]

Yeah, I think being a Cali resident sucks if you don't have exactly the right grades. It's true we have a lot of med schools, but the ratio of med schools to college grads is actually very low--especially compared to say, Ohio. Plus, three of the schools here (Stanford, Loma Linda and USC) are private and take a fair number of out-of-states. So the relative dearth of in state schools is one problem.

Additional strikes against Cali residents are that when Cali residents try to apply elsewhere, we're met with either residency restrictions (Arizona and Texas come to mind), or a lot of schools only accept a minority of in staters (for instance, one school I recently visited took 65% in state and 35% OOS.. and I actually thought the 35% OOS was fairly generous compared to other schools.)

That said, I'm not whining or spewing sour grapes. Like the PP said, if I had the right stats, California is a great place to be. But when you're even slightly below, or nontrad, IMHO being a Cali resident definitely works against you.

 

[BigRedPremed]

Love being a CA resident

 

[notdeadyet]

Like the PP said, if I had the right stats, California is a great place to be. But when you're even slightly below, or nontrad, IMHO being a Cali resident definitely works against you.

Agree with all but the nontrad part. UCs definitely look kindly on nontrads.

Weak or mediocre apps hurt, regardless of your background. But if you have a strong app anyway, nontrad can be an asset.

 

[Shpamme]

Agree with all but the nontrad part. UCs definitely look kindly on nontrads.

Weak or mediocre apps hurt, regardless of your background. But if you have a strong app anyway, nontrad can be an asset.

Haha.. Yes, I guess I meant the kind of nontrad who messed up undergrad and maybe has since redeemed himself/herself with postbacc/SMP and other stuff. LifetimeDoc categorizes nontrads as one of four possibilities:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=367142
I think the old-screwup and traditional nontrads are favored by UC's, but the young-screwup not so much. What do you think?

 

[sassy doc]

being a cali resident is great because it means you have a better shot than those out of state. that said, the reality is that so many cali residents are competitive with great stats that your in-state status doesn't help. it all boils down to what you present on paper and your interviews. in fact, interviews extremely important. i ended up getting into ucsd after a fantastic, spectacular interview, but waitlisted at uci after a mediocre one (just didn't click with the faculty interview who didn't seem to care about interviewing). good luck everyone. and seriously, it's actually great going to school in the east coast. i went to penn for my undergrad and had a marvelous experience. change is good. cali has great weather, but you'll miss out in the unique kind of experiential learning you can only get by living outside of california.

sorry for all the rambling.

 

[e_phn]

So, I notice that numerous ppl complain about..being a CA resident sucks because CA med schools are hard to get in.

However, if you want to be a physician with a goal of helping people, shouldn't any medical school in the US be okay w/ you?

I think if you like to help ppl, then any school is fine...

Correct me if my thinking is wrong.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[MWillie]

So, I notice that numerous ppl complain about..being a CA resident sucks because CA med schools are hard to get in.

However, if you want to be a physician with a goal of helping people, shouldn't any medical school in the US be okay w/ you?

I think if you like to help ppl, then any school is fine...

Correct me if my thinking is wrong.

Just my 2 cents.

Cut out that bullcrap premed idealism.

 

[notdeadyet]

I think the old-screwup and traditional nontrads are favored by UC's, but the young-screwup not so much. What do you think?

UC's have the pick of the litter. Anyone applying with a bad history on their application better have done some pretty amazing things since. It's tough out there, but not impossible.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

I wish I was from Cali.

I'm pretty sure I'd get an acceptance from either UCSF, UCLA, or UCSD... .which would allow me to save a ton of money.

 

[IckeyShuffle]

move to Ohio, probably one of the best states to be a resident in

 

[alwaysaangel]

So, I notice that numerous ppl complain about..being a CA resident sucks because CA med schools are hard to get in.

However, if you want to be a physician with a goal of helping people, shouldn't any medical school in the US be okay w/ you?

I think if you like to help ppl, then any school is fine...

Correct me if my thinking is wrong.

Just my 2 cents.

You're looking at it wrong. We don't complain because we want to go to some top school, we complain because most of us would like the opportunity to go to a school that is close to home and relatively cheap.

A lot of us 'average' applicants would love to be able to go to a cheap 'mediocre' state school. They don't exist for us in California.

If you look at threads for "what are my chances" the usual answer is "apply broadly and apply to your state school as a safety" - again - doesn't apply to Cali residents because they're not even CLOSE to being safety schools.

So yes, any school is fine, and in the end we do go to any school. But 'any school' is usually 3000 miles from home and costs 60k a year. Whereas residents of almost any other state have that lovely safety acceptance that will only cost 30k a year. I would LOVE to only have 120k of debt when I graduate, instead of 240k.

 

[gotmeds?]

Haha.. Yes, I guess I meant the kind of nontrad who messed up undergrad and maybe has since redeemed himself/herself with postbacc/SMP and other stuff. LifetimeDoc categorizes nontrads as one of four possibilities:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=367142
I think the old-screwup and traditional nontrads are favored by UC's, but the young-screwup not so much. What do you think?

There may be something to this. I've had a lot of luck with the CA schools, but I'm more of a traditional non-trad. My UG grades were fairly lousy back in the day, but lots of extra classes and a post-bacc program later, I have a decent GPA and I did very well on the MCAT.

There are, however, some younger people in the same post-bacc program with good grades and decent MCAT scores (low to mid 30's) who have gotten little or no love from CA schools. These are people who should reasonably be getting a lot of interviews (and acceptances), but I think that being a younger non-trad has hurt them.

I've heard that there are plans to open a new med school, either in Riverside (besides their UCR-student-only program) or Merced. This should help things a little bit, but let's face it, any new UC med school will probably be good and competitive.

 

[hb2998]

Not all UCs give preference to instate residents. Some, like UCLA, may seem like they do but if you really look at the stats most of the students which are instate are URM or non-traditional. (UCI definitely gives instate preference). If you're an average candidate (3.7-3.85, 30-33 on MCAT) with nothing great to back you up (URM ) there is a low shot.

I had a 30+,3.9+, instate and got nothing. A message to Top candidates (37+ on mcat), UCI is known for not giving top top candidates a shot because they feel that they might not matriculate even if accepted.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I've heard that there are plans to open a new med school, either in Riverside (besides their UCR-student-only program) or Merced. This should help things a little bit, but let's face it, any new UC med school will probably be good and competitive.

The Riverside one is definitely opening. They approved it a few months ago. It will take acceptances in 2012 for the class of 2016.

Merced is more of a rumor right now since the undergrad program there has barely developed.

But yeah, I don't see it really helping much. It will probably have MCAT and GPA averages very similar to those of the other UCs its first year out.

 

[Lanced]

I would like to contribute to the bitter/sourgrapes pile. I'm a fairly competitive applicant and have even been accepted to some good schools but I haven't even had an interview at a UC (I suppose its still technically possible).

I'm about ready to drive to LA and Davis and remind them where my tax dollars go!

-Sour grapes

 

[Monkeymaniac]

If you're a very strong applicant, it's great. California has a lot of excellent state schools with low tution -- one in the top 5, two in the top 20, and two in the top 50. The problem is that CA has a lot of great applicants applying to these schools, so for the average applicant (GPA ~3.5, MCAT ~31), it's tough to get in. Add to that the whole crapshoot that is the med school application process and even a lot of great applicants don't make it.

Thanks for your opinions.
How about being compared to applicants from other states?
Say, one's from other state with the same mediocre stats (~3.5 GPA and
MCAT ~31). If the person from other state applies to the same CA school
as a California resident, do they have the same chance of getting in?
or does the CA resident have better chance? Thanks.

 

[Shpamme]

I'm about ready to drive to LA and Davis and remind them where my tax dollars go!

Hehehe.. Right on!!!
I'll totally carpool with you!! Heck, I'm going to Sacto this weekend. We can do UCLA first; when they kick us out of the admissions office we can indulge in some Diddy Riese to soothe our sorrows. Then after Davis, we can hit up Murder Burger. Fo shiz. We need a third person to help us qualify for the carpool lane if we go through the Bay Area though. Any takers? hehe.. .

 

[alwaysaangel]

Thanks for your opinions.
How about being compared to applicants from other states?
Say, one's from other state with the same mediocre stats (~3.5 GPA and
MCAT ~31). If the person from other state applies to the same CA school
as a California resident, do they have the same chance of getting in?
or does the CA resident have better chance? Thanks.

Depends on the school - some give preference to Cali residents, some do not.

But realistically with a 3.5 and 31 neither of them have a chance, unless they saved dying babies in Africa.

 

[narc]

I wish I was from Cali.

I'm pretty sure I'd get an acceptance from either UCSF, UCLA, or UCSD... .which would allow me to save a ton of money.

LOL....riggghhhttt....

Keep dreaming. Ca is not Texas

 

[PDsquash83]

LOL....riggghhhttt....

Keep dreaming. Ca is not Texas

The worst part of this is when you are outside of Cali and interviewing at schools they don't believe you that you want to leave California. Getting slammed both ways, you can't get into CA schools and schools outside of CA just assume you are going to a CA school regardless and don't give you the time of day.

ARGH!