Iowa resident preference?

[tennisguy896]

I read the Iowa? thread, and I am confused about how much preference Iowa residents get? I'm an Iowa resident, but a couple people said that they under-accept Iowa residents and over-accept out-of-staters. Anyone have any info about this? Thanks!!

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[snobored18]

I read the Iowa? thread, and I am confused about how much preference Iowa residents get? I'm an Iowa resident, but a couple people said that they under-accept Iowa residents and over-accept out-of-staters. Anyone have any info about this? Thanks!!

hey tennis I'm also an Iowa resident and was accepted to Carver this application cycle...being from Iowa is kind of a good and a bad thing...it is great because our state medical school is in the top 30 and we have very few in-state applicants considering how highly regarded the University of Iowa is. In a typical year 400 Iowans apply for 96 positions, which looks like you have ~25% chance of getting in, but once all the dust settles and people end up going to other schools I think about 46% of in-state applicants are accepted straight out or eventually off the waitlist...thats the good news, the bad news is that Iowa has one of the lowest percent of in-states around (a little less than 70%) for a public school (I think only Michigan has a lower percent) and as far as GPA and MCAT scores go Iowans do very well...actually ridiculously well check out the AAMC stats if this interests you.

So then to your question...why does Iowa underaccept in-states, they do this to be sure that they don't overfill the class...I think for most Iowans heading to Carver makes the most sense, its a great school and tuition is dirt cheap for the quality of education we recieve. Thus during the rolling phases Iowa never gives out more than 96 acceptances...the number of positions in the class...Iowa attracts tons of competive oos applicants, many who have end up having been accepted to many other terrific schools. The fact that OOS tuition, location or being accepted to top 10 schools generally means that Iowa has to accept more than double the number of positions available for OOS students in a given year to ensure these spots get filled. Thats what people mean when they say in-states are underaccepted and OOS overaccepted during the rolling phase, it has nothing to do with the class composition...it has to do with the number of people the school has to accept to fill the number of resident and non-resident slots...if you've got anymore questions because this isn't exactly clear let me know...admissions is a confusing process

 

[tennisguy896]

Thanks a lot snobored. Are you attending Mayo next fall? I did their summer research program last summer, and Mayo is really an awesome place. I know a couple med students/residents there- and everyone I met was really happy.

 

[snobored18]

Thanks a lot snobored. Are you attending Mayo next fall? I did their summer research program last summer, and Mayo is really an awesome place. I know a couple med students/residents there- and everyone I met was really happy.

You are welcome I hope it all makes sense to you...I'm pretty sure I'm headed to Mayo, like you I was a SURF only not last summer, but two summers ago. I really like Rochester and being around the clinic so it should be a good fit...but I also really like the University of Iowa, both are terrific schools and I don't think I could go wrong by going to either one...best of luck if you are applying during the upcoming cycle or if you are still waiting around to hear from schools.

 

[tennisguy896]

Has anyone received any merit scholarships from Iowa? If so, could you please tell me the amount, your stats, and why they told you about it? I'm really sorry for being nosy 😳 . Thanks so much!

 

[tacrum43]

Just incidentally...I was wondering what you would need to do to qualify for Iowa residency. This is kind of random, but I inherited this farm in Iowa from my Grandmother several years ago. I kind of forgot about it, and forgot about it completely in regards to medical school admissions, but I was just wondering if Iowa is like Texas in this way, where if you own some land in the state, you can be counted as a state resident. I'm guessing no, but I thought I would just check and see if anybody knew.

 

[snobored18]

This is a two part message first to tennis, second to tacrum

As far as merit scholarships go with Iowa...the majority I believe are included with your aid package...most folks should be getting those next week so ask that question next week and I'll be able to tell you how I fared in the process...some people did get scholarships with their acceptances, but most of them where OOS who essentially got a scholarship that reduced their tuition to in-state value...not many residents got stuff like that, which may be why Iowa ends up losing some quality candidates to other places...

As far as being gaining residency...Iowa isn't Texas...the board of regents have very strict guidelines as far as who is a resident and essentially you can't have any connection to another state (ie your liscense must read Iowa, you must pay state taxes in iowa, you must have your permanent residence and be able to prove its your permanent residence is in Iowa and on and on). I had a heck of time getting classified as a resident as my undergrad is OOS and I worked the previous two summers in MN and NY. The only sure fire way to get residency status is to work in the state for a year and and do all of the things above...it would be nice if we could be more relaxed like every other state...but alas the university makes a ton of money off rich chicago kids who come down here for u-grad...so they make sure its difficult to be classified as a resident for tuition purposes across the board.

 

[tennisguy896]

Thanks again snobored. I heard from a med student at Mayo that our SURF program satisfies Mayo med school's research project requirement (I can't remember if they require one or two research rotations). Did you hear that too? It's kinda cool that we could have "transfer credits" 🙂 . I'll post the question about merit scholarships again later next week.

 

[tacrum43]

As far as being gaining residency...Iowa isn't Texas...the board of regents have very strict guidelines as far as who is a resident and essentially you can't have any connection to another state (ie your liscense must read Iowa, you must pay state taxes in iowa, you must have your permanent residence and be able to prove its your permanent residence is in Iowa and on and on). I had a heck of time getting classified as a resident as my undergrad is OOS and I worked the previous two summers in MN and NY. The only sure fire way to get residency status is to work in the state for a year and and do all of the things above...it would be nice if we could be more relaxed like every other state...but alas the university makes a ton of money off rich chicago kids who come down here for u-grad...so they make sure its difficult to be classified as a resident for tuition purposes across the board.

I figured it would be difficult. Still, not as bas as some states like Massachusetts where you have to live there for five years (!) before their state school will even consider your application. I actually do pay income taxes in Iowa, but I definitely don't live there. I was just doing a little research in case I have to apply yet again. Any state of residency has to be better than CA for med school admissions purposes.

Thanks for the info. 👍

 

[snobored18]

Thanks again snobored. I heard from a med student at Mayo that our SURF program satisfies Mayo med school's research project requirement (I can't remember if they require one or two research rotations). Did you hear that too? It's kinda cool that we could have "transfer credits" 🙂 . I'll post the question about merit scholarships again later next week.

Hmmm...as far as I know the time we spent in the lab as SURFs doesn't apply to anything at MMS, it would only apply to MGS stuff so instead of doing X rotations before selecting a thesis advisor for the PhD or MD/PhD degree we only have to do X-1...but take this with a grain of salt I just came back from the bars and I can't go to sleep at the moment...

 

[tennisguy896]

I'll ask this again after fin aid packages are sent out, but does anybody know if Iowa's merit scholarships traditionally go primarily to out-of-staters or to in-state applicants? Or is there no trend? Thanks!

 

[dbhvt]

Hmmm...as far as I know the time we spent in the lab as SURFs doesn't apply to anything at MMS, it would only apply to MGS stuff so instead of doing X rotations before selecting a thesis advisor for the PhD or MD/PhD degree we only have to do X-1...but take this with a grain of salt I just came back from the bars and I can't go to sleep at the moment...

snobored, it's so strange to see that new avatar. So between you, gd, and myself, none of us will be in Iowa City next fall?

 

[snobored18]

snobored, it's so strange to see that new avatar. So between you, gd, and myself, none of us will be in Iowa City next fall?

Yeah its kind of odd...both the avatar and the fact none of us who were sooo big on Iowa are gonna end up there. congrats on columbia 4 years in NYC will be incredible...hopefully you'll have enough time to escape uptown and enjoy the city.