Location Location Location

[medschool2016]

The question is how much do people care about location when applying/deciding medical schools? I am fairly flexible in terms of location, no family ties to anywhere in the country really. I would love love love to go to schools in NYC and California, but I am guessing so would most people. I am trying to narrow down my list of schools, but is it recommend to pick based on school locations? or to pick equally good schools that I am still interested in, but in less "popular" locations?

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[jhay]

The question is how much do people care about location when applying/deciding medical schools? I am fairly flexible in terms of location, no family ties to anywhere in the country really. I would love love love to go to schools in NYC and California, but I am guessing so would most people. I am trying to narrow down my list of schools, but is it recommend to pick based on school locations? or to pick equally good schools that I am still interested in, but in less "popular" locations?

Location for me, in addition to environment (say, big city vs. smaller town) had a huge affect as to where I decided to apply.

It all depends on whether or not you'll be happy living there. Being happy in an environment will usually correlate to doing better.

Mental health is still health.

 

[Tapepsi]

It doesn't matter how much other people care about the location, it depends on how much you care. For me, the curriculum, student feedback from school x, and costs were the most important. I could've went with a school that had a great location but it wasn't worth it for me, but it may have been for someone else.

 

[Barcu]

You should go somewhere where you would want to spend 4 years of your life.

I used location as a starting point for schools. I picked places where I wanted to live, and I researched every school in that area. That seems to be the most popular way of picking schools.

You have to be a bit careful though. I picked Chicago as one place that I really love (had some family), but many of the schools are rough for OOS applicants (and some were a bit of a reach). This is definitely true too in Cali, where you mentioned (true for both IS and OOS).

Pick places you would like to live and go from there. But also pick carefully.

But it's up to you to decide the factors that are important.

 

[medschool2016]

You bring up a good point about applying out of state. But to what extend does that apply to private medical schools? What I hear that private medical schools do have some sort of preference for in-state residents, but is that just because Chicago residents are more likely to apply to Chicago schools and matriculate?

 

[senorsquishie]

I want either be in New England (I am a MA resident) or texas. I am mainly intending to apply to MA, PA, CT, TX, and NY... all based on where I have the strongest family ties.

 

[Barcu]

You bring up a good point about applying out of state. But to what extend does that apply to private medical schools? What I hear that private medical schools do have some sort of preference for in-state residents, but is that just because Chicago residents are more likely to apply to Chicago schools and matriculate?

Private schools are much more likely to take OOSers but that is not always the case. In another thread, someone posted interview stats for OOS versus Illinois residents at Rush (it was like 2% OOS got an interview and 14% IL applicants did but don't quote me on those exact numbers). The Illinois private schools seem to have more of a rep taking predominantly IL residents. I think that is partially due to the fact more IL residents apply and would matriculate, but that wouldn't explain the low interview numbers completely. University of Illinois has a higher OOS percentage than some of the private schools.

Some private schools are much more likely to take OOS residents (the DC schools, but it's not like there are a ton of DC applicants) and some are less likely.

California is tough, and is especially tough for OOS. My impression is that NY is ok for OOS (though I have no numbers, just experience on this forum).

MSAR is your friend. Get one.