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[deleted1097916]

Hi!

I have a 507 MCAT, 3.9 GPA, average volunteer/clinical experience(nursing).
I applied to both TX &AMCAS schools this cycle, and received only two II from random OOS schools(AZ, PA). I thought I would get some love from NY instate medical schools as a NY resident, but that didn't happen.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the schools I interviewed with, but I think my chances are slim as an OOS. So I'm considering if I should move back to Texas for medical school to increase my chances for the next cycle.

I'm an immigrant. I moved to Texas back in high school, lived there for 8 yrs. I love texas, but was relocated to NY for work a couple years ago. Now my work contract is finished, and I'm free to move back to TX or other states.

So my question is,
I've heard TX is the best state for pre-meds. Would my stats competitive in Texas?
or is there any other states I should move to?

I don't have family in the US and love exploring. So I'm honestly open to move to any states that is warm and will give me instate advantages. I also don't like living up here.

Thank you!

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[EdgeTrimmer]

Did you try DO?

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi!

I have a 507 MCAT, 3.9 GPA, average volunteer/clinical experience(nursing).
I applied to both TX &AMCAS schools this cycle, and received only two II from random OOS schools(AZ, PA). I thought I would get some love from NY instate medical schools as a NY resident, but that didn't happen.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the schools I interviewed with, but I think my chances are slim as an OOS. So I'm considering if I should move back to Texas for medical school to increase my chances for the next cycle.

I'm an immigrant. I moved to Texas back in high school, lived there for 8 yrs. I love texas, but was relocated to NY for work a couple years ago. Now my work contract is finished, and I'm free to move back to TX or other states.

So my question is,
I've heard TX is the best state for pre-meds. Would my stats competitive in Texas?
or is there any other states I should move to?

I don't have family in the US and love exploring. So I'm honestly open to move to any states that is warm and will give me instate advantages. I also don't like living up here.

Thank you!

You heard wrong about Texas! It is actually one of the worst states for pre-meds -- 32% matriculate IS, 6% go OOS, and a whopping 62% don't matriculate at all! NY has similar stats for IS (also 32%), but sends 15% OOS and fails to matriculate a more reasonable 53%.

TX matriculants have stats slightly above the national median (511.6 vs. 511.5 and 3.77 vs. 3.73), and the fact is, due to TX schools being famous for being so inexpensive and so heavily favoring IS applicants, it is extremely difficult for TX applicants to break through OOS, turning TX residency into an effective all or nothing IS bid for med school for most TX applicants.

It is what it is if you are already there, but it doesn't seem like such a great a deal if you have to move, and then spend time establishing residency before taking your shot as an IS applicant.

 

[LaughingGas10]

If anybody is REALLY contemplating establishing residency to get a medical school admission, remember it takes 1-2 years to do this, so your MCAT may not be valid and you may have to retake it. Also look closely at the residency rules , could be different for applicants versus for the school fees. I dont think this is a wise strategy.

Having said that, if you look at the all the metrics, and other requirements, the easiest states for In State applicants would be Puerto Rico, West Virginia, New Mexico and Kentucky. See the link to the table I pasted below.

I agree applying for DO makes good sense too.

Where did I go wrong?

This cycle I applied to 23 MD schools and I did not receive a single II. I feel pretty defeated because I feel like I put in a lot of work over the past four years and it didn't mean a lot. I'm planning to reapply this cycle, and I think the reason I didn't receive any interviews is that I only...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[gonnif]

First of all retake the MCAT

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

First of all retake the MCAT

Only if scoring about 512 in new FLs consistently right?

 

[TheGranolaKing]

You heard wrong about Texas! It is actually one of the worst states for pre-meds -- 32% matriculate IS, 6% go OOS, and a whopping 62% don't matriculate at all! NY has similar stats for IS (also 32%), but sends 15% OOS and fails to matriculate a more reasonable 53%.

TX matriculants have stats slightly above the national median (511.6 vs. 511.5 and 3.77 vs. 3.73), and the fact is, due to TX schools being famous for being so inexpensive and so heavily favoring IS applicants, it is extremely difficult for TX applicants to break through OOS, turning TX residency into an effective all or nothing IS bid for med school for most TX applicants.

It is what it is if you are already there, but it doesn't seem like such a great a deal if you have to move, and then spend time establishing residency before taking your shot as an IS applicant.

I'm glad you said this, I feel like so many people assume that Texas is an easy state due to the high number of in-state schools. The odds of getting into med school as a California resident (~40%) are actually higher than as a Texas resident (~37%), even though California is notorious for being one of the toughest states to be a med school applicant from.

 

[KnightDoc]

I'm glad you said this, I feel like so many people assume that Texas is an easy state due to the high number of in-state schools. The odds of getting into med school as a California resident (~40%) are actually higher than as a Texas resident (~37%), even though California is notorious for being one of the toughest states to be a med school applicant from.

Yup! CA gets a lot of attention because it has three T6 schools, which attract a lot of OOS applicants, its schools don't have the 90% IS mandate that the TX public schools do, and it doesn't sit on an island with its own application system, but TX is definitely worse. It's just not talked about as much because it's a closed system that is deemed to be either inaccessible or inhospitable to OOS applicants.

CA is worse IS, due to all the OOS competition, and the TX schools are way more attractive than CA due to their extremely low tuition, and relatively low median stats due to their 90% IS mandate. This makes it far easier for a TX applicant to matriculate IS than a CA applicant (32% vs. 17%). On the other hand, TX applicants have a very difficult time OOS, since schools assume they will stay IS if given a chance, so they typically find themselves resource protected out unless they are stars. As a result, CA applicants, who have far above average MCATs (513.5 vs. 511.5) far outperform TX OOS (23% vs. 6%).

 

[Dr.Gains]

Yup! CA gets a lot of attention because it has three T6 schools, which attract a lot of OOS applicants, its schools don't have the 90% IS mandate that the TX public schools do, and it doesn't sit on an island with its own application system, but TX is definitely worse. It's just not talked about as much because it's a closed system that is deemed to be either inaccessible or inhospitable to OOS applicants.

CA is worse IS, due to all the OOS competition, and the TX schools are way more attractive than CA due to their extremely low tuition, and relative low median stats due to their 90% IS mandate. This makes it far easier for a TX applicant to matriculate IS than a CA applicant (32% vs. 17%). On the other hand, TX applicants have a very difficult time OOS, since schools assume they will stay IS if given a chance, so they typically find themselves resource protected out unless they are stars. As a result, CA applicants, who have far above average MCATs (513.5 vs. 511.5) far outperform TX OOS (23% vs. 6%).

What are the best states for IS students? I've heard about WV being favorable to its IS applicants.

 

[KnightDoc]

What are the best states for IS students? I've heard about WV being favorable to its IS applicants.

You heard correct! WV matriculates 50.2% of its IS applicants. PR is even higher at 54.1%.

Honorable mentions go to SC at 42.0%, LA at 42.6%, KY at 46.2%, AR at 44.1%, and VT at 43.9%. Before anyone gets too excited, though, with the exception of VT, all these states have OOS admit rates below 10%, with PR at an abysmal 2.1%. So it really is all or nothing with respect to going IS in these states. (VT has tiny numbers, and actually enrolls 62.2% of its 82 applicants.)

 

[deleted1097916]

You heard correct! WV matriculates 50.2% of its IS applicants. PR is even higher at 54.1%.

Honorable mentions go to SC at 42.0%, LA at 42.6%, KY at 46.2%, AR at 44.1%, and VT at 43.9%. Before anyone gets too excited, though, with the exception of VT, all these states have OOS admit rates below 10%, with PR at an abysmal 2.1%. So it really is all or nothing with respect to going IS in these states. (VT has tiny numbers, and actually enrolls 62.2% of its 82 applicants.)

I checked out MSAR, and these states' II /matriculation rate for IS applications is really high! It's crazy.

Would it be foolish to move to SC or KY to increase my chance?? They only require 6 mon/12month of living there( at the time of matriculation )to be considered instate. I have no ties with them except that I went on a road trip to these states before.

or would I have better chance in TX?

I want to move down to south for a better quality of life, but at the same time, their IS matriculation rate sounds really attractive.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I checked out MSAR, and these states' II /matriculation rate for IS applications is really high! It's crazy.

Would it be foolish to move to SC or KY to increase my chance?? They only require 6 mon/12month of living there( at the time of matriculation )to be considered instate. I have no ties with them except that I went on a road trip to these states before.

or would I have better chance in TX?

I want to move down to south for a better quality of life, but at the same time, their IS matriculation rate sounds really attractive.

Even though you meet requirements, what's the guarantee they will call you for the interview? They can see you have no ties.

 

[KnightDoc]

I checked out MSAR, and these states' II /matriculation rate for IS applications is really high! It's crazy.

Would it be foolish to move to SC or KY to increase my chance?? They only require 6 mon/12month of living there( at the time of matriculation )to be considered instate. I have no ties with them except that I went on a road trip to these states before.

or would I have better chance in TX?

I want to move down to south for a better quality of life, but at the same time, their IS matriculation rate sounds really attractive.

I wouldn't do it, but it's totally your call. To me, it's too major a thing to do just to maybe increase my chance at an A at a med school. I honestly don't know enough about living in those states to speak knowledgeably, and certainly don't want to offend anyone on SDN, but, based on how those states vote in national elections, and on who they send to Congress, I'm not so sure how welcome I'd be made to feel there as an immigrant, unless I was coming from a Western or Northern European country and looked like most of the people currently living there.

For real. I'm a liberal from the Northeast, and, while I checked out USC, I honestly was afraid to make that move, and I never even considered spending four years in places like KY. Of course, YMMV, but if it were me, I'd spend the time trying to do something about my MCAT score and reapplying from NY, rather than moving down south and hoping to be accepted as one of them after a whopping single year of residence and benefiting from their high IS admit rates.

 

[deleted1097916]

First of all retake the MCAT

I wouldn't do it, but it's totally your call. To me, it's too major a thing to do just to maybe increase my chance at an A at a med school. I honestly don't know enough about living in those states to speak knowledgeably, and certainly don't want to offend anyone on SDN, but, based on how those states vote in national elections, and on who they send to Congress, I'm not so sure how welcome I'd be made to feel there as an immigrant, unless I was coming from a Western or Northern European country and looked like most of the people currently living there.

For real. I'm a liberal from the Northeast, and, while I checked out USC, I honestly was afraid to make that move, and I never even considered spending four years in places like KY. Of course, YMMV, but if it were me, I'd spend the time trying to do something about my MCAT score and reapplying from NY, rather than moving down south and hoping to be accepted as one of them after a whopping single year of residence and benefiting from their high IS admit rates.

Thank you for your input!
And you are so correct. As an asian female, hearing about the shooting in Atlanta and all the hate crimes scares me.
But at the same time, I just can't see myself retaking the mcat again. I took it 3times already, and it was really traumatizing 😭...

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Thank you for your input!
And you are so correct. As an asian female, hearing about the shooting in Atlanta and all the hate crimes scares me.
But at the same time, I just can't see myself retaking the mcat again. I took it 3times already, and it was really traumatizing 😭...

I would go for DO given that you took MCAT 3 times already rather than spending additional time trying for residency in some other state to get into MD school.

 

[gonnif]

Thank you for your input!
And you are so correct. As an asian female, hearing about the shooting in Atlanta and all the hate crimes scares me.
But at the same time, I just can't see myself retaking the mcat again. I took it 3times already, and it was really traumatizing 😭...

If not taking the MCAT, and having taken 3x which works against you especially if 507 is your highest score, you need to extremely solid ECs and be able to express them in coherent, concise and compelling manner. This means tightly-written, well thought out, Theme(s) that are consistent across EC, PS, and secondaries with EC providing evidence supporting these themes. You need to this to get over the hurdle that 3x MCAT presents

 

[KnightDoc]

Thank you for your input!
And you are so correct. As an asian female, hearing about the shooting in Atlanta and all the hate crimes scares me.
But at the same time, I just can't see myself retaking the mcat again. I took it 3times already, and it was really traumatizing 😭...

You are very welcome!!! And, please note, I said what I said without knowing you were Asian, only knowing you are an immigrant. In the interest of fairness, it needs to be said that what happened in Atlanta could have happened anywhere nowadays, that Atlanta is actually pretty progressive with a very prominent and influential African-American population, and that Georgia is changing, as evidenced by the last election cycle.

So, my point wasn't to raise the specter of hate crimes or to scare you. It was simply to point out that the deep south is way less liberal and tolerant than many other parts of the country, and that it could be far more difficult for any outsider, let alone an immigrant, to feel comfortable. I am third generation American from the Northeast, and I wasn't comfortable in SC, even though the people could not have been more polite and hospitable to me during my UG campus visit. It's worth noting that academic centers and campuses are pretty liberal all over the country, but, living and working in a new area without that support system could be very intimidating.

If you don't feel you have another MCAT retake in you, considering DO is very good advice IMHO. From what you described, especially your GPA, you should be very competitive for them. Good luck!!!

 

[Goro]

Hi!

I have a 507 MCAT, 3.9 GPA, average volunteer/clinical experience(nursing).
I applied to both TX &AMCAS schools this cycle, and received only two II from random OOS schools(AZ, PA). I thought I would get some love from NY instate medical schools as a NY resident, but that didn't happen.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the schools I interviewed with, but I think my chances are slim as an OOS. So I'm considering if I should move back to Texas for medical school to increase my chances for the next cycle.

I'm an immigrant. I moved to Texas back in high school, lived there for 8 yrs. I love texas, but was relocated to NY for work a couple years ago. Now my work contract is finished, and I'm free to move back to TX or other states.

So my question is,
I've heard TX is the best state for pre-meds. Would my stats competitive in Texas?
or is there any other states I should move to?

I don't have family in the US and love exploring. So I'm honestly open to move to any states that is warm and will give me instate advantages. I also don't like living up here.

Thank you!

You'd probably have an accept or more right now if you simply had applied to some DO schools this cycle. As a 3x taker, and now having lost one cycle, beggars can't be choosy.