More competitive school or California school for a California residency in the future?

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taotronics

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Hi SDN,

If one is a California native and their goal is to:
1) match into a competitive specialty
2) do residency in California

Would it be better to attend a top-10 medical school outside of California (we're not talking about Harvard or Hopkins) or to attend a lower ranked school in California like UCI or UCSD? Assuming that cost of attendance is the same.

Thank you, looks like I need to decide by April 30th.

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Hi SDN,

If one is a California native and their goal is to:
1) match into a competitive specialty
2) do residency in California

Would it be better to attend a top-10 medical school outside of California (we're not talking about Harvard or Hopkins) or to attend a lower ranked school in California like UCI or UCSD? Assuming that cost of attendance is the same.

Thank you, looks like I need to decide by April 30th.

No one will say X went to top 10, Y went to UCSD let's take X.

UCSD is a clear winner there. UCI might lose this, but presumably you put some value on staying in California for the next 4 years, etc.
 
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The UC's are all great schools, as are the "top 10," whoever they are. Go to the school with a department in the specialty you're considering (it's typically easier to match to your home institution), and that will also be the cheapest.

Otherwise, I doubt most programs will care if you went to UCLA or Hopkins, UCSD or U Chicago, etc. Nor do most competitive programs care if you're from CA or plan to stay--they just want the best resident for the spot they have.
 
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The UC's are all great schools, as are the "top 10," whoever they are. Go to the school with a department in the specialty you're considering (it's typically easier to match to your home institution), and that will also be the cheapest.

Otherwise, I doubt most programs will care if you went to UCLA or Hopkins, UCSD or U Chicago, etc. Nor do most competitive programs care if you're from CA or plan to stay--they just want the best resident for the spot they have.

I know at least 3 current/former plastic surgery program directors who say they don't care -- but somehow their interviewing lists always end up with at least 75% of applicants hailing from either USNWR Top 20 medical schools or undergraduate schools. Iono. maybe it's just like coinciden 5 years in a row...
 
Attending the best school probably gives you the best chance of choosing the specialty and geography of the residency program to your liking. What school are you considering specifically?
 
I know at least 3 current/former plastic surgery program directors who say they don't care -- but somehow their interviewing lists always end up with at least 75% of applicants hailing from either USNWR Top 20 medical schools or undergraduate schools. Iono. maybe it's just like coinciden 5 years in a row...

Oh--I just meant to say I doubt they cared which top 20 school someone went to. But a plastics program is definitely going to want people from big programs, with high USMLE scores, etc. And they likely rank in large part based on that too. (Compared to PM&R on the other hand, where the competitiveness of an applicant will get them the interview, but the bigger factor in ranking them is whether they fit in with us. But it's like that for FM, psych, and other non-competitive specialties as well--unless it's a top program in that specialty)
 
Oh--I just meant to say I doubt they cared which top 20 school someone went to. But a plastics program is definitely going to want people from big programs, with high USMLE scores, etc. And they likely rank in large part based on that too. (Compared to PM&R on the other hand, where the competitiveness of an applicant will get them the interview, but the bigger factor in ranking them is whether they fit in with us. But it's like that for FM, psych, and other non-competitive specialties as well--unless it's a top program in that specialty)

Agree, simply offering prs pov because OP wanted a "competitive specialty..." whatever that means. Anyhoo, from a Northeast program point of view, I can guarantee you that some people haven't heard of UCI or UCSD, other than that... OH it's really pretty in San Diego. That said, the UCI kids who interview with us always pleasantly surprise me with their great personalities and insightfulness!
 
Probs depends on the specific schools

UCI vs Penn? I'd probs go to Penn
UCSD vs Yale? I'd probs go to UCSD
 
Probs depends on the specific schools

UCI vs Penn? I'd probs go to Penn
UCSD vs Yale? I'd probs go to UCSD

Yale's got some frickn awesome food carts outside of the hospital, bro. And cool brain slices in the libes. UCSD probably does have a lot of great tacos though. It's next to Mexico after all. I just hope that if there is a wall, there will be a little port to let delicious tacos through.
 
Yale's got some frickn awesome food carts outside of the hospital, bro. And cool brain slices in the libes. UCSD probably does have a lot of great tacos though. It's next to Mexico after all. I just hope that if there is a wall, there will be a little port to let delicious tacos through.

Yah but also UCSD is practically on a beach and Yale is in New Haven..
 
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Hi SDN,

If one is a California native and their goal is to:
1) match into a competitive specialty
2) do residency in California

Would it be better to attend a top-10 medical school outside of California (we're not talking about Harvard or Hopkins) or to attend a lower ranked school in California like UCI or UCSD? Assuming that cost of attendance is the same.

Thank you, looks like I need to decide by April 30th.
Are you under the impression that the other top-10 schools are significantly worse than Harvard and Hopkins?
Hi SDN,

If one is a California native and their goal is to:
1) match into a competitive specialty
2) do residency in California

Would it be better to attend a top-10 medical school outside of California (we're not talking about Harvard or Hopkins) or to attend a lower ranked school in California like UCI or UCSD? Assuming that cost of attendance is the same.

Thank you, looks like I need to decide by April 30th.
There's really no way to answer this without knowing which school in CA you're talking about. UCSF/UCLA/UCSD would probably be better than non-CA top-10's, whereas Keck/UCD/UCI/UCR would probably be worse (I'd say UCSD and Keck are up for debate).
 
Yah but also UCSD is practically on a beach and Yale is in New Haven..
Did you know new haven has a beach? Yeah, there are even houses down there, and some residents rent em :D
 
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In general, is it hard to get into CA residencies if one goes OOS for medical school? Let's say it's a generic state school OOS and an average residency at a UC, like internal medicine.
 
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In general, is it hard to get into CA residencies if one goes OOS for medical school? Let's say it's a generic state school OOS and an average residency at a UC, like internal medicine.

Dunno - I was not a cali med student but got a ton of cali surgery interviews... granted that was my backup. I'm pretty sure if you have killer scores, good letters, your school pedigree will only have a modest impact.
 
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In general, is it hard to get into CA residencies if one goes OOS for medical school? Let's say it's a generic state school OOS and an average residency at a UC, like internal medicine.
 
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We probably need to know the schools to be able to help at all.
 
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It's UPenn versus UCSD. (Actually both UCSD and UCI, but I guess UCSD > UCI so we can focus on UCSD.)

UPenn will give you more opportunities, but more in the outside medicine realm. With respect to residencies it's probably a wash. However, I'd probably say the same for Harvard and Hopkins!

Edit: UPenn match list is very impressive, looks like all Cali matched to UCSF/Stanford with one UCLA, one Davis, one Alameda?

https://www.med.upenn.edu/student/Match2016.shtml

UCSD match list from 10 years ago is different, very heavy on San Diego and Irvine and virtually all in Cali:
https://meded.ucsd.edu/index.cfm/asa/admissions/match_class_of_2009/

Up to you which you are looking for.
 
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UPenn match list is very impressive, looks like all Cali matched to UCSF/Stanford with one UCLA, one Davis, one Alameda?

https://www.med.upenn.edu/student/Match2016.shtml

UCSD match list from 10 years ago is different, very heavy on San Diego and Irvine and virtually all in Cali:
https://meded.ucsd.edu/index.cfm/asa/admissions/match_class_of_2009/

My ultimate concern is getting a decent job in SoCal after all my training (near family). I'm under the impression that the best jobs go to residents with connections in the area -- meaning I would probably want to do residency/fellowship in CA.
I guess the question that I need to answer is, how hard is it to find a job in Cali coming from the East Coast?...
 
My ultimate concern is getting a decent job in SoCal after all my training (near family). I'm under the impression that the best jobs go to residents with connections in the area -- meaning I would probably want to do residency/fellowship in CA.
I guess the question that I need to answer is, how hard is it to find a job in Cali coming from the East Coast?...
So like, is any of this based on a current decision being made in reality right now, or is this all hypothetical for you about an upcoming cycle? Since you obviously aren't actually admitted to Penn right now and choosing between that and UCs...
 
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Penn >>>> UCSD.

Not even sure if I'd do UCSF over Penn.
 
Oh. Oops. Misread that haha.

Yeah UCSF over Penn if I was set on California residency.

But I'm not set on Cali for residency so right now Penn>UCSF personally.
 
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May I know which one you had ended up choosing? I am in a similar situation.
 
Is a school going to choose the weakest student from UCSD or UCI over a strong student from any one of the 30 schools in the top 20? Unlikely. So, pedigree might matter a bit, and where you'll be happy and fulfilled during the four years of medical school matters a bit, and where you'll amass a better record matters more, but just saying that a program director will always prefer a University of California medical student over a T20 student is patently false.
 
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any one of the 30 schools in the top 20
😂😂😂

I just want to make sure this joke/fact isn’t overlooked. I think this exact same sentence all the time
 
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I would be more concerned about the reputation of the home program(s) in a speciality or specialities you are interested in. If you are completely undifferentiated in terms of specialities (which is fine), then pick the higher ranked school, because a higher ranking usually carries with it more research opportunities, more prestigious residency programs, and more “well connected” faculty. Of course there are exceptions, but without two specific schools to consider, that’s the best advice I can give.

Also, making your primary goal matching in California (or any specific state/region) is one example of the insane and myopic decision making that leads to otherwise qualified people not matching. Your priority should be to match in a speciality you will be happy in during residency and for the next 30+ years of your career. Location during residency can be a secondary goal, but residency is temporary, your speciality is basically for life. And very generally speaking, a higher ranked school will open more doors to matching your speciality of choice.
 
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