Not sure if this qualifies as non-trad or not, but here's a question

[emttim]

So I'm starting at UC Davis in the Fall 2008 quarter, so I won't be done for two years with college, but I have a few questions as far as applying several years after I graduate.

Firstly, for a variety of reasons (primarily the excellent diving and dive-related work opportunity there), I plan to move to Florida to the Miami area. I'm not sure how being a Florida resident instead of a California resident will impact my chances, I'm unaware of whether Florida residents have it any easier, but I suppose that's one consideration.

Secondly, since I won't be applying right away, as long as I take the MCAT within a couple years of applying, it doesn't matter when I take it right?

Thirdly, how will letters of recommendation work for a university that does a committee letter? I certanly don't want to have to contact the professors after a couple years and hope they remember me. Should I just tell them my plans, get the letters now, and then send them off myself when I apply? I'm not sure how this would work.

Finally, for resident purposes, I just need to live there for 12 consecutive months without going to school and working right? I'm currently a SCUBA diver and I plan to become an instructor because I would like to teach SCUBA classes for a few years and dive as much as possible to just unwind after college and relax, but by the same token, you can be a SCUBA instructor anywhere in the world so I was thinking if 12 months is all it takes to get residency, I would be in Florida for 12 consecutive months, maybe one or two extra just to be safe, then just travel the world...maybe teach in the Phillipines for a few months, teach in Thailand for a few months, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

You can get more info about my situation from my MDapps profile, but yeah, any advice, comments, etc. will be appreciated!

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[Law2Doc]

So I'm starting at UC Davis in the Fall 2008 quarter, so I won't be done for two years with college, but I have a few questions as far as applying several years after I graduate.

Firstly, for a variety of reasons (primarily the excellent diving and dive-related work opportunity there), I plan to move to Florida to the Miami area. I'm not sure how being a Florida resident instead of a California resident will impact my chances, I'm unaware of whether Florida residents have it any easier, but I suppose that's one consideration.

Secondly, since I won't be applying right away, as long as I take the MCAT within a couple years of applying, it doesn't matter when I take it right?

Thirdly, how will letters of recommendation work for a university that does a committee letter? I certanly don't want to have to contact the professors after a couple years and hope they remember me. Should I just tell them my plans, get the letters now, and then send them off myself when I apply? I'm not sure how this would work.

Finally, for resident purposes, I just need to live there for 12 consecutive months without going to school and working right? I'm currently a SCUBA diver and I plan to become an instructor because I would like to teach SCUBA classes for a few years and dive as much as possible to just unwind after college and relax, but by the same token, you can be a SCUBA instructor anywhere in the world so I was thinking if 12 months is all it takes to get residency, I would be in Florida for 12 consecutive months, maybe one or two extra just to be safe, then just travel the world...maybe teach in the Phillipines for a few months, teach in Thailand for a few months, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

You can get more info about my situation from my MDapps profile, but yeah, any advice, comments, etc. will be appreciated!

Different states have different rules for becoming a resident. Some allow you to become a resident in 1 year, others require much longer tenure. I would check with some of the Florida schools before assuming you will qualify.
Certainly being in-state in Fla is more advantageous than California, in terms of admissions; california is probably the least favorable state to be a resident. Your MCAT will be good for 3 years, so you don't want to take it more than 3 years prior to applying. In terms of LORs, you cannot be the one to handle letters. You can either work through a premed committee/ office at a school, or hire a company like Interfolio to receive and hold letters for you, but the letters cannot be delivered to you or forwarded to schools by you. You have to be out of the loop or they are invalid. But generally, you want letters to be of recent vintage, so yes you do tend to need to contact old profs and hope they remember you. If your school does committee letters, you need to have your writers forward letters to the committee who will assemble them. (again, you cannot be in the loop here). Hope that answers most of your questions. Good luck.

 

[emttim]

Different states have different rules for becoming a resident. Some allow you to become a resident in 1 year, others require much longer tenure. I would check with some of the Florida schools before assuming you will qualify.
Certainly being in-state in Fla is more advantageous than California, in terms of admissions; california is probably the least favorable state to be a resident. Your MCAT will be good for 3 years, so you don't want to take it more than 3 years prior to applying. In terms of LORs, you cannot be the one to handle letters. You can either work through a premed committee/ office at a school, or hire a company like Interfolio to receive and hold letters for you, but the letters cannot be delivered to you or forwarded to schools by you. You have to be out of the loop or they are invalid. But generally, you want letters to be of recent vintage, so yes you do tend to need to contact old profs and hope they remember you. If your school does committee letters, you need to have your writers forward letters to the committee who will assemble them. (again, you cannot be in the loop here). Hope that answers most of your questions. Good luck.

Right, I understand that different states have different rules on residency requirements for tuition purposes. I checked Florida's and that's what they stated, that you must live and work (without going to school) in Florida for 12 consecutive months prior to matriculation to be considered a Florida resident.

Hmm, ok. Well, it sounds like I need to talk to the health professions advising office at Davis asap about the LOR situation then and see what they say. Thanks for the input.