Question!!

[tbone1234]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi all!

I was wondering something... please excuse my ignorance if this is a stupid question.

When someone says to apply broadly, I'm guessing this means to apply to out-of-state schools as well. People who are encouraged to apply broadly are those who have scores that aren't that up to parr, yes?

If so, my question is this... if you aren't a state resident, doesn't that make your chances of being accepted more difficult? So even if... let's say, you had a 3.57 GPA, with 27 MCAT (my scores... lol), wudnt I have a better chance at getting accepted to a IN STATE school with higher qualifications, then an OUT OF STATE school with slightly lower qualifications??

If this is the case, wouldn't applying "broadly" just be a waste of time?

I apologize again if this is a stupid question, but thanks for all who respond!! 🙂

 

[MiniMoo]

If your in state school is more competitive than an out of state school (accepts applicants with higher stats), then your chances at an out of state school may be better. This especially applies to private out of state schools that don't show in-state preference. However, there are also some public schools as well that accept a large % of out of state applicants and if your stats are more in line with their numbers, then your chances there would probably be better.

 

[vc7777]

Hi all!

I was wondering something... please excuse my ignorance if this is a stupid question.

When someone says to apply broadly, I'm guessing this means to apply to out-of-state schools as well. People who are encouraged to apply broadly are those who have scores that aren't that up to parr, yes?

If so, my question is this... if you aren't a state resident, doesn't that make your chances of being accepted more difficult? So even if... let's say, you had a 3.57 GPA, with 27 MCAT (my scores... lol), wudnt I have a better chance at getting accepted to a IN STATE school with higher qualifications, then an OUT OF STATE school with slightly lower qualifications??

If this is the case, wouldn't applying "broadly" just be a waste of time?

I apologize again if this is a stupid question, but thanks for all who respond!! 🙂

Welcome! No, your question is just fine.

Applying broadly means applying to a diverse group of schools. You can define 'diverse' many different ways, but generally people tend to think of this in terms of 'rankings' (whether this is a good way or not is debatable).

Yes, typically, this advice is given to less-competitive applicants - although I don't think it is necessarily a bad strategy for any applicant to consider.

If admissions were purely mathematical, formulaic, then yes an applicant would fair better within their state of residence at public institutions (all other things being equal). I am not sure this holds true for privately funded medical schools (unless they have an explicit mandate to serve their state or nearby states). This, of course, is due to the nature of the tax-payer support for that public medical school.

But, there are so many factors beyond grades and MCAT. For example, the "mission" of a school can affect you chances significantly too. That is, there are schools that focus on rural medicine, and some on research. If you have a history and a career aspirations that fall in-line with the school's mission statement, you may have a great advantage over other "more competitive" applicants.

One candidate may be "a perfect fit" for a school with lower-than-average scores OOS and a get in easily. The same candidate might be on paper well above the average at her state school and still be rejected early on.

If you goal is to get into the best school for your needs/goals then applying then applying broadly may be helpful.

 

[tbone1234]

Wow thanks for the great information Minimoo and VC!

I'm a TX resident applying this year... obviousley my GPA, and especially my MCAT are far under-parr. If it was up to me I'd spend another year boosting them both, but I have to apply this year for personal reasons...

My aim is to get into a MD school, so I was worried, since TX allo schools have much higher MCAT average than my score, I wouldn't get in... and the chance of an OOS school didn't make sense to me.

Do you all know of any possible OOS allopathic schools that might consider my scores? I know my EC's matter too (which I feel are really good), but just numerically, any thoughts on MD schools?

Thanks for all your help. I swear I can spend hours on these forums lol.

 

[OhioDoc]

Hi all!

I was wondering something... please excuse my ignorance if this is a stupid question.

When someone says to apply broadly, I'm guessing this means to apply to out-of-state schools as well. People who are encouraged to apply broadly are those who have scores that aren't that up to parr, yes?

If so, my question is this... if you aren't a state resident, doesn't that make your chances of being accepted more difficult? So even if... let's say, you had a 3.57 GPA, with 27 MCAT (my scores... lol), wudnt I have a better chance at getting accepted to a IN STATE school with higher qualifications, then an OUT OF STATE school with slightly lower qualifications??

If this is the case, wouldn't applying "broadly" just be a waste of time?

I apologize again if this is a stupid question, but thanks for all who respond!! 🙂

First of all, applying broadly is recommended to EVERYONE - not just individuals with stats on the lower end of the spectrum. On the topic of your question, You'll be at a disadvantage if you apply to an out of state school that is state-funded. Out of state schools that are private in nature don't generally care about your residency status.

Wow thanks for the great information Minimoo and VC!

I'm a TX resident applying this year... obviousley my GPA, and especially my MCAT are far under-parr. If it was up to me I'd spend another year boosting them both, but I have to apply this year for personal reasons...

My aim is to get into a MD school, so I was worried, since TX allo schools have much higher MCAT average than my score, I wouldn't get in... and the chance of an OOS school didn't make sense to me.

Do you all know of any possible OOS allopathic schools that might consider my scores? I know my EC's matter too (which I feel are really good), but just numerically, any thoughts on MD schools?

Thanks for all your help. I swear I can spend hours on these forums lol.

Like i said, out of state schools that are private in nature. Get yourself the Medical school admissions requirements which is published annually by the AAMC. For each school, it lists avg GPAs/MCATs (as well as the 10th-90th percentile range) for all the ACCEPTED applicants (and while this isn't a complete picture, it'll give you a good starting point). The book also provides what % of of applicants from IS/OOS were accepted, so you can get an idea of how hard it is for an OOS applicant to get into a given school.

Good luck!

 

[mspeedwagon]

Unless you live in CA. I've known a lot of CA residents who did not get into any in-state schools, but got into a number of OOS schools.

If admissions were purely mathematical, formulaic, then yes an applicant would fair better within their state of residence at public institutions (all other things being equal).