Re-entry/JABSOM prospect deciding where to finish school?

[mdmx5322]

I am a re-entry student now living in Hawaii for the last year. I took a leave of absence from an out-of-state university (UC Berkeley - originally a CA native) and hope to return to finish my bachelor’s after having been a few years. I would like to attend JABSOM at the University of Hawaii and I’ve read that they’re especially particular to applicants with a strong tie to the state (and having attended college in Hawaii is regarded favorably). While I don’t meet most of their residency criteria (born/went to school/parent in HI), I’ve been working as a clinical research assistant at a medical practice/research institute in Honolulu and along with nonprofit work in local youth development to demonstrate service to the community here.


I don’t know whether to return to finish my last year at Cal as a senior, or to transfer to UH Manoa and earn my degree here in 2 years instead (starting as a junior), in hopes that it would give me a greater advantage in JABSOM’s admission selection.


Also, worried if moving back to CA to finish school there will cause me to lose residency here.


What would you do? What should I do? Things to take into consideration?


Mahalo!

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[alkylgroup]

If JABSOM is your top choice, then sounds like it makes sense to transfer to UH. This would probably give you a good opportunity to get to know professors at the med school/hospital etc. It sounds like you have some established activities in Hawaii, so you might lose continuity (ie, your extracurriculars may seem more fragmented) if you transfer back to Cal.

If you plan to seriously considering other medical schools in mainland US, it might be difficult for you to travel for lots of interviews from Hawaii. Most of my interviews required short flights or train rides, but I still got weary of all the travel, as it pretty much took over an entire semester.