Schools other than CA?

[angemon89]

Hey guys, I plan to take my MCAT in January and apply in June of next year. I haven't really put much thought into what schools I want to apply to other than the California schools because I really want to be close to home and my family, and being in California would make me feel that way. Would I be crazy just applying to those schools? Are my chances high?

I predict I will apply with a GPA/Science around 3.6/3.6. My extracurriculars aren't really extensive. I've been doing cancer research for a year (2 years by the time I apply). I was an officer in AMSA and a board member for the premed conference for 2 years (one of the biggest AMSA conferences). I hope to have a year of of work at a hispanic or AIDS clinic by the time I apply.

If all goes as planned, I will be 25 years old when I matriculate.

What do you guys think?

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[angemon89]

Bump

 

[boshtrich]

The short answer is that you definitely need to apply to school outside of California. Most applicants from CA end up needing to apply to lots of schools because the UC schools are so competitive. A 3.6 would also be below average for CA schools so to have a good shot at acceptance, you would need a higher MCAT score (can't really say what your chances would be without that). I would still apply to all the CA schools, but you should start coming up with about 10 schools outside of CA that you would be okay going to if you didn't get any CA acceptances.