State bias or Regional bias?

[Astharia]

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Hey all! I applied to my state school, but I've heard that some schools have a regional bias as well. I know Nebraska is very heavily in state biased, even compared to most state schools. But do they have a regional bias at all? Does Minnesota or Missouri have a regional bias?
Thanks!

 

[ndafife]

Get MSAR it will show you what percent of each class is IS/OOS.

I have no idea what you mean by regional bias. Washington has preference for people from Washingtion/Wyoming/Alaska/Montana/Idaho if that's what you're getting at

 

[Mooseforkicks]

Many public schools heavily favor in state residents (Ex: TX, CA), though some are a bit more OOS friendly (Ex: WVU, UVM). Check MSAR to confirm.

I don’t know of other schools that officially have a regional bias, except for somewhere like WashU with WWAMI.

Aside from this, I’ve heard anecdotal evidence that some schools may somewhat favor applicants from the same region, as those people might be more likely to matriculate. However, I wouldn’t rely on this to get you into an OOS public school.

Some schools have a profile on their website with info about the previous matriculating class, and sometimes this includes the states where students were from. You could try to check that for the schools you are interested in to see if a high number of OOS admissions were from surrounding states.

 

[Astharia]

I've checked MSAR, am aware of the IS biases etc. Basically, what I'm wanting to know, is if I should apply to Minnesota and Nebraska or not as an Iowan. The only real connection I have with Minnesota is that my uncle and cousins live there, and my mom's best friend lives there. Meaning we went like every summer as a kid. I also have family in Nebraska and go to Omaha every year at least once, etc... I've heard that same anecdotal evidence regarding regional bias and I wasn't sure if this is it or not. Iowa doesn't have much bias anymore and I'm just wondering if I should add these two OOS schools.

I didn't apply there because of the OOS disadvantage that I have, but am wondering if its not that against me.
(Hopefully this makes sense, my brain is a little foggy with a head cold today.)

 

[LizzyM]

What proportion of OOS candidates do each of those schools accept? (look at the MSAR). If they are not accepting OOS applicants, it doesn't matter if you are just across the border or across two time zones, you aren't likely to be getting in. If the school does take some OOS appliants, do you think that they might take their neighbor from Iowa? I'd say it is likely but only if they are willing to take OOS candidates.

 

[Mooseforkicks]

Like I said, check each school’s website to see if they offer a breakdown of the states where matriculating students have come from. If they accept 20% or more OOS, and many of those are from the region, it might be worth a shot. (Assuming your stats are competitive for those schools, and preferably above the average).

 

[DokterMom]

No hard data to back this up, but I'd suspect some of the non-Chicago Midwestern schools might have a slight regional preference for other Midwestern applicants because many students from the large coastal cities tend to have a 'flyover country' bias against the Midwest. Hence, students from the Midwest might be more inclined to matriculate.

 

[Astharia]

No hard data to back this up, but I'd suspect some of the non-Chicago Midwestern schools might have a slight regional preference for other Midwestern applicants because many students from the large coastal cities tend to have a 'flyover country' bias against the Midwest. Hence, students from the Midwest might be more inclined to matriculate.

That's my gut feeling too. I've looked at Nebraska and Minnesota's matriculation info and I don't remember seening any coastal states from last year in MSAR. I'll check again later tonight.


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[ChicagoBear]

No hard data to back this up, but I'd suspect some of the non-Chicago Midwestern schools might have a slight regional preference for other Midwestern applicants because many students from the large coastal cities tend to have a 'flyover country' bias against the Midwest. Hence, students from the Midwest might be more inclined to matriculate.

I don't know specifically about Minnesota or Nebraska, but this seems to be the case at Iowa. Illinois and Minnesota (and to a lessor extent, Nebraska and Missouri) account for a good portion of the OOS contingent - which is about 1/3 of the class. (California is up there with Illinois and Minnesota as far as the size of their contingent - given they are a huge exporter of qualified candidates.)

If you grew up in suburban Chicago, Minneapolis or Omaha, some of your classmates probably attended college somewhere in Iowa - corn and soybeans (and the weather) don't scare you. The reputation of the medical school is well known and highly regarded throughout the Midwest when it comes time for residency applications. Being a 3-4 hour drive from home is also a big advantage. Not so close that your family is on top of you, but close enough if necessary. Given all of this, I can see where the Midwest OOS acceptances would be "stickier" than East or West coast.

While there will always be waitlist movement due to acceptance at your instate flagship or a much higher ranked school or due to receipt of a huge scholarship offer, I'm sure the administration would also prefer "sticky" acceptances and not want to go deep down the waitlist because too many "coasties" opt for lower ranked schools just to stay there.

 

[Goro]

Hey all! I applied to my state school, but I've heard that some schools have a regional bias as well. I know Nebraska is very heavily in state biased, even compared to most state schools. But do they have a regional bias at all? Does Minnesota or Missouri have a regional bias?
Thanks!

Invest in MSAR Online. This will tell you where OOS matriculants came from.

 

[Astharia]

Invest in MSAR Online. This will tell you where OOS matriculants came from.

I have, but the MSAR doesn't really show preference pattern, unless I'm missing a section.

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[theKingLT]

Many public schools heavily favor in state residents (Ex: TX, CA), though some are a bit more OOS friendly (Ex: WVU, UVM). Check MSAR to confirm.

I would argue most CA schools have pretty low in state bias, no? 30% OOS when California already has so many top candidates is pretty significant

 

[kamakazi5]

I have, but the MSAR doesn't really show preference pattern, unless I'm missing a section.

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From what I remember of the MSAR is you want to look at the percentages. What percentage IS vs OOS. If they accept a decent amount from OOS (say >30-40%) then check the states they come from. If they pull mainly from surrounding states then that's their preference. If they pull mainly IS then that's their preference.

 

[theKingLT]

You're definitely right, I was confusing keck, loma linda, and stanford with the UC's. I think though that Irvine is not as bad as the 10% OOS looks given that only 28% of applicants are OOS in the first place. Do you know if AAMC publishes acceptance stats as well or just matriculant stats? It's hard to say how much matriculant bias is created by in-state tuition and location preference for those with multiple acceptances, as opposed to strictly admissions preference.

UCLA and UCSF have 30% OOS, all the others have 11% or less OOS. However, about 50% of applicants to these two schools are OOS. Also remember that in-state applicants have only about 15% acceptance rate in CA

https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstablea1.pdf

 

[gyngyn]

Many public schools heavily favor in state residents (Ex: TX, CA), though some are a bit more OOS friendly (Ex: WVU, UVM).

There are only 2 CA schools with a stated preference for IS applicants (UCR and Davis).
CA is the largest exporter of medical students in the US.

 

[gyngyn]

CA state schools, even those without any formal policy favoring CA residents, will favor state residents

I look at it this way: among equally desirable candidates, Californians are more likely to matriculate. ...and there are plenty of them.
Thus, over time even the thickest Admissions Dean will begin to use resources more wisely.

 

[Goro]

UCLA and UCSF have 30% OOS, all the others have 11% or less OOS. However, about 50% of applicants to these two schools are OOS. Also remember that in-state applicants have only about 15% acceptance rate in CA

https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstablea1.pdf

According to MSAR, UCLA received ~5200 apps from OOS. Yet they seated only 49 of these. That's < 1%. One is 2x as likely to get an II from UCLA if you're IS. I don't think that this is due to an IS bias, just due to the fact that there are tons of talented candidates in CA! We get a decent number of their leftovers. CUSM and Kaiser will probably eat into those in the future, alas.

 

[DoctorSnow]

Hey all! I applied to my state school, but I've heard that some schools have a regional bias as well. I know Nebraska is very heavily in state biased, even compared to most state schools. But do they have a regional bias at all? Does Minnesota or Missouri have a regional bias?
Thanks!

Minnesota (my home state) prefers in state.