State resident of two states, which to choose?

[turica]

Hi,

So I'm filling out my AMCAS. I am a state resident of Michigan and California.

According to the AMCAS, if you are a state resident of two states, you should only choose one state as your legal residence. I'm really confused what to do here. I'm applying to California and Michigan schools.

I put my current and permanent address in California but legal residence in Michigan.

Anybody have any ideas on what to do here? Is it better to be a resident of the state of MI or CA when applying?

I heard MI schools do give preference to in-state students, however, CA schools do have a preference to in-state students i.e. they are indifferent to in-state or out-of-state students (I heard this is the same with New York and Chicago).

I also go to UCLA at the moment and lived in MI previously.

Thanks

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[darklabel]

If you had to choose one, then definitely Michigan. California does accept great OOS applicants and Michigan has schools with strong preference for their own.

 

[gyngyn]

MI all the way!

 

[mehc012]

Hi,

So I'm filling out my AMCAS. I am a state resident of Michigan and California.

According to the AMCAS, if you are a state resident of two states, you should only choose one state as your legal residence. I'm really confused what to do here. I'm applying to California and Michigan schools.

I put my current and permanent address in California but legal residence in Michigan.

Anybody have any ideas on what to do here? Is it better to be a resident of the state of MI or CA when applying?

I heard MI schools do give preference to in-state students, however, CA schools do have a preference to in-state students i.e. they are indifferent to in-state or out-of-state students (I heard this is the same with New York and Chicago).

I also go to UCLA at the moment and lived in MI previously.

Thanks

You said it yourself:
California does not give IS preference, so putting CA residency is of zero benefit to you.
MI does give IS preference, so putting MI is beneficial to you.

Sounds like you already know what to do.

 

[sunnysnow7]

Definitely Michigan! No question about it - CA is the last state in which you would want to claim legal residence. Several of the schools there - UCI, UCLA, and Stanford - don't even offer IS preference.

 

[gyngyn]

Definitely Michigan! No question about it - CA is the last state in which you would want to claim legal residence. Several of the schools there - UCI, UCLA, and Stanford - don't even offer IS preference.

And USC and Loma Linda

 

[turica]

Oh my God.. everybody here.. Thank you all so much!! Really have no idea how much this is helping me..

Also, another thing so should I just change my legal residence to MI or also my permanent address to MI?

Is the in-state status based on the legal residence or also on addresses?

Thanks again everyone so much

 

[BillrothI]

Oh my God.. everybody here.. Thank you all so much!! Really have no idea how much this is helping me..

Also, another thing so should I just change my legal residence to MI or also my permanent address to MI?

Is the in-state status based on the legal residence or also on addresses?

Thanks again everyone so much

I believe it's just based on legal residence. I used my parents' address in a different state for my permanent address since I travel fairly often. Wasn't an issue.

-Bill

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Wait, I'm confused. So the UC's don't give California residents preference?! Or is it just UCI and UCLA? I sometimes consider moving to California once all of my requirements are done.

 

[gyngyn]

Wait, I'm confused. So the UC's don't give California residents preference?! Or is it just UCI and UCLA? I sometimes consider moving to California once all of my requirements are done.

The only CA schools with a detectable preference for IS are UCD and UCR. The fact that there are still so many matriculates from IS is a testament to the huge abundance of overqualified applicants we have who will tend to go to a CA school over OOS (given a choice).

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

The only CA schools with a detectable preference for IS are UCD and UCR. The fact that there are still so many matriculates from IS is a testament to the huge abundance of overqualified applicants we have who will tend to go to a CA school over OOS (given a choice).

Thank you! This is good to know. Quick question: as a NY resident, if you're competitive for the for the Manhattan schools (Cornell, Columbia, Sinai, and NYU) do you have a solid chance for a California school?! I try to convince myself that they are similar in terms of selectivity, although, please correct if I'm wrong.

 

[gyngyn]

Thank you! This is good to know. Quick question: as a NY resident, if you're competitive for the for the Manhattan schools (Cornell, Columbia, Sinai, and NYU) do you have a solid chance for a California school?! I try to convince myself that they are similar in terms of selectivity, although, please correct if I'm wrong.

Yes, you have a chance.

 

[kami333]

Oh my God.. everybody here.. Thank you all so much!! Really have no idea how much this is helping me..

Also, another thing so should I just change my legal residence to MI or also my permanent address to MI?

Is the in-state status based on the legal residence or also on addresses?

Thanks again everyone so much

It depends on the school (or state), but it usually follows the money (where you file state taxes as a resident). But keep in mind that residency for admission/tuition can be different from voting/taxes/other legal stuff.


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[Cyberdyne 101]

Yes, you have a chance.

Thanks! You already know how badly I want to escape the Rotten Apple-lol.

 

[DoctorWhoo]

Which state do you prefer to be/end up in?

I have to disagree about the CA residency statements that have been made so far... I'm fairly certain that most UCs have instate preference (particularly for taking care of students that have come from other UCs). I'll be attending a UC this coming year and it's 90% instate students.

If you consider yourself a very strong applicant that wants to end up in CA, choose CA. Otherwise choose MI.

 

[BillrothI]

Which state do you prefer to be/end up in?

I have to disagree about the CA residency statements that have been made so far... I'm fairly certain that most UCs have instate preference (particularly for taking care of students that have come from other UCs). I'll be attending a UC this coming year and it's 90% instate students.

If you consider yourself a very strong applicant that wants to end up in CA, choose CA. Otherwise choose MI.

I was in the same situation last year and contacted each CA school individually. The only ones that offered IS preference were UCSD, UCD, UCSF, and UCR. UCR specifically looks for UCR undergraduate students and those who have close ties to the IE.

I think a lot of successful applicants come from the UC system simply because the UCs churn out so many qualified graduates. On top of that, adcoms know that the science curriculum at the UCs is extremely rigorous. I don't think that simply being a CA resident makes much of a difference. What really matters, IMHO, is being a UC almnus.

-Bill

 

[gyngyn]

I was in the same situation last year and contacted each CA school individually. The only ones that offered IS preference were UCSD, UCD, UCSF, and UCR. UCR specifically looks for UCR undergraduate students and those who have close ties to the IE.

I think a lot of successful applicants come from the UC system simply because the UCs churn out so many qualified graduates. On top of that, adcoms know that the science curriculum at the UCs is extremely rigorous. I don't think that simply being a CA resident makes much of a difference. What really matters, IMHO, is being a UC almnus.

-Bill

UCLA alone produces 800+ pre-med applicants per year. Only about 840 IS applicants (from every CA school and every resident who applied from their OOS undergrad) got in to a CA school last year. The main reason for the perceived IS preference is really the huge number of very well qualified IS applicants and the predilection of CA applicants to stay IS if accepted. CA is home to many fine schools. The UC's are extraordinary publics, but the private schools are pretty exceptional too.

 

[juliuspepperwood]

UCSF and UCSD can say they have an IS preference, and matriculation rates may look like they have one as well, but like gyngyn said the end result is primarily a selection bias. My interview at UCSD was mostly OOS superstars. It's just CA residents are more likely to stay at a CA school.

So basically go with Michigan.

 

[mrh125]

MI, for sure. Being a CA resident is a curse when applying to med school.

 

[gyngyn]

Another way to look at this is that 30% of MI applicants (516/1712) matriculated into MI schools in 2012 compared to 15.8% (841/5326) in CA.

If you look at median accepted scores for MI and CA, you will have another layer of information that supports MI.

 

[Aerus]

It's definitely selection bias. The UC's produce so many over-qualified premeds (many who wish to stay in CA) that you should definitely see a higher percentage of IS applicants in CA schools.

Many of the California undergraduate schools (eg. the UC's) have very intense weed out courses, but because of the large amount of premeds to begin with, you will still have a lot of stellar students emerging from the other side.

Go with Michigan.

 

[b05010445]

Definitely Michigan!!! Wayne state has a huge end class and huge Instate preference. There's at least 3 schools in Michigan, less instate applicants, if you do the math through us news and world reports for how many instate acceptees (msar is only matriculants so its not accurate for this) of each school added up compared to the number of Michigan applicants; I'm sure you'll find Michigan is a much better state.

 

[sazerac]

Wait, I'm confused. So the UC's don't give California residents preference?! Or is it just UCI and UCLA? I sometimes consider moving to California once all of my requirements are done.

I don't understand. Do you want to be a doctor or don't you? Moving to California is like subtracting 6 points from your MCAT score.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

I don't understand. Do you want to be a doctor or don't you? Moving to California is like subtracting 6 points from your MCAT score.

The lack of advantage has already been clarified-thanks. And what difference does it make if I don't want to go to school in NY?

 

[sazerac]

The lack of advantage has already been clarified-thanks. And what difference does it make if I don't want to go to school in NY?

Because there are in-state applicants, out of state applicants, and Californian applicants. The missions of most medical schools include "diversity".

If you are from New York and applying to a medical school in Chicago, you will add refreshing diversity to their student body.

If you are from California and apply to the same school, you are just another Californian. They could fill their entire 200-seat medical school class with California applicants who have better stats than you and would gladly accept the offer.

Instead of moving to California, why not fail a couple biology classes, or neglect to report any research on your AMCAS app. It would be less damaging.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Because there are in-state applicants, out of state applicants, and Californian applicants. The missions of most medical schools include "diversity".

If you are from New York and applying to a medical school in Chicago, you will add refreshing diversity to their student body.

If you are from California and apply to the same school, you are just another Californian. They could fill their entire 200-seat medical school class with California applicants who have better stats than you and would gladly accept the offer.

Instead of moving to California, why not fail a couple biology classes, or neglect to report any research on your AMCAS app. It would be less damaging.

This is refreshing to hear. Thank you. I'm hoping this is the case.