To fellow Cali Residents

[Forensic Chick]

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I'm going to be applying to medical school in June - and I was wondering how the Cali residents fared in the wonderful golden state and also in public schools in other states. I understand that private schools are game for everyone - but those tend to get extremely expensive and I really like the in state tuition for Cali at ~$10k/year. I've heard that UCSF takes the most out of state residents and that UCI isn't very student friendly. Where do you think is best and where did you get accepted?

Many thanks in advance. :wink:

 

[Dr. Will]

I was shown no love whatsoever from any of the UC's I applied to. It is a grim reality that going to school in Cali is extremely competitive. I heard from my advisor that it's about eight candidates per slot in California. The only advice I can give you is try to apply to all of them. If you are a strong applicant, you have a fair shot. There is really no way to gauge what they are looking for. Good luck!

 

[Forensic Chick]

Dr. Will -- thanks for the info. I can't believe it's an 8:1 ratio! I knew that the chances (for less than perfect applicants) were low - but that's horrible. I'm going to apply to all of the UC's and USC. Did you have any luck with USC or Stanford? I went to a CSU so I probably have an even lesser chance than those who went to a UC. Oh well - I'll still give it a try.

Thanks again.

-Forensic Chick-

 

[Dr. Will]

I didn't apply to USC because of a missed deadline and I was no where near Stanford standards as far as my stats went. Can't give you much info there, sorry. As for the 8:1 ratio, I could be wrong but it sounds like a very possible number for California. Don't sell yourself short on going to CSU. I went to UC Davis and got no love from there either. As long as you have good MCAT's, GPA, letters and EC's, you've got a shot. But if you're lacking in either area, it becomes a little harder. That's from my own experience, however. I can't speak for anyone else.

 

[nerfornothin]

The in state tuition certainly is sweet. If tuition is major concern and you're interested in primary care take a look at the NHSC scholarship program. Here's the <a href="http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/nhsc/" target="_blank">link.</a> If it's something you'd be willing to do it could help make going out of state less painful on the wallet.

All the UCs are great schools. I'm sure you can find both champions and detractors for them all here on SDN but at the end of the day all of them are places where you can get a great medical education. A rough list of say hardest to easiest to get accepted at might go something like...

UCSF
UCLA
UCSD
UCD
UCI

Give the campuses a visit. For my part I liked the vibes at UCSF and UCSD the best. Both very cool places. Don't worry about having gone to a CSU. I graduated from one last May and have had multiple interviews and an acceptance (whew!). Best of luck!

 

[Cdc28p]

Sometimes I wonder if there's any advantage at all to be a California resident. OK, I guess there must be, but it's so small. I myself applied only to UCSF and am still waiting to hear from them post-interview, so I can't say anything from my experience, but many of my Harvard friends, whose grades, MCAT, and ECs are darn good, are rejected left and right by the UCs even though they're from CA. You perhaps should think about many other out-of-state schools as well just to be safe.

 

[cipher]

I also wonder about the "advantages" of being a california resident. Does any other state have such a large percentage of their pre-meds going to out-of-state schools?

 

[drusso]

When I interviewed at the UCs, what really pissed me off was meeting applicants who were "california residents" but were going to college at Brown, Yale, Hopkins, etc. Apparently, they kept their CA addresses and this qualified them as in-state residents. The UCs LOVED these students because they get to fill their classes with kids from brand name universities. Who cares about another applicant from Berkeley or UCLA? Boring...

You'll find that as a CA resident from a top UC or private CA college you're looked at more closely in the East, South, and Northeast. A lot of CA residents end up going to medical school in Chicago and New York. Don't know why, just an observation

If you're hell bent on staying in CA, you should also look closely at the DO schools too(Western and Touro).

 

[Keith]

ok, if you look at chances of getting into a specific uc school, the odds are like 40:1. (5,000 applicants/100-120 slots per school) however, it's close to 8:1 of getting into any one of them. (assuming it's the same 5,000 applicants applying to all five UCs)

i'm a ca resident who went to a CSU. (august MCATer)

re: out-of-state acceptances, so far i've been accepted by 5 schools, all of them are public. i started turning down interviews at private schools once i was accepted to a couple publics. (too much money)

re: CA schools, i was rejected post-secondary from usc and stanford. i've been invited to interviews at all the UCs except irvine. interviewed at ucsd about a month ago and was placed into the dreaded acceptable pool. just interviewed at ucsf this week. interviewing at ucd and ucla next week.

so it is possible to go to a csu and still get lucky in ca. i say lucky because this whole process is so random. i also haven't been accepted to a uc yet (fingers are crossed) so i can't say entirely lucky. i agree there is some "name brand" shopping by adcoms, but believe there are a lot of other facets of you application that they look at besides just undergrad school and stats.

good luck!!!

 

[Cdc28p]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by drusso:
•When I interviewed at the UCs, what really pissed me off was meeting applicants who were "california residents" but were going to college at Brown, Yale, Hopkins, etc. Apparently, they kept their CA addresses and this qualified them as in-state residents. The UCs LOVED these students because they get to fill their classes with kids from brand name universities. Who cares about another applicant from Berkeley or UCLA? Boring...•••••Why does that piss you off? Most of these kids, including myself, will probably come back to CA to practice anyway. If you're a competitive candidate, there's no disadvantage being from UCB or UCLA.

 

[souljah1]

I agree with the 'random' comment. I am a CA resident and went to a UC for my undergrad. I applied to all of the UCs and Stanford. I didn't apply to USC or Loma Linda. I was rejected PRE-secondary from UC Davis and Post-secondary from UCSD and UCLA, and Stanford. I interviewed at UCSF and UCI. If you want to try and rationalize that, go ahead. I've been trying to for months now. Anyway, I am waiting for UCSF's response and was told my the UCI admin office that I will be on the alternate list. I have had a hard time trying to understand how the UCs make decisions. Anyway, I'm just glad to still be alive at two of them. Come on UCSF!

 

[Forensic Chick]

Hey guys,

Thanks again for all the info -- it's really helping me out! My gpa is a little below average (3.45) and I'll be taking the MCAT in April. I do have about 3000 community service hours since I started college and EMT certs (as if it really made a difference) - I hope the randomness works in my favor. I can't believe that it's such a fight for Cali schools - but I guess the whole process is like that. I'm not going into primary care so I guess I have that working against me...

Thanks!!

-Forensic Chick-

 

[Cdc28p]

Hang in there, Forensic Chick! Pick a strong theme for your application (probably something related to your ECs in your case), write kick-ass essays, apply to lots of schools, and you'll be fine. Good luck on the MCAT!

 

[drusso]

•••quote:•••Why does that piss you off? Most of these kids, including myself, will probably come back to CA to practice anyway. If you're a competitive candidate, there's no disadvantage being from UCB or UCLA.[/QB]••••It's very different from the way other state schools run their systems. In Texas, for example, preference is given to 1)in-state residents from in-state colleges, 2) in-state residents from out-of-state colleges, 3) out-of-state residents from out-of-state colleges.

You're right that there is no disadvantage being from UCB (as I was) or UCLA when applying to the UC medical schools, but there is no distinct advantage either. That's the problem. UC undergrads *SHOULD* be at a competitive advantage when applying to UC medical schools just like Texas, Washington, and Oregon undergrads are when applying to their schools. Do you know the chances of getting into Oregon Health Science University or University of Washington as a UC undergrad? Almost nil. The fact of the matter is that the UC's "eat their young."

There exists a substantial geographical regional bias among medschool adcom members. This is a fact. It probably works both ways. When I interviewed out of state (particularly in the Midwest and Chicago), people were very impressed with the Berkeley name, education, and bent over backwards to get to know me. The admissions people at UC Davis just kind of yawned in my face, but fawned over the California applicant from Cornell (who I stayed in touch with and had nearly identical credentials and even less research experience than me). Is Cornell really more prestigious than Cal? I think not.

I'm not whining, don't get me wrong. I matched at Mayo this year for residency and will likely return to Cali to practice. All's well that ends well. My point is that other states do things very differently and truly treasure their in-state applicants. This isn't the case with the UC's, believe me...On the up side, you'll find that a UC pre-med education is heads and shoulders above other pre-med education across the country and will serve you well if go out-of-state.

 

[ginseng]

I slightly disagree with everyone else. I come from UCLA and I got interviews from interviews from all the UCs except in Irvine, and got accepted to all except UCSF (still waiting, but interviewed just last week). When I went to interview at all the UCs, everyone was either a Ca resident and going to a CA school or out-of-state but going to a CA school, except one at UCLA. True, a lot of the intitial acceptances are given to out-of-state Ivy Leaguers at the more prestigious schools like SF, LA, and SD, but I think that's because they get out of school earlier and can turn in the apps earlier than UC students. I know someone who graduated from an Ivy League school in May and submitted her AMCAS the first day it permitted to. I on the other hand, didn't finish school until late June, didn't think about the AMCAS until two weeks after, and then after all the computer mess, finally submitted it in late August. Sure I got secondaries and interviews later in the year, but hey we ended accepted to the same schools we applied to. So relax, if you're a strong candidate they'll take you. But I know than when I interviewed in the Midwest and East, they loved me and all the California applicants, who always were always at least half the other students I interviewed with. I would have gone to those schools, but the weather just sucks.

 

[El Jefe]

Well I didn't have as much luck in Cali as some of you other UC students. I applied to everything in CA but Loma Linda and only got interviews at UCSD, UCI, and USC. Of those, only USC has accepted me. I really wanted to end up in a UC, but it seems like Cali residents are more likely to get in to some other state school than their own state school. It's just too damn competitive.

 

[matthew0126]

i have to agree with the fact that the east coast schools seem to be much more impressed with the berkeley name then the uc's... but that's no surprise. the uc's must be bored sick of the berkeley/ucla applicants

fyi, i applied to all the uc's and usc (f* stan-turd), i got interviews at all 6 but was lucky enough to get a ucsd (#2 choice) acceptance early on so i withdrew from davis, irvine, and usc. still waiting post-interview from ucla (#1 choice) and post-interview reject from ucsf.

 

[Cdc28p]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by matthew0126:
•fyi, i applied to all the uc's and usc (f* stan-turd)•••••What's wrong with Stanford? 🙂

 

[medicine2006]

Correct me someone if I'm wrong but I think that California has an unusually high number of applicants. Last year a little under 40,000 people applied to the 125 allopathic schools and CA must make up at least 7,000 plus of those applicants. That is why it is so hard to get into medical school in CA. Plus CA schools have medium to small class sizes, ie UCI with only 92 seats. SO it is unfair to blame the UCs for not favoring CA residents they just don't have enough seats to satisfy everyone. I didn't make it into a CA school but I am not complaining.

 

[Keith]

if you look at the MSAR there are approx. 3200-3400 Ca residents applying to each UC. most apply to all the UCs as it is so difficult to get in. there are only 500-550 slots at the UCs. and you can add another 350 or so for the 3 private schools. so at best, 3300 applicants are competing for 900 slots. i'd say 66-80% of ca residents are going out of state for med school each year.

 

[bomback]

After this whole application process, I've realized that med school application has a great deal of randomness to it. I got interviews at all 5 UCs, got into UCSD and UCLA, and waitlist at UCSF, but at the same time I got rejected from USC. So just apply to all the schools and hope that everything goes well. And about the comment that UCs like to take IV league students, that's not excatly true because UC students (especially UCLA and Berkley) make up the majority of the UC med students.

 

[matthew0126]

oh... just my opinion, i don't want to start a flaming war, so i'll leave it at that 🙂

you know what we need? uc merced school of medicine 😎 😎

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Cdc28p:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by matthew0126:
•fyi, i applied to all the uc's and usc (f* stan-turd)•••••What's wrong with Stanford? 🙂 •••••

 

[Forensic Chick]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the info. I agree with matthew that we need more UC's for us to apply to!!

Best of luck to all of you.

 

[lola]

Just wanted to say that I am a California resident who got an undergraduate degree on the East Coast. It cost a lot of money, and I would really like to attend a UC for med school. I don't quite understand the logic behind those of you who think that people like me should not be considered California residents. I've lived in CA for 20 years of my life. Isn't that long enough? Should I be penalized for choosing an out of state school over a UC for undergrad? Why should UC graduates be at an advantage? Something to think about? 🙂

 

[EarlGrey]

Forensic Chick,

I think the reality is that at the UCs they tend to "look down" on the CSUs. Which doesn't mean you can't get in! I did my undergrad at a private college, but all my pre-med classes at a CSU. The thing was, I did well in my classes and on the MCAT. I think when you go to a school like CSU, you have to "prove" to the adcoms that you can do just as well as those who went to other universities, i.e. do well on the MCAT! I was accepted at UCSF & UCSD, turned down an interview offer at UCD, withdrew my app from UCI, and was rejected from UCLA post-secondary. I was also accepted at UW and offered an interview at Harvard. So hang in there and good luck to you!

 

[Scooby Doo]

Lola,

I completely agree with you. If you grew up here, then damn right you are a Cali resident!

I am probably going to be gonig out of state for medical school..but after that, I am pretty sure I want to come rigth back to cali. I hope I don't meet more people like the previous poster who will give me **** for wanting to come back. But you know, it's ridiculous that I barely was able to wipe the ass of any UC School even though I spent four years going to an undergrad here.

I got one interview at a UC...it was UC Irvine. I met a harvard girl there who said she ONLY got the UCI interview too! She said she was surprised (as was I) that she only got that since she was a Cali resident, played in a div I sports league, and went to Harvard! What's up with that?!?

Ah well....just who the hell is getting into these UC's???