URM Low SES Admit to OOS Medical Schools?

[Todlee]

Rural OK resident considering DO school, specifically tribal school in her hometown. Sponsored by the Cherokees which is her enrolled tribe. Has Cherokee and Spanish language skills. Low SES: homeless in middle school (stayed in Salvation Army shelter), Medicaid recipient, got all care from Indian Health and desires to work in the IHS system.

Found out about two other native-centric MD programs: one at Dartmouth and one called RISE for Oregon, Washington, UC Davis medical schools. OSUCOM and OSUCOM Cherokee Nation have similar post-bacc programs for URM/low SES students with assured interview/acceptance if applicants meet metrics; I think the latter two programs are free to attend and RISE additionally includes a monthly stipend. Of course OSUCOM is in a low COL area. North Dakota also has a Natives in Medicine focus.

I know most of the west coast MD schools are going to be biased totally or mostly towards in-state residents but 1) how would a OOS diversity applicant fare? (Only 13% of Native students obtain a college degree so pipeline is small.) According to RISE, only .04 percent of physicians are Natives, and there are are 44 Native medical students.

2) How worth is it to pay OOS tuition at medical school versus in-state? Applicant has no undergraduate debt; as a low income, first gen student EFC student she obtained a full ride at a top LAC.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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[Nerd300]

Hi there
Best to utilize the MSAR for this scenario. When I created my medical school list, I made a list that factored in GPA, MCAT, COA and location. This should not be taken lightly.

1. Are your asking in regards to OOS private school or OOS public school? the tuition for an in-state public school is always lower than private schools and OOS public schools. However OOS private school tuition is the same for every student who apply regardless of residency.

In some places, OOS application COA and privates school COA are almost the same.

I am a residency of MA. Therefore, my medical school list consisted of more private schools than public schools because public schools have a in-state bias due to cost of tuition and location (especially region, more likely for my state school to accept application from the east coast as opposed to CA).

2. Given the multiple scenario that a applicant will face: No interview invite, WL but does not matriculate, only acceptance to 1 medical school, and those with multiple acceptances, people usually wait until the financial aid package before weighing cost of attending. You can't leverage cost of you do not know where you are going to attending.

3. There are good public schools with high tuition for OOS application, for example University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, UWSOM, etc. Again, this only matters if you get accepted.

Thus that list of school your create is very importance. I have not met a medical school graduate (MD at least) that did not graduate with loans. Hope this helps.

 

[LizzyM]

The applicant should plan to apply to at least 12 schools that she'd be willing to attend if offered admission and that are a reasonable fit with her grades and scores. It is a fool's errand to pick 2 or 3 and expect an offer. Apply broadly.

Schools that appear to be a stretch might be willing to provide some scholarship money if the candidate is someone they want to have in the class. The fact that the pipeline of Native American applicants is small could be an advantage. Spanish language skills help, too. While the candidate might not get a free ride (although it is possible), it may be possible to get need based and merit based aid from a school that is flush with cash and interested in expanding the diversity of its class.

 

[WOWM]

Three other medical schools to consider:

University of New Mexico SOM. Enrolled members of any Native American tribe are consider instate for both admission and tuition purposes. UNM SOM instate has one of lowest COA in the US. Tuition & fees under $17K/year.

Both the University of Arizona-Tucson and University of North Dakota host INMED (Indians Into Medicine) programs. Both schools are open to enrolling NA applicants even if from outside the state.

About INMED

Information about the history of INMED, current program priorities, and our plans to help the next generation of American Indian health professionals.

med.und.edu

 

[VibrioVibrio]

Three other medical schools to consider:

University of New Mexico SOM. Enrolled members of any Native American tribe are consider instate for both admission and tuition purposes. UNM SOM instate has one of lowest COA in the US. Tuition & fees under $17K/year.

Both the University of Arizona-Tucson and University of North Dakota host INMED (Indians Into Medicine) programs. Both schools are open to enrolling NA applicants even if from outside the state.

About INMED

Information about the history of INMED, current program priorities, and our plans to help the next generation of American Indian health professionals.

med.und.edu

USD Sanford SOM also participates in INMED, fwiw