What state is the best for a pre-med?

[spiritedaway]

Ok, if you were allowed to become a resident of any one state, which state would you choose? (Considering the advantages to applying to the medical schools in that state). I've heard that some think being a californian resident has benefits, while others think it is more difficult to get into med school if your from Cali. Where would YOU move (if you could) in order to increase your chances of acceptance into med school?

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[MadameLULU]

Ok, if you were allowed to become a resident of any one state, which state would you choose? (Considering the advantages to applying to the medical schools in that state). I've heard that some think being a californian resident has benefits, while others think it is more difficult to get into med school if your from Cali. Where would YOU move (if you could) in order to increase your chances of acceptance into med school?

TX without a doubt. I am biased though.
TX tutition for residents is dirt cheap: which schools can beat $7500?
The standard of living here is pretty cheap as well.
The TMDSAS ranking system is pretty interesting. An applicant cannot hold a spot at more than one public Texas school.
Applicants know by Feb. 1st if they matched.

 

[leechy]

Probably Texas - their schools are cheap. Or maybe Ohio. Lots of schools there. Or heck, why not West Virginia? Shouldn't be tough to get in there.

One of the great injustices of the med school process is that whether or not you get into any school at all is dependent on what state you live in. This obviously doesn't matter for some applicants, but for many others, it is crucial. Plus it is just plain nice to be paying low tuitions and sticking around in the same area.

 

[leechy]

TX without a doubt. I am biased though.
TX tutition for residents is dirt cheap: which schools can beat $7500?
The standard of living here is pretty cheap as well.
The TMDSAS ranking system is pretty interesting. An applicant cannot hold a spot at more than one public Texas school.
Applicants know by Feb. 1st if they matched.

Heh... MadameLULU beat me to it. TX rules... unfortunately I'm not from there.

 

[i77ac]

minnesota, arizona, and florida residents pay some $5000 for tuition at Mayo... beat that!

 

[Assembler]

I would've said California for kicks, but seriously, you ought to ask those people that said CA was great to actually try applying from here (besides the ones with the 4.0/42's).

Texas is your best bet. They have some 90% in-state preference quota, or at least that's what I remember (and they have a lot of schools).

 

[i77ac]

I would've said California for kicks, but seriously, you ought to ask those people that said CA was great to actually try applying from here (besides the ones with the 4.0/42's).

Texas is your best bet. They have some 90% in-state preference quota, or at least that's what I remember (and they have a lot of schools).

i'm glad i'm from cali...

west si~iide!

 

[skhichi]

Cali, hands down. Some of the best schools in the world, and the prospect of caps on malpractice awards to look forward too. Not a bad state in terms or weather, people, and entertainment either. Kinda expensive though...I guess all that money saved form insurance premiums could pay for that $750,000 two bedroom apartment in San Fran.

 

[txguy]

Texas. 8 med schools, all with sub $8000 tuition. 90% accepted from in-state (except Baylor), so the competition is not as stiff as others, where you will be competing with the entire country.

Cheers!

-tx

 

[Friendly]

Texas. 8 med schools, all with sub $8000 tuition. 90% accepted from in-state (except Baylor), so the competition is not as stiff as others, where you will be competing with the entire country.

Cheers!

-tx

Maryland. One of the oldest (4th or 5th?) medical schools in the country. Excellent clinical facilities, cheap in-state-tuition, strong preference for in-state applicants, small state (so less in-state applicants).

 

[derf]

recalling the us news medical schools book, i read that louisville accepted like 187/220 in-state applications. you gotta like your odds in kentucky.

 

[tugbug]

UofL accepts about 135 per year. They interview ?450 instate applicants per year. Cant remember how many instate apps they recieve total... but my guess is at least double the number interviewed... So, I think your numbers are off. I do think it is easier to get accepted as an instate Kyian than is some other states, but not as easy as your numbers indicate.

 

[virilep]

Amen tugbug.... Amen. UofL or UK.... it's all good. but I have to go with Texas for the "easiest" or rather least competitive.

 

[jetskigirl]

As a California resident, I think applying to California sucks.

You do have 4 in state schools, but so many people out of state want to go to them, the competition is worse than most state schools. Also, California has a huge population, so that doesn't help get one of the 100 spots at UCI that are solely for california residents. I had a choice to keep California residency or to get Arizona residency. Now that I've interviewed at Mayo and love it, I'm kicking myself. ($6000 tuition for a private school, really!)

Another good point that people have made: California is really expensive to live around any of the med schools; San Fran, LA, Orange County and San Diego are some of the most expensive spots in California.

For getting into medical school only, I think I would choose Texas. Another choice would be Alaska, Montana or Wyoming, so I could go to any of the schools that participate in WICHE.

 

[SFAJess]

Texas is great!

 

[AsianDoc816]

TEXAS--we are so friendly and down-to-earth! (but then again, I've lived here my whole life, so I might be a tad biased!)

And no, we don't ride horses to school.

 

[SOUNDMAN]

Nebraska accepts almost all instate applicants. I think there were only 10 that weren't last year. Creighton as well accepts mostly instate but much more out of state. UNMC is way cheaper though.

 

[derf]

UofL accepts about 135 per year. They interview ?450 instate applicants per year. Cant remember how many instate apps they recieve total... but my guess is at least double the number interviewed... So, I think your numbers are off. I do think it is easier to get accepted as an instate Kyian than is some other states, but not as easy as your numbers indicate.

sorry, was off in my initial post. UofL accepted 178 out of 211 that interviewed in-state. Still pretty great odds.

 

[superdevil]

Nebraska accepts almost all instate applicants. I think there were only 10 that weren't last year. Creighton as well accepts mostly instate but much more out of state. UNMC is way cheaper though.

well, its tempting to say "texas", but a lot of people forget what a slam-dunk piece of cake it is for someone with a 3.5/30 to get into their state schools in places like nebraska, kansas, oklahoma, louisiana, etc. the MSAR doesn't lie...

 

[abraxas20]

Amen tugbug.... Amen. UofL or UK.... it's all good. but I have to go with Texas for the "easiest" or rather least competitive.

As a Ky resident I am gonna have to agree that Ky is a good place to be. We are a small state with three med schools (UK, UofL, and Pikeville COM).

But I will have to agree that if I were gonna pick one it would be Texas.

S

 

[aparecida]

sorry, was off in my initial post. UofL accepted 178 out of 211 that interviewed in-state. Still pretty great odds.

That's if you get an interview. Still, I think the overall acceptance rate at Louisville for in-state applicants (not just interviewees) is about 45%, which is darn good. I'd have to agree it's pretty good in Kentucky ... two allopathic schools and an osteopathic school that all give strong in-state preference.

 

[skiracer90]

Massachusetts because UMass is 100% in-state. You cannot beat that. Plus, the tuition is wicked cheap.

 

[NubianPrincess]

New York. No particular reason.

 

[dr_juvi]

I agree...NY. One probably helpful reason is that in order to become a NY state resident (NY resident= cheaper tuition) you have to live in NY for at least two weeks (roughly, not sure if its the same for any other states). Aside of course from the top schools (columbia, cornell, NYU, stonybrook, SUNY buffalo) and hospitals (st. lukes, columbia presbyterian, etc.) and the incredible people that live here! lol..can u tell im from ny?? lol

 

[antibody]

I have looked in to this quite a bit because I planned on doing a year of research before medical school and I figured I could change my residency classification in the process.

You should keep in mind the most important factors in an effort to maximize your chances of getting in. The best state to be considered a resident would have the following characteristics (in my opinion):

1) Easy procedure to change residency status (this is key - some state schools make it very difficult to establish residency, ex. requiring residence for two years before the date your application is submitted - not considering you a resident for tuition/acceptance purposes even though the state considers you a resident. while other schools are much more lax on classification status, so you can theoretically move right when you submit your AMCAS and be considered a resident during the year you are applying for (because you just need to live in the state and support yourself for a year before the first day of classes). Other schools allow you to change residency status after the first quarter of medical school (or any quarter thereafter). Some schools encourage all their out of state first years to become residents for second year. Schools have different laws and cultures regarding residency classification it takes a lot of research to find out what is possible.

2) High in-state preference.

3) Many schools to apply to (maximize probability and decrease risk).

4) Schools of varying caliber (maximize reach) with at least one fall back school.

6) (Less important but to be considered) Low tuition and cost of living.

Based on what I know of the state schools and these criteria, I would say Texas and Ohio are the best states to be residents for medical school purposes, possibly NY (but not close to the other two).

 

[spiritedaway]

Thanks for all the opinions guys! I was waiting for someone to say New York. NY has 12 allopathic med. schools (compared to the next number, which i think is 8 from california)...yet the population isn't that high (18 million i think). However, I don't know whether or not the schools give strong preferance to in-state applicants.

 

[tugbug]

sorry, was off in my initial post. UofL accepted 178 out of 211 that interviewed in-state. Still pretty great odds.

I'm not disagreeing that instate odds are good in KY... but UofL's class maxes out at 140... so, I think those numbers are off a bit. Plus, I'm at UK and I think most everyone in my class interviewed at UofL too... so, thats at least 100 or so instaters who interviewed there but went elsewhere. Oh, maybe the 178 is the number of acceptances they give to fill the 140 class... is that what the numbers are? Either way, the 211 is off IMO.

The math I was using when I applied was that both UK and UofL interview ?450 students each. Between the two of them they have about 250 spots total... so, assuming there is a lot of overlap in who they interview of the instate crowd (and that is a pretty safe assumption since I've met few ppl who didnt interview at both if they interviewed at one), that puts an appl who interviews at no worse than 50/50, and probably more like 60/40. So, you gotta like your chances if you get the interview.

 

[TripleDegree]

I'm surprised that Ohio, with our 7 medical schools, didn't make the list.

 

[JMD]

New York's good, but our in state tuition has gone up $2000/year the last 4 years which angers alot of people. It's still cheaper than private schools, but getting up there.
From what I have heard, Texas seems best.
Cali...chances are good that you'll end up paying $35,000 a year at an east coast private school if you're a Cali resident. Not that that's the case for everyone, but there are just too many quality applicants in Cali to move there thinking you will attend one of the UCs for med school. On the other hand, the UC system is awesome and I don't think you could go wrong going to Berkeley, UCLA, etc. for undergrad no matter where you ended up later on.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

I've always heard that NC is a great place to apply for allopathic medical school. East Carolina where I go accepts 100% of its 72 students from NC. We also happen to be far and away the cheapest medical school in the country. UNC-CH also accepts something like 80% of ~120 students from NC (I think that's how many students they have).. UNC is also very well-priced. Wake Forest offers some preference for NC residents. Duke doesn't give a crap where you're from

Always heard that CA and NY are tough to get into simply because of the large volume of students that are applying. Yes, there are a lot of schools but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be an easier road. Just giving you another state to think about. Best of Luck

 

[akpete]

minnesota, arizona, and florida residents pay some $5000 for tuition at Mayo... beat that!

But first they've gotta get in

 

[Fermata]

Texas and Ohio, easily.

 

[chicadehuskers]

Nebraska accepts almost all instate applicants. I think there were only 10 that weren't last year. Creighton as well accepts mostly instate but much more out of state. UNMC is way cheaper though.

Do you really think that Creighton accepts mostly in-state students? I'm not arguing with you...I have no idea what the numbers are. I went to grad school at Creighton, however, and fraternized with many of the medical students there. I can actually only think of about 4 students from the whole M1 class that year that were from Nebraska. Maybe some of them that went to undergrad at Creighton just claimed Nebraska as their home state. Anyway, it's still great to have two "in-state" schools to choose from if you want to stay in Nebraska...although since Creighton is a private school, I don't think they give preference to Nebraska residents.

 

[MD Rapper]

As a California resident, I think applying to California sucks.

You do have 4 in state schools, but so many people out of state want to go to them, the competition is worse than most state schools. Also, California has a huge population, so that doesn't help get one of the 100 spots at UCI that are solely for california residents. I had a choice to keep California residency or to get Arizona residency. Now that I've interviewed at Mayo and love it, I'm kicking myself. ($6000 tuition for a private school, really!)

Another good point that people have made: California is really expensive to live around any of the med schools; San Fran, LA, Orange County and San Diego are some of the most expensive spots in California.

For getting into medical school only, I think I would choose Texas. Another choice would be Alaska, Montana or Wyoming, so I could go to any of the schools that participate in WICHE.

I agree, I think California is one of the WORST states to apply to medical school. There just aren't enough medical schools for our vast population... Look at the disparity in the number of schools between NY and CA! You need incredible stats to get into a california school... pretty much a 3.7/34 to be guaranteed an acceptance.

Yes, I have personal experience with this. I'm not banking on being able to come back to California... our Gtown SMP class is about 50 percent californian. I think that speaks for itself

 

[skypilot]

Massachusetts because UMass is 100% in-state. You cannot beat that. Plus, the tuition is wicked cheap.

Yeah but the average MCAT is a 32 at UMass, and the average GPA is a 3.6. So its far from a slam dunk. My friend with a 35, 3.8 didn't get in.

 

[neuronerd]

I definitely concur. Cali is the WORST state to be in.

I would personally choose Wyoming because they don't have a med school so they get preferential treatment at schools in OR, WA, and of course the best one of all . . .Hawaii!!

SO either Wyoming or Hawaii. shoot, one can only wish

 

[Doc 2b]

Definitely TX, I'm from TN and it really sucks here. Only 210 seats in the whole state, with several large universities, ie UT, Vanderbilt, UTC, MTSU, and ETSU. We probably have about 10 colleges with 20k+ students. I'm not sure how many apps the two schools get, but it is pretty high for the number of seats, and they also accept 10% out of state, and alumni children are treated as in state regardless fo residence. Plus the schools are both broke.

 

[i61164]

TX tutition for residents is dirt cheap: which schools can beat $7500?

The cheapest school in the country is East Carolina University in North Carolina. Tuition is $2850 per semester and they do not accept out-of-state residents. UNC Chapel Hill has a tuition of $8,540 for in-state residents and in each class of 160, a maximum of 20 can be from out-of-state. UNC is one of the best schools in the country in both primary care and research.

 

[Quynh2007]

i dont exactly know very well (I'm a NY resident) but I think AR also is relatively easy:

U of Ark for Medical Sciences
MCAT: VR: 9, PS: 9, BS: 9, Essay: O
GPA: 3.72/4.00
New Entrant/Applied: 144/320 (45%)
(I don't exactly know what the yield is, so for all I know, it could have accepted more than 144)

but, the tuition is 12K

just out of curiosity, does anyone know if for example I get married the summer before I apply to medical school and decided to obtain residency with my husband, would that be allowed or would my residency still be considered where my parents live?