What would you do?

[Brooke3]

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I’ve posted a slightly similar thread a couple of weeks ago, but now I have new developments and have done a lot of thinking. Current state: 3.3 Chemical Eng BS from U of Washington (born and raised in WA), 3.95/4.0 BioEng MS from Berkeley/UCSF (GPAs are relative to each school). Still need to take Bio w/ labs and OChem w/ labs, will take the MCAT early next summer. I’m currently living in San Francisco with my significant other and will finish my master’s in three weeks- I got my CA driver’s license and voter’s registration in Aug of 2010. I feel a need to prove myself with my remaining classes since I have a low UGPA and I’m assuming most adcoms know grad school GPAs don’t matter all that much because the classes can be so different (cough cough easy). Finances are an issue for me because of grad school and living in SF, so I need to take $ into account when choosing where to take my prereqs. I’ll be 26 in August, and am considered an independent from my parents. Now I must choose where to take my prereqs and I think my best two options are:

A. Move back home to Seattle and live rent-free with mom, attend Bellevue college (formerly community college)- might have to pay out of state tuition because my CA license slip up (couldn’t afford UW out of state tuition). This option will guarantee me WA residency when applying to UWSOM in 2012, and UW states that it doesn’t mind applicants taking prereqs at community colleges. Bellevue College is a 4 year school now, but only for a few programs and is primarily a 2 year school. This could very well pose a problem when applying to med schools other than UW, so I view this as putting all my eggs in the same UW basket.

B. Stay with significant other in the bay area and attend Berkeley extension. This option will be more expensive both in terms of tuition and living expenses and might cause some trouble since I have an income of 0 right now. However, Berkeley Extension seems to be viewed well and is considered a four year school since it’s part of Berkeley (or so I’m told). This option has some perks: I could keep volunteering at SF General where I get to do hands on stuff and Berkeley Extension is on semesters, so I could start almost right away and have more time to spend on the MCAT in the summer without classes to worry about. However, I could not keep my WA residency this way, but could apply to be a CA resident. Being a CA resident doesn’t seem to be of much help because the CA schools are so competitive, but there are a lot of schools to apply to in CA.

If you made it this far- I’m impressed! What would you do in this situation?

 

[flatearth22]

I would lean towards choice A.

Avoid applying as a CA resident if possible.

[youtube]Gyg5IoEv8oA[/youtube]

 

[Brooke3]

Thanks for your input. Since UW is very competitive, do you see it as risky to essentially rely on it being my best shot into an MD program? Or perhaps I don't really have a shot at UW or any of the CA schools, so it might not make a big difference?

 

[flatearth22]

Thanks for your input. Since UW is very competitive, do you see it as risky to essentially rely on it being my best shot into an MD program? Or perhaps I don't really have a shot at UW or any of the CA schools, so it might not make a big difference?

Anything is better than CA. I know people from my HS who went OOS for UG who established residency or are establishing residency in that state in order to avoid applying as a CA resident.

 

[CodeBlu]

Option A. Ftw.

 

[Medicine4Bruhs]

If you made it this far- I’m impressed! What would you do in this situation?

Well, I guess you are not impressed with me then...

 

[235788]

tl;dr. A sounds like a winner, skimmed and saw cheaper living = win.

 

[Brooke3]

I could live with my significant other, possibly drastically minimizing my cost of living. Additionally, since I got my CA driver's license and voter's registration, I'm probably not eligible for in state tuition in WA, so those two classes will cost me around $9k at Bellevue, while only costing me $8k at Berkeley Ex.

It looks like it'd be better for my ECs (and my significant other!!) if I stayed in the bay area, but applying as a CA resident is killer (though I'd absolutely love to attend med school in Ca, along with everyone else).

I've heard that's it's great to be a CA resident if you have a strong application, so I don't quite fit that bill due to the low GPA😕