@Jbanks152 You could gap year and apply to UF. California schools are full pay basically for OOS. Did you apply to any other affordable choices?
Well there you go. You can’t afford the overpriced UC. How much will Miami cost after scholarships?
And just for background info-
SAT- 1510, 1550 superscored
GPA- 3.4 uw, 4.0 w (but my junior year it was 4.6 w and this year it’s 4.8 w so far)
Class rank- 70’s, not high because I didn’t try at all freshman/sophomore year unfortunately
No OOS premed should go to a UC…just totally a naive move.
@suzyQ7 Miami would still be roughly 54k even with Bright Futures and FRAG.
And to clarify I only got into UCSD, UCSB, UCSB, UCF, and Miami.
It doesn’t matter that you plan to be a California resident in the future. Californians have been paying obscene high state taxes for years to fund the California Public universities; saying that you will be a resident means you personally have not paid 18 years of state taxes.
Physical presence means you have been physically present in the State of California for a minimum of 2 years.
So what? This has nothing to do with yourphysical presence?
It’s next to impossible to gain residency as a single student.
No, you cannot have your Dad give you the money; that means you are being supported by another person and are nowhere near being financially independent.
Financially independent means you:
*work for two years, without going to school,
*pay and file California State and local taxes,
*pay market rate rental fees for your lodging; currently in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Diego, expect to pay $1500-$2k per month just for rent. They will want to know how you paid your deposits.
The Residency Determination Office knows current market rates.
Living with relatives or friends does not make you financially independent in California; if you are dishonest, all bets are off.
*your budget sheets MUST match your W2 and 540 forms for 2 years. This includes your transportation costs and costs of living budget. If they suspect a high minimum wage, they will suspect that you are being helped.
Competition for jobs is difficult with just a high school diploma in California. You must earn a believable wage. If anything seems off, they will deny your residency.
If the parent that you currently reside with is in Florida, and you have a Florida transcript, you will be paying OOS fees all 4 years. Ask your Dad to fund your tuition, fees and R/B because it may end up being a wash anyway.
**Plus, with your UC acceptances, you’ve just proven, to the State of California, that you are coming for educational purposes. **
California is not a good state for PreMed, especially at $65k per year.
In my dd’s UC Graduating class for two quarters, there were 1000 premed grads at her summer graduation.
Winter graduation was probably similar. So, assume that about 2k per year, at just one UC.
I don’t know how many graduate per year, at SD, SB, and SC. Each UC does not have its own medical school, so the competition is insane.
@JBanks41 I really might gap year and reapply to UF. Run the NPC on UF. It’s ranked high.
You have UCF and free tuition! I’m not sure why you applied to the UCs at 60k per year or of state, but luckily you have a great option. Get straight As and you will put yourself in a good spot for med school
@gearmom What makes you put UF so much above UCF?
UCSD has a terrible track record of placing their students into medical school. It’s something like 30%.
Follow the link pasted below until you get to @choroidal’s response. It’s a GREAT post. He is a physician and has a con in med school. It will quickly quash your fascination with CA public schools.
Once you are out of medical school, no one will care where you went, unless you practice in the most pretentious areas of the upper east coast. You will make the same money with no debt from Podunk U and your partner with half a mil of Ivy debt.
Good luck.
@eyemgh Thanks, that does make the UC’s seem much less attractive.
My only concern with UCF really is if it is a good enough school to give me the research and clinical experience that is needed to get into a great med school. I do however like the idea of getting [relatively] easy A’s at UCF rather than having to study all the time at a higher ranked school.
@JBanks41 UF is a top school. One of the best public schools. Ranked #42 right alongside your California schools. That is a gift to Florida students. You guys are so lucky to have such a high quality choice in your back yard. And with Bright Futures it’s a bargain. UCF is ranked #171. Now while I’m not ranked obsessed, I would personally lean towards the amazingly low cost public option that you are super lucky to have and it’s well regarded outside of Florida.
No kid values the option in their backyard because familiarity breeds contempt. So ALL the time we have kids from California that can’t go to Cali schools, they want NY. NY kids who can’t go to NY unis, they want California. Florida kids who can’t go to UF but have to go to NY or California. And other out of state kids who have the dream of UF. At some point, you guys have to stop wasting money and appreciate the great options that you DO have.
For med school, your goal is to get the highest GPA. It makes no sense to me that you didn’t apply to UF ranked #42 and only costing you maybe 15k a year BUT INSTEAD applied to UCSD which is ALSO ranked #42 and would cost you 70k a year plus travel.
Many premed majors don’t make it to med school. A UF degree would be prestigious to fall back on if you change your mind or don’t make it. And UF is a SUPER bargain. Don’t major in biology. Too many and not enough jobs.
@gearmom Yeah I definitely regret not applying to UF, and I do understand the whole grass is always greener on the other side phenomenon, but is UF so much better than UCF that it would be worth it to take a gap year when I have so much school still left to do? Also I am planning to major in Neuroscience but I’m always open-minded to good arguments.
@JBanks41 You could work and save money so that you do not have to take much if anything in loans for undergrad. Then you start clean for med school. You are young but a year is nothing. It feels like a long time when you are young. Whether or not UF is better than UCF is something that you’ll need to look into. Check med school placement, research and clinical opportunities.
@“aunt bea” Californian’s might pay obscene high taxes, but the state certainly doesn’t fund education with the money. CA ranks in the bottom quartile, I believe 41st in education funding.
Do not assume that selectivity has ANY correlation to difficulty. It doesn’t. Plan on studying hard at UCF or choose a plan B right now.
Agree^
My children’s OOS friends are often surprised by the amount of things our UCs lack.
State funding is proportionately poor for education, but we still pay crazy taxes!
@eyemgh I was just saying that UCF specifically might be relatively easy based on what people that have gone there have told me. For instance, my brother said that AP classes were harder than almost anything at UCF, and I currently have all A’s in 6 AP’s, and I might have studied twice out of school so far this year.