<p>In researching the creation of the list of 20-30 schools, it seems like most publics in the west only admit residents of their state and a few URM students or WICHE approved students from states w/o med school.</p>
<p>Is the list really made up of your state school plus assorted privates?</p>
<p>State school, plus any private schools in your state, then assorted private schools.</p>
<p>The issue of whether to apply to other state's public schools certainly depends a little on where your student will be comfortable ending up. Most state publics will take at least some OOS students (and some like Michigan and Ohio State take large proportions of OOS students). And if you happen to have some tie to a state (grandparents or other family members, attended college in that state), that can improve your standing compared to other OOS students.</p>
<p>Also your stats do matter. If you are above a public school's GPA and MCAT (but not excessively above), it doesn't hurt to throw an application that way - most state schools have lower secondary application fees than the private schools do - but I would make sure it's a place that you'd seriously consider if you were accepted. If you have no intention of going there, don't waste your money. And if you're below or even just at a state school's average stats, I'd hesitate. It's guaranteed that in-state students are getting preference, so you have to believe that you, with the same stats, would be far down on the list, as they're likely to take in-state students with lower stats ahead of you.</p>
<p>The issue of being too over-qualified is important too. Med schools are very interested in talking to students who will consider their school (this is an obvious situation where having a tie to a particular state is helpful). If you are very competitive at top ranked schools, they'll assume you'll go there first and there's no point for them to consider you.</p>
<p>BRM, when u mean ties to a state, could that mean if u used to live there or were born there? lol i'm crossing my fingers now</p>
<p>It could. </p>
<p>But the key is to realize that this isn't likely to be a significant boost. It's not going to make your application, just that you might get a minor amount of attention compared to other OOS students. You basically get to leave the "well why the hell is s/he applying here" group. This is a very, very, very minor component. I wouldn't be banking on getting anywhere simply because you used to live there.</p>
<p>Certainly the more recent the connection the better. So going to college in the state matters a lot more than living there from birth to 6 months. And it also matters if you have more than a single tie.</p>
<p>For example, the school I attend...I went to college in the state, both my parents grew up here, my paternal grandmother and a very significant portion of her side of the family live here in town, as does my aunt (mom's sister) and uncle. So during my interview, I had a lot to talk about why I was applying to this school, how I've spent so many holidays and family reunions here, and could further extend it to talk about how I had so many friends from college who were either already here or would be attending the following fall. That's a big difference compared to saying, "oh yeah, I was born on the opposite side of the state, but we moved when I was 5 years old".</p>
<p>If you are just beginning, how do you most effectively determine which schools are "research" schools and which are not? It seems like there is no sense applying to reaches that are reputed to want researchers if that is not your focus or interest.</p>
<p>the USNEWS 'research' rankings provide a rough idea of this. They're not perfect by any means (some lower-ranked schools have a sizable research focus), some higher-ranked schools don't, but it's a decent starting point. One is really best served investigating each school individually and determining for yourself, it's usually pretty easy to tell how the school pushes its students by the material available on the school's website/in the MSAR.</p>
<p>The other thing I'd do is buy an MSAR and look at the percentage of admits who have done research.</p>