decision

<p>1.) Most medical schools, public or private, do favor in-state residents. Nearly all publics do; many privates do as well.</p>

<p>2.) If you must go to a CA school, it is better to be a CA resident than not.</p>

<p>3.) However, California schools are harder for CA residents than, say, TX schools for TX residents.</p>

<p>4.) Among all the states to be from, if your goal is to go to some medical school, CA is one of the worst states to be from. One of, if only because some states have very few medical schools at all.</p>

<p>Sorry to hijack this thread, but what is your opinion of Stony Brook? I mean its science progams, particularily bio is ranked in like the top in the world and on par w/ ivy league and schools like Berkeley and Stanford. I was thinking if I should stay there or if I should transfer to an ivy? I mean I already have a lab position in the university hospital, which is ranked in like top 20 in US and the lab is one on one with a mentor. My grades should be nearly all A's, hopefully a 4.0 this yr. I just want your opinion of my situation. If I transfer, I would probably need to begin all over by finding research labs and stuff. I am not being lazy or anything, but I guess it would set me back. The environment is ok. I really want to do MD/PhD, so I would prob have a better shot from my school as opposed to an ivy because it is less competitive and easier to stand out. Any comments.</p>

<p>damn this sucks, cuz i used to live in both TX and KS, especially KS for 7 yrs</p>

<p>and wow norcalguy, 7%? are CA med schools really that small?</p>

<p>No, CA is that large. Too many applicants and too few med schools. There hasn't been a new allopathic med school in CA for a long time. I haven't been able to obtain an interview there yet.</p>

<p>blazinyan: As the old adage goes, go to the school you'll be happiest in. If you end up at Cornell, you don't need to be a top top student to obtain an interview at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (if that's the med school you're targeting). Columbia in general is pretty friendly to Cornell grads. In fact, I know more students who've interviewed and been accepted at Columbia than Weill.</p>

<p>Thanks norcal, you know me all too well. Thanks for helping out and easing my anxiety. I wish you success with your med school acceptances.</p>

<p>Thanx. I'll be interviewing at Columbia P&S at the end of November :)</p>

<p>(and I'm nowhere near the best Cornell has to offer)</p>

<p>You'll be fine. I know you will impress them. The only thing I could prob impress them with is my internship there during the summers and high recs from my summer mentors. The only problem with Columbia P&S is the area because it is not that peaceful. It is not somewhere I would want to be at night. Cornell Med School is in a much better area.</p>

<p>but in the end, if i do well at a middle-level school, i still have a shot at med school? what if the college doesn't have that good of a track record concerning acceptance rates?</p>

<p>The top few students at any university, provided they have MCAT scores to match, have no problems getting into medical school.</p>

<p>Weill is in a much nicer area but I think I'd feel out of place on the upper east side of Manhattan. It just seems like it would be a sterile place to live, not to mention the quality of clinical experience probably won't be as good as at Columbia.</p>

<p>but if i'm in like the average middle of the pack at the mid-level school (GPA/MCAT-wise), would i have to do a LOT more volunteering, research, clinical stuff?</p>

<p>The average student who takes the MCAT does not get admitted to medical school. If you're the average student at an average school, I don't see any pathway to admission.</p>

<p>Average student at a mid-level school is not good enough. Average student at a top school (assuming it's avg. GPA is around 3.2-3.4, typical of grade inflated elite private schools) would still leave you on the bubble. You really can't make these things up with research, volunteering, etc. Aim for 3.6, 30 (although it's inching towards 3.7, 31) and with an early app, you should be golden (assuming everything else is up to par).</p>

<p>3.6, 30? He's a CA resident.</p>

<p>3.8, 33, whatever. lol</p>

<p>Now we're talkin'.</p>

<p>so CA residents' standards are higher, why?</p>

<p>CA=big state=more people=more applicants=more strong applicants=stronger overall applicant pool=higher standards for all.</p>

<p>Also, not a lot of med schools relative to the number of applicants.</p>

<p>We discussed this in posts #18, #20, #21, and #24 right here on this thread.</p>

<p>You yourself asked this exact question in post #23 here. NCG answered you one post later.</p>

<p>Nationwide, there is a rough 2:1 ratio of applicants to spots. In California, I've heard 4:1 and 6:1 (I'm not sure which is correct or if either is correct but that's what I've heard). Basically, there aren't enough medical school spots to accomodate all the Cali resident premeds. Whereas other people can rely on their state school as a backup while applying to top tier schools out of state, California residents apply out of state as a backup and HOPE to be able to get into a school in state.</p>

<p>This also has a little to do with the awesomeness of California. Californians generally want to stay in state.</p>