<p>It's not so much awesomeness as it is narrowmindedness. Californians don't want to leave California because they assume California is awesome, because that's what they've always been told.</p>
<p>They won't think it's so awesome when the state is underwater!</p>
<p>Ah, yes, the Al Gore model of climate change.</p>
<p>but i'm not only applying to CA med schools
so would other states be easier to get in, compared to like the UCs?</p>
<p>..........</p>
<p>edit: aren't you also still a junior in HS?</p>
<p>This has been explained several times now on this very thread. Here's another attempt. Those of you who understand now can skip this, as it's entirely a repetition of what's come before.</p>
<hr>
<p>If you are a resident of another state, most states have a medical school which is relatively easier to get into than some of the elite private schools. For example, if you're a Texas resident, UT-San Antonio seems to have a median MCAT around 29. This compares favorably to, say, Duke's 35. Of course, CA residents can't get into UTSA, but this is nice for TX residents.</p>
<p>Maryland residents have University of Maryland; Iowa residents have Iowa; Tennesee residents have the University of Tennessee. So if you end up with a 3.6, 30 -- you might not be competitive for Boston University or Vanderbilt, but at least you still have a pretty good shot at your state school.</p>
<p>California residents, you would think, would have UC Davis, or UC Irvine. Until you look at their median MCAT scores, which are probably around 33 or so. So a 3.6, 30 is a pretty competitive score in most states -- you have a pretty good shot at your state school. Here in CA, you don't have a state school where those numbers would be competitive.</p>
<p>At least CA residents HAVE state schools. Rhode Islanders get the short end of the stick. :(</p>
<p>Yes, hence being very careful to say "one of" the worst states.</p>
<p>Actually, you can call Brown your state school. It's practically impossible to get into Brown w/o ties to RI or if you're not the BA/MD program. Brown boasts a healthy 18% in-state acceptance rate, only 4% out of state. You will find that most private schools favor in-state residents as well. Yale, for example, has an in-state acceptance rate of 18% and OOS acceptance rate of 5%. WashU's med school accepts 17% in-state as well.</p>
<p>But, again, CA schools buck the trend. Outside of Loma Linda, there are only 2 private med schools in CA. Stanford's in-state acceptance rate is only 3%, lower than its OOS acceptance rate. USC accepts 8% in-state and 4% out of state. It's not much but it's something at least.</p>
<p>CA schools are also notoriously slow which adds to the frustration. Stanford and UC Davis haven't given out a single interview invite as of today. The other UC's are crawling along in terms of reviewing applications. USC gave out invites on some random day at the end of August and hasn't given out a single invite since.</p>
<p>Brown had a 17.5% accepatance rate last year for in-state applicants though (vs. 4% for out-of-state ones). Not saying that that makes it easy, just that it's important to note that a lot of the private schools give significant preference to in-state applicants too.</p>
<p>Also, in a few cases, applicants from states with out med schools are 'adopted' by a school in a neighboring state. The example I'm most familiar with is Jefferson, which gives preference to both PA and DE applicants.</p>
<p>Though if we didn't have Brown then we would probably get help from a neighboring state school like other states without medical schools. Instead we have one of the smallest medical schools in the country that accepts a good amount of its students through a BA/MD program.</p>
<p>Also, that 17.5% acceptance rate amounts to about 13 kids almost half of which gain an automatic admission from going to another Rhode Island school for undergrad (URI, RIC, PC). That leaves about 7 spots for all other Rhode Islanders. Good thing I don't want to go into medicine. :)</p>
<p>The fact remains, RI has no people! The entire state has around 1 million people. CA has 36 million people. RI has 1 med school. CA has 7 med schools (8 if you count Loma Linda). It's simple math.</p>
<p>Brown received a whopping 103 in-state applicants. Heck, there were probably more students applying to med school from my college than the entire state of Rhode Island.</p>
<p>Cal has 8 medical schools
RI has 1 medical schools</p>
<p>Cal has roughly 750 of its 1000 spots open for residents(I roughly estimated a 75% in state rate eyeballing the % of in state residents at each school which ranges from mid 40's to 99%).</p>
<p>RI has roughly 7 spots open for residents (because 6 are already locked in).</p>
<p>750/7 =~ 107
36/1 = 36</p>
<p>RI For The Lose</p>
<p>1.) Even if any given RI resident has a harder time than any given CA resident, the fact remains that the collective suffering of CA premeds is greater than the collective suffering of RI premeds.</p>
<p>2.) The OP is a CA resident.</p>
<p>3.) "Cal" is UC Berkeley, which does not have a medical school. The state is "Cali" or "CA" or "California" or "The Left Coast."</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Cal" is UC Berkeley, which does not have a medical school. The state is "Cali" or "CA" or "California" or "The Left Coast."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Caltech would beg to differ with you ;)</p>
<p>Calitech
CAtech
TheLeftCoasttech</p>
<p>^^^Not the same cache.</p>
<p>/Pats self on back</p>
<p>how hard is it (stat-wise) to get into some of the med schools in the west, like arizona for example</p>
<p>Well you have to be either AZ resident or WICHE certified applicant from Montana or Wyoming to even apply...it narrows down the field alot. You as a CA resident can't go there.</p>
<p>"If you are a resident of another state, most states have a medical school which is relatively easier to get into than some of the elite private schools. For example, if you're a Texas resident, UT-San Antonio seems to have a median MCAT around 29"
Nothing is as simple as it appears, even in this regard. UTHSC-SA reserves 25% of its positions for 'minority and disadvantaged students'(notably hispanics). The schools has close relationships with several colleges to recruit these students. They often have high GPA's(from weak schools) and relatively low MCAT scores(25-27). If you are not one of these students, it takes scores >30 to be competitive. If you are a Texas resident with a hispanic surname, you have a great advantage. If you are not, it's like any other school.</p>
<p>So I pick another Texas school, besides Southwestern or Baylor. UT-Houston?</p>