Just to be clear, I am a Texas resident, but am considering going to undergrad at a private school outside of Texas.
I researched and I would be able to retain my residency even if I go to school out of state. My dad objects that even if I retained my residency, I would be at a disadvantage as Texas medical schools would prefer applicants that did pre-med in Texas.
I can’t see how this would be anything more than speculation, however, I would like to ask if anyone that has done pre-med out of state and gotten into med school in Texas can speak on this or if anyone knows of a similar situation and can debunk/confirm?
So long as you are a graduate of TX HS and/or you have an legal domicile in TX, you will be considered on equal footing as any other TX resident applying to TX med schools.
Looking at those stats is a good reminder for everyone wanting to go to a US MD school to have a Plan B. Plan A is fine for those who make it in, but so many do not. Plus, of course, those are stats for those who ended up applying - doesn’t count those who thought they would, but didn’t.
It shouldn’t matter at all where you go to undergrad. It could potentially help since many places like to have a variety of schools represented if the applicant pool they like is there for it. (Meaning it won’t overcome an iffy application, but given two equally attractive applicants, it might give you an edge.)
Ask your desired school where recent med school applicants got accepted.
My dad reasons that Texas med schools would give preference to pre meds from in state schools but your reasoning makes sense too tbh. If there were any sort of statistics school wise and not residency wise to back things up would be really helpful.
There isn’t going to be a unified, single place to find this information, if it indeed that information even exists.
However, some medical school post class profiles that may include the number of undergrads they class drew from. Google incoming class profile + Name of Medical School
UTSW’s class profile, for example, is here:
and it includes the names of undergrads where its students attended. The list is very diverse and includes 63 schools in 27 states.
They only sort people according to their residency. You could have gone to college in Ulan Bator, and as long as you maintained your Texas residency, you go into the “in-state” pile, as opposed to the out of state pile.
BUT… you need to consider the cost of your undergrad education, if you’re then planning on med school. Lucky you, that you’re in-state in TX, with the cheapest tuition in-state in the country, and I think 5 very fine med schools. So if you can go to UT Austin, or one of the other state U’s, you probably should, unless you have gotten a fantastic scholarship at another school that is of equal prestige to UT Austin.
The ONLY advantage that going to an in-state school would be, other than cost, is if you go to a school that also has a med school, and you get very involved in research with the med school, you might have faculty from the med school writing you a very compelling letter of recommendation, that would help you to get into that particular med school. But that’s it. Otherwise, your letters from an OOS school would be worth just as much. Now, if you have the opportunity to go to a really prestigious T20 school, that might be a boost in getting into one of the Texas med schools. But otherwise, there is really no reason for you to pay more to go out of state, when you have UT Austin there.
If you doubt that Texas med schools only sort according to in-state vs out of state, then perhaps it would be best to contact the medical schools yourself. I am sure that they will tell you that they only consider residence, not where you went for undergrad. And if you find that more students who wind up at TX med schools went to TX colleges, that’s probably only a reflection of the fact that more Texans go to school in-state, and apply in-state, not that they had an advantage in the application process, over Texans who went to college out of state.
I don’t believe UT Austin has a closely affiliated medical school besides Dell which is pretty selective with only 50 in each class. Texas A&M comes to mind as one that has its own medical school but I wonder how close those two are and if an undergrad can get any opportunities there.
An out-of-state school I have in mind is Case Western that has 3 affiliated medical centers and a medical school and would be much easier to work with medical school professors and do volunteering/shadowing/research there, only thing is the larger cost as well as the fact that its out-of-state. If I go there I would be targeting their own medical school but if it doesn’t work out I need to know if I can fall back onto any Texas medical schools and my chances there.
Many (most?) med schools are associated with a college, though the med school could be across town or in a different area of the state making it difficult to get there. Case isn’t the only place with it right next door though. Pittsburgh (can be good with aid for high stats even OOS) and U Rochester come to mind as two my guy looked at when considering undergrad. I’m sure other posters can name more.
It’s definitely helpful to have, but certainly not necessary to make it into med school.
The other advantage of staying in Texas for college for a student with Texas residency aiming for Texas medical schools is that getting to medical school interviews would be a lot easier than if attending a far away college.