@Thumper1 …although Yale SOM and Q SOM are private, they do have a larger number of instate students attending than what would be expected, particularly for the population size of Conn. That tends to happen, even with private SOMs. Duke SOM has nearly 10% of NC residents as MS1’s. Stanford has 43% of Calif residents as MS1’s. I could list many privates where this goes on…
Over 23% of Q’s MS1 students are Conn residents. Yale’s instate numbers are much lower, but they’re higher when you consider proportions. About 5% of Yale’s med students are from Conn…that number should be less than 2%, but it’s not.
Anyway…the point is that the ratio of instate applicants to instate MS1 seats is a significant factor. When you’re a strong applicant, and all other things are equal (grades, MCAT, good app list, etc), if you’re from a state that has a good ratio of applicants to seats, the chances of acceptance to at least one school is MUCH better.
The ratio in Calif is the worst I’ve seen so far, with the exception of states that don’t have a med school. But those states tend to pay another state to give consideration to their med school applicants. For instance, Alaska pays Washington money to give consideration to AK applicants (and I think they’re guaranteed a certain number of seats.)