Hello everyone…looking for a bit of advice here. I’m working on putting together my list of MD/DO schools to apply to this summer, and to this point have not included any state schools other than my home state. As it stands, I’ll be applying to around 35 schools combined, and was wondering if it is worth attempting applying to state schools outside of my home state. And if so, would it be wise to apply to a state school in place of another school I’ve already identified?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Generally state schools are much harder to get into, particularly for out of state students. I can speak only to Texas. My school (UTSW) must accept 90% of in state student. Now it is an attractive school because aside from being a reputable one, the tuition is very low, even for out of state students. That said the competition is fierce, and unless your MCAT was above 35 (old scoring scheme), and GPA above 3.8 ish and you came for a 4 year U that is well known, your chances were pretty slim.
I would say that if your application is good enough and there is a benefit in attending, then I would definitely apply. Anyway, for texas it is a separate application altogther, so either you apply to none, or to all. The cost is not much different.
If there is a chance you would want to attend the school (and can afford the time/fees to apply there), what’s the harm in applying? I applied to a couple of out-of-state schools and actually landed an interview at one considered to be a pretty solid program. (Withdrew before committee decision).
I probably wouldn’t put an out-of-state school ahead of another private school that doesn’t have a state-of-residence preference though if you were going to pick one or the other. You already have the chips stacked against you being out of state even if you are probably being weighed against a much larger pool at a private school.