Session 123

If you’re a nontrad student looking at potential medical school, you may realize that your dream school is in another state. What do you do now?

This year, we are releasing the second published book in the series called, The Premed Playbook: Guide to the MCAT. Visit the MCATbook.com to get notified. This is the book for you if you’re getting ready to start learning about what the MCAT is. It’s not going to prepare you for the content review for the most part. But this is the book that’s going to tell you about the MCAT – what it is, when to take it, some strategies, and how to prepare for it, and more.

[01:55] OldPreMeds Question of the Week:

“I’m thinking about moving to another state a year plus in advance to applying to medical school in order to establish in-state residency and increase my chances of getting accepted. What are your thoughts? What factors should I weigh when making this kind of decision?”

“I had to break up, miserable in the southern city and virtually no local support within a day’s drive. I have no interest in staying in the state or attending the in-state medical schools here.”

“If money wasn’t an issue, I’d move either to LA where I have a number of close friends and a ton of acquaintances os to somewhere in New York state where I have both family and friends. Obviously though, money is a factor. Moving to another state expensive and the cost of living will be higher especially in LA. I’ve considered selling my condo but since I haven’t lived here for to years yet, I’ll deal with a lot of taxes to the tune of a year’s worth of tuition. If I kept in and rented it out, my property taxes would go up substantially and the rental income wouldn’t cover my rent in a lot of other cities.

For my circumstances, it comes down to whether a year of improved mental, social support, and increased chances of getting into my dream school are worth somewhere around $40,000 –  $50,000. My pre-health advisor recommends doing the whole process prereqs and medical school itself as cheaply as possible. People I know who are in medical school say it’s probably worth being out that much money to attend a better school in a city that’s a good culture fit for me where I’d have a lot of local support. How should I weight these substantial opportunity cost?”

[04:00] Should You Move to Another State to Get Residency in that State?

Money being the biggest factor for this student, moving to another state is expensive. You have to find another place to live and you might have to sell your house. If you’re not a homeowner and you don’t know the rules, you have to live in your house for two years or else you have to pay some gains and taxes.

Now, if you’re weighing the options to have an increased chances of going to a dream school. Sure you can move, but there are no guarantees in this process. There are a lot of things you need consider. If there are several medical schools in the state you want to move to, then that increases your chance. So a lot depends on where you’re planning on moving and how rigid you are with where you are applying.

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All this being said, if you’re planning on moving to another state with your hopes of going to one specific school, my advice is not to move. More likely than not, you’re going to probably get in somewhere else and then you’d have to move again. It’s just a huge pain in the butt.

Of course, it’s not fun to be in a place you don’t want to be. Nor is it fun to live in a place where the residency options aren’t good. But a lot of students live in those states and apply to out of state schools and get into out of state schools.

[07:35] What Are Your Chances?

It may potentially lessen your chances at a public out of state school. But there are plenty of them that accept 35% – 40% of out of state applicants. So it all again depends on what state you’re planning on moving to. In California, that would be super hard as it’s super competitive to get into, as well as the schools in New York.

So don’t move. Work it out for the amount of time you have left. Apply to medical schools and get out of there as fast as you can after you know where you’re going to reduce the amount of movement of pain and everything else that comes along with it. And $40,000 – $50,000 is a ton of money.

If you, too, are in a situation where you’re thinking about moving either pre-application or  during the application, just be aware of some of the complications that may arise from this.

If you’re thinking about moving near an application, do yourself a favor and contact the schools in the state where you’re moving to and find out what they will consider you as if you’re moving too close to the application date. They may not consider you an in-state applicant and you want to be. If you’re leaving a state and applying to schools in that state, they may not consider you an in-state applicant anymore. So there are a lot of things to consider and figure out in that process.

Links:

MCATbook.com

Nontrad Premed Forum