Breaking into Cali

[okapi56]

I'm not from California nor do I have any family there. I hear residency programs are rightfully weary of taking a gamble on someone from out of state who a) may not wind up practicing in Cali, or b) may flake out/leave when the going get's tough since they have no support system keeping them grounded in CA. Can anyone vouch for this?

Despite it all, I'd still like to try my hand at landing a CA residency in neuro. step1 is 237, but no research- may take a year off to do some. Anyone have any idea if it's possible to accomplish this? Is Stanford even a possibility, or do you need higher board scores? To reiterate, I'm out of state.
Someone tell me if my "california dreamin'" is in vain.

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[GopherBrain]

Your board scores are fine. I had never lived within 1000 miles of CA until I arrived to start my residency at UCSF.

Get some research, or just do an elective and try to get a great LOR. Consider a sub-I if there is a California program you are especially interested in.