2013-2014 Baylor College of Medicine Application Thread

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Good luck to those applying here this cycle!
 
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Captain Sisko said:
Say, I've heard that Baylor is real competitive and there's almost no collaboration in the class. Is that true?
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I don't think that's true at all. All my friends there have said otherwise and I will see for myself this July when I start. Baylor is pass/fail so if anything, it should foster collaboration between peers.
 
good luck to everyone applying here!
 
I doubt Baylor is cutthroat. I have yet to hear that. Heard horror stories about utsw though.
 
For utsw it was a couple Dr. Parents that had kids going there and some hs classmates that ended up matriculating there. I guess maybe its just tough for them. Maybe it's a personal thing though. I've actually never heard anything bad about Baylor though. Prob because it's pass/fail.
 
both utsw and bcm have excellent MD and MD/PhD programs, don't let the haters deter any of you guys from applying! Good luck!
 
bollywoodlover said:
For utsw it was a couple Dr. Parents that had kids going there and some hs classmates that ended up matriculating there. I guess maybe its just tough for them. Maybe it's a personal thing though. I've actually never heard anything bad about Baylor though. Prob because it's pass/fail.
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lol.
 
Captain Sisko said:
Say, I've heard that Baylor is real competitive and there's almost no collaboration in the class. Is that true?
Click to expand...

bollywoodlover said:
I doubt Baylor is cutthroat. I have yet to hear that. Heard horror stories about utsw though.
Click to expand...

BCM is difficult, but it is in no way "cut throat". i dont like getting into the UTSW vs BCM debates, but since it was brought up....i've had residents i've worked with that went to med school from UTSW that said the scene there is very unfriendly, both in the classroom and in the hospital, and the biggest mistake one of them said she made was going there for med school over BCM (for what it's worth, her brother is a current bcm med student).

but i dont want to turn this into a bash X school or Y school.

if y'all have any questions, please feel free to post/ask away! best of luck to everyone!
 
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Hey everyone! Im applying to med school this cycle and I was hoping you all could help answer some of my questions.
1. At Baylor how is the balance between patient care and research?
2. What's it like living in Waco?
3. I'm not a texas resident so even if I'm competitive on paper what chance do I really stand?
4. Is the teaching style very hands on?
Thanks in advance!
 
rrege6 said:
Hey everyone! Im applying to med school this cycle and I was hoping you all could help answer some of my questions.
1. At Baylor how is the balance between patient care and research?
2. What's it like living in Waco?
3. I'm not a texas resident so even if I'm competitive on paper what chance do I really stand?
4. Is the teaching style very hands on?
Thanks in advance!
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2) Baylor college of medicine is in houston. Baylor university is the one in Waco. I think Houston is a nice city!
 
rrege6 said:
Hey everyone! Im applying to med school this cycle and I was hoping you all could help answer some of my questions.
1. At Baylor how is the balance between patient care and research?
2. What's it like living in Waco?
3. I'm not a texas resident so even if I'm competitive on paper what chance do I really stand?
4. Is the teaching style very hands on?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

1. You don't have to do any research, if you don't want to. If you want to, there are fantastic opportunities to work with leaders in many fields.

2. We live in the greater Houston area, but most of us within the 610 loop. Houston has everything you could possibly need, except for mountains. It gets hot here, but it doesn't get extremely cold, either. People are friendly, in general. People at BCM are amazing. :thumbup:

3. I believe about 30% of the class is comprised of OOS students. I wasn't (and still am not) a TX resident. BCM makes it pretty easy to become a resident for tuition purposes, though. Most people do this by purchasing a condo.

4. It is in the anatomy lab and in our Patient, Physician, & Society course, where we learn doctor skills on each other and on real and standardized patients. We start seeing real patients in the community within the first 2 weeks or so, and we keep seeing them about every other week for a few hours throughout MS1.
 
anhtimmy said:
I don't think that's true at all. All my friends there have said otherwise and I will see for myself this July when I start. Baylor is pass/fail so if anything, it should foster collaboration between peers.
Click to expand...

bollywoodlover said:
I doubt Baylor is cutthroat. I have yet to hear that. Heard horror stories about utsw though.
Click to expand...

sliceofbread136 said:
Neither are cut throat, other schools just feel the need to talk bad about the big dogs.
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yellowmamba said:
both utsw and bcm have excellent MD and MD/PhD programs, don't let the haters deter any of you guys from applying! Good luck!
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jturkel said:
BCM is difficult, but it is in no way "cut throat". i dont like getting into the UTSW vs BCM debates, but since it was brought up....i've had residents i've worked with that went to med school from UTSW that said the scene there is very unfriendly, both in the classroom and in the hospital, and the biggest mistake one of them said she made was going there for med school over BCM (for what it's worth, her brother is a current bcm med student).

but i dont want to turn this into a bash X school or Y school.

if y'all have any questions, please feel free to post/ask away! best of luck to everyone!
Click to expand...

The person who told me this actually went to Baylor, graduated in 2009. Maybe it's changed since then? Either way, I'm certainly not hating, just curious if it's worth my time and money applying there.
 
Captain Sisko said:
The person who told me this actually went to Baylor, graduated in 2009. Maybe it's changed since then? Either way, I'm certainly not hating, just curious if it's worth my time and money applying there.
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That might have been around the time Baylor switched from the old H/HP/P/MP/F to the P/F grading system we have now. I can assure you that overall, the atmosphere of the school is anything but cut-throat. My classmates are constantly uploading flashcards, study guides, review sheets, practice tests, etc. to our class FB page (way more than I could possibly go through to study for an exam, so I end up picking and choosing from the vast array of resources). One person in my class has even paid out of pocket to create a website so people could share larger files. If I miss a class or lab session that isn't streamed (which happened when I got really sick one week), people always offer to share their notes with me.

No matter where you go, there will always be competitive people who only look out for themselves and people who gladly go out of their way to help you succeed along with them. I would not base my decision to apply or attend a school just on what you heard from one person. There are so many other factors that should be taken into account: curriculum, location, emphasis on clinical experience vs. research vs. community service, and overall fit.
 
minerva3121 said:
That might have been around the time Baylor switched from the old H/HP/P/MP/F to the P/F grading system we have now. I can assure you that overall, the atmosphere of the school is anything but cut-throat. My classmates are constantly uploading flashcards, study guides, review sheets, practice tests, etc. to our class FB page (way more than I could possibly go through to study for an exam, so I end up picking and choosing from the vast array of resources). One person in my class has even paid out of pocket to create a website so people could share larger files. If I miss a class or lab session that isn't streamed (which happened when I got really sick one week), people always offer to share their notes with me.

No matter where you go, there will always be competitive people who only look out for themselves and people who gladly go out of their way to help you succeed along with them. I would not base my decision to apply or attend a school just on what you heard from one person. There are so many other factors that should be taken into account: curriculum, location, emphasis on clinical experience vs. research vs. community service, and overall fit.
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That's good to know, I value your feedback and perspective. I may apply there, then.

For oos, what's competitive? I've concerns with my gpa, which is from more than a few years ago but is still on the low side.
 
minerva3121 said:
There are so many other factors that should be taken into account: curriculum, location, emphasis on clinical experience vs. research vs. community service, and overall fit.
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Don't forget about humidity and proximity to decent Chinese food.
 
Captain Sisko said:
The person who told me this actually went to Baylor, graduated in 2009. Maybe it's changed since then? Either way, I'm certainly not hating, just curious if it's worth my time and money applying there.
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I thought utsw had a significantly more social student body and sense of student community than any other school I saw. I thought it was kind of funny considering the rumors.

Edit: you were refering to baylor. Baylor students seemed very sociable. To be honest I didn't think any Texas schools were "cut throat"
 
Last edited:
definitely my dream school.
I doubt I'll get an II though

with my 3.45 uGPA and 3.87 SMP GPA :(
 
GandalfTheWhite said:
:laugh: :thumbup:

How are your stats faring for this school?
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3.65/38, oos. I think I've decided to apply. The chinese food thing pushed me over the line, plus I looooove oysters and crawfish. If Napoleon said an army travels on its stomach, I guess I think with mine :)
 
Captain Sisko said:
3.65/38, oos. I think I've decided to apply. The chinese food thing pushed me over the line, plus I looooove oysters and crawfish. If Napoleon said an army travels on its stomach, I guess I think with mine :)
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nah man, thai > chinese. Dat Pad Kee Mao...
 
GandalfTheWhite said:
nah man, thai > chinese. Dat Pad Kee Mao...
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have you discovered authentic Chinese yet? it's what first and second generation Asian families eat. so good. better than Thai, if you ask me. sliced pig ear in ma la sauce makes me happy...
 
Eww pig ear. I've had Chinese in San Fran, but I still love Thai food more. Mmm spicy!
 
Captain Sisko said:
have you discovered authentic Chinese yet? it's what first and second generation Asian families eat. so good. better than Thai, if you ask me. sliced pig ear in ma la sauce makes me happy...
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Cant eat pork. Religious obligations and all that :rolleyes:
 
Whatyousay said:
A+ for food, B for service, F for traffic.

I take a holistic approach when it comes to evaluating food service.
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I hate Houston traffic with a passion... But based on my 1 week here Dallas traffic isn't much better...
 
PescadoAmor said:
I hear ya. around the rodeo, things can get bad real fast :(
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Coming to lecture in the morning northbound on Main isn't bad. Things haven't really gotten going yet at the rodeo that early. You want to avoid Main south of the med center at all costs in the evenings, though. Alternate routes, alternate routes. I survived those 3 weeks just fine. I was glad when the rodeo went away, though.
 
GandalfTheWhite said:
+1

Any tips or advice?
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Nothing different from the usual - apply early, apply everywhere. The interview trail is incredibly humbling as you'll encounter some of the greatest minds in the country. :)

BCM tends to interview ~15% of its applicants (we had over six thousand last year) with the notion that EVERY interviewee is "good enough" to excel in our curriculum. The point of interview day is to learn more about the school, and convey your goals as an aspiring physician/scientist at BCM.
 
Bumping/updating my post from last year's thread as encouragement for the BCM OOSer's and applicants generally...keep the faith for BCM! :)

****************

First, know that BCM in Houston has nothing to do with Baylor University in Waco; they separated 50 years ago. A huge plus is that the Texas Medical Center (TMC) surrounds BCM-- the largest medical complex in the world.

http://texasmedicalcenter.org/about-tmc/

Our daughter is an M1/MS1 at BCM. She was OOS. She had excellent credentials otherwise [High Summa from a top 10 public university (US News) and many awards for accomplishments], although she had no formal premedical research. BCM likes to note how many different undergrad majors they have in a class, so a distinctive major might be a plus---> "In fact, our Admissions Committee actively seeks individuals with different educational backgrounds, as evidenced by the 32 different majors in this year's entering class (2010)."

About 25%, or about 45, of each class will be accepted from OOS, and there is a drop dead date in early May for in-state acceptances, so OOS acceptances perhaps then (around mid-May) become more likely. If you get to interview, you have about a 40% chance of actually matriculating.

http://www.bcm.edu/medschool/snapshot.html
http://www.bcm.edu/admissions/
http://www.bcm.edu/medschool/successindicators.html

You will likely interview with 1 student and 1 faculty member in a day-long, low-stress visit.

As competitive entry goes (average GPA and average MCAT), BCM has been ranked as high as # 4 (# 6 in this latest tally):

http://www.studentdoc.com/top-10-medical-schools.html

Our daughter LOVES it @ BCM. It IS challenging to be sure, but there is good esprit de corps/team spirit. It is P/F during the preclinical first 18 months. The "learning blocks" are around 7 weeks long, followed by long weekend breaks.

BCM has proved to be a SUPER net value (least expensive private medical school in America), WAY LESS expensive even than our lone in-state public school (MCG), especially after buying a condo to establish Tx. residency so that she will pay Texas resident tuition for years 2-4. (Odd perhaps that this should matter, since BCM is a private school). Taking the public bus can make sense; parking expense is untenable.

BCM has perhaps the highest average Step 1 scores (average 244 for the 2012 group) among all schools, affirming the all-in value.

Here is a good PDF overview:
http://www.bcm.edu/admissions/applicants/IFA_2012Web.pdf

Houston is very livable if you can accept the humid heat. Hey, that's what A/C is for! :oops:
There is diverse, quality dining...and N'awlins is also just a 5 hour drive away!

Watch here for posts by current students "cinclus" (an MS1) and "jturkel" (an MS3)...they are very helpful and on target.

We (as parents and a family) could not be more pleased all things considered. Keep the faith! We hope that this summary info is helpful. :luck: :)
 
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I see their letter of recommendation requirement is that they can't be more than a year old. did any of the current students on here ever get around that? my orgo prof wrote a strong letter for me at the end of last year, so it's probably 14 months old now. guess i should call and ask...
 
Captain Sisko said:
I see their letter of recommendation requirement is that they can't be more than a year old. did any of the current students on here ever get around that? my orgo prof wrote a strong letter for me at the end of last year, so it's probably 14 months old now. guess i should call and ask...
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does your prof still have a copy? I imagine he/she could just edit that and re-submit that letter now?
 
Captain Sisko said:
I see their letter of recommendation requirement is that they can't be more than a year old. did any of the current students on here ever get around that? my orgo prof wrote a strong letter for me at the end of last year, so it's probably 14 months old now. guess i should call and ask...
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I had my grad department chair/PI send a LOR and went the committee route this year. The other 2/3 were from teachers during my senior year which was 2011..

I hope its ok too lol.
 
GandalfTheWhite said:
I had my grad department chair/PI send a LOR and went the committee route this year. The other 2/3 were from teachers during my senior year which was 2011..

I hope its ok too lol.
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Yeah... my committee letter is for this year, but I think 2 letters may be dated 14-16 months ago. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it now, so I am just hoping it will be fine haha.
 
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