accepted to more than one school texas a&m vs. UTMB

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djfir0

which one should i choose? galveston has higher average board scores, but a&M has amazing facilities.... to be honest im torn, can anyone shed some light on my situation? thanks!

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I interviewed at A&M and was impressed by the school (and they sent me an acceptance). I decided to go with Baylor, and decided to turn down my UTMB interview to give someone else that opportunity. Thus, I'm not the best person to answer your question. However, I can't see going to a school for the board scores. There should be a better reason ... I would hope. Did you feel comfortable with your potential classmates (any differences between the two schools)? How about the curriculum -- any preference one vs the other? What about your impression of the faculty members who interviewed you? As far as I know, students at both schools are pretty happy. What about the location ... any preference on that?
 
well here is the list of what i like about each school.


utmb
- really laid back students seemed very happy
- faculty is amazing, my interviewers were incredible
- class schedule/testing schedule is great
- board scores obviously
- close to houston

texas a&m
- amazing faculty as well
- nice facilities, relatively newer campus
- small class sizes
- scott & white!
 
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well here is the list of what i like about each school.

utmb
- really laid back students seemed very happy
- faculty is amazing, my interviewers were incredible
- class schedule/testing schedule is great
- board scores obviously
- close to houston

texas a&m
- amazing faculty as well
- nice facilities, relatively newer campus
- small class sizes
- scott & white!

I get the impression that you are choosing between two programs that you would probably like as much as one can like medical school. In other words, I'm not sure you can go too wrong either way; hence your dilemna.

What about the students who were at the interviews with you (which group did you like better)? Of the medical students that were at the school, which ones did you like better? Based on the above, it seems like you are leaning toward UTMB, but like Scott & White. Based on rumor and inuendo (unreliable data), Scott & White is doing very well, and UTMB's hospital is hanging in there (I'm totally shooting from the hip on this -- check this out yourself). You may want to look into what it is like to do the clinical rotations. Maybe you would like your first two years at UTMB better and prefer Scott & White (also the VA hospital) for your clinical rotations? I'm not sure. Do you have any special interests, like certain electives, tracks or special programs that one or the other school offered?

Going more into your specifics, in the past when you have really done well in a stressful or challenging situation, what were some factors that contributed to your success -- which school seems to offer the better environment for your success? Also, what kind of challenges do you prefer (or wish to avoid) and how do those two schools match up in that regard?
 
wow well you pretty much hit it right on the nose.... i am leaning toward utmb but the biggest thing that makes a&m appealing the me is scott & white. i mean i work the best in groups and that is something that utmb is known for. problem based learning and the group learning thing. oh and you are right about utmb hanging in there. the biggest question for me about which one to choose is which school would provide me with better residency opportunities because i know its not always what you know, but who you know.
 
wow well you pretty much hit it right on the nose.... i am leaning toward utmb but the biggest thing that makes a&m appealing the me is scott & white. i mean i work the best in groups and that is something that utmb is known for. problem based learning and the group learning thing. oh and you are right about utmb hanging in there. the biggest question for me about which one to choose is which school would provide me with better residency opportunities because i know its not always what you know, but who you know.

Both schools will give you the opportunity to equip yourself for excellent residencies. I'm still far far away from the residency match, but from what little I know, it's more about *you* than about the school given that the schools are comparable. I saw a hand surgeon a few months ago who had done his residency at Harvard after graduating from a relatively unknown school -- his top ranking in his class is what got him in (he was really good from what I could tell and very respected in our city). I spoke with a Urologist whom I asked how he wound up in that ... again ... graduated in the top of the class and got to pick what he wanted to do. Texas A&M and UTMB are going to be comparable for residency match. Pick a school where you will do as well as possible, and you'll get the best residency that you can. I don't see how you go wrong with those two excellent schools.:luck:
 
I would talk to some other students from UTMB. The school has had some major administrative issues recently and I am not sure their financial future is sound. The president is leaving, the dean of medical education left, 1000+ researchers have been fired. It really sounds like the school is imploding. I would stay far far away.
 
I would talk to some other students from UTMB. The school has had some major administrative issues recently and I am not sure their financial future is sound. The president is leaving, the dean of medical education left, 1000+ researchers have been fired. It really sounds like the school is imploding. I would stay far far away.

-if- you pursue an MBA??? are you changing your mind again???
 
I would talk to some other students from UTMB. The school has had some major administrative issues recently and I am not sure their financial future is sound. The president is leaving, the dean of medical education left, 1000+ researchers have been fired. It really sounds like the school is imploding. I would stay far far away.

i've been hearing about that... and that really scares me all though i think im leaning evne more towards UTMB now... how doy ou think this would affect our medical education? do you think there is a possibility of the school shutting down entirely?
 
i've been hearing about that... and that really scares me all though i think im leaning evne more towards UTMB now... how doy ou think this would affect our medical education? do you think there is a possibility of the school shutting down entirely?

UTMB is taking some of the corrective actions that it needs to take (such as laying off 1000 people to bring their budget in line). Because you are serious about going there, I would suggest you talk to someone at the UTMB administration about their financial situation and what they are doing about it (Dean, etc.). Do not be shy about asking those kinds of questions. Also, read their web site and keep up with the news on UTMB.
 
I would talk to some other students from UTMB. The school has had some major administrative issues recently and I am not sure their financial future is sound. The president is leaving, the dean of medical education left, 1000+ researchers have been fired. It really sounds like the school is imploding. I would stay far far away.


I just recently met a MS2 from UTMB at a research conference and he told me they have to learn renal on their own b/c they couldn't find anyone to teach it.
 
is there any school that teaches renal well. I had to learn it on my own as well...


Whether the school teaches it well or not is irrelevant. If the course director decides he/she is just not going to teach the renal module, that is a different story and may hint at larger problems. I taught myself renal at my school, but there were some good lecturers and students that attend class get a lot out of it.
 
I am a recent Texas A&M grad, and when I was choosing a medical school, I had exactly the same problem you are having. I had my choices narrowed down to A&M and UTMB and had many of the same feelings you are having (Liked S&W but also liked the atmosphere at UTMB).

I can tell you that I whole-heartedly recommend A&M/S&W. The 1st two years at Texas A&M may be a bit weaker than UTMB, but being at Scott & White more than makes up for it. Excellent clinical training. Also, I loved the small class size. I knew everyone in my class and actually had much more fun and had better friendships than I did in college! You also get the opportunity to do a lot of small-group learning during the first 2 years which, looking back, was invaluable for my education.

Both programs will provide you with a good education. From what I hear you saying, I think you would be happy at either place. I know my opinion may be a bit biased, but you will not be disappointed by Texas A&M/ Scott & White.
 
Both UTMB and A&M have their plusses and minuses. I absolutely hated Galveston, and couldn't see myself living there for 4 years. Fortunately, you can do your 3rd and 4th years in Austin, so if it were the only school to which I was accepted, that's what I would do.

UTMB is in deep $hit financially, but don't take my word for it, do some research. I specifically asked my interviewer about this, and he seemed to think that there would be no effects felt by the Medical School, but a couple of days later, Dean Parisi resigned because one of the laid-off workers beat up her husband. I've heard from many people that UTMB is in the process of relocating its medical school to Austin (I think they are in about year 5 of a 12-year plan to move the Medical School to Austin) so I would think that things would be a little hectic as things were moving to Austin. Can any current students confirm that this is going on, and what, if any effects this move has?

If I were interested in a non-primary care specialty, I would definitely choose UTMB. UTMB has a much better name than A&M for residency programs, esp. non-primary care programs. A&M's primary mission is to train primary-care physicians for rural areas, and although A&M graduates obviously match into non-primary care programs, their mission remains. Of all the schools in TX, IIRC, A&M matched the fewest into competitive specialties (no Derm. matches last year, but a few sporadic Derm. matches in previous years, for example.) So, other than the location, and these administrative issues, I really liked UTMB.

I agree that Scott & White hospital is newer and more impressive looking than Sealy, but I don't think Scott & White gets the variety of pathology that Sealy does, since it is not in a major city. Sealy, however, is in flux because of its financial troubles, so I would definitely talk to people about this (i.e. are they turning away more indigent patients from all over the state than they were before?) Add to all this that at A&M, most students have to move (unless you do all 4 years in Temple) after year 2, and you get essentially no clinical exposure until year 3 (No teaching hospital in College Station,) and A&M just doesn't have the reputation that UTMB does, I think that UTMB beats A&M handily in the academic/clinical department.

For me, UTMB lost major points because of its horrible location (worse than Lubbock, IMHO,) but if you don't mind the location so much, I think you will get a better education there. Just make sure you will like PBL, as another poster said.

Hopefully those ramblings helped. I have been accepted to neither school, but I have thought a lot about how to rank schools for the match.
 
Both UTMB and A&M have their plusses and minuses. I absolutely hated Galveston, and couldn't see myself living there for 4 years. Fortunately, you can do your 3rd and 4th years in Austin, so if it were the only school to which I was accepted, that's what I would do.

UTMB is in deep $hit financially, but don't take my word for it, do some research. I specifically asked my interviewer about this, and he seemed to think that there would be no effects felt by the Medical School, but a couple of days later, Dean Parisi resigned because one of the laid-off workers beat up her husband. I've heard from many people that UTMB is in the process of relocating its medical school to Austin (I think they are in about year 5 of a 12-year plan to move the Medical School to Austin) so I would think that things would be a little hectic as things were moving to Austin. Can any current students confirm that this is going on, and what, if any effects this move has?

If I were interested in a non-primary care specialty, I would definitely choose UTMB. UTMB has a much better name than A&M for residency programs, esp. non-primary care programs. A&M's primary mission is to train primary-care physicians for rural areas, and although A&M graduates obviously match into non-primary care programs, their mission remains. Of all the schools in TX, IIRC, A&M matched the fewest into competitive specialties (no Derm. matches last year, but a few sporadic Derm. matches in previous years, for example.) So, other than the location, and these administrative issues, I really liked UTMB.

I agree that Scott & White hospital is newer and more impressive looking than Sealy, but I don't think Scott & White gets the variety of pathology that Sealy does, since it is not in a major city. Sealy, however, is in flux because of its financial troubles, so I would definitely talk to people about this (i.e. are they turning away more indigent patients from all over the state than they were before?) Add to all this that at A&M, most students have to move (unless you do all 4 years in Temple) after year 2, and you get essentially no clinical exposure until year 3 (No teaching hospital in College Station,) and A&M just doesn't have the reputation that UTMB does, I think that UTMB beats A&M handily in the academic/clinical department.

For me, UTMB lost major points because of its horrible location (worse than Lubbock, IMHO,) but if you don't mind the location so much, I think you will get a better education there. Just make sure you will like PBL, as another poster said.

Hopefully those ramblings helped. I have been accepted to neither school, but I have thought a lot about how to rank schools for the match.


wow, thats quite a bit of info... i definitely agree with it. i actually don't mind the location at all. being so close to a body of water just brings a sort of relaxed atmosphere to the whole city. and being so close to houston i can hop over there anytime i want to escape the pressures of school. it seems like im pushing way more towards utmb right now. im going to tour both campuses once again just as a final decision maker.
 
I just found this thread, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents even though its a few weeks old:

...A&M's primary mission is to train primary-care physicians for rural areas, and although A&M graduates obviously match into non-primary care programs, their mission remains.

Really? The A&M HSC website clearly lays out its mission (http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/admissions/mission.htm) and it makes no mention of ONLY training rural primary-care docs. Hmph. Sounds like a rumor to me.

...Of all the schools in TX, IIRC, A&M matched the fewest into competitive specialties (no Derm. matches last year, but a few sporadic Derm. matches in previous years, for example.)

Do you have any idea how many people tried to get into that specialty? Given A&M's small class size, its entirely possible that no one applied for a dermatology residency this past year. Without knowing how many people were trying for that slot, the number has little significance in my opinion. What if X school had 10 people get into a ortho, but 60 applied?


I agree that Scott & White hospital is newer and more impressive looking than Sealy, but I don't think Scott & White gets the variety of pathology that Sealy does, since it is not in a major city.

True it's not in a major city, but given the number of departments the hospital has (http://www.sw.org), in addition to a busy Level I trauma center, I think there's MORE than enough for us lowly medical students to get exposed to in their clinical years.



... and you get essentially no clinical exposure until year 3 (No teaching hospital in College Station,) and A&M just doesn't have the reputation that UTMB does.

I don't know about you, but I was kind of planning on hitting the books pretty hard until year three anyway, so it doesn't bother me. On reputation, I agree with what other posts have said.

Something tells me that unless you're planning to go for "University of StickUptheButt's Super Prestigous Department of Whatever" , then reputation isn't going to matter as much as you think it does.

Really, I think it's all about personality. If you like PBL and the environment, cool, UTMB may be for you. Don't base decisions on little numbers, factoids, and heresay that might not have much weight.
 
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