The Republic of Texas XXXIV: Whoever doesn't like Whataburger needs to leave

[simplesloth]

When is it time to start worrying about not getting IIs if submitted early June?

Definitely not yet. Houston and southwestern haven't even begun interviewing, and most other schools have sent out only one or two waves of IIs. It's still very early, so try your best not to stress. Until interviews, it's all out of your hands for now.

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[SweetCaroline7]

To piggyback off of lomm's question, can any previous applicants comment on whether files continue to be reviewed throughout the season? My primary was transmitted in May and all secondaries were complete within a few days of that date. I have gotten an II from UTHSCSA (for which I am very grateful, as I realize others are still waiting for their first invite), but since I was complete so early, I am getting a little nervous that either my secondary essays suck (since I've heard nothing from A&M and TTUHSC-Lubbock) or that I'm just simply not going to get an invite for another reason. I have seen previous applicants say that they received invites to those schools in December for a January interview, etc., but I can't figure out if those applicants were also complete early. I am really trying not to stress over something I can't control now, but I guess I'm just hoping to hear stories of others who have been in my position and had things work out.

 

[Nysor_bttw]

Relax. Schools have their reasons for offering their interviews. Last year I was getting invites into the end of August even though I submitted mid May. If you have one at this point, don't sweat too much. You're in a good position.

To piggyback off of lomm's question, can any previous applicants comment on whether files continue to be reviewed throughout the season? My primary was transmitted in May and all secondaries were complete within a few days of that date. I have gotten an II from UTHSCSA (for which I am very grateful, as I realize others are still waiting for their first invite), but since I was complete so early, I am getting a little nervous that either my secondary essays suck (since I've heard nothing from A&M and TTUHSC-Lubbock) or that I'm just simply not going to get an invite for another reason. I have seen previous applicants say that they received invites to those schools in December for a January interview, etc., but I can't figure out if those applicants were also complete early. I am really trying not to stress over something I can't control now, but I guess I'm just hoping to hear stories of others who have been in my position and had things work out.

 

[SweetCaroline7]

Thanks @Nysor_bttw, I appreciate you sharing your experience

 

[unparapluie]

No II yet. Submitted 7/10. Should I be worried? 3.89 sGPA and 3.92 cGPA. 27 MCAT.

I applied to TCOM, sent them an 'extra' DO letter that they received Aug 20. But I was complete at TCOM since 7/10.

Submitted secondary to El Paso and Lubbock, marked complete there on 7/23.

I see Texas slipping away

FWIW (and this is from 2 or 3 cycles ago) at least a couple of my undergrad classmates had stats similar to yours - one ended up going to El Paso, the other to Galveston. Not sure when they interviewed, but I want to say some time in November? Keep the faith, it's far from being over.

 

[clairephillips]

No II yet. Submitted 7/10. Should I be worried? 3.89 sGPA and 3.92 cGPA. 27 MCAT.

I applied to TCOM, sent them an 'extra' DO letter that they received Aug 20. But I was complete at TCOM since 7/10.

Submitted secondary to El Paso and Lubbock, marked complete there on 7/23.

I see Texas slipping away

Wait, why are you only applying to TCOM, El Paso and Lubbock? Lots of other schools you might have a shot at!

 

[Mavs88]

Does anyone have any insight into how the pre-match offers go for IS? Do they offer them to higher stats applicants, or based on the whole file including interview? What percentage of people interviewed from a certain school get a pre-match? For example, of 1,000 interviewees...how many get a pre-match?

Starting to look ahead to Nov 15th lol

 

[iforget2]

How is everyone's cycle going??

 

[Cookie04]

How is everyone's cycle going??

Absolutely perfect so far!!!!! How's yours going?

 

[texan2414]

How is everyone's cycle going??

Horrible. I have yet to receive any IIs. I am starting to think writing letters of interest. Just don't know what to do. 3.9/31 average ECs not sure what to make of it.

 

[texan2414]

Also tx school threads have been awfully quiet. Very few people reporting received IIs. Really hoping cycle gains some traction and I hear good news!!!

 

[hopeS.O.]

Does anyone have any insight into how the pre-match offers go for IS? Do they offer them to higher stats applicants, or based on the whole file including interview? What percentage of people interviewed from a certain school get a pre-match? For example, of 1,000 interviewees...how many get a pre-match?

Starting to look ahead to Nov 15th lol

Anyone have any insights? Pre-match and matching literally make no sense to me. Do you keep your pre-match even if you want to see if your first choice accepts you when matching?

Also, my anxiety is ratcheting up as I think about the acceptances that are about to come out in a week, particularly as I know I have at the least a month and a week to wait, if not more (OOS schools).

 

[texan2414]

Anyone have any insights? Pre-match and matching literally make no sense to me. Do you keep your pre-match even if you want to see if your first choice accepts you when matching?

Also, my anxiety is ratcheting up as I think about the acceptances that are about to come out in a week, particularly as I know I have at the least a month and a week to wait, if not more (OOS schools).

You're still in a 1000 times better position than applicants like me who haven't even received their first interview lol. I'm sure you'll be fine down the road.

 

[hopeS.O.]

You're still in a 1000 times better position than applicants like me who haven't even received their first interview lol. I'm sure you'll be fine down the road.

Thanks. Also, don't lose optimism, interview season isn't over for quite some time yet.

 

[texan2414]

Thanks. Also, don't lose optimism, interview season isn't over for quite some time yet.

Ur right about that

 

[Garurumon]

I know an engaged couple who is trying to get into UTH together. The girl's in my year and the guy applied this cycle. I just heard this week that he got an interview invite. I wish the best of luck to both of them. ^.^

 

[Holmwood]

I want to try a whataburger ever since buzzfeed featured it. If only the UT gods can reach down from the heavens and bless this blighted soul of mine so that I might get a chance to taste that precious butter honey goodness.

 

[Cookie04]

I want to try a whataburger ever since buzzfeed featured it. If only the UT gods can reach down from the heavens and bless this blighted soul of mine so that I might get a chance to taste that precious butter honey goodness.

This may be kinda crazy, but I don't know why Texans love whataburger so much. I'm a Texan and I find it absolutely disgusting. Like the worst place I could ever eat


But then again, I guess I'm not a true Texan seeing as that I'm originally from Cali

 

[Xyzaro]

'

 

[unparapluie]

This may be kinda crazy, but I don't know why Texans love whataburger so much. I'm a Texan and I find it absolutely disgusting. Like the worst place I could ever eat


But then again, I guess I'm not a true Texan seeing as that I'm originally from Cali

Omg, I do not get the whole Whataburger madness either, probably because I'm also not originally from here. Tried it once, and swore it off for the rest of my days.

 

[MiniMD]

Y'all are cray cray, Whataburger is the bomb. I'm vegetarian and still love Whataburger. Delicious grilled cheese and onion rings...

 

[iforget2]

Only whataburger could make a premed forum go off topic

But their fries though...

 

[iDOliveinMD]

OOS with blah stats, applied to Texas mainly in hopes of receiving an II to UNT, I have not received any II's or rejections. I read that the interviewing period ends early December. So is it safe to assume that if I don't hear anything in the next few weeks that it is over for me? Have any Texas schools started sending out rejections?

 

[unparapluie]

OOS with blah stats, applied to Texas mainly in hopes of receiving an II to UNT, I have not received any II's or rejections. I read that the interviewing period ends early December. So is it safe to assume that if I don't hear anything in the next few weeks that it is over for me? Have any Texas schools started sending out rejections?

I want to say that some schools interview into January, and I believe that the December invites haven't all been sent out yet.

 

[iforget2]

OOS applicant and Texas native. Interviewed with UTHSCSA early October, hoping to get an acceptance when October 15th rolls around!

Did you apply/interview anywhere else in Texas?

 

[iDOliveinMD]

.

 

[unparapluie]

Oh well, Texas was a long shot, ~$300 lottery ticket for potential $100,000+ in savings in tuition.

You'd never know unless you tried, right?

 

[Cawolf]

I applied to all Texas schools but didn't complete secondaries for UTSW, A&M or Texas Tech. As such my application was only suitably complete at UTHSCSA, UT Houston and UT Galveston. Didn't hear anything about invites from the other schools, and no secondary invite from Dell/UT Austin.

Why didn't you complete at A&M?

 

[Cawolf]

I was over-ambitious with my primary applications and wound up completing 36 secondaries total. When it came time to complete my TMDSAS secondaries for A&M and Texas Tech, I simply didn't have the time and they fell by the wayside.

Ah OK, just curious, because I interviewed there OOS so I was curious if you had a specific reason.

 

[iDOliveinMD]

.

 

[unparapluie]

All the excitement on SDN today is making me antsy for November 15...

 

[Chlorini]

Just curious y'all...how would you rank the Texas schools (if you had the choice to go to whatever one you wanted)? And why? I honestly loved all the schools I interviewed at...the students were amazing and they all seemed happy. Any one else feel the same way?

 

[Cawolf]

I only interviewed at a few (as you know), but here was my impression!

UTSW ~ Baylor > UTMB > UTSA > UTH > TT > A&M > TTEP > TCOM (interviewed at ones in italics)

I don't know where to put Dell or UTRGV in there! What did you think?

 

[unparapluie]

I only interviewed at a few (as you know), but here was my impression!

UTSW ~ Baylor > UTMB > UTSA > UTH > TT > A&M > TTEP > TCOM (interviewed at ones in italics)

I don't know where to put Dell or UTRGV in there! What did you think?

How'd you like your A&M interview?

 

[gyrfalcon]

Just curious y'all...how would you rank the Texas schools (if you had the choice to go to whatever one you wanted)? And why? I honestly loved all the schools I interviewed at...the students were amazing and they all seemed happy. Any one else feel the same way?

I'd have a very difficult time doing that right now. I would be very happy attending any of the Texas schools. They all looked top-notch to me, and I'm certain that they all produce quality physicians. If I had to pick the highlights of the places I interviewed though:

A&M: I liked the "pick your own adventure" vibe to the school created by the variety of clinical training campuses and approaches. They also seemed to be the most welcoming of nontrads (although the other schools also made me feel at ease).

TT El Paso: I am totally in love with their approach to the preclinical years. I feel like I would get the best basic medical science training there. I liked the outdoorsy-ness of El Paso, as well.

Houston: Whatever medical interest you have can probably be accommodated in the Texas Medical Center! I think I would have the easiest time finding a research project that interests me here.

TT Lubbock: The students and faculty seemed happiest here, and these were by far the most relaxed interviews that I had. I could see myself picking this school for a relatively low-stress education that still provides plenty of exposure to "interesting" cases from a wide geographical area.

Dell: Ask me again in a few weeks after I interview

 

[Cawolf]

How'd you like your A&M interview?

I liked it quite a bit! The students were amazingly friendly, I met some truly welcoming staff, the new anatomy lab is great, and there was overall a good vibe. The downsides to me were the fact that I would need to move twice unless I wanted to stay in B/CS and the lack of a centralized academic hospital. San Antonio offered all of the above with the benefit of most core rotations at the South Texas Medical Center.

 

[Chlorini]

I know it is hard!!!

Well if I were single I'd probably go with the school that I liked that has the highest NIH funding. I really could care less about what school has the highest funding, but apparently residency programs do--check out http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Charting-Outcomes-2014-Final.pdf (this is the company that does the match). You get brownie points if you went to one of the top 40 schools with the highest funding.

Rank by NIH funding: Source (http://www.report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm....sort by funding; John Hopkins is number 1)

Baylor $208,526,734
UTSW $160,416,637
UTH $76,399,391
UTMB $73,345,646
UTHSCSA $60,977,715
A&M $19,144,507
Tech El Paso $13,547,805
Tech Lubbock $10,089,851

My rank is different. I've interviewed at Tech El Paso, Tech Lubbock, A&M, UTHSCSA, UTMB, and UTH. I don't expect to hear back from UTSW or Baylor. I think I'm just going to pick between tiers... UTH, UTMB, or UTHSCSA. If I don't get into any of those schools, I'll choose between A&M, Tech El-Paso, or Tech-Lubbock. Dell is a wild card imo, but I'd definitely stick them up with the other UT schools. It'll be a top school in 15-20 years; maybe even higher than UTSW. That's the only logical way I can see doing it....but there wasn't one school for me where I was like "there's no way I'd go here..." I was overly impressed in all my interviews and I left thinking "I want to go here!" I can't wait until November 15th!

Any input? How are y'all going about this? Are you guys going about it this way or just going by your gut feeling/location/curriculum, etc?

 

[unparapluie]

We should rank the schools based off the food they provide at the interview-day lunches. It only makes sense since the title of this thread involves food.

 

[ivorypearls]

We should rank the schools based off of the food they provide at the interview-day lunches. It only makes sense since the title of this thread involves food.

Haha if I had to rank based off food:
UT El Paso (home cooked ) > UTH > UTSA > UTMB > any OOS schools
...I've only gotten pre-packaged sandwiches/salads from OOS schools. Not complaining though haha but Texas feeds us well

Ranking on actual impressions from interview day
UTSA > UTH > UTMB > El Paso

UTSA: Amazing facilities/resources and students seemed the happiest here imo. I liked the half-day curriculum. San Antonio is rated one of the top places in the U.S. to be for healthcare professionals

UTH: Texas Medical Center, 'nuff said.

UTMB: Super relaxed environment and the half-day curriculum is really appealing too.. plus students do great on the boards. UTMB was originally at the top of my list, but I didn't feel like I fit in with the students during the interview day

El Paso: New and improved curriculum with good board scores and super relaxed environment. I ranked this last just because I don't like how isolated El Paso is from everywhere else. I've also heard that associated facilities are struggling financially (Children's Hospital)

Baylor, Lubbock: TBA!

...That being said, I was very impressed with all of the Texas schools I interviewed at. There wasn't one that I left thinking I would not want to attend. I would be ecstatic to get into any one of them

 

[Chlorini]

We should rank the schools based off of the food they provide at the interview-day lunches. It only makes sense since the title of this thread involves food.

Ooooo based off food:

UTMB/UTH (we had fajitas at both!!) but UTH's chocolate cake was amazing! > UTHSCSA > Tech El Paso > A&M > Tech Lubbock

That was easy

 

[unparapluie]

Man, I must've been out of luck at my interviews - the food wasn't bad, by any means, but it sounds like it definitely could've been better.
TTU Lubbock: fried chicken, some kind of potatoes I remember liking, veggie medley, etc.
UTMB: regular or spinach lasagna
A&M: grilled chicken with some tomato-y sauce, eggplant parm
Baylor (not this cycle): boxed sandwiches or fruit bowls

 

[ZPakEffect]

My lunches so far:

UTH: Fajitas
TT Lubbock: Fajitas
UTSW: BBQ sandwiches
Texas A&M: Fajitas
TT El Paso: Fajitas
UTMB: Pasta with chicken

Best: UTH
Worst: TTEP

 

[gyrfalcon]

Ranked by lunches:

UTH tops the others because of that chocolate cake. I felt like I had won a prize even before I had my interviews.

UTH > El Paso (homemade! yum) > Lubbock > A&M >> OOS schools

The Texas schools do feed us well!

 

[Cookie04]

Ranking by lunches too!

UTHSCSA- #1 food to my #1 choice!
UTH- Fajitas are an all time favorite. I don't like chocolate cake but I sure ate theirs!
A&M- felt like a home cooked meal
Lubbock- we had BBQ chicken which tasted fresh off the grill
Southwestern- BBQ Sandwich was a little too messy and greasy for my taste
TCOM- taco salad wasn't to my liking...and I love anything taco
UTMB- not a fan of the lasagna (or the whole interview day for that matter)
El Paso- that breaded/ half-fried chicken thing wasn't my fave. And I hate cornbread
Dell- NO FOOD!!!!!!!!

 

[unparapluie]

Crossing my fingers for some fajita action next time.

 

[unparapluie]

Also, two weeks until pre-match!

 

[Cookie04]

Well aside from ranking them all by the food...
Here are my current rankings:

UTHSCSA- Great city, new academic learning facilities, happy students, and a military town
UTH- TMC and I love Houston
UTSW/Dell/A&M (surprisingly these three are giving me the most trouble)
UTMB- Ehhh, this school is alright.
UNT- It may be DO, but I like the Fort Worth area and it's closer to home.
TT Lubbock- I like that it's connected to an undergrad campus, but I'm not a fan of the city.
PLFSOM- I was very impressed with my interview day here. PLFSOM is a great school in a great city. It's just too far from family and from other major Texas cities which is why it came in last place for me.

I'm having the hardest time ranking UTSW, Dell, and A&M. I loved my interview day at Southwestern but I really want to stay closer to home which is why it wasn't one of my top 2 choices. Dell is amazing, but I'm not sure how I would rank them compared to the other Texas schools since its new and all. Would the fact that Dell is a new medical school stop anyone else from ranking it super high on their list? I really want to rank Dell at #3 (above UTSW and A&M ) but I'm not sure if that would be a good choice in the end. Does anyone have any input? Even if you didn't interview at Dell, how would you guys rank them among the other Texas Schools?

 

[Chlorini]

Well aside from ranking them all by the food...
Here are my current rankings:

UTHSCSA- Great city, new academic learning facilities, happy students, and a military town
UTH- TMC and I love Houston
UTSW/Dell/A&M (surprisingly these three are giving me the most trouble)
UTMB- Ehhh, this school is alright.
UNT- It may be DO, but I like the Fort Worth area and it's closer to home.
TT Lubbock- I like that it's connected to an undergrad campus, but I'm not a fan of the city.
PLFSOM- I was very impressed with my interview day here. PLFSOM is a great school in a great city. It's just too far from family and from other major Texas cities which is why it came in last place for me.

I'm having the hardest time ranking UTSW, Dell, and A&M. I loved my interview day at Southwestern but I really want to stay closer to home which is why it wasn't one of my top 2 choices. Dell is amazing, but I'm not sure how I would rank them compared to the other Texas schools since its new and all. Would the fact that Dell is a new medical school stop anyone else from ranking it super high on their list? I really want to rank Dell at #3 (above UTSW and A&M ) but I'm not sure if that would be a good choice in the end. Does anyone have any input?

Are you going military?

 

[Cookie04]

Are you going military? I recently accepted the hpsp deal and even though I loved UTMB, UTH, and UTHSCSA equally I think I am going to rank UTHSCSA as number 1 because the military (and almost all their residencies) is located in San Antonio.

I want to, but my past medical history disqualifies me from an HPSP unless I get a waiver. I'm from a military family though so I would like to still be in a military town. And even if you did the HPSP, you will have to rank military residency programs just like everyone else. So there is no guarantee that you will be staying in San Antonio and doing residencies at one of the SAMMC locations (BAMC or Lackland).

 

[Chlorini]

.