Okay, so basically here is an overview of the Open House from Saturday..
As of the 21st there was roughly 400 applicants. There were some who attended the open house who have not yet submitted. So maybe add about 15-20 people to the applicant pool. They are accepting 210.
Gave some advice for those who haven't submitted, send a resume/CV, don't be extra wordy if you don't have too, and make sure your grammar is on par. You can always add a resume/CV to your file if you have already submitted
Answer the questions, and do not leave anything blank. Don't answer the questions like "it was a rainy day when I delivered the baby on the side of the road..", which I actually do have a story like that, not delivering a baby, but I'm a nurse, and my life experience needed to be expressed for my question to make sense, but I stand behind why I wrote it like that, so eh I digress.
They mentioned the overview of courses etc. Many questions arose about applying before or after the program. They said most people apply during the program. They advised people who are in the MCAT prep course to not take MCAT until August 5, or August 21, (that seems really late to me) but that was their advice. They also mentioned to not submit their primaries until we have attended the application workshops, they seem to hone in on that, because they believe it will make our applications stronger.
I was able to speak to some current students who were waitlisted at TCOM. It was expressed by them that this program did help their application, but if they have not completed the program, the grades in this program didn't seem to weigh much. One specifically said "an adcom told me that yeah, they see I'm in the program, and will they look at it, maybe, but if I was to apply after the program, then yes, most definitely". Take that how you want.
If you are going to take a gap year, they do have a program that you can bridge into that gives you a 6 month internship dealing with research. People asked about what you could do with this degree, and bridging into this program was an option.
I hear that this program does favor non-trads, that was something that I was weary of, but they also favor people straight out of school. They look at the entire application and see if they can help you. Once you are in, they want to make sure you succeed.
There were questions about the optional intro to biochem course. Some said it was helpful, some said they didn't take it and still did well. I do not have biochemistry, so I'm taking it, so I can't really give an opinion on that.
There was this one girl who asked a question about having a car, I zoned out, because I have one, so I'm not sure. If accepted I'll be commuting 55+ miles.
We toured the campus, and library, which I loved. They have a virtual anatomy bar which is cool, and I'm an aesthetics person, so the colors and natural lights really sold me. Since I have 24 hour access to UTSW library, I will mostly study there, but this was an added bonus for me.
The anatomy lab is 24 hours. We get the cross sections from the med students.
Options for tutors, who were previous MedSci students, and are now current med students. Volunteer opportunities are available. There were mention of student interest groups as well.
Lastly, the 40 hours for the shadowing has to come from FM, IM, Peds, or OBGYN (only if the former 3 are unavailable)
This is just from my notes I took and what I remembers, if there are specifics just ask and maybe I can help. Maybe
@aspiringdocO remembers something I didn't.
