Baylor College of Medicine 2011

NCF145 said:

I have an interview coming up on the 2nd and was wondering what you guys thought. Will I be interviewing for an outright acceptance or most likely a waitlist? Also, do you have any advice for the interview? I have heard it is pretty laid back, but is there anything I should look out for or try to bring up in my interviews?

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Your stats and interview performance will determine where you will get waitlisted or accepted. The ADCOM force-ranks everyone (past and current interviewees) and they take a certain number off the top every week and acceptances to those top candidates. If your interviews are like mine, you will interview with a student (e.g., 4th year) and a professor. I thought the student was a more challenging interviewer. From what we were told, if you get invited, you have a good chance of being accepted.

MFFL07 said:

Looks like I'll be joining you guys next year! I got the phone call on 1/18, interviewed on 12/1, and am an in-state applicant. I loved Baylor while I was there and can't wait to start.

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Awesome! I'm also looking forward to starting.

So are you moving from somewhere else or are you from Houston?

MFFL07 said:

I'm from Dallas, but go to undergrad out of state. I'm still deciding if I am going to move to Houston after graduation and try to work down there for the summer, or if I'm gonna go back to Dallas and move down right before classes start. Does anyone know exactly when classes start - end of July, beginning of August??

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The fun starts July 23rd. Initially there is a mandatory orientation. PM me if you need more details. Here is the first part of the calendar:

2007-2008 Academic Year
July 23 - July 27, 2007 - Orientation
July 28, 2007 – Curriculum Orientation
July 30, 2007 - First Day of Class
ALL ORIENTATION ACTIVITIES
ARE MANDATORY.
The below dates are tentative. Do not make travel plans based on these dates.

Block 1
Sept. 3 - Labor Day (Holiday)
Sept. 7 - Classes End
Sept 8-12 - Study Time and Exams
Sept. 13 - 16 - Vacation

MilkofAmnesia said:

It shows as "unknown" when they call I believe.

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Yes, that's right: "Unknown" it was.

MilkofAmnesia said:

I'm in! I got the call! I'm OOS and interviewed in November. So pumped right now! I'll be joining you guys come July!

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Congratulations!!

Finally we're starting to see a few more acceptances. Seems like it has taken a little longer than I expected.

HumbleMD said:

Big congrats! But I'm kind of jealous. How have you already decided on where you'll be going? BTW I can't wait to see some folks on the second look weekend (if I ever get a darned invite).

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I did all my agonizing and investigating on where to go before I received my acceptances. I ranked the schools, and Baylor was my first choice. Once I was accepted to Baylor I immediately withdrew my applications from all other schools to make life better for my fellow applicants by freeing up my slots ASAP. I still got another acceptance anyway and promptly turned it down.

I would be surprised if second look will make the decision any easier for you, Humble. Perhaps there is something bothering you that you have not shared? Obviously the "facts" have pointed you toward Baylor. There is something making you doubt your decision.

I have interviewed for a handful of jobs and schools in my previous life (and interviewed numerous people for jobs), and I'm under the impression that recruiting events are good but limited. If you really want to get more information, I suggest you get to know several students at Baylor and communicate with them about your concerns. I would suspect that this would give you a much more in-depth and balanced perspective. I'm not sure if could have these students give you additional tours, meet their friends, hang out, and sit in on a few classes, but that might be something to look into if you need to experience these things for yourself. Visiting and living someplace are quite different IMHO. I (and several people around here) can put you in touch with some students if you are interested. PM me if you need names & contact info.

HumbleMD said:

Wait, do we have to fill out the registration form even if we haven't 100% decided yet? I realize the web-site says "NOW" but wanted to be sure.

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I would wait in your case:

Completion and submission of the Official Preliminary Registration Form is a requirement prior to: Monday, July 17. (The page that has this information can be accessed by first going to {PM me if you need the URL ...} and clicking on "Class of 2011 Orientation" ... then look toward the bottom for the orange/red text information about when the registration form needs to be completed by.

For those who have decided, it's a preliminary registration form, so if you change your mind and go somewhere else it's not a huge issue.
These are my opinions, of course, and you should ask the admissions office if you want some kind of official response.

MilkofAmnesia said:

Just an suggestion, but maybe we shouldn't be posting these links since they were only sent to accepted students.

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Agreed. I took the link out of my message.

HumbleMD said:

(link is broken). Anyway, Onco, you should totally be the Baylor class president. If I end up there I'd vote for you. Or at least the SDN affiliate or something. You're so on top of things, and the Baylor cheerleader of SDN. I love it.

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Glad to be of help! I have noticed that Baylor students are helpful and positive, and I'm just following their tradition.

bjorklund said:

Got the call last Thursday! I wonder if Greenberg ever gets a coherent response, I was babbling like an idiot. Happy to be part of the club!

Int: 12/1
Acc:1/20

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Wonderful! So are you leaning toward Baylor or have you pretty much decided?

jennifermov said:

FYI - i got an interview invite by email this past wednesday for feb 16th....it is their last interview date. i'm not saying that they are done inviting (because i have NO idea), but i am just trying to share info.....

hope you hear good news from BCM as well!

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Glad to hear you were invited! What other places have you interviewed? How does Baylor fit into your preferences?

My family is all settled in down here in Pearland (suburb south of Houston) now. My kids have already made several friends with the neighbors (an unlimited supply of playfriends). Shopping and restaurants are great. Everything has been perfect. Yes, I even like it more than Austin so far. Traffic can be intense but hasn't been an issue for me as there seem to be multiple routes to just about everywhere.

MilkofAmnesia said:

Great to hear that, OncoCap. I can't wait to move out to Houston myself. What are you going to do between now and July 23? Just spend time with the kids and your wife?

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I'm actually working on a post-doc in biomedical engineering at UT Austin. I went ahead and moved my family to Pearland because my wife found a nice job there and they needed someone right away. We found a house we liked and went ahead and moved her and the kids. We were originally planning to wait until May or so. Instead, I'll be splitting my week between Austin and Pearland until then; this isn't bad for a few months. After May, I plan to continue to research remotely until school starts.

How about you? When do you plan to move to the Houston area? Have you decided where exactly you would like to live?

I checked with Occupational Health about the immunizations (specifically whether I could get missing ones at Baylor when I got there) since I was having some trouble getting my missing immunizations locally. Here is what he said in reply:

Per Dr. Kelaher of BCM OHP:
"The expectation is that you are fully immunized before starting classes. jk"

If you need to get your immunizations, you might look for a "Travel Clinic." Here in Austin we have the ARC Travel Clinc on Rundberg that will give you all the shots (and bill your insurance ). In Houston, I tried calling the Third Ward Multi-Service Center, but they never picked up the phone.

MilkofAmnesia said:

That's a bit odd. I've heard of other schools giving necessary vaccines. I also know of a case where they will actually draw blood for vaccine titers to make sure you have enough of the antibodies to be fully vaccinated. And if you fall short they will vaccinate you again.

BTW: I plan to move out in July. I've been looking at places around Condoland, per se.

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Yes, I was surprised as well. I'll just go to the public clinic and get the immunizations taken care of.

You'll be in good company in Condoland ... lots of Baylor students there.

JenB said:

Hi all,

Congratulations on your acceptances!

I am currently looking to move into condoland and was wondering if anyone had any experience with the condos in Riverwalk or in City Plaza, both on Old Spanish Trail? Just trying to get an idea if these are safe, nice places to live.

Jenn

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I looked at a couple of your previous posts, and I assume from those that you are already a student here and have a general idea about condoland and just want some specifics.

Here is a service that prepares detailed maps of crime and seems pretty useful (I just looked at the demo -- pretty cool): http://www.crimehouston.com/
I looked at a Riverwalk condo address of 2300 OLD SPANISH TRL, and there were no rapes or murders shown until you get about a mile away from there. The free demo just shows rapes and murders. Viewing other crimes (such as burglary) requires that you pay a fee of $5 or more for an hour or more of searching.

If you want to save the $5, you can look up crime stats at the City of Houston website to find out exactly what kind of crime takes place by address. Just a quick look at OST showed some narcotic violations:

http://www.houstontx.gov/police/stats2.htm

Hope that helps.

The UTPD has a nice web site:

http://www.mdanderson.org/utpd/

On the side-bar you can click on crime statistics and see what is going on around UT-H, which isn't far from condoland and gives a flavor of the kinds of issues around there ...

Also, look out for this guy ... he was spotted carrying bags up an exterior stairway and was promptly warned about trespassing ... either they aren't saying something important or they must really not like trespassers!

Crime Alert Bulletin

Wilbern Reed - Suspicious Person
http://www.mdanderson.org/images/CABWilbern-Reed%20crop.jpg
On Thursday, 1/25, at 8:50am, UT Police responded to a report of a suspicious person at the UTHSC-H IMM Building. The suspicious person was reportedly carrying bags and going up an exterior stairwell at the building.

Wilbern, who had no official business on UT property, was issued a Criminal Trespass Warning and escorted off property.

jennifermov said:

I actually have my first interview this week at Tulane University. I was one of those "late to apply" kids....i wasn't complete until dec 1st (the deadline! ). I only applied to 4 schools - Tulane, the two Louisiana state schools (Shreveport & New Orleans), Baylor.....and have interviews at all 4. Obviously, I am from LA and love living close to my family...so i was not interested in moving far away...

I have a master's degree in molecular virology & microbiology from Baylor...and since my original experience was so great, BCM is high on my list. (and it is by far the best school that i applied to!)

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That's very nice -- to apply to at the last moment to 4 schools and get interviews at all 4! You must have a pretty nice application.

I'm sure your interviews will go well since you already know the place.

sicem07 said:

Congrats to everyone! I just got my call on Friday (1/25, Interviewed :12/1) at 6:30 pm! Pretty excited seeing how its been a dream of mine for a long time now. Can't wait to see y'all there!

(ps. I'll be the obnoxious one from Baylor undergrad)

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Superb! You have passed a big hurdle. How obnoxious can you be? Are you going to ask a lot of annoying questions in class??