2010-2011 University of Texas - San Antonio Application Thread

[noshie]

So I got emails from el paso and San Antonio saying they had received my application around the same time, interviewed at el paso and have heard nothing else from SA.
Does anyone know when I should start despairing about this? What's the date I should mark on my calendar for when I need to give up all hope?
Thanks so much
p.s. Tmdsas transmitted on July 25th or thereabouts

I have heard that the Texas schools will give interviews regularly up until December, probably mid December I would think. Then they probably do random interviews in the Spring. So don't give up hope until at least December! Most of the schools have only done 1/3 maybe of all of their interview invites... There is still tons of time!

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[AspiringDOC2010]

Does anyone know if the Biochemistry requirement at UT San Antonio is required by time of application or by time of matriculation? Would not having the biochemistry requirement fulfilled by time of application prevent someone from receiving an interview? Thanks.

 

[TheTruckGuy]

Does anyone know if the Biochemistry requirement at UT San Antonio is required by time of application or by time of matriculation? Would not having the biochemistry requirement fulfilled by time of application prevent someone from receiving an interview? Thanks.

I can't say for sure, but I know someone that graduated in May and submitted the app in June, but didn't complete biochem until August. If I'm not mistaken you just need to send updated transcripts and stuff to the school or something. Call them to ask what needs to happen if you already haven't done it.

And they did get an invite and interview to UTHSCSA before finishing biochem in the summer.

 

[rclimb]

Does anyone know if the Biochemistry requirement at UT San Antonio is required by time of application or by time of matriculation? Would not having the biochemistry requirement fulfilled by time of application prevent someone from receiving an interview? Thanks.

You only need 3 hours of biochem by the time you matriculate. I interviewed without having taken or registering to take biochem. Received my acceptance in the middle of the course. Sent in my final updated transcript and was good to go.

 

[longwhorn]

You only need 3 hours of biochem by the time you matriculate. I interviewed without having taken or registering to take biochem. Received my acceptance in the middle of the course. Sent in my final updated transcript and was good to go.

Awesome, I was wondering the exact same thing. I'm not enrolled in biochem yet but I plan to take it this spring. Thanks for the info.

 

[princessBP]

Just got a phone call today inviting me to interview on Monday!!! Such short notice, which they apologized about...but I will take it!!! Kinda nervous that I have 3 tests next week and my A&M interview on thursday!!! but i can do it! good luck to the rest of you waiting!!! it took forever for me to get an interview here...so don't give up!

 

[stephdadancer]

Just got a phone call today inviting me to interview on Monday!!! Such short notice, which they apologized about...but I will take it!!! Kinda nervous that I have 3 tests next week and my A&M interview on thursday!!! but i can do it! good luck to the rest of you waiting!!! it took forever for me to get an interview here...so don't give up!

I have my A&M interview on Thursday too! See ya there! Do you know if there is a student stay program? Or are you driving there the morning of or the day before? Just trying to figure out some travel plans. I'm coming from Houston but worried about all the back roads so early in the morning with little cell phone service but don't want to pay for hotel!

 

[princessBP]

I have my A&M interview on Thursday too! See ya there! Do you know if there is a student stay program? Or are you driving there the morning of or the day before? Just trying to figure out some travel plans. I'm coming from Houston but worried about all the back roads so early in the morning with little cell phone service but don't want to pay for hotel!

I am from Austin so I will be driving there in the morning....mine is in Temple though...not college station. where is yours?

 

[Coug]

Does anyone know how friendly UTSA is about rescheduling interviews?

 

[DALee33]

Does anyone know how friendly UTSA is about rescheduling interviews?

I re-scheduled mine last year.... they are cool about it.

 

[Coug]

I re-scheduled mine last year.... they are cool about it.

Great, thanks! Some schools are pretty crazy when it comes to that...

 

[medphysik]

3.83 gpa, 3.84 science gpa 31 mcat, application transmitted 8/18
Majoring in Physics at colorado state university.
Texas resident.

2.5 years of research

leadership positions

but a 7 on VR of MCAT, I pretty much freaked out on the VR section. I averaged a 10 on VR in practice ... what a waste of time..

do I still have a chance for an interview?

 

[noshie]

3.83 gpa, 3.84 science gpa 31 mcat, application transmitted 8/18
Majoring in Physics at colorado state university.
Texas resident.

2.5 years of research

leadership positions

but a 7 on VR of MCAT, I pretty much freaked out on the VR section. I averaged a 10 on VR in practice ... what a waste of time..

do I still have a chance for an interview?

The verbal is kind of a fine line... I am sure they don’t have real cut offs for every section, but having such an unbalanced MCAT can be a problem. Your other two sections are good I am assuming, and your GPA is fine. You didn’t mention any clinical experiences, do you have shadowing? Or anything clinically related?? Any non medical or medical volunteering? People with great stats have been known to not get interviews or acceptances due to lack of volunteering and definitely lack of clinical experiences... So it all depends on if you have the right package. But overall, your numbers are ok.

And I am glad to see you are not lurking anymore. Welcome to SDN and good luck!

 

[medphysik]

The verbal is kind of a fine line... I am sure they don’t have real cut offs for every section, but having such an unbalanced MCAT can be a problem. Your other two sections are good I am assuming, and your GPA is fine. You didn’t mention any clinical experiences, do you have shadowing? Or anything clinically related?? Any non medical or medical volunteering? People with great stats have been known to not get interviews or acceptances due to lack of volunteering and definitely lack of clinical experiences... So it all depends on if you have the right package. But overall, your numbers are ok.

And I am glad to see you are not lurking anymore. Welcome to SDN and good luck!

I've got 160 hours of clinical shadowing , 20 hours of volunteering in a hospital, lots of volunteer missions work including 6 weeks in chile teaching English.

I dunno... I guess I feel that it is strange that I have not heard back from any schools yet...

And I am add odds with what I am supposed to do next. Get a degree in English and re-apply ?

Whats your advice?

I have a 11 BS and 13 PS on the MCAT.

 

[blueflower77]

I've got 160 hours of clinical shadowing , 20 hours of volunteering in a hospital, lots of volunteer missions work including 6 weeks in chile teaching English.

I dunno... I guess I feel that it is strange that I have not heard back from any schools yet...

And I am add odds with what I am supposed to do next. Get a degree in English and re-apply ?

Whats your advice?

I have a 11 BS and 13 PS on the MCAT.

Are your recommendation letters well written (and have good stuff in them & are from reputable people)? Are they well balanced (meaning praising various areas)? Is your personal statement stellar?

Shadowing is good, mission trips are good. An on going activity/shadowing while you're applying I heard also looks good. Otherwise, your GPA and MCAT are great. That 7 could be hurting you a little bit, but I wouldn't imagine it taking you out of the running completely...

Just my 2 cents.

 

[medphysik]

Are your recommendation letters well written (and have good stuff in them & are from reputable people)? Are they well balanced (meaning praising various areas)? Is your personal statement stellar?

Shadowing is good, mission trips are good. An on going activity/shadowing while you're applying I heard also looks good. Otherwise, your GPA and MCAT are great. That 7 could be hurting you a little bit, but I wouldn't imagine it taking you out of the running completely...

Just my 2 cents.

Yeah my letter of recs are well written. 1 is from a professor that I have worked for for 2.5 years. The other is from an MD that I shadowed 40+ hours.

I noticed after applying that Texas A&M requires letters from two professors do any of the other schools?

Also I have a Class C Misdemeanor for Possesion of Drug paraphanelia from 2005 ( I graduated H.S. in 2006). Maybe this is dragging me down??

 

[thitchcock]

any invites sent out recently?

 

[noshie]

Also I have a Class C Misdemeanor for Possesion of Drug paraphanelia from 2005 ( I graduated H.S. in 2006). Maybe this is dragging me down??

When were you complete with all of the schools? My file was sent out June 1st, and I was fully complete after my LORs came in on July 20th. It took at least a month for me to hear anything really... I have only heard from Tech Lubbock and Tech El Paso... I know that the UT schools and A&M are going to be much slower due to my GPA and MCAT…

Also,^^^ this could be it... Even though you were in high school, you would have to think that competing with someone with the exact same stats and experience as you will not end well for you... But not to say that you should get discouraged. People make mistakes, and if you addressed it somewhere in your application I think they may understand that you have made up for this. Did you address it anywhere? They give you some space to write something right? Did you explain what happened and then state that you are sorry for your mistake and how you matured from it? Or did you just explain your offense and leave it at that...?

 

[DALee33]

Also I have a Class C Misdemeanor for Possesion of Drug paraphanelia from 2005 ( I graduated H.S. in 2006). Maybe this is dragging me down??

This could be the problem but like noshie said--the best thing to do is to address this and explain how you have changed your ways since that happened. Really, really make sure you do that well.

I am aware of an individual who got waitlisted a certain Tx med school that had a DUI or DWI from college I can't recall which -- but since then that individual has had a lot of things change in their life & they completed a master's program to boot -- that person was accepted the next go round to the school they were originally waitlisted at....

 

[medphysik]

I am thinking about taking a job in Technology with Raytheon or Lockhead instead of graduate schools if I do not get in and re-applying. Do you think it would be better to go to graduate school ? or does it not matter?

 

[noshie]

I am thinking about taking a job in Technology with Raytheon or Lockhead instead of graduate schools if I do not get in and re-applying. Do you think it would be better to go to graduate school ? or does it not matter?

Having gone to grad school myself to better my application, I can tell you the things that a higher education like this can provide in terms of strengthening your application. It certainly helped me, and I would partly credit it to my success this cycle (this is my third cycle applying… Never got interviews before this cycle).

You can get a lot of things from grad school, if it’s a hard science program then you can show that you can do well in high level science classes, this helps the deficiencies in your ugrad GPA a little bit. You can also get research, leadership, etc… But mainly I think that grad school is not for you since your ugrad GPA is great by itself at around a 3.8.

When you try to overcome something in your application, be it a poor GPA, MCAT score, or an offense like you have… You can do it by getting a good job and allowing it to show your maturity. However, I think the job you are talking about is not going to do the trick. You should get a clinical job, or a research job at least. The technology job will only serve to show that you have work history and are responsible. If you get a clinical job it will serve better for your application because it will be broader in terms of experiences. They will take more notice in my opinion...

 

[medphysik]

yeah I agree with what you said. But at some point you gotta start a real job and start making real money.

Thanks for the advice

 

[NoseInBook]

Noshie,
You mentioned that a graduate degree helped you in your current application process. Were there any other things that you did to enhance your app? I am a first-time applicant, but I feel as if I have a weak app after reading over other people's backgrounds on this forum.

 

[noshie]

Noshie,
You mentioned that a graduate degree helped you in your current application process. Were there any other things that you did to enhance your app? I am a first-time applicant, but I feel as if I have a weak app after reading over other people's backgrounds on this forum.

First of all, SDN will make you feel like crap no matter what your stats and ECs are... Don't feel intimidated and be confident in what you have done.

I did a lot to improve my application this time. Check out my MDapps for specifics, but mainly I retook my MCAT and scored 10 points higher, got my masters degree with distinction, got in a few years of basic science research, have been conducting clinical research for a while, have several publications submitted, took on some leadership positions in graduate school, extended my patient contact experiences, and added more non medical volunteering/mentoring to my application.

The things holding me back the last two times I applied (in 2006 and 2008) were mainly my MCAT and GPA. I had a very low MCAT by any standards... And my ugrad GPA was around a 2.8-2.9 range. While my new MCAT is not really competitive (I have a 27) and my ugrad GPA has not changed at all (total uGPA 2.91 and sci uGPA 2.87), my experiences really make me unique. I think that all of the things I have done have allowed me to overcome my stats.

I also have some crazy persistence and dedication that is apparent in every part of my application… I took the MCAT 5 times… And again, this is my third time applying… Who really puts themselves through all of that if they don't truly want to become a physician… Right?

Point is, numbers are definitely not everything. Confidence is the key.

And I'm glad to see you are out of the shadows now, Noseinbook! Welcome to SDN!

 

[TheTruckGuy]

yeah I agree with what you said. But at some point you gotta start a real job and start making real money.

Thanks for the advice

Yeah, I'm an engineer and am starting to get a little nervous about my chances of getting accepted right now. While I'm looking for some research jobs, I'm also in the market for something technical.

 

[rclimb]

While I can't comment about the admission committee's perceptions on research/grad school verse a tech job, I can safely say that I have quite a few class mates who were in the tech industry before applying and being accepted. If your gpa is alright, in my opinion grad school is useless. First and foremost, for whatever you do, be passionate about it. In your interview if you can't say more than a sentences about why you've done something it might raise red flags. For instance, "I volunteered at a hospital because I like being around patients" with no further explanation or hint of personal growth from the experience that's bad.

 

[DALee33]

I am thinking about taking a job in Technology with Raytheon or Lockhead instead of graduate schools if I do not get in and re-applying. Do you think it would be better to go to graduate school ? or does it not matter?

The best source that could speak to that would be the admissions committee. You might try contacting the medical schools that you are interested in to find out what you need to do to improve yourself as an applicant. I did this in the spring after my second time applying & it was VERY helpful... The people I spoke with even remembered me as I applied again & I got into 2 of the schools that I did this with probably b/c I was persistent & listened to their advice.

Since it's interview season now, I'm not sure if now is the time to contact them?? Anyone else know about this?? But, I agree with those who have posted previously... You have a competitive GPA, MCAT, and great experiences... At this point, do whatever would provide you with the most meaningful, relevant experience. For me, that was grad school--but I was just tired of working jobs that weren't getting me any closer to my goal & I wanted to go back to school... so I did! For you, you seem to be ready to get to work--so maybe that's the best choice for you.. Best of luck--it's a tough road, but it's worth it in the end.

 

[LibbyJ]

How long after TMDSAS transmitted do you receive an email about completion?
Thanks!!!

 

[NickNaylor]

It takes a while. It took about a month for me at the beginning of the cycle. Not sure what the time is now.

 

[LazyDSledge]

Libby- About 4 weeks for me, and I transmitted 8/4.

Is anyone else gonna be there tomorrow?

 

[gametime66]

Libby- About 4 weeks for me, and I transmitted 8/4.

Is anyone else gonna be there tomorrow?

how long after the completion email did you get an interview offer?

thanks

i transmitted 9/1

 

[LazyDSledge]

9/9.

 

[CmRuLz88]

Does anyone know if they take transcript updates after you having interview?

 

[Frog Fan]

Interview invite today for 10/18! So excited and surprised because I thought they only sent out on Tuesdays!

If it helps anyone thinking about time lines, I was transmitted 8/24.

 

[thitchcock]

Interview invite today for 10/18! So excited and surprised because I thought they only sent out on Tuesdays!

If it helps anyone thinking about time lines, I was transmitted 8/24.

thats when I was transmitted also, I got the app received email on 9/1 though, did they send they invite by email or call like some schools do? what are your stats if you dont mind posting them? only received an invite from TCOM so far... have interview on Friday, waiting on others.... SA is one of my top schools though, has a lot of what Im looking for so really hoping for an interview from them

 

[Frog Fan]

thats when I was transmitted also, I got the app received email on 9/1 though, did they send they invite by email or call like some schools do? what are your stats if you dont mind posting them? only received an invite from TCOM so far... have interview on Friday, waiting on others.... SA is one of my top schools though, has a lot of what Im looking for so really hoping for an interview from them

The invite came by email. I have a 3.71 and 33 MCAT, pretty good EC's, no research, and my LOR's were confidential but hopefully good. It's still fairly early, I bet you'll get an interview, and if they take much longer you could always call and ask what your status is.

Good Luck!

 

[gametime66]

so has anyone gotten an interview offer lately?

i transmitted 9/1. got the completion email 9/8.

but have heard nothing else

the wait sucks!

 

[thitchcock]

so has anyone gotten an interview offer lately?

i transmitted 9/1. got the completion email 9/8.

but have heard nothing else

the wait sucks!

I was transmitted 8/24 and got the received email 9/1
still waiting also...

 

[texas72]

Got an invite today. Transmitted 8/12.

 

[DALee33]

When do you all hear about pre-matches?

 

[TheTruckGuy]

When do you all hear about pre-matches?

Nov 15th, I believe.

 

[medphysik]

i'd almost given up on san antonio but it is good to hear ppl that transmitted around 8/13 are just getting interviews. I transmitted 8/18 c'mon san antonio...

 

[mrchizel]

Interview Invite for 10/25 Transmitted: 8/25

 

[Khanitez]

Does anyone know where San Antonio stand in the pre-match offers spectrum? Are they like Southwestern with a lot of pre-match offers, or more like UT Houston with only about 10% pre-match offers?

 

[albertarenee]

I hope this makes people feel better:

My premed advisor recently spoke to the head of admissions for SA and he said that they like to evenly space out their favorite candidates through the interview season. He likes to save some of the best for later interviews so that they can impress them and so that there's less time for those students to forget about the school. So just because you haven't received and interview invite yet or you get one o the later ones, that doesn't mean they don't think you're really good for their school.

i really hope that this is true! i interviewed here last year and was waitlisted. i retook my mcat and did a lot better! i got an e-mail on 08-12 that app had been received, but still haven't heard anything from uthscsa

 

[LibbyJ]

I am a bit nervous since I have not received an email yet...I transmitted 9/23 - should I be concerned or has it not been enough time? Thanks all!

 

[dogster]

I'm an out of state student, and interviewed in mid-August. This is the only Texas system school that I applied to.

Does anybody know how the admissions process works for OOS applicants? I know there is a match, but am not sure how that impacts me, given I'm from out of state and UTSA is the only one I applied to - it all is kind of confusing.

Any insight would be helpful - good luck to those with upcoming interviews. I was surprised by how much I liked it there - the students seem really well-balanced and it seems like a great environment to learn in.

 

[ninefivethree]

I'm an out of state student, and interviewed in mid-August. This is the only Texas system school that I applied to.

Does anybody know how the admissions process works for OOS applicants? I know there is a match, but am not sure how that impacts me, given I'm from out of state and UTSA is the only one I applied to - it all is kind of confusing.

Any insight would be helpful - good luck to those with upcoming interviews. I was surprised by how much I liked it there - the students seem really well-balanced and it seems like a great environment to learn in.

I'm not sure about all the details, but I do know that since you're from OOS, they can start sending you a pre-match acceptance offer starting Oct 15.

 

[dogster]

I'm not sure about all the details, but I do know that since you're from OOS, they can start sending you a pre-match acceptance offer starting Oct 15.

Oct 15! Thats like, this week. Here we go....the terrible waiting game begins...

 

[jtdallas]

Hi UTHSCSA SDN'ers:

I am a MSI at "The Great UTHSCSA" and I wanted to peek in this forum to check on my ol' stomping grounds and wish everyone luck.

To help calm some of you, since I was undoubtedly in your shoes a year ago, I was complete only a few weeks before the application closing date, was notified of my December 7th interview on November 16th, and received my pre-match offer on December 24th (they sent it out at 1am on the 24th, kind of cool). After my interview here, there was no doubt that this is the place that I wanted to be.

My advice: do NOT worry about your application completion date or interview date, the key is getting one, obviously. I worried too, so I understand. Another anecdote, I have two classmates that were taken off of the waitlist less than two weeks before school started. So, never say never.

Good luck!!! Send questions my way, if you have them.

P.S. I was a non-traditional re-applicant.