2011-2012 University of Texas - Houston Application Thread

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MusicalHenry said:
I guess I was vague when I said structure. I mean, how is your grade determined? Do you just have one final and that's it? Can you be more specific about class times? Also, how was the grading here? Grades or pass/fail? Thanks.
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You have block exams (depending on the course, anywhere between 2 and 4 per semester) combined with a final. There may be other grades in addition like lab grades, essays, and extra credit. The majority of your grade is from the block exams and finals.

We grade on a Fail - Marginal Performance - Pass - High Pass - Honors scale. The grade cutoffs are set in stone at the beginning of the class. In general there is no curving (unless exam performance was poor, then they might curve up), and there are no grade quotas. If everyone scores a 90 (for example), everyone honors. There's no reason to be competitive with your other classmates.

Class time depends again on which year and semester you're in and which classes you're taking. The typical day is 8-12, unless you have labs, clinical duties, etc, which may take up your afternoon.
 
DrGiraffe said:
UTH was my dream school....but now Im getting cold feet. Is the workload really that bad? How do you deal with the exam schedule?
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The workload isn't bad at all. People who don't go to UTH seem to complain about this a lot, but the UTH students hardly ever seem to have a problem with it.

Come back for a second look and talk to students about block. It's not nearly as bad as it may seem 🙂
 
Armybound pretty much gave the answer - but I'll just add once again my agreement about block not being a bad thing. I have friends at other schools who are graded on something every 1-2 weeks. We don't have to worry about grades except for at the end of block - which lets you set your own schedule. This last block ended right before Halloween weekend and I pretty much took the entire first week of November off - there are very few schools who let you set your own pace like that.

I also assume that at most schools the grades are based almost entirely off of exams, which shouldn't be anything really new given most college courses are the same way.
 
Do you think it makes a big difference with the curriculum not being integrated?
 
DrGiraffe said:
Do you think it makes a big difference with the curriculum not being integrated?
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If by Integrated you mean studying let's say heart at the same time in anatomy/devo/histo/bchem at the same time then the curriculum is integrated.
 
Whaaaaaaaaat.....then why don't they advertise it as such?!

Thank you eli!!!
 
Just wanted to say that I received my packet in the mail today. Was accepted on 11/15. Hooray
 
armybound said:
The way I see it, you're already accepted so you really have nothing to lose by throwing a line out there and trying to get UTH to take note. I think it says something if you've already been accepted but you know you'd rather go to UTH.

The worst they could say is no and you'll be in the same spot you're in now. You never know until you try. I think you'd regret it if you didn't at least try.
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In regards to this, a letter of intent after the interview, can't hurt can it? Im debating when to send one if i do
 
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cyanide12345678 said:
Has anyone gotten the admissions packet yet? *humph* I keep checking my mail obsessively 😀 Can't wait to get the official stuff!!!
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BMEN said:
In regards to this, a letter of intent after the interview, can't hurt can it? Im debating when to send one if i do
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No, it won't hurt. How much impact it has is debatable though.
 
Just got an interview invite for dec 9th. I already prematched at San Antonio, which I loved. But maybe UTH will impress me. Anyone who interviewed at both have an opinion?
 
armybound said:
No, it won't hurt. How much impact it has is debatable though.
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Thanks. I was just worrying about it being pushy. Guess we'll see. I have nothing to lose i guess
 
I'm going to send an update letter after the semester ends and then a letter of intent after match day. I feel like doing it that way will give the most impact.
 
For instance, when I went to some other schools, they said that their exams were either NBME exams recycled or they were written in the exam same style to help prepare students for step.
 
Trazor said:
Just got an interview invite for dec 9th. I already prematched at San Antonio, which I loved. But maybe UTH will impress me. Anyone who interviewed at both have an opinion?
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UTH has nicer facilities and a better location (both within the TMC and Houston). UTHSCSA's campus is sort of like the TMC "lite" I felt. Also, SA is revamping their curriculum and I wouldn't be thrilled to be a guinea pig for it, even if it is improved.

SA is a great school and will set you up for long-term success to be sure, but there's no doubt in my mind which school I'd rather attend.
 
DrGiraffe said:
For instance, when I went to some other schools, they said that their exams were either NBME exams recycled or they were written in the exam same style to help prepare students for step.
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Our school "teaches to the boards" instead of just random stuff PhD's want you to know about their research. For instance, we took the NBME shelf exams in anatomy and biochem. I regularly scored at the class average in anatomy and just below it in biochem and then scored very well on both of those shelf exams.

Because our school teaches to the boards, it's not necessary to do a lot of outside learning to be prepared for Step 1 (from what I've heard).
 
You know, if I knew yall in person, I'd send you thank you cards with the brownies I just baked. You are seriously the best students I have met (especially how responsive you are to my incessant questions).
 
Interview invite for 12/9 received this morning!

I submitted my completed TMDSAS back in MAY... 6 months later I thought my Texas interviews were loooong over. This is such a nice surprise--it just goes to show you never know what's gonna happen in this crazy process.

I've interviewed at SA but am still waiting to hear back. I'm pretty sure San Antonio will remain my top choice (IMO San Antonio is a much better place to live than Houston and the school isn't in downtown, either), but my mind could easily be changed if UTH knocks my socks off.
 
Morzh said:
Interview invite for 12/9 received this morning!

I submitted my completed TMDSAS back in MAY... 6 months later I thought my Texas interviews were loooong over. This is such a nice surprise--it just goes to show you never know what's gonna happen in this crazy process.

I've interviewed at SA but am still waiting to hear back. I'm pretty sure San Antonio will remain my top choice (IMO San Antonio is a much better place to live than Houston and the school isn't in downtown, either), but my mind could easily be changed if UTH knocks my socks off.
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Congrats and good luck man!
 
Coffee Machine said:
UTH has nicer facilities and a better location (both within the TMC and Houston). UTHSCSA's campus is sort of like the TMC "lite" I felt. Also, SA is revamping their curriculum and I wouldn't be thrilled to be a guinea pig for it, even if it is improved.

SA is a great school and will set you up for long-term success to be sure, but there's no doubt in my mind which school I'd rather attend.
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👍
 
Hey guys,

I've been a silent observer on this thread since mid-September when I interview at UTH. UTH is my number one school, and after receiving interview invites to 7 out of 8 Texas schools (including Baylor, excluding El Paso) and out of state schools, I figured I was fairly competitive. I interviewed at UTH on September 16th and fell in love with it. I thought my interviews went fairly well, but come November 15th and I only heard back from schools where I thought the interviews went poorly. Still no word and I'm starting to think that maybe I'm just bad at interviewing? Lots of my friends who interviewed at UTH on the same day with similar stats prematched to UTH.
Here are my stats: GPA Cumulative 3.86, Science 3.76, MCAT 32 (V: 10, PS: 11, B: 11).
Extracurriculars: Officer in pre-med honor society, two years; hospice volunteering, some shadowing, EMT-basic training, one semester of research, volunteering with kids a lot.

Suggestions? I feel like I love UTH too much to just risk everything on match day.

My parents live overseas in Australia and my only support system is in Houston so I'm hoping for the best.


Thanks!
 
Morzh said:
Interview invite for 12/9 received this morning!

I submitted my completed TMDSAS back in MAY... 6 months later I thought my Texas interviews were loooong over. This is such a nice surprise--it just goes to show you never know what's gonna happen in this crazy process.

I've interviewed at SA but am still waiting to hear back. I'm pretty sure San Antonio will remain my top choice (IMO San Antonio is a much better place to live than Houston and the school isn't in downtown, either), but my mind could easily be changed if UTH knocks my socks off.
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Good luck!
UTH is an amazing school.
 
SukiPirate said:
Hey guys,

I've been a silent observer on this thread since mid-September when I interview at UTH. UTH is my number one school, and after receiving interview invites to 7 out of 8 Texas schools (including Baylor, excluding El Paso) and out of state schools, I figured I was fairly competitive. I interviewed at UTH on September 16th and fell in love with it. I thought my interviews went fairly well, but come November 15th and I only heard back from schools where I thought the interviews went poorly. Still no word and I'm starting to think that maybe I'm just bad at interviewing? Lots of my friends who interviewed at UTH on the same day with similar stats prematched to UTH.
Here are my stats: GPA Cumulative 3.86, Science 3.76, MCAT 32 (V: 10, PS: 11, B: 11).
Extracurriculars: Officer in pre-med honor society, two years; hospice volunteering, some shadowing, EMT-basic training, one semester of research, volunteering with kids a lot.

Suggestions? I feel like I love UTH too much to just risk everything on match day.

My parents live overseas in Australia and my only support system is in Houston so I'm hoping for the best.


Thanks!
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First, never give up. Fight till ya die.

Second, don't judge yourself by your interviews. I thought I interviewed poorly at UTH and UTSW and was prematched there and vice versa for Tech and A&M. You never know what your interviewer is looking for and it's to complex to gauge.

Third, what do you mean by risk everything? If you rank Houston 1 and aren't accepted there you will go to the place you ranked the next highest and are accepted to.

Fourth, take some time off from this process. Have a glass of scotch, a cigar, or bowl of your favorite ice cream and watch Harold and Kumar. Relax a little. There is a long way to go.

Best of luck'
 
Celerity said:
First, never give up. Fight till ya die.

Second, don't judge yourself by your interviews. I thought I interviewed poorly at UTH and UTSW and was prematched there and vice versa for Tech and A&M. You never know what your interviewer is looking for and it's to complex to gauge.

Third, what do you mean by risk everything? If you rank Houston 1 and aren't accepted there you will go to the place you ranked the next highest and are accepted to.

Fourth, take some time off from this process. Have a glass of scotch, a cigar, or bowl of your favorite ice cream and watch Harold and Kumar. Relax a little. There is a long way to go.

Best of luck'
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Agree with the advice above. And the issue of update letters/letters of intent have already been addressed, so I won't rehash it.

FWIW, I told both my interviewers that UTH was my top choice and that I wouldn't rather go anywhere else and told them the reasons why. I think that that did play a part in their decision to accept me, so especially if you didn't tell them that bit about your only support system being in Houston, I'd write an update letter.

And to expand a bit on Celerity's fourth point, in the weeks before prematch I was getting a little obsessive over checking emails/thinking about the process, so I went out and bought a videogame. Best decision I could've made. It really helps to have something fun to do during those rare down times that would otherwise be spent worrying about the app process.

Best of luck to you! Don't get discouraged... I'm told that UTH doesn't send out many prematch acceptances.
 
Coffee Machine said:
Agree with the advice above. And the issue of update letters/letters of intent have already been addressed, so I won't rehash it.

FWIW, I told both my interviewers that UTH was my top choice and that I wouldn't rather go anywhere else and told them the reasons why. I think that that did play a part in their decision to accept me, so especially if you didn't tell them that bit about your only support system being in Houston, I'd write an update letter.

And to expand a bit on Celerity's fourth point, in the weeks before prematch I was getting a little obsessive over checking emails/thinking about the process, so I went out and bought a videogame. Best decision I could've made. It really helps to have something fun to do during those rare down times that would otherwise be spent worrying about the app process.

Best of luck to you! Don't get discouraged... I'm told that UTH doesn't send out many prematch acceptances.
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To add onto that ... UT-H has historically been fairly stingy compared to other Texas schools when it comes to prematching.

Almost every single student that I talked to during my interview day at UTH got in after prematch (they were either matched in, or they got off the waitlist later on).
 
My interview invitation explicitly invites me to bring my spouse along for the tours/lunch/presentations. I know my wife would love to come and it would be really special for her since all she's seen of this process thus far is how stressful it can be for me.

How common is it for interviewees to actually bring their spouse? Would it be awkward or draw any unwanted attention?
 
@Morzh

It's not awkward at all. About 5-6 people brought their spouses when I interviewed there.

Best of luck to your wife as well in this process.
 
DrGiraffe said:
Exams here are not written in NBME style though, right?
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They usually are, actually.
LRAccord624 said:
Our school "teaches to the boards" instead of just random stuff PhD's want you to know about their research. For instance, we took the NBME shelf exams in anatomy and biochem. I regularly scored at the class average in anatomy and just below it in biochem and then scored very well on both of those shelf exams.

Because our school teaches to the boards, it's not necessary to do a lot of outside learning to be prepared for Step 1 (from what I've heard).
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It's true. The way they have things set up for the first 2 years is very effective for Step 1.
DrGiraffe said:
You know, if I knew yall in person, I'd send you thank you cards with the brownies I just baked. You are seriously the best students I have met (especially how responsive you are to my incessant questions).
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Please come visit Houston. I love brownies.
Morzh said:
My interview invitation explicitly invites me to bring my spouse along for the tours/lunch/presentations. I know my wife would love to come and it would be really special for her since all she's seen of this process thus far is how stressful it can be for me.

How common is it for interviewees to actually bring their spouse? Would it be awkward or draw any unwanted attention?
Click to expand...
It's fairly uncommon for people to bring a SO, but it's not unheard of. It is definitely not awkward and won't bring unwanted attention, but your wife may have to explain that she is not an applicant a couple of times. I would encourage you to bring her. There are quite a few married med students who I'm sure she would enjoy talking to.
 
Whatyousay said:
To add onto that ... UT-H has historically been fairly stingy compared to other Texas schools when it comes to prematching.

Almost every single student that I talked to during my interview day at UTH got in after prematch (they were either matched in, or they got off the waitlist later on).
Click to expand...


I've heard the same thing throughout the application cycle. Also, if someone can confirm this, but I remember hearing on the interview day from the african american doctor that "UTH believes all of their interviewees are strong candidates and they want to give everyone a shot to interview before selection is made".
 
bbllr3431 said:
I've heard the same thing throughout the application cycle. Also, if someone can confirm this, but I remember hearing on the interview day from the african american doctor that "UTH believes all of their interviewees are strong candidates and they want to give everyone a shot to interview before selection is made".
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That was Dr Love I believe. Someone that is on the adcomm at A&M said that about Houston as well.
 
Thanks for confirming Celerity. I thought for a second my brain might have just made that up on its own.
 
Trazor said:
Just got an interview invite for dec 9th. I already prematched at San Antonio, which I loved. But maybe UTH will impress me. Anyone who interviewed at both have an opinion?
Click to expand...

I had my heart set on SA before I had visited UTH. I felt that that was the Texas school where the students were the happiest. But my UTH interview completely changed everything. I was blown away by the school. There will be a stark contrast between the facilities you will see at SA and UTH. Everything at UTH seems to be more modern and high tech. And the TMC is well the TMC. SA medical center really cannot compete at all with the TMC! Houston hospitals are massive. And all the big doctors are going to be in Houston. Some of the things that I felt UTH had that other schools I interviewed at didn't have (namely SA and UTMB...I still have my interview at southwestern on the 3rd, probably that would change how I feel about things again), but I guess some of the things were the operation rooms in which you could see surgeries happen from above through a sunlight window. UTH also had some advanced learning equipment like those dummies which respond to treatments, SA did not have that. Another thing that I really personally liked was that UTH has student housing (which is actually not that expensive). I just like the idea of apartments dedicated to only medical school students living which would be nice for one's social life.

However, at the end of the day, UTH does have the better facilities. Though, SA students did seem to be a notch happier than UTH. I'm not saying UTH students weren't happy. They were. They all loved UTH. But, SA students seemed to be a little more relaxed about medical school and stuff. At the end of the day, I would pick UTH over SA any time of the day.
 
cyanide12345678 said:
However, at the end of the day, UTH does have the better facilities. Though, SA students did seem to be a notch happier than UTH. I'm not saying UTH students weren't happy. They were. They all loved UTH. But, SA students seemed to be a little more relaxed about medical school and stuff. At the end of the day, I would pick UTH over SA any time of the day.
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Just out of curiosity, what made you feel this way? There is no competition between who is happier, lol, but I do know people at UTHSCSA as well as other schools (mostly out of state) so I was just wondering. It's always seemed like UTH/UTMB/UTHSCSA have pretty equally laid-back people. They each have pros and cons but all three will provide a great education and experience. I have friends at an oos school that are so terribly unhappy and it makes me all the more happy to be here.
 
Are there a lot of gunners at this school? About how many in your year?

How is AOA determined? How many people get it?
 
LRAccord624 said:
Just out of curiosity, what made you feel this way? There is no competition between who is happier, lol, but I do know people at UTHSCSA as well as other schools (mostly out of state) so I was just wondering. It's always seemed like UTH/UTMB/UTHSCSA have pretty equally laid-back people. They each have pros and cons but all three will provide a great education and experience. I have friends at an oos school that are so terribly unhappy and it makes me all the more happy to be here.
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Well I felt that SA students were more laid back than others. Like in the student panel a couple students were saying that if theres some HW or discussion questions that are due, then you don't even need to worry about those because somebody else usually will post the answers to those for everyone to share. I mean yes a lot of people would disagree with that. But it kinda just goes to show the camaraderie between SA students I guess.

But like I said, don't get me wrong, UTH students were pretty awesome too! But if a direct comparison was made between SA and UTH laidbackness (if that is a word at all), then SA would win. But then again, it is probably because of this slightly more laid back environment that their step score average is 10 points lower than UTH.
 
Those are some interesting observations, I'll have to pay close attention when I interview here. On one hand those are nice things to be aware of, but in reality I think things like how laidback a student body seems will vary from one interviewee to the next, just depending on the individuals with whom they interacted and what kind of mood they were in that day. Nice looking facilities are always a plus, but again--not really that important.

I guess I'm just saying that I wish schools did a better job selling us on things that really will make a difference... like how are 3rd years protected from scut and is there sufficient elective time during 3rd/first half of 4th year to help students better know what specialty they want, or how do freshly graduated interns from this school compare to others with regards to clinical skills/comfort level.

For example, I've heard from multiple people (including one residency director who is a family friend) that one really great thing about TCOM graduate interns, compared to the other Texas schools' interns, is that they are by far the most comfortable/skilled examining and actually touching patients--most interns distance themselves from patients at first and are awkward with touching. This is most likely a result of all that time spent in OMM where you're forced to lose your inhibitions. It's a little thing but it's an example of the type of information about schools that I would care about much more than MS1/2 curriculum and facilities quality.

Unfortunately that info is unquantifiable and difficult to come by, so we make decisions based on the limited (and fairly useless) information we do have. At the end of the day I think the reality is that for all meaningful intents and purposes most Texas schools are equal (and superior to non-Texas schools), especially if you aren't super interested in hardcore research-oriented academic medicine. But we've got to grasp at something to differentiate them by, right? 😀 For me (if I have multiple acceptances) it will probably come down to location--how close to family am I and what kind of city do I want to live in.

Wow, sorry about that rant. I don't know what got into me. Just a string of random thoughts, I guess. 😳
 
cyanide12345678 said:
I had my heart set on SA before I had visited UTH. I felt that that was the Texas school where the students were the happiest. But my UTH interview completely changed everything. I was blown away by the school. There will be a stark contrast between the facilities you will see at SA and UTH. Everything at UTH seems to be more modern and high tech. And the TMC is well the TMC. SA medical center really cannot compete at all with the TMC! Houston hospitals are massive. And all the big doctors are going to be in Houston. Some of the things that I felt UTH had that other schools I interviewed at didn't have (namely SA and UTMB...I still have my interview at southwestern on the 3rd, probably that would change how I feel about things again), but I guess some of the things were the operation rooms in which you could see surgeries happen from above through a sunlight window. UTH also had some advanced learning equipment like those dummies which respond to treatments, SA did not have that. Another thing that I really personally liked was that UTH has student housing (which is actually not that expensive). I just like the idea of apartments dedicated to only medical school students living which would be nice for one's social life.

However, at the end of the day, UTH does have the better facilities. Though, SA students did seem to be a notch happier than UTH. I'm not saying UTH students weren't happy. They were. They all loved UTH. But, SA students seemed to be a little more relaxed about medical school and stuff. At the end of the day, I would pick UTH over SA any time of the day.
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I remember SA having a new sim center. IIRC it was close to where you had lunch at, on the 2nd floor.
Lovebox said:
Are there a lot of gunners at this school? About how many in your year?

How is AOA determined? How many people get it?
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No need to gun since everyone can honor if everyone does well. You're not competing with your classmates, really. Of course a few bad apples will slip in anywhere.

AOA is determined by your preclinical and clinical grades and nomination by faculty. 37 people just made it, so ~15% I guess.
 
cyanide12345678 said:
UTH also had some advanced learning equipment like those dummies which respond to treatments, SA did not have that.
Click to expand...

armybound said:
I remember SA having a new sim center. IIRC it was close to where you had lunch at, on the 2nd floor.
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Yeah, SA mentioned the clinical skills center during the presentation at our interview day, but for some reason we were not allowed to see it as part of the tour 🙁. You can read more about it here: http://som.uthscsa.edu/ClinicalSkillsCenter/index.asp.

I wish I could've seen more when I was at SA. UT Houston did an excellent job of showing us the facilities where we would be doing our basic science lectures and our clinical rotations 👍
 
minerva3121 said:
Yeah, SA mentioned the clinical skills center during the presentation at our interview day, but for some reason we were not allowed to see it as part of the tour 🙁. You can read more about it here: http://som.uthscsa.edu/ClinicalSkillsCenter/index.asp.

I wish I could've seen more when I was at SA. UT Houston did an excellent job of showing us the facilities where we would be doing our basic science lectures and our clinical rotations 👍
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I guess it escaped my memory since they didn't show it to us on the tour.
 
Can anyone give my friend a look around the school tomorrow?
 
cyanide12345678 said:
Just thought I'd thank you for being so helpful in general. You're answering everyone's questions and even offering to show around!!!!
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Seconded! I might not ask a lot of questions but I sure as anything appreciate your answers!

In fact, it's just so nice of all the students/residents/adcoms etc who take time out to answer all our 100 and 1 questions and reassure the thousands on sdn and those just reading- Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!
 
When I interviewed, students mentioned you have to apply really early to get student housing. How do I apply for this?
 
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