2014-2015 Texas A&M Health Science Center Application Thread

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deeproots said:
Can any current Aggies describe what it's like to live in College Station? How's the cost of living? Is there adequate housing close to the med school, particularly houses (not apartments)? How's traffic? Do you ever feel overrun with undergrads?

Sorry for all the questions!
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A lot of students live in apartments in Bryan, TX. There are also a good amount of students who live in duplexes. I remember last year there were posts in our classes' facebook page from older students looking to rent out their places. If you live in Bryan, you'll be separate enough from the undergrad campus so you won't feel overrun. Cost of living is pretty cheap here compared to a major city. Apartments can run from $400-600 if you have a roommate.
 
MooMoo20 said:
Does anyone know if A&M accepts updates before you're invited to interview? 🙁 Really want one from here, blah.
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Yes, A&M is receptive to an update letter. I encourage everyone reading this to send an update or letter of interest to all the schools you still haven't received an II from.
 
Command said:
Yes, A&M is receptive to an update letter. I encourage everyone reading this to send an update or letter of interest to all the schools you still haven't received an II from.
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I tried sending a post-interview update and they said that they would not accept it unless I was placed on the waitlist.

Also, do you think that any more OOS acceptances will be offered?
 
FutureFACS said:
I tried sending a post-interview update and they said that they would not accept it unless I was placed on the waitlist.

Also, do you think that any more OOS acceptances will be offered?
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Yeah, the only letters i sent last year were pre-interview Letter of interests and post-Waitlist letter of updates. I would do this for all Texas schools you're applying to.

I can't comment on OOS acceptances, I dont know if you guys are in the prematch/match, but there is a decent amount of waitlist movement in April/May. Seems like a majority of our OOS people are from California and Utah.
 
Command said:
Yeah, the only letters i sent last year were pre-interview Letter of interests and post-Waitlist letter of updates. I would do this for all Texas schools you're applying to.

I can't comment on OOS acceptances, I dont know if you guys are in the prematch/match, but there is a decent amount of waitlist movement in April/May. Seems like a majority of our OOS people are from California and Utah.
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Thanks! Yeah we don't participate in match/prematch I dont think. I think some acceptances were handed out to OOS on 10/15, which was a caused me some concern because I didn't hear anything and loved the school! Patience is a virtue I guess....
 
How do post interview rejections works here and for other Texas schools? Do you just never hear back on pre match/match days, or do they send a rejection letter after the match?
 
Does anyone know if A&M gives out of state students in state tuition, like I have heard some other Texas schools do.
 
Any OOS have an upcoming interview or interviewed since 10/15? I want to see if any OOS seats will still be given out. :/
 
Still just silence from A&M... I've heard back from nearly every other Texas school. Perhaps my somewhat late secondary had something to do with it.

Ah well. I guess there's still time, though my hope it starting to dwindle a bit.
 
After prolonged silence, suddenly I have II from A&M Nov 20.
LizzM score 70. Interestingly, I have one more II in November at another school.
Any thoughts? I have a question. Since TMDSAS is a common Texas application and common applicant pool, Does multiple Interviews in Texas increase the probability of acceptance to at least one program?
Any data out there on probability of acceptance with number of interviews?
 
Everyone that has an upcoming interview here needs to ask a question to your interviewer or to whoever is the highest person in the administration that comes to talk to you guys: "Why don't you let students review their exams?" The administration recently decided that we are no longer allowed to review our exams so that we can learn from our mistakes. Instead they take a week to get us this strange score report with vague descriptions of topics we missed. If you're too scared to ask the administrators that come speak to you guy on interview day, at least ask the student panel that talks to you guys, especially the MS2s.

For all your remaining interviews, I'd highly recommend you find out if other schools do this, or if it is just A&M. Many of us find this unacceptable, and have repeatedly voiced our concerns with everyone who has any input in this decision. It has pretty much fallen on deaf ears. We're being told improvements are coming, but we've yet to see anything that will help us. Instead they continue to experiment with these new policies while our futures are on the line. You could say they do what's easiest for them, not necessarily what's best for us.

A&M is still a good school, with many great faculty, but many of us feel we are being set up for failure in preparation of our USMLE tests. If you get in here, you will be trained to be a good doctor. But you might not get the best prep for your USMLE, which will determine largely what type of physician you will be.

Again, you just need to ask questions when you get to your interview and don't be afraid of asking tough questions. I might be proven totally wrong, and this new system they're implementing may prove to help us out. If it does, it'll probably be because we're having to spend extra time going through 3rd party review resources (like Kaplan (school did buy a subscription, so that's nice), USMLE World, FireCracker, etc).

I'll be around here from time to time to answer questions if you have them.
 
Hey, guys. Can somebody please explain how the pre-match process works? I've only had one interview before Oct.15 from this school, but I haven't heard anything from any other schools.
 
funtertaining15 said:
Hey, guys. Can somebody please explain how the pre-match process works? I've only had one interview before Oct.15 from this school, but I haven't heard anything from any other schools.
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There's nothing too complicated about prematch. The medical schools can release acceptances beginning November 15th until the end of December. Students are allowed to hang on to multiple acceptances before formally rankings the schools in the match process later on.
 
Earl Simmons said:
There's nothing too complicated about prematch. The medical schools can release acceptances beginning November 15th until the end of December. Students are allowed to hang on to multiple acceptances before formally rankings the schools in the match process later on.
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I guess I understand that, but if I do get Texas interview invites from this point forward, does that those schools aren't available for pre match?
 
funtertaining15 said:
I guess I understand that, but if I do get Texas interview invites from this point forward, does that those schools aren't available for pre match?
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They offer prematch offers through December, but the majority of them are on the first day
 
funtertaining15 said:
I guess I understand that, but if I do get Texas interview invites from this point forward, does that those schools aren't available for pre match?
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Medical schools can give you prematch acceptances as long as you interview before Nov 15th (although since prematch goes until the end of December, you could interview after Nov 15th and get an acceptance, but it's probably much less likely).
 
Edit: I wouldn't stress because at the end of the day we can only keep one acceptance during the match. So, regardless of when you get your interviews, getting the interview itself is more important that when it is.
 
They hand out prematches throughout Nov 15th to Dec 31st, but I don't know if the schools hold on some offers until all of the interviews are over or they hand them all out the first day and only send out offers when other people decline their offer.
 
Icecreamman13 said:
Everyone that has an upcoming interview here needs to ask a question to your interviewer or to whoever is the highest person in the administration that comes to talk to you guys: "Why don't you let students review their exams?" The administration recently decided that we are no longer allowed to review our exams so that we can learn from our mistakes. Instead they take a week to get us this strange score report with vague descriptions of topics we missed. If you're too scared to ask the administrators that come speak to you guy on interview day, at least ask the student panel that talks to you guys, especially the MS2s.
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That's unfortunate, I wonder why they took such a step? Do they reuse exams each year or were they dealing with some dishonest regrade requests in the past? More details would help but if this is the case, it isn't most conducive to learning.
 
Icecreamman13 said:
Everyone that has an upcoming interview here needs to ask a question to your interviewer or to whoever is the highest person in the administration that comes to talk to you guys: "Why don't you let students review their exams?" The administration recently decided that we are no longer allowed to review our exams so that we can learn from our mistakes. Instead they take a week to get us this strange score report with vague descriptions of topics we missed. If you're too scared to ask the administrators that come speak to you guy on interview day, at least ask the student panel that talks to you guys, especially the MS2s.

For all your remaining interviews, I'd highly recommend you find out if other schools do this, or if it is just A&M. Many of us find this unacceptable, and have repeatedly voiced our concerns with everyone who has any input in this decision. It has pretty much fallen on deaf ears. We're being told improvements are coming, but we've yet to see anything that will help us. Instead they continue to experiment with these new policies while our futures are on the line. You could say they do what's easiest for them, not necessarily what's best for us.

A&M is still a good school, with many great faculty, but many of us feel we are being set up for failure in preparation of our USMLE tests. If you get in here, you will be trained to be a good doctor. But you might not get the best prep for your USMLE, which will determine largely what type of physician you will be.

Again, you just need to ask questions when you get to your interview and don't be afraid of asking tough questions. I might be proven totally wrong, and this new system they're implementing may prove to help us out. If it does, it'll probably be because we're having to spend extra time going through 3rd party review resources (like Kaplan (school did buy a subscription, so that's nice), USMLE World, FireCracker, etc).

I'll be around here from time to time to answer questions if you have them.
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Some other Texas schools definitely do this as well and won't allow their students to review their exams - not only A&M, unfortunately.
 
Two things:

1. i interviewed back in august. if i remember what leila said correctly, they do a 1:1 prematch for the remaining spots after special programs/OOS spots are filled. am i recalling that right? correct me if i'm wrong

2. not sure if any current MS 2/3's are monitoring this thread, but do y'all any type of disconnect from the school when you're at the different satellite campuses for rotations? if you're in dallas or houston, do you feel like you're just a little fish in a huge ocean? the med students at temple seemed very content with their choice to stay at S&W and very nutured, just want to know if others feel like that when they're at the big hospital systems in dallas and houston.

thanks!

p.s. TAMUHSC is def one of my top choices! very impressed with the interview day and the curriculum changes they are making.
 
bizze said:
Two things:

1. i interviewed back in august. if i remember what leila said correctly, they do a 1:1 prematch for the remaining spots after special programs/OOS spots are filled. am i recalling that right? correct me if i'm wrong

2. not sure if any current MS 2/3's are monitoring this thread, but do y'all any type of disconnect from the school when you're at the different satellite campuses for rotations? if you're in dallas or houston, do you feel like you're just a little fish in a huge ocean? the med students at temple seemed very content with their choice to stay at S&W and very nutured, just want to know if others feel like that when they're at the big hospital systems in dallas and houston.

thanks!

p.s. TAMUHSC is def one of my top choices! very impressed with the interview day and the curriculum changes they are making.
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Damn, so are all OOS spots given out before Nov. 15?

taina said:
i got an interview about 2 weeks ago for november, im OOS
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Is your interview before or after Nov. 15th? 🙂 Good luck!!
 
Does anyone know what the "under review" status on TAMHSC's secondary site becomes once you are invited for an interview?
 
FutureFACS said:
Damn, so are all OOS spots given out before Nov. 15?
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Not true, Dean Diaz stated that OOS spots could be awarded up until May and that they fail to fill up OOS spots each year which means there are more than enough spots available throughout the cycle if you get a chance to interview.
 
Dare2Dream said:
Not true, Dean Diaz stated that OOS spots could be awarded up until May and that they fail to fill up OOS spots each year which means there are more than enough spots available throughout the cycle if you get a chance to interview.
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Awesome! I interviewed in August and loved it so I am just hoping for the best!! Thanks!
 
I'm an M4 from the CS/Dallas track. Regarding not being able to review your test - no, it's not going to "jeopardize your future", and in the big scheme of things, it matters very little.

Dallas is an awesome place for 3rd and 4th year rotations. It does suck that we split up from our other classmates, but there are enough people at your own campus that you're still around other students. Baylor is a great hospital with some good residency programs (IMED, OBGYN, Path, Radiology, GenSurg, Ortho) and other resources that will help you with your residency application.

Feel free to ask any other questions about the school on this thread or PM
 
Did they change exam reviews for M2's? They still let us M1's review exam questions, but half the class doesn't bother to even go.
 
Command said:
Did they change exam reviews for M2's? They still let us M1's review exam questions, but half the class doesn't bother to even go.
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Yes. We tried our best to change it for your class, but our meeting with them didn't go so great. They pretty much just tried to passify us with food and told us things weren't changing.

Trust me, your class will miss the exam reviews when you're trying to study for step and trying to learn the high yield topics.

I feel very fortunate that this is the only school that accepted me. But if I had the option and knew what things would've been like, and how dense the faculty is, I would've elected to go elsewhere.
 
Icecreamman13 said:
Everyone that has an upcoming interview here needs to ask a question to your interviewer or to whoever is the highest person in the administration that comes to talk to you guys: "Why don't you let students review their exams?" The administration recently decided that we are no longer allowed to review our exams so that we can learn from our mistakes. Instead they take a week to get us this strange score report with vague descriptions of topics we missed. If you're too scared to ask the administrators that come speak to you guy on interview day, at least ask the student panel that talks to you guys, especially the MS2s.

For all your remaining interviews, I'd highly recommend you find out if other schools do this, or if it is just A&M. Many of us find this unacceptable, and have repeatedly voiced our concerns with everyone who has any input in this decision. It has pretty much fallen on deaf ears. We're being told improvements are coming, but we've yet to see anything that will help us. Instead they continue to experiment with these new policies while our futures are on the line. You could say they do what's easiest for them, not necessarily what's best for us.

A&M is still a good school, with many great faculty, but many of us feel we are being set up for failure in preparation of our USMLE tests. If you get in here, you will be trained to be a good doctor. But you might not get the best prep for your USMLE, which will determine largely what type of physician you will be.

Again, you just need to ask questions when you get to your interview and don't be afraid of asking tough questions. I might be proven totally wrong, and this new system they're implementing may prove to help us out. If it does, it'll probably be because we're having to spend extra time going through 3rd party review resources (like Kaplan (school did buy a subscription, so that's nice), USMLE World, FireCracker, etc).

I'll be around here from time to time to answer questions if you have them.
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Icecreamman13, I hear your concerns, and I believe that in the grand scheme of things, and in light of exam security at other medical schools, TAMHSC's policy is not excessively restrictive. Furthermore, the school continues to remain responsive to student concerns.

The administration and faculty continue to work hard to modify the policy and the available documentation. Even for the most recent Respiratory Block exam, the exam results were far more detailed than for previous exams.

I have linked my Facebook account, and if anyone has questions about the school in general, or this policy in specific, feel free to ask me here or there.
 
If I was complete at the end of June with a 29/3.7 and haven't heard back yet, should I just assume it's a silent rejection? I only have 1 II so far and it's killing me 🙁
 
whitehouses23 said:
If I was complete at the end of June with a 29/3.7 and haven't heard back yet, should I just assume it's a silent rejection? I only have 1 II so far and it's killing me 🙁
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I was complete in June and still haven't heard back from here either 🙁

I feel like I haven't seen too many with sub 30 Mcats from a&m this cycle but I might be wrong
 
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