I have to decide between UTSW or Baylor (the age old question). How are people in the same Baylor boat (late notification) deciding between schools? I have been racking my brains for a couple days trying to decide. I'm undecided because I didn't get to see Baylor in detail during Second Look.
I know there's a separate thread for BCM vs UTSW, but I figured adding my two cents on here couldn't hurt. I was also deciding between the two, and ultimately chose Baylor. I was studying abroad during the spring, so I did not get to attend second look for either school.
I have no idea how/why the admissions committee works the way it does, but that sucks that you didn't get to see Baylor/Houston again. I'm sure if you wanted to come to Houston for a few days some of the first years would be happy to show you around. Feel free to DM me if you decide to do this, and I can put you in touch with our MS1s in charge of interviewee relations.
Reasons I chose Baylor:
First off, I am from Dallas, so my family is there and many of my friends moved to the city after graduation. Pro: social network that could support me during stressful times. Con: not as much pressure to make friends in my class. I felt that if I was in Dallas with all of my college friends I would be less inclined to put in the effort to make med school friends. I definitely do not regret my decision, and there is a lovely Megabus that runs 4hrs to Dallas for like $20 with free Wifi so you can study. I will say though, that the people in my class with parents in Houston have it made. They take laundry home and get home cooked or freezer meals, which I am very envious of. This applies less to your case, since you are from Austin, but just in case it applies to anyone else!
As far as curriculum, they are both now the 1.5 yr pre-clinical setup. My year would have been the first year UTSW transitioned to the 1.5 years, and I ultimately decided that I did not want to be the guinea pig class. I saw this as a con, some people saw it as a pro-- a chance to have more input into their class structure. I have heard that UTSW transitioned quite well and is making adjustments where needed, but still something to consider.
A major deciding factor to me was the medical center. First of all, there's basically a hospital for any type of specialty you could ever want to go into. Second, there is UT Houston, so you can make med school friends that aren't stressed out at the same time as you, but also understand what you're going through. Best of all, the med center really is like a mini-city. My parents came to visit and thought the medical center was downtown Houston. It's such a cool environment to be in, and I haven't even started working at the actual hospitals. (note: to me, Ben Taub and Parkland were comparable, so the "teaching/community hospital" argument was negligible)
As far as living in either city, I really loved growing up in Dallas, so this aspect was definitely weighted more heavily towards UTSW. However, I do really love Houston now and have found that they're really pretty comparable in terms of cost, activities, parks, night-life, etc. One of my favorite aspects of Houston specifically though is the public transport (especially the Rail). It goes from condoland (where most students live), to school/med center, to the museum district, and then up to midtown/downtown (where many of the bars are). The public transport is pretty safe and at peak hours is basically all people going to/from the medical center. This is in contrast with the Dallas public transport system which I have heard is pretty sketchy. I can't speak to this first hand, because my parents never let me or my brothers ride it, due to said sketchiness.
Something I did not appreciate until I got here was the proximity to Rice University. Rice is a 5-10 minute walk from Baylor and a great study spot. The library is open to all visitors with an ID, and due an inter-institutional agreement we get BCM wifi over there too. The campus is absolutely beautiful and definitely a welcoming break from the steel and concrete of the medical center.
Something I wish I'd considered more highly was whether or not you are given time off to study for STEP1. I only bring this up because Baylor does give you time off, but my friends at UTH do not get time off and are not happy about it. This seems like a major disadvantage. I don't remember if UTSW does give time off or not, but definitely something to ask about before deciding on any school!
On a less objective note, I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at BCM on interview day and just got a better feeling when I was here than at UTSW. Interview impressions are always subjective to the individual, but are important to consider, so don't discount your gut feeling! People trying to help me decide told me to look around at the people I was interviewing with and see if I could see myself being friends with them, because those would be my classmates. The obvious problem is that not everyone that interviews gets in/chooses that school so I never thought much of this advice. However, I
will say that in my interview travels I saw some of the same people repeatedly. There were only two that I became friendly enough with to actually find/add on Facebook. By some weird coincidence, all three of us ended up at Baylor... So maybe there is some merit to this? Who knows. Go with your gut.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the end of the day they're both awesome schools in wonderful cities, and you will end up with great medical training regardless! I'm obviously biased towards Baylor, so I would seek out a current UTSW student and get their input just as a counter-balance (maybe Dallas public transport isn't that bad after all?). Feel free to message me with any questions about BCM or Houston!
