2018-2019 University of Texas Medical Branch

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Is there a facebook group for the class of 2023 yet?
I don’t think so, I’ve been looking out for one too. Probably waiting til match to make one.

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pre-match just now! Interviewed november 30th.
 
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Just prematched here! My interview was early November
 
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Pre-matched today as well!!! Interviewed early November
 
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Just prematched, my interview was in late October but they didn't have my CASPER results before the initial prematch day (they emailed me to ask about it when they were reviewing candidates). 3.90 GPA, 521 MCAT.
 
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Congrats you guys! So excited for you all! :woot:
 
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Did anyone happen to ask during their interview day how students are selected to do rotations in Houston? That was one thing I was really excited about for UTMB but I’ve been hearing only a small number of students actually get it and they’re randomly selected:/
 
Does anyone know how UTMB gives out scholarships? Do you have to apply or are you offered it?
 
Does anyone know how UTMB gives out scholarships? Do you have to apply or are you offered it?
I was told they send the scholarship applications starting in January to your utmb email. However I believe they wait until the deadline to hand them out as there’s not a first come first serve aspect
 
Accepting an admission offer here (prematch offer) this early isn’t binding, correct ?
 
I am having some trouble choosing how to rank utmb vs long school of med in my rank list. I am currently looking to do emergency med, but that could easily change. Also, I would like to match outside of texas for residency. I am impressed by utmb's step scores, but both schools seem to match well. Also I know that utmb does pass fail based on a curve and was wondering if this causes stress among students. Does anyone have any insight??
 
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I am having some trouble choosing how to rank utmb vs long school of med in my rank list. I am currently looking to do emergency med, but that could easily change. Also, I would like to match outside of texas for residency. I am impressed by utmb's step scores, but both schools seem to match well. Also I know that utmb does pass fail based on a curve and was wondering if this causes stress among students. Does anyone have any insight??
Also trying to decide between these two. Any help would be appreciated!
 
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I am having some trouble choosing how to rank utmb vs long school of med in my rank list. I am currently looking to do emergency med, but that could easily change. Also, I would like to match outside of texas for residency. I am impressed by utmb's step scores, but both schools seem to match well. Also I know that utmb does pass fail based on a curve and was wondering if this causes stress among students. Does anyone have any insight??
It's worth mentioning that Long has a dedicated emergency med rotation during third year, which is still pretty uncommon. Take a look at the match list for the past few years, the school is pretty EM- heavy I'd say.

For me SA vs galveston was a pretty easy choice as well, especially once you start looking into cost of living.
 
Not really. They have the honors/high pass/pass/fail system
Essentilly A/B/C/F but rebranded. I believe they do change the cutoff %s for each distinction but it's essentially graded.
 
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Essentilly A/B/C/F but rebranded. I believe they do change the cutoff %s for each distinction but it's essentially graded.
This is correct, the cutoffs have been changed slightly. It's worth mentioning there's no curve, so 100% of the class could feasibly get an A. Most people wind up with A's and B's.
 
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Has anyone received the Certiphi email for the background check? Wondering when those start
 
Has anyone received the Certiphi email for the background check? Wondering when those start
I could be mistaken, but that might only be for AMCAS schools? I know UTSW told us that our links for background checks wouldn't go out until like June and that they'd be done through Castlebranch.
 
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I could be mistaken, but that might only be for AMCAS schools? I know UTSW told us that our links for background checks wouldn't go out until like June and that they'd be done through Castlebranch.
ooh gotcha, you're probably right. Just wanted to make sure I was on top of everything
 
Can someone remind me if UTMB is truly pass fail, or if there is some sort of curve/internal ranking system?
 
I believe the students were saying it was high honors/honors/pass/fail on the interview day
I definitely remember them mentioning pass / fail, I don't recall honors distinction being mentioned however. That's not to say it isn't so, though.
 
I definitely remember them mentioning pass / fail, I don't recall honors distinction being mentioned however. That's not to say it isn't so, though.
it's H/HP/P/F. Test scores are reported to students in % or numerical, end of course goes by these letter grades.
 
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It's worth mentioning that Long has a dedicated emergency med rotation during third year, which is still pretty uncommon. Take a look at the match list for the past few years, the school is pretty EM- heavy I'd say.

For me SA vs galveston was a pretty easy choice as well, especially once you start looking into cost of living.

Which one did you find to be cheaper cost of living?
 
Has anyone sent over their transcripts electronically? If so, did you just have it sent to the enrollment services email?
 
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Has anyone sent over their transcripts electronically? If so, did you just have it sent to the enrollment services email?
Send your updated transcripts to TMDSAS and they will distribute them to all your schools.
If you have been accepted to and have decided on UTMB and are meaning to send your final transcripts, wait until they instruct you about where to send them.
 
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Which one did you find to be cheaper cost of living?
San Antonio by far.

To answer your other question, I am not sure how grading works at UTMB. Long does not curve their grades to fit a distribution- you get the grade you earn
 
I'm almost certain UTMB is just P/F but with a curve, not H/HP/P/F
 
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Are there any current students that can message me? I've pre-matched and want to ask a few questions before we have to submit out rank orders Friday. Highly considering putting UTMB #1.
 
Did everyone who prematched receive the criminal justice email? I noticed a few of you have already sent it over. I haven’t received an email yet so I’m a bit curious about this.
 
Did everyone who prematched receive the criminal justice email? I noticed a few of you have already sent it over. I haven’t received an email yet so I’m a bit curious about this.

It was at least in our acceptance letters. I'm not sure if I got an email either. Either way, I'm waiting until after match to fill it out depending on how I end up ranking/matching.
 
It was at least in our acceptance letters. I'm not sure if I got an email either. Either way, I'm waiting until after match to fill it out depending on how I end up ranking/matching.

Was it attached with the acceptance letter you received in the mail or via email? For both I only received an acceptance offer.
 
Are there any current students that can message me? I've pre-matched and want to ask a few questions before we have to submit out rank orders Friday. Highly considering putting UTMB #1.
@houston2017 is a current MS1 or if you PM me I might be able to answer
 
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Hey guys! Current MS1! I'll try to answer questions for y'all as best as I can.

Just wanted to clarify that UTMB is Pass/Partially Competent/Fail in the first and second years, with PC meaning failing either the lecture or lab portion and Fail failing both lab and lecture. Every 8 weeks we start a new module with a midterm and final at the 4 and 8 week mark. If you fail one module, you get the chance to remediate it during the summer; if you fail two modules during an academic year, you have to retake the whole year.
 
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Hey guys! Current MS1! I'll try to answer questions for y'all as best as I can.

Just wanted to clarify that UTMB is Pass/Partially Competent/Fail in the first and second years, with PC meaning failing either the lecture or lab portion and Fail failing both lab and lecture. Every 8 weeks we start a new module with a midterm and final at the 4 and 8 week mark. If you fail one module, you get the chance to remediate it during the summer; if you fail two modules during an academic year, you have to retake the whole year.
Oh yeah and our exams are curved but for an average of 4.75 points in the four exams we've taken.
 
Hey guys! Current MS1! I'll try to answer questions for y'all as best as I can.

Just wanted to clarify that UTMB is Pass/Partially Competent/Fail in the first and second years, with PC meaning failing either the lecture or lab portion and Fail failing both lab and lecture. Every 8 weeks we start a new module with a midterm and final at the 4 and 8 week mark. If you fail one module, you get the chance to remediate it during the summer; if you fail two modules during an academic year, you have to retake the whole year.
Thanks so much, preparing for match rank Friday
  1. Can you stream all the lectures? I saw that there’s group work in the morning so how does that work with streaming? Can you 2x the streams?
  2. Is there any form of ranking? How does that work with p/f?
  3. Is attendance to class required often?
  4. Are there frequent quizzes that count for a grade? How often are exams?
  5. How often do people fail two courses and have to repeat a year?
  6. Are most classes taught by physicians or phds?
  7. Does the administration usually get back to you in time? I’ve noticed some delayed or nonexistent responses from them at times.
 
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1) Yes. Most classes are uploaded to Tegrity same day as they given. Only classes that aren't recorded are occasional review sessions.
2) We are only ranked for purposes of AOA, but that rank info doesn't make its way to residencies. So only way to stand out academically are with AOA and Step.
That being said, the vibe is very relaxed and there are very few gunners.
3) Nope! Occasional required lectures but those were mostly in GAR. Other than that, only requires things are lab (was required and daily for GAR, entirely online for MCT, and is required and 2 or less times a week in PHD ((current module)).
4) Take a weekly pre-quiz for POM. Take a group, open note and open internet quiz for PBL weekly.
5) I don't know about that but I can't imagine it's very often. They want us to succeed and provide us with more resources than we could hope to use.
6) Fair mixture of both. GAR was mostly MDs or MD/PhDs, MCT was mostly PhDs, PHD is about even. But it really doesn't matter. The professors are beyond qualified, regardless of their title. Don't let that be a determining factor.
7) I've only had limited contact with administration but they got back to me the next day. I can't generalize and say that will be everyone's experience.
I'm sure if you need something answered urgently you can call.
 
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1b) Yes lecture speed for online viewing can be increased as you mentioned.
 
:)Good luck to everyone who submitted their rank list today! Fingers crossed we all end up where we want to be! Hoping for the best for everyone on this forum! :)
 
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Quick question, on the TMDSAS website under "school rank preferences" my rank list is no longer visible, and no schools appear. Is this normal? On the TMDSAS app however, the schools are still listed, though I am obviously not able to edit the ranking. I find it odd that the ranking list does not appear on the website page itself, so I am hoping nothing went wrong with my ranking process.
 
Quick question, on the TMDSAS website under "school rank preferences" my rank list is no longer visible, and no schools appear. Is this normal? On the TMDSAS app however, the schools are still listed, though I am obviously not able to edit the ranking. I find it odd that the ranking list does not appear on the website page itself, so I am hoping nothing went wrong with my ranking process.
sounds normal to me
 
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Quick question, on the TMDSAS website under "school rank preferences" my rank list is no longer visible, and no schools appear. Is this normal? On the TMDSAS app however, the schools are still listed, though I am obviously not able to edit the ranking. I find it odd that the ranking list does not appear on the website page itself, so I am hoping nothing went wrong with my ranking process.
It looks that way for me too. I actually took a "just in case" screenshot after submitting and it says "this page will no longer be accesible after the deadline has passed" so I wouldn't worry about it!
 
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Quick question, on the TMDSAS website under "school rank preferences" my rank list is no longer visible, and no schools appear. Is this normal? On the TMDSAS app however, the schools are still listed, though I am obviously not able to edit the ranking. I find it odd that the ranking list does not appear on the website page itself, so I am hoping nothing went wrong with my ranking process.
My ranking list doesn't appear on the webpage itself either!
 
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