2019-2020 University of Houston

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Just out of curiosity, why is the best state when applying to medical school? Is it because residents can take advantage of the TMDSAS and AMCAS?
It's because TMDSAS favors Texas residents so heavily, the barriers to entry (while absolutely still present) are a bit easier to overcome due to applicants competing mostly against other Texas residents rather than applicants across the country. It's still incredibly competitive, and low/mid-tier schools outside of TX can be biased against TX applicants because they're more likely to stay in-state due to great schools with cheap tuition, so the advantage isn't huge, but if I had to pick a state to be from when applying to medical school, it would probably be Texas.
 
do ya'll think it will make a difference that I'm OOS but extensive ties to Texas
 
Is anyone else running into the issue of not receiving an email to create a password for their application portal? I received the secondary email yesterday and typed my email address into the link but I still have not received an email to create my password! I tried twice and checked my junk mail but still nothing...
 
do ya'll think it will make a difference that I'm OOS but extensive ties to Texas
It doesn't hurt to try... but since it's a public school, they have to accept 90% texas residents - meaning they'll only accept (up to) 3 OOS students.
 
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Primary submitted on Friday, Received Secondary yesterday 10 am and submitted, got e-mail that application complete at 10 pm last night. 😀 Very excited.
 
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My advice to all y'all.
You've submitted your TMDSAS app here, they have a LOT of reading and reviewing to do, so read all the information you can on their website and let their admissions staff have some time to do their work. Try not to interrupt their office with questions you could seek out on your own.

It looks as if those who have had their info confirmed after the secondary screen are being invited to create an application portal log-in using your TMDSAS ID number.
 
Update from yesterday, not 100% sure but I don’t think there is a secondary screen. I think everyone is getting them and they’re just working on getting them sent to everyone (based on another conversation with staff). The interview will be where they screen for mission fit. Still TBD on how holistic review will factor in. Hoping everyone receives theirs soon!

Just speculating.... not sure. Someone feel free to call and verify.
 
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Update from yesterday, not 100% sure but I don’t think there is a secondary screen. I think everyone is getting them and they’re just working on getting them sent to everyone (based on another conversation with staff). The interview will be where they screen for mission fit. Still TBD on how holistic review will factor in. Hoping everyone receives theirs soon!
what I meant by "screen" is that you must reply to their secondary certification statement and electronically sign it. I'm sure they want to only consider people for interviews who are fully eligible to start school this summer.
 
what I meant by "screen" is that you must reply to their secondary certification statement and electronically sign it. I'm sure they want to only consider people for interviews who are fully eligible to start school this summer.

Yes sorry I wasn’t referring to your message, we were discussing yesterday if they were screening out applicants for secondaries based on stats because the first folks to get the secondaries had 520+ MCATs. Since then, a range of stats, GPAs and MCATs have reported secondaries so if they’re screening, it’s not clear on what.

I don’t think there’s any way to know for sure, all we can do is speculate

Right! I asked about a screen earlier this week and they said they’re just working to process all the apps so it’s still not clear. The admissions rep was certain interview invites will be screened for mission fit. The rest is speculative so far.
 
Yes sorry I wasn’t referring to your message, we were discussing yesterday if they were screening out applicants for secondaries based on stats because the first folks to get the secondaries had 520+ MCATs. Since then, a range of stats, GPAs and MCATs have reported secondaries so if they’re screening, it’s not clear on what.



Right! I asked about a screen earlier this week and they said they’re just working to process all the apps so it’s still not clear. The admissions rep was certain interview invites will be screened for mission fit. The rest is speculative so far.
Thank you for calling and keeping us updated!
 
My application got transmitted first day but have yet to receive secondary. Average GPA, slightly below average MCAT.So maybe there is a screen.
 
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My application got transmitted first day but have yet to receive secondary. Average GPA, slightly below average MCAT.So maybe there is a screen.
They may have different people assigned based on something like last name and maybe one person is more behind than another. My LM score is like a 63 and my application was marked complete last night with those with MCAT scores 520+ so i really don't think there is a gpa/mcat screen but who knows
 
They may have different people assigned based on something like last name and maybe one person is more behind than another. My LM score is like a 63 and my application was marked complete last night with those with MCAT scores 520+ so i really don't think there is a gpa/mcat screen but who knows

Agreed! I know someone with a sub 500 MCAT who received the secondary.
 
I wonder how many interviews they are going to conduct.
They’ll probably keep that close to the chest, but I’d guess 6 interviews with 20 applicants each. They have a small team and a short timetable, I’m sure they don’t want to exhaust themselves with a ton to sort through in 8 weeks’ time. They’ll be very purposeful when screening for mission fit when selecting whom to interview. They don’t have many seats, after all.
 
They’ll probably keep that close to the chest, but I’d guess 6 interviews with 20 applicants each. They have a small team and a short timetable, I’m sure they don’t want to exhaust themselves with a ton to sort through in 8 weeks’ time. They’ll be very purposeful when screening for mission fit when selecting whom to interview. They don’t have many seats, after all.

Agreed, their yield will probably be very low compared to number of applicants.

(Disclaimer: this next paragraph is not at all a bash on applicants)

Given that the application/secondary is free I assume a lot of people who did not match or get OOS acceptances will be applying as a last resort option. I think just in Texas alone there’s ~4000 applicants who don’t matriculate. I bet a lot of them will throw their hat in, and I don’t see anyway the school interviews anymore than ~300 applicants. That’s around a 2-3% yield depending on total applicants
 
I know that by state law 90% of the seats go to Texas residents, but is there a guarantee that 10% will be OOS
 
Agreed, their yield will probably be very low compared to number of applicants.

(Disclaimer: this next paragraph is not at all a bash on applicants)

Given that the application/secondary is free I assume a lot of people who did not match or get OOS acceptances will be applying as a last resort option. I think just in Texas alone there’s ~4000 applicants who don’t matriculate. I bet a lot of them will throw their hat in, and I don’t see anyway the school interviews anymore than ~300 applicants. That’s around a 2-3% yield depending on total applicants

Not to mention competitive applicants that did match somewhere, but are attracted to UH for the free tuition and desire to be in Houston (among other reasons). I suspect the median MCAT and GPA of the students that matriculate will be around 510 and 3.75. I believe they will have plenty of applicants that fill the school’s mission and also have good stats. The good news in all of this is the potential for more WL movement at other schools.
 
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So I got confused when looking at the website about the free tuition. It said up to $100,000, does that mean per year or total over the 4 years?
 
So I got confused when looking at the website about the free tuition. It said up to $100,000, does that mean per year or total over the 4 years?

$100,000 over 4 years. The scholarship is structured to only cover 4 years of instate tuition which is $24,264 according to their website


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I know that by state law 90% of the seats go to Texas residents, but is there a guarantee that 10% will be OOS
No, the max is 10%. So for this school, up to 3 seats could be for out of state students, but there's nothing stopping them from only selecting in-state students (although they probably would have called this out on their website if they were planning to do that)
 
No, the max is 10%. So for this school, up to 3 seats could be for out of state students, but there's nothing stopping them from only selecting in-state students (although they probably would have called this out on their website if they were planning to do that)
I’m hoping my extensive ties to Texas can score me some points
 
I know that by state law 90% of the seats go to Texas residents, but is there a guarantee that 10% will be OOS
No, there is no guarantee on the number of OOS applicants accepted. The maximum is 10% and historically most of the TX schools end up with fewer than 10% matriculants.
 
Secondary received and submitted. My app transmitted yesterday.
 
I’m honestly a little bit surprised (but HAPPY lol) they didn’t screen out pre-secondary. I feel like they really are taking a more holistic approach instead of basing it on stats which is awesome. I doubt we will hear about ii’s for a while since they have to look through all these applications.
I would imagine interviews start in less than two weeks
 
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