2021-2022 University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNTHSC/TCOM)

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Please feel free to tag a pre-medical moderator when the secondary prompt is posted.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback:

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Secondary prompt this year:

Yes/No questions:
I am a current student in the UNTHSC Medical Sciences Program
I am interested in rural medicine
I am interested in global/international medicine
I have had prior clinical experience in primary care
I have had prior Clinical experience with DO

Essay questions:
1) What experiences and/or relationships have motivated you toward a career in osteopathic medicine? (2,000 character limit including spaces)

If you attended more than two colleges/universities, explain why. Community colleges are not needed. (1,000 character limit including spaces)

If applicable, please update the information contained on your TMDSAS application. Indicate any additional grades earned, alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation date, additions to your extracurricular activities, name change, or anything else you feel the Admissions Committee should know.(1,000 character limit including spaces)

An additional evaluation letter may be submitted directly to UNTHSC/TCOM Office of Admissions and Outreach by the evaluator. A letter from an osteopathic physician is highly recommended. Please indicate the name of the evaluator and whether or not they are a D.O. (This includes space to add info for sending an additional letter of rec)

Did you live in a single parent household? If yes, number of years/months

Do you consider yourself financially disadvantaged? If yes, please explain.(1,000 character limit including spaces)

Do you consider yourself educationally disadvantaged? If yes, please explain.(1,000 character limit including spaces)

OPTIONAL ESSAY
One of the values of the University of North Texas Health Science Center is Integrity (uphold the highest ethical standards) which can be described as someone who:

- does what is right, not just what is easy, even if no one is looking
- conducts themselves with honesty, trustworthiness and dependability
- is transparent in actions
- owns, corrects and learns from successes and failures

Please select a specific instance where you have demonstrated Integrity and describe how this is indicative of your character (2,000 character limit)
 
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Is the TCOM optional essay truly optional or is it 'fake' optional? It overlaps with another school's secondary so I'll probably be submitting it regardless but was just curious.
 
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Is the TCOM optional essay truly optional or is it 'fake' optional? It overlaps with another school's secondary so I'll probably be submitting it regardless but was just curious.
I think it's "kinda not optional". You can make it pretty brief if you like.

Also remember that one school never gets to read another school's secondary essays that you submitted, so you are free to recycle your themes. BE SURE you proofread several times and don't copy/paste a school name though!
 
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Can anyone provide clarification for the second question. It states more than 2 universities, so this would mean 3 or more right?
 
Is anyone having difficulty trying to pay the secondary fee? I am continuously receiving an error message.
 
Is anyone having difficulty trying to pay the secondary fee? I am continuously receiving an error message.
Same.
Just call the admissions office - they'll send you an updated link for the secondary fee.
 
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Does TCOM offer fee waivers? also can someone clarify "Educationally disadvantaged". Thanks
 
When I copy paste an essay from google doc into the TCOM secondary application I noticed formatting is getting messed up. for ex: couldn't becomes couldn¿t ... Any recommendations to get around this? Thanks in advance.
 
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When I copy paste an essay from google doc into the TCOM secondary application I noticed formatting is getting messed up. for ex: couldn't becomes couldn¿t ... Any recommendations to get around this? Thanks in advance.
1. Copy from Google Doc and paste into Notepad.
2. Then copy from Notepad and paste into TCOM Secondary Application.
 
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What exactly does "educationally disadvantaged" mean? Would it be appropriate to talk about high school or should it only refer to undergrad?
 
What exactly does "educationally disadvantaged" mean? Would it be appropriate to talk about high school or should it only refer to undergrad?
things like: your school district did not have the classes you needed to be ready for college, or its offerings were very limited, you had little choice in coursework, under supply of teachers or funds
 
things like: your school district did not have the classes you needed to be ready for college, or its offerings were very limited, you had little choice in coursework, under supply of teachers or funds
Any chance a learning disability would fit in with that prompt? I went a different route and wrote about my hidden ADHD and how after my diagnosis and therapy, my performance increased.

... because I really hope that fits the prompt, else I just let TCOM know my brain goes zoom like a ferrari, but has the brakes of a little red wagon
 
Any chance a learning disability would fit in with that prompt? I went a different route and wrote about my hidden ADHD and how after my diagnosis and therapy, my performance increased.

... because I really hope that fits the prompt, else I just let TCOM know my brain goes zoom like a ferrari, but has the brakes of a little red wagon
I wrote about pretty much the same situation and got an interview last year!
 
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I still haven't received a secondary. OOS applicant here. Anyone else in the same boat?
 
They don’t send one. You have to use their portal myHSC. The info is on their website!
Hmm I think this year they sent them. They sent me one with a UNT ID and instructions on how to access. Maybe they send and have it on their website?
 
If I leave and come back to this application, am I supposed to do the "find your existing application" search? That seems very strange to me and I am having a difficult time figuring out what I need to do here to get to the secondary.
 
If I leave and come back to this application, am I supposed to do the "find your existing application" search? That seems very strange to me and I am having a difficult time figuring out what I need to do here to get to the secondary.
yeah you do the find your existing application thing
 
Is anyone having the same issue of missing evaluation letters on the application portal? All of my letters were submitted via TMDSAS, but it seems they werent transmitted to TCOM.
 
Is anyone having the same issue of missing evaluation letters on the application portal? All of my letters were submitted via TMDSAS, but it seems they werent transmitted to TCOM.
Same. If you submitted your letters to TMDSAS, they were transmitted correctly.
TCOM is just painfully slow in manually verifying the LOR's and updating their portal.
It will probably take 2-3 weeks to update their portal and reflect that your LOR's were received.
 
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anyone else get a mini heart attack from that open house email they sent out a few minutes ago?
 
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Which open house email? Can anyone drop the link or message? I haven't seen anything

Register Today!​

The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine will be holding an in-person preview day this Saturday, July 24th at 10:00 AM. Our preview day activities will include
  • A presentation on the application and admission process for TCOM
  • Meet our Ambassadors and get your questions answered
  • Meet our Assistant Dean of Admissions Dr. Mike Kennedy
  • A tour of our Health and Science Center
Limited Space Available!
 
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The open house event registration closed. Looks like the rest of the informational events will be via Zoom and not in person. Wonder how many students they were able to accommodate for tomorrow's event? Anybody know?
 
The open house event registration closed. Looks like the rest of the informational events will be via Zoom and not in person. Wonder how many students they were able to accommodate for tomorrow's event? Anybody know?
I'm going tomorrow so I can let y'all know after the event
 
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So the open house was really cool, the assistant dean of admissions and a panel of 4 current med students spoke and answered questions, we got a partial tour of campus because its still partly closed. This was their first in person event since the pandemic and interviews will also be in person this cycle. Id say maybe 60-70ish students attended the event
 
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So the open house was really cool, the assistant dean of admissions and a panel of 4 current med students spoke and answered questions, we got a partial tour of campus because its still partly closed. This was their first in person event since the pandemic and interviews will also be in person this cycle. Id say maybe 60-70ish students attended the event
Wow, I'm surprised interviews will be in person this cycle. Thanks for the info!
 
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So the open house was really cool, the assistant dean of admissions and a panel of 4 current med students spoke and answered questions, we got a partial tour of campus because its still partly closed. This was their first in person event since the pandemic and interviews will also be in person this cycle. Id say maybe 60-70ish students attended the event
Thank you for the info. A couple of my friends attended as well and they mentioned interview invites going out next week.
 
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Thank you for the info. A couple of my friends attended as well and they mentioned interview invites going out next week.
Yeah they said they've been reviewing applications for about 3 weeks now and are going to send out invites very soon
 
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I can't find anything regarding if they wait for retake MCAT scores to look at the application. I'm taking it August 27th, and I should get my scores back around the end of September. I was just wondering if they would look at my application with the one original score or wait.
 
Anyone else get played by the information session email?
 
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Anybody feeling brave enough to call and ask about IIs :)
 
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i feel like they will extend IIs some time after their info session tomorrow.
 
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