2023-2024 UT Southwestern (UTSW)

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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randompremed457 said:
Doing this will not even get you on the queue unfortunately. If you don’t apply with a roommate and ask for a 2BR in it, you won’t be put on the waitlist. You can only apply for a 2BR with a roommate.
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what if you need your space?!
just kidd'n
then you would look for an apartment off campus
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hornzup said:
Has anyone heard back from UTSW on their FAFSA?
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I've received an email from the FA office confirming receipt of my FAFSA a couple weeks ago. Haven't heard anything else after that
 
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Just withdrew! I had a full COA scholarship so hopefully there's more $ to go around ❤️
 
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What is UTSW's Commit To Enroll deadline (no more waitlists) for OOS/AMCAS applicants?
 
wysdoc said:
MSAR listing for UTSW doesn't say anything
Their webpage says reduce your acceptances to one (doesn't say anything about staying on WLs) by April 30.
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Thanks so much! I did notice that on the webpage but wasn't sure the implication for WLs. Is it acceptable to stay on WLs?
 
timessquare said:
Thanks so much! I did notice that on the webpage but wasn't sure the implication for WLs. Is it acceptable to stay on WLs?
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UTSW page doesn't say anything about WLs, but if you want to stay on WLs and UTSW is your only admission at present, mark it PTE.
If any of your schools need to give you a nudge about deciding, they will do that in an email soon.
 
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CTE if they dont say anything is usually 3 weeks before orientation. So UTSW is most likely early July(?) based on past orientation start dates.

Essentially one has until then to see if theyclear any OOS waitlists. In state will be lost by May 15th for anyone with an admission.
 
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appthiscycle said:
Has anyone called?
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They won't tell you anything on the phone, pardner, UTSW is the silent & mysterious type.

9512d01737242de1f523e16500eb7e4ffda098dbe1536fd0fb409d5bfae987d3_1.jpg
 
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wysdoc said:
UTSW page doesn't say anything about WLs, but if you want to stay on WLs and UTSW is your only admission at present, mark it PTE.
If any of your schools need to give you a nudge about deciding, they will do that in an email soon.
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I am on the waitlist for UTSW. Do they usually have a long wait list?? Any hope to get A off of waitlist this late in the season??
 
metroflagyl said:
I am on the waitlist for UTSW. Do they usually have a long wait list?? Any hope to get A off of waitlist this late in the season??
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If you are instate and matched elsewhere, it is going to be hard with the time limitations for matched students. One week left.
 
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texasvandy said:
If you are instate and matched elsewhere, it is going to be hard with the time limitations for matched students. One week left.
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This May 15th deadline rule seems very unfair to a few Texas students.
 
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IrvingUser said:
This May 15th deadline rule seems very unfair to a few Texas students.
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it's so that no school ends up having fewer students commit than they have seats for
 
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IrvingUser said:
This May 15th deadline rule seems very unfair to a few Texas students.
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The Texas schools need to solidify their class roster at some point and know who is definitely attending. Students need time to plan their finances and move.
The 3 months between match day and May 15 seems like a fair window for the chance to trade up if you already have a Texas admission.
 
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Anyone receive updates abt their financial package/FAFSA yet?
 
randompremed457 said:
Hello All!

I’ll be starting at UTSW this fall and would be happy to answer any questions as I get into things.

Feel free to dm me if you have questions about the application process/interviews! I don’t know too much about life at the school right now but I’m sure I’ll have a lot more information post August.

Good Luck Y’all!
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Hey what do you think made you stand out for UTSW?
 
reallybwed thus said:
Hey what do you think made you stand out for UTSW?
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Fairly high stats, research, etc. more than a story (as compared to other schools). Also noticed that a lot of fellow admitted students went to prestigious undergrad schools. I think their auto interview program is evidence of this.
 
I am OOS and WL at UTSW, but it does not show in my Choose Your Medical School tool. My A at other school and WLs show up in CYMS. Is this an issue?
 
fatte said:
I am OOS and WL at UTSW, but it does not show in my Choose Your Medical School tool. My A at other school and WLs show up in CYMS. Is this an issue?
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UTSW administrators are the ones who update the portal, so contact them if it’s important to you.
 
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reallybwed thus said:
Hey what do you think made you stand out for UTSW?
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I apologize for the wall of text, I had a lot of thoughts. Also, for the sake of transparency (and so that you make sure to take this with as many grains of salt as you deem necessary), I did not pre-match, match, or get any scholarships, but did come off the watlist.

My entirely my non-professional opinion which applies to all schools:
  • Nobody will be able to answer this accurately accept for the specific ad-com members that voted/discussed your app at this specific school - so... your question is impossible to answer accurately, certainly for us applicants. However...

  • A competitive application (which should be your goal when applying to any school) includes:
    • high GPA/MCAT (my LM was 79 - apologies for the coyness on specific numbers, this is just for greater anonymity)
    • A cohesive and compelling narrative that is present throughout your entire application
    • longitudinal, high impact, high commitment, extracurricular involvment with leadership and obvious passion
      • Make sure you have meaningful clincical & non-clinical volunteering
      • If another data point helps, I had ~250 hrs non-clinical volunteering (very high quality though imo), ~200 hrs clinical experience (mostly volunteering), ~100 hrs shadowing), ~400 hrs research (a few different fields, with several presentations, but no pubs), and 200+ hrs of on-campus jobs.
    • Ticking the boxes for shadowing (personally I do not think this is a a very important part of almost any app as quality of shadowing is impossible for adcoms to determine, but 50-100 hrs+ is the new standard imo)
      • This is also true for clinical experience, but there's more of an opportunity to get your experiences to fit into your narrative.
      • This is not true for the other categories; meaningless non-clinical volunteering or engagment is... meaningless.
    • (Ideally meaningful) research experience (especially for UTSW)
    • Good LOEs (personally I think 2 of mine were probably quite stellar, 1 good, and 2 boiler plate but who knows) + I had a comittee letter for what that's worth
    • Submit early!
      • I submitted the first day (first 5-10 min) the primary was open, and that just helped so much with processing, and ultimately getting secondaries back and interviewing early.

  • So, to stand out I think you need
    • Passion, passion, passion. If you aren't extremely passionate about some aspect of medicine (or better, something that applies to your whole life even outside of medicince), get there.
      • E.g. teaching, learning, healing, self-sacrifice, socio-economic advocacy, whatever.
    • Exceptional writing on primary and secondary
      • Clearly display introspection and passion. Walk the line between cohesive and compelling narrative and directness (be direct and concise, but show, don't tell - e.g. This happened... which shows this... and this is how I incorporated this experience into my medical journey), and the line between bragging and underselling yourself.
      • My tips:
        • Start very early and treat it like sculpting. Get a super rough outline, then refine, then refine, then refine.
        • Get as many other readers as possible.
        • Learn when to take advice and when not to (e.g. editing a PS to be more direct may take away from your truly great passionate/poetic/compelling style and your ability to concisely convey information could be demonstrated elsewhere... or you are making the reader confused with your wordplay). Essentially, there is no one-size fits all advice for writing (or any part of your application) - beyond the absolute basics.
    • At least one somewhat unique or interesting factor about yourself both academically and non-academically
      • E.g. you have a passion and/or majored in this non-STEM field or you did research in this niche or non-medical/non-bio or chem/non-STEM field and you play club ultimate frisbee or cello or fix cars or whatever.
      • These can whatever, but speak passionately about them in your essays and interviews whenever it's appropriate.
    • Great interview skills:
      • Honesty and passion are probably the two most important factors beyond just basic interview skills (speaking clearly, at the right tempo, confidence, prep, etc.).
        • Your interviews will be put off by anything disingenious
        • But you are selling yourself, so my advice is to treat it like acting, find the truth within the role. I think most actors would say acting is about truth and meaning, and is not disingenious at all when approached appropriately.
      • I think this is very similar to writing, the more diverse feedback you can get the better, but it's also inherently extremely subjective so take any advice you get into consideration
      • You must prep intensely (the interviews I 'winged' all went pretty poorly, at least from my perspective), especially for the 3 most common and imprtant questions that are asked in slightly different ways in almost every interview (and if they're not they can be used to sell yourself at the approriate time):
        • "why medicine" (response should be maybe 1-3 min)
        • "tell me about yourself" (your response should be 1-5 minutes based on interview time, and in-the-moment vibe of the interview)
        • "what are some of your greatest strengths/weaknesses"
          • These should be able to be answered charismatically and automatically, without sounding robotic or prepared (stupid, but seriously, become your favorite actor on Jimmy Kimmel, at the end of the day you are selling yourself or really only the best version of yourself)
      • There's tons of advice, common questions, etc. online, but here's some specific advice and feedback I got from med students and medical professionals:
        • Be confident!! (They don’t know if you’re BSing/only highlighting your best qualities unless you show them)
        • Smile the entire time!
        • Try to understand and address underlying themes or ideas behind questions
        • Paint a picture with an anecdote then make an observation (I was told several times in multiple of my interviews something along the lines of “wow, that’s a great observation” based on prepared anecdotes and lessons I drew from them).
        • STAR method
          • Situation, Task, Action, Result
            • Used when asked to provide a real-life example of how you handled a certain kind of situation in the past. (Tell me about a time when…)
        • Don’t gesticulate past shoulders (video interview keep hands clasped/always come back to clasped to avoid distractions, eye contact also important, especially for Zoom setting where this is much less natural for most)
        • Emphasize the impact of your activities

  • Other thoughts:
    • CA$per is extremely unimportant imo. I was bottom quartile and got accepted to 4 schools (all of whom requred CA$per) and interviews at all of the top schools in Texas (who all saw my CA$per quartile and still invited me), all of whom require CA$per.
    • Beyond that n=1 data (and the similar experiences I've seen elsewhere online), I think CA$per is truly unethical: another large fee (further driving income disparities in med school apps) with no publically available evidence of accuracy or validity that med schools clearly don't weigh heavily.
      • The more we spread this message the sooner schools will abandon it, so get spreading. Everyone bomb the CA$per on purpose and tell your friends 😂
Wooo... 😅😅 that's probably enough for now. Lmk if you want clarification or have any questions.
 
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wysdoc said:
The Texas schools need to solidify their class roster at some point and know who is definitely attending. Students need time to plan their finances and move.
The 3 months between match day and May 15 seems like a fair window for the chance to trade up if you already have a Texas admission.
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I mean to say that there is a good chance students off waitlists with no prior admission can get into better schools after May 15th.
So, that's unfair to the students with one A at a lower-ranked school that they lose WL status after the 15th.
 
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IrvingUser said:
I mean to say that there is a good chance students off waitlists with no prior admission can get into better schools after May 15th.
So, that's unfair to the students with one A at a lower-ranked school that they lose WL status after the 15th.
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I've thought about this too. I think you're right in saying that a student with less stellar stats could get in bc another student already got an A and they're 'locked in' after May 15th. But that's also assuming these stats make one student "more qualified" than another, which I think is an inaccurate assumption, it may be true in some cases and not true in other cases. I'd say most of us have something valuable to contribute and I don't think these students are any different.

As wysdoc said, the schools have to prepare and onboard students at some point, and that gets increasingly more difficult the sooner to the start the cutoff is. I think 2.5 months is a reasonable time frame.

Without this system I think it would be a bit unfair to school X to have one of their students skip off to another school shortly before classes start and force school X to scramble to fill that spot, potentially starting another spot-filling-cascade at another school (etc. etc.). Which could very well lead to unfilled spots at the schools at the bottom, which also doesn't seem fair to those schools or their (potential) students.

The other option would be no waitlists after some sort of national deadline but again, spots would go unfilled.

Ultimately, there's few if any bad medical schools in TX. If you miss out on going to your dream school because you've already been accepted somewhere else and this deadline hits, I can commiserate, that does suck.

But tbh I'd probably first commiserate with all of the qualified and hopeful candidates who didn't get any acceptances.

Idk lmk what you think.
 
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I want to echo that, ultimately, I feel moving someone from unaccepted to accepted status is more important at this stage of things; especially if schools are trying to finalize their rosters.

It also allows a reasonable amount of time for incoming students to make arrangements.
 
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IrvingUser said:
I mean to say that there is a good chance students off waitlists with no prior admission can get into better schools after May 15th.
So, that's unfair to the students with one A at a lower-ranked school that they lose WL status after the 15th.
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I understand that you'll be disappointed if no WL offers come your way by May 15th.
 
IrvingUser said:
I mean to say that there is a good chance students off waitlists with no prior admission can get into better schools after May 15th.
So, that's unfair to the students with one A at a lower-ranked school that they lose WL status after the 15th.
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Not really
Most WL movement happens until May 15 bc that’s when all the people are withdrawing from other schools
Prob starts off like 10-30 spots for 200 WL students until May 15 and probably goes to 3-4 spots for 50 WL students
 
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wysdoc said:
I understand that you'll be disappointed if no WL offers come your way by May 15th.
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I was comparing to last year and just on this forum, 3-4 people got accepted off of waitlist. We didn’t see that kind of movement this year. Is it because UTSW offered more prematches this year so they have no one leaving for another OOS better school??
 
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2023applicantxd said:
Not really
Most WL movement happens until May 15 bc that’s when all the people are withdrawing from other schools
Prob starts off like 10-30 spots for 200 WL students until May 15 and probably goes to 3-4 spots for 50 WL students
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This is usually the case that lot more movement should have happened by now that should have created spots. UTSW in particular had issues since Baylor joined TMDSAS because they were used to having separate systems where people were keeping two admissions until May 1st creating a lot of openings on May 1st. The first year UTSW had an extra 30-40 people on hand some of whom were offerred a deferral. They ended up with a much larger class the first year with some deferrals that took spots a year later and I am guessing they guessed correctly this year which is one reason they dont seem to be admitting lot more in this time frame.
metroflagyl said:
I was comparing to last year and just on this forum, 3-4 people got accepted off of waitlist. We didn’t see that kind of movement this year. Is it because UTSW offered more prematches this year so they have no one leaving for another OOS better school??
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This might be true that they guessed the correct number of prematches and added enough during the match and now they may have a full class. Unfortunate for those waiting on waitlists but thats what happens this late in the cycle. Usually any openings that come after May 15th are tied to people choosing OOS schools or taking deferrals that got approved late. Hopefully they dont already have an overadmitted class like 3 years ago.
 
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an interesting event at UTSW recently
 
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Just got accepted off the waitlist! I'm in tears!

Do we have any class groupme or facebook?
 
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IJUSTWANTOPARTYDOC said:
Anything going on there? I never use fb
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There has been MS1s posting useful information and links. Others posting offers to sublease their apartment and buy their medical instruments. Some MS0s have posted looking for roommates. I would join if you can.

No control over the bots that add each other into the group though. They sometimes post malicious links smh
 
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Any oos ppl hear back yet? And is there hope after the 15th or will they mainly only take instate students with no Texas As
 
appthiscycle said:
Any oos ppl hear back yet? And is there hope after the 15th or will they mainly only take instate students with no Texas As
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To answer your second question, they are constrained by the 90% IS requirement, but otherwise I think the word is that UTSW's wait list is unranked and they try to fill spots that open up with a similar student (whatever that means) to the one that dropped their spot.
 
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Has anyone heard from financial aid about loans, other than the email they sent saying they received our FAFSA application?
 
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