2025-2026 UTSW
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+1 IS II 🙂, Complete 7/16
Coolbeanie
New Member
+1 IS II, Complete 7/1, LM 74
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yes, may need to wait until they send you a schedule.
dustycrusader
Full Member
IS II, LM 75 received mid July
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deleted1169665
Congrats to everyone who has gotten this far in the process!
Current MS2 at UTSW. Happy to answer any questions, here or via DM.
A quick word on the pre-clerkship experience as you interview and consider your options: there are real issues with how the curriculum is structured. Administration says they’re open to feedback, but in reality, the changes tend to be surface-level. Nothing meaningful has been done to address the intense stress and burnout students face. Wellness efforts mostly come in the form of mandatory seminars, meditation apps, or five-minute dog petting breaks that feel more performative than helpful.
I expected they might rework things over the summer, like learning activites for IM blocks. Instead, they kept things mostly the same, but added more CBLs in GI - supposedly based on student feedback, which doesn’t reflect anything I’ve actually heard from classmates. Most of us want fewer “active learning” sessions, not more. Maybe the handful of students who liase with the faculty the most would want this, but not the majority.
The first semester is overwhelming due to poor design. This is known by the administration. The problem isn’t the content. It’s the volume of required activities that leave little time for actual studying. In-person meetings with no clear purpose, poor use of time (meetings that could be emails), threats of "professionalism violations," (rest assured professionalism is a one-way street here), among many other issues, make it much, much harder than it needs to be. I remember being told to schedule our joy. One example of this was giving ourselves 1 hour a week on the treadmill.... to do Anki....
Things do improve a bit in the second semester, but all the extra noise still makes it difficult to focus on academics, let alone research, volunteering, or anything else outside of class. We'll see how our 3rd semester goes.
UTSW follows a rigid, old-school model that doesn’t leave much room for balance or change. The level of burnout is obvious among students, faculty, and even admin. The stereotype that “UTSW students look like zombies” exists for a reason, and it’s really disappointing given how smart and capable my classmates are. It's a culture issue here.
If you have outside responsibilities or interests you hope to maintain during med school, this place probably isn't the right fit. It’s a one-size-fits-all system, and it’s not designed to support students who don’t want to give everything up for school.
Also worth noting: UTSW doesn’t use NBME exams, so our workload is both heavier compared to NBME schools and less prepatory for boards and clinical practice. Their attempts to justify this are... entertaining to put it lightly. Even the administration cannot articulate how this system benefits us.
Thiis is just one perspective to consider while finalizing your list, but if I could go back, I’d take a much longer look at similar/lower-ranked programs that use NBME exams and actually prioritize student well-being. If you want to go for the most competitive specialties here, you'll have more resources/clout, but you'll also be competing with more (really bright) students. Anything not super competitive, and the burnout and toxic culture could very well outweigh any benefits. Not to mention not being able to fully train in certain specialties due to the... current climate in Texas that UTSW stays silent about...
No idea how clinical rotations are, but my guess is similar to similar health systems in major metro areas (T1 ER, all the specialties, 'rare' cases), but they did just tell us that 70% of our clinical grades come from the subjective evals of our preceptors (known to be prone to biases like racism/sexism/ableism/classism/etc.) so that's fun. Only 30% from the shelf exam. Actually, I think they said 60-70% for the eval whatever that means.
Current MS2 at UTSW. Happy to answer any questions, here or via DM.
A quick word on the pre-clerkship experience as you interview and consider your options: there are real issues with how the curriculum is structured. Administration says they’re open to feedback, but in reality, the changes tend to be surface-level. Nothing meaningful has been done to address the intense stress and burnout students face. Wellness efforts mostly come in the form of mandatory seminars, meditation apps, or five-minute dog petting breaks that feel more performative than helpful.
I expected they might rework things over the summer, like learning activites for IM blocks. Instead, they kept things mostly the same, but added more CBLs in GI - supposedly based on student feedback, which doesn’t reflect anything I’ve actually heard from classmates. Most of us want fewer “active learning” sessions, not more. Maybe the handful of students who liase with the faculty the most would want this, but not the majority.
The first semester is overwhelming due to poor design. This is known by the administration. The problem isn’t the content. It’s the volume of required activities that leave little time for actual studying. In-person meetings with no clear purpose, poor use of time (meetings that could be emails), threats of "professionalism violations," (rest assured professionalism is a one-way street here), among many other issues, make it much, much harder than it needs to be. I remember being told to schedule our joy. One example of this was giving ourselves 1 hour a week on the treadmill.... to do Anki....
Things do improve a bit in the second semester, but all the extra noise still makes it difficult to focus on academics, let alone research, volunteering, or anything else outside of class. We'll see how our 3rd semester goes.
UTSW follows a rigid, old-school model that doesn’t leave much room for balance or change. The level of burnout is obvious among students, faculty, and even admin. The stereotype that “UTSW students look like zombies” exists for a reason, and it’s really disappointing given how smart and capable my classmates are. It's a culture issue here.
If you have outside responsibilities or interests you hope to maintain during med school, this place probably isn't the right fit. It’s a one-size-fits-all system, and it’s not designed to support students who don’t want to give everything up for school.
Also worth noting: UTSW doesn’t use NBME exams, so our workload is both heavier compared to NBME schools and less prepatory for boards and clinical practice. Their attempts to justify this are... entertaining to put it lightly. Even the administration cannot articulate how this system benefits us.
Thiis is just one perspective to consider while finalizing your list, but if I could go back, I’d take a much longer look at similar/lower-ranked programs that use NBME exams and actually prioritize student well-being. If you want to go for the most competitive specialties here, you'll have more resources/clout, but you'll also be competing with more (really bright) students. Anything not super competitive, and the burnout and toxic culture could very well outweigh any benefits. Not to mention not being able to fully train in certain specialties due to the... current climate in Texas that UTSW stays silent about...
No idea how clinical rotations are, but my guess is similar to similar health systems in major metro areas (T1 ER, all the specialties, 'rare' cases), but they did just tell us that 70% of our clinical grades come from the subjective evals of our preceptors (known to be prone to biases like racism/sexism/ableism/classism/etc.) so that's fun. Only 30% from the shelf exam. Actually, I think they said 60-70% for the eval whatever that means.
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Would like to provide a slightly alternative perspective - agree that med school here is not fun. If you are looking for a fun time, do NOT come here. That being said, we do have rays of light in admin that are genuinely trying to change things. Our heme course director right now is spending her free time making an Anki deck for the course with everything she wants you to know, for instance. Dean of UME also wants school sponsored decks integrated across courses.
As to the non-NBME thing, we have MD's teaching the organ blocks - they hit the majority of Step 1 stuff in addition to clinically relevant things that are not assessed on step, but they also teach a lot of Step 2 stuff since they are teaching their jobs. I don't know how good our curriculum is on its own 2 feet, but I personally find that it is a great complement to 3p / AnKing. That being said, trying to keep up with both last semester caused my mental health to take a toll (I am somebody who foolishly did not believe in burnout...).
TLDR: Our curriculum is hard and stressful, and admin can be overbearing, however, I do think that we are moving in a net positive direction in terms of making the school a better place for each incoming class. Definitely not where it needs to be, but I don't think that we are stagnant or regressing.
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deleted1169665
Yeah, I think this is a really fair and grounded take, it probably resonates with just as many of our classmates as my original post, if not more.
To clarify some of my points, one of my main issues is that there’s definitely a lingering vibe of old-school med culture, this sort of “we had it worse, so be grateful” energy, that mixes with a tech-bro push for "innovation," that doesn't stop to consider the systems currently in place and how they impact students.
It's quite jarring to learn that how the medical school thinks we should treat patients, to realize that the values we’re taught to uphold in caring for patients; empathy, responsiveness, respect for individual needs, etc. don’t seem to apply when it comes to how the school treats us as learners. There's usually an assumption that if students are struggling, the solution must be more resilience, rather than examining whether the system itself is causing harm. Surely students can't know what's wrong with the currriculum, right? Surely if the majority of the class is having mental breakdowns and burnouts then they just need to be more resilient, right?
Take Heme, for example. It’s arguably one of the best-run courses we’ve had, with a course director who genuinely goes above and beyond (like creating her own Anki decks in her free time!!). But even then, the structure can be rigid. CBCLs four or five times a week at 8am might work for some people, but if you don't learn best in that format, you’re left with almost no time to study in a way that does work for you. I've seen every single one of my friends have some sort of mental break from the stress, and several were during heme.
There is slow progress, and I do think there are good intentions behind a lot of what’s happening. But there’s still this underlying sense that we aren’t fully trusted to guide our own learning, which is especially frustrating given how hard we worked to get here.
And it’s not just about the curriculum. It’s also about how our time is treated. We don’t get real breaks between blocks, one ends on a Friday, and by Monday you’re expected to be watching several hours of new lectures. This upcoming block? Ends on a Tuesday, starts on a Wednesday with four lectures (which is like 8–12 undergrad lectures' worth of content) plus meetings and other mandatory activities depending on your college.
Want to recharge on a weekend? Nope! that’s when OSCEs happen. Or, if you're lucky, phlebotomy training at midnight. And you really should be studying for Step. Have you gotten any research experience? Oh yeah, and make sure to review illness scripts so you can perform at the level of an intern once you get to rotations. There's this baked-in expectation that you should be constantly available, constantly grinding, with very little to no regard for sustainability or balance.
That said, I don’t think the people running the show are out to make our lives miserable. Most of them genuinely care, they’re just operating within a system that hasn’t been meaningfully reexamined in decades. And because they’re so steeped in that system, it’s hard for them to imagine another way.
So yeah, while there are some real bright spots and encouraging signs of change, the reality is that any movement forward still happens within the boundaries that the administration sets. A framework anyone under ~40 years of age recognizes as self-destructive, to say the least. That’s worth keeping in mind, especially for incoming students. There’s always room for optimism, but prospective students should know what they're getting themselves into, so take this into consideration along with everything else you hear.
You can be great at UTSW, but really only one kind of great, and if you don't fit the mold... it might be an awful experience.
Can attest to these😭
Honestly, thanks for writing this because this has helped me realize that I am out of touch with reality. Some of these problems, however, are not specific to UTSW and are a symptom of the broader medical education system as a whole. That being said, we could do a LOT better on a lot of these fronts.
“How can we care for patients if’n nobody cares for us?” — Chuck, The House of God
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deleted1169665
I don't think you're out of touch with reality, other perspectives are always good to hear
That is an apt quote. I've heard House of God is quite good, but I think it may depress me to read it -- and realize how little progress we've made since it was written, and how many more problems have arisen since then that the author couldn't have dreamed of in their worst nightmares. Prior auths, private equity (formerly known as 'corporate raiders' before PE took over PR firms) destroying every single hospital system and clinic one after another, pre-med and residency app rat races to get the most low quality research onto your resume, standards of care being used as political currency, constantly evolving technology that could save your patient's life... if only they had been born in the right zip code....
Idk all of these issues do seem to have a common thread, I wonder what that is...
Anyway old man yelling at clouds out, @Reanox24 you better get back to the Anki, the answer to burnout has to be in there somewhere, I know we'll find it if we just keep hitting spacebar
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deleted1169361
Keep in mind that both my comment and the one above are n = 1 experiences and that everyone’s time here will look different. I’d caution against ruling out (or in) a school solely based on how one second-year in the middle of pre-clerkships feels about their own experience. I'll provide my different experience as a counterbalance; I've enjoyed my time at UTSW immensely and have great friends, a wonderful mentor through the Colleges system and felt like the in-house exams and material prepared me well to tackle third-party resources like UWorld and STEP anki decks. I've struggled with my fair share of difficult moments but I'm not particularly miserable nor do I look like a zombie (I hope). I'm not one of the students that liase with the faculty but I (and many peers) enjoyed the active learning sessions, particularly during our hematology block. I think it encourages us to learn from case presentations and talk through scenarios rather than just speedrunning anki at home all day alone. The changes being rolled out to other blocks reflect both positive student feedback and improved exam performance.
I agree with both posters above that med school here is hard. Med school in general is hard and this is UTSW. I absolutely agree that the professors care and are genuinely invested in our education and are working actively right now to change the curriculum. Admin may be intense but there is no doubt to me and my peers that they truly care and they want the best for us. I don't think they would be hosting students at their own homes, attending off-campus orientation activities or taking the time to meet with every student multiple times if they didn't care. Curriculum wise, many classes are moving to the same case-based and active learning model and I think it's really forced me to think about concepts deeply. Whenever I shadow or work in clinical settings, I hear over and over that UTSW students are well-prepared and competent and to me, that’s what matters most. Our courses aren't NMBE and I definitely wish that was different but at the same time we are by no means unprepared for the rigor of national board exams. Also, MS2s are in the thick of it in the classroom but the incredible clinical opportunities here with no competition from other med students are huge.
I have been able to maintain outside responsibilities during med school (including a marriage) and I'm not a superhuman. It's not impossible at all, just maybe more difficult during the intense first semester. I wouldn't say that grinding in a dimly lit library is fun, per se, but I knew what I was signing up for when I came here.
Also, just as general advice to all — be mindful about how much detail you share publicly about your school while you’re still a student. Even well-intentioned posts can get taken out of context.
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deleted1169361
I think it's important to note here that OSCEs are 3 hours on one Saturday in the second semester and once in the third semester. Phlebotomy is a one-time experience during pre-clerkship, lasting 3-5 days, for two hours. These are also not UTSW specific; almost every med school uses OSCEs in some form and students need to learn blood draws, IV placement, and other basic clinical skills before starting clerkships. Some schools schedule this during a skills week, some sprinkle it into blocks, but it’s not unique to UTSW.
Personally, I can go days without setting foot on campus unless I choose to, and I’ve even traveled during the semester (both short weekend trips and longer ones) without it affecting my performance. A lot of my classmates have done the same. While the first semester felt more rigid, I’ve found the later blocks give you more flexibility to structure your own time. The transitions to clerkships course and colleges exist to help you prepare for rotations, but there is not an expectation to perform at the level of an intern. The goal is competency and confidence for starting clinicals. Again, nothing against OP, just wanted to offer a different perspective. Best of luck to all applicants wherever you end up!! You got this 🙂
My Status is still looking like this! Is there something wrong with my application?
Please note: Your application status will not be updated until your Secondary Application is submitted.
| Application Category | Application Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application Submitted | Application submitted on 6/18/2025. | |
| CASPer Scores | Complete. | |
| Letter of References - MD | Complete. | |
| MCAT Score - MD | Received. | |
| CAS Requirements - MD | Complete. | |
| Application Complete - MD | Your MD application is ready. |
why do you think something is missing? have you submitted your secondary?
Yes, I did. I received the confirmation email too, but I still have the red notification.
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IS ll yesterday ! LM 72 submitted 07/01
I think the final line “ready” means it’s ready for someone to read your whole app now in detail
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deleted1169665
I agree that this sums up the culture (on average) at UTSW.
As ****** points out, you can be punished for absolutely nothing, often just questioning the reasoning behind why we do what we do is enough to be targeted.
Good luck kids!
As ****** points out, you can be punished for absolutely nothing, often just questioning the reasoning behind why we do what we do is enough to be targeted.
Good luck kids!
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AnatomyAndAnonymity
TMDSAS Wrangler
+1 IS II!! Submitted 7/31
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deleted1185507
Dang on a Sunday, UTSW is something else
targetdreamart
Full Member
any oos interviews here yet?
AnatomyAndAnonymity
TMDSAS Wrangler
Sorry for the confusion!! I received it on Friday, but wasn't able to get to my laptop until just now!!
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deleted1169361
I hear you, I wasn’t saying people get punished for nothing. My point wasn’t that questioning reasoning online is inherently bad- it’s more that as medical professionals in training, posting about your school in detail on a public forum isn’t always the most productive way to make change. It's also important to recognize that new applicants read conversations on SDN and sometimes take them as gospel (I know I sure did). If you have concerns, UTSW genuinely does have channels for feedback and the deans make themselves available to meet with students pretty much whenever, and I’ve found them to take concerns seriously.
It’s easy when you’re brand new to take one student's perspective (mine included!) as definitive truth about UTSW, but that’s not really fair to the complexity of the whole experience. Someone might read your post and think "because I have the same identity, I will have the same experiences." Pre-clerkship can feel very different than clerkships or electives, and opinions can change a lot over time. Sharing experiences is valuable, but for prospective students especially, it’s worth remembering that med school is long, perspectives shift, and no single post captures the whole picture.
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+1 IS II! LM 72. Submitted 6/18!
Agreed, there is some truth to the difficulty of our curriculum no doubt but my experience here has been, for the most part, positive. And as I'm looking at MS1 in the rearview it was a formative experience that I would make the decision to do over again. I don't feel the same as @IJUSTWANTOPARTYDOC, simply put. I respect their opinion, see where they're coming from on many of their points, but just disagree with the negative portrayal of the experience overall.
Congrats on the interviews ya'll and best of luck. I'd recommend to start scrutinizing schools (pros and cons-wise) at a later time in the cycle (eg, after you have an acceptance or before match day).
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klondakbear
LM: 71.5 || MCAT: 513 ORM
IS II +1! LM 71.5, submitted 6/15
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deleted1220694
IS II on 8/18. Submitted 6/13
notjoemama
Full Member
hey yall, question, is it not worth it to write the secondaries for this school this late? I probably will be done within a week if i work super hard but im not sure if its worth putting in all the energy since its so late?
Do it
axpathetic
Full Member
I heard a lot (on SDN interview feedback, forums, and in the informational session itself) about how conversational the UTSW interviews are, but in my experience, they were very standard and followed the "question and answer" format. I guess it depends on who your interviewer is!
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I would surmise it means conversational as compared to an MMI format.
How it seems to you will depend on your interviewer's personality .
A job or med school interview will be of necessity mostly them asking you some questions and waiting to see what you respond, it's not a chitchat like a conversation between friends who are already acquainted with each other.
axpathetic
Full Member
That's true. I guess I meant that it was more standardized than I expected, with both interviewers asking me similar questions about my experiences
You are lucky. There are some interviewers at UTSW where people who got into Harvard cried about them.
ApprehensiveCake
Full Member
Interviewed last week - my interview was pretty conversational if that helps! I was asked a few expected interview questions but I felt like there was no rigid question list my faculty interviewers were pulling from, and both were very kind!
Does anyone know UTSW's policy for thank you letters to interviewers? (and is considered weirdly/too late to send if I interviewed last Wednesday? not necessarily from a 'looking good' standpoint, but I genuinely liked both of my interviewers and want to thank them for setting me at ease and making me feel comfortable)
Does anyone know UTSW's policy for thank you letters to interviewers? (and is considered weirdly/too late to send if I interviewed last Wednesday? not necessarily from a 'looking good' standpoint, but I genuinely liked both of my interviewers and want to thank them for setting me at ease and making me feel comfortable)
dustycrusader
Full Member
You can send them to the admissions email, and they will forward them to your interviewers. Just have their names in the title of the documents.
Just interviewed. The format was extremely conversational, with maybe three total "scripted" interview questions across both interviews. It impressed me that they thoroughly combed my application to be knowledgeable and specific in the questions they asked, rather than low-effort, generic questions.
The second interviewer probed deeply into the intentions behind the experiences, which I enjoyed, but could definitely be stressful.
Best of luck to everyone on interviews!!!
The second interviewer probed deeply into the intentions behind the experiences, which I enjoyed, but could definitely be stressful.
Best of luck to everyone on interviews!!!
pulsatilepony
Full Member
Agreed, I very much appreciated the intentionality of my interviewers and their questions! Sounds like we both got some good ones😊
IS II today. Submitted 7/20
alphabetadeltacell
New Member
Congrats!! When were you complete?
pdb008
Full Member
7/28!
dollarbillbob
New Member
should I be worried if I haven't heard back for an II from UTSW or any other MD schools? This is my first time applying, I submitted my primaries for all texas schools end of may, and submitted by secondaries for UTSW around 6/21. I have an LM score of abt 70 --> 3.95 GPA and 509MCAT. I have done 2500+ hours in research and healthcare actives and 1000+ hours in community engagement. I am just nervous and worried right now since I haven't heard back from any schools.
Are you in-state? While most of the IIs so far have gone to higher stats applicants, there are plenty of them around 70. Submitting early should have helped you. But if you're OOS that would be an issue.
I'm not an adcom, but I think that almost all the IIs go out to high LMs (>73) and anything below that goes towards applicants with some sort of special X-factor for the earliest IIs.
I think as we approach mid-September your app will get pulled (basically LMs < around 73 with no X-factor get reviewed), but I wouldn't assume u have been passed over.
If anyone else thinks differently (i.e. one of the more experienced people on this site) feel free to chime in!
UTSW stratifies apps based on LM and reviews those with high numbers first, typically 73+ but you will see an occasional low number with the institutional needs (low SES first gen as an example).
The lower LM numbers start getting called later in September.
This is for instate.
The lower LM numbers start getting called later in September.
This is for instate.
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did u apply DO as well?
mousemodeletoh
New Member
I am in a very similar boat. IS URM, LM 69 (3.71 GPA, 513 MCAT). I have 500+ clinical hours and 2000+ research hours. Submitted primary at the end of may and 2nd 7/9. do y'all think my gpa is too low for this school?
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deleted1206683
Hi! I had VERY similar stats and received my first MD interview in October and was eventually accepted to UTSW later on in the cycle. The wait can be difficult, but trust in your application and hard work! DM if you have any questions!
Wholeheartedly agree with this. My II wasn't until later. You submitted the app, jumped through additional hoops and now it's a waiting game. Y'all are doing great trust!
Polyketide
Full Member
Damn, if this is true, then they must have not liked my application enough.
