Anyone go/gone to UT Austin?

[b-real]

Hey all, I'm currently finishing up my first semester at UT Austin. I'm wondering who all on the board has attended UT. Just wondering if anyone has any inside secrets to share (ie good or easy classes/ profs to take, etc...)? Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

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[Ranger Bob]

Hello! I graduated from UT Austin in '95 with a degree in mechanical engineering. My advice on profs would probably be outdated and wouldn't apply to your major. I did most of my premed courses post-bac. Of course, if you do think I could help in this area, please let me know.

Anyway, my advice to you is to find a group or two that you're interested in and GET INVOLVED. This could take the form of student government, a volunteer organization, a leadership position in an academic society, writing for the Daily Texan, or anything else you choose. Also, enjoy your time in Austin. Rarely have I met a gradudate who didn't miss that town!

 

[Hi Everybody]

Look at the slam tables at UGL (before and during registration) and at anytime go to <a href="http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cis/cisonline.html" target="_blank">http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cis/cisonline.html</a>

These are some sources for course/instructor info, in addition to talking to other students.

 

[Jamier2]

You might try <a href="http://www.profeval.com" target="_blank">ProfEval.com</a>. They even have evaluations on profs at my little school.

 

[Trek]

Not a student but have been mega-rat arsed on 6th street!! --Trek

 

[Elysium]

Hey,
I went to undergrad in Boston but am taking some pre-reqs at UT.
Some advice: Iverson's supposed to be good for Orgo. The orgo lab is a bitch, so be prepared.
Mmm. Also, the school is so friggin' big, so try to find a niche on campus (in your dorm, or in the Greek system, or campus organizations). There's a million pre-meds from UT. Find out how to make yourself stand out!

 

[b-real]

Many thanks to all who replied! Trek, I know what you mean about 6th Street 🙂 Can you believe that I haven't been there yet? I have heard stories, however... TEDillard, I have heard that Iverson is good, its only a matter of actually getting into his class. Thats the thing about UT, hard to get into the good classes if you're in your beginning two years.

 

[whournameiz]

does anyone know if it is possible to live in the university towers over the summer if you are not a UT student? or anywhere on campus for that matter?

thanx

 

[FiveForFighting]

Best advice....transfer to A&M

Gig 'Em

 

[Samoa]

The tables outside UGL before registration are definitely the best way to get the inside scoop on a professor. HOWEVER, some have been known to write themselves glowing recommendations, so just be aware that not all of the things you'll read there are from students who've taken the class.

Iverson's good for organic. People love Davis in the chem dept too. I wasn't too fond of him, and I have friends to whom he said some really demeaning things, so I can't recommend him myself. The guy who teaches analytical chemistry is also a really good teacher.

Here's another thing you can do: go to the Ex-Students' Association website and look up the Texas Excellence Teaching Awards, and see who's gotten it for the last 10 years or so in each college. Those awards are decided by a committee of students based on other students' nominations, so they're a pretty good indicator of who the students like. Another good barometer is the Friars' Teaching award. It comes with some serious $$$, so the nominations come from all over campus, and the classes are scouted out by undercover friars to make sure the nominations aren't all hype. I think there's another teaching recognition from the University President's office, and they do a really good job of picking the top teachers in each college. Plus the honor is only for a limited time, so they have to STAY good teachers in order to stay on the list.

 

[IndyZX]

you can also check utlife.com... that should be your primary resource along with CIS

 

[cpw]

Another UT grad here 😀

I graduated with a BS in biochem in 98. (yes, I'm old.. leave me alone)

Definitely check out the slam tables by the UGL for who to take classes from.

If Dr Hall is still there he ROCKS for genetics (and he's easy on the eyes too) 😉

The guy I took orgo from isn't there anymore (be thankful)

Other than that.. go out and ENJOY Austin. It's the best city in Texas hands down!! Get involved at UT... make the giant campus smaller. and most importantly HAVE FUN!!

Hook 'em !!

 

[longhornjas]

as indyzx said, utlife is a good resource. if you're willing to pay $5, you could get a pickaprof account. that has more reviews since it's been around longer. a good elective to take is medical terminology with doig (counts as a fine arts class i believe). it's pretty easy, even though i managed to screw up in it

definitely take iverson for o.chem (good luck getting in his class - i hope the waitlist works for you 🙂). i'll be taking his o.chem II class in the fall (CH310N).

i had saxena for genetics, and he was a pretty boring professor. i've heard pierson is pretty enthusiastic about teaching, but i believe his tests are the harder of the two.

what else are you taking?

 

[Samoa]

Yeah, definitely go enjoy Austin. That city will always have a special place in my heart. And OH MY GOD, the stories I could tell about my college days... And join something. You probably won't believe this now, but that school can feel really small when you're involved in stuff.

I would recommend Latin & Greek Elements in English over Medical Terminology. Teaches you the same stuff, but without all those annoying gunner pre-med types. I also enjoyed Introduction to Logic with Angelelli. I shoulda been a philosophy major...

Also Social Psychology. Great class.

Let's see, what else did I take that I really enjoyed? Oh yeah, American Healers in Historical Perspective. Counts for your American History requirement.

US History 1920-1945 was another good class. Learned all about Huey P. Long, which is very handy now that I live in Louisiana.

Also, Architecture and Society. The professor was the Dean of the School of Architecture, who has this great voice, and he shows all these beautiful slides of architecture throughout the centuries, with the lights dimmed in the auditorium. It was completely hypnotic and relaxing, which was great for me because I was ungodly busy that semester. But take it pass-fail.

 

[curlycity]

Make a friend in the HPO - I love Dr. Lagowski, but I'm not sure how much longer before she retires. I stopped by for an hour or so each semester to talk to her, she got to know me, and she wrote me a rec letter. This is a great way to make sure someone understands your experience and they can explain the C in Calculus ( 😡 ) or how much perseverence you showed in the face of mid-semester surgery. I don't really love the two new ladies. Good luck! And, one more piece of advice, don't park illegally. There's this rule about parking within 30 feet of an intersection...only seems to apply to ME, but whatever.

 

[Samoa]

Also, Dan Knaupf, who told me many years ago that I should go to med school rather than pharmacy school. But you know, I never do take advice... 😀

 

[curlycity]

Also, Dan Knaupf, who told me many years ago that I should go to med school rather than pharmacy school. But you know, I never do take advice... 😀

Dan was always so nice...but he got promoted/transferred last year, out of HPO.

 

[Samoa]

Dan was always so nice...but he got promoted/transferred last year, out of HPO.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! 🙁

 

[Samoa]

Oh yeah, and about organic lab...you're graded, in part, on experimental yield. Meaning, how close did you come to the theoretical yield for that experiment? So, ALWAYS WASH YOUR GLASSWARE THOROUGHLY--that means soap & water, then acetone, then use the high pressure air hose to dry it inside. Also, use the sealer grease stuff to connect all the glassware so it's airtight. Believe me, it's the simplest, fastest way to an A.

Another class you might look into is Intro to Pharmacology. It's geared toward nursing students, but anyone can take it. The guy who taught it when I took it sucked, but he's retired now. The nursing students LOVE the guy who teaches it now--his name is Karboski, and I have to agree that he is an outstanding lecturer in a classroom format. Pretty darn close to the best I've ever seen. And I've seen some truly outstanding teachers.

 

[ndi_amaka]

I am 3 weeks away from graduating from UT. UT hasn't been the greatest school I would have wanted to go to but it far and away surpasses any other school Texas has to offer in anything...classes, profs, diversity, tuition rate, prestige, name it.

What classes are you planning to take next semester?

 

[JDAD]

Texas State Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Bobcats!!!!!!!!!

 

[Samoa]

And, one more piece of advice, don't park illegally. There's this rule about parking within 30 feet of an intersection...only seems to apply to ME, but whatever.

You must have pissed someone off pretty badly. The key to parking illegally is to explain to the guard at the gatehouse what you have to do, and ASK WHERE IT'S OK TO PARK FOR A FEW MINUTES. Invariably, he will point to one of the No Parking zones, and then you're golden for at least 45 minutes. If you really need to be further inside campus, he'll give you a Loading Zone permit, which'll cover you for a couple of hours.

 

[sunkists]

i luv ut. haha 🙂

some good/amazing/brilliant teachers i've come across.

bio365: pollack
orgo: meyer is a prick but you learn it well
english: carver
philosophy: kane, woodruff, koons
psychology: domjan, lewis, buss, bigler
history: brerton, lawrence, miller

ut is an amazing place to be. wouldn't trade it for anywhere else...

 

[ndi_amaka]

i luv ut. haha 🙂

some good/amazing/brilliant teachers i've come across.

bio365: pollack
orgo: meyer is a prick but you learn it well
english: carver
philosophy: kane, woodruff, koons
psychology: domjan, lewis, buss, bigler
history: brerton, lawrence, miller

ut is an amazing place to be. wouldn't trade it for anywhere else...

Meyer?! Uum no. Never. Absolutely not. Only as a final resort.

I enjoyed Bio 214 with Palmer although some ppl didnt.
Bio 325L is good (Franks)
Bio 320 With Dharmawardhane. Her tests are weird and I never actually did great on any of them but she provides enough extra credit that I got an A.

 

[keekee]

I did most of my premed requirements at UT-Austin as post-bac/grad student the past two years or so. My recs:

Organic Chem: Iverson. Loved him and his crazy trumpet. Wonderful guy, great lecturer, fair exams, and he got me into running (he's a hard-core runner and tries to get his students into it too).
Organic Chem Lab: I had Fjetland and didn't think it was half as bad as everyone else did, but I had a good TA.
Cell Biology (SO helpful for Biochem and MCATs): Poenie (the class was wonderfully structured, he's a great lecturer, and has a lot of difficult material to learn but very fair on exams)
Genetics: I had Finklea. She was tough, and I didn't always think her exams were fair, but I learned the material really well through her and it helped on the April MCAT last year.
Physics: Be careful of who you have if you take the premed physics- most of the profs who teach it majorly suck. If you're not a big fan of physics and suck at Calculus, you're better off taking the regular track physics instead (which is accepted by most med schools). Or if you're really good at calculus, take the engineering track physics.

Good luck!

 

[curlycity]

I loooooooooooove Dr. Poenie...have been in an inflatable castle jumping thingy with this guy...good class, I learned a ton of stuff.

The parking ticket was from West Campus. Beware!

 

[Samoa]

I heard awful things about Meyer for organic. I had a guy named Clinger for the second half, and on day 1, he said "This entire class is about nucleophilic attack on the carbonyl. If you learn that mechanism thoroughly, everything else is just a variation on the theme." And he was right. And gone in a year. Meyer was his replacement. Our theory was that Clinger gave out too many A's, and so he had to go. But I bet we all did well on the MCAT organic questions, because it was his teaching, not his testing, that was the reason people did well in his class.

A funny side note: some of my classmates here in med school totally flipped out when one of our biochem profs actually started pushing electrons while explaining a biochemical pathway he was trying to teach. The typical reaction was, "Oh my God, are we gonna have to learn that? I thought we were done with that kind of thing." And I remember thinking, oh, that's just a nucleophilic attack on a carbonyl--that'll be an easy point. But some of my more influential classmates threw a fit, so it never actually showed up on the test, despite the fact that it's part of the serine protease mechanism, which HAS been asked about on the USMLE. My class is so whiny, it's hard not to be entertained. Although sometimes it sucks to be part of a class with that kind of reputation, because when you have a legitimate request, the knee-jerk reaction now is to dismiss it as spoiled-brat behavior without really considering whether there might be valid reasons behind it. But the entertainment factor makes up for that to a large extent.

 

[Dr.Bevo]

i luv ut. haha 🙂

some good/amazing/brilliant teachers i've come across.

bio365: pollack
orgo: meyer is a prick but you learn it well
english: carver
philosophy: kane, woodruff, koons
psychology: domjan, lewis, buss, bigler
history: brerton, lawrence, miller

ut is an amazing place to be. wouldn't trade it for anywhere else...

Meyer is one of the best profs at UT and the most miserable human being I've ever met all in one package. He taught me so much about chemistry, but I can't recommend him. Take someone else that gives out more A's. On the first day of class he usually brags about giving out less than 10% A's each semester.

 

[meltmyfaceoff]

i am graduating in 3 weeks. hurrah.

take schneider for environmental microbiology, he is funny and its interesting information.

take mihic for principles of drug action, he's a good guy and the class is pretty helpful.

sit in the ugl and read sdn all day because you are a loser.

 

[EvoDevo]

I took Meyer for Organic II several summers ago. They were some of the most intense academic weeks of my life. However, he hammered home the basics, over and over and over again. Like Samoa said, Z-philic attack, baby. I learned it so well that six years later, reviewing organic for the MCAT was a snap. Literally. So my advice is to not always look for the "nicest" or "coolest" professor, but find the one that will force you to learn it for all time.

Another great prof in that line was Dauwalder (taught the old-style named Bio 303: ["Plant and Animal Physiology"?]) but I heard that she passed on last year. 🙁

 

[JustD0it]

Is it pretty competitive to find a full time job in Austin? specifically as an ER tech or a job at YMCA

thanx

 

[curlycity]

Is it pretty competitive to find a full time job in Austin? specifically as an ER tech or a job at YMCA

thanx

Check out North Austin Medical Center. I used to shadow in their ER and they were frequently seeking new staff - not because they suck, but because people would get promoted, graduate and move on, or whatever. Nice people there.

 

[JustD0it]

Hi again

which test center in Austin do you guys recommend to take the MCAT test at? do most people take it at UT? (sometimes i hear ppl take at one test center over another because of small classrooms and bigger desks)

thanx

 

[ndi_amaka]

Hi again

which test center in Austin do you guys recommend to take the MCAT test at? do most people take it at UT? (sometimes i hear ppl take at one test center over another because of small classrooms and bigger desks)

thanx

I took mine in Dallas....if you are taking it in April, be forewarned...for the past 2 or 3 years (maybe not this past year because of all the complaints) they have had the MCAT at the same time as Forty Acres Fest. It's pretty hard to focus in the UTC when you know all your friends are jamming to a live Ludacris concert. 😱

 

[catch 23]

i luv ut. haha 🙂

some good/amazing/brilliant teachers i've come across.

bio365: pollack
orgo: meyer is a prick but you learn it well
english: carver
philosophy: kane, woodruff, koons
psychology: domjan, lewis, buss, bigler
history: brerton, lawrence, miller

ut is an amazing place to be. wouldn't trade it for anywhere else...

sunkists-- sounds like we took the same classes. Except I graduated in 2002. I loved Meyer for organic--he actually liked our class and had us over at his house for a swimming party/organic olympics before finals. he cooked us some phenomenal grub (he's a chef also) and quizzed us over org. He hates premeds though. I took him in the summer though. The thing about Meyer is that you actually learn org--I scored a kick ass score on that part of the MCAT and it's all due to him. For psyc I also took bigler (were you bummed after her two week lecture explaining why American public schools are inferior to foreign equivalents???), lewis, domjan (my thesis advisor--a fantastic mentor), and I had Miller for history. Oh I miss UT and I miss Austin. Good luck to everyone out there applying. Have fun because you won't have too much of it once in med school.

 

[whournameiz]

oh i will be taking it this`august

 

[omar06]

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