deciding on how to rank TX schools/UTMB curriculum good or bad?

[anurac]

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texas applicant here:
1) we have to submit our rankings by jan. 15th...just wondering, how is everybody deciding how to rank the schools they've interviewed at and what factors (besides location) are you taking into consideration? all of the students at the schools i've visited say the same thing...that they're generally happy, that no one is competitive, etc...so the differences are starting to blur a little bit.
2) while i liked UTMB galveston when i visited, they also have the most non-traditional curriculum, with PBL groups all throughout the mornings, leaving you with afternoons off to study...it seems like since the PBL sessions are graded on a subjective level, it would be harder for somebody who dosen't like to talk a lot to fare well in that kind of situation.... also students at UTMB are not handed lecture notes to follow unlike other schools...while i realize that a lot of med school consists of self-teaching, it also seems like there is a lot less structure during the first year, which could actually make it harder to manage your study time...versus schools like houston, tech, and san antonio which have lectures scheduled throughout the day leaving you with less time to study...what are everbody's thoughts on having the structure of a traditional curriculum versus being left with more independent time in a PBL curriculum like UTMB's?

 

[votekony2016]

at UTMB they have something calles scribes, these are notes for the whole year and you buy them from upperclassmen. Each MS group buys it from the one above and they edit and add stuff every year. Regarding the competitiveness i've heard UTSW/Baylor are a little bit more edgy and cut-throat, also i've heard that UTH is similar. I'm sure plenty of people have heard that, what i have never heard of is any complaints about the friendliness and accepting/bonding enviornment at UTMB. UTMB has half day so you are out by noon on most days and this allows for a lot more time for self studying and have heard only positive comments about this. I was just accepted a few days ago but maybe I'm biased but i tried to be as honest as possible.

 

[Ja3ger]

Ten years, dude...

 

[lovemango]

texas applicant here:
2) while i liked UTMB galveston when i visited, they also have the most non-traditional curriculum, with PBL groups all throughout the mornings, leaving you with afternoons off to study...it seems like since the PBL sessions are graded on a subjective level, it would be harder for somebody who dosen't like to talk a lot to fare well in that kind of situation.... also students at UTMB are not handed lecture notes to follow unlike other schools...while i realize that a lot of med school consists of self-teaching, it also seems like there is a lot less structure during the first year, which could actually make it harder to manage your study time...versus schools like houston, tech, and san antonio which have lectures scheduled throughout the day leaving you with less time to study...what are everbody's thoughts on having the structure of a traditional curriculum versus being left with more independent time in a PBL curriculum like UTMB's?

PBL is not the entire morning. During the first module (GAR - Gross Anatomy & Radiology), PBL is 1 hr, 3x a week. Lecture is usually 1-2 hrs everyday, with lab 1-2 hrs everyday. You're only scheduled from 8am-12pm, so a typical day during GAR might be 1 hr PBL, 1 hr lecture, 2 hr lab or 2 hr lecture, 2 hr lab. We also have Practice of Medicine (POM) once a week, which is the class where you learn clinical skills, talk about ethics, etc. The schedule is a lot more relaxed so far during MCT and we only have 4 lab sessions throughout the 8 weeks. PBL is 2 hrs, 3x a week, and most days we have 1-2 hour-long lectures.

Lectures are not mandatory (I've stopped going after GAR) and you have a ton of self-study time. It's pretty awesome but you have to be disciplined enough to make yourself sit down and study. We have scribes, which are similar to the syllabi at UTH. There's also tons of material being shared by upperclassmen and fellow classmates, including free ebooks, notes, and tutorials. I love it here at UTMB since you get to choose your own learning style. I watch lectures on Tegrity at 1.75-2x speed, annotate my scribes, and supplement with ebooks or physical textbooks I check out for free from the Office of Student Affairs.