*~*~*~*Official TMDSAS Questions Thread 2012-2013*~*~*~*

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How long did it take TMDSAS to actually "receive" your transcript? I sent mine on May 31st, from Texas, and until now my TMDSAS transcript status is still "not received" while AMCAS already got it a few days ago. Should I resend my transcript or something?
 
LittleDandelion said:
How long did it take TMDSAS to actually "receive" your transcript? I sent mine on May 31st, from Texas, and until now my TMDSAS transcript status is still "not received" while AMCAS already got it a few days ago. Should I resend my transcript or something?
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Took around two and a half weeks for TMDSAS to "receive" my transcripts. Should just wait another week and see.
 
Thanks for the input.Anyone have experience not attaching the request form to transcripts. I will be attaching one to my current university, but think it will be complicated to request for the university I transferred from.
 
amycompton said:
Thanks for the input.Anyone have experience not attaching the request form to transcripts. I will be attaching one to my current university, but think it will be complicated to request for the university I transferred from.
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I didn't have any transcript request forms for any of my transcripts to either AMCAS, TMDSAS, or AACOMAS. So far, only AACOMAS still hasn't "received" one of my transcripts.
 
I am an OOS applicant. I was wondering if it was a good idea to use the first optional essay to explain why I am applying to texas. I have had clinical experience there as well as produced publications with an texas physician. Furthermore, my wife has lived in Texas and studies at UT Austin. Would it be a good idea to make the topic of my essay generally why i am applying to texas and base my essay around that?
 
mairaj24 said:
I am an OOS applicant. I was wondering if it was a good idea to use the first optional essay to explain why I am applying to texas. I have had clinical experience there as well as produced publications with an texas physician. Furthermore, my wife has lived in Texas and studies at UT Austin. Would it be a good idea to make the topic of my essay generally why i am applying to texas and base my essay around that?
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Yes
 
Has anyone entered an audited course? I had no idea what to put for grade since it requires one to submit. I selected "not yet available" since the "no credit (fail)" enters as a fail... Man, this application is brutal with all the double and triple entries. It's taking forever! :-(
 
What is considered "late" for TMDSAS. I'm hoping to submit by the end of the week. My transcripts and LOR are already in. Is this ok?

Also I'm a bit confused by the chronology thing. What is the point? Should we basically just be importing after we complete the app and leave it as is? Is this just for our purpose to make sure everything is okay or do ADCOMS look at it?
 
I had a quick question about LOR. I am a re-applicant looking to use the same one's as last year, does anyone know the procedure on this?
 
dwills said:
What is considered "late" for TMDSAS. I'm hoping to submit by the end of the week. My transcripts and LOR are already in. Is this ok?

Also I'm a bit confused by the chronology thing. What is the point? Should we basically just be importing after we complete the app and leave it as is? Is this just for our purpose to make sure everything is okay or do ADCOMS look at it?
Click to expand...

You are fine.

The only point I saw to the chronology was to make sure there were no more than 3 months gap anywhere.
 
After looking over my application carefully for a few days... I submitted it this morning, only to realize this evening that I made an error on my application. I listed my undergraduate research as 2 years, but it was actually only 1 year. Am I screwed? It was a true error, but I'm worried it looks like I'm lying and will look bad. There's a chance they might gloss over the mistake, but I have a letter of rec from the PI so they may notice the discrepancy. Is there anything I can do?
 
OccamsRazor said:
After looking over my application carefully for a few days... I submitted it this morning, only to realize this evening that I made an error on my application. I listed my undergraduate research as 2 years, but it was actually only 1 year. Am I screwed? It was a true error, but I'm worried it looks like I'm lying and will look bad. There's a chance they might gloss over the mistake, but I have a letter of rec from the PI so they may notice the discrepancy. Is there anything I can do?
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I think it's worth a call to see if they can change it for you. All they can say is no.
 
1. In the coursework section, how do I report a course I withdrew from? There is an option to put "Withdraw" as my grade, but it won't accept 0 for the credit hours (which is what my transcript shows). Same for an audited course for which I did not receive credit...

2. Should independent studies that primarily involved lab research be listed as Bio Lec or Bio Lab?

3. Under Academic Recognition, would individual semesters on the Dean's List be significant enough to report?

Thanks!
 
aggronor said:
1. In the coursework section, how do I report a course I withdrew from? There is an option to put "Withdraw" as my grade, but it won't accept 0 for the credit hours (which is what my transcript shows). Same for an audited course for which I did not receive credit...

2. Should independent studies that primarily involved lab research be listed as Bio Lec or Bio Lab?

3. Under Academic Recognition, would individual semesters on the Dean's List be significant enough to report?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

1. You earned 0 credit hours, but attempted 3 (I'm guessing). Put down however many hours the course was worth, and then mark the grade as a W.
2. No idea.
3. I grouped Dean's List together, and said which semesters I received it in. Listing them separately by semester would be overkill lol.
 
Should I put my publications as separate entries? I have 3 papers and I can barely fit them under one entry...there's not space for anything except the titles.
 
Ugh Texas schools have their own application?

Are Texas schools good schools to apply from OOS? (I'm a cali resident that needs to apply to OOS for obvious reasons 😛)
 
nabilesmail said:
Ugh Texas schools have their own application?

Are Texas schools good schools to apply from OOS? (I'm a cali resident that needs to apply to OOS for obvious reasons 😛)
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Just like many other state schools, most texas med schools are required to have about 90% of their class as in state residents, except for Baylor (about 70% in state). You can look at the MSAR to see how many OOS were interviewed and accepted last year, then you can decide whether you want to try applying or not.
 
Do they begin the validation process after your app has been submitted even if payment hasn't been received?

I ask because i submitted but my payment check was just sent out. It has a GPA calculated on the Status page. Is this the official one? Did they validate it one day? Or is that GPA subject to change once the receive the payment and just a calculated GPA based of what i submitted?
 
dwills said:
Do they begin the validation process after your app has been submitted even if payment hasn't been received?

I ask because i submitted but my payment check was just sent out. It has a GPA calculated on the Status page. Is this the official one? Did they validate it one day? Or is that GPA subject to change once the receive the payment and just a calculated GPA based of what i submitted?
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They will not touch your app until they receive your payment. But don't worry about that, because they can "receive" it pretty quickly. I think they got my check the day after I sent it or something. Transcript, on the other hand, takes forever for them to "receive" (2 weeks for me). Your GPA on the status page when you submitted was calculated based on what you put in the app, and it's not official. Once they receive your check and transcript, it doesn't take them that long to verify it, and at that point you will get your official GPA. For me, I submitted my app 6/1, transcript received 6/12, verified 6/13.
 
I sent my check more than a week ago, and they still haven't "received it".
 
Well then my guess is that they're having a high number of apps waiting now, making everything slower
 
Forgive me if this come across as silly or if this has been asked somewhere else, but I have played the saxophone since 1999 and plan on paying till I die.

1) Should I list this activity as starting in 1999?
2) If so, should I estimate the hours? Approximately 3400 hours, which is probably on the low side as I just generalized at 5hrs a week, but it probably was around 10-15 during most of junior high and high school.
3) What should I put for an end date? Can I try and predict my death? Say 2070? lol
 
DAPI said:
Forgive me if this come across as silly or if this has been asked somewhere else, but I have played the saxophone since 1999 and plan on paying till I die.

1) Should I list this activity as starting in 1999?
2) If so, should I estimate the hours? Approximately 3400 hours, which is probably on the low side as I just generalized at 5hrs a week, but it probably was around 10-15 during most of junior high and high school.
3) What should I put for an end date? Can I try and predict my death? Say 2070? lol
Click to expand...

1. Yes
2. Yes. Then you can mention the different times in the description.
3. Don't know the technical answer, but that's exactly what I did! Actually I think I put my 80th birthday as the end of those type of activities. :laugh:
 
Another question:

If I did research at my school only during the academic year should I break it up into separate entries that range the exact dates? So I would have three entries from September to May each year that are all research at my undergrad even though it was all the same lab and everything?

In AMCAS there is room to explain its only during the academic year, but not so much with only 300 characters.
 
DAPI said:
Another question:

If I did research at my school only during the academic year should I break it up into separate entries that range the exact dates? So I would have three entries from September to May each year that are all research at my undergrad even though it was all the same lab and everything?

In AMCAS there is room to explain its only during the academic year, but not so much with only 300 characters.
Click to expand...

+1, also in my case I was researching different aspects of the same subject area, should I have each entry separate? Also with only 300 characters should I make another entry for a publication or try to list it in under the most relevant entry (assuming I split them). And what exactly is the format of listing a publication?
 
Hi All,

I have a quick question, if my parents own commercial real estate in texas, but I live in california and my parents do too, should I explain that in the Option Question under the "Residency" category?

Thanks so much for your help! 😍
 
Do Texas schools start reviewing apps/inviting people for interviews before they receive our letters of recommendation? I'm complete besides these and I got an email from UTMB today saying that my application was under review.
 
blomar said:
+1, also in my case I was researching different aspects of the same subject area, should I have each entry separate? Also with only 300 characters should I make another entry for a publication or try to list it in under the most relevant entry (assuming I split them). And what exactly is the format of listing a publication?
Click to expand...

Short answer - Enter multiple entries.

Long Answer - I have a crap-ton of research. A 300 word limit wasn't even enough to properly list one of my manuscripts, let alone more than one. Since they put so much emphasis on doubling and tripling entries, I erred on the side of caution. I entered a description of each research position and independently led project as its own entry with the total amount of hours worked and entered the associated posters, oral presentations, and publications as additional separate entries with varying hours. For instance, as an RAII, I coauthored several posters and pubs directly related to the RO1 or K funding grant. It was an employment and research experience, getting one entry in both forums. But the posters and pubs related to that project and grant also got their own separate entries, solely in the research forum: "Published Public Health Manuscript" was the experience title with the journal citation as the description.

I further elaborated a little by assigning just the amount of time spent at the conference if the poster/presentation was directly related to the grant funded project I was working on as an RA, but elaborated on other original works by adding additional hours worked to the pubs or posters that were segues from the original project and utilized effort off of the grant....

Did that help anyone?
 
question. when sending in the 2 rec letters for TMDSAS, does it matter if they're science or non-science? With AMCAS, the usual case is 2 science and 1 non science, but since TMDSAS recommends 2 and says it "isnt encouraged" to send more than 2 (i got that impression from the wording), will 2 science letters fulfill the requirements for the texas public schools?
 
mohad said:
question. when sending in the 2 rec letters for TMDSAS, does it matter if they're science or non-science? With AMCAS, the usual case is 2 science and 1 non science, but since TMDSAS recommends 2 and says it "isnt encouraged" to send more than 2 (i got that impression from the wording), will 2 science letters fulfill the requirements for the texas public schools?
Click to expand...

I did 1 science and then 1 from a doc, also under the impression that more would be a bad choice....

Then, just this morning, I noticed the TAMU site specifically wants 3 letters. How does that mesh?

I am not using an HPAC (nontrad here), but I did take some post-bacc classes, so I looked at that undergrad's suggestions. The pre-med society info states that you should send more (I think they also suggest 3) if you can, and that the TMDSAS info doesn't apply to schools with letter packets. Take from it what you would like, but I just added another letter.

Since I am nontraditional, I am adding an employer letter instead of another science. I had to email TMDSAS, and they made another letter placeholder for me to send it over.
 
craftyconqueror said:
I did 1 science and then 1 from a doc, also under the impression that more would be a bad choice....

Then, just this morning, I noticed the TAMU site specifically wants 3 letters. How does that mesh?

I am not using an HPAC (nontrad here), but I did take some post-bacc classes, so I looked at that undergrad's suggestions. The pre-med society info states that you should send more (I think they also suggest 3) if you can, and that the TMDSAS info doesn't apply to schools with letter packets. Take from it what you would like, but I just added another letter.

Since I am nontraditional, I am adding an employer letter instead of another science. I had to email TMDSAS, and they made another letter placeholder for me to send it over.
Click to expand...

But I just looked at the TAMU med school site and it says : "A minimum of two evaluations from professors are required. Letters of reference from employment supervisors, physicians, other medical personnel or research mentors are acceptable, but they must not be used in lieu of the minimum two professor letters."
 
polymathg said:
But I just looked at the TAMU med school site and it says : "A minimum of two evaluations from professors are required. Letters of reference from employment supervisors, physicians, other medical personnel or research mentors are acceptable, but they must not be used in lieu of the minimum two professor letters."
Click to expand...

True, but this is the part that applies to me:
"If you are no longer in undergraduate school and cannot obtain an evaluation from your former health professions advisor or health professions advisory committee, you should proceed as follows:

  • If you are attending graduate school, one of your evaluations must be from your graduate advisor, a major professor or the chairperson of your major department.
  • If you have been out of college for more than one year and are currently employed or in military service, one of your required evaluations must be written by your immediate supervisor or commanding officer.
  • If self-employed, one of your recommendation letters must be from a business associate. The evaluation must detail your performance.
If you cannot obtain a letter from a health professions advisor or faculty member because you have been out of school for several years, you must then submit at least three letters from employment supervisors or associates, medical personnel, and/or research mentors to complete your evaluation packet."
 
polymathg said:
But I just looked at the TAMU med school site and it says : "A minimum of two evaluations from professors are required. Letters of reference from employment supervisors, physicians, other medical personnel or research mentors are acceptable, but they must not be used in lieu of the minimum two professor letters."
Click to expand...

Also, the above bold confused me, only because TMDSAS made me think more than 2 letters would look bad. At least according to this school, that doesn't seem to be the case.

You will definitely need to tailor for your own situation. Looks like if you are applying there and a current/recent undergrad, you will need that second science letter. After reading up, I would still stick a third on if you think that would represent you better.
 
Ok, one last question. When sending the rec letters, someone told me that you need to send letters one at a time, or something to that effect. Could anyone clarify this? Also, I have 6 entries for interfolio, 3 for rec letters, and 3 for those TMDSAS evaluations. Ultimately, I will be sending 4 things from interfolio to TMDSAS (2 recs and 2 evals), Will that somehow affect the 2 placeholders for the recommendation letters already in place?
 
If I take my MCAT in September is that too late for TMDSAS to accept it? I imagine that means the score would be in by October.
 
mohad said:
Ok, one last question. When sending the rec letters, someone told me that you need to send letters one at a time, or something to that effect. Could anyone clarify this? Also, I have 6 entries for interfolio, 3 for rec letters, and 3 for those TMDSAS evaluations. Ultimately, I will be sending 4 things from interfolio to TMDSAS (2 recs and 2 evals), Will that somehow affect the 2 placeholders for the recommendation letters already in place?
Click to expand...

From the TMDSAS website:
"Individual Letters:

  1. Letter writer can mail the TMDSAS Evaluation Form and letter directly to TMDSAS via regular mail. (preferred delivery method for individual letters)
  2. You may deliver letters electronically through Interfolio. Each letter must be delivered separately – do not deliver individual letters together. They must come in individual deliveries. Make sure your TMDSAS ID is on your letter(s) so that we can match them properly."
My interpretation: The point is to make sure the letters aren't actually grouped together. Sending one a few minutes after the first delivery would be fine, but each should be a separate order/separate payment.


The placeholders will be fine. It's just people in the office going through everything, so they will see what they are and match them correctly.




Saf1 said:
If I take my MCAT in September is that too late for TMDSAS to accept it? I imagine that means the score would be in by October.
Click to expand...

From the TMDSAS website:
"MCAT:

The Medical College Admissions Test, MCAT, is required for admission to most medical schools. The exam must have been taken no earlier than January 2008 and no later than September of the year preceding enrollment into medical school (i.e. if you are applying for entry year 2013, September 2012 is the last month you can take the MCAT). No score from a test taken within the year of enrollment will be accepted. Scores from years prior to 2008 will not be considered."
 
Ok, that makes sense. One last thing, how does TMDSAS know I'm sending letters via interfolio? I take it I am supposed to fill out the 2 placeholders with the professors details, but do as for "email" or "print" letter, which one do I select?

SOrry for these questions, I'm just getting confused with this whole LOR part...
 
mohad said:
Ok, that makes sense. One last thing, how does TMDSAS know I'm sending letters via interfolio? I take it I am supposed to fill out the 2 placeholders with the professors details, but do as for "email" or "print" letter, which one do I select?

SOrry for these questions, I'm just getting confused with this whole LOR part...
Click to expand...

When you create a delivery in Interfolio, you will select "Texas Medical...." as recipient.

Email/print refers only to how you want to send your TMDSAS evaluation sheets to your writers.
 
craftyconqueror said:
When you create a delivery in Interfolio, you will select "Texas Medical...." as recipient.

Email/print refers only to how you want to send your TMDSAS evaluation sheets to your writers.
Click to expand...

I already did the 2 requests to TMDSAS through interfolio, but when I get to the LOR page of TMDSAS, it says that I need to comment on whether an individual letter or committee letter is being sent. Then when I try and click continue after selecting individual, it requires me to fill out placeholders.

"Data was not saved due to incomplete placeholders. please fill out every placeholder"

Can I just skip that then and go on and send in my app since interfolio is sending them to TMDSAS anyway?

What I'mt rying to get at is that interfolio is already sending the letters, so how does that tie into me telling TMDSAS that I will have 2 letter writers write letters via print?
 
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mohad said:
I already did the 2 requests to TMDSAS through interfolio, but when I get to the LOR page of TMDSAS, it says that I need to comment on whether an individual letter or committee letter is being sent. Then when I try and click continue after selecting individual, it requires me to fill out placeholders.

"Data was not saved due to incomplete placeholders. please fill out every placeholder"

Can I just skip that then and go on and send in my app since interfolio is sending them to TMDSAS anyway?
Click to expand...

So did you already fill out placeholders? You have to do that for them to match the letters to your app.

When I go to my TMDSAS, The first part of the LOR page shows the schools I'm applying to, with Committee and Individual as 2 choices underneath those. I checked individual and created the placeholders. So now I have a grid right under "individual" with the 3 letter writer listings.

Not sure if that helps you.... If not, you can call tomorrow. They are pretty helpful for general questions. 🙂
 
craftyconqueror said:
So did you already fill out placeholders? You have to do that for them to match the letters to your app.

When I go to my TMDSAS, The first part of the LOR page shows the schools I'm applying to, with Committee and Individual as 2 choices underneath those. I checked individual and created the placeholders. So now I have a grid right under "individual" with the 3 letter writer listings.

Not sure if that helps you.... If not, you can call tomorrow. They are pretty helpful for general questions. 🙂
Click to expand...


yeah, I just filled them out. I just was confused because the application says "method of request: Email or Print" and I didn't know which one to fill out. I guess it wouldn't really matter if they had the names though, right? I'm just getting caught up on what to put in that method of request blank, and I thikn I'm just getting held up over nothing.

Thanks for your patience btw. I appreciate all your input. I've just been trying to turn this in cause I've been sitting on it. Your help has been appreciated a bunch!
 
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mohad said:
yeah, I just filled them out. I just was confused because the application says "method of request: Email or Print" and I didn't know which one to fill out. I guess it wouldn't really matter if they had the names though, right? I'm just getting caught up on what to put in that method of request blank, and I thikn I'm just getting held up over nothing.

Thanks for your patience btw. I appreciate all your input. I've just been trying to turn this in cause I've been sitting on it. Your help has been appreciated a bunch!
Click to expand...

No problem. And no, the request method doesn't matter to them; it's just what gets generated for you to send. I actually didn't use the eval forms at all since I am also submitting AMCAS and didn't want to make my writers do both. So I put "print" but never actually printed them off. They seem to still be matching fine.

Good luck!
 
Anyone else submitting their application at the end of July? I feel like it'll be too late by then 🙁
 
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