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

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DCSB6 said:
Application for 2013 is now open!

Does anyone know if we have to report all non-TMDSAS schools we are applying to? It asks for this, but I haven't narrowed down my list and don't want to put 40 different schools!
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I have the same question cus I don't really want to list all my AMCAS schools since that might seem to put me at a disadvantage when they see that
 
Yes, you are required to report them.
 
R1MD said:
Yes, you are required to report them.
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I only reported 6 out of the 20-ish I applied to, but it was because I had only decided on those 6 at the time of submitting my TMDSAS. It took me another month to narrow down the AMCAS schools.

I would be surprised if it negatively impacts you to apply to a bunch of schools. Don't most people?
 
So I got transmitted to schools.

Can I just go ahead and submit the secondaries or should I wait for the schools to contact me?
 
Can someone please answer my question?

On the TMDSAS website it says:

"07.27.2012: Current processing times:
Applications: processing those whose application fee was received on July 18"

So basically about 10 days for them to start processing ur application after receiving your payment. But how much additional time is it going to take them for them to actually TRANSMIT them to the schools? Is it a long while? I was planning in submitting my application the first week of August, does this mean that my application won't be sent out until September? Or soon after they begin to process it, Mid August?
 
Jah UT13 said:
Can someone please answer my question?

On the TMDSAS website it says:

"07.27.2012: Current processing times:
Applications: processing those whose application fee was received on July 18"

So basically about 10 days for them to start processing ur application after receiving your payment. But how much additional time is it going to take them for them to actually TRANSMIT them to the schools? Is it a long while? I was planning in submitting my application the first week of August, does this mean that my application won't be sent out until September? Or soon after they begin to process it, Mid August?
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Processing on TMDSAS means to transmit. The 10-day lag time right now isn't bad at all, considering AMCAS is about 1 month behind right now. But remember as it gets closer to August that more people will be trying to get their apps in, which will slow down their processing times. So the sooner you can submit, the better. I submitted mine on 6/15, transmitted on 7/3, and I've got 2 interviews already.
 
I have worked in research for about 5 years. I know that I should mention it in both employment and research experience, but do I put down the actual cumulative hours spent in the lab? It is my job, so it is like 10,000 hours!
 
So it's getting pretty late in the application cycle and the only thing keeping me from submitting are the "optional" personal statements. From what people have told me (advisor/friend that talked to admissions director), apparently, there is no such thing as "optional" and it's a mistake not to do all three. What do you guys think about this? I was planning on only doing two since I'm trying to submit as soon as possible. Would it be better to take a little longer and do all 3?
 
Jah UT13 said:
So it's getting pretty late in the application cycle and the only thing keeping me from submitting are the "optional" personal statements. From what people have told me (advisor/friend that talked to admissions director), apparently, there is no such thing as "optional" and it's a mistake not to do all three. What do you guys think about this? I was planning on only doing two since I'm trying to submit as soon as possible. Would it be better to take a little longer and do all 3?
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One's about a hardship or something right? If you have legitimate hardship, I'd definitely write about it. Otherwise, I wouldn't put something down just for the sake of filling the box. The other one, about contributing to diversity (or something like that), is NOT optional in my opinion.
 
Jah UT13 said:
So it's getting pretty late in the application cycle and the only thing keeping me from submitting are the "optional" personal statements. From what people have told me (advisor/friend that talked to admissions director), apparently, there is no such thing as "optional" and it's a mistake not to do all three. What do you guys think about this? I was planning on only doing two since I'm trying to submit as soon as possible. Would it be better to take a little longer and do all 3?
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At this point I think its better to submit than keep putting it off if you have nothing good to say
 
armybound said:
At this point I think its better to submit than keep putting it off if you have nothing good to say
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I agree. If you have something significant to say that will strengthen your app in some way, definitely write it. However, if you're just struggling to write something for the sake of not leaving it empty, submit.
 
Optional Essay 1- Unique Experience: Briefly discuss any unique circumstances or life experiences that are relevant to your application which have not previously been presented.

Optional Essay 2- Personal Characteristics: Please describe any personal characteristics and/or important or challenging experiences you have had that will contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of or provide educational benefits to the student body.

In my case, I feel like I have a unique experience that also falls under "challenging experiences" that i feel can contribute to the diversity of the student body. To me, both of the optional essays sound the same, so i'm not sure what I should do. It's hard to explain without having you guys reading my personal statement and explaining my hardship. If ur interested, send me a PM
 
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Jah UT13 said:
Optional Essay 1- Unique Experience: Briefly discuss any unique circumstances or life experiences that are relevant to your application which have not previously been presented.

Optional Essay 2- Personal Characteristics: Please describe any personal characteristics and/or important or challenging experiences you have had that will contribute to the diversity (broadly defined) of or provide educational benefits to the student body.

In my case, I feel like I have a unique experience that also falls under "challenging experiences" that i feel can contribute to the diversity of the student body. To me, both of the optional essays sound the same, so i'm not sure what I should do. It's hard to explain without having you guys reading my personal statement and explaining my hardship. If ur interested, send me a PM
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For the first essay, It seemed to me that they were looking more for a hardship. The second essay seems like you could write about anything that makes you diverse. It's more broad.
 
how can I enter in a zero credit class? it was half quarter intro class about the major that was required for everyone but it was zero credit. TMDSAS won't let me enter 0 for credit hours.
 
StrikeX2 said:
how can I enter in a zero credit class? it was half quarter intro class about the major that was required for everyone but it was zero credit. TMDSAS won't let me enter 0 for credit hours.
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I would e-mail TMDSAS. In the top right corner you should see inbox or something, just click that and send a message to them and ask. They're usually pretty quick about responding.

They also verify all info and make changes when you send your transcript in.
 
bigtruckguy3500 said:
I would e-mail TMDSAS. In the top right corner you should see inbox or something, just click that and send a message to them and ask. They're usually pretty quick about responding.

They also verify all info and make changes when you send your transcript in.
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appreciate the response! thanks! 🙂
 
StrikeX2 said:
how can I enter in a zero credit class? it was half quarter intro class about the major that was required for everyone but it was zero credit. TMDSAS won't let me enter 0 for credit hours.
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I just didn't even enter the 0 credit hour courses I had. They did not affect my GPA whatsoever, so I just left them out, even though they show up on my transcript. And TMDSAS did not even ask me why I didn't enter them; they just calculated my GPA the usual way.
 
I had the same thing and emailed them. They told me to just put them in as one credit and they changed it during verification.
 
Do we hear about interview invitations through email or does this information come from the TMDSAS website?

Also, will a school tell you if they DON'T want to interview you? Or do you pretty much just get no feedback?
 
thanks for the response guys. Just in case anyone else is curious, they got back to me and basically said to not include any zero credit classes. 🙂
 
JuxGiant said:
Do we hear about interview invitations through email or does this information come from the TMDSAS website?

Also, will a school tell you if they DON'T want to interview you? Or do you pretty much just get no feedback?
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Interview invites go out through e-mail. Although I believe TCOM will call you.

If you don't hear back from a school, by the end of December, they're probably getting ready to send you a rejection letter. You won't get any other communication unless they invite you for an interview.
 
bigtruckguy3500 said:
Interview invites go out through e-mail. Although I believe TCOM will call you.

If you don't hear back from a school, by the end of December, they're probably getting ready to send you a rejection letter. You won't get any other communication unless they invite you for an interview.
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Good to know! Thanks!
 
SUPER BUMP

I have already completed my application, but have yet to submit due to neuroticism and checking for errors. I was in the process of overlooking the application once more before submitting today, but now I feel like my activities descriptions should do more than describe tasks. I wanted to describe and reflect but the character limit prevents it. I would rather reflect rather than describe tasks but I don't want to confuse them if they are unaware of the activity.

Question: What did y'all do? How did y'all tackle this?

It seems like most of the schools for which I am applying do not require a secondary, so that is why I am concerned too. Thanks for your help.
 
I described the activity. A lot of my activities overlapped into other categories. If they did, I expanded my description in another section and put a little bit of reflection or what I learned under the second category that I listed my activity in. At this point I wouldn't worry to much. You need to submit your app ASAP. It's getting late for Tx.
 
If my activity was only in one section I just listed my tasks.
 
Thanks Rubisco88 for the reply. I will go over it once more and submit. I appreciate it.
 
this is something that i noticed and might be worth pointing out. TMDSAS does not accept credit card payments, and they don't review your application until your check/money order payment is in. For those of you guys who haven't submitted their apps yet but are going to do so soon, I would go ahead and send in the checks right now; they seem to verify apps based on date of payment received.

You mail the checks to
TMDSAS
702 Colorado, Suite 6.400
Austin, TX 78701

Just make sure to write your full name and TMDSAS ID on the check and write down the check number somewhere (you'll need that in your app).
 
Haha was kinda upset when realized that I couldn't pay by credit card because I knew it would delay my app more and I had thought all that time that when I submitted it it would start processing. I don't know why they don't accept credit cards. Super lame.
 
rubisco88 said:
Haha was kinda upset when realized that I couldn't pay by credit card because I knew it would delay my app more and I had thought all that time that when I submitted it it would start processing. I don't know why they don't accept credit cards. Super lame.
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Credit cards charge fees. Sometimes as much as 3%, I think. TMDSAS is super cheap compared to the alternative (AMCAS), so I can understand them trying to save money wherever possible and passing on the savings to us.
 
Just wondering if you have strong ties to Texas if it plays a role in your favor for these schools or is it that if you are out of state your out of state ...
 
adventure2011 said:
Just wondering if you have strong ties to Texas if it plays a role in your favor for these schools or is it that if you are out of state your out of state ...
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Texas wants doctors that will practice in Texas. If you're OOS, you're at a disadvantage from the get-go, as schools can only admit up to 10% of each class from the OOS pool. But, if you can show that you have genuine strong ties to Texas, and that you may even be interested in practicing here, I'd imagine they weigh that into their consideration.
 
Thanks! I do have family there and I was born there and my parents studied there. So my hopes are to come back and I do want to stay!
 
If I took a class over the summer at a community college just to get acquainted with the material before actually taking it at my university, do I need to put this on my tmdsas application even if I didn't claim any credit for it?
 
ursc22 said:
If I took a class over the summer at a community college just to get acquainted with the material before actually taking it at my university, do I need to put this on my tmdsas application even if I didn't claim any credit for it?
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When you say you didn't "claim credit," does that mean you didn't take the class for credit? For example, I audited some classes, so I did not get credit for these. They also did not show up on transcripts. TMDSAS said those do not need to be included.

If the CC has a transcript for you, however, you have to include it.

If you're not sure if the CC has one, call them to ask.
 
I meant that I never tried to get credit for it at my normal university. I'm not sure if I have a transcript from the community college, but I will definitely call them. Thank you!
 
<--- what Crafty said.

Good luck!
 
i was in a similar situation. I had to take a required course for my major at my university but it was a zero credit class. It showed up on my transcript as well. I contacted them regarding this and they said to not include any zero credit classes even if its on transcripts. You just have to make sure that if it does appear on your transcript, it has to say zero under credits.
 
If there is a record you taking a course, and you received a grade for it, you need to report it.
 
William Hart said:
I was reviewing the coursework I put into my TMDSAS app so I could get course info for my Southwestern app when I realized that I somehow listed several bio lecture/lab courses as "othsci."

What should I do about this? Email every Texas school I applied to? Contact TMDSAS?

I did this for 2 intro bio courses and 1 for physiology. Not really worried about physiology being listed as othsci but the intro bio courses have non-traditional course names so I dont want too much confusion.

I correctly listed the course prefix as Bio.
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I think TMDSAS will fix this when they verify your coursework. Don't e-mail the schools though, if anything just send a message through TMDSAS in the top right of TMDSAS.
 
bigtruckguy3500 said:
I think TMDSAS will fix this when they verify your coursework. Don't e-mail the schools though, if anything just send a message through TMDSAS in the top right of TMDSAS.
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My app is verified and was transmitted to schools just over 2 weeks ago. I'm leaning towards they changed the course area and not that I made the same mistake twice...
 
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