*~*~*~* Official TMDSAS Questions Thread 2023-2024 *~*~*~*

[wysdoc]

Hey y'all, I had a question about LOR status. On the schools I've completed and submitted secondaries for, it still says that my LOR is incomplete in the checklist on their portals. TMDSAS received my committee letter on 6/16, but I got an email today (6/22) saying they had received and approved it. But, the individual school portals show they still haven't received it. Why hasn't it been updated? Is there some turnaround time for this?

Yes, there is a little processing time. You can follow such things on the TMDSAS Home Page here, look in the Blue Box: TMDSAS Homepage

Your schools should get them in a day or two.

Then some human being at the school has to mark them received in your file.

You have things well in hand and are getting things turned in early, no worries

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[hilwaytwo]

Hi y'all! Anyone have experiencing turning in secondaries after the "2 week unofficial deadline"? I work full time and some of my secondaries for TMDSAS got turned in the 2-3 weeks after the received date. I'm hoping it's fine since it's still early, but I'm scared to get ghosted by those schools because they think I'm uninterested or something. (For example, I got an email from McGovern 2 weeks after reminding me I had not turned in my secondary application) Anyone know what the general consensus is on this? Thank you 🙂

 

[wysdoc]

Hi y'all! Anyone have experiencing turning in secondaries after the "2 week unofficial deadline"? I work full time and some of my secondaries for TMDSAS got turned in the 2-3 weeks after the received date. I'm hoping it's fine since it's still early, but I'm scared to get ghosted by those schools because they think I'm uninterested or something. (For example, I got an email from McGovern 2 weeks after reminding me I had not turned in my secondary application) Anyone know what the general consensus is on this? Thank you 🙂

UTRGV and U of Houston Fertitta put an official deadline in their emails so be sure to read all the way to the end of any emails you get.
The others are more a general guideline, but it's to your advantage to show interest and get it in their hands ready to read as soon as you can.

 

[hilwaytwo]

UTRGV and U of Houston Fertitta put an official deadline in their emails so be sure to read all the way to the end of any emails you get.
The others are more a general guideline, but it's to your advantage to show interest and get it in their hands ready to read as soon as you can.

Thank you! I have all the TMDSAS ones I've received turned in now; it's just some of the schools got turned in around the 15-16 day mark instead of 2 weeks exactly and was wondering if this would look bad to them. I know it seems like a trivial thing, but just another thing I've been worried about haha

 

[purkinjekitty]

Thank you! I have all the TMDSAS ones I've received turned in now; it's just some of the schools got turned in around the 15-16 day mark instead of 2 weeks exactly and was wondering if this would look bad to them. I know it seems like a trivial thing, but just another thing I've been worried about haha

I mistakenly paid but didn’t submit McGovern until I got that email haha. I think submitting this early regardless is good enough! No interviews have gone out yet for any texas school as far as I know.

 

[wysdoc]

Thank you! I have all the TMDSAS ones I've received turned in now; it's just some of the schools got turned in around the 15-16 day mark instead of 2 weeks exactly and was wondering if this would look bad to them. I know it seems like a trivial thing, but just another thing I've been worried about haha

Stop worrying

Edited to add :
Okay, I should be less blunt sometimes because I know y'all want everything to go perfectly and you can't stop worrying.
Let's use the example of writing secondary essays, but apply these calming down thoughts in general to your academic life:

What I would like to say more completely is:
1. When you receive an email inviting you to write a secondary, read it through to the end and look for any definite deadlines.
If you have 3 secondaries in your email and one of them says "must return within 14 days", do that one first!

2. Write each essay with thoughtful intent towards that school, at the same time letting them hear more about you that you didn't already tell them in the primary essays.

3. Check and proofread carefully and be sure it's within the word count.

4. When you are satisfied with your work, follow the directions for submitting the secondary, save your login and password for each school portal somewhere secure, pay the fee, and release it into the universe. The worry about THIS secondary is now no longer your problem. It's done. You can't change or take it back, and worrying about a task that's already done is fruitless.

5. This is the hardest part: when you have turned something in, try to squash those thoughts in your head like "Does it look good? Does it look bad? Will they like me? Am I good enough?"
No one person is a perfect match for all they schools they apply to. It's rare to get interviews at more than a few schools.
Treat each interview that comes your way as your next step closer to medical school and be yourself at the interview.

Keep on doing the secondaries as they come to you and show them who you are 🙂

 

[germanrat1]

Hi, I have something that I'm freaking out a little over. I submitted my primary on May 16th. At the time, I still didn't receive two letters of recommendation. I submitted my letters through Interfolio and didn't realize that Interfolio would take such a long time to transmit because both letters came at different dates, so it based it off the latest letter. Both letters were received my TMDSAS on June 14th, transmitted to schools. I have already submitted secondaries to multiple schools and some schools show that they have received them and some still haven't. Is there a reason why some schools have received the last 2 letters and others haven't? Should I contact each school individually?

The two schools that haven't received them are UTMB and UTSW.
I submitted my UTSW secondary on June 15th which is after the letters should have been received, so I'm unclear why it's not showing they've been received on their portal?

 

[wysdoc]

Hi, I have something that I'm freaking out a little over. I submitted my primary on May 16th. At the time, I still didn't receive two letters of recommendation. I submitted my letters through Interfolio and didn't realize that Interfolio would take such a long time to transmit because both letters came at different dates, so it based it off the latest letter. Both letters were received my TMDSAS on June 14th, and I believe transmitted to schools the next day. I have already submitted secondaries to multiple schools and some schools show that they have received them and some still haven't. Is there a reason why some schools have received the last 2 letters and others haven't? Should I contact each school individually?

If TMDSAS has received them from Interfolio it’s all good. Look at the TMDSAS home page to see what they say about processing time for letters. Www.TMDSAS.com
(Have to view on laptop or desktop)

 

[germanrat1]

If TMDSAS has received them from Interfolio it’s all good. Look at the TMDSAS home page to see what they say about processing time for letters. Www.TMDSAS.com
(Have to view on laptop or desktop)

TMDSAS contacted me already to let me know they received them! I'm just unsure why on my secondary portals for schools, some say they have received them and others haven't? I saw your comment on the TAMU thread about UTSW not accepting letters past the secondary, but I submitted my secondary the day after they were accepted and transmitted.

 

[wysdoc]

TMDSAS contacted me already to let me know they received them! I'm just unsure why on my secondary portals for schools, some say they have received them and others haven't? I saw your comment on the TAMU thread about UTSW not accepting letters past the secondary, but I submitted my secondary the day after they were accepted and transmitted.

Hi @germanrat1
I did NOT mean to say that UTSW does not accept letters of recommendation past the secondary.
I meant that UTSW does not accept update emails from applicants past the secondary. I'll go clarify that in the post you saw.

For all y'all, (and I'll be a little silly here):
Letters, Casper or Preview scores, and supporting documents don't just fly on a magic carpet into your file at each medical school.

As great as it is to be able to do your submissions online, an office staff member at each medical school's admissions office has to check incoming messages (from TMDSAS, AMCAS, Interfolio, etc.), see which one of the thousands of applicants the message belongs to, and pair it with your file on their school-specific portal. THEN they can mark it complete.

How long this takes depends on the staffing level at each school.

The people who mark your application complete are not the same people who read it and evaluate it, but the office staff will let the admissions committee members know when there are some files ready to start reading.

Good luck to you all on your quest to be "part of your world" at the medical schools you applied to.

 

[j_diggity]

Hello, I'm a nontraditional student, curious what schools are wanting to see when I indicate myself as being "non-traditional". There is an essay with a prompt "Describe the factors that have defined you as a non-traditional candidate and how they impact your application. (1000 char)".

I talk a bit about my non-traditional background in my Personal Characteristics essay, and my activities section also has information about this.

I have a few ideas for how to approach this essay, but could use some advice deciding:

• As a "what have I been doing since college" prompt, just detailing my path. "I worked at XYZ for 2 years, then moved to ABC and got promoted, then realized I wanted to be an EMT"
• Talk about how being non-trad affects my application negatively, but try to draw strengths from it.
  • For example, I moved around a lot for work as a software engineer, so I don't have a ton of longitudinal (multi-year) experiences. However, I always valued community involvement, so I have several different types of interesting activities in different cities and parts of the country, each lasting about a year, which I think enriches my app.
  • Another example, I want to work with the underserved, but don't have much underserved volunteering since I've had to support myself financially. Despite this, I come from an underserved background and have still managed to do 300-500 hours of nonclinical community service across 3 separate activities during my postbac, so there's still evidence for a commitment to these populations.

Curious if anyone has ideas for how I should approach this! Thank you.

 

[wysdoc]

I recently was notified that my prehealth committee won’t be able to upload my committee letter packet until mid-july, meaning I won’t be complete until then. I know this isn’t early by any means but would it hinder my chances in tx? most of my secondaries are already submitted so this kinda sucks

This is PLENTY early, please don’t stress about this and you are ahead of most others by having your secondaries done

 

[usdr]

Sorry if this has been addressed already but I have a deficiency for 2hrs of bio lab on my PCR that should have been covered by another lab I took at my university according to the course listings that TMDSAS provides for my university. I contacted TMDSAS, but their answer was not very helpful and I have reached out again. However, I was wondering if my PCR deficiency would delay the reviewing of my application at each school if I have submitted secondaries and my app is considered complete?

 

[wysdoc]

Sorry if this has been addressed already but I have a deficiency for 2hrs of bio lab on my PCR that should have been covered by another lab I took at my university according to the course listings that TMDSAS provides for my university. I contacted TMDSAS, but their answer was not very helpful and I have reached out again. However, I was wondering if my PCR deficiency would delay the reviewing of my application at each school if I have submitted secondaries and my app is considered complete?

This should not affect the review of your application at all, as many people apply between their junior and senior year in college with many classes to come, and they will all have deficiencies show up in the PCR as well.
Keep in touch with TMDSAS regarding your appeal for those credits and be sure to provide documentation like a course description or syllabus if they ask for it.

 

[Hong_bing]

This is PLENTY early, please don’t stress about this and you are ahead of most others by having your secondaries done

Do the schools look at LOE before deciding for interview invite or just the secondaries ?

 

[wysdoc]

Do the schools look at LOE before deciding for interview invite or just the secondaries ?

Just the secondary and primary

 

[wysdoc]

apologies if this is the incorrect place to ask this:

Will the recent Supreme Court ruling have any effect on medical school applications?

June 29, 2023 Supreme Court affirmative action decision

The Supreme Court ruled colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis in admissions — a landmark decision that overturns long-standing precedent that has benefited Black and Latino students in higher education.

www.cnn.com

Here's the common thread on SDN to discuss the Supreme Court ruling for those interested:

Supreme Court Ruling, Race based admissions.

Interested in thoughts on the recent Supreme Court ruling on race in college admissions, and how it will affect medical school admissions.

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[ArizonaTea]

Just came here to say that I WILL submit my primary app today!!! Literally said this every day of this month 🙁 panic is settling in...

 

[purkinjekitty]

Just came here to say that I WILL submit my primary app today!!! Literally said this every day of this month 🙁 panic is settling in...

WOOHOO!!!! You got this!!

 

[Hong_bing]

What about that CASPer Test?

The company that administers CASPer now goes by the name Acuity Insights.
Testing requires you to schedule a date and register, and if you took it for a previous application cycle you need to repeat it.
They have recently joined SDN and post in the SJT forum where you can ask them general or technical questions you may have.

But since we're here to talk about Texas, let's get to the Texas list.

The list below shows Texas schools which require you to take CASPer as part of your complete application.
The 3 schools listed in bold want to see the results before they invite people for interviews.
The other schools use it at some later point in the application year, maybe even after they have interviewed you.
No Texas schools are asking for "Snapshot" this year. Two Texas schools are asking that you take CASPer + Duet.

1. Texas Tech El Paso
2. UTMB
3. UTSW
4. Baylor
5. Long
6. McGovern
7. Texas A&M
8. Texas Tech Lubbock
9. UT Tyler: Casper + Duet
10. SHSU: Casper + Duet

Bottom Line: Most of the Texas schools want to use it this year, so schedule it and get it done.
Texans don't fuss and dither, they act!

UTSW website states :

• Pick a date and register for the CASPer examination. Please be sure to have your scores sent to UT Southwestern. Visit the CASPer site for more information. If you are invited to interview, your scores must be delivered to UT Southwestern prior to your interview date.

So UTSW will not base Casper results to make a decision to interview, but they just need the scores before the interview date ?

 

[wysdoc]

UTSW website states :

• Pick a date and register for the CASPer examination. Please be sure to have your scores sent to UT Southwestern. Visit the CASPer site for more information. If you are invited to interview, your scores must be delivered to UT Southwestern prior to your interview date.

So UTSW will not base Casper results to make a decision to interview, but they just need the scores before the interview date ?

That is correct

 

[hulove]

I initially planned to submit five letters of recommendation, and four of them have been confirmed. I have been waiting for the fifth LOR for almost a month since my secondary submission on or around 5 June. In my opinion, it is still early enough, but I am unsure if it is a good decision to wait further because my professor is on leave and will be returning at the end of this week.
As I know the minimum requirement is 3 LORs, I am unsure whether it would be better to wait one more week or to submit my application with the four completed LoRs. Please advise.

 

[wysdoc]

I initially planned to submit five letters of recommendation, and four of them have been confirmed. I have been waiting for the fifth LOR for almost a month since my secondary submission on or around 5 June. In my opinion, it is still early enough, but I am unsure if it is a good decision to wait further because my professor is on leave and will be returning at the end of this week.
As I know the minimum requirement is 3 LORs, I am unsure whether it would be better to wait one more week or to submit my application with the four completed LoRs. Please advise.

TMDSAS allows a minimum of 3 letters and a maximum of 4. You can submit now.

If you are also planning to apply to AMCAS you could use that 5th letter for AMCAS.

 

[hulove]

TMDSAS allows a minimum of 3 letters and a maximum of 4. You can submit now.

If you are also planning to apply to AMCAS you could use that 5th letter for AMCAS.

My apologies for the confusion. I meant to say recommendation packets instead of individual letters. As far as I know, the maximum number of packets allowed is five, which is why I am concerned about not having the fifth packet yet. Thanks again.

 

[Guardians4312]

I am just curious as to how screwed I might be if I am submitting my primary application within the next week? I am also taking the MCAT at the end of July just because that is how it has worked out with my school schedule.

 

[wysdoc]

I am just curious as to how screwed I might be if I am submitting my primary application within the next week? I am also taking the MCAT at the end of July just because that is how it has worked out with my school schedule.

Submitting by the end of July is still early!

 

[wysdoc]

Y'all, I deleted a few off-topic posts

This thread is just for questions about the TMDSAS application itself and the sequence of events after submission.

Carry on and write those secondaries!

 

[yearofmagicalthinking]

TMDSAS contacted me already to let me know they received them! I'm just unsure why on my secondary portals for schools, some say they have received them and others haven't? I saw your comment on the TAMU thread about UTSW not accepting letters past the secondary, but I submitted my secondary the day after they were accepted and transmitted.

Hey! sorry for the late response, but I'm in the same boat as you—early submission & transmission, but I'm still missing 1 letter. I'm marked fully complete for UTMB and UT Tyler, but not McGovern, TAMU, Baylor, etc. In addition to wysdoc's response (each school matches letters to applicants at different rates) I think the discrepancy is also attributable to different letter requirements for each school. For now I'm just checking regularly to make sure that last letter gets in. Kinda sucks to be extra early, only to hit the road bump, but I guess that's show business! (& also much preferable to having missing letters later in the cycle)

 

[j_diggity]

My prehealth office just submitted my letter packet a couple of days ago on 7/5, and already the status on TMDSAS shows "received/approved."

However, the website says it usually takes 10 business days, and TMDSAS.com says TMDSAS is processing letters from 6/21, so I wasn't expecting this for a few more weeks.

This means my LORs have already been fully processed, right? If so, that's awesome! Just a little surprised it happened so soon.

 

[wysdoc]

My prehealth office just submitted my letter packet a couple of days ago on 7/5, and already the status on TMDSAS shows "received/approved."

However, the website says it usually takes 10 business days, and TMDSAS.com says TMDSAS is processing letters from 6/21, so I wasn't expecting this for a few more weeks.

This means my LORs have already been fully processed, right? If so, that's awesome! Just a little surprised it happened so soon.

TMDSAS says letters directly uploaded/sent to their portal get processed a lot faster than ones sent via Interfolio, so I guess you benefitted from that.

 

[Nickovous]

Hopefully, this is the right thread, but I have a question pertaining to the TMDSAS grade replacement for GPA. Does TMDSAS replace grades if you had a D and retake for GPA? Will the final GPA not count the first grade or will they both be counted?

 

[wysdoc]

Hopefully, this is the right thread, but I have a question pertaining to the TMDSAS grade replacement for GPA. Does TMDSAS replace grades if you had a D and retake for GPA? Will the final GPA not count the first grade or will they both be counted?

Unfortunately there is no grade replacement for med school apps, either TMDSAS or AMCAS.
All graded courses will be averaged in. Although it will stick out, they will also see that you improved on retaking and one D won’t kill your GPA as much as you think.

 

[chicandtoughness]

Hello, I'm a nontraditional student, curious what schools are wanting to see when I indicate myself as being "non-traditional".

Hey! I’m a very nontrad who wanted to chime in. Obviously everyone’s circumstances are different and I can’t speak directly to what will get you an acceptance. From chatting with other nontrads who have matriculated, we all used this essay to emphasize how being nontrad makes us an attractive applicant, or how our nontrad path led us to medicine as a calling. There’s no need to recount your literal path (X for 2 years, Y for 3 years) because your app does that for you.

The application is essentially you telling the school why they should admit you, so I don’t see any benefit from emphasizing the negatives. This isn’t an adversity essay. You could focus on why being nontrad sets you up for success or gives you unique perspectives. Also from chatting with other nontrads - both those who matriculated and those who had to reapply - one major correlation is those who viewed their nontrad journey as a negative to overcome vs. a positive.

Good luck!!

 

[j_diggity]

Hey! I’m a very nontrad who wanted to chime in. Obviously everyone’s circumstances are different and I can’t speak directly to what will get you an acceptance. From chatting with other nontrads who have matriculated, we all used this essay to emphasize how being nontrad makes us an attractive applicant, or how our nontrad path led us to medicine as a calling. There’s no need to recount your literal path (X for 2 years, Y for 3 years) because your app does that for you.

The application is essentially you telling the school why they should admit you, so I don’t see any benefit from emphasizing the negatives. This isn’t an adversity essay. You could focus on why being nontrad sets you up for success or gives you unique perspectives. Also from chatting with other nontrads - both those who matriculated and those who had to reapply - one major correlation is those who viewed their nontrad journey as a negative to overcome vs. a positive.

Good luck!!

Awesome, this is exactly what I ended up doing in my essay!

 

[Nickovous]

Unfortunately there is no grade replacement for med school apps, either TMDSAS or AMCAS.
All graded courses will be averaged in. Although it will stick out, they will also see that you improved on retaking and one D won’t kill your GPA as much as you think.

Thank you for helping! I plan on retaking General Chemistry I, and I did some calculations and it seems like if I get all A's from now on I can end off with an 3.6 GPA.

 

[JAGMAN420]

Hey had a question about LORs I had applied for a committee letter and my school just gave an eta of late June would it be better to have them just send in the individual letter to schools now or wait for the committee letter?

 

[wysdoc]

Hey had a question about LORs I had applied for a committee letter and my school just gave an eta of late June would it be better to have them just send in the individual letter to schools now or wait for the committee letter?

It’s already July, did they confirm that they have sent it for you?
If they can send it by the middle of August that will still be timely.

 

[JAGMAN420]

It’s already July, did they confirm that they have sent it for you?
If they can send it by the middle of August that will still be timely.

My apologies they gave me an eta of late July to send it over, would that be considered too late you think? Im wondering if I should just send in the regular letters now without the committee review.

 

[wysdoc]

My apologies they gave me an eta of late July to send it over, would that be considered too late you think? Im wondering if I should just send in the regular letters now without the committee review.

Late July will be just fine. If you did all the legwork for getting a committee letter it’s worth waiting for it. Remember that interviews might start out in July or August but they keep being offered through December/ January.

 

[orangecremely]

How screwed am I if I accidentally clicked “no” to TMDSAS for if you’re submitting another LOR in addition to committee LOR? It was on accident and I need to send more lors. Now I can’t change my application apparently and I called TMDSAS but they’re on lunch break and I’m working all day today so I can’t call them 🙁 Someone please help me

 

[Dr. Swiftie]

How screwed am I if I accidentally clicked “no” to TMDSAS for if you’re submitting another LOR in addition to committee LOR? It was on accident and I need to send more lors. Now I can’t change my application apparently and I called TMDSAS but they’re on lunch break and I’m working all day today so I can’t call them 🙁 Someone please help me

Try sending them a message in the portal instead of calling. I'm sure it's something they're able to fix.

 

[teddy417]

Hi, I am predicting to have a complete application by late July, and I was wondering if this is considered late for TMDSAS/detrimental to my chances. I am extremely stressed about this, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[txpremed1234]

Hi, I am predicting to have a complete application by late July, and I was wondering if this is considered late for TMDSAS/detrimental to my chances. I am extremely stressed about this, and any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I believe someone in this thread earlier on said anything in July is still considered on the earlier end and isn't a dealbreaker! I wouldn't worry, just get a high quality app in as soon as feasible and you'll be great🙂 you got this!

 

[wysdoc]

Still working on your application?

Still got questions about how to fill it out?

Tune in to the YouTube Channel July 20 at 1 PM Central time, and type in your questions for an answer direct from the head honcho!

 

[AA99]

I have received secondaries invites from schools that send them out except one. At what point do I reach out to the school to verify if I will receive one or have been screened out?

 

[wysdoc]

I have received secondaries invites from schools that send them out except one. At what point do I reach out to the school to verify if I will receive one or have been screened out?

If the remaining school is Dell, they only send out secondaries to about 20% of applicants, and those are sent out over a space of several months

 

[AA99]

If the remaining school is Dell, they only send out secondaries to about 20% of applicants, and those are sent out over a space of several months

The remaining school is McGovern

 

[wysdoc]

The remaining school is McGovern

Check all your spam or promotion folders; if it's not there send them a one- sentence email the first week of August & ask.
More of a "I would love to have a chance to attend McGovern" email than a "All my friends got one & I didn't" email 🙂

 

[AA99]

Check all your spam or promotion folders; if it's not there send them a one- sentence email the first week of August & ask.
More of a "I would love to have a chance to attend Mcgovern" email than a "All my friends got one & I didn't" email 🙂

Thank you for your response!

 

[Neurostate]

The remaining school is McGovern

Just wanted to say that I'm in the same boat. Transmitted on 7/13 and received secondaries from every school except McGovern. Also never received an email from Long to confirm that they got my app 🤔.