*~*~*~* Official TMDSAS Questions Thread 2024-2025 *~*~*~*~*

[wysdoc]

Welcome to the 2024-2025 application cycle for TMDSAS!

Whether you're already a Texan or you only know that Texans are amazing, here's where you can learn what you need to know about applying on the TMDSAS system.

TMDSAS has gone modern and the 2024-2025 Application Guide is all online, no printable .pdf to download.
Here is the link to the Guide: TMDSAS Guide

Put that link in your favorites on the browser for easy reference.

***When you are logged in and working on your application in the portal, be sure to save your page often. The site will "time out" after you've been on it for 60 minutes and you don't wanna lose 60 minutes of work!***

The application portal is available to begin filling in those blanks on May 1st, 2024.
You cannot submit it until after 8AM on May 15th, 2024.
Why? So you can proofread that thing over and over. You can't change anything once you hit submit!

You DON'T need to submit transcripts with your primary application.
You DO need to have all your Spring 2024 courses listed and wait for your Spring 2024 grades to come out so you can enter them in the application.
(If you attend a school on the quarter system you may apply with your winter quarter grades.)

Please read the application guide. Most everything is spelled out for you there.
TMDSAS holds weekly "TMDSAS Office Hours" on YouTube where you can ask specific questions live.

Your official mode of communication with TMDSAS for issues, problems, or questions is via messaging them in your TMDSAS portal.
This is the fastest way to get your answer, and please wait for your answer before submitting the application.
The TMDSAS staff work from 8 to 5 Monday - Friday.

You can apply to ALL the TMDSAS schools for one application fee. Schools will have separate fees for the secondary applications later on.

That's all for this intro - time to get started!


AFTER you have turned it in, there will be some time needed for processing the application. The very first people to turn theirs in had it processed in a few days, but soon that processing time will grow to 2-4 weeks during the busy months.

Want to see what day's submission they are working on? Go to the TMDSAS Home Page TMDSAS Home Page
On a desktop or laptop you will see, on the right side of the page, something like this:

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Members don't see this ad.

 

[wysdoc]

Texas Health Education Service (THES) is run by the same fine folks who administer TMDSAS.

If this is your first time applying to TMDSAS schools, you might want to tune in to this video which will walk you through every part of the TMDSAS application.

This year's walk-through has kind of a skit at the beginning, the Q & A begins at about the 13 minute point.

TMDSAS holds live sessions every week called TMDSAS Office Hours. Search for it on YouTube
In these live sessions you will be muted, but you can type in your questions to the chat and the TMDSAS staff will address as many as possible

Here is the link to the channel. THES YouTube Channel
Why not subscribe to it to get notices about other upcoming presentations? All videos are archived if you can't make it, or ya forgot...

In addition to the weekly "TMDSAS Office Hours" where you can ask specific questions via live chat, TMDSAS will be conducting interviews with each of the medical and dental school deans this year. What a great way to hear what each dean looks for in an applicant!
It could be useful to watch those to get to know each school, before you write your secondary essays, or before an interview.

 

[anonymous1234556]

Has anyone who submitted around that time not receive a mcgovern secondary? I do not think I got one and was verified May 17th.

 

[wysdoc]

Has anyone who submitted around that time not receive a mcgovern secondary? I do not think I got one and was verified May 17th.

Don’t be worried about these teeny details, McGovern gives all eligible applicants with a completed primary app a chance to submit secondary essays

 

[christopherincorporated]

Anyone know if TMDSAS schools place a strong emphasis on committee letters? Secondaries are already being sent out and my school's HPAC committee packet has not yet been sent, which I'm concerned will delay my application.

 

[wysdoc]

Anyone know if TMDSAS schools place a strong emphasis on committee letters? Secondaries are already being sent out and my school's HPAC committee packet has not yet been sent, which I'm concerned will delay my application.

They realize a lot of committee letters don’t get sent out until July or August, and that the process is beyond your control

 

[Avatararrow]

Quick question while putting my answers in for TTU lubbock. I realized they have a question that asks

1. Have you experienced any hardship or adversity, personally or professionally?
   Yes
   No

If I say yes, it opens up another essay. Should I be writing an essay for this section even if I don't have a hardship that is really relevant to my application. What I mean to say is, is this essay truly just if you had hardship or should I be doing it regardless?

 

[Avatararrow]

I submitted my primary the first day and have not received a McGovern secondary yet

me neither

 

[purkinjekitty]

Quick question while putting my answers in for TTU lubbock. I realized they have a question that asks

1. Have you experienced any hardship or adversity, personally or professionally?
   Yes
   No

If I say yes, it opens up another essay. Should I be writing an essay for this section even if I don't have a hardship that is really relevant to my application. What I mean to say is, is this essay truly just if you had hardship or should I be doing it regardless?

If you don’t have any hardship or adversity to speak on then you can say no!

It’s up to your interpretation, but so many things are fair game to talk about here. Racial issues, Financial issues, sick family members, death of a family member, awful grades (I’m talking multiple F’s and not a C here and there), working full time while being a full time student/studying for MCAT.

This is 100% not needed but just something adcom can use to help paint a better picture of who you are.

 

[anonymous1234556]

Don’t be worried about these teeny details, McGovern gives all eligible applicants with a completed primary app a chance to submit secondary essays

Thanks doctor 🙂 I will be patient.

 

[anonymous1234556]

Hello!
I received McGovern secondary today.
The questions are as follows:

Question 1:
Please discuss one of the following:

• A challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past
• Any academic road bumps in your academic career (low academic performance, failing course, dropping/retaking of courses)
• Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn?

Question 2:
Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. What did you learn from this experience and how have you applied this learning to your work and/or life?

Question 3:
From what you understand about the rigors of medical school, what do you think will be the biggest challenge for you? How do you think you are prepared for these challenges?

Question 4:
What hesitations or reservations, if any, do you have about joining the medical profession?


I am concerned as I cannot find a character limit box. Does that mean there is no limit?

I never received mine. I am not sure. I will just keep waiting.

 

[anonymous1234556]

Has anyone who has taken the CASPER more than 2 weeks ago have their application checklist updated with the Casper score? (Any schools) Thanks!

 

[IWishICouldPhysics]

No UTSW or Baylor.

Got the secondaries from McGovern yesterday morning (5/31). Submitted on 5/15 PM, transmitted 5/28 AM!

Also have received secondaries from TT Lubbock and TAMU. No other TMDSAS schools yet.

Would you mind posting the Lubbock and A&M secondaries?

 

[bball2128]

My guess would be to just copy-paste some text and see if/where it cuts you off?

Also, for #4, how on Earth would you even begin to answer that???

I did. I think there is no limit because it let me paste a 5000 character essay into each.

 

[Avatararrow]

I sent out Lubbock secondaries but one thing that I found interesting is that my application is marked as complete even though my Casper hasn’t been transmitted. Does Lubbock not look at/care about Casper?

 

[wysdoc]

I sent out Lubbock secondaries but one thing that I found interesting is that my application is marked as complete even though my Casper hasn’t been transmitted. Does Lubbock not look at/care about Casper?

They ask for CASPer + Duet, but they may look at it later in their evaluation process.
UT Health San Antonio (Long) for example only checks it after they have interviewed an applicant.
I'm not sure what the Texas Tech Lubbock sequence is.

 

[saltyedamame25]

Hi everyone! New to SDN!
Do TX med schools send out secondaries without an MCAT score? I plan to test on 6/27 but my primary app will be submitted by 6/07. I hope to do secondaries while waiting for my score release, but I'm not sure if the schools will send them out without it. Thanks!

 

[wysdoc]

Hi everyone! New to SDN!
Do TX med schools send out secondaries without an MCAT score? I plan to test on 6/27 but my primary app will be submitted by 6/07. I hope to do secondaries while waiting for my score release, but I'm not sure if the schools will send them out without it. Thanks!

The schools that send out secondaries automatically upon receipt of your TMDSAS primary will probably send you one.
However, they will not consider your application complete and ready to consider you for interviews until an MCAT score is in.
Don't forget to log in to your MCAT portal and give permission for AAMC to release your MCAT scores to TMDSAS.

 

[saltyedamame25]

Thank you so much! I honestly was looking forward to your response!!!

Can I ask if you know the schools that do send them automatically?

 

[wysdoc]

The new cycle 2024-2025 school specific threads are now open.
Remember, if you are going to share a secondary essay prompt on these when you get one, please copy it exactly (including character count limits) and don't just say "same as last year"

2024-2025 Alphabetic Index of Allopathic School-Specific Discussion Threads

2024-2025 Alice L Walton (AWSOM) 2024-2025 Albany Medical College 2024-2025 Albert Einstein College of Medicine 2024-2025 Baylor 2024-2025 Boston University School of Medicine 2024-2025 Brown (Warren Alpert) 2024-2025 CA University of Science and Medicine 2024-2025 California Northstate...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[wysdoc]

Now that we have the school-specific threads open, please post your chat and questions about specific schools and secondaries on those,
and save this thread for general TMDSAS application questions.
I took off some comments asking about McGovern essays and also the ones that just said "anyone get anything yet?"

McGovern thread here: 2024-2025 UT Houston (McGovern)

Lubbock thread here: 2024-2025 Texas Tech Lubbock

Thank you!

 

[StumpjumperIII]

If I have an old MCAT score along with a retake is it best to release my scores only once the new score has come in? I would hate to get evaluated on my old score if my retake score won't be available till July 2nd.

 

[wysdoc]

If I have an old MCAT score along with a retake is it best to release my scores only once the new score has come in? I would hate to get evaluated on my old score if my retake score won't be available till July 2nd.

I advise making sure both your score dates are on your TMDSAS primary and be sure to log in to MCAT to release your scores to TMDSAS.
By July 2nd they will barely be taking a good read of your applications so you will have both scores on it

 

[TheDeadrok]

Am I understanding correctly that if my application has been transmitted to schools but does not have an MCAT score attached yet (score releases 6/11) then the schools will just set aside the app as "incomplete" until the MCAT score rolls in?

 

[wysdoc]

Am I understanding correctly that if my application has been transmitted to schools but does not have an MCAT score attached yet (score releases 6/11) then the schools will just set aside the app as "incomplete" until the MCAT score rolls in?

They might send you the secondary application email, and you can begin working on those essays, but they will not consider your application complete and discuss you as a possible interview candidate until they also see your MCAT score and eventually read your secondary essays.

 

[gym_panda]

I have a question!

I submitted my TMDSAS app on 5/31. I triple-checked my application to make sure everything was there and saved. I clicked save like a million times. I had this bad feeling in my gut and so I checked my entire app on 6/2. This is where I saw in my activities section, that one of my research activities description didn't save fully. It's half a sentence with a placeholder at the end. Another one of my planned research activities did not save at all and one of my planned shadowing activities did not save at all.

I am so devastated by this and wanted to ask for advice on what to do. I tried messaging TMDSAS since my app hasn't been transmitted but based on what I have read online so far, it doesn't seem like there is much I can do.

If there any advice on how I can make this up? Maybe write about the missing activities in secondaries or send a letter to individual med schools? I tried emailing one of my top med schools but they aren't replying to emails from prospective students LOL so I just need some advice on what I can do to remedy this situation at all. I would just hate to think that the reason I didn't get into a med school was because of this silly wipe out ;(

 

[wysdoc]

I have a question!

I submitted my TMDSAS app on 5/31. I triple-checked my application to make sure everything was there and saved. I clicked save like a million times. I had this bad feeling in my gut and so I checked my entire app on 6/2. This is where I saw in my activities section, that one of my research activities description didn't save fully. It's half a sentence with a placeholder at the end. Another one of my planned research activities did not save at all and one of my planned shadowing activities did not save at all.

I am so devastated by this and wanted to ask for advice on what to do. I tried messaging TMDSAS since my app hasn't been transmitted but based on what I have read online so far, it doesn't seem like there is much I can do.

If there any advice on how I can make this up? Maybe write about the missing activities in secondaries or send a letter to individual med schools? I tried emailing one of my top med schools but they aren't replying to emails from prospective students LOL so I just need some advice on what I can do to remedy this situation at all. I would just hate to think that the reason I didn't get into a med school was because of this silly wipe out ;(

You can’t change it now, sorry

The rest of y’all:
Print out the .pdf of your whole app and read it line by line.
You will catch stuff like a sentence getting cut off.

@gym_panda don’t draw more attention to it.
Pretend it’s like at the gym when somebody drops a barbell. Everyone’s head snaps around for a second, to see who fumbled it, then they go right back to their own bizness.
Do that

 

[gym_panda]

You can’t change it now, sorry

The rest of y’all:
Print out the .pdf of your whole app and read it line by line.
You will catch stuff like a sentence getting cut off.

@gym_panda don’t draw more attention to it.
Pretend it’s like at the gym when somebody drops a barbell. Everyone’s head snaps around for a second, to see who fumbled it, then they go right back to their own bizness.
Do that

Do you have any advice on what I could do to make up for this? Because right now my app has only that one research activity and it has 10 words in its description LOL

 

[texasvandy]

Do you have any advice on what I could do to make up for this? Because right now my app has only that one research activity and it has 10 words in its description LOL

If it is important or very important, you should be able to write essays related to that experience. An activity is just an activity but when it is important, they get written about in secondary essays or even the primary essays. At this point it is just an editing error.

 

[frank9080]

Has anyone had issues with there Casper score not showing up for schools? Acuity insists it's been sent but not a single school shows its been received.

 

[wysdoc]

Has anyone had issues with there Casper score not showing up for schools? Acuity insists it's been sent but not a single school shows its been received.

That requires an office staffer to manually check off its receipt in your file. They may do this in batches and not every day.
Save your receipt that it has been sent, start working on your secondary essays.

 

[CheeesyBoi]

Has anyone had issues with there Casper score not showing up for schools? Acuity insists it's been sent but not a single school shows its been received.

Me too

 

[xtrahotcheeto]

If we have an activity that we did for a few months and then took a year or so off… and then continued it again for a few years how do we account for that break?

 

[wysdoc]

If we have an activity that we did for a few months and then took a year or so off… and then continued it again for a few years how do we account for that break?

Put start and end dates for the periods you were active. On TMDSAS there is no limit to the number of entries you can make within reason, so if you need to break up a volunteering gig like that, putting it in separate entries will make the start/end times clear and will make it come out properly on the Chronology of Activities.

 

[fishpediatrics]

Thank you so much! I honestly was looking forward to your response!!!

Can I ask if you know the schools that do send them automatically?

According to this website: Next Steps After Submitting Your Application
University of North Texas HSC – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) is a school that doesn't send email invites for secondaries, you create your account yourself

 

[Watermelon_H]

According to this website: Next Steps After Submitting Your Application
University of North Texas HSC – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) is a school that doesn't send email invites for secondaries, you create your account yourself

We got secondaries email from TCOM today.

 

[wysdoc]

We got secondaries email from TCOM today.

Yeah I think TCOM “joined the club” starting last year and sends out email invitations like the other schools

 

[anonymous1234556]

Has anyone had issues with there Casper score not showing up for schools? Acuity insists it's been sent but not a single school shows its been received.

me as well

 

[medisaurus9000]

My TMDSAS is complete except one of my old transcripts causing issues when I enter classes. I went to a school years ago on a quarter system. After I transferred they switched to semester. My transcript has the hours in converted semester hours. So my 3 sem hour history class is 2.67 hours. But when I put in 2.67 hours the system gives a format error that it must be in ##.# or #.# format. I’ve called, emailed, messaged internally on the application and it’s been like 2 weeks and they are still “looking into it.” It’s delaying my whole app over maybe 24 hours of classes from 1999. Any ideas?

 

[wysdoc]

My TMDSAS is complete except one of my old transcripts causing issues when I enter classes. I went to a school years ago on a quarter system. After I transferred they switched to semester. My transcript has the hours in converted semester hours. So my 3 sem hour history class is 2.67 hours. But when I put in 2.67 hours the system gives a format error that it must be in ##.# or #.# format. I’ve called, emailed, messaged internally on the application and it’s been like 2 weeks and they are still “looking into it.” It’s delaying my whole app over maybe 24 hours of classes from 1999. Any ideas?

Messaging the TMDSAS Liaison in your portal, as you have done, is the official way to get your question addressed.
They will give you specific directions, or they might just adjust it to the right number as they verify your app.

 

[medisaurus9000]

Messaging the TMDSAS Liaison in your portal, as you have done, is the official way to get your question addressed.
They will give you specific directions, or they might just adjust it to the right number as they verify your app.

Yeah I figured as much. I hope this delay waiting on them doesn’t hurt my cycle🙁

 

[wysdoc]

Yeah I figured as much. I hope this delay waiting on them doesn’t hurt my cycle🙁

It will be fine.

 

[Guinevere2024]

Is it safe living in TTU Lubbock, El Paso and UT Tyler ? Some Texas friends told me that it's not safe to live there, so I hesitate to apply to those locations. Want to get some insider info from Texas residents.

 

[wysdoc]

Is it safe living in TTU Lubbock, El Paso and UT Tyler ? Some Texas friends told me that it's not safe to live there, so I hesitate to apply to those locations. Want to get some insider info from Texas residents.

Are you an adult who knows how to be reasonably aware when going about in a city alone? Why did you single out these 3 Texas locations above the most urban Texas location Houston?

 

[Guinevere2024]

Did some research and I understand your point. Different people have different perspectives on what is considered unsafe—maybe my friend advised me from her perspective. Thank you for your response.

 

[wysdoc]

We got secondaries email from TCOM today.

@jeanwus could you share the prompts to me in a DM or on the UNTHSC page? Thanks

 

[deleted1085576]

Hi! I made a mistake when entering my transcript: I put my AP credit under the freshman category instead of pre-freshman. This is how it appears on my transcript from my university, which is why I thought it would be okay. I already submitted so there's nothing I can do, but is this going to cause issues with verification for me? I also already sent a message to TMDSAS support. (Sorry if this comes off as neurotic! I just submitted my app recently and don't want it to be further delayed).

 

[medisaurus9000]

Is it safe living in TTU Lubbock, El Paso and UT Tyler ? Some Texas friends told me that it's not safe to live there, so I hesitate to apply to those locations. Want to get some insider info from Texas residents.

It rains mud there and you need to repaint your car ever so often due to sand blasting from storms but aside from that it’s safe.

 

[texasvandy]

Hi! I made a mistake when entering my transcript: I put my AP credit under the freshman category instead of pre-freshman. This is how it appears on my transcript from my university, which is why I thought it would be okay. I already submitted so there's nothing I can do, but is this going to cause issues with verification for me? I also already sent a message to TMDSAS support. (Sorry if this comes off as neurotic! I just submitted my app recently and don't want it to be further delayed).

If the school converted your AP to a class and gave you a real grade as opposed to credit, this is the correct way. If they listed a bunch of credits without a grade, it might be considered prefreshman but as long as you listed it exactly as your transcript you should be fine.

 

[wysdoc]

Hi! I made a mistake when entering my transcript: I put my AP credit under the freshman category instead of pre-freshman. This is how it appears on my transcript from my university, which is why I thought it would be okay. I already submitted so there's nothing I can do, but is this going to cause issues with verification for me? I also already sent a message to TMDSAS support. (Sorry if this comes off as neurotic! I just submitted my app recently and don't want it to be further delayed).

One of the things TMDSAS will do as they verify your application is correct things like this, if needed.
It won't add any time to the process.