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Did anyone else get a holiday letter from TCOM?
Don't want to read anything into it?
Don't want to read anything into it?
TCOM and Holiday Greetings
- Thread starter pboothe
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I interviewed there, but I didn't get one.🙁
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My thinking is that they do send them to all that interviewed, but remember one thing, if you interviewed there, you are as good as in (for the most part). They interview several hundred, but recall that only about 1/7 of them will rank TCOM high enough to get matched there. I crunched the stats a few years ago when I was anxiously awaiting the match, and I figured that I had about an 80% chance of getting in since I ranked them number 1. TCOM has a bunch of people that did not rank it number one, but all my friends who did rank it number one got matched there. So I think if you interviewed, that is the biggest hurdle. If you got interviewed, they already were accepting of anything in your package. You can only blow it at an interview...not vice versa. Good luck though guys and remember, Feb 1st will be here before you know it. Drop me an email when you match and I will start giving you some inside scoop on our awesome school.
Matt
Matt
I also received a holiday greeting on Saturday!!! Friday I had an AWESOME interview at TCOM! My interviewers were exceptional and by far the most impressive of the interviewing season! I will have a very difficult time deciding where I want to go next year and how I will rank now...I didn't expect to have this difficulty.
I walked out of my interview so refreshed, so full of life! I knew for the first time on Friday that I will truly be going to be in medical school next year! I also know that I will be a physician and that all of the stress of being an applicant is finally over.
Good ridance med school applicant! What a relief! Thank you LORD!
I walked out of my interview so refreshed, so full of life! I knew for the first time on Friday that I will truly be going to be in medical school next year! I also know that I will be a physician and that all of the stress of being an applicant is finally over.
Good ridance med school applicant! What a relief! Thank you LORD!
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I just got mine, and I thought that was really nice of them to do that! Good luck on match day!
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I made that leap of faith because of my experience at the TCOM interview, and I was virtually assured an acceptance by another MD school in Texas. I still chose to rank TCOM first and it was something that I still believe was a great decision. There are times when I feel it would be easier to be an MD, but there are a lot of cool things I can do with my hands that an MD does not understand. And now all the FP (which is what I have always wanted to do) residencies recruit DO's heavily to help keep their own residents current on OMT. If you know you want to do FP, it is a great option. If you want to specialize, you may want to consider ranking an MD program higher. But there is really very little difference in the ability to get a specialized residency unless you are trying to Derm at Harvard or something.
Thanks for the advice...I wish TCOM was closer to home, then it wouldn't be such a tough decision for me. I appreciate your advice and I wish you the best. Even though I am an older applicant, I have not fully decided on which specialty I will choose. I have always had the attitude that I would do as well as I could during the first 3 years and then based on where I was at that point I will have a clearer idea of what type of residency program is available to me. All of this is tough as an applicant to decide...so difficult to figure out.
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Oh, I just realized that this thread is about TCOM, not Touro (maybe this explains my low Verbal score). I interviewed at Touro, not TCOM. I just wanted to clarify so as not to confuse anyone.
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You are very right about just trying to as well as you can the first couple of years and then choosing the specialty you want. I went back and forth during the first 2 semesters about whether or not I wanted to go for a high paying specialty or not, and live the high life. I had to decide then though because I had been awarded the NHSC scholarship which locks you into primary care. So even after being 3rd in my class after the first year, I still decided not to pursue specializing and I instead took the scholarship. I am about done with year 2 anyway now, but I have never really stopped trying to do well. But just so you know, it is mostly your first 2 years course grades plus your board scores that are really most looked at by residency programs. 3rd year the grades are much more tightly packed because many rotations give the same grade to everyone who has a pulse. Good luck though, and just be happy to get in anywhere. Every school in Texas is exceptional in its own way, so you can't go wrong.
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This is the exact opposite of what I've heard. My understanding was that the clinical years' grades are far more important than pre-clinical. What's your source for that information, just out of curiosity?
Just wondering what to believe now....not that it will change my work ethic, but it might make me feel not so bad about the occasional low grade on a test.
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Hey SJ,
The reason that pre-clinical grades are what land you a residency is because they are the grades that MOST affect your class ranking. And your class ranking (along with board score) is what gets you an interview. There is simply not a wide range of grades in the clinical years unless you are a total dunce and end up with a poor grade on a rotation. Plus, program directors know that grades on rotations are variable based on who evaluated you. There is no way to provide for consistency in these sort of grades, and thus you have to worry more about your year 1 & 2 grades to really pad your class rank and show how you compare to the rest of your classmates. Bottom line is that if you are bottom 10% in grades and then you have awesome 3rd year grades, your liklihood of jumping into the top 25% is virtually nill. There are not enough credit hours to boost you first of all, and you will likely be making pretty much the same grades on rotations as everyone else for the most part. The grade groupings are much tighter in 3rd year. So if you are hoping that your year 1 and 2 grades are less important, that is really not correct. My source on this information is myself, having 12 years in medicine, 4 as a practitioner, and 4 now in a medical school environment (2 here at TCOM and 2 at UTMB where I went to PA school). Plus, my buddies in 3rd and 4th year have passed their knowledge down to me 🙂 I hope this helps answer your question.
Matt
The reason that pre-clinical grades are what land you a residency is because they are the grades that MOST affect your class ranking. And your class ranking (along with board score) is what gets you an interview. There is simply not a wide range of grades in the clinical years unless you are a total dunce and end up with a poor grade on a rotation. Plus, program directors know that grades on rotations are variable based on who evaluated you. There is no way to provide for consistency in these sort of grades, and thus you have to worry more about your year 1 & 2 grades to really pad your class rank and show how you compare to the rest of your classmates. Bottom line is that if you are bottom 10% in grades and then you have awesome 3rd year grades, your liklihood of jumping into the top 25% is virtually nill. There are not enough credit hours to boost you first of all, and you will likely be making pretty much the same grades on rotations as everyone else for the most part. The grade groupings are much tighter in 3rd year. So if you are hoping that your year 1 and 2 grades are less important, that is really not correct. My source on this information is myself, having 12 years in medicine, 4 as a practitioner, and 4 now in a medical school environment (2 here at TCOM and 2 at UTMB where I went to PA school). Plus, my buddies in 3rd and 4th year have passed their knowledge down to me 🙂 I hope this helps answer your question.
Matt
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MM,
I actually have heard the same as sophiejane. While it is true that at TCOM the grades for third and fourth year are all 85 to 89, with few exceptions, your letters of rec from the docs supervising you on rounds play an integral role in the residency selection process. I have heard this several times over from faculty, doctors I know, and upperclassman. I do agree that class rank is a factor, and that the first two years basically determine what your rank will be. But I have unilaterally heard that it holds a backseat to board scores and letters of rec from docs evaluating us on rounds. I do acknowledge though that this is strictly word of mouth info and my sources could be wrong. Perhaps for Ortho, Derm, Rad, etc. and other ultra competitive specialties, where the dividing lines among med students apps are more tightly drawn, what your are saying is more correct.
I actually have heard the same as sophiejane. While it is true that at TCOM the grades for third and fourth year are all 85 to 89, with few exceptions, your letters of rec from the docs supervising you on rounds play an integral role in the residency selection process. I have heard this several times over from faculty, doctors I know, and upperclassman. I do agree that class rank is a factor, and that the first two years basically determine what your rank will be. But I have unilaterally heard that it holds a backseat to board scores and letters of rec from docs evaluating us on rounds. I do acknowledge though that this is strictly word of mouth info and my sources could be wrong. Perhaps for Ortho, Derm, Rad, etc. and other ultra competitive specialties, where the dividing lines among med students apps are more tightly drawn, what your are saying is more correct.
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RS,
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I did mean to say that the "TOP" residencies and "Specialties" probably look more at class rank and GPA. The middle everyday-residencies obviously focus more on LOR and other things because most of their applicants are middle-of-the-road and they need something else to look at them with. I think the thing that is most universal though is your board score, particularly the USMLE if you are going away from a DO program.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I did mean to say that the "TOP" residencies and "Specialties" probably look more at class rank and GPA. The middle everyday-residencies obviously focus more on LOR and other things because most of their applicants are middle-of-the-road and they need something else to look at them with. I think the thing that is most universal though is your board score, particularly the USMLE if you are going away from a DO program.
