Texas application service and premed recommendations

[Hopkins2010]

My TMDSAS has an intial processing date of 7/6 but they just now received my premed committee letter (8/15).

I'm assuming that everybody who has gotten Texas interviews had a file complete with letters of rec already?

How long does it take TMDSAS to send out the letters to the schools once they get it? Am I supposed to be getting some kind of transmittal notice from TMDSAS when that happens or what?

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[praying4MD]

Originally posted by baylor21:
•My TMDSAS has an intial processing date of 7/6 but they just now received my premed committee letter (8/15).

I'm assuming that everybody who has gotten Texas interviews had a file complete with letters of rec already?•

Nope. I'm in the same boat as you. Submitted in early July, but they just now received my letters of rec, and as you know, we've already been granted interviews, which is really strange to me.

I do not believe you get any notification via snail mail because you should have already gotten notification that it was being transmitted when you mailed your photos and $$. TMDSAS does not wait for a complete application to transmit to schools; thankfully for us, they do it as soon as the money comes rolling in, which is good, since you still get a chance at an interview (at least at some schools.)

As for how long it takes to send the letters to the schools, I'm wondering the same thing. Anyone got an answer to that one?

 

[spacecadet]

I submitted my application around 7/7, and they got my school committee letter on 7/23. They got my last transcript on 7/16.

So, my application was complete on 7/23, and they sent it out to the schools on 8/3. I got a confirmation by snail mail, along with a 1-page summary of my application.

I got my first interview invite (UTH) yesterday. I live in Houston, so the mail might be a couple of days quicker for me than for others. The letter was dated 8/16, and the interview is for 9/14.

I thought that TMDSAS didn't sent out applications until they were complete. That must not be true if you two already got interviews. They did tell me that any additional information (i.e. letters of rec) that come in will be forwarded to the schools I applied to.

I don't think I'll ever understand these application systems! Congrats on your interviews, you two. Baylor21, it sounds like your UTMB interview went well. I just read your feedback on interviewfeedback.com. Were you prepared for the stem cell question?

Pam

 

[eeee]

tx resident

all my stuff was in by 6/15
they sent me a letter saying that my app was sent to med schools on 7/20
got interview on 8/20

wow that took a lot time, didn't it?
sorry

 

[Hopkins2010]

praying4MD,

I got a transmittal notice awhile back with a summary of my app. I was just wondering if they will officially notify me again when the send out the letters.

spacecadet,

I had thought about stem cells quite alot before I went to UTMB so I was confident in my preparation to answer about the tricky ethical issues. I think there will be MANY schools this year asking about stem cells and human cloning because they are so dominant in the news media. Fortunately, my interviewer seemed to agree with my take on the issue, and re-affirmed some of the points that I made.

Overall I think it went very well, but that might not be enough for me to get in. I would feel much more confident if I was a TX resident.

Good luck, just be ready for the humidity. I stripped off my suit in the parking garage as soon as possible after the interviews.

 

[BlackPuma]

baylor

does this mean letters of rec dont mean anything if u got the interview before they got the letter of rec?

but I was wondering, what exactly were their questions?

does houstan have a secondary? what were ur replies.....if u could help a fellow premed that would be awesome

 

[Hopkins2010]

Originally posted by WatchaMaCallit:
•baylor

does this mean letters of rec dont mean anything if u got the interview before they got the letter of rec?

but I was wondering, what exactly were their questions?

does houstan have a secondary? what were ur replies.....if u could help a fellow premed that would be awesome •

I'm sure the letters of rec are significant, they just wont take them into account until later.

The director of admissions at UTMB told us that they wouldnt rank us until our file was complete with letters of rec.

UT Houston does not have a secondary. I filled out a secondary for UTMB back in early June and sent it to them, but soon afterwards UTMB dropped the secondary from their requirements so you dont have to fill one out for them either.

As far as the questions, I wrote about a couple of them on interviewfeedback.com. After I filled it out, I remembered that they also asked me another question that stood out in my mind at the time: What is the greatest health threat facing Native Americans? But that question I think was specifically tailored to me. I didnt claim minority status but I come from a Native background and they knew about it from my essay.

Other than that question and the stuff I put on interview feedback, there werent any really stand-out questions. I didnt get asked anything about HMOs or the healthcare system in general.

Probably the hardest question for me to answer was "why should we accept you over other applicants." I think I have some good reasons for this, but this question always makes me feel a little uncomfortable because it almost forces you to brag about yourself, which I try not to do.