Texas Medical Schools & their policies. HELP!

[imtiaz]

I recently stumbled upon the application site for Texas Medical Schools. Now, I don't have instate status to any of these schools. Nothing on the site indicated that any of these schools required instate status for application (although the application seemed to be tailored to Texas residents). My question to you people out there is: Is there any residence requirement for any Texas Medical School? If there is, you would be saving me a lot of time and money by letting me in on the policies. Thanks in advance for any help!

imtiaz

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jenniferl77]

You don't have to be a resident to get into a Texas school. Some texas schools take more non-res than others. I am a non-res, but I went to undergrad in Tx. I applied to five of the seven med schools in Tx and interviewed at 4 of them. The Tx school besides baylor Med use a match system and I matched at my #2 choice. The unfortuate thing is I will be paying $21,000 a year. Financial Aid is my friend.

 

[imtiaz]

Hey Jennifer,

Thanks! But I read something in the application that granted residence to people who went to undergrad in Texas? Something like that. Are you sure? If you're comfortable posting your stats I'd like to know what they were? GPA/MCAT. I'm pretty stressed and worried about getting in. My stats aren't great. 3.0GPA and a 21MCAT, but I'm taking it again in August so it most likely will go up, how far up I don't know. I don't want to use practice tests as a measure because that's what I did last time and it didn't match up in the least. Anyway, I'm going to try to aim for a 30 or higher. I volunteer in the operating room at a local hospital as well, with a professor of clinical anesthesia at UIC medical school. He's going to write me a strong positive letter of recommendation, as well as the cheif of anesthesiology of the hospital. Any help from you is appreciated! Thanks!

 

[DoctorK]

The rule is that if you went to an undergrad institution in Texas as an out-of-stater, they do not consider you to be a Texas resident. In order to be a resident, you must have worked full-time in Texas for a certain period of time before/after your undergrad was completed, and even then it's pretty stringent. I don't know all the specifics, but they are very strict as to what qualifies as resident status and what doesn't. Before you start med school, you must fill out another questionnaire that is used to determine your resident status.

Getting into a Texas school as an out-of-stater is very competitive, so I would probably not suggest applying here unless you have a really high MCAT (since your GPA is low). Your stats are low for Texas residents. I think all the schools have an average gpa of about 3.5 and MCAT of at least 27. As an out-of-stater, your stats would need to be higher than average to be competitive. Or your background should be really impressive--published papers, a decade of clinical experience, etc.

I hate to put a damper on anyone's desires, but I don't think it's realistic to apply in Texas with your stats. Even our osteopathic school this year (which I'm attending) has average gpa 3.56 and MCAT 27. You should find schools where your stats and experience will be competitive or you'll be wasting your money in Texas. If you want to, you can get in somewhere, but it probably won't be Texas. And you must apply early. If you're talking about applying this year, it's getting pretty late. Next year, have your application ready within the first two weeks of the cycle and you'll increase your chances a great deal.

------------------
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams.

--Willy Wonka

 

[DoctorK]

P.S. I failed to mention earlier that all the Texas schools take only 10% maximum out-of-staters. That's what makes it so competetive--you're competing for the 120 or so non-resident spots with everyone from across the country, not just those in Texas. I hope that's clear.

 

[jenniferl77]

I second everything that DoctorK posted above. I have a 3.9+ and a 33, so my stats are higher than the averages for most of the Tx schools. To get in as a non-res the numbers have to be higher. Sorry to be negative.

 

[baylor21]

I am also an undergrad in Texas but not technically a Texas resident.

You have to live in Texas for a full year WITHOUT GOING TO SCHOOL to be considered a resident of Texas. Ergo, I won't be able to attain that.

My GPA/MCAT is 3.9/31 and I wouldn't even consider applying to Texas schools because those numbers are just slightly above average at most of them.

In the end, if you are good enough to get accepted to Texas schools as a nonresident, you are probably also good enough to have a shot at some of the top private medical schools in the country (e.g. Yale, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, etc).

So if you think you are competitive for Texas as a nonresident, then also apply to those top programs. Baylor College of Medicine accepts slightly more nonresidents than the other schools because its private, but then again Baylor is much harder to get into because it attracts candidates from all over the country.

------------------
"There is nothing more powerful on this Earth as a man who has nothing to lose. It does not take ten such men to change the world--one will do." Elijah Mohammed

 

[jenniferl77]

Baylor21 I have to advise you to rethink your position on applying to med school in Texaas. You may not have a shot at UTSW, but you definately have a shot at getting into UT-H, UT-SA, and UTMB. I have a friend that is a OK res that got into UT-SA. She only had a 28 or 29 on her MCAT. Her grades were good, but I think that they were under a 3.9.

I have more to say regarding this subject, but I have to be going. Baylor21, you can email me at [email protected]
I did see the questions you posted and will email you later.