Texas Tech Class of 2008

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The information that I have received time and again from several financial aid reps is, that unless you are interested in a special loan program that the government requires your parents tax info. for (i.e. primary care specialty scholarships/loans and disadvantaged background sholarships loans) then you do not need to inculde the parents info. Especially if you file your taxes independent of your parents...meaning they do not claim you as a dependent.


So short of wanting a program like that...it will not hurt you to fill of the FAFSA without your parental info.

Of course if you feel you have a unique situation you should contact the financial aid office of the school.

-mb
 
Has anyone received any new information in the mail from Texas Tech after sending back their reply to the acceptance letter. I know that the other schools are sending information about once every couple of weeks so just wondering what's up with Tech.
 
Hey shivmeh, thanks for the info. Well, I just got back from home shopping in Lubbock. The weather was great but the drive was less than desireable. That's probably because I got slammed with a speeding ticket. Thanks officer for helping me get out of debt. *%$%^$ +pissed+ Anyways, if any of you are looking at getting a home there are tons of them on the market. We found one we really liked, but were hesitant in pulling the trigger so quick. I like to think things over before I slap down a contract on a home. Well, apparently since yesterday afternoon, the house we liked so well has already been sold. I can't locate it on any of the websites. It's only been on the market 3 days. I am waiting for a call from my realtor. Just a little FYI, I had used both of the following websites realtor.com and realestatebook.com to look for homes. I had a list of about 40 potentials. I had my agent pull them up so we could go look at them and all but 4 had been sold. So don't rely to heavily on these sites for potential homes. Apparently they are extremely slow to update.

Bogumil we are using Rex Driver of Pat Ham realtors (www.patham.com) in case you need someone to help you find a home. He is very helpful and pleasant to be around. He has been a local fireman for about 20 yrs now. He really knows the area and where to and not to buy. If you do decide to use him tell him Shane from Garland referred you. He has a son who is PreMed so he knows a little bit about what we are going through and what we can and cannot afford. Good luck.
 
I just got a packet from Tech in regards to Spring Training in April with directions. It also has a copy of the link shivmeh posted with the deadlines and other info. You should be getting yours shortly. Later
 
I got my packet in the mail too and went to that link...but am I completely missing where to fill out these forms with the various deadlines? B/c I don't see any links to them anywhere on that site. All I see is the same thing on the website that was sent out in the letter.

My bad if I'm just not seeing it...
 
Just scroll over the list of things we're supposed to fill out. I don't know why they didn't make the links in a different color.
 
You're awesome. Thanks!

I think that's the first time I've found filling out forms so quick and painless.
 
OK, I know this has been addressed already, but since we have to decide by 3/30, I'm going to bring up campus selection again. For the students already at Tech: Depending on how I do in school, I think I want to go ortho; however, if my board scores don't end up being phenomenal, I'd probably end up going into Internal med. So based on this, should I pick Amarillo since it has the reputation for surgery? Will I have an equal shot of matching ortho if I go to El Paso? Throw me some knowledge down from the mountain...
 
It doenst really matter where u do ur rotation. U can get ortho wherever u do ur rotation as long as ur competitive. If i were u pick lubbock or amarillo cuz its real easy to switch to el paso if u decide u wanna go there later on

gluck

Omar
 
Omar,

I have a similar situation to the one above. I am seriously thinking of ortho as well. I was planning on picking El Paso b/c of the variety of hands on experience this site offers. However, I have heard very mixed response to what life in El Paso is like. Some say they would love it for a few years, others say stay away and that most are miserable who live there. What's your opinion on this based on students you know who have done their clinicals there? Also, if I pick Amarillo and change my mind to El Paso it would be easy to change? Is this not true, vise versa; if I was to pick El Paso and decide to change to Amarillo or Lubbock?
 
If u want to do ortho

I think what matters most is ur grades, ur step 1 score, research( publications in anything is impressive and theres alot of opportunites here at tech), grades in ur 3rd year which u can accomplish at any of the 3 campuses.

Now this is what will probably happen: U come to med school do great ur first 2 years, get published, get a high USMLE score, then u do really well ur 3rd year at any of the campuses. In ur 4th year do ur away rotations at a bad ass ortho program and impress them, then when u apply for ortho u can use that away rotation as a means into getting into that competitive program or many others. So it really doesnt matter where u do ur 3rd year as long as ur grades are good.

Here is what I've heard about the various campuses:

lubbock: u will learn alot here, u are forced to.

amarillo: a whole lot of surgery exposure, there are no residents, its very laid back and ive heard some people get a false idea about surgery here cuz no resident to tell them how it is, and the attendants are kinda laid back. So when some people actually started a surgery residency, they ended up hating it cuz it was nothing like there rotations. However, this place is easy and chill

El paso: a lot of partying, everyone has fun here, alot of drama, residents hooking up w med students etc... its easy to sneak out of rotaitons and slack off cuz its so busy and noone cares like they do in lubbock. So u can learn alot here if u are motivated.


Its easy to switch to el paso, so if u are unsure, u can pick lubbock or amarillo now and change later on.

Again, im only a first year, so what im saying is just what fourth years have told me; i really dont know so take it for whatever its worth. if u got questions about the first year
holler at ya boy



Omar
 
Omar,
Thanks for all your advice, it is all definitely appreciated. One more thing: what research opportunities are there at Tech? When I interviewed, the interviewer asked about my clinical research & the publications I had pending, but they almost seemed apologetic when I asked about research opportunities at Tech. They said that Tech really didn't have much in the way of research because its faculty was too busy and that there weren't any chances for student involvement. Were they misinformed?

josh
 
I know 2 guys doing derm research right now. I just finished an anesthesiology paper which is prolly gonna be published in May. And I already got 2 more projects lined up. Another friend of mine did ophthamology research after his first year. He is a fourth year now and he matched into opthamology. So there are alot of opportunities. I dont know what ur interview told u, but I know some second years right now that have 20 publications from authoring and co-authoring papers.

Dont worry about research, u can come here and become famous if u want to!! ahha

later

Omar
 
Originally posted by arsenalgunner
Omar,
Thanks for all your advice, it is all definitely appreciated. One more thing: what research opportunities are there at Tech? When I interviewed, the interviewer asked about my clinical research & the publications I had pending, but they almost seemed apologetic when I asked about research opportunities at Tech. They said that Tech really didn't have much in the way of research because its faculty was too busy and that there weren't any chances for student involvement. Were they misinformed?

josh

Yeah I got the same thing. When I asked them about research opportunities neither of the interviewers could give me a definitive answer. I now know that there are several things going on. My friend there is a MS3 and he had a friend who graduated last year with over 20 publications. He said there are ample opportunities and that the staff is very open to having students help out. He said just find someone and ask. Most of them have something you can do.
 
Originally posted by omarsaleh66



Its easy to switch to el paso, so if u are unsure, u can pick lubbock or amarillo now and change later on.


Actually, that's not true. I'm a second year at Tech, and I was fortunate enough to get the switch to El Paso, but I know of at least 4 people who didn't get to switch. One of my good friends didn't get to switch, and she was devastated, leading to much heartache all around. I think it's a really crappy thing to make people decide where they want to go four months before school even starts, since we know nothing about the school, the facilities at any of the campuses, or who our friends are going to be. So I would recommend doing as much research as possible before making your request. Making the switch is not as much of a slam dunk as many people have suggested. And for the most part, you need to be either married or and MD/MBA to stay in Lubbock. But congratulations to all who were accepted, and I'm sure you will love Tech as much as I do.
 
For those at Tech already...when do you think it is a good time to start doing research. Do you think a student can make good grades and what not while doing research during their first year? I also think that I'm not informed enough about the differences in the campuses to make a decision by the 30th, but I think i'm going to roll with El Paso.
 
Originally posted by shivmeh
For those at Tech already...when do you think it is a good time to start doing research. Do you think a student can make good grades and what not while doing research during their first year? I also think that I'm not informed enough about the differences in the campuses to make a decision by the 30th, but I think i'm going to roll with El Paso.


I have the same quetion cuz im wanting to do derm and i need to get into research as soon as possible...are we kinda on our own on finding people to do research with or is there someone we can ask or get references from?
Im feelin you on the el paso thing...im gonna put lubbock down as 1 and el paso as 2 cuz if im lucky ill get to stay here and if not ill go to el paso....either one is good i think in its own way.
-For those on spring break next week...have fun and be safe...its gonna be wild!
 
i think for ur first semester just concentrate on school. Anatomy was really hard, and there wasnt that much free time atleast cuz u dont know how to study and ur making an adjustment into med school.

U can start research ur second semester if u want. what I do is I do a paper and go out the first 2 weeks of block. and then the last 3 weeks, i study my ass off for exams.

Then there are some other people that do research every day for like 2-3 hrs and stay consistent. I think its possible to do well in school, go out, work out and do research if u got good time managment skills.

if u are interested in research, u can holler at me and Ill do a paper w u. peace

later

Omar
 
Omar,

Thanks for posting all of this great info. Do you know anyone in the MD/MBA program? I am starting that and would like to get a perspective as far as time commitment goes during the medical school semesters. Since the first year will be difficult anyway...trying to acclimate to med school life...I wonder how much more stressful is it to have to take a business class at the same time.

I have a BBA already so I'll be familiar with the course work but am concerned about the time requirements.

thx!
 
i know some guys int he Mba program, they said its not bad. i think u got a business class once a week and there may be some papers, but its not bad from what i've heard.

later

Omar
 
Bump! Any new news? I didn't get anything in the mail 🙁
 
Thackl, I would email Ben Harvey. He will send you info on the Spring Training stuff. His email address can be found on the link two posts above yours. Also you want to make sure and complete all the forms on the UTTHSC website, i.e. Location for MS3 and 4, scrub size, white coat ceremony, etc, etc.. Nothing else is new as far as I know. Still waiting on that letter for our $100 deposit. Hope it doesn't come any time soon.
 
BOOOOO

I can't come to Spring Training because I have a poster presentation of my research that Friday AND I go to school in Virginia so the ticket is like $500. What I was most worried about missing was the info on the apartments, so I emailed Ben who in turn gave me the apartment presenter's info. She gave me some interesting inside information about where the safe and unsafe places in Lubbock are as well as where med students typically live. I'll probably go look at apartments in May after graduation.

For those of you without families, are you planning on getting a roomate? My mom is very concerned that I do so...so much so that she has volunteered to go to Lubbock for me and find one! Scary thought....I would like to meet my potential roomate before I room with her. What are y'all doing?

~Abbiequeen 🙂
 
did you guys fill out yoyr secondaries when you turned in your tmdsas apps? or were you told by tech to submitt them for further consideration. also is there really a point system or cut-off foe getting an inteview at tech? i know i could do a search but i figure you guys would know, heck yall were accepted. congrats by the way.😀
 
Originally posted by jtorres
did you guys fill out yoyr secondaries when you turned in your tmdsas apps? or were you told by tech to submitt them for further consideration. also is there really a point system or cut-off foe getting an inteview at tech? i know i could do a search but i figure you guys would know, heck yall were accepted. congrats by the way.😀

Once your TMDSAS app is done you automatically complete the 2ndary. Don't wait for someone to tell you because they won't. In regards to the point system, yes there is. However, don't let that be a deterrent. You never know what happens. Plus they take other things into consideration besides GPA and MCAT. This question was asked at a Tech Applicant gathering and was answered by the Dean of the School. Don't worry about it though. Just do your best in all areas and have a stellar application. You'll do fine.
 
i emailed tech these same questions a month ago and they didnt even respond. i know in the end applying to one more school here in TX is maybe $10 dollar more and just an extra box to click but i dont want to waste my time and consider tech a possibility if thaey are not going to consider me. my grades arent bad at all but i dont have a 3.6-3.7. thanks for your response.
 
Originally posted by jtorres
i emailed tech these same questions a month ago and they didnt even respond. i know in the end applying to one more school here in TX is maybe $10 dollar more and just an extra box to click but i dont want to waste my time and consider tech a possibility if thaey are not going to consider me. my grades arent bad at all but i dont have a 3.6-3.7. thanks for your response.

Jtorres, a low GPA can be countered with a high MCAT. A low MCAT can be countered with a high GPA. Both of these can be countered with outstanding extracurriculars. In all honesty I would go ahead and apply. Whats a couple of more dollars, and Tech's secondary is extremely easy to fill out. Don't sell yourself short. You have no idea what can happen. Let Tech decide if they don't want to interview you, don't do it for them. If you don't know as of now where you want to go to school, go ahead and apply to all of the TX schools. Then after your interviews, make the decision of where you would like to go. Good Luck
 
Originally posted by theringworm
Thackl, I would email Ben Harvey. He will send you info on the Spring Training stuff. His email address can be found on the link two posts above yours. Also you want to make sure and complete all the forms on the UTTHSC website, i.e. Location for MS3 and 4, scrub size, white coat ceremony, etc, etc.. Nothing else is new as far as I know. Still waiting on that letter for our $100 deposit. Hope it doesn't come any time soon.

They got my $100 last fall. I'll just give them a call to see what's up. Thanks.
 
FYI, I unfortunately got the letter wanting a $100 deposit yesterday from school. Man I wish that could have come later. Oh well, just wanted to let everyone else know so that you can be expecting it.
 
Sorry to change the subject back to spring training, but how is everyone getting around during that weekend (esp. the people coming from out of town)?
 
Advantage rental car gave me a deal of approx. $16.00/day for a compact car. That is the weekend special that can be obtained from their website.
 
I was just checking out some other threads. Do we have a match list of Tech's posted anywhere?? It would be cool to know where some of the Class of 2008 is coming from.
 
Yeah, I was wondering about that too. Though I am not going to Tech, I am really interested to see if any of my friends from high school are going anywhere in Texas. If we get a match list for UTSW, I'll pass it along to you all (I have heard we don't). Thanks and good luck in med school!
 
I'm jumping subjects again, this is about the formula for an interview at Tech for JTorres.

I teach for TPR and one of my students received this information from an admissions representative at Tech while he was doing a program at his college. When your info shows up at Tech, it gets put into a formula which determines whether or not you will receive an interview.

You can get a maximum of 30 points for GPA & a maximum of 30 points for your MCAT score for a total of 60 points. To gain an interview at Tech, you need to do better than 42-44 points.

This is all my student was told, but by applying some 7th grade algebra:
GPA = 4.0 (x) = 30 points, so the multiplier for GPA (x=7.5)
MCAT (we'll assume max score is 40 since nobody is doing much better than that) = 40 👍 = 30 points, so the multiplier for MCAT is (y=.67).

So, if your GPA*7.5 + MCAT*.67 > 42 or 44, you get an interview. Sorry to say, but there's no room for ECs in this formula. Why? Because in the medical school admissions process, they don't mean jack. Sad but true.

Anyhow, don't worry too much about a low GPA, just take care of business on the MCAT. If your GPA is low & you're struggling on the MCAT, enter a Post-Bacc program to pad your numbers. There's a great one at UNTHSC here in Ft. Worth.
 
Has everybody picked their 3rd/4th year campus? What made you choose the campus you picked?
 
Originally posted by sallazar
Has everybody picked their 3rd/4th year campus? What made you choose the campus you picked?

I picked Lubbock for several reasons:

a) I just bought a home and don't want to re-sell in two years
b) I am married and my wife will be working full time
c) I have a child and getting daycare lined up for him sometimes takes 3-6 months to accomplish. Moving in two years could make finding a new day care difficult.
d) El Paso is way the he!! out in West TX. If I were single I would put this as my number one, without a question. I am fluent in Spanish, and from what I have heard there is a huge pt load out there. It's probably the most intense compared to Lubbock and Amarillo.
e) As of right now I have no interest in doing surgery so that ruled out Amarillo. Plus that is in my opinion the worse of the three choices as far as city life goes.

Other than that I have no other insight. I don't think you could go wrong with either place. If I am not mistaken this decision has to be in by 3-31 which is Wednesday, right? Where ever you pick will be a good place and you'll make it what you want it to be. Your third year will be so busy anyways that city life might not affect you that much. Does anyone know when we findout where we get assigned to?
 
I'll also be in Lubbock. All of the people in the MD/MBA program stay there for classes. With a familiy it is one thing, as an individual staying might be great if you love the town but if you don't it sure would suck to be stuck there for 4 years. After going to A&M I don't know if I am ready for more "college town" life for 4 years. I'd be kinda nice to split it up.
 
Thanks for the reply, ringworm. I picked El Paso for some of the reasons you listed. Opportunity to get better at my Spanish, probably most diverse exposure to different diseases/patients, and biggest city of the 3 and located near the mountains. I am single, so this choice seemed to make sense for me. Anybody else pick El Paso?
 
Sallazar, I picked El paso as well...i think it will be good to get out of lubbock (after being here for 3 yrs of undergrad as well)! Ive also heard its fun and prettier than lubbock..mountains will def. be a plus! Hopefully i made the right choice.
 
I picked El Paso as well. I hope we all get our first choice.
 
Dang man, it looks like everyone on this forum is headed to El Paso except for bogumil and I. That is of course if we get our first choice.


Only two more weeks until the spring fling thing. I do hope a lot of you signed up to play in the golf tournament. I don't want to be the only hacker out there. I look forward to meeting everyone on this form. It sure will be nice to put a face with a screen name.
 
I originally sent in my campus selection with Amarillo at the top because I want to do the whole surgery thing, but a week later, I revised my form & sent a new one with El Paso as my 1st choice. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like the El Paso campus would make you the better doctor regardless of how much surgical experience you get. It just seemed to me that if you can do well there for 2 years, residency should be cake afterwards. Also, I need a refresher for those 6 years of jr high/high school Spanish I've completely forgotten... I can barely order at Taco Bell without embarassing myself now.
 
a 4th year guy i know matched at harvard for general surgery. Ortho was his first choice but he didnt get it, but he still has a shot at swithing to ortho after his first year at harvard.

Either way he is set, cuz he wants to do hand surgery and u can get that fellowship thru ortho or general surgery.

Anyways, he did his rotations at el paso and he loved it. The point is that u can do what he did or better if u work hard. The place of the rotations doesnt matter that much.

One of amarrillo;s advantage is that u ahve more time to study for the shelf exams and step 2. This is also possible at el paso. I heard in lubbock they work u alot harder so u dont have as much time.

later

Omar
 
Well, I put Lubbock down as my first choice, only because I bought a house here last year. It doesn't really matter to me where I go. I'm just happy to have somewhere else to go. Now if I can just get through my molecular biology orals......
 
Some new information about computers on class of 2008 website.
 
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