Texas (tmdsas) 2006: Official Thread!!!

[hmgcoa]

over the past few years, i've seen the texas pre-med (TMDSAS) representation in what becomes a application cycle-long thread...

i couldn't find one for the current cycle (someone tell me if i just can't find it), so i decided to start this thread...

who is else is out there? what's your story? i'm curious...it's my second time applying...(take it from me, apply early!!!...i submitted after getting my aug 2004 mcat score...big mistake! )

hopefully, others will post their experiences here.

g'luck to everyone...

-a

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[LaDoctorFutura]

I am applying this year to most tx schools (except tech b/c i'm not a fan of west texas...sorry.) This is my first year applying and I don't know what to expect from the TMDSAS system. It seems less complete in comparison to AMCAS and more confusing. If anyone knows how to make this experience better, let me know.

-c

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

bump

 

[BlinkyCat]

over the past few years, i've seen the texas pre-med (TMDSAS) representation in what becomes a application cycle-long thread...

i couldn't find one for the current cycle (someone tell me if i just can't find it), so i decided to start this thread...

who is else is out there? what's your story? i'm curious...it's my second time applying...(take it from me, apply early!!!...i submitted after getting my aug 2004 mcat score...big mistake! )

hopefully, others will post their experiences here.

g'luck to everyone...

-a

Thanks for starting this thread!! I thought I was alone doing the darn stupid TMDSAS...it's pretty confusing...

How early do we submit it by? I thought Texas schools aren't rolling...why does it matter?! I'm scared now....

 

[BaylorGuy]

Second time reapplicant over here. Decided to apply to all Texas schools....most that i wouldn't even consider going to. But after being denied entrance once, i dont want to deal with that problem again.

TMDSAS is a tad confusing....the best thing is to not get overwhealmed by it....if you have a free day, just peruse their website. They have stuff that you wish was more easily accessibile. Get it done, get it done early.

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

I know with AMCAS you send in LOR during secondaries? With TMDSAS, we send them asap to TMDSAS or do we wait for secondaries, too? I've completed most of the application, but I am just lost.

Thanks for the help everyone. It's great having a thread dedicated to the stupid application that is TMDSAS.

 

[hmgcoa]

I know with AMCAS you send in LOR during secondaries? With TMDSAS, we send them asap to TMDSAS or do we wait for secondaries, too? I've completed most of the application, but I am just lost.

Thanks for the help everyone. It's great having a thread dedicated to the stupid application that is TMDSAS.

yea. you have the recs sent in at the time of submitting your "primary"...
it's weird. then, when TMDSAS gets all your stuff together, they will validate you..or whatever they call it..and you will see this report that shows you what your TMDSAS GPA, when your rec letters were processed, etc...

that is when (i think) they send your file to each school.

corret me if i'm wrong here someone....
this nightmare, known as TMDSAS.

anyone else hate this 400 character disparity between tmdsas and amcas?


-a

 

[MadameLULU]

Yeah, I'm not sure why the charachter limit is less than that of the AMCAS.
One thing that's nice about the TMDSAS application is that they'll let you edit it once it's been submitted. If you need to edit, I would do so before it's been verified and sent out to all the schools.
Good luck guys!!

 

[Brain]

Thanks for starting this thread!! I thought I was alone doing the darn stupid TMDSAS...it's pretty confusing...

How early do we submit it by? I thought Texas schools aren't rolling...why does it matter?! I'm scared now....

It does matter. As it gets later in the application process, there will be more applicants competing for fewer interview slots. Definately apply early. It's the one thing in the application process you have control over.

I went through the process last year. I'd be happy to try to answer any specific questions you guys have. Good luck everyone

 

[danimalk]

It does matter. As it gets later in the application process, there will be more applicants competing for fewer interview slots. Definately apply early. It's the one thing in the application process you have control over.

I went through the process last year. I'd be happy to try to answer any specific questions you guys have. Good luck everyone

What is considered early?

 

[hmgcoa]

who knows...i hate apps. =(

 

[MadameLULU]

What is considered early?

Considering that the app takes nearly a month to process and schools start scheduling interviews in August, I would think June or early July is early.

 

[longhorndoc]

Considering that the app takes nearly a month to process and schools start scheduling interviews in August, I would think June or early July is early.

Agreed. I gave myself a deadline and submitted by 6/30 last cycle. I was relunctant since I was unhappy w/ my April MCAT and was planning to retake in August. It's just a gamble you take w/ the whole release of MCAT score and when to submit. Some schools will interview you before the August score release while others will wait.

Having gone through the torture or the sick waiting game, my advice to everyone is just apply ASAP, get it out of the way, and go on w/ life until February 1 on the match. Yes, there seems to be some strategy involved w/ when you submit and chances of gaining an interview, but the application is a heavy burden to carry on your shoulders. Anyways, GOOD LUCK to you ALL. Hang in there!! Let me know if you have questions

 

[hmgcoa]

how is everyone doing...?

any progress, updates?


does anyone with previous experience know when the first batch of interviews take place? things have been pretty quiet.

 

[Brain]

how is everyone doing...?

any progress, updates?


does anyone with previous experience know when the first batch of interviews take place? things have been pretty quiet.

I think they start in the middle of August. Expect TMDSAS to take 6 weeks to be processed. During that time, I sent in all the secondaries. I got most of my interview invites the week after my TMDSAS was processed.

 

[BaylorGuy]

Yeah, i think my earliest interview last year was at UT-Houston and was in September.

I've finished TMDSAS, sent in the Tech secondary. I'm currently working on the Southwestern and A&M secondary. Its kind of hard to though when you've recently become an uncle....my nephew is so much cooler than yours.

 

[chaeymaey]

Yeah, i think my earliest interview last year was at UT-Houston and was in September.

I've finished TMDSAS, sent in the Tech secondary. I'm currently working on the Southwestern and A&M secondary. Its kind of hard to though when you've recently become an uncle....my nephew is so much cooler than yours.

Congrats!

 

[hmgcoa]

so mad at myself. i keep telling myself today will be the day that i finish off the chronology of activities section of the TMDSAS app.

yet i keep putting it off.

tonight will be the night...

well...from what people are saying. i guess turning it in by the end of this week. (along with 2ndaries) should still put me in the running for an "early" interview...is that right? or am i on crack ?

anyways...hope all is well with you fellow TMDSAS'ers...

peace.

 

[hmgcoa]

oh yea...

one more thing.

does anyone know how the texas schools interpret multiple mcat scores?

my PS score jumped considerably from attempt 1 to attempt 2, but bio went down a bit.

i heard tech takes the best of each section?
a. is that true?

and, also...any other schools that do this to anyone's knowledge? would be pretty cool.

later guys.

 

[BlinkyCat]

Hi guys,

I submitted my TMDSAS application already. I was wondering how you would know when it is processed? Is there anyway to find out online before they send out the notice in mail? How would I know if I'm missing something?

 

[EvoDevo]

Hi guys,

I submitted my TMDSAS application already. I was wondering how you would know when it is processed? Is there anyway to find out online before they send out the notice in mail? How would I know if I'm missing something?

You should be able to check your status page on the TMDSAS webpage.

 

[kutter]

What ever you do, do not call to check the status of your file. They claim that if they pull your file to look it over (check for anything missing) that will place your file at the end of the list and you will have to wait longer to get verification. If you are wondering if something got there or not just resend it. Trust me, two copies of a transcript is better than no copy or a late copy.

I would also call an make sure that you double check any address that you see on the TMDSAS before you send something off. Last year there was a address that did not have the correct mail code. Call the school or check their website, please make sure you check any address that you plan to send stuff to.

Get you secondaries off ASAP, the sooner the better, especially if you are a weaker applicant.

Boy I miss Texas!

 

[txguy]

well...from what people are saying. i guess turning it in by the end of this week. (along with 2ndaries) should still put me in the running for an "early" interview...is that right? or am i on crack ?

Finish the TMDSAS app before you work on the secondaries. During the 4-6 weeks that your app is being processed, you can work on your secondary applications. By the way, unless things have changed, UTHSCSA also has a secondary application (I only saw A&M, Tech, and UTSW mentioned in this thread). It is basically just asking you to list activities you have for research, volunteer, clinical, leadership, etc. (I also included brief descriptions of the activity/orgnization and my involvement--I'm not sure if that was explicitly asked for, but it certainly doesn't hurt!) If you have filled out AMCAS (might as well for Baylor?), then you can copy and paste your descriptions from the activities section in AMCAS into the UTHSCSA secondary application--no sense in reinventing the wheel Also, as you've probably already noticed, A&M and Tech have 1 essay thats basically the same. So, the secondary applications aren't really so bad

You should be able to check your status page on the TMDSAS webpage.

*Evo opens the door to obsessive TMDSAS status page checking*



I remember how helpful MS1s were to us during the app process last year, so we are more than willing to help you guys out as well!

Good luck all.

-tx

 

[chaeymaey]

This the first year that UTSA got rid of its secondary. Good for me!

 

[Rocket3004]

Wait, I am a little confused... for texas schools, you have to use a different application, i.e. not AMCAS? I am from michigan, but I would like to apply to texas schools. I have some family down there, and my parents might move there and eventually retire there in corpus (i love it there!).

Are there any schools that I should avoid/consider being an out-of-stater? Are there any prereq's (not explicitly listed on their websites) that I should consider?

I do not know too much about the tx schools except that there are a lot of them!

 

[Brain]

Wait, I am a little confused... for texas schools, you have to use a different application, i.e. not AMCAS? I am from michigan, but I would like to apply to texas schools. I have some family down there, and my parents might move there and eventually retire there in corpus (i love it there!).

Are there any schools that I should avoid/consider being an out-of-stater? Are there any prereq's (not explicitly listed on their websites) that I should consider?

I do not know too much about the tx schools except that there are a lot of them!

Yes, there is a different application service. It's called TMDSAS

By law, the Texas public schools can only consist of 10% out-of-staters. Thus, you need to be an exceptional applicant to get in from out of state. Baylor is private so its out of state percentage is higher (~30% or so) but getting into that school is no small feat either. They tend to like out of state students who have some sort of ties to Texas because they want people to stay and practice in the state. It sounds like you have those so you will want to mention that somewhere on your application should you apply. The pre-reqs are pretty much the same as other schools.

I'm not sure when you're applying so this may not be useful to you, but if your parents move to TX, live there a year, and claim you as a dependent, then you are eligible for residency.

 

[hmgcoa]

and while everything is supposed to be bigger in texas,
the stupid character limit for TMDSAS is 400 characters less than AMCAS

 

[BlinkyCat]

Thanks for everyone for helping us with TMDSAS. It seems like my advisor is very unfamiliar with it, and it is quite scary going through with it by myself sometimes.

So I checked my status page, and it doesn't say anything...Where would I look exactly to see if they got my stuff? hmm..

 

[EvoDevo]

*Evo opens the door to obsessive TMDSAS status page checking*

oh man.....

Nope. We were never that obssessive. Ever.






Anyhoo, we'll help y'all out as best we can.

 

[BaylorGuy]

go to the status page and check the received documents page. It isn't the greatest update of status, but it tells you if your things have been received and on what date.

 

[BaylorGuy]

Yippie for me...my TMDSAS was processed and sent to schools yesterday. Excellent....i can't wait for those interviews to come soon hopefully

 

[BlinkyCat]

oh man.....

Nope. We were never that obssessive. Ever.






Anyhoo, we'll help y'all out as best we can.

Whatever happen to the little frog? I thought you were a different evodevo haha...

Lucky baylorguy! How long did it take them to process your application?

 

[StartingLine3]

Submitted my Texas application 6/22 and it was processed 6/29. Alittle slower than amcas, which was submitted on 6/23 and processed 6/28.

Submitted all secondaries for Texas schools yesterday, still have to start working on Baylors. All other schools applying to are screened applicants.

 

[Brain]

Submitted my Texas application 6/22 and it was processed 6/29. Alittle slower than amcas, which was submitted on 6/23 and processed 6/28.

Submitted all secondaries for Texas schools yesterday, still have to start working on Baylors. All other schools applying to are screened applicants.

Holy crap, that was really fast for TMDSAS. I submitted last year just after the MCAT scores became available with all supporting documents and it wasn't processed until the end of July. Maybe they've gotten more efficient there.

 

[MadameLULU]

Submitted my Texas application 6/22 and it was processed 6/29. Alittle slower than amcas, which was submitted on 6/23 and processed 6/28.

Submitted all secondaries for Texas schools yesterday, still have to start working on Baylors. All other schools applying to are screened applicants.

That's pretty impressive for TMDSAS. I think I submitted around late August/Early Setember and it took almost a month for everything to be processed, while AMCAS only took a week! Either TMDSAS has everything together or it just helps to submit everything early. My guess is the latter...

 

[BlinkyCat]

Submitted my Texas application 6/22 and it was processed 6/29. Alittle slower than amcas, which was submitted on 6/23 and processed 6/28.

Submitted all secondaries for Texas schools yesterday, still have to start working on Baylors. All other schools applying to are screened applicants.

Hi! I happened to submit my Texas application on 6/22 also! It was processed the same time as you. I'm so happy!!! I guess I didn't know where to look for that information.

Is the GPA they calculated on my application the GPA they're sending to the schools? The reason I asked is because something magical happened and the way they calculated my GPA, it jumped dramatically to 3.8+ !! I ask this because at penn, they count the + and -'s and it pulled my GPA down by alot because I got a whole bunch of A- which translates to a lower numerical number....

Anyways...here we go!!! I'm so excited..I'm just dying from happiness that they processed my application. I have very bad luck with these kinds of things....

 

[EvoDevo]

Whatever happen to the little frog? I thought you were a different evodevo haha...

Change is good.

 

[LadyJubilee8_18]

I submitted AMCAS today and I am going to get the rest of my TMDSAS in tomorrow. I had my school overnight my transcript. I was so angry because the guy told me that it took 6 weeks to process AMCAS. Is that true? I hope it is not because I want schools to see my app RIGHT NOW! I am freaking out because I don't want a late application. Do you all think the process is going to be alot slower now that it is July? When did you guys submit your apps last year? I also have to get some pictures in to TMDSAS. SO STRESSFUL!!

The schools I put on AMCAS were WAY out of my reach, but I figured all my safety schools would be state schools, so if I want to go out of state (and pay an ass load more money) I might as well make it worth it. I am doing SMEP at Case and I spoke with two adcoms who said I would pretty much get in here. One former Adcom told me he wanted me here and would raise hell if they tried to wait list or reject me. Pretty awesome I think. Makes the app process a little easier...though I really don't want to live in Cleveland.

Come on Baylor! Mama needs a new pair of shoes...or just a medical education.

 

[LadyJubilee8_18]

I submitted AMCAS today and I am going to get the rest of my TMDSAS in tomorrow. I had my school overnight my transcript. I was so angry because the guy told me that it took 6 weeks to process AMCAS. Is that true? I hope it is not because I want schools to see my app RIGHT NOW! I am freaking out because I don't want a late application. Do you all think the process is going to be alot slower now that it is July? When did you guys submit your apps last year? I also have to get some pictures in to TMDSAS. SO STRESSFUL!!

The schools I put on AMCAS were WAY out of my reach, but I figured all my safety schools would be state schools, so if I want to go out of state (and pay an ass load more money) I might as well make it worth it. I am doing SMEP at Case and I spoke with two adcoms who said I would pretty much get in here. One former Adcom told me he wanted me here and would raise hell if they tried to wait list or reject me. Pretty awesome I think. Makes the app process a little easier...though I really don't want to live in Cleveland.

Come on Baylor! Mama needs a new pair of shoes...or just a medical education.

Bump damnit, common Texans!

 

[BlinkyCat]

Bump damnit, common Texans!

hehe...what exactly is a bump I always wonder...

 

[prettygirl1908]

I could submit my app. today, but I'm sooo nervous. I'm going to submit it tommorrow so that I can wake up with a fresh outlook on life and reread my app to make sure everything is correct. Good luck to all you TMDSAS applicants out there.

 

[aliendroid]

Is computer science calculated into science GPA for TMDSAS?

 

[chaeymaey]

Is computer science calculated into science GPA for TMDSAS?

Yes it is. God bless TX!

 

[dr.z]

hehe...what exactly is a bump I always wonder...

It is used to bring up a thread. It stands for Bring Up My Post.

 

[MadameLULU]

I was so angry because the guy told me that it took 6 weeks to process AMCAS. Is that true? I hope it is not because I want schools to see my app RIGHT NOW! I am freaking out because I don't want a late application. Do you all think the process is going to be alot slower now that it is July? When did you guys submit your apps last year? I also have to get some pictures in to TMDSAS. SO STRESSFUL!!

I submitted my AMCAS and TMDSAS apps in late Aug/early September and it took a week or so to process AMCAS and about six weeks to process TMDSAS.

Btw, Case is a great school. I wish I had submitted my secondary, but it was so long and I was feeling kinda lazy at the time. Have you talked to Dr. Haynie?

 

[Rocket3004]

Yes, there is a different application service. It's called TMDSAS

By law, the Texas public schools can only consist of 10% out-of-staters. Thus, you need to be an exceptional applicant to get in from out of state. Baylor is private so its out of state percentage is higher (~30% or so) but getting into that school is no small feat either. They tend to like out of state students who have some sort of ties to Texas because they want people to stay and practice in the state. It sounds like you have those so you will want to mention that somewhere on your application should you apply. The pre-reqs are pretty much the same as other schools.

I'm not sure when you're applying so this may not be useful to you, but if your parents move to TX, live there a year, and claim you as a dependent, then you are eligible for residency.

Cool, thanks for the info. But here is the new issue... lets say my parents move, and i finish my undergrad here. Lets say I apply to MI schools and TX schools. Because I have been in MI for some time now, can I claim MI residency while applying to these schools, then apply to TX schools as a TX resident because my parents have been there for a couple of years? (Can they find out that I also applied as a MI resident?) I guess it shouldnt matter because UMich has about a 50/50 split of isntaters vs. out of staters, but for Wayne State it might be an issue.

 

[aliendroid]

Yes it is. God bless TX!

I like TMDSAS

 

[MadameLULU]

Cool, thanks for the info. But here is the new issue... lets say my parents move, and i finish my undergrad here. Lets say I apply to MI schools and TX schools. Because I have been in MI for some time now, can I claim MI residency while applying to these schools, then apply to TX schools as a TX resident because my parents have been there for a couple of years? (Can they find out that I also applied as a MI resident?) I guess it shouldnt matter because UMich has about a 50/50 split of isntaters vs. out of staters, but for Wayne State it might be an issue.

No, the TX schools won't find out, but I think you or your family has to be here at least one year to be considered a TX resident. By then you may no longer be a MI resident especially since that state's policy regarding residency is so screwy .

 

[jammin06]

Just thought I'd say hello to everyone here on this thread. I'm applying to 5 texas schools this year (UT-SA, SW, Houston, Galveston and Baylor). I'm hoping to get some love from one of those schools even though my scores aren't exactly stellar. I do go to Rice, which is right in the heart of houston, so that might help, but may not overshadow the fact that I am from out-of-state. (hrm...wonder if Alabama can count as a URS...under-represented state )

Submitted app around 6/8, and got verified a week later. Got behind on Southwestern secondary, because I can't justify in my head why i even have a chance at getting in.

 

[djfir0]

all my transcripts and such ahve been submitted, im just waiting on them to recieve my checks and photos, do you guys think i'll be eligable for late august interviews?