The Republic of Texas XXXI: Everything's not just bigger, it's more awesome too

[impermanence]

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congratulations everyone who received a pre-match offer already! Very exciting!

+1

 

[Silence Dogood]

+1

+11

Did I add those ones right? My brain is on vacation now that I am accepted.

 

[MD2017done]

Congrats everyone! I am happy for you guys.

Anyone know how often these pre-match offers will continue to come out? I interviewed at 3 schools before October was up (2/3 schools interviewed me in August), and nothing for me. Starting to get worried. I have one more interview in Texas for the end of November, hope it goes well.

 

[dwills]

I have...

UT Southwestern
UT San Antonio
UTMB Galveston
Texas Tech El Paso

Really disappointed I didn't or haven't got an interview at UT Houston. It would be number one for me 😕

...and UT Southwestern is my only prematch offer Funny how things work out 😀

Congratulations to everyone else who matched as well--we are going to be doctors!!!

 

[phant0m0o0o]

woooo congrats BoricuaMD, I was rooting for you!

 

[sliceofbread136]

How do we let schools know of our decision to hold on to or withdraw offers?

 

[BoricuaMD]

woooo congrats BoricuaMD, I was rooting for you!

Aw thanks alot man!

I wish I knew some of you guys/gals, I'd buy you all a brew for sure lol

Congratulations to you as well!!! You did it man! You earned it!

I am sure you will make a marvelous doctor, best of luck to you friend. 👍

oh and edit: one shot one kill, you nailed that interview! Good job!

 

[KTD]

How do we let schools know of our decision to hold on to or withdraw offers?

When you get the official acceptance packet in the mail there will be a form to send back.

 

[def1]

congrats everyone

 

[rubisco88]

Anyone want to help me make a list of average step scores by school? The average step score nationally is about a 220 i believe. Please list the average step 1 score of schools you've interviewed at.

Heard from a friend that utmb's is 232.

Utmb 232
Texas tech el paso 220

 

[Sephiroth]

Anyone want to help me make a list of average step scores by school? The average step score nationally is about a 220 i believe. Please list the average step 1 score of schools you've interviewed at.

Heard from a friend that utmb's is 232.

Utmb 232
Texas tech el paso 220

Fun Fact: 90% of schools have mean Step scores at or above the national average. Isn't math strange sometimes? 🙄

 

[sliceofbread136]

Fun Fact: 90% of schools have mean Step scores at or above the national average. Isn't math strange sometimes? 🙄

tbh I wouldn't be surprised by some significant outlier med school bringing down the avg

 

[rubisco88]

Lol ya. I think I know which ones. But that it is an interesting fact!

 

[Sephiroth]

tbh I wouldn't be surprised by some significant outlier med school bringing down the avg

there are 141 MD-granting med schools in the US. Even if there were 10 schools that had average scores of 150 (which is well below passing) and the others had an aggregate mean of just 225, that would still give a national average of 219.7

 

[Silence Dogood]

Utmb 238
utsw 235
uth 230
utsa 222?

 

[TheTruckGuy]

Just a thought, but when schools say their average score could they be stating their average passing score? Perhaps the national average factors in all scores, and schools only factor in passing scores?

Just a thought if it's true that 90% of schools have averages above the national average.

 

[tn4596]

Just a thought, but when schools say their average score could they be stating their average passing score? Perhaps the national average factors in all scores, and schools only factor in passing scores?

Just a thought if it's true that 90% of schools have averages above the national average.

I think they factor in all scores, they will also tell you their step 1 passing rate. I am sure that 90% number is right, think Puerto Rico, carribean, meharry...

 

[SkiUlater]

Utmb 238
utsw 235
uth 230
utsa 222?

Silence - what is your source for these scores? Were you able to find these on the school's website?

 

[BabyClutch]

From my notes & interview packets

Baylor 239
UTMB 237
UTSW 235
A&M 233
TTLubbock 221? I'm pretty sure it's around average, but they have a 98% (high) pass rate
UTSA ? not in my notes. 222 from the above post sounds about right.

Notice, schools like Tech & San Antonio, that don't have especially high averages, don't mention it on interview day. Where as Baylor & UTMB made sure everyone knew how well they do. That's probably why every school seems to have an above average score. You only hear of the ones that do well.

 

[GrinchMD]

Fun Fact: 90% of schools have mean Step scores at or above the national average. Isn't math strange sometimes? 🙄

Not sure if the percent is right or not (sounds reasonable) but it should be noted that the average Step 1 score for US Seniors that match is 226. The average for the ~9% that don't is 214. Data straight from NRMP.

I won't deny that some schools may "help" its students prepare for the boards more than others, but ultimately it still boils down to the individual.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

From my notes & interview packets

Baylor 239
UTMB 237
UTSW 235
A&M 233
TTLubbock 221? I'm pretty sure it's around average, but they have a 98% (high) pass rate
UTSA ? not in my notes. 222 from the above post sounds about right.

Notice, schools like Tech & San Antonio, that don't have especially high averages, don't mention it on interview day. Where as Baylor & UTMB made sure everyone knew how well they do. That's probably why every school seems to have an above average score. You only hear of the ones that do well.

A&M gave us a handout that said 223 (not 233) is their 2010-2011 average, while the national was 224 that year.

 

[BabyClutch]

A&M gave us a handout that said 223 (not 233) is their 2010-2011 average, while the national was 224 that year.

Oh weird. I have 233 in my notes as the average last year. I'm also pretty sure during the presentation they said they were 11 points higher than the national average.

 

[Silence Dogood]

Silence - what is your source for these scores? Were you able to find these on the school's website?

I got these from the presentations they give during the interview day.

UTSA is the only one I don't remember so don't quote me on that one. Their average is useless anyway, because it does not reflect the new curriculum.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

Oh weird. I have 233 in my notes as the average last year. I'm also pretty sure during the presentation they said they were 11 points higher than the national average.

I actually didn't remember them mentioning it in the presentation, so I started thumbing through the folder they gave us. There is a photocopy of what looks like a powerpoint stating both Steps 1 and 2, A&M vs. National.

I tried looking for the same thing on Lubbock as I don't remember that either, but I can't find anything on it in my stuff.

 

[Sephiroth]

Not sure if the percent is right or not (sounds reasonable) but it should be noted that the average Step 1 score for US Seniors that match is 226. The average for the ~9% that don't is 214. Data straight from NRMP.

I won't deny that some schools may "help" its students prepare for the boards more than others, but ultimately it still boils down to the individual.

My statement was meant tongue-in-cheek. While I believe somewhere on the order of 90% of schools claim to have above-national-average mean step scores, unless the other 10% had absurdly low averages (such that much of their class was failing and they should likely lose accreditation), this isn't possible. Schools skew the methods of reporting step scores, so what they give you generally doesn't mean much, even before considering that the individual is more important.

 

[Silence Dogood]

With regard to withdrawing pre-match acceptances, are we supposed to send an e-mail to the school too, or just withdraw from the school on TMDSAS?

 

[def1]

For those without a prematch yet, like me 🙁 , from what I've gathered, schools review applicants again in December and send out more offers depending on the amount that have been declined, so there is still hope.

 

[Gooby]

From my notes & interview packets

Baylor 239
UTMB 237
UTSW 235
A&M 233
TTLubbock 221? I'm pretty sure it's around average, but they have a 98% (high) pass rate
UTSA ? not in my notes. 222 from the above post sounds about right.

Notice, schools like Tech & San Antonio, that don't have especially high averages, don't mention it on interview day. Where as Baylor & UTMB made sure everyone knew how well they do. That's probably why every school seems to have an above average score. You only hear of the ones that do well.

At Tech El Paso, our first class to take Step 1 had an average of 224. Our most recent class to take it had an average of 230. 98% pass rate both years.

 

[BoricuaMD]

Anybody else lose every last shred of motivation for undergrad after pre-matching/ interviewing? 😳 haha

I can't bring myself to do anything but drink beer , I'm studying for exams hours before I take them and writing papers hours before the deadline lol...

 

[stolen_biscuit]

With regard to withdrawing pre-match acceptances, are we supposed to send an e-mail to the school too, or just withdraw from the school on TMDSAS?

It's your choice. I would send an email and say something nice about their school, but that's just me. 🙂 And I've liked all the places I've interviewed at, so it wouldn't be a reach to write a sentence or two about the positives while regretfully declining.

 

[MD2017done]

^^^ They could care less about a nice sentence or two about their school. They have tons of applicants to deal with. They just want to know if you accept the offer or will withdraw.


Do you think that medical schools write a nice PERSONAL sentence or two about the "good aspects" of each applicant they reject? No they give a ruthless, informal, generic letter to those that are rejected. Return the favor. 😉

 

[stolen_biscuit]

^^^ They could care less about a nice sentence or two about their school. They have tons of applicants to deal with. They just want to know if you accept the offer or will withdraw.


Do you think that medical schools write a nice PERSONAL sentence or two about the "good aspects" of each applicant they reject? No they give a ruthless, informal, generic letter to those that are rejected. Return the favor. 😉

I have gotten a couple of very nice rejections!

It's my old-school manners that insist upon my breaking up nicely with each school.

 

[ts173]

From my notes & interview packets

Baylor 239
UTMB 237
UTSW 235
A&M 233
TTLubbock 221? I'm pretty sure it's around average, but they have a 98% (high) pass rate
UTSA ? not in my notes. 222 from the above post sounds about right.

Notice, schools like Tech & San Antonio, that don't have especially high averages, don't mention it on interview day. Where as Baylor & UTMB made sure everyone knew how well they do. That's probably why every school seems to have an above average score. You only hear of the ones that do well.

Your Lubbock is way low I think, I recall them saying low-mid 230s was the average. I don't have my notes on me at the moment since I am home for Thanksgiving but I will check when I get back to school Saturday and update on here.

Also your A&M is too high, I am reading 223 in the packet they gave us for A&M.

 

[ts173]

Also a big question for all you Texas applicants that I have been struggling with.

UTSW or UTH and why?

I am trying to come up with the pros and cons for both of these schools, UTSW has prestige and UTH has the medical center. A lot of pluses and minuses for both, hard decision when it comes to mid January and we have to rank them.

 

[phant0m0o0o]

Oh man I have lost all motivation to do anything, I even quit my job after December even though there are 8 months until school starts 🙁


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[nysw]

Also a big question for all you Texas applicants that I have been struggling with.

UTSW or UTH and why?

I am trying to come up with the pros and cons for both of these schools, UTSW has prestige and UTH has the medical center. A lot of pluses and minuses for both, hard decision when it comes to mid January and we have to rank them.

When I ranked my choices last year, I made my decisions based on location, where I thought I would fit in best (personality-wise) and the caliber of the acapella group. I guess you just have to figure out what matters to you most, and rank accordingly. You have two months to sit and think about it, it's a pretty personal decision 🙂

 

[ts173]

When I ranked my choices last year, I made my decisions based on location, where I thought I would fit in best (personality-wise) and the caliber of the acapella group. I guess you just have to figure out what matters to you most, and rank accordingly. You have two months to sit and think about it, it's a pretty personal decision 🙂

Thanks for the advice, location and fit is what I figured it would have to come down to more than anything. Just a tough choice. Acapella groups are a pretty good sway though!

Two months is going to go by so dang fast lol

 

[BabyClutch]

Your Lubbock is way low I think, I recall them saying low-mid 230s was the average. I don't have my notes on me at the moment since I am home for Thanksgiving but I will check when I get back to school Saturday and update on here.

Also your A&M is too high, I am reading 223 in the packet they gave us for A&M.

K I believe yall. I just don't know why I wrote 233 several times in my notes then 😕

 

[ts173]

K I believe yall. I just don't know why I wrote 233 several times in my notes then 😕

Hmm did you interview in College Station or Temple? I don't know why this would matter but possible that they misspoke or even had different numbers between the two locations and reported them as such?

 

[Whatyousay]

Also a big question for all you Texas applicants that I have been struggling with.

UTSW or UTH and why?

I am trying to come up with the pros and cons for both of these schools, UTSW has prestige and UTH has the medical center. A lot of pluses and minuses for both, hard decision when it comes to mid January and we have to rank them.

An abbreviated version of my pro/con list without any "fit" factors (e.g. student body, atmosphere, etc. since that's more of a subjective matter). Can't really go wrong with either school, though.

UTH was really hard for me to evaluate. I liked the school, but I didn't really have a strong pro vs. con list for it (pros = TMC, cons = testing schedule).

UTSW
Pros
+ Research
+++ New Parkland + University Hospital (will have been up and running for a year by the time you start clinical rotations)
+ Reputation (although somewhat hit or miss outside of Texas)
+ 1st semester P/F
+ College system

Cons
- Older facilities (partially mitigated by the new hospitals)
- Traditional curriculum (+ systems-based 2nd year, though)
- Nothing to do within a 10 minute radius of campus (as long as you have a car/ willing to use public transport, not a major problem)
- Not as strong of a global health program as you would expect from a school with this many resources (although they've been expanding the program recently)


UTH
Pros
+++ TMC
+ Nice facilities
+ System-based curriculum

Cons
--- Test schedule (all the tests for one block in one week ... some might prefer it, definitely not something that I found particularly attractive). Seeing how I've handled having two tests in one week this year (poorly), I think my intuition was probably correct.

 

[bollywoodlover]

I'm having difficulty ranking UTMB vs. UTHSCSA. They are my top two schools and provide similar environments and similar curriculums. Both schools offer a noncompetitive and collaborative student environment and a laid back atmosphere. I think I'd be happy at either school, but these are the little things I'm also considering in my decision.

Here is my list of pros and cons:

UTMB:
Pros:
Can do rotations in Houston.
Higher board scores.
Lots of tradition.
Old school with nice buildings.
Slightly less class time- most days run from 8a-12 noon
near the ocean (I don't know if the beach on the Gulf is the best though)

Cons:
A lot of the city is kinda run down. Near the med center is nice and historical though.
Not sure how safe the city of Galveston is.
International airport is in Houston- 50 minutes away. Traffic sucks.
Have to go off the island towards Houston to find good shopping, food, and possibly better things to do for fun.
City isn't as convenient. Not everything is one place or one plaza.
Weather will be super humid in the summer. Mosquitoes
Galveston isn't the best city, so I don't know how much potential the med school has for growth. They are building a bunch of new facilities and buildings though.

UTHSCSA:

Pros:
I have relatives nearby for support.
In San Antonio, which is a nicer city than Galveston.
Shopping, food, things to do is convenient.
Not a lot of traffic for the 7th biggest city in the US.
Probabtion seems like a good thing, as they have addressed all problems. Most schools have 6-8 demerits. They had 10 and have addressed all 10.
Potential for growth seems positive as they are the only med school in San Antonio. They are building new building and facilties. CHOP is coming to SA (the best children's hospital) and are expanding University Hospital to a Level 1 trauma. Trauma from military hospitals is being transferred to UH.
Nicer clinical skills facility.
New integrated curriculum which has already been tested for a year. Probable that board scores wll increase.
Real starbucks inside medical building
better weather and less mosquitos

Cons:
Lower board scores.
Class is slightly longer (8a- 2p most days)
Buildings aren't as architecturally nice as in galveston

 

[tn4596]

I'm having difficulty ranking UTMB vs. UTHSCSA. They are my top two schools and provide similar environments and similar curriculums. Both schools offer a noncompetitive and collaborative student environment and a laid back atmosphere. I think I'd be happy at either school, but these are the little things I'm also considering in my decision.

Here is my list of pros and cons:

UTMB:
Pros:
Can do rotations in Houston.
Higher board scores.
Lots of tradition.
Old school with nice buildings.
Slightly less class time- most days run from 8a-12 noon
near the ocean (I don't know if the beach on the Gulf is the best though)

Cons:
A lot of the city is kinda run down. Near the med center is nice and historical though.
Not sure how safe the city of Galveston is.
International airport is in Houston- 50 minutes away. Traffic sucks.
Have to go off the island towards Houston to find good shopping, food, and possibly better things to do for fun.
City isn't as convenient. Not everything is one place or one plaza.
Weather will be super humid in the summer. Mosquitoes
Galveston isn't the best city, so I don't know how much potential the med school has for growth. They are building a bunch of new facilities and buildings though.

UTHSCSA:

Pros:
I have relatives nearby for support.
In San Antonio, which is a nicer city than Galveston.
Shopping, food, things to do is convenient.
Not a lot of traffic for the 7th biggest city in the US.
Probabtion seems like a good thing, as they have addressed all problems. Most schools have 6-8 demerits. They had 10 and have addressed all 10.
Potential for growth seems positive as they are the only med school in San Antonio. They are building new building and facilties. CHOP is coming to SA (the best children's hospital) and are expanding University Hospital to a Level 1 trauma. Trauma from military hospitals is being transferred to UH.
Nicer clinical skills facility.
New integrated curriculum which has already been tested for a year. Probable that board scores wll increase.
Real starbucks inside medical building
better weather and less mosquitos

Cons:
Lower board scores.
Class is slightly longer (8a- 2p most days)
Buildings aren't as architecturally nice as in galveston

Aside for the longer class day, in which I guess you can skip anyway (they have recorde lecture don't they?) you didn't rly list a real cons for SA lol

 

[Whatyousay]

I'm having difficulty ranking UTMB vs. UTHSCSA. They are my top two schools and provide similar environments and similar curriculums. Both schools offer a noncompetitive and collaborative student environment and a laid back atmosphere. I think I'd be happy at either school, but these are the little things I'm also considering in my decision.

Very clear that you prefer UTHSCSA (unless there are more pros/cons that you didn't list).

Curriculum helps, but board scores are largely self-driven.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

UTMB:
Cons:
A lot of the city is kinda run down. Near the med center is nice and historical though.
Not sure how safe the city of Galveston is.
International airport is in Houston- 50 minutes away. Traffic sucks.
Have to go off the island towards Houston to find good shopping, food, and possibly better things to do for fun.
City isn't as convenient. Not everything is one place or one plaza.
Weather will be super humid in the summer. Mosquitoes
Galveston isn't the best city, so I don't know how much potential the med school has for growth. They are building a bunch of new facilities and buildings though.

I've lived a little south of Houston for many years and have traveled to Galveston plenty. While it's not my favorite place (although neither is SA, so I'm unbiased there ), I can allay some of your fears/cons.

- It's as safe as any city imo, meaning there are areas where you certainly don't want to get lost as well as perfectly fine areas. Current students should be able to help guide you to safe communities.
- Traffic in Houston sucks big time, but in relation to the airport, you should be able to avoid most of it. We and our visitors use Hobby almost exclusively, and that's decently south of the city, before you hit the major traffic. It's a hub for SWA, so we can get direct flights to most locations. (I don't know where you're from, but I did notice that traveling within TX often requires layovers.)
- There are lots of good food joints in Galveston (Sea Wall, The Strand)! I kind of hate shopping, but the Tanger Outlets just opened in TX City, maybe a 30 minute drive north from there. If you're into boutiquey places, there are plenty in The Strand (Historic District).
- Weather in SA is also crazy humid in the summer. I avoid both places that time of year, so I think you're even there! Galveston actually has milder summer weather, but it certainly gets more rain.
- I don't know about growth, but UTMB serves a pretty big population. I certainly wouldn't anticipate any kind of down-turn there.

Again, I'm not an advocate, but I thought this might help a little. 🙂

 

[bollywoodlover]

Thanks crafty. Your insight was very helpful. Still undecided though. One of the students at UTMB gave me a vivid description of having mosquitoes swarming on their pants during the mosquito month. That was not appealing haha. Also said one of her classmates carries a clip-on off spray thing to divert the mosquitos, which would be a good option for me if I ended up at UTMB.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

Thanks crafty. Your insight was very helpful. Still undecided though. One of the students at UTMB gave me a vivid description of having mosquitoes swarming on their pants during the mosquito month. That was not appealing haha. Also said one of her classmates carries a clip-on off spray thing to divert the mosquitos, which would be a good option for me if I ended up at UTMB.

Good luck with that. 😉 I have yet to find anything that works very well! I was out in my front yard this weekend, trying to play ball with my kids, and I had to go inside because I was being swarmed. Yes, at the end of November. It's not right.

I do feel your pain. I have only one pre-match, but I have several other schools to think about when deciding how to rank...and I have no idea how to do it. Like you, I can see pros and cons to all. I am currently using avoidance; it's working well, but I don't think it's helping me make a decision. 😛

 

[William Hart]

Thanks crafty. Your insight was very helpful. Still undecided though. One of the students at UTMB gave me a vivid description of having mosquitoes swarming on their pants during the mosquito month. That was not appealing haha. Also said one of her classmates carries a clip-on off spray thing to divert the mosquitos, which would be a good option for me if I ended up at UTMB.

I live in Galveston and I'll trade you my el paso prematch for your UTMB prematch...


I'll take our west nile - mosquitos over your + ones.


The pros and cons game is very hard though. If Galveston invited me I would've had it easy but besides that I can think of pros for each school with which I interviewed.

 

[bollywoodlover]

No way I'd go to El Paso. I guess if that's the only place I got into. The location is not ideal and I'm not sure I fit their focus-West TX rural medicine.

 

[stolen_biscuit]

No way I'd go to El Paso. I guess if that's the only place I got into. The location is not ideal and I'm not sure I fit their focus-West TX rural medicine.

You're in El Paso though? I was super impressed by the school, and it seemed like the people who came from El Paso wanted to stay and loved it. Wouldn't think twice about going there if I was single. (Not going to though; was debating what moving my family there would be like when my husband's concerns won out.)

 

[BoricuaMD]

You're in El Paso though? I was super impressed by the school, and it seemed like the people who came from El Paso wanted to stay and loved it. Wouldn't think twice about going there if I was single. (Not going to though; was debating what moving my family there would be like when my husband's concerns won out.)

I am a bit biased because Foster is my only pre-match so far, but I thought the school was awesome. It seemed like a nice, cozy setting to study medicine with limited distractions. The fact that you get to see rare pathology and advanced disease processes in patients from across the border is a bonus. The curriculum is also the best I've seen at any Texas medical school that I've interviewed at so far.

I understand location is far from ideal, but a great up and coming MD granting school, carrying the Texas Tech name, located in a region that is severely medically underserved sounds like a win to me.

Also, El Paso is not a small hick town in the middle of nowhere, it is the 19th largest city in the US, which means it carries most of the amenities of a large city. I don't know if I will end up matriculating there or not but I figured I would state my opinion.