TMDSAS: UTSW vs. Dell?

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fadeinandout

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I am really fortunate to have pre-matched into UTSW. I was all set to rank them first until I was surprised with an interview with Dell. I really loved the curriculum and it ties in with my activities in undergrad, so now I am stumped as they both seem pretty good to me. As a background, I am not super sure what specialty I want to go into but I could potentially see myself in competitive fields like radiology or neurosurg based on my background. I am also interested in healthcare leadership and/or policy work.

UTSW:
  • Better for specialty care, great home programs
  • Research powerhouse, lots of opportunities in clinical and basic science
  • Established track record of matching into good places.
  • Dallas is pretty good.
  • Cons ??
Dell:
  • Really loved the curriculum, especially because their masters' programs fit my interests in policy/leadership
  • Not very established, so not sure if I'll have trouble matching into competitive fields, but so far looks okay.
  • Not much in research beyond what the undergrad offers
  • Austin is amazing
Since I pre-matched into UTSW, I have to pick between the two before ranking day. I'm leaning towards Dell because of the unique work I would get to pursue, but now that Step 1 is P/F, not sure if lower ranking/research would affect my hopes for residency in a field like neurosurg. Any thoughts would be really appreciated. Thanks!

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I think Dell's Public Affairs masters is in it's first year, but the LBJ school is in the top 10 nationally so that could be cool. I would say that as a general student at Dell, there is not much of an interest in organized medicine and our TMA/AMA group is pretty small. However, we have some faculty members that are very involved in policy (Dr. Jewel Mullen and Dr. Debra Patt come to mind) who have offered to have students work very extensively with them in the 3rd year. You would also be in very close proximity to the capital if you wanted to start something independently. Overall, bigger schools have a more involved TMA/AMA section and more mentoring in that, but you could get a formal education at a top school at Dell and have a great mentor if you are willing to work diligently and travel.

Other than that, I'd say your points are fair. UTSW will probably set you up more easily for a competitive residency. Dell matched our first class very well (including neurosurgery at UTSW lol), but who knows what that will look like after STEP 1 goes P/F. We were *very* good at STEP 1 lol. Agree that Austin is certainly better than Dallas and I've been very happy throughout medical school! There is not a lot of interpersonal competition here, which I've always loved. I hope that wherever you go, you find great happiness and make the most of the opportunities presented to you!
 
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Dell matched our first class very well (including neurosurgery at UTSW lol), but who knows what that will look like after STEP 1 goes P/F. We were *very* good at STEP 1 lol.
Wasn't this because Dell's first class had free tuition so it attracted top students with high MCAT scores (which correlated with high step 1 scores)? I believe that's the general approach of most new schools, so without the tuition waiver I wouldn't assume the match list would be the same as the first class.
 
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