University of Houston undergrad

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ahimsel

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I'm finishing my senior year in highschool in December, then transfering to a university in the spring to complete my undergraduate. I can go to any public university in texas, however I live near houston, it would be the cheapest path and it's smack dab in the the TMC which i think could offer me lots of opportunities for EC's and volunteer work. My only concern is.. does UH have a good enough science program to generate kids with competitive gpas and mcat scores, compared to University of Texas or Texas A&M?

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how well you do as an undergrad has more to do with your work ethic and dedication to studying than it does the quality of the school.

UH should be fine for you.
 
the school can't generate your gpa nor the mcat, you have to earn the gpa and mcat yourself. I'm a student from UH applying this year. You can look at my mdapplicant profile. I'm getting some interviews. I'll let you know if I get accepted in a couple of months.
 
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the school can't generate your gpa nor the mcat, you have to earn the gpa and mcat yourself. I'm a student from UH applying this year. You can look at my mdapplicant profile. I'm getting some interviews. I'll let you know if I get accepted in a couple of months.
we interviewed at UTHSCSA together.. I think I remember seeing someone from UH as well.. too bad I didn't know you'd be there or I would have said something.
 
haha wow, I thought I was the only UH student there. Your interview list looks impressive.
 
I've had the opportunity to interview at 6 MD schools in TX so far, and everyone I went to I regularly saw plenty of A&M/Baylor/UT kids. Not once have I seen a UH applicant. Obviously that doesn't mean there aren't any, since someone above has mentioned they got interviews and they attend UH, but it seems UH isn't generating anywhere near the number of competitive applicants other schools are. Just an observation.
 
I've had the opportunity to interview at 6 MD schools in TX so far, and everyone I went to I regularly saw plenty of A&M/Baylor/UT kids. Not once have I seen a UH applicant. Obviously that doesn't mean there aren't any, since someone above has mentioned they got interviews and they attend UH, but it seems UH isn't generating anywhere near the number of competitive applicants other schools are. Just an observation.
Really? I've only met like 1 other Baylor alum at my interviews. My UTHSCSA interview was like 95% Longhorns and Aggies though.. almost ruined the interview for me ;)
 
My UTMB interview had a table full of Baylor and UT kids. A&M interview there were... A&M kids and UT everywhere. UTSA Baylor and UT again. Tech was variations of the UT schools (UTD, UT Austin, etc). UTSW I for some reason kept meeting OOS kids.. so I dunno. UTH I saw more UT variations and A&M college station and prairie view kids. My point is I never met any UH applicants though :|
 
but it seems UH isn't generating anywhere near the number of competitive applicants other schools are. Just an observation.

There are many possible explanations for your observation that have nothing to do with the strength of UH's premedical program.

OP, why not call UH's pre-professional advisors and get some actual data? You may find their success rates are comparable to UT, Baylor and A&M (when controlling for GPA and MCAT, of course). Or you may not. Either way you'll have some useful information.

Incidentally, I know of at least one med student at Baylor who attended UH.
 
It really depends on your study habits...adcoms aren't going to care that you come from a less known undergrad...they didn't for me (I've done all the TX interviews so far). If you have the MCAT and GPA (regardless of the school), you're golden. Go Cougars.

And there are at least 5-6 UH students at Baylor every year, b/c the DeBakey high school has a Debakey-UH-Baylor program. (GED/BS/MD? What does one call that?)
 
I just graduated from U of H and I got a 39 on the MCAT ( 12PS 13VR 14BS). Is that good enough? My GPA is another matter. But that is my fault, not U of H's. It's not the school, its the person and the level of dedication.
 
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Just curious, how do you like UH LesPaul?
 
both my parents are UH grads...so basicaly all my life i have been hearing stories about UH. my aunt. a UH grad, is now a dentist...

funny for me since im pretty sure im going to go to UT-Austin...man my parents are gonna be pissed...lol

but UH is a great school, they have a science foundation...just not too many ppl in UH want to persue medicine from what iv heard...who knows i may change my mind and become a Cougar...we will see...
 
Anyone know the success rate for Baylor premed students getting accepted into medical school?
 
Anyone know the success rate for Baylor premed students getting accepted into medical school?
I think the premed office keeps those statistics. Remember they used to show us those numbers in our class advising sessions as freshmen/sophomores?
 
i don't think that one should worry about the undergrad institution. this is going to be cliche, but what you get out of college depends on how much you put in. i know of 2 ppl who went to UH and got accepted to baylor med. someone i knew from high school went to baylor u and got accepted to both baylor med and ut southwestern. knowing her, she probably has a really high gpa and mcat.
 
a&m says that they feed the most pre-meds into the tx med schools... funny, i thought that school would surely be ut austin:confused: maybe ut is a close second and they trade rankings every few years.
 
a&m says that they feed the most pre-meds into the tx med schools... funny, i thought that school would surely be ut austin:confused: maybe ut is a close second and they trade rankings every few years.


What about Texas Tech?
 
At A&M, those with a 3.5+ and a 30+ have a 95% chance of getting in. A&M has an excellent pre-med program and a stellar prehealth committee. If at all possible to to A&M man, it's an AMAZING school.

Yes I'm bias
 
A&M might be a good school, but the location sucks hairy balls


go to UT AUSTIN
 
At A&M, those with a 3.5+ and a 30+ have a 95% chance of getting in. A&M has an excellent pre-med program and a stellar prehealth committee. If at all possible to to A&M man, it's an AMAZING school.

Yes I'm bias

Gig 'em. Too bad I go to one of the sister schools, not THE A&M.
 
Go to the UH main campus... but only for the Dynamo!

2006-11-12-dynamo-in.jpg
 
A&M might be a good school, but the location sucks hairy balls


go to UT AUSTIN

What's the most important factor for picking a school?

Location! Location! Location!
 
And CS fits that nicely for some people :)

I wasn't just talking about colleges, but med schools as well. When you start interviewing, you'll see that there are some places you would rather not live for 4 years.
 
I would disagree. Don't get me wrong I love Austin, but I wouldn't want to LIVE there for an extended period of time. It's just too weird. When I want to visit for the weekend it's only an hour or so away and it's not overwhelming. You gotta remember some people don't like that big city atmosphere let alone living right in the middle of it. I chose A&M and I couldn't be more happy :D
 
Seeing as how I go to UH and have been for three years now, I probably should know any pre-med statistics by heart. Unfortunately, I don't, so I'll also have to suggest what another poster said: call up the pre-med/PPB office and ask for the statistics.

As for UH's science program, I can't comment too much on it because I took all of my 'intro' sciences (Bio, Chem, and Physics) elsewhere before I started at UH. If the "big killer" class Organic Chem. is any indication though, grades in that class were pretty low such that I wouldn't call it easy. I didn't even survive my first go-around (whoops) and ended up retaking both lectures in the summer. If you do end up going to UH and take Organic there, I recommend Dr. Bean. :D

One last thing I will mention that doesn't seem to get a lot of publicity: a UH - UT Houston Assured Acceptance Program. I was looking into this when I first applied to UH but ended up not looking at it after starting school because my major was not in NSM (tried out engineering instead... ouch?) I can't find any active link that will show the program, but if you search ' "UT Houston" assured acceptance ' under Yahoo, the first link that shows up should be an old page that details what you need to do to be eligible (if you click on the cached version). To be sure you can always contact Dr. Larry Williams at the Biology / Biochemistry Department at UH or the UT-Houston admissions office.
 
I wasn't just talking about colleges, but med schools as well. When you start interviewing, you'll see that there are some places you would rather not live for 4 years.

Of course. But I've been to CS, so I can speak at least a wee bit about it... we'll see come next interview cycle, I 'spose.
 
I wasn't just talking about colleges, but med schools as well. When you start interviewing, you'll see that there are some places you would rather not live for 4 years.

Translation: Lubbock blows.

:laugh:
 
Here's to being old and overexperienced schoolwise. . .

I have attended UT-Austin; Texas A&M and U of Houston. You really have to look at yourself and what you can do. Each of these schools is excellent in providing a solid science background, ample opportunities to get involved in extracurriculars and proximity to medical facilities for shadowing/volunteering. That said, if you are looking to move out of mom & dad's and want the big city experience, head for UT. If you want the small town, close knit feel, head up 6 to A&M. If you can live at home without driving yourself or your family crazy, stay at home, save your money because you will certainly just add to your debt load if you head away from the nest.

I did my post-bac classes at UH to get prepared for the MCAT and prereqs. I also have taught chemistry in public schools for the last 13 years. Dr. Bott for general chemistry and Dr. Bean for organic are two of the best educators that I have ever taken a class from. And I have been trained to evaluate that kind of thing. The physics classes were a little shaky, it depends on the trig or calc route. The bio classes were fairly strong although the TA that you get for lab can be a real headache.

While my undergrad heart that graduated from Texas A&M says go there, my more mature self says don't go into debt, stay at home and get a great education at UH. Ouch, it hurt to say that and I think they are revoking my Century Club membership at this moment.

Also, I took a class that was an independent study class at Texas Children's ER department that focused on medical reseach. It was absolutely amazing and it was through UH.

Hope this helps.
 
It really depends on your study habits...adcoms aren't going to care that you come from a less known undergrad...they didn't for me (I've done all the TX interviews so far). If you have the MCAT and GPA (regardless of the school), you're golden. Go Cougars.

And there are at least 5-6 UH students at Baylor every year, b/c the DeBakey high school has a Debakey-UH-Baylor program. (GED/BS/MD? What does one call that?)

Yeah I went to debakey high school and there were 10 students chosen for the baylor program in my year 2006 so there is at least 10 and all of them go to uh so there will be that much.

Im a premed major at uh and I am surprised at the lack of uh students at these med schools, but like said above we have good science programs; i guess most people do bad in the organic chem and stuff, but maybe its the fact that we have a lot of prepharm majors, more than premed so that may factor in.
 
I would disagree. Don't get me wrong I love Austin, but I wouldn't want to LIVE there for an extended period of time. It's just too weird. When I want to visit for the weekend it's only an hour or so away and it's not overwhelming. You gotta remember some people don't like that big city atmosphere let alone living right in the middle of it. I chose A&M and I couldn't be more happy :D

I wouldn't want to live in CS at all. IT'S too weird. Austin's really not that big of a city either. Try Houston, Dallas, or even DC. :)

Adding on to what TheRealMD said, I didn't even apply to A&M or Tech for med school because there is no way I could live in either of those places for 4 years especially as part of an interracial couple. I visited a friend from Tech while I was still in undergrad, and all the people I met at this party kept assuming I was gay because I lived in Austin. :( Don't want to generalize, but I felt like at CS and Tech that the general vibe was anti-diversity. I'm sure there are great people at both places, but they were not for me. Actually, I know there were great people because I was friends with a few.
 
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