UNTHSC/TCOM Discussion Thread 2009-2010

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Just to help you out a bit, here's how mine went down with each interviewer.
1) Had notes on my app (personal statement, mostly) and asked questions about many individual areas of the PS. Asked what interested me about osteopathic medicine. Asked about health care reform.

2) Asked the why doctor question. Proceeded to selected random questions from a list/packet of questions he had (some ethical).

So, yeah, I WAS asked about the whole osteopathic thing. However, my answer was not a long spew about how DOs were better than MDs or anything like that. Perhaps some people go that route, but I think it's safer to simply establish a few things without getting into which ideal set is best:
*It's a great medical school (don't have to mention it's DO....it's MEDICAL school)
*It offers a rational, logical method to medicine (this IS complimenting the osteopathic approach), and it is evident that it is working since so many other schools in Texas and around the country are beginning to use some of the same approaches.
*Everyone I've read about that has come here really enjoys/enjoyed this school.
*The school obviously has a great track record for putting out wonderful primary care docs.

See, so really only one of those bullets refers to the methodology of osteopathic medicine. Moreover, even that bullet explains that other schools (the MD schools) are starting to incorporate that mindset of holistic medicine.

These are just my ideas about this question. I hope it helps. All I'm saying is that you don't have to go on about how osteopathic medicine is the best. Just respect it, treat it as it should be treated - as a medical school that will make you a DOCTOR. I even admitted that while I truly believe in the whole-body approach, I really didn't know much about manipulative medicine. My interviewer was completely cool with that.

Oh, I was accepted here. That doesn't mean I did well with this question, but it certainly means I didn't completely bomb, haha. BEST OF LUCK BUD!!!!

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Got an acceptance via email on the 13th. :) Extremely happy to be attending TCOM, 'twas my first choice! As for my interview experience (to those interviewing) it was very chill. An MD and a Ph.D., both of them were kind and helpful. I think being sincere is really what they're looking for; my interviewers were more concerned about my personality than anything else.
 
Hey Guys, anyone else going to be at the interview this Tuesday on the 24th? I'm getting nervous-any last minute advice guys?

BTW Do the PhDs grill you on your research and ask you why you haven't done more? I ask because I have done some research, but I am not much of big researcher type of guy.

Good Luck to you all :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
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Hey Guys, anyone else going to be at the interview this Tuesday on the 24th? I'm getting nervous-any last minute advice guys?

BTW Do the PhDs grill you on your research and ask you why you haven't done more? I ask because I have done some research, but I am not much of big researcher type of guy.

Good Luck to you all :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I didn't do any independent research, I was just a lab tech for a few years, and assisted on a number of projects. The Ph.D. I had asked me a couple of questions about my research experience, but honestly... she asked most of her questions about my writing, because I mentioned that it was a hobby of mine on TMDSAS. Wanted to know what my stories were about, who my heroes were... it was very surprising. Be ready for anything that's on your application!
 
For the people who received acceptance email on 11/13/09, did you guys receive the official acceptance letter/package through mail? I emailed the admission office on Thursday to ask, but they only said it's going to take few more days.
I have other out of the state DO interviews and would like to cancel them to save money/time, because TCOM is my top choice.
 
For the people who received acceptance email on 11/13/09, did you guys receive the official acceptance letter/package through mail? I emailed the admission office on Thursday to ask, but they only said it's going to take few more days.
I have other out of the state DO interviews and would like to cancel them to save money/time, because TCOM is my top choice.

I live in a suburb outside of Dallas (so I'm close) and I didn't receive my packet until Saturday. The letter was dated the 19th, although I was accepted via email on the 13th. I wouldn't worry yet, you should get it any day now. :)
 
So, yeah, I WAS asked about the whole osteopathic thing. However, my answer was not a long spew about how DOs were better than MDs or anything like that.

To add to this, when I interviewed here, one of my interviewers was an MD and when I finished answering the DO question and in the course of the conversation she did jokingly talk about how sometimes applicants sit there and talk poorly about MDs not realizing that they are interviewing with an MD and not a DO.
 
Does anyone know when is the last day they interview. The school just received my application a few days ago, and was wondering. I know my chances are slim to 0.1%, yet I am curious of whether I should pray...
 
Does anyone know when is the last day they interview. The school just received my application a few days ago, and was wondering. I know my chances are slim to 0.1%, yet I am curious of whether I should pray...
you should pray no matter what. i am really hoping for an interview here and i have been complete since september. i would like to know when their last interview dates are aswell.
 
for those of you who have interviewed. what did the interviewers know about you beforehand. did they have your gpa and scores or was it just your tmdsas and secondary essay?

thanks
 
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All your interviewers have seen is qualitative stuff: PS, TMDSAS primary, and your secondary.

They REALLY stress that they want to get to know you as an individual- if they invited you for an interview, they are already okay with your numbers. Now it's time to see if you would fit into the program. So, don't mention your numbers unless they ask for some reason. My first interviewer went on and on about how the last person she interviewed talked about their numbers and that really disappointed her (eek!). I felt bad for that guy.

Good luck to those interviewing soon!
 
Does anyone know if they will give out anymore pre-match offers? And if so when?

Good Luck to you all!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Does anyone know if they will give out anymore pre-match offers? And if so when?

Good Luck to you all!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Edit: I read "anymore" as any. >.> My apologies.
 
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I'd suggest reading part of this thread before asking that question. ^.^ They started releasing pre-matches on November 13th. A number of us have been accepted.

I think they were asking if they do second/third/etc rounds of prematch offers. I don't know the answer, but I'd like to...
 
Got an interview next Thurs (Dec 10). Anyone else?
 
for those of you who have interviewed. what did the interviewers know about you beforehand. did they have your gpa and scores or was it just your tmdsas and secondary essay?

thanks


They have all your information EXCEPT your hard numbers--> GPA & MCAT...

Although, I don't know why, but I feel like my interviewers had mine....

Anyways, best of luck!
 
I think they were asking if they do second/third/etc rounds of prematch offers. I don't know the answer, but I'd like to...

I looked at the threads for last year as well as 2 years ago (I'm just that paranoid) and it seems as though the school gave another batch of prematches during the first friday in December. So hopefully some of us will hear some good news this week!
 
just interviewed recently. good luck to everyone! i probably won't find out until in feb.
 
I also looked back at last years thread. There was a second batch of acceptances sent out on Dec. 8th (a Monday) and a third on Dec. 19th (a Friday). According to one of the people from last year they review people in order of when they interviewed, but they re-review them again for each consecutive pre-match session.

That being said, I interviewed on August 14th - so apparently they reviewed my application already for the first pre-match. Hopefully I'll get another look before the pre-match is over.

Also, someone said that they fill about half of the seats through pre-match and half through the match, so if they split it up evenly they give out about 1/6 of the seats each pre-match session. Last year they closed the campus on Dec 22nd for the holidays, so we should all know about the pre-match results before then.

This is all info from last year so it may not be the same. Good luck to us all and happy holidays!
 
Ok, So I interviewed with the school on november 3rd. My status online says under review and complete.

I have a 3.22 CGPA, 3.3 sGPA, 33P MCAT. I am graduating this month with a B.S. Biochem. I have 1.5 years undergrad research experience, plus I am a registered EMT. No shadowing though, but some hospital experience.
I think I did OK on the interviews. I made a couple mistakes though, like mentioning that my dad (who is a physician) was one of my early inspiration to be a doctor (it may have come off as if I was pressured into premed). No other interviews in Texas(allopathic). This was my only osteo school, but I really liked it. Changed a lot of my misinformed preconceptions about D.O.'s.

Does this look good for an acceptance?

Additional info.(don' read if you have a life)-My first interviewer was a psych M.D. She had a thick eastern euro accent I think. She would ask questions intended " to figure out how I think". Like she gave me a scenario where a girl was hurt and asked me what I would do(while we were discussing my work as an EMT). So I discussed how I would help her, but what she was looking for was that I would ask the girl her name.
She also asked about Healthcare reform and Obamacare. I gave a long answer basically saying that I didn't believe that Obamacare(I never used the words Obamacare) would help, but hurt and outlined a better plan. My answer boiled down to I thought the only ppl that should have a say in pt care should be doctors and pts. noone else(insurance companies nor the gov). And that pt care should always come first.
Overall the interview was kinda tense. She was hard to read(and I'm an excellent poker player) and she seemed to be digging for or leading me to one right answer rather than analyzing what I said.

The second interviewer was a female, Ph.D, Biomed engineer. Nice and relaxed. Talked about her kids, my research etc. I discussed how I had never had to try at school before and how I struggled at to learn how to study and focus and how I improved (my GPA freshman year 2.8). I am very left brained so I related to her a lot better.
 
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I had your first interviewer as well; interviewed October 27th. Man, it was a little difficult to talk to/understand her. I think it went okay though. She also asked me some ethical questions- more about the patient-doctor relationship. But every time I answered her question, she said, "oh good, that is exactly the answer I was looking for"... So I think it went well.

The next interview... I did not feel like it went so well. There were lots of very difficult questions and zero conversation. We finally found one subject to converse about but it was just question-> answer->question->answer.
 
I also looked back at last years thread. There was a second batch of acceptances sent out on Dec. 8th (a Monday) and a third on Dec. 19th (a Friday). According to one of the people from last year they review people in order of when they interviewed, but they re-review them again for each consecutive pre-match session.

That being said, I interviewed on August 14th - so apparently they reviewed my application already for the first pre-match. Hopefully I'll get another look before the pre-match is over.

Also, someone said that they fill about half of the seats through pre-match and half through the match, so if they split it up evenly they give out about 1/6 of the seats each pre-match session. Last year they closed the campus on Dec 22nd for the holidays, so we should all know about the pre-match results before then.

This is all info from last year so it may not be the same. Good luck to us all and happy holidays!

Yes, but they also set aside 10% of the seats to be filled by the Medical Master's program... If there are not enough qualified applicants, then they open up the 10% to all applicants---however, there are 100 of us this year---and there are LOTS of amazing applicants... so, I am thinking you are looking at 90% total.... last year I think 30 Medical Sciences students ended up getting into this years first class.
 
do you guys think its okay to send a thank you to an interviewer through an email?
 
do you guys think its okay to send a thank you to an interviewer through an email?

I think it's fine. I personally just mailed it the old-fashioned way, but whatever way you choose, I think that thank-yous are polite.
 
noone has posted on here in a while. Anyone heard anything this week? Acceptances?
On TMDSAS where it says rank(match) the schools you interviewed at, TCOM is not on there yet even though I interviewed back in november.
 
If the trends from last year communicate to this year we should be seeing a second wave of acceptances this week. Last year the second wave came out on the 8th, so it may even be today.
 
For people who prematch or have already prematched, can you post your interview date, when you heard back and you stats(s/cGPA, MCAT).

I'm going crazy here waiting!!!!

Also I interviewed but my status say under review. Is that normal for post-interview pre-acceptance?
 
Also I interviewed but my status say under review. Is that normal for post-interview pre-acceptance?

Yes that is normal, mine says the same thing and I did not prematch.
 
For people who prematch or have already prematched, can you post your interview date, when you heard back and you stats(s/cGPA, MCAT).

I'm going crazy here waiting!!!!

Also I interviewed but my status say under review. Is that normal for post-interview pre-acceptance?

Interview: Early September.
Heard Back: Nov. 13th
GPA: 3.3s/3.5c
27Q

Just because you don't prematch doesn't mean you won't match. You never know! Good luck.
 
For people who prematch or have already prematched, can you post your interview date, when you heard back and you stats(s/cGPA, MCAT).

I'm going crazy here waiting!!!!

Also I interviewed but my status say under review. Is that normal for post-interview pre-acceptance?

Interview Date: 10/06
Acceptance: 11/13
s/cGPA: 3.29/3.5
MCAT: 30M
 
Gaahhhh...I'm getting soo anxious about not getting a prematch...my stats are very similar with the people who have already been accepted...did y'all have a DO LOR?
 
Gaahhhh...I'm getting soo anxious about not getting a prematch...my stats are very similar with the people who have already been accepted...did y'all have a DO LOR?

I did, yes. Though I would note, my application was not very standard. I've had a crazy set of life experiences, so... I might not be the best person by which to measure.
 
Gaahhhh...I'm getting soo anxious about not getting a prematch...my stats are very similar with the people who have already been accepted...did y'all have a DO LOR?

Yes I did have a LOR from DO, but I am also a non-traditional applicant.
 
For those of you beginning to worry.....

I am not sure if they said this at all of the interviews.. so I will post it just in case.....

Mr. Kennedy mentioned that they will offer acceptance to approximately two-thirds of the students that interview...elsewhere, the highest I have heard so far that compares to that is one school that offers to half of students that interview.... So, I think TCOM interviews somewhere around 700-ish and offers acceptance to ~450 students...

so, two-thirds is a great number! I believe this number includes all offers they generally make throughout the application cycle.
 
during the time i interviewed, they notified us that they will be accepting 200 students for the upcoming class.
 
during the time i interviewed, they notified us that they will be accepting 200 students for the upcoming class.

It's strategic... not every student a medical school offers to is going to accept the offer for that seat. Lots of offers will go to students who pre-match at several schools or who are considering OOS medical school acceptances. As accepted students notify TCOM that they are going elsewhere, TCOM will offer those seats to other students.... That is how the number gets to approximately 400 or so.....

You are correct however that the FINAL class size will be just over 200... I think it is set to max out at 220--if they don't already have 220 in the class.. I can't remember.
 
agreed with the last few posts, i'm going crazy with waiting too post interview! Question though, I think i read somewhere that if we haven't pre matched by dec. 31 then that is the end of pre match, and we will hear at regular match feb 1. Is that correct?
 
agreed with the last few posts, i'm going crazy with waiting too post interview! Question though, I think i read somewhere that if we haven't pre matched by dec. 31 then that is the end of pre match, and we will hear at regular match feb 1. Is that correct?

Yes--that's right. And don't forget to submit your match preferences by Jan. 15th.
 
Can anyone please tell me what the TCOM application status is supposed to say if you've been invited for an interview? Everyone told me it took about 2 weeks to get an invitation, and it's been 2 weeks to the day they got my application. I will keep checking the site this week, but as of now, it says "under review."

Will the website update to say I've been invited or do I just wait for a call/email?
Also, does it say anything if they don't want to interview you? Or does it continue to say "under review"?
 
Can anyone please tell me what the TCOM application status is supposed to say if you've been invited for an interview? Everyone told me it took about 2 weeks to get an invitation, and it's been 2 weeks to the day they got my application. I will keep checking the site this week, but as of now, it says "under review."

Will the website update to say I've been invited or do I just wait for a call/email?
Also, does it say anything if they don't want to interview you? Or does it continue to say "under review"?

I received a call. I'm not sure if they reject people or not--I know that the other Texas schools just don't contact you.
 
They called me to confirm and they sent me an email. I interviewed back in november. I just now started using the website update and mine also says under review, so I assume that it does not change after the interview. Correct me if I am wrong though.
 
agreed with the last few posts, i'm going crazy with waiting too post interview! Question though, I think i read somewhere that if we haven't pre matched by dec. 31 then that is the end of pre match, and we will hear at regular match feb 1. Is that correct?
yes, i believe so. i'm not expecting to get results by the 31st since i interviewed so late, so i'll probably be waiting till feb 1. the agony of waiting!
 
agreed with the last few posts, i'm going crazy with waiting too post interview! Question though, I think i read somewhere that if we haven't pre matched by dec. 31 then that is the end of pre match, and we will hear at regular match feb 1. Is that correct?
yes, i believe so. i'm not expecting to get results by the 31st since i interviewed so late, so i'll probably be waiting till feb 1. the agony of waiting!
 
agreed with the last few posts, i'm going crazy with waiting too post interview! Question though, I think i read somewhere that if we haven't pre matched by dec. 31 then that is the end of pre match, and we will hear at regular match feb 1. Is that correct?
yes, i believe so. i'm not expecting to get results by the 31st since i interviewed so late, so i'll probably be waiting till feb 1. the agony of waiting!
 
I'm OOS and I interviewed on Nov 6 and was told I should hear back beginning to mid-December. I know it is still a little early, but I've been getting antsy because I've been accepted to another school and have to put down a $1000 deposit next week to hold my spot. Texas is my top choice though so if I get accepted after turning in my deposit I'll be happy to forfeit my deposit, but I'd rather keep my $1000 if I could.

Anyways, I called the admissions office and talked to Lynn this afternoon and she said they've been kind of running behind but the committee will be meeting next week and then before Christmas. I wanted to pass this info along to any other OOS people who are waiting to hear or IS people hoping for a pre-match.
 
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