UT Dallas Certificate in Biomedical Sciences

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For those who got accepted, was this your 2nd time applying? and do any of you mind sharing your GPA?
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It was my first time applying. My GPA without factoring retakes was about a 3.2 with a strong upward trend (from 2.5 or so my first two years of undergrad to a consistent 4.0s my last 3 semesters.) Factoring retakes, GPA was about 3.4 or so. I applied early February, so I'm not sure if my numbers are typical, or even if timing has anything to do with it.
 
BobbyT said:
For those who got accepted, was this your 2nd time applying? and do any of you mind sharing your GPA?
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This was my first time applying to UTD. My Undergrad GPA is low <3.0, Graduate GPA is 3.1, so both are not great stats by no means. Then again, I was in the military for ten years so I'm sure that helped my case to stand out. Shows me that adcom at UTD look beyond pure numbers, but at the whole picture of the candidate.
 
So my girlfriend and I are driving up to Dallas this week to look for a place to live. Anyone have any suggestions for some good, cheap apartments near the school?
 
I applied to the UT Premed Post Bacc program for the Spring 2012 semester, and I am really worried about admission. I applied early because my GPA is low. I only have a overall GPA of 3.3 and I science GPA of 3.3, hence why I initially applied for the program. Can you all tell me some of your stats? Also, how long did it take for a acceptance/rejection letter? Thanks
 
Hoya2011 said:
I'm just waiting for my official MCAT score from Jan-- Will be submitting Fall 2011 app early March
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Why would you wait for your MCAT? I wasn't aware that score was a criteria for admission, or are you just going to voluntarily include it?
 
Anybody know how successful this certification is in making successful M.D. applicants?

How does it make one more competitive? I see you have to apply as an undergraduate, I guess this means its another year of upper-level science undergrad courses, so the classes mainly let you strengthen your undergrad GPA.
 
I am currently in the program, and so far I'm not impressed. This program seems to be more focused on students changing careers who still need to take the prereqs and less focused on students looking to take upper level science courses to boost their GPA.

As post-baccs, we get totally shafted when it comes to registering for courses; many of the interesting upper level science classes are already full before we even get a chance to register. This is a moot point for those who still need to take prereqs, as these classes typically have a larger capacity. However, for those of us looking to improve our GPA through upper level sciences, this can pose a pretty substantial problem.

As this is still my first semester at UTD, I can't comment much on the effectiveness of the program in placing students in MD schools. There are rumors of 3.7 in the program over 30 hours + a 30 MCAT granting interviews, but none of this is in writing.

My honest assessment is that this program is great if you are changing careers and need to get your prereqs done. However, if you are seeking upper level science courses to improve your GPA, I don't think this program is any better than taking courses at any other university. Granted, UTD does have a solid advising staff, but this alone isn't enough to warrant participation in this program.

Also, being in the certificate program classifies you as a non-degree seeking student. I believe this is the reason we don't get to register as early as many of the other students, but the biggest issue with this status is the fact that it renders us ineligible for federal financial aid. I had to take out a private loan to cover the cost of tuition for this program.

I know of a few students who had success in gaining admission to medical schools in Texas, but I believe these students would have gained admission on their own regardless of their participation in the program. I don't know how much of an effect it had in itself.

So far I don't see this program as being any different than taking courses at any other University. I'll be sure to update if my opinions change for any reason.

Feel free to ask any questions in the mean time.
 
Mac13 said:
I am currently in the program, and so far I'm not impressed. This program seems to be more focused on students changing careers who still need to take the prereqs and less focused on students looking to take upper level science courses to boost their GPA.

As post-baccs, we get totally shafted when it comes to registering for courses; many of the interesting upper level science classes are already full before we even get a chance to register. This is a moot point for those who still need to take prereqs, as these classes typically have a larger capacity. However, for those of us looking to improve our GPA through upper level sciences, this can pose a pretty substantial problem.

As this is still my first semester at UTD, I can't comment much on the effectiveness of the program in placing students in MD schools. There are rumors of 3.7 in the program over 30 hours + a 30 MCAT granting interviews, but none of this is in writing.

My honest assessment is that this program is great if you are changing careers and need to get your prereqs done. However, if you are seeking upper level science courses to improve your GPA, I don't think this program is any better than taking courses at any other university. Granted, UTD does have a solid advising staff, but this alone isn't enough to warrant participation in this program.

Also, being in the certificate program classifies you as a non-degree seeking student. I believe this is the reason we don't get to register as early as many of the other students, but the biggest issue with this status is the fact that it renders us ineligible for federal financial aid. I had to take out a private loan to cover the cost of tuition for this program.

I know of a few students who had success in gaining admission to medical schools in Texas, but I believe these students would have gained admission on their own regardless of their participation in the program. I don't know how much of an effect it had in itself.

So far I don't see this program as being any different than taking courses at any other University. I'll be sure to update if my opinions change for any reason.

Feel free to ask any questions in the mean time.
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I'm going to apply to the program with a ~2.8 GPA with decent EC's. I plan on studying for and taking the MCAT after my senior year of college and before I start this program, if I get in.

If I wanted to go to a medschool in Texas, do you think if I got a 30+ MCAT and succeeded in the progam I'd have a fair shot? Also, I'm a Texas resident URM, if that helps.

Also, I started the app a while ago, but I dont remember it requiring any LOR's, did you submit any?

Thanks in advance.
 
davidb25 said:
I'm going to apply to the program with a ~2.8 GPA with decent EC's. I plan on studying for and taking the MCAT after my senior year of college and before I start this program, if I get in.

If I wanted to go to a medschool in Texas, do you think if I got a 30+ MCAT and succeeded in the progam I'd have a fair shot? Also, I'm a Texas resident URM, if that helps.

Also, I started the app a while ago, but I dont remember it requiring any LOR's, did you submit any?

Thanks in advance.
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No, you do not need to submit any LOR's to gain admission to the program. As part of the program, you have to go through HPAC and get a committee letter for application to medical school. Ideally, if you only plan on spending one year in the program, you'll have some professors from your first school willing to write the letters you need for HPAC. It can be difficult to get letters from professors at UTD if you only have them in one class, some of which are very large, making it difficult to spend any significant amount of time with them at office hours to get a decent letter.

I think if you rocked the MCAT, had decent ECs, and brought your GPA to at least a 3.0 (ideally with a 4.0 in the program), you might have a shot, but this is just my speculation. Perhaps by next semester I'll know more about it.

The program isn't extremely difficult to get into, but it is somewhat competitive. If you have a strong upward trend in your GPA, I'm sure that will help not only with admission to the program but with medical school admissions in general.

Again, this is just speculation based on my conversations and experiences, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
 
Mac13 said:
No, you do not need to submit any LOR's to gain admission to the program. As part of the program, you have to go through HPAC and get a committee letter for application to medical school. Ideally, if you only plan on spending one year in the program, you'll have some professors from your first school willing to write the letters you need for HPAC. It can be difficult to get letters from professors at UTD if you only have them in one class, some of which are very large, making it difficult to spend any significant amount of time with them at office hours to get a decent letter.

I think if you rocked the MCAT, had decent ECs, and brought your GPA to at least a 3.0 (ideally with a 4.0 in the program), you might have a shot, but this is just my speculation. Perhaps by next semester I'll know more about it.

The program isn't extremely difficult to get into, but it is somewhat competitive. If you have a strong upward trend in your GPA, I'm sure that will help not only with admission to the program but with medical school admissions in general.

Again, this is just speculation based on my conversations and experiences, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
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Thanks for the help.
 
Anybody know when they start notifying about application decisions?
 
hello! sorry i may of accidentally sent this to you twice (new to this) but i was curious what happened with your friend's situation? Mine is also saying program change and am quite concerned! thanks so much!



joemaverick21 said:
agreed, it's going to be a long week..

i do have a friend who applied who's applicant center showed a different status than mine. mine says that my app is under review whereas his says "program change" so we're thinking that it may be talking about his backup option though hoping it's just some weird system miscoding.

ultimately i guess we'll wait for the letter or email..
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rm0000 said:
hello! sorry i may of accidentally sent this to you twice (new to this) but i was curious what happened with your friend's situation? Mine is also saying program change and am quite concerned! thanks so much!
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Mine says program change as of right now. I think its no big deal.
 
Oh ok. When do you think we will be hearing back?
 
*Bump* for this thread.

The Galaxy portal still says 'Program Change' for me.

For all those curious, I was told that program change doesn't necessarily mean anything bad and that we should hear by sometime early April.
 
AppleFan1 said:
*Bump* for this thread.

The Galaxy portal still says 'Program Change' for me.

For all those curious, I was told that program change doesn't necessarily mean anything bad and that we should hear by sometime early April.
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Early April? I thought they would wait to get our transcripts with the grades for this semester.
 
AppleFan1 said:
Did they tell you that?
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The last thing on my applications "to-do list" is to send in my final transcript showing that I got my degree. And looking over this thread, I saw that last years applicants started getting decisions around late May, early June. So I just assumed.
 
Are you applying for fall admission? Because summer admission starts end of may, so I can't imagine they'd wait until mid may for final transcripts to notify us
 
I spoke to Mr. Robinson the second week of March after applying for Fall 2012 admission and he said that we should know by the end of the month. Last week I called again and spoke to Cheryl and she said due to the amount of applications, the notifications will most likely come in early April. I think last year the deadline was later on and it took them a long time to notify students, so this year they made the deadline earlier with the intend to notify us sooner.
 
lalbarracin said:
I spoke to Mr. Robinson the second week of March after applying for Fall 2012 admission and he said that we should know by the end of the month. Last week I called again and spoke to Cheryl and she said due to the amount of applications, the notifications will most likely come in early April. I think last year the deadline was later on and it took them a long time to notify students, so this year they made the deadline earlier with the intend to notify us sooner.
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Really, wow. Now I'm nervous, I kinda don't want to check galaxy anymore. :scared:
 
So I finally tried going to student center instead of applicant center through galaxy, and my application is incomplete because it's missing my final transcript. Due date 5/1/2012.

What's that about? I'll probably call today.
 
I'm currently in the program - and if I recall correctly, last year I didn't find out I was accepted for the fall semester until at least mid May, if not early June. This was after completing my application in late January. The only notification I got was a green check mark on the student center page on galaxy. I think I got a letter in the mail a few weeks later.
 
Hey guys, i'm new to this forum. They started posting acceptance notifications on the site. I saw mine earlier tonight and am still trying to decide if it's the right path for me. After heavy googling of the hpac program I found this site. I applied for summer 2012 in the post bacc program. Has anyone else applied to other texas programs such as Baylor? I am trying to get more info on matriculation rates into med school after doing the utd program. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
 
Eventer34 said:
Hey guys, i'm new to this forum. They started posting acceptance notifications on the site. I saw mine earlier tonight and am still trying to decide if it's the right path for me. After heavy googling of the hpac program I found this site. I applied for summer 2012 in the post bacc program. Has anyone else applied to other texas programs such as Baylor? I am trying to get more info on matriculation rates into med school after doing the utd program. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
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Congratulations on your acceptance! You applied for the summer and just received your decision? I guess that means a couple more months for Fall applicants.
 
I got accepted into the summer session as well. Has anyone registered for classes yet?
 
Yeah they kept pushing back the notification date. I talked to my advisor and finished registering. It seems like a good program but I have to agree with other comments I've seen on here about not getting classes you need. I'm a program changer so I need a lot of basic sciences and the science courses are not organized and I couldn't get into any bio for summer or fall and am not able to go full time like I wanted to due to lack of classes.
 
Hi,

I finally got my acceptance. For those accepted and planning on attending, or for those currently in the program...how did you finance the program? Are private loans the only option or did you guys come across any scholarships/aid that post-bacc students in this program qualify for?

Please share! 🙂
 
Greetings All,

I have a bit of an update and some questions for anyone in the UTD Post Bacc Position. a bit of background though.

A. I heard about the post bacc pre health certificate through several people in dallas and decided to apply to UTD and I also set up a meeting with Scott Robinson this past tuesday. My specs were that I had graduated in December 2011 with a final GPA of 3.68. The morning of the meeting, I found out I was accepted to UTD. I went on to my meeting with Dr. Robinson and I was informed that due to conflicts with financial aid, the Post Bacc Pre Health Certificate was being put on hold indefinitely and for at least the next year. As such, I was a bit surprised at this but I was told that since I was accepted, I could do my pre reqs as any other school and that this wouldn't affect my route to med school. The meeting didn't last more than 5-10 min as obviously any talk of the pre health certificate was off the table.

B. For anyone currently at UTD for Post Bacc Pre Med, can you share any information about whats going on? I'm more concerned that there might not be sufficent connections and support now that this program is put on hold. I was told that the student organization for Post Bacc Students is still very strong and thriving. I'm just looking for some opinions and guidance on this school from those currently in it. Any help is appreciated!
 
Has anyone applied to be admitted for 2013? My application is complete as of 2/20 and I am just waiting to hear back. There wasn't a notification date listed but when I called the admissions office said 4-6 weeks.
 
Need help! Submitted application, selected major in BIO bc I couldn't see cert in bio med as an option. Also having trouble with finding secondary application on the HPAC website. UTD web page says apps for fall admin deadline is July, does the post bacc cert have its own deadline?
 
I recently got accepted to the UTD post-bacc program. I have also applied to MBS program at TCMC but I'm awaiting response. Please advice if I should move forward with UTD or wait for TCMC. May also help to know that I am a Texas resident since I will not be eligible for fin aid at UTD but will probably be eligible at TCMC since its a degree seeking program unlike UTD
 
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