UT Houston vs. Texas Tech (Lubbock)

[RedRaider19]

Hello everyone,
I just pre-matched both of these schools, and can't decide which one I like more! I am thinking about visiting with the Texas Tech Admissions department for more info (it is my undergrad school, so it is convinient.) Does anyone have opinions to share on the matter?
Here is what I see so far:
Tech: No adjustment in cities for me, incredible SIMS center, brand new facilities, small class size (which gets even smaller with the class being split), and it is closer to my friends and family.
UTH: Texas Medical Center, huge patient population, great reputation, but with larger class sizes, and I am not sure how I will like living in Houston. I also dont like the block test weeks of hell.

Thanks for any input or advice guys!

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[ninefivethree]

Hello everyone,
I just pre-matched both of these schools, and can't decide which one I like more! I am thinking about visiting with the Texas Tech Admissions department for more info (it is my undergrad school, so it is convinient.) Does anyone have opinions to share on the matter?
Here is what I see so far:
Tech: No adjustment in cities for me, incredible SIMS center, brand new facilities, small class size (which gets even smaller with the class being split), and it is closer to my friends and family.
UTH: Texas Medical Center, huge patient population, great reputation, but with larger class sizes, and I am not sure how I will like living in Houston. I also dont like the block test weeks of hell.

Thanks for any input or advice guys!

It doesn't really seem like a really difficult decision. You seem to have no cons for Tech and very few pros for Houston.

 

[RedRaider19]

It doesn't really seem like a really difficult decision. You seem to have no cons for Tech and very few pros for Houston.

Well, the pros of UTH ARE the cons of Tech. I feel like the patient exposures at TMC would be much more varried than in Lubbock. The big thing I love about Houston is that it is in TMC, and that they seem to be heavily clinically oriented. I was just hoping for some other opinions on the two.

 

[princessBP]

I wish I had your problem!!! These are my top two choices and haven't pre-matched to either

 

[ninefivethree]

Honestly, I think all med schools in Texas are great. Personally I would not want to spend 4 years so far away from my family. They're a vital part of your support system and I feel it would be really difficult if I'd only be able to see them a few times a year. Plus, when I interviewed, they said that for the first 2 years you really don't get to take advantage of the medical center because you're busy. You're 3rd and 4th years, you're basically busy doing whatever clinical you're assigned to.

 

[RedRaider19]

I wish I had your problem!!! These are my top two choices and haven't pre-matched to either

There is still a lot of time for pre-match, and the match itself. Don't get too down!

I know what you mean about the first two years not mattering clinically, as the exposure will be minimal regardless. I am just looking forward to my third and fourth years. I guess even then, it is more of where you do residency - but I also realize that a lot of people do their residency where they did med school. Which is also a consideration.

 

[cher25]

Honestly, I think all med schools in Texas are great. Personally I would not want to spend 4 years so far away from my family. They're a vital part of your support system and I feel it would be really difficult if I'd only be able to see them a few times a year. Plus, when I interviewed, they said that for the first 2 years you really don't get to take advantage of the medical center because you're busy. You're 3rd and 4th years, you're basically busy doing whatever clinical you're assigned to.

Quite the contrary actually. We are busy, but we do take advantage of the med center. Most of my classmates at UT H, including myself, are already rounding with physicians and finding out what's out there. They have scrub and suture clinics where surgeons come and teach us how to do stuff like stitches, etc. We have meetings daily in which specialists in different fields come and present to us what their profession is all about. The director of lymphoma at MD Anderson came to speak at one of our meetings. I told him I was interested in clinical research as opposed to bench research over the summer. He told me to find a few faculty that I'd be interested in working with and he'd see what he could do to hook it up. This sort of thing is priceless to me. You can get in touch with almost any doc in the med center of any specialty and arrange rounds with them. I've only rounded with a couple so far, but some of my classmates are already on their 8th round, rounding with anesthesiologists, emergency departments, radiologists, orthopedic surgeons, etc. I know nothing about Tech so I can't really compare, but at UT H, the sky is the limit. Some people choose not to take advantage of it, but it's there.

 

[addo]

I think nobody can really answer this questions for you, because it totally depends on what you want and what you value most. The biggest reason I chose UT-H wasnt the huge med center, or any other of the obvious pros, although they are nice. By the way although not obvious from my mdapps, I was accepted to many other texas schools.
Biggest reason for me is because my friends and family are here. I figured that I would meet a lot of great people, and make new friends anywhere else. But during the more stressful times of med school only your long time friends, who are not in med school, or your family will probably be the ones more able to provide some relief from it all. Dont get me wrong, forming new friendships and relationships will still be one of my top priorities and it is one of the things that I look forward to the most, but I guess there is just no place like home.
Good luck with your decision, and I hope you make the right one.

 

[RedRaider19]

Thanks for all the input guys. Honestly, when I started this thread I was leaning more towards UTH. The thing that scares me about Tech is that the clinical training isn't really a huge emphasis on interview day. The closeness factor of Tech keeps it in the running, but I really enjoyed Houston. Plus, all of the students there were awesome. (They were everywhere, but the UTH students were particularly helpful.)