UT Southwestern: Second Interview

[hawkeey]

I noticed that a lot of people on the interview thread have had interviews for UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and many people already are scheduled for the second interview on February 9th, 2005. This school has probably interviewed a lot of people, if not the most, since they started interviewing in early September.

For many people the interview cycle will be winding down at about that time, and this interview will be one of the very last if not the last one. How are people feeling about this interview? What does it mean?

I believe the statistic given is that the school invites 50 people for a second interview and then 35 receive letters of acceptance. If you want to go there, being one of the remaining 15 could be heart breaking.

A lot of peole that I talk to have never heard about this school, but that's probably because it has somewhat recently come out of no where and emerged as a world class institution. The legitimacy of that claim is usually substantiated with the fact that they have four Nobel Prize winners currently associated with the medical school, more than any other medical school alone. The school does suffer from a major prestige problem. It also is technically a state school, but does receive a lot of private funding. The quality and integration of the program, however, trumps any prestige problems for me anyways.

For people going to the second interview, who is anxious to meet Ross Perot? Are they recruiting us now, or are we trying to convince them that we are not one of the 15 to get a thin envelope?

For others, why did you or why did you not consider UT Southwestern? How much does prestige of the institution matter?

 

[nadica31]

so does that mean that we who havent gotten a primary interview yet will probably not even get one? my app was complete long time ago, but i never heard from them, not even an email how my application is complete? do u think i should call them and ask?
thx

 

[hawkeey]

so does that mean that we who havent gotten a primary interview yet will probably not even get one? my app was complete long time ago, but i never heard from them, not even an email how my application is complete? do u think i should call them and ask?
thx

I would definitely call and ask. You wouldn't believe the number of schools that I thought I was complete at and in fact they were still missing something I know I had sent to them. There is an entire other thread just for those issues, especially those involving Virtual Evals. What is a long time ago, though?

UT Southwestern interviews well into January, so there is still a chance. Hang in there!

 

[neoserenity333]

I believe the statistic given is that the school invites 50 people for a second interview and then 35 receive letters of acceptance. If you want to go there, being one of the remaining 15 could be heart breaking.

When I interviewed, the coordinator said roughly 2/3 will be accepted from the candidate review pool (about 60 invited). My suggestion for those who really want to go there is to SHOW it. I think this day is more for them to impress you, but showing genuine enthusiasm for this school will definitely help them decide who to take.

A lot of peole that I talk to have never heard about this school, but that's probably because it has somewhat recently come out of no where and emerged as a world class institution.

Yeap, this is true; even the faculty there admit being jipped in the "name game."

The legitimacy of that claim is usually substantiated with the fact that they have four Nobel Prize winners currently associated with the medical school, more than any other medical school alone.

true, they have 4 Nobel Prize winners, but Rockefeller has 23 and is part of the Tri-I MSTP. On the other hand, not being limited by space, UT Southwestern has a new block of amazing research buildings, so they're definitely not lacking in funding...new, open, and beautiful lab space *sigh*

It also is technically a state school, but does receive a lot of private funding.

sugar daddy = Ross Perot.

For people going to the second interview, who is anxious to meet Ross Perot? Are they recruiting us now, or are we trying to convince them that we are not one of the 15 to get a thin envelope?

haha, it'd be fun to meet him. They will definitely be recruiting us, but as I said above, you should definitely show your enthusiasm for this school. It is now a two-way street.

For others, why did you or why did you not consider UT Southwestern? How much does prestige of the institution matter?

I must admit that I considered it initially because it's in Texas and I'm from Texas. I'm not sure i would have applied to it otherwise. This is where lack of prestige can hurt you: recruiting students and faculty. But I think their new facilities and $$$ are definitely powering their climb up the ladder, so, as they say in the stock world, buy low (i.e. jump on the band wagon while it's on its way up!) and sell high

 

[neoserenity333]

p.s. here's the link to UT Southwestern's distinguished faculty listing in case anyone's interested:
http://www8.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/home/about/awards/index.html

 

[hawkeey]

true, they have 4 Nobel Prize winners, but Rockefeller has 23 and is part of the Tri-I MSTP. On the other hand, not being limited by space, UT Southwestern has a new block of amazing research buildings, so they're definitely not lacking in funding...new, open, and beautiful lab space *sigh*

Well there is a distinction here. UT Southwestern claim is that they have 4 Nobel Prizes actually within the medical school faculty itself. This is partially because the entire university is basically a medical school.

If you want to go on total aggregate Nobel Prizes, the place to be is the University of Chicago (Pritzker School of Medicine). 78 associated nobel prize winners:

26 have won in Physics, 23 in Economic Sciences, 15 in Chemistry, 11 in Physiology or Medicine and 3 in Literature.

14 in the last decade.

1st American to win a Nobel Prize.

They have the highest within the United States, and second by a slim margin to Cambridge in England.

http://www-news.uchicago.edu/resources/nobel/

Admittedly, Rockefeller has more in Physiology or Medicine and perhaps more on faculty in the sciences at the very moment.


Some of the Rockefeller's faculty seem like they might be emeritis already, whereas UT Southwestern's are all actively researching.

Do these numbers matter that much? Probably not. Nobel Prizes do confer some legitimacy to claim world class status though..

Over all, I agree. The general prognosis is that UT Southwestern is on its way up.