UTHSC San Antonio class of 2013!

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ZYME

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Welcome fellow UTHSCSA School of Medicine class of 2013 members!!

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!! :soexcited:

I thought we could use this thread to get to know each other before we all meet next year.

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:) Gald that I will be at San Antonio next year!
 
Hey ZYME, found it!

So, did any of you do the social mixer the night before your interview? I think it was called the Flying Saucer, or something? Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to hitting up that beer selection again in the not to distant future!
 
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I had to work the day before and could not make it. Did a lot of people show up?
 
A good number! I'd say 20-30, maybe?

SA's been my top choice since I started preparing for this whole marathon over a year ago, mainly because of the really friendly atmosphere I got from it. And the people I met at that mixer backed that up, really laid back.
 
I went to the mixer. It was nice. The turn out was small compared to the size of the interview group.

I was definitely impressed with the beer selection. I've heard that if you drink one of every beer they have on tap, you get one of those plates to put your name on and hang on the wall. I'm sure there will be some of us who accomplish that in the 4 years we are there!!
 
I went to the mixer. It was nice. The turn out was small compared to the size of the interview group.

I was definitely impressed with the beer selection. I've heard that if you drink one of every beer they have on tap, you get one of those plates to put your name on and hang on the wall. I'm sure there will be some of us who accomplish that in the 4 years we are there!!

In one night? :idea:
 
hey does anyone know if SA has a 'second look' program or anything, so that can re-visit the school before our match list is due?
 
hey does anyone know if SA has a 'second look' program or anything, so that can re-visit the school before our match list is due?

I think they do, but you might want to call admissions and ask.
 
hey does anyone know if SA has a 'second look' program or anything, so that can re-visit the school before our match list is due?

I was reading the UTHSCSA c/o 2012 thread from last year and I think I read about people going up there for some kind of weekend where they got to talk to Dr. Jones, see more of the campus, etc. I may be confusing this with Welcome week, but I think they were separate.
 
Hey! I'm new to SDN but just recently pre-matched to UTHSCSA on 11/14, so I thought I'd come "meet" the people I could potentially go to school with next year. How exciting! I absolutely loved the school when I visisted and felt like I fit right in. It's nice to know the feelings were reciprocated!

Congratulations all!!
 
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Congratulations class of 2013! I'm an MS2 here and did something similar last year as well to help out folks coming to our school and will be glad to answer any questions you guys have. However, you'll find that most of the questions have probably been addressed though the challenge is picking out the helpful tidbits of info from the large c/o 2012, 2011 and so on threads. Who knows maybe a kind hearted soul would be good enough to take the gems out of those threads and compile it into an FAQ of sort for future classes.

Overview of upcoming attractions:

Stage 1: Woohoo I got on
Stage 2: So is this where I'm going and the school x VS school y concerns
Stage 3: So what's really important to me and does this school have it
Stage 4: Ok Sold.
Stage 5: Where will I stay and such housing related concerns
Stage 6: The move
Stage 7: White coat ceremony and the start of a new life...
 
Congratulations class of 2013! I'm an MS2 here and did something similar last year as well to help out folks coming to our school and will be glad to answer any questions you guys have. However, you'll find that most of the questions have probably been addressed though the challenge is picking out the helpful tidbits of info from the large c/o 2012, 2011 and so on threads. Who knows maybe a kind hearted soul would be good enough to take the gems out of those threads and compile it into an FAQ of sort for future classes.

Overview of upcoming attractions:

Stage 1: Woohoo I got on
Stage 2: So is this where I'm going and the school x VS school y concerns
Stage 3: So what's really important to me and does this school have it
Stage 4: Ok Sold.
Stage 5: Where will I stay and such housing related concerns
Stage 6: The move
Stage 7: White coat ceremony and the start of a new life...

Hey, thanks! Looking forward to heading out there, I just wish it wasn't sooo long from now!

Here's a question I'm sure you've heard before, but what kind of GPA do we need to keep up from this point out? I'm asking so I can try and set my priorities. If I can get some other work done, while sacrificing an A for a B safely, then I have no problem doing that! Any ideas what the guidelines are though?
 
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I went to the mixer. It was nice. The turn out was small compared to the size of the interview group.

I was definitely impressed with the beer selection. I've heard that if you drink one of every beer they have on tap, you get one of those plates to put your name on and hang on the wall. I'm sure there will be some of us who accomplish that in the 4 years we are there!!


I'm glad our first order of business was to talk about the near-by bars! It should be a fun four years :)

-Audra
 
I'm glad our first order of business was to talk about the near-by bars! It should be a fun four years :)

-Audra

:laugh: I have a feeling that many of us will get to know the bars around the medical center pretty well. And yes, I should be a very fun four years!
 
Hey, thanks! Looking forward to heading out there, I just wish it wasn't sooo long from now!

Here's a question I'm sure you've heard before, but what kind of GPA do we need to keep up from this point out? I'm asking so I can try and set my priorities. If I can get some other work done, while sacrificing an A for a B safely, then I have no problem doing that! Any ideas what the guidelines are though?

Not sure what you mean by "some other work", but most folks here (and other schools I imagine) will advise against a part time job of sort. As it relates to GPA, I don't know of any minimum other than pass which is a C (>=70% usually) as it relates to promotion to move onto the next year. IMHO, med school should be your primary priority wrt to work. ECs/research, etc should come afterwards.

That is not to say that it can't be done. Is it advisable? Wait and see how you do on the first test. Most will advise to overstudy for the first test, then taper it down to suit your needs/goals.
 
Not sure what you mean by "some other work", but most folks here (and other schools I imagine) will advise against a part time job of sort. As it relates to GPA, I don't know of any minimum other than pass which is a C (>=70% usually) as it relates to promotion to move onto the next year. IMHO, med school should be your primary priority wrt to work. ECs/research, etc should come afterwards.

That is not to say that it can't be done. Is it advisable? Wait and see how you do on the first test. Most will advise to overstudy for the first test, then taper it down to suit your needs/goals.

lol, yeah, I definitely plan on not slacking during med school, but I was just talking about what to do for the next 8 months until then. I plan on quitting my job and cutting some other EC's next summer, which is going to be hard since I will have worked with the same company for 6 years at that point, but obviously focusing on school-work in med school will be a lot more important than it has been the last few years.

And I'm usually a workaholic, but with that being said, I have no problem making my life as easy as possible for the next few months until I have to buckle down for another marathon. Any tips on that?
 
lol, yeah, I definitely plan on not slacking during med school, but I was just talking about what to do for the next 8 months until then. I plan on quitting my job and cutting some other EC's next summer, which is going to be hard since I will have worked with the same company for 6 years at that point, but obviously focusing on school-work in med school will be a lot more important than it has been the last few years.

And I'm usually a workaholic, but with that being said, I have no problem making my life as easy as possible for the next few months until I have to buckle down for another marathon. Any tips on that?

The hardest part of it, as is common with non-trads who have jobs that pay well, is not having an income coming in. In retrospect, I took a few months off and it was nice to start with a refreshed mind. Most will suggest you don't try to study ahead or anything of that sort. Though there are exams you can take to test out of certain subjects if you have such an inclination. I had mentioned this in one of the older threads (c/o 2012 IIRC). Another concern with non-trads (which I'm guessing you are unless you worked part time) is the move esp if you have family and / or a house at a different city. A suggestion is to give yourself enough time to settle down. I say that yet still there are students who move close to school starting and you really don't want to be looking at setting up a bank account or some other minor work like that with school in session. Again not saying that it can't be done later, but it's better to get all that done before school starts. School will keep you busy enough as it is. Why try to make it harder on yourself.

Other common sense items - make sure your bills are setup for autopay. I'm sure most of you have already considered this but just simple everyday things like cut your commute time down by finding a place close by, try to open the least amount of mail/bills or write checks out manually - so setup your water/electric co to email you so you can keep an eye on the utilization. This is going to go against the grain but ever since I signed up for Texas Medical Assoc/AMA expect your junk mail to skyrocket. I'm not saying don't sign up just something to consider. I realize the snail mail / bill pay issue is probably trivial (and most of you may already have streamlined this), but basically what I'm saying is look to make your life during school as non-complicated as possible so you can focus on the reasons you mentioned in your essay on why you want to be here (or anyother school you may goto).
 
I was talking to a friend who said that houston has video lectures online and he never really goes to class. It got me wondering if UTHSCSA has videos or audio of lectures online for their students? Does anyone know?

What is everyone on this thread going to do with the 8+ months between now and the start of school?
 
I was talking to a friend who said that houston has video lectures online and he never really goes to class. It got me wondering if UTHSCSA has videos or audio of lectures online for their students? Does anyone know?

What is everyone on this thread going to do with the 8+ months between now and the start of school?


I remember being told that the lectures are all podcasted. Can anyone back that up?
 
I remember being told that the lectures are all podcasted. Can anyone back that up?


Yes, they are podcasted. I have a friend that is a MSII, and she uses the podcasts on a regular basis.
 
Thanks for the info Twitch. I'm actually a pretty cookie cutter applicant, I've just been working part time since I was a junior in high school. It's been really good experience in terms of making me good at time management.

I like the points you raise. You never really realize how much time out of your day/week/month goes to remedial tasks that can just be set on auto-pilot. I prefer to make my payments manually, but I just do it all online. I make sure there's enough cash, see what I owe, then click pay. It's really nice not dealing with paper and waiting on bills, etc.

And that actually raises a couple of questions I hadn't even thought about. For one, I do my electricity through Reliant, do you know offhand if they offer service there in the area, so I can just transfer service? Also, I bank with Wells-Fargo. Is there a bank close by to campus? I typically don't need the brick and mortar, but it would at least be nice to have one in the area.

And someone was asking about the podcasts, I was curious about that to. I thought I remembered the MSIIs that I stayed with the night before my interview telling me that they hadn't heard of one there, but I might be mixing stories. Any word on that?
 
Most lectures are podcasted. The ones that are not are due to prof request. IIRC almost all were MS1. MS2: pharm and psychopath are not.

When you start school you'll have to make a decision whether you'll be a class goer or not regardless of how you did it in college. If you choose not to go almost everything you need to know for the exam is provided to you beforehand in class notes also known as syllabus. There are people who do well in both cases, just depends on how best you learn.

One thing I've found useful is a cheap color laser printer. Do you absolutely need it? No. Is it nice to have? Yes. I bought mine with a full capacity (non-starter) toner for about $150 on sale. I don't know what the policy for laptops and such will be for you guys, but I think it's useful to have one. Do you absolutely need one? You can get by without one as there are plenty in the library. I like having my own. If you're going to study at home consider getting a lappy that is easy to carry around should you need to take it to class and then just get a 24" external monitor to hookup to. Again get a low cost one. I think I paid $199 for mine with 1920x1200 but this was last thanksgiving during black friday and prices for these things usually go down and will probably go down somemore before you start school. Again, you can get by without any of this stuff. It may be prudent to wait till you actually start then figure out what you'll need. Just giving you my perspective of what I've found handy.

Yes there is a wellsfargo bank close by. Electricity & Gas is through CPS and water though SAWS. Don't know about Reliant but I imagine you can google it. Probably too early to worry about these things just yet. Just give yourself enough time when you move to take care of this.
 
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Apparently UTHSCSA sent another batch of pre-matches out today! Woo! See you guys next year!:D
 
So what's in the packet they mail you? I'm assuming it's going to take a while to get to me with the holidays and everything. Also, the e-mail I got didn't say anything about e-mailing anyone or calling to accept. What to I do?
 
So far I have gotten my first letter of acceptance after initial e-mail, this had a letter in it with the accept/decline check boxes.

Then I also got a newer packet that had some sheets to fill out about immunizations. That's all I've gotten so far.
 
So far I have gotten my first letter of acceptance after initial e-mail, this had a letter in it with the accept/decline check boxes.

Then I also got a newer packet that had some sheets to fill out about immunizations. That's all I've gotten so far.

ditto.
 
Are there any people here who interviewed too late for the November 14th prematch batch of offers but have since been given a prematch acceptance? If so, when did you guys interview?

Congrats to everyone who got in.

Sincerely,
Bobby
 
Yeah, I interviewed on the 3rd. I was told it was too late for the 14th.
 
Prematched (HOORAY!) 11/14 and have some questions.

I liked San Antonio a lot, but have never been able to learn from lectures and am not planning on going to many classes.

Can anyone tell me what the required courseload is like? Are there set days where everyone has lab, or do different groups of people go on different days/times? Are there required classes other than labs?

Thanks
 
Anybody feel like disclosing their MCAT and GPA if you got in and are planning to matriculate? Just find myself in that weird limbo time right now and collecting information seems to help.

Thanks.
 
Prematched (HOORAY!) 11/14 and have some questions.

I liked San Antonio a lot, but have never been able to learn from lectures and am not planning on going to many classes.

Can anyone tell me what the required courseload is like? Are there set days where everyone has lab, or do different groups of people go on different days/times? Are there required classes other than labs?

Thanks

First, Congrats!

Usually everyone has anatomy lab on Mon and Thurs afternoons. You'll also have microanatomy (histology) labs but there are not preset weekdays those are held. Most lectures are optional and as mentioned before, most lectures are podcasted (I do it for my class). There are some lectures that are mandatory (and they'll let you know which ones are) and it's because they are given by guest speakers and so they want to ensure great turnout.
 
Anybody feel like disclosing their MCAT and GPA if you got in and are planning to matriculate? Just find myself in that weird limbo time right now and collecting information seems to help.

Thanks.

How does knowing someone else's MCAT and GPA help YOU decide? Pick up the MSAR if you need info.
 
Thanks Rosh!

How often are there required classes on Fridays...i.e., could I leave S.A. on Thursday nights to study in Austin (home) over the weekends?
 
ScarfTheVerb-

When was your interview and when did you get your acceptances??
 
How does knowing someone else's MCAT and GPA help YOU decide? Pick up the MSAR if you need info.

No. I'm not in. I'm waiting to hear. Collecting information helps pass the time until I possibly hear from them again.
 
Are there any people here who interviewed too late for the November 14th prematch batch of offers but have since been given a prematch acceptance? If so, when did you guys interview?

Congrats to everyone who got in.

Sincerely,
Bobby

I interviewed on the 3rd as well. Dr. Jones told us that we probably wouldn't hear anything on the 14th, but I received my acceptance email on the 14th.
 
Thanks Rosh!

How often are there required classes on Fridays...i.e., could I leave S.A. on Thursday nights to study in Austin (home) over the weekends?

Fridays are a bit hit and miss on when there is something mandatory in your first module (about your first 6 weeks). However when you start physiology in your 2nd module, you'll have Friday quizzes (usually in the morning) which are requred. A schedule should be available before school starts and it can give you an idea of what your Friday's look like. But you should always double check that schedule with the schedule that will be listed in your syllabus because there could be and often are occasional last minute changes. There is a google calendar for the MS1 class that can be found at MS1 class website if you would like a peek at what to expect: http://www.uthscsaco2012.com/calender.html

I forgot to mention another type of mandatory lab which are your CAP labs where you learn learn how to perform patient physical exams. CAP labs are usually in groups and a lot of times everyone doesn't have CAP lab on the same day. These are more like the rotations you asked about for the anatomy lab.
 
Fridays are a bit hit and miss on when there is something mandatory in your first module (about your first 6 weeks). However when you start physiology in your 2nd module, you'll have Friday quizzes (usually in the morning) which are requred. A schedule should be available before school starts and it can give you an idea of what your Friday's look like. But you should always double check that schedule with the schedule that will be listed in your syllabus because there could be and often are occasional last minute changes. There is a google calendar for the MS1 class that can be found at MS1 class website if you would like a peek at what to expect: http://www.uthscsaco2012.com/calender.html

I forgot to mention another type of mandatory lab which are your CAP labs where you learn learn how to perform patient physical exams. CAP labs are usually in groups and a lot of times everyone doesn't have CAP lab on the same day. These are more like the rotations you asked about for the anatomy lab.


Wow! Been trying to find something like that calendar for weeks now! Getting very excited for the next few months to pass quickly. Thanks! I find that I don't learn very well from lectures either because I tend to zone out, but I still have to go or else I just feel lost in a class, just a mental thing I guess.

And to the guy asking about stats, all my info is in my MDApps if you want.
 
Wow! Been trying to find something like that calendar for weeks now! Getting very excited for the next few months to pass quickly. Thanks! I find that I don't learn very well from lectures either because I tend to zone out, but I still have to go or else I just feel lost in a class, just a mental thing I guess.

And to the guy asking about stats, all my info is in my MDApps if you want.

By the way, that google calendar was created and is maintained by a student who volunteered to do it. It makes it easier to visualize and import into your personal calendars rather than using the schedule the dean's office provides. If anyone wants to look at the MS2 calendar, I can post our google calendar for that too but it I'm sure you're most concerned about first year. :)
 
So where is everyone coming from? I've lived in Houston all my life, except for the past four years in College Station at Texas A&M.
 
So where is everyone coming from? I've lived in Houston all my life, except for the past four years in College Station at Texas A&M.

I grew up in Plano (north of Dallas) but am now in school at UT-Austin.:)
 
So where is everyone coming from? I've lived in Houston all my life, except for the past four years in College Station at Texas A&M.

Born and raised in a small town in north central Texas, but I have been living and working in Austin (I did my undergrad at UT) for the past 7 years.

I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone!
 
Born and raised in McAllen, it's a border city in South TX. Been in Waco attending Baylor for the past 4 years though. I can't wait for a change of scenery!
 
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