Hey Everyone!
It's getting close to rank time, and I'm having a very difficult time deciding between Houston and San Antonio as my #1. I didn't see a current thread on this comparison since all the changes have been made with the San Antonio curriculum (and lack thereof at UTH), so I would love to get perspectives of current students at each school, or knowledgable applicants, if possible. I've extensively researched both schools on my own, but some information is hard to find. If anyone has useful input on the following areas especially (or anything else), it would be immensely appreciated!!
Traditional curriculum at UTH vs. organ-based at UTHSCSA: some students say the repetition of the UTH curriculum is beneficial toward studying for the USMLE, but SA has the 20-month curriculum that ends in February (which seems like a major plus). I know no one has done both, but even speculation is welcomed at this point.
TMC vs. South Texas Medical Center: of course the TMC offers the most opportunity of any MC, but the South Texas MC is also very large and seems quite comparable in most ways. Is there truly much a difference between the two for a medical student?
School/life balance (this is very important to me): during interviews students at SA seemed very laid-back and happy, while students at UTH seemed a little more stressed (could be due to my interview date being near finals) and seemed to have less free-time in their lives. Could this be due to block testing? And for any SA students out there that could speak to the testing schedule at UTHSCSA, that would be greatly appreciated as well.
I've also been able to find very little about how grades are actually calculated at each school. I know that both use some variation of the letter system, but if anyone has information on what kind of work actually counts toward the grade, that would be really helpful.
Thanks in advance!! 🙂
It's getting close to rank time, and I'm having a very difficult time deciding between Houston and San Antonio as my #1. I didn't see a current thread on this comparison since all the changes have been made with the San Antonio curriculum (and lack thereof at UTH), so I would love to get perspectives of current students at each school, or knowledgable applicants, if possible. I've extensively researched both schools on my own, but some information is hard to find. If anyone has useful input on the following areas especially (or anything else), it would be immensely appreciated!!
Traditional curriculum at UTH vs. organ-based at UTHSCSA: some students say the repetition of the UTH curriculum is beneficial toward studying for the USMLE, but SA has the 20-month curriculum that ends in February (which seems like a major plus). I know no one has done both, but even speculation is welcomed at this point.
TMC vs. South Texas Medical Center: of course the TMC offers the most opportunity of any MC, but the South Texas MC is also very large and seems quite comparable in most ways. Is there truly much a difference between the two for a medical student?
School/life balance (this is very important to me): during interviews students at SA seemed very laid-back and happy, while students at UTH seemed a little more stressed (could be due to my interview date being near finals) and seemed to have less free-time in their lives. Could this be due to block testing? And for any SA students out there that could speak to the testing schedule at UTHSCSA, that would be greatly appreciated as well.
I've also been able to find very little about how grades are actually calculated at each school. I know that both use some variation of the letter system, but if anyone has information on what kind of work actually counts toward the grade, that would be really helpful.
Thanks in advance!! 🙂
