UTMB vs McGovern (need help deciding P/F or no)

[hoodini23]

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Hey everyone, this is my first post, so forgive me if I ramble or whatnot. I am trying to decide where to rank McGovern and UTMB in my Texas match list. I have also interviewed at Baylor and Long, but can comfortably say Baylor will be number one and Long will be last just based on my interactions during the interview and other research. It gets tricky when I start to compare UTMB and Long. See below for some of my reasons and please respond with any insights/feedback/suggestions!

UTMB
Pros
1. Pass/Fail - from what I can gather, true P/F curriculum, which would ease my stress a ton in medical school
2. Cheaper cost of living - Galveston is cheaper than Houston, and I could save $40,000-60,0000 alone in cost of living
3. Mentor - I have a cousin (and his gf) who are both top of the class MS4's at UTMB, they could show me the ropes, point me to the cheap places to live, and be a big help in general

Cons
1. Distance - I have a gf who will most likely be living in Houston from my MS2-MS4 years, Galveston is obviously farther than McGovern
2. Interview day - even though i know zoom does not say everything, my interview day with this school was not great, had some good convos but nothing truly excited me

McGovern
Pros
1. Interview day - I was close to not even applying to this school, did it on a whim, and absolutely loved the energy and interview day at this school. The students and faculty I talked to wear super relatable to me, funny, and high energy. They completely caught me off-guard, this was easily my favorite interview day.
2. TM/Houston living - being in Houston and in the TMC sounds more fun/appealing to me than Galveston. Plus the TMC has tons of connections to research, shadowing, etc.
3. Significant other - my significant other will also most likely be living in Houston, which would be closer to me

Cons
1. NOT PASS/FAIL - honestly this is the part of the school that wards me off the most. I love everything except this part. I am the kind of person who will get anxiety/pressure from trying to get the best grades (like most pre-med students) and after the first semester everything becomes graded.
2. More expensive - cost of living in Houston will be much more than that of Galveston

I cannot really think of any other significant factors or reasons that are weighing on this decision. Please share your thoughts if you are interested in helping out and thank you for taking the time to hear me out!

My TMDSAS Rankings
1. Baylor
2. UTMB/McGovern
3. UTMB/McGovern
4. Long

 

[123OkayGoogle]

Would def try to stay in Houston if I were you. Even if it’s PF at UTMB I thought there are still internal rankings. Maybe ask UTMB that just to make sure. I would still choose houston regardless.

 

[Bot Puppet]

The UTMB vs McGovern problem is bugging me too. The only thing you have to determine is if you need AOA for your career ambitions. If you want the AOA distinction, there's no point to the P/F system of UTMB because UTMB internally ranks preclinicals for AOA, so McGovern would be the better choice. If you don't want AOA, then UTMB will be the better option for quality of life during preclincals imo.

 

[ocean_med6819]

Do you have any pre-match offers? I am having a similar difficult decision deciding how to rank Baylor, Long, and McGovern, but without any pre-match offers, I'm feeling quite stressed about the uncertainty! My favorite interview day was Long, though. Would you mind elaborating why you are ranking it last?

 

[Bot Puppet]

Do you have any pre-match offers? I am having a similar difficult decision deciding how to rank Baylor, Long, and McGovern, but without any pre-match offers, I'm feeling quite stressed about the uncertainty! My favorite interview day was Long, though. Would you mind elaborating why you are ranking it last?

I'm not OP, but you should check out the Long thread. It's pretty brutal.

Long is a great school with fantastic opportunities and a strong match list, but its curriculum design sounds frustrating:
Non-NBME style exams aka made by the professors. Mandatory attendance. Actual grades instead of P/F.

All of these factors make it harder to study for the Step exams. You're spending a lot of time studying for material from professors which doesn't show up on the USMLE in order to keep up class rank. In contrast, schools like UTMB and McGovern have NBME style exams which make studying and test taking easier. To top it off, UTMB and McGovern are of similar prestige as Long, despite Long's ridiculous MCAT averages. This implies that Long may just be stat whoring to boost class metrics which contribute to rankings without actually making changes to improve the curriculum.

Otherwise, people have noted that the faculty and students are pretty friendly.

 

[hoodini23]

Do you have any pre-match offers? I am having a similar difficult decision deciding how to rank Baylor, Long, and McGovern, but without any pre-match offers, I'm feeling quite stressed about the uncertainty! My favorite interview day was Long, though. Would you mind elaborating why you are ranking it last?

of course! Long pretty close to where I grew up, so I am looking for new experiences living and whatnot outside of the San Antonio area. Also, I was not a fan of the "vibe" I picked up from my interviewers and the day in general as much as the other schools. I have friends who have also interviewed there and they loved it, so it might have just been me