UTRGV - Interview Day (9/9/19)

[Cajohnson23]

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Personal Stats:
-GPA: 3.967
-MCAT: 509 (127/129/130/123)

Overall, the interview day at UTRGV was an awesome experience for me. Both of my interviewers were super nice, and the day wasn't too exhausting until I had to drive home following the interview. Everyone here does their interview in the morning and then you stay together as a group for the rest of the day during tours, presentations, etc. The schedule for the day was as follows:

1. Breakfast
2. Welcome and Introduction
3. Overview of the Day
4. First Interview
5. Second Interview
6. Curriculum Presentation
7. Medical Students Panel
8. Lunch with Medical Students
9. UTRGV Research Building Tour
10. Tour of Medical School Buildings
11. Cost of Attendance/Financial Aid Presentations
12. Final Q&A

The day was scheduled for 8-5, essentially, but we finished around 4:15.

Breakfast

Breakfast was pretty solid. They had 2-3 different options on breakfast sandwiches. They also had fruit, coffee, water, tea, and Orange Juice to drink. It was a good time to mingle a little bit with the other interviewees and work out some of your nerves you might have with being in a new environment, etc.​

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Interviews
There are two, one-on-one interviews at UTRGV. One of your interviews is "open file" (open) and another is "closed file" (closed). In the open interview, the interviewer has had the chance to look over your application. In the closed, they haven't had that chance. With that being said, know that you will likely have to answer the "Tell me about yourself" question in at least one of your interviews. Overall I really enjoyed the conversations I had with each interviewer. There is a little dead time where you walk to and from what I'll call the "waiting room" with your interviewer, so definitely just start the conversation right up during that time. I felt like I had already broken the ice by the time I sat down to actually interview.

Curriculum
Their curriculum is set up like most medical schools, with the notable exception that their anatomy is longitudinal, meaning you learn the anatomy of whatever organ system you are studying. Every single medical student said that they felt as if that setup actually really helped them learn, retain, and integrate everything, and it definitely makes sense.

Medical Student Panel and Beyond
Everything post-curriculum seemed to be pretty standard to every medical school interview that you could have. There were two notable exceptions:

1. New Research Center
   1. They have a new research center at UTRGV and it's pretty nice. There will be a lot of it dedicated to cancer and immunology, the way I understand it. And when I say new, I mean all the labs aren't even finished being set up yet and not all of the researchers have moved into their office. Looks like it will be a pretty incredible space available/accessible to medical students.​
2. Anatomy Lab
   1. They have a virtual/plastinate anatomy lab, which consists of expertly dissected anatomical cross-sections and parts so that you can spend more time studying and less time muddling your way through a stinky dissection. All of the students seem to absolutely love it and they also offer a traditional "cadaver anatomy" class later on in MS3 (I think) that allows you to get your hands dirty if you really want to.

Personal Pros and Cons
Pros
-Emphasis on family, 1-on-1 mentorship, small class sizes, and access to opportunity.
-Honestly seems like a great place to be
-Massive Step 1 prep program. You get 12 weeks off, they bring in someone from Kaplan to do a boot camp, they purchase access to a Kaplan QBank for you as well as UWorld, they use old step questions for their organ block exams, and you have three CBSE exams throughout your first two years to prepare you for Step 1.
-Opportunities in leadership and the ability to shape the future of the school
-Low cost of living
-Everyone there is PASSIONATE about being there. Especially the dean of admissions, she was awesome!
Cons
-Distance from my family/close friends/girlfriend
-Some travel/relocation is associated with certain rotations (Ex: for pediatrics, you must relocate to Corpus Christi for the duration of your rotation.)
---->This could also be seen as a strength, though, due to exposure to different environments and having to work with all new teams. I'm just not a big fan of losing time in my day that I could be doing other things in order to drive to South Padre Island or Brownsville for a rotation each/several days a week.
-They may still be "working out some of the kinks" in terms of procedural things due to the newness of the school

I hope this helps someone!

 

[7331poas]

This looks like a great way to be doxxed.

 

[907914]

This feels like it should be in a school specific thread. We really need some of those round here.