What the F is up with Texas!?!?

[REPTAR013]

lol where OP now doe? Got put in his place for 2 straight pages. Texas FTW

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[CrimsonKing]

While I admit that Houston's summer weather is high humiditiy, there are other parts of Texas with better weather (it's a very huge state). And, many areas of the country have times of awful weather...too hot, too cold, too icy, too gray.....and some areas have both...very cold winters and humid summers.

"intense heat+sand combo out West"

?? what? Where? the desert? Who's living in the desert?? lol Calif isnt' known for "intense heat and sand combo". Where are you talking about?

Bro, go spend some time in West Texas (Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso). Sandstorms abound.

 

[commander1]

As a future Texas physician, I am quite entitled to say that this thread is incredibly offensive. My fellow applicants in TX are highly qualified and could do just as well in OOS schools... Except, many tudents stay in TX compared to other states because of the reduced cost, proximity to family, and solid reputation of each of the IS schools (also, as a non-native Texan, I admit that Texas is badass). If you had a decent (note: not "stellar") application, regardless of what state you are in, you shouldn't be on your second application cycle. The medical schools here are competitive no matter how you look at it. Also, something you may be unaware of is that numbers are not the be-all-end-all. I think OP might benefit if he/she stopped playing the entitlement card and started focusing on why they are "struggling" for a second time at being successful in their own state and OOS schools... Maybe it has something to do with those non-numerical qualities...

 

[sinombre]

Greg something right?

Yeah that sounds right. I guess the program has a really high attrition rate as well--I'm sure that doesn't help their ranking problem.

 

[MD2017done]

OP You do realize that Texas schools have some of the highest average board scores in the nation.

BCM: 240+ average on USMLE 1
UTSW: 230+ average on USMLE 1
UTH: 230+ average on USMLE 1
UTMB: 235 average on USMLE 1

4 out of the 8 MD medical schools average 230+ on the USMLE step 1


So who cares if Texas schools take students with lower stats then AMCAS schools (I don't think this is true, but lets say it is), the education and the curriculum are strong enough that we destroy the **** out of the country on USMLE step 1.

In the end, no one cares what your SAT score was, what your MCAT score was, or even what medical school/undergrad school you went to, all that matters is the type of specialty of medicine you go into. With such high USMLE scores most Texan MDs get into some top notch residency specialties.

When insurance companies are paying you, they don't give a **** about your MCAT, gpa, medical school name, undergrad name, SAT score, they only care about the type of doctor you are, but more importantly the type of procedures you do. More competitive specialties, which have higher board scores, do more complex procedures and therefore get paid more. So its good to be from Texas!

Enough said. Goodby.

 

[CrimsonKing]

OP You do realize that Texas schools have some of the highest average board scores in the nation.

BCM: 240+ average on USMLE 1
UTSW: 230+ average on USMLE 1
UTH: 230+ average on USMLE 1
UTMB: 235 average on USMLE 1

4 out of the 8 MD medical schools average 230+ on the USMLE step 1


So who cares if Texas schools take students with lower stats then AMCAS schools (I don't think this is true, but lets say it is), the education and the curriculum are strong enough that we destroy the **** out of the country on USMLE step 1.

In the end, no one cares what your SAT score was, what your MCAT score was, or even what medical school/undergrad school you went to, all that matters is the type of specialty of medicine you go into. With such high USMLE scores most Texan MDs get into some top notch residency specialties.

When insurance companies are paying you, they don't give a **** about your MCAT, gpa, medical school name, undergrad name, SAT score, they only care about the type of doctor you are, but more importantly the type of procedures you do. More competitive specialties, which have higher board scores, do more complex procedures and therefore get paid more. So its good to be from Texas!

Enough said. Goodby.

I like most of your argument, except for the bolded.

Please tell me what procedures done by Gastroenterologists are more complex than those done by General Surgeons, Cardiac Surgeons, or Otolaryngologists.

Also please tell me how Stent placement is more complex than performing a Liver Transplant.

Keep in mind as you pursue medicine (congrats on your acceptance for next year) that compensation and complexity/difficulty don't always go hand-in-hand.

 

[Whatyousay]

On a serious note:

Does a 3.4 / 33 ORM actually have a fairly good chance in TX?

The 33 will land a few interviews, but the 3.4 will hurt.

Not great odds, but not horrible, either.

 

[MD2017done]

I like most of your argument, except for the bolded.

Please tell me what procedures done by Gastroenterologists are more complex than those done by General Surgeons, Cardiac Surgeons, or Otolaryngologists.

Also please tell me how Stent placement is more complex than performing a Liver Transplant.

Keep in mind as you pursue medicine (congrats on your acceptance for next year) that compensation and complexity/difficulty don't always go hand-in-hand.

I meant in general terms. A specialist who is doing Epidural Steroid injections or is a cataract cowboy gets paid a lot more then a physician who spends office time with his or her patient a making complex diagnosis. Obviously the RBRVSS system currently used by the government (and similar systems used by private insurers) to pay physicians takes more into account then just complexity of the procedure. It is also by no means perfect. I just meant in general terms lol.

 

[SOMBound13]

Originally Posted by SOMBound13
While I admit that Houston's summer weather is high humiditiy, there are other parts of Texas with better weather (it's a very huge state). And, many areas of the country have times of awful weather...too hot, too cold, too icy, too gray.....and some areas have both...very cold winters and humid summers.

"intense heat+sand combo out West"

?? what? Where? the desert? Who's living in the desert?? lol Calif isnt' known for "intense heat and sand combo". Where are you talking about?

Bro, go spend some time in West Texas (Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso). Sandstorms abound.

lol....I thought "west" meant west coast, not west Texas.

 

[vikingsking82]

LOL somehow wound up on this thread and figured this cycle's Texas matriculants would enjoy the laugh too. Wonder if OP ever got in.....

 

[Afford]

I know this thread is old, but I felt that many Texas schools don't care about having the highest stats possible. During the UT San Antonio interview, one of the deans said that they just use stats to give an interview, but that they found out that there are many people with low MCAT/GPA who do great in med school and many people with high MCAT/GPA who do terribly in med school. There are many Texas residents, who have insane stats, but many of the OOS people at the Texas med schools told me that their stats are average compared to accepted applicants.

 

[Aspiratory]

Virginia is kind of cool to its in state people too. 3 schools (not counting Tech which doesn't care), all with about 50% of the class coming from VA. Would prefer to be from Ohio, with all those different schools, but nothing I can do about it.

I wish Virginia was more loyal to it's IS students, because hey, I want a set up like Texas has!

The one thing that cheeses me most is that for every 800 applications UVA receives, they only interview 100, whereas VCU will interview like half of the students that apply. I wish VA schools moved more towards 75% IS.

 

[Lucca]

As a Texan, thread was enjoyable 10/10.

 

[vikingsking82]

I know this thread is old, but I felt that many Texas schools don't care about having the highest stats possible. During the UT San Antonio interview, one of the deans said that they just use stats to give an interview, but that they found out that there are many people with low MCAT/GPA who do great in med school and many people with high MCAT/GPA who do terribly in med school. There are many Texas residents, who have insane stats, but many of the OOS people at the Texas med schools told me that their stats are average compared to accepted applicants.

True, but matriculating Texas MD stats aren't lower than avg matriculating stats elsewhere in the country. 2013 stats:

Texas matriculants: 30.3 MCAT, 3.71 GPA
AMCAS matriculants: 31.3 MCAT, 3.69

Texas stats are also lowered due to the fact it includes 1 DO school of 240 people - something AMCAS stats don't include (TCOM avg stats are 3.6 GPA/28 MCAT)
Also, some Texas residents with high stats choose to go OOS, so their high stats contribute to AMCAS stats and not TMDSAS

....or the OP could've been smart enough to just use AAMC table 21 which literally compares every single state's avg MCAT and GPA of matriculants in 2012:

When including ALL matriculants from Texas (whether they stayed in state or went OOS) - their avg MCAT is 31.0, GPA 3.7 - which is 25th/50 highest MCAT by state and 34th/50 highest GPA by state. lol. Oh and we pay ~$16,500/yr tuition+fees IF we don't get any scholarship $, so that's nice too.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321502/data/2012factstable21.pdf
https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/2013factstable17.pdf

 

[FedSquarewall]

Wish my state gave this much love to instate students. As a PA resident it is virtually guaranteed that I will pay 50K+ for tuition alone. Not a single state school. Props to Texas for being loyal to its tax payers!