Just applying in Texas via the TMDSAS. Almost filled out the AMCAS for Baylor, but decided not to. Probably should have got my application in sooner... oh well!
Application Complete
Texas Tech University, El Paso
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 08/02/2014
Secondary Completed: Yes
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
El Paso's not my first choice of location, but I've heard very good things about the school so I'm hoping to get an interview here! I find it unlikely, however, giving my rather late application and their small class size.
Long School of Medicine - University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio
Applying for combined PhD/MSTP? No
Submitted: 08/02/2014
Secondary Completed: Yes
Interview Invite: No
Interview Attended: No
Waitlisted: No
Accepted: No
Rejected: No
Summary of Experience:
UT San Antonio is one of two holdouts, along with Tech El Paso. I'm bummed that I haven't heard anything and I'm hoping that I still have a chance! I love the city of San Antonio and have heard great things about the school, so I'd love to have a chance at attending.
Summary of Experience:
My first interview invite came from Southwestern, which was a surprise since I wasn't sure I'd hear from them at all! For that matter, it arrived BEFORE I completed my secondary, which I didn't even know was possible!
My interview weekend absolutely blew me away. It's a two day program in which you can attend clinical rounds in one of the nearby hospitals with third-year medical students, as well as get extensive tours and have dinner with medical students and faculty. I heartily recommend attending the clinical rounds, it was very exciting getting to witness first-hand what the Southwestern clinical educational experience would be like.
Southwestern is revamping their curriculum for my entry year, the Class of 2019. They are moving to a 1.5 year pre-clinical / 2.5 year clinical system. In addition, they are changing all pre-clinical coursework to a true P/F system with no internal ranking. The lack of internal ranking may be offputting to some who expect their classwork to help them achieve AOA, but I think it will remove a lot of the pressure of adapting to the rigors of medical school. In addition, Southwestern is opening not one, but TWO brand new hospitals within the next year. Sounds like the perfect time to become a UTSW student.
My actual interviews both went well. They were very conversational and friendly. My first interview was slightly more difficult and I was asked some intense questions about what my long-term goals were, but I never felt like I was being grilled. The second interview was a breeze and was more of a "chit-chat" than a real interview. Overall a good experience.
I'm so excited about Southwestern and it's easily one of my top choices . Unfortunately I didn't pre-match here on November 15th, which is when they send out the bulk of their offers. Hopefully I will find my way into one of the later pre-match batches, or else somehow manage to get here via the match or a waitlist.
Summary of Experience:
My second interview received and third attended. I had never been to Galveston before, and I quite enjoyed it. The town just has that "coastal village" feel, despite being only 30-45 minutes away from Houston. The area apart from the medical school is very quaint, but in the best possible way. Plus, access to a beach whenever you want! As someone who never saw the coast until I was 13, it would be a blast to live on the Gulf coast even if it isn't the nicest beach in Texas.
The school itself was impressive. Unfortunately my tour did not include a hospital which was a huge bummer; I'd really like to see the places I'd likely be doing clinical rotations in. They are building a new hospital, though, so they're striving to stay up-to-date despite the heavy damage they sustained from Hurricane Ike. That damage DOES mean that nearly every building on campus was been recently renovated; none of them feel old.
All the medical students and admissions staff were very friendly and put an emphasis on collaboration; not surprising but welcome nonetheless. My actual interviews were a mixed experience. My first interview went well and was conversational and friendly. We talked for a while about his research and ended on good terms. Unfortunately, my second interview was very obviously a "stress interview." My interview was downright combative right of the bat and interrupted everything I said, resulting in him being the one speaking about 80% of the time. He worked very hard to disagree with everything I said and was actually rude at points. Despite this, I remained positive and friendly as best I could. It's a bit impossible to measure how well the interview actually went; outwardly it seemed like a disaster but I'm nearly certain that it was done intentionally to try to rattle me. I hope I passed his test, but it left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth about the school as a whole.
Despite this, I liked the school and would be happy to matriculate here. I didn't pre-match on the 15th which isn't surprising since I interviewed the day before! The admissions officers did say that they had pre-match spots "set aside" for our interview group, so here's hoping I snag one of them!
Summary of Experience:
My third interview invitation, but my second interview! The turnaround on the interview was very quick; I interviewed a mere 10 days after receiving the email.
I will admit that I was skeptical of Texas Tech going into the interview, solely because of the location. Well, the location isn't anything to write home about, but I was VERY pleasantly surprised by my experience at the school. It seems like an excellent place to get a medical education.
The day as a whole was more laid-back than my UTSW interview. In fact, "laid-back" accurately describes my impression of the whole school. They put a very heavy emphasis on collaboration and the friendliness of the community, more so than any of the other schools I have interviewed at. It would certainly be a less competitive atmosphere than almost any other Texas school, something that I love.
The facilities are quite impressive; the medical center is a sharp contrast to how flat and spread-out the rest of Lubbock is; very large and impressive. Their hospital was great and they have a new, very modern classroom building for pre-clinical years, as well as a very cool simulation center.
The medical school is directly next to (and practically a part of) the undergraduate campus, and medical students apparently get all the benefits of being a Tech undergrad student, including free football tickets, student parking, and access to their very impressive rec center.
While Lubbock isn't exactly exciting, it has a suburban charm, and it isn't plagued by big-city problems like high cost-of-living and heavy traffic. On the other hand, and this is the biggest downside for me, Lubbock is in the middle of nowhere. It's hundreds of miles to any larger city and a 6 hour drive to my hometown, which would making seeing my family more burdensome.
My interviews both went really well. I was interviewed by an MS3 and then a surgeon, both of which were friendly and conversational. No complaints about anything.
I also failed to pre-match here on the 15th, which is a bummer because I could absolutely see myself attending Texas Tech. I was surprised at how much I liked it, and I hope to hear back from them soon!
Summary of Experience:
Pre- Interview: My fourth interview invitation! I am absolutely ecstatic to get an interview here. I've never seen the Texas Medical Center and I've heard wonderful things. Plus, a number of my classmates from undergraduate matriculated here and love the school! I have, however, heard some negative things about their curriculum and "hell week" testing system. Looking forward to evaluating it myself!
Post-Interview: Wow what a great school. The Texas Medical Center is unlike any other place I've ever visited. Unbeknownst to me going into the day, The TMC is the largest medical center in the world, and it shows. It literally has its own skyline, separate from downtown. The obvious detriment is that traffic and navigation is, frankly, a nightmare. The obvious benefit is that there are INCREDIBLE opportunities available to medical students here. Any specialty or area of research you're interested in can be pursued here, and the value of that can't be overstated.
My interview day got off to a very stressful start. My GPS led me to the medical school with 20 minutes to spare, but finding the parking garage was a whole different story and I had absolutely no luck. I'm not very used to driving in extremely busy, downtown traffic, so unfortunately by the time the day was supposed to begin, I was still circling the block looking for the proper parking location. I ended up picking a random parking garage and hoping I wouldn't come back to a towed car. Furthermore, once I left the garage, I had no idea how to actually navigate to the medical school, so I had to call the office of student affairs (who were EXTREMELY helpful!) and have them lead me to my destination over the phone.
Once I got over that embarrassment, though, the rest of the day went very well. UTH knows how to sell their school very well, and their tour was amazing. We got to witness surgery from an observation room, stand on the helipad as a LifeFlight Helicopter took off, and tour three separate hospitals. There isn't much to say except this: if you've never been, go to the TMC! It's a mind-blowing experience and would be an amazing place to learn medicine.
My interviews themselves went well. Very conversational and friendly, nothing like the stress interview I had at UTMB.
The biggest downside of Houston for me, and I know this is a common complaint, is their curriculum. Students take a number of courses simultaneously (i.e. biochem, development, histology, etc) and then have "hell-week" style testing every 4 weeks, with a test every day of the week except Wednesday. This results in many students adopting a "2 week on, 2 week off" style of study in which, for the first two weeks of material, they study frequently but not religiously. The week before exams, they cram like crazy, and then of course take the exams during the fourth week. Essentially, it's undergrad 2.0, just with finals every month rather than every four or so. This isn't the end of the world, but I've experienced that learning style before and I would much prefer a systems-based approach with fewer diverse subjects to study simultaneously. Having said that, I know from talking with current MS1s and MS2s that I would adapt and rise to the occasion. They're actually completely overhauling the curriculum for the class of 2020, but that unfortunately doesn't affect me.
The traffic issues are definitely an issue as well, but luckily there is ample student housing available right by the TMC, as well as a number of other apartments that can reach the school by Metro rail, so I'm going to try not to let my interview day-issues detract from my opinion.
Otherwise, it struck me as a wonderful place to learn medicine and I would be over the moon to pick up an acceptance here. I'm unsure exactly where I'll rank it yet, but it will almost certainly be near the top.
Summary of Experience:
Pre-Interview: Woohoo, a fifth interview! It was nearly a month since my last II, and I was starting to think I would just be ranking the other four. Not so, and I'm excited to visit A&M! I'm clearly filling in for a dropped interview; the date is for only THREE DAYS after I got the email! I don't think the fact that it's coming two days after pre-match offers went out is a coincidence. :)
I've actually toured the Temple campus before. My interview is in Bryan, however, so I'm glad I'll get to see both campuses. I've actually heard some negative things from people who interviewed there, but I'm going in with open eyes and an open mind.
Post-Interview: I'm not sure why people had negative things to say about A&M; I really enjoyed my time there! It's a very different atmosphere than some of the other schools I've visited. They have some really unique opportunities that other medical schools don't, as well!
Before talking about the city or about the interview day itself, it's important to get one thing out of the way first, because it's one of the most foundational things about the school, and that's the campus system. In prior years, students attended first and second year in either Bryan/College Station (BCS) OR in Temple, and then clinical years independent of that choice. They are revamping this system for the class of 2019. ALL A&M medical students will be located in BCS for their first year. After that year, there are FIVE different tracks that students can take: 1) Complete their remaining 3 years in BCS; 2) Complete their remaining 3 years in Temple; 3) Complete their remaining 3 years in Round Rock (Austin), 4) Complete their remaining 3 years in Dallas; or 5) Finish their pre-clinical education in BCS (0.5 years) and then complete their remaining 2.5 years of clinical education in Houston at the Texas Medical Center. This last option has just been opened and medical students will begin training in Houston starting in the fall.
In this way, A&M is totally unique. The offer the ability not just to rotate out at other hospitals or even to complete all clinical education elsewhere, but to actually change cities and campuses during your PRE-clinical education. For those (like me) who don't relish the idea of spending many years in BCS, this a godsend and an absolutely fantastic way to allow A&M medical students to end up in the cities where they want to live. At the same time, A&M is switching to the 1.5 year pre-clinical / 2.5 year clinical model, something I personally love.
Anyways, on to everything else. As I said above, I'm not a huge fan of Bryan/College Station. There's nothing wrong with it, but like Lubbock, it's simply not a community in which I strongly desire to spend lots of time in. Thankfully the innovative campus system alleviates most of these worries, but I would still be living there for at least a year, so it's something to consider.
The facilities of the medical school itself, though, are quite nice. It's fairly sparse right now, with only three large buildings, but there are significant plans for expansion, including a dedicated Anatomy Lab building that will open before my class would matriculate. What facilities they do have are nice, with a fully equipped Sim Center and many classrooms and study areas. There's no hospital right next to the medical school, which is somewhat disappointing if not surprising given the location of the school. However, the hospital we toured was only about 10 minutes away and was VERY impressive, at times seeming more like a hotel than a hospital. Hospital availability isn't quite as important an issue unless you're planning on spending all four years in BCS, though.
The interviews I had were perhaps my favorite of the whole cycle. Both were extremely friendly and actually fun to talk to; I felt like I got to know them during our short time together, and it was more of a "chat" than a real interview. In fact, the friendliness of everyone I encountered was unrivaled by every school except perhaps Texas Tech; the "friendly Aggie" stereotype certainly seems to hold true.
Speaking of Aggies, one benefit of the medical school being located in BCS is the access to the (huge) undergraduate campus. Numerous libraries offer places to study and although we didn't tour their rec center, I've heard it's quite impressive.
Overall I enjoyed my time here. My favorite thing BY FAR is the ability to pick which city 3/4 of your medical education will take place in, but the 1.5 year preclinicals, friendly people, and low traffic are all appealing as well. I've started to realize just how incredibly difficult it's going to be to rank these schools for the Match. Lots of tough decisions ahead! Thankfully, with how great all five schools I've interviewed at have been, I don't think it's really possible to make the wrong choice.
