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MD Applicants

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  • RenQun

  • Application cycles: 07/15/2011
  • Demographics: Female, 4, African
  • Home state: Texas
  • Last Active: 10/23/2012

// Applications //

Application Cycle One: 07/15/2011

  • Undergraduate college: Stanford University
  • Undergraduate Area of study: History/Humanities
  • Total MCAT SCORE: 500
  • MCAT Section Scores: B/B 123, C/P 125, CARS 127  
  • Overall GPA: 3.17
  • Science GPA: 2.76

Summary of Application Experience

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2/1/2012 - Match Day

1. UT Houston
2. UT Galveston
3. UT San Antonio

I matched to #2 UT Galveston and couldn\'t be happier. My words of advice to anyone reading this are to have respect for the process and take pride in YOUR application. Apply when you\'re ready (not when the crowd suggests is the \"best\" time) and believe in yourself and your dream!
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Interview Diary
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University of Texas, San Antonio

UTHSCSA seemed to have a rough year this application cycle. After squaring away the issues which resulted in their probation status with the LCME, I feel admissions really didn\'t have a fair shot at competing with other medical schools in Texas. Please don\'t get me wrong though because UTHSCSA is historically an outstanding school in an outstanding city; I\'m simply pointing out that UTHSCSA did not have a finalized curriculum to present to their interviewees and that\'s somewhat unacceptable. How can I accurately evaluate my potential educational experience if I don\'t have curriculum to look at? The proposed new curriculum sounds outstanding, but when I interviewed it was just that - proposed curriculum.

I struggle with the negatives in the above paragraph because UTHSCSA really had a lot of amazing things to offer. The community of students seemed tight-knit and warm, and the range of opportunities available to them were enticing. Highlights of the opportunities include: the MPH program, the Harlingen campus, the patient population in San Antonio, San Antonio being a \"military city\" which affords unique collaborations in military medicine and military patient populations, etc. Overall, UTHSCSA would\'ve been a top choice had I been applying next year...
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University of Texas, Galveston

Driving into Galveston from Houston, I have to admit I was initially off-put by the \"deserted\" feeling I got from the island. It\'s obvious the people still living in Galveston have recovered and rebuilt, but all of the rebuilt houses are surrounded by boarded up houses that stand as reminders of just how many people decided to leave. This being said, I refused to let my initial view of Galveston shape my interview day experience.

The school is a diamond in the rough. The hospital and many of the surrounding clinics all revolve around the school rather than the other way around, and this relationship is evident in the academic atmosphere of the place. I don\'t mean to imply that the medical students walk around like rockstars, but in a sense, the hospital revolves around the school and the school revolves around the students. Perhaps this is most evident in the way curriculum is taught at UTMB: Problem based learning in one interdisciplinary intensive science course at a time taught alongside a year-long Practice of Medicine course. Additionally, the impressively large class is broken down multiple times into handfuls of students who comprise a learning group. Time spent in the classroom is balanced with time spent in the learning group doing self-directed problem based learning. Did I mention that students are usually done for the day by noon?

After the interview, I took the time to cruise around Galveston and check out housing options. UTMB\'s student dorms and surrounding apartments both look comfy and are situated close to campus (as well as a McDonald\'s with an ocean-view). Call me simple, but my initial concerns about Galveston faded away when I visited the McDonald\'s on the beach...

My outstanding concern with Galveston is the feeling that students prefer to study here and then attempt to schedule clinical years elsewhere. I\'ll have to look into the match statistics and gather more opinions from current students.
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University of Texas, Houston

UT-Houston impressed me. The students I met at the Social and on Interview Day all spoke highly of each other and seemed happy in their decision to attend. The students liked the \"syllabi\"-system that professors provide for the students as well as the opportunity to learn at their own pace via recorded lectures. Students also spoke well about the integration of the physical examination into 1st year curriculum (practice rooms are made available as well as actor-patients; students are taught piecemeal about the physical throughout the year with the system currently under study).

My main concern about this school was the class size; the loss of individuality. However, from my conversations with faculty and students I gathered that UT-H takes good care of each of its students via well thought out support systems. Additionally, a large class size allows for a large diversity of smaller student interest groups.
Of particular interest to me were the Blue Book electives and the certificate programs - great resources to gain enrichment from.

My only outstanding concern about this school is whether or not they feel I\'m a good fit. Because that\'s important to me too ;)
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TMDSAS Updated cGPA, sGPA, and nsGPA 8/30/2011. (cGPA: 3.18, sGPA: 2.84, nsGPA 3.51)
TMDSAS Received Summer Transcripts 8/30/2011.
TMDSAS \"Complete\" 8/9/2011.
TMDSAS Transmitted 8/3/2011.
TMDSAS Payment received 7/20.
TMDSAS Submitted 7/16/2011.

AAMC data from 2008-2010 suggests I have a 54.5% chance of acceptance. Given my stats, I\'m pretty happy about that. Not sure how the data applies to TMDSAS, but I\'m hoping my essays carry me into a few interviews.

Application Complete, Rejected

Texas Tech University, El Paso
University of Texas, Southwestern
Texas A & M University
Texas Tech University
University of North Texas

Attended Interview

Long School of Medicine - University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio
University of Texas, Houston

Accepted

University of Texas, Galveston

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