Baylor v. UTSW 2016

[pzbpzbpzb]

This topic has been discussed time and time again, but with UTSW's new curriculum now in the second year, older threads don't apply as much.

I'm having a hard time deciding between these two amazing TX schools. I don't know my ultimate goal yet, but don't see myself going into academics. And didn't like basic science research during undergrad too much. I could see myself going for a competitive specialty, but still don't know. I can see myself leaving TX for residency, but I think I'd be happy staying in TX too.

UTSW
(cost: 44k per year)

+1.5 year preclinical P/F without any internal ranking
+reputation seems to be on the rise with their new hospitals. I don't know how accurate this is, but UTSW at least definitely made more of an effort to recruit than Baylor did.
+may have stronger clinical experiences than Baylor does. They stressed how med students get a lot of autonomy/responsibility in patient care during second look.
+seems to have stronger residency programs, but again this is just what I've heard from other people
+college system

-new curriculum will be in its second year. They will likely still be tweaking their curriculum when I start, and I don't know where their step 1 scores will fall.
-preclinical curriculum is more accelerated than Baylor's. They start later and still get a longer summer than Baylor does.
-Have been told it is a less service-oriented school than Baylor

Baylor
(still haven't received financial aid, but I imagine it will be similar to UTSW)

+Higher step 1 scores (average 246).
+Students seemed to be happier overall, maybe because they are tested less often than UTSW students. I don't need weekly tests/quizzes to keep myself on top of the material.
+I prefer Houston to Dallas
+Preceptorship in 1st year

-No protected research time in the curriculum. UTSW has 2 protected research times.
-preclinical grades still matter for AOA
-parking costs $160 a month
-Has faced financial problems in the past. It also was just recently taken off probation.

I appreciate any input!

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[sss1219]

Baylor is a pretty amazing school according to everyone I know there, they are all very happy. I've never heard about them having issues with getting involved with research, and most of them are aiming for pretty competitive residencies. Is there a major difference in cost of living between Houston and Dallas, including the the added parking fees? From what I can tell, you would be happier being in Houston, but cost is another major thing to think about

PS - I would wait to see what the aid you get form Baylor is before committing to your decision, because you may well get much more or much less than you expected!

 

[CargoPants]

I'm a current UTSW M4.

With the considerations you listed above, it sounds like you are leaning towards Baylor. Honestly, based on just your thread title, I would have just said "whichever city you like more". It sounds like you are leaning towards Baylor, and if you get a comparable tuition, I think Baylor would be a smart choice. Both places are excellent. And tbh, you have a pretty good pros and cons list.

Of your considerations above, I think some are better than other.
- I definitely agree that, in general, most of the residencies at UTSW are better regarded than Baylor's.
- The colleges system at UTSW should really not be a selling point, I find them trivial, and often useless.
- Step scores are important, and while UTSW hasnt released their last few years, I'd venture to guess that they are in the high 230s still.

Because of the new curriculum, I cant really comment on how the two compare as I had the old curriculum. If I were in your shoes, I'd lean towards Baylor, but if you know the specific field you want to go into, I think UTSW can set you up with better home institution facilities and opportunities to succeed in research.

 

[I'm not a cat]

Hello I'm a current MS1 at BCM,

I read your post and I had a some comments regarding a few of your concerns about BCM. First of all, our preclinical grades—unlike the previous years—do not get factored into our chances of getting into AOA. The only grades that are considered are the clinical grades, and this includes the grade you receive from your preceptorship, which is our introduction to clinical medicine course called PPS. Most of the class receives honors in in PPS, making clinical grades extremely important for AOA.

As for parking, most of the students in my class do not pay for parking. If you live near the Bayou or metro, commuting to class is as easy as a bike or metro ride. The commute is very easy and most of us do not find it troublesome (with the exception of this week where the rain was incessant).

Further, our financial situation has improved so much since we split from Methodist. In the early 2000s, the BCM board decided to break our hospital affiliation with Methodist to pursue our own hospital where the revenue would go straight to BCM. It is important to note that Methodist was firmly against this idea; they were mostly afraid the talented BCM physicians would be used at the new hospital and create competition for Methodist. However, all of this happened years before the recession began, and we were left with a hospital that was being constructed with questionable funding to complete the project.

In the subsequent years, BCM partnered with St. Lukes (our primary private adult hospital where we do rotations) and agreed to proceed with a new hospital system: Baylor St. Lukes. This new agreement allowed BCM to continue construction, as we had more capital from St. Lukes and financial stability. Thankfully, the new hospital will become the primary hospital for Baylor St Lukes in 2019—and this hospital is beautiful. Also, 50% of the revenue from this agreement will directly go to BCM, which is quite unique as compared to other hospital affiliations for medical schools. Over the past few years, the endowment for BCM has grown over $1 billion, which is a sign of our financial stability. To set any unease about our financial situation aside, our credit rating agency, S&P, has recently moved our credit rating from an A- to an A, indicating our stable outlook. This rating will benefit BCM, as our interest rates will go down and additional capital can be used for other projects.

TL;DR: We don't get ranked from preclinicals. Get a bike. We got lots of money.

 

[asdfTT123]

Current MS3 at UTSW. I'm not going to give you any advice about which school to choose but I just want to tell you as a medical student looking back, which stuff is relevant vs completely irrelevant in the decision making process.

Average step 1 is moot - it's 99% a personal effort.
Thinking about AOA and how to achieve it right now is futile and pretty much a waste of time
College system isn't a selling point (agree with above poster)
A med school being more or less "service-oriented" is pretty much meaningless

Not sure about significance about a school being on probation but it's probably minimal.

The ONLY truly important things: Go with your gut and the school you liked the most so factor in location and student body. Finances are important as well. Caliber of school is actually important for residency (but between UTSW vs Baylor there's pretty much no difference). Quality of clinical training is more important than preclinical. Only give some consideration to preclinical curriculum (in the end of the day everyone learns the same stuff). If you're happy and work hard then you will succeed.

 

[onigirigal]

I'm facing the same dilemma as the OP. The thing that's making me feel kind of iffy about choosing Baylor is that I got accepted really late and way after second look. I was really looking forward to getting to know Baylor better because of its short interview day. Baylor didn't give updates in the beginning of March to all of its applicants like most schools.
I was kind of left in the dark with 8 days to decide which school to go to when I thought all was lost on Baylor.
UTSW tried so hard to blow us all away with its packed programming. What I want to ask is does Baylor administration treat its students well?
My gut doesn't know anything. I thought I could fit in at UTSW but I feel that maybe I could fit in just as well at Baylor. I don't want to judge Baylor prematurely.. but now I have nothing to judge it on. welp.

 

[onigirigal]

Actually I just watched Ruth Chang's TED talk, "How to Make Hard Choices". It was recommended in an older thread.
Miraculously in the last 5 minutes I have become super at ease with whatever I decide... It's like an instant video xanax. I super recommend this, given the nature of the next few days.

 

[pzbpzbpzb]

OP here

Just wanted to thank everyone for their input.

It was a tough decision, but finally decided on Baylor!

Total COA ended up being slightly cheaper for me at Baylor, by ~8k. Not by much, but still helped with the decision.

 

[wysdoc]

Actually I just watched Ruth Chang's TED talk, "How to Make Hard Choices". It was recommended in an older thread.
Miraculously in the last 5 minutes I have become super at ease with whatever I decide... It's like an instant video xanax. I super recommend this, given the nature of the next few days.

curious which one you eventually chose?

 

[onigirigal]

curious which one you eventually chose?

Hi wysdoc! I eventually chose UT Southwestern. Even though I'm sure I would have been happy at both schools, my gut told me to choose UTSW because I had already made friends there and picked an awesome roommate. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I had gone to Baylor's second look. But alas, it was not meant to be
My big philosophy now is: It is what I make it to be.

 

[wysdoc]

Hi wysdoc! I eventually chose UT Southwestern. Even though I'm sure I would have been happy at both schools, my gut told me to choose UTSW because I had already made friends there and picked an awesome roommate. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I had gone to Baylor's second look. But alas, it was not meant to be
My big philosophy now is: It is what I make it to be.

Thanks for the update! I think you will like Dallas, for one thing you can get around on city streets for the most part and you don't always have to get on a highway to go someplace. There are so many pretty neighborhoods.