******UT-Houston Class of 2011*******

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Howdy, I prematched to Houston. Really excited, but really nervous because lately my motivation to study has been little to none. Probably just senioritis. Anyone else feel like this?
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I also prematched to Houston and consequently have not done a lick of work as a 2nd semester senior
 
Hey. Long time reader here, first time poster. I prematched to Houston Nov 15th (it was my first choice out of all of the other schools). Of course, I put it down as my number 1 for the match. Congrats to all of the others that might be joining us tonight!
 
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Glad to have you guys! Welcome to SDN :)

And I have had little to no motivation to do ANYTHING so far this semester - but I'm not taking classes ;)
 
tkatchev said:
Howdy, I prematched to Houston. Really excited, but really nervous because lately my motivation to study has been little to none. Probably just senioritis. Anyone else feel like this?
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yeah bigtime
 
Looks like I'll be joining you all. Ya'll had better be pretty awesome, 'cause I don't know if any of my friends got in. :(

I've totally lost the will to work this semester myself.
 
Let us observe a moment of silence for those who have fallen in the match.
 
Welcome to H-town!!!! Conrats!!!
 
Congrats to everyone that got in! I'm looking forward to meeting all of you when we start in August!!!! If there's anyone out there with questions about Houston or the medical center, don't hesitate to drop me a line. :) I've lived in Houston all of my life and, at the moment, I work across the street at (gasp!!) Baylor.

CONGRATS AGAIN!!!
 
TexasTarHeel said:
Congrats to everyone that got in! I'm looking forward to meeting all of you when we start in August!!!! If there's anyone out there with questions about Houston or the medical center, don't hesitate to drop me a line. :) I've lived in Houston all of my life and, at the moment, I work across the street at (gasp!!) Baylor.

CONGRATS AGAIN!!!
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Hey, I also work at Baylor. When I tell people here at work that I'm going to UTH med sch. they don't seem to understand why I work here but I'm going to the "other medical school" across the street. They seem to be in disbelief when l inform them that I didn't even apply to BCM.

Anyway, we'll probably bump into each other one of these days before we start school in August.
 
Hey, I was wondering if anyone was considering having a roommate next year. I still have not decided if I think it’s a good idea or not, but there are some pretty sweet condos I was thinking of moving into. Unfortunately, they would be kind of pricey to live in alone so if not I guess it would be student housing for me. Oh, this mainly applies to girls. thanks!
 
For those of you on facebook, there is a UT Medical School at Houston Class of 2011 group! Come join!
 
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So when do you think we'll get our big thick packet of info that I've been so desperately waiting for. This is all finally starting to feel real!
 
aggiesarah2007 said:
So when do you think we'll get our big thick packet of info that I've been so desperately waiting for. This is all finally starting to feel real!
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I know what you mean. I hope it comes soon!

PS if anyone is in the DFW area until August, if you want to get together for drinks or something let me know! Can't wait to finally meet everyone in person!
 
Well I'm coming to Denton this weekend!

Also, if anyone is interested, here are some stats my friend that is UTH 2010 gave me about OUR class!

Avg MCAT: 31 (WHOA! How did I slip by!?)
213 Texas residents
16 OOS
38 Aggies! Whoop!
 
44 of you are Longhorns. You got back the majority that my class [2010] lost to the ags, so HOOK EM!
 
dancer75088 said:
I know what you mean. I hope it comes soon!

PS if anyone is in the DFW area until August, if you want to get together for drinks or something let me know! Can't wait to finally meet everyone in person!
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I'd like to get together for drinks. Any weekend
 
aggiesarah2007 said:
Well I'm coming to Denton this weekend!

Also, if anyone is interested, here are some stats my friend that is UTH 2010 gave me about OUR class!

Avg MCAT: 31 (WHOA! How did I slip by!?)
213 Texas residents
16 OOS
38 Aggies! Whoop!
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SitraAchra said:
44 of you are Longhorns. You got back the majority that my class [2010] lost to the ags, so HOOK EM!
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We lost the majority! :( :eek:

I'll be in the DFW area some weekend in March visiting family. I'll drop you a line when I know for sure, dancer (oopsie... I typed out your real name first... this is bad side of knowing people's real names :laugh: )
 
Are the stats for our class online anywhere? Do we know about GPA too? I'm just curious.

Oh Lord - my dad just asked what the highest MCAT is... I swear he's more of a gunner in some ways than I'll ever be! :laugh: I'm greatful I'm not in HIS med school class :smuggrin:
 
tkatchev said:
I'd like to get together for drinks. Any weekend
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Awesome, just let me know where you think would be good. I live in a small town to the east of Dallas...not sure where would be easiest for people to get to?
 
Anastasis said:
We lost the majority! :( :eek:

I'll be in the DFW area some weekend in March visiting family. I'll drop you a line when I know for sure, dancer (oopsie... I typed out your real name first... this is bad side of knowing people's real names :laugh: )
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Great! Yeah, just let me know when you will be in town! (I know what you mean about the name thing...:laugh: )
 
Anastasis said:
Are the stats for our class online anywhere? Do we know about GPA too? I'm just curious.

Oh Lord - my dad just asked what the highest MCAT is... I swear he's more of a gunner in some ways than I'll ever be! :laugh: I'm greatful I'm not in HIS med school class :smuggrin:
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Ya'lls mean GPA was ridiculous, like 3.76 I think. We all crowded around the admissions office to peek at the list of names and schools, and they also posted some stats like MCAT, GPA, Male/Female, ethnicities, scholarships...

there are 115 males, 114 females. Dropped the ball ladies! haha I kid.
 
SitraAchra said:
Ya'lls mean GPA was ridiculous, like 3.76 I think. We all crowded around the admissions office to peek at the list of names and schools, and they also posted some stats like MCAT, GPA, Male/Female, ethnicities, scholarships...

there are 115 males, 114 females. Dropped the ball ladies! haha I kid.
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3.76!?!?

HOLY **** - How did I get through?
 
sorry, I have no business being here, Houston hates me, but I was curious if any of you matched to UT Houston without prematch offers. Decal, is this you?
 
Oh, just so you know, my boyfriend is joining you guys (pending Baylor). He's 6'7", considers himself an awesome basketball player (get him on your IM teams), and says hi and congrats to all of you.
 
Anastasis said:
Are the stats for our class online anywhere? Do we know about GPA too? I'm just curious.

Oh Lord - my dad just asked what the highest MCAT is... I swear he's more of a gunner in some ways than I'll ever be! :laugh: I'm greatful I'm not in HIS med school class :smuggrin:
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Somebody said a 41, but I didn't check that at the admissions office. Regardless, y'all's class is really impressive.

Also momentary props to my racquetball partner, SitraAchra (I never knew you were an SDNer!) and my Art of Observation classmate, OddNath, because they're awesome people and they deserve it.

Having scanned this thread, I also wanted to respond to some earlier worries about Step I scores. First, don't worry about them; you'll do well if you put in the effort in class and before the test (or so I keep getting told). Second, I have a theory on UTH, so take my $0.02 if you want it. Basically, I think it reflects an intrinsic biphasic distribution in our students. If you look at our match lists, you'll see that we have a lot of students who match into really tough fields (for example, like, 12 Anesthesia, and a fair number of Orthos last year), but that we also have a larger percentage of Family Practice and Peds people than a lot of other Texas schools. I see that breakdown starting to develop in my own class. Essentially, the FP/Peds people don't end up gunning on Step 1 because they don't need to, and others fall out at or above the average. I'd love to see a posted standard deviation to confirm it, but to my eyes, that's what seems to go on at UTH.

Finally, congrats to all who are in! Mark your calendars for Welcome Weekend (April 14-15)! You'd better be there, or you'll disappoint me on my birthday!
 
drchekhov said:
Somebody said a 41, but I didn't check that at the admissions office. Regardless, y'all's class is really impressive.

Also momentary props to my racquetball partner, SitraAchra (I never knew you were an SDNer!) and my Art of Observation classmate, OddNath, because they're awesome people and they deserve it.

Having scanned this thread, I also wanted to respond to some earlier worries about Step I scores. First, don't worry about them; you'll do well if you put in the effort in class and before the test (or so I keep getting told). Second, I have a theory on UTH, so take my $0.02 if you want it. Basically, I think it reflects an intrinsic biphasic distribution in our students. If you look at our match lists, you'll see that we have a lot of students who match into really tough fields (for example, like, 12 Anesthesia, and a fair number of Orthos last year), but that we also have a larger percentage of Family Practice and Peds people than a lot of other Texas schools. I see that breakdown starting to develop in my own class. Essentially, the FP/Peds people don't end up gunning on Step 1 because they don't need to, and others fall out at or above the average. I'd love to see a posted standard deviation to confirm it, but to my eyes, that's what seems to go on at UTH.

Finally, congrats to all who are in! Mark your calendars for Welcome Weekend (April 14-15)! You'd better be there, or you'll disappoint me on my birthday!
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Thanks for the info!
 
LOL DrChekov. I will see you tomorrow bright and early. Pack your purple spandex it's gonna be a cold one!
 
Anyone know when we should be getting our acceptance packet?
 
Hey guys, I interviewed at UT-H. Really feel in love with it too. However, I didn't make the cut... I don't know what to do. I've taken the MCAT three times (33M final), went and got a masters degree (grad gpa 4.0 (under grad 3.42 :( )), I've completed a ton of research, plan to get published over summer, I have a lot of job shadowing experience, and am planning on working in a pathology lab next year. What the heck is going to make me more competitive?
Please let me know if this is a good idea... I thought about emailing Dr. Kellaway and telling her my position. I want to ask for her advice on what will get me into to UT-H. On the one side, this may show her that I'm a serious student who truly wants to go to her school. On the other hand, she might get hundreds of crying student emails and just get irritated. It may show her that I'm too dumb to figure out what I should do. Honestly, I just want to become a pathologist. I'm tired of jumping through hoops but, if I must, I may as well know which hoops to jump through.
Thanks for your help, I really need it. I realize you guys worked as hard or harder than I did to get where you are. I coud tell at my interview that the competition was going to be very harsh. Good luck and I hope to see you all next year.
 
adamMD said:
Hey guys, I interviewed at UT-H. Really feel in love with it too. However, I didn't make the cut... I don't know what to do. I've taken the MCAT three times (33M final), went and got a masters degree (grad gpa 4.0 (under grad 3.42 :( )), I've completed a ton of research, plan to get published over summer, I have a lot of job shadowing experience, and am planning on working in a pathology lab next year. What the heck is going to make me more competitive?
Please let me know if this is a good idea... I thought about emailing Dr. Kellaway and telling her my position. I want to ask for her advice on what will get me into to UT-H. On the one side, this may show her that I'm a serious student who truly wants to go to her school. On the other hand, she might get hundreds of crying student emails and just get irritated. It may show her that I'm too dumb to figure out what I should do. Honestly, I just want to become a pathologist. I'm tired of jumping through hoops but, if I must, I may as well know which hoops to jump through.
Thanks for your help, I really need it. I realize you guys worked as hard or harder than I did to get where you are. I coud tell at my interview that the competition was going to be very harsh. Good luck and I hope to see you all next year.
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Hmm, I'm not really sure what to say. I think OddNath or Seabass might have some better thoughts than me, but I'll give you my $0.02.

First, don't feel bad if you didn't match—if you look at the Republic of Texas Thread, you'll see that almost no one did. But, it does prompt me to ask: when did you submit/when you interview? Your numbers seem all right. GPA was a little low, but your post-bacc was good. MCAT's not harming you. That leaves me to question two things:

1. A bad LOR or bad interview.

2. Your interest in path. I know that pathologists are sometimes considered "the doctor's doctor," but if in your PS and in your interviews, you spotlight that only, I think the admissions committee may be asking themselves: "well, if all he wants to do is work in the lab, why does he need to go to medical school?" And, in a sense, they may be right. Medicine is about helping people by interacting with them; graduate sciences are more about sitting in a lab with a petri dish, and your work ultimately helping others in the clinic down the street. Did you ever get any questions along these lines in your interviews? I mainly ask because I think this sabotaged a friend's application this year. He was applying MD/PhD with good grades, a solid MCAT, tons of research, and great leadership in his EC's, but every program kept asking him: a) how was his research (in physical chem) really applicable to medicine/did it give him a real exposure to medical research and b) with his talents, why didn't he just want to go straight PhD?

If the latter has hit a mark, you should also remember that state med schools are also responsible for filling the state's healthcare needs. Does the state need a huge number of pathologists?—not really. What is it forecasted to need?—a HUGE increase in people-centric generalists: primary care physicians, pediatricians, and geriatricians.

Emailing Dr. Kellaway may not be a bad idea, but I'd say give it a week or two until the post-match shockwave dissipates a bit.

Hope this helps. My main advice is to consider long and hard whether you really need an MD to do what you want—perhaps a PhD might be a better way to go. Or you might be better off applying for the joint degree program. But even if things turn out for the worst, I think that your time in the path lab next year could be a real blessing, helping you to find what you really want, and giving you something to point out as a rationale for it.

Regardless, I wish you the best.
 
kemper said:
I leased an apartment in the TMC (2 minute walk to school), but I did'nt have time to look at it first. The apartments, Laurence Favrot Apartmentshttp://www.texmedctr.tmc.edu/root/en/TMCServices/Housing/Favrot.htm, seem perfect to me, but I have'nt talked to anyone that has lived there. Anyone have any information about these apartments?
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I've never been in, and don't know anyone that lives there, but three things:

1. I've heard that they're kind of old, dark, and dingy.

2. I've also heard that parking can be a nightmare, since they're in the TMC. Like, you have to pay regular visitor monthly rates or something.

3. They're DIRECTLY BEHIND a new construction zone at Methodist. You could always do all your studying at the LRC, but I personally would not want to avoid my apartment for that reason.

Honestly, given our housing allowance, money really isn't a hindrance in choosing a decent place to live. Almost every place has a shuttle to the Med Center, and some are even on the Rail (though the cost of that, unfortunately, may be going up). And lots of people bike to campus anyway.

Kemper, I'd say just chill for a bit—you just got in! No need to rush a housing decision! Y'all will get some more information on this in your acceptance packet. Or if you absolutely feel compelled to get moving on it, search through last year's board to peruse the housing discussion. I had a long post about options which someone already linked to on this board.
 
drchekhov said:
Hmm, I'm not really sure what to say. I think OddNath or Seabass might have some better thoughts than me, but I'll give you my $0.02.

First, don't feel bad if you didn't match—if you look at the Republic of Texas Thread, you'll see that almost no one did. But, it does prompt me to ask: when did you submit/when you interview? Your numbers seem all right. GPA was a little low, but your post-bacc was good. MCAT's not harming you. That leaves me to question two things:

1. A bad LOR or bad interview.

2. Your interest in path. I know that pathologists are sometimes considered "the doctor's doctor," but if in your PS and in your interviews, you spotlight that only, I think the admissions committee may be asking themselves: "well, if all he wants to do is work in the lab, why does he need to go to medical school?" And, in a sense, they may be right. Medicine is about helping people by interacting with them; graduate sciences are more about sitting in a lab with a petri dish, and your work ultimately helping others in the clinic down the street. Did you ever get any questions along these lines in your interviews? I mainly ask because I think this sabotaged a friend's application this year. He was applying MD/PhD with good grades, a solid MCAT, tons of research, and great leadership in his EC's, but every program kept asking him: a) how was his research (in physical chem) really applicable to medicine/did it give him a real exposure to medical research and b) with his talents, why didn't he just want to go straight PhD?

If the latter has hit a mark, you should also remember that state med schools are also responsible for filling the state's healthcare needs. Does the state need a huge number of pathologists?—not really. What is it forecasted to need?—a HUGE increase in people-centric generalists: primary care physicians, pediatricians, and geriatricians.

Emailing Dr. Kellaway may not be a bad idea, but I'd say give it a week or two until the post-match shockwave dissipates a bit.

Hope this helps. My main advice is to consider long and hard whether you really need an MD to do what you want—perhaps a PhD might be a better way to go. Or you might be better off applying for the joint degree program. But even if things turn out for the worst, I think that your time in the path lab next year could be a real blessing, helping you to find what you really want, and giving you something to point out as a rationale for it.

Regardless, I wish you the best.
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Well, I think I may have applied too late. My application was finally sent to schools on Sept. 20th. Maybe that's what killed me (at least I hope).
My interview (UT-H, my only one) went very well. I couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy to be there. It was a lot of fun. I interviewed on Dec. 1st (probably because I was an Aug. MCAT). I can't say my interview hurt me but what's an LOR??
As for being a PhD, I know that's what I don't want. Although it's true that I do not want to be heavily involved with patient interactions I probably would not like focusing my entire life on one area of research. Let's face it, if you're going to make a significant contribution to any field of science, you must choose NOT to study all but a very narrow scope. As a pathologist, I feel I'll satisfy my interests in an extremely BROAD field while saving lives at the same time (win-win). Do you really think I should drop the "I want to be a pathologist" routine even though that's what I really want? Of course I could fabricate my interests to the ad. coms. and still be a pathologist but do I honestly need to. Would it help me that much??
I think I will email Dr. Kellaway but I'll wait a while like you said. Good advice. Thanks. I feel better.
 
Well, I think I may have applied too late. My application was finally sent to schools on Sept. 20th. Maybe that's what killed me (at least I hope).
My interview (UT-H, my only one) went very well. I couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy to be there. It was a lot of fun. I interviewed on Dec. 1st (probably because I was an Aug. MCAT). I can't say my interview hurt me but what's an LOR??
As for being a PhD, I know that's what I don't want. Although it's true that I do not want to be heavily involved with patient interactions I probably would not like focusing my entire life on one area of research. Let's face it, if you're going to make a significant contribution to any field of science, you must choose NOT to study all but a very narrow scope. As a pathologist, I feel I'll satisfy my interests in an extremely BROAD field while saving lives at the same time (win-win). Do you really think I should drop the "I want to be a pathologist" routine even though that's what I really want? Of course I could fabricate my interests to the ad. coms. and still be a pathologist but do I honestly need to. Would it help me that much??
I think I will email Dr. Kellaway but I'll wait a while like you said. Good advice. Thanks. I feel better.
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LOR = Letter of Recommendation.

Sounds like the lateness of your app hurt you more than anything. I suppose your app probably didn't get through initial adcom review until early to mid October, which meant the earliest they could interview you was December. (Earily similar timing to my own situation last year, even though I had taken an April MCAT the year before. Makes me feel very fortunate that I wasn't under this year's system!)

As for dropping the pathologist line—I don't know. Whatever you decide, never lie or be false on your app or in an interview, because the people critiquing you are very honed to detect such BS in the process. Seriously, they've got enough years of experience to spot it. Yet I still have a few more thoughts on it:

1. The interview serves two constant purposes at most places: if can let the school get a better look at a marginal, but intriguing applicant, and it allows inspection of applicants to make sure that they're not axe-murderers or pedophiles (bad for those peds rotations). Actually, to be more serious on the latter, it lets the school evaluate if you're capable of developing a good bedside manner. I have no way of knowing how you are person-to-person over the internet, but if the path personality generalization is true, you might not come across so well in this regard. This is not to judge you—I'm just trying to toss out some ideas for what might be going on.

2. Although applying stereotypes to evaluate an applicant is completely unfair, if you present yourself as hardcore path to an reader/interviewer who subsribes to the "pathologists are awkward little people who like microscopes more than patients" line, then you might have gotten screwed. This is part of the maddening randomness of the process; who you get assigned to has a gigantic bearing on how you do. If you'd interviewed with a path/histo/immunologist, you wouldn't have to worry in this regard. But if you had a orthopedist, well...

3. You're exhibiting desire for only a single field of medicine, not medicine itself. Schools expect people to change specialty interests (I've already gone from hardcore primary care/MPH on my app to seriously considering surgery), so I think it's more important to emphasize why you're called to medicine as a field than to explain why you're interested to a specialty. The latter is most warranted when someone's applying MD/PhD.

Anyway, these are probably moot points, as (fingers crossed) with your scores you'll overcome the late app by way of the waitlist. But if things don't work out, use it for fodder for next year.
 
drchekhov said:
LOR = Letter of Recommendation.

3. You're exhibiting desire for only a single field of medicine, not medicine itself. Schools expect people to change specialty interests (I've already gone from hardcore primary care/MPH on my app to seriously considering surgery), so I think it's more important to emphasize why you're called to medicine as a field than to explain why you're interested to a specialty. The latter is most warranted when someone's applying MD/PhD.

Anyway, these are probably moot points, as (fingers crossed) with your scores you'll overcome the late app by way of the waitlist. But if things don't work out, use it for fodder for next year.
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I realize people often change their minds mid-way through med school but nothing pisses me off more than asking a pre-med what kind of doctor they want to be and just see them shrug their shoulders. I'm sure they have a calling and like aspects of medicine (probably prestige and money) but how can you tell if they really want to be doctors? Another thing that pisses me off is when people say they just want to "save lives". Bull crap. If they really just wanted to save lives they'd be an EMT. I would at least assume that pound-for-pound, an EMT saves far more lives than a doctor. What's more is that there are lots of occupations that save lives (like being a health inspector) that have nothing to do with medicine at all. That's why I think my answer is best (whether or not ad. coms. are smart enough to realize it). It's honest and I feel gives me good reason to be in med school. I'm not saying everyone should be a pathologist but if you can't at least venture a guess as to where you will be in the next 15 years do you really think you should be entering medical school?
This comment was not to say that I disagree with your previous post. I'm just explaining a bit more of my rationale. Really I love your advice. I can tell why your going to make a good doctor.
 
adamMD said:
I realize people often change their minds mid-way through med school but nothing pisses me off more than asking a pre-med what kind of doctor they want to be and just see them shrug their shoulders. I'm sure they have a calling and like aspects of medicine (probably prestige and money) but how can you tell if they really want to be doctors? Another thing that pisses me off is when people say they just want to "save lives". Bull crap. If they really just wanted to save lives they'd be an EMT. I would at least assume that pound-for-pound, an EMT saves far more lives than a doctor. What's more is that there are lots of occupations that save lives (like being a health inspector) that have nothing to do with medicine at all. That's why I think my answer is best (whether or not ad. coms. are smart enough to realize it). It's honest and I feel gives me good reason to be in med school. I'm not saying everyone should be a pathologist but if you can't at least venture a guess as to where you will be in the next 15 years do you really think you should be entering medical school?
This comment was not to say that I disagree with your previous post. I'm just explaining a bit more of my rationale. Really I love your advice. I can tell why your going to make a good doctor.
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I don't think that's necessarily true. I may want to "just save lives" and be a doctor specifically because I have a passion for studying and knowing about the human body, or because I want to apply a greater body of knowledge to saving lives than a paramedic or health inspector has. Or maybe I don't like the prospect of riding in an ambulance because the sirens make my ears hurt. The point is, there are a million and one reasons why someone may want to save lives and choose medicine as the vehicle to do it in but not yet be truly certain which field of medicine to pursue. However, I do concede that it seems like anyone who wants to go into medicine would at least have some inkling of what kind of medicine they may perhaps someday wish to practice. But still, probably 90% of pre-meds don't have nearly enough experience to know what form of medicine will ultimately appeal to them. The only thing they can know is that they enjoy studying the human body, they are naturally inquisitive, they enjoy working with people, and there's something about medicine that appeals to them. This alone is enough to generate an interest in becoming a doctor.
 
tkatchev said:
I don't think that's necessarily true. I may want to "just save lives" and be a doctor specifically because I have a passion for studying and knowing about the human body, or because I want to apply a greater body of knowledge to saving lives than a paramedic or health inspector has. Or maybe I don't like the prospect of riding in an ambulance because the sirens make my ears hurt. The point is, there are a million and one reasons why someone may want to save lives and choose medicine as the vehicle to do it in but not yet be truly certain which field of medicine to pursue. However, I do concede that it seems like anyone who wants to go into medicine would at least have some inkling of what kind of medicine they may perhaps someday wish to practice. But still, probably 90% of pre-meds don’t have nearly enough experience to know what form of medicine will ultimately appeal to them. The only thing they can know is that they enjoy studying the human body, they are naturally inquisitive, they enjoy working with people, and there’s something about medicine that appeals to them. This alone is enough to generate an interest in becoming a doctor.
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I didn't mean that saving lives should not be one of your reasons. Of course it is. I forsee one of the major reasons I stay in medicine will be because of the lives I save. I really just meant those whose answer ends with "I want to save lives" and can't elaborate. I'm only writing to get this monkey of shame off my back. There are plenty of reasons why I didn't get into medical school but it's hard for me to admit that it's because I want to be a pathologist. It's hard because I don't know if my interests will change and I've come so far. I don't want to admit defeat... Oh well, I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself. I hope all of you the best of luck next year.
 
adamMD said:
I realize people often change their minds mid-way through med school but nothing pisses me off more than asking a pre-med what kind of doctor they want to be and just see them shrug their shoulders. I'm sure they have a calling and like aspects of medicine (probably prestige and money) but how can you tell if they really want to be doctors? Another thing that pisses me off is when people say they just want to "save lives". Bull crap. If they really just wanted to save lives they'd be an EMT. I would at least assume that pound-for-pound, an EMT saves far more lives than a doctor. What's more is that there are lots of occupations that save lives (like being a health inspector) that have nothing to do with medicine at all. That's why I think my answer is best (whether or not ad. coms. are smart enough to realize it). It's honest and I feel gives me good reason to be in med school. I'm not saying everyone should be a pathologist but if you can't at least venture a guess as to where you will be in the next 15 years do you really think you should be entering medical school?
This comment was not to say that I disagree with your previous post. I'm just explaining a bit more of my rationale. Really I love your advice. I can tell why your going to make a good doctor.
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adamMD, let me first me first be clear on one thing: I don't think that you're only expressing a desire for a single field—I was only stating that that might be one way that you're being read by adcoms. It's very clear to me by your postings on this forum that you have a very earnest desire to care for the health of others as a physician. (Re-reading my last post, that part came off a little less eloquently than I would have liked.)

And I applaud you on the "venturing a guess part." I did the same thing on some of my apps, stating that in fifteen years I could see myself as an oncologist. This was built upon the facts that my most informative and rewarding volunteer experiences were in a chemotherapy clinic and how my grandmother's breast cancer had impacted my family. It gave my application that rationale for medicine that you mentioned, but I also discussed these experiences in such a way that showed I was open-minded and versatile about what field I would end up in. Essentially, it showed how I felt called toward medicine and explained where I see myself in the future based on current information (but ready to adapt and grow as I'm exposed to new things).

I guess what I'm saying is that this part of the PS/interview is a balancing act between showing your maturity in having narrowed down choices for different specialties and a general calling to caring for others through medicine. Just make sure that you're not tilting too heavily toward the former in your application.
 
No, I even tried calling the admissions office today around 2 and no one answered.
 
dwigt said:
No, I even tried calling the admissions office today around 2 and no one answered.
Click to expand...

That may be b/c today is a federal holiday
 
Anastasis said:
Has anyone gotten ANY kind of communication from Houston yet? :confused:
Click to expand...

I spoke with a lady in the admissions office this morning. They are still working on the packets and will mail them out to us in March. Hope that answers your question.
 
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