Houston, TX
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
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Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 18% of interviews, indicating it is highly regarded. They found the interview very impressive with a low stress level and felt they did well.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
SDN Interview Experience Score
8.6
Above Average
Higher scores indicate a smoother, more positive interview experience with professional staff, organized logistics, and a supportive environment.
Based on 872 responses
Score Reference:
9–10 Exceptional
8–8.9 Very Good
7–7.9 Good
6–6.9 Mixed
< 6 Needs Improvement
The SDN Interview Experience Score (SIES) is a composite metric that represents applicants overall impressions of their interview experience, based on multiple factors such as professionalism, facilities, responsiveness, and stress levels.
What was the stress level of the interview?
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
Positively (86%)
Negatively (5%)
No change (9%)
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
Great (38%)
Good (45%)
Average (15%)
Poor (3%)
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally had a positive experience during the interview day at UT Houston. They found the interviews to be low-stress and conversational, with friendly interviewers who were interested in getting to know them. The facilities, students, and faculty received praise, leading many applicants to consider UT Houston as a top choice.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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All of the interviewers will be affiliated with the school in some way, either MS4, professor, or affiliated physician. Usually the outside physicians don't know too much about the curriculum and life in the classroom, but you can ask them about their interactions with McGovern students and how they perform and learn etc.
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Positive experience
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Low stress, informative interview. School really impressed me.
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Cool school
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TMC is literally world-class. McGovern culture seems super collaborative and legit. The food all day long was honestly the BEST I've had yet. (chick fil a breakfast --> fajita lunch)
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Loved everything about it. Hope I'm accepted because I would be ecstatic to attend!
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LOVED the school! They know how to impress!
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You will be in awe when they take you on top of Hermann Children's helipad. Super awesome experience.
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My preconceived notions of Houston (negative) were forgotten about after interviewing here. The school, medical center, and students/faculty were all amazing. Countless opportunities as well.
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Great program by the admissions committee
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BRING FLATS. I did, and it was the best decision I ever made. You do a LOT of walking. Also, since interviewing there, I have heard a lot of people say it's cutthroat/competitive there. I didn't get that at all, and in fact students said that the opposite was true. (Though I suppose they would have to, during a tour.) Just, take those criticisms with a grain of salt? Maybe they're not true.
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Amazing school with a great interview day.
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Be clear and concise in your responses, respect the interviewer by being honest, and try to have some force of personality.
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Great experience
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Awesome.
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I would seriously consider moving to Texas to have a better chance of matriculating here. I cannot say enough good things about the students and this school. Texas Medical Center absolutely dwarfs other medical complexes.
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I really really loved this school. I like their philosophy and the feel of the school. I hope that I match there! It seems like everyone has a good experience in their interviews which was nice but at the same time, I wish I had more a barometer of how I did (just cause I had two good interviews- I laughed a lot in both) I still feel like I have NO IDEA if I have a chance getting in.
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I definitely recommend staying with a student host. I stayed with an MS3. I stayed up talking to her for about 2 hours. I felt like I had the insiders perspective when I went on Friday. Going the day before helped me to relax and to get a good feel for the real medical student life. Interview: It seemed like both interviewers had looked through my application and were trying to get to know me more. The first one almost seemed like he was verifying what I wrote down. The second was fun to talk to. I guess that is why you interview with you 2 people. Ms Murphy said at lunch that they look at who interviews you and if you get a bad review they often will just throw it out when they present you to the admissions committee. I guess she anticipated my experience when I said who I was interviewing with. They did not ask me any ethical questions or questions related to anything besides me or my application. I felt like I was the one directing the conversation and could say what I wanted to. I did hear about a couple people being asked basic Texas History (who was the first president: Sam Houston, etc). Good luck.
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Stayed with a student, and went to Little Woodrow's the night before. Student host was absolutely wonderful, and went out of his way to make sure I was well taken care of. West University/Rice Village seems pretty cool.
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Great day, great faculty, great school.
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I stayed with a student, she was wonderful! Awesome school... very, very impressive.
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I was very impressed by the students and faculty.
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My first choice school. I'd love to go here!
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Very, very relaxed day. They try to pair you with faculty who have similar interests which makes the interview a little easier.
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This was for MD/PhD. Food was excellent. Both for lunch and dinner.
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This school has always been my #1 choice and visiting with faculty and students just confirmed every reason why I want to attend this school.
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They interview a lot of people and accept a good amount. However, keep your patience b/c prematches are hard to come by here. Speak with Dr. Kellaway, she's very approachable.
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All students very friendly- great tour- really showed all of school. included a look at the vivarium, helicopter pad where they do life flight. food at lunch sucked though!
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School has great facilities and superb learning environment. The philosophy is extremely contagious, and it seems that all the students have bought into it. This was my first interview though, so I have nothing to compare it to.
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Relaxing interviews, great staff. The second one popped out random questions at me from time to time. I guess, to make sure I wasn't just taking it easy.
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UTH cares about their students and their lives outside of school. The faculty members were warm and caring. My first interviewer couldn't access my application on his computer. I let him see a copy of mine that I had on me. Very laid back interview.
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Very laid back. Dr. Gunn was very funny! Students were nice. Interviewers were just interested in me.
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Good, first one was kind of boring
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Awesome. made ut-h my top ISS
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I enjoyed the entire day. The students and faculty I interacted really seemed to enjoy their school. The tour was very informative and impressive. The interviews were very conversational and not stressful at all.
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Overall, the interview day was very informative. the school is trying to impress you as much as you are trying to impress them. the interviewees( about 40 total)were divided into two groups: one toured in the morning with afternoon interviews and the other had morning interviews while touring in the afternoon. i interviewed in the morning, first with a male resident who was all business, then with a PhD who was a sweet older woman. both interviews were about 30 min long and consisted of basic get to know you questions. the interviews were open file and they read them very closely as i was able peek at my interviewer's and noticed she had several things highlighted. time will go by quickly so make sure you steer the conversation to cover your bases.
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Watched a video made by the students, went on a 2.5 hour tour of the facilities including the new Surgical and Clinical Skills Center, anatomy lab, Texas Heart Hospital, M.D. Anderson, and Mem. Hermann. Then had two interviews that lasted ~45 minutes each. The interview questions were mostly predictable and conversational.
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All were just conversational
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This was my very first interview so, of course, I overpreapred and spent hours reading on healthcare, abortion, stem cell, social medicine, etc. Not to say that it was to no avail (I got asked about a couple topics on later interviews) but it was a little much. I stayed with a married couple. The husband was an MSI and the wife just started working in admissions (after he got accepted). They were friendly and she was helpful in easing my nerves. You probably could not find a better first interview experience.
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The best interview day I've had. The whole interview day was very enjoyable. The tour of the facilities and the people there really sold the place for me.
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UT Houston, even as my prior top pick, impressed me so much I feel like not interviewing elsewhere (but still will). The admissions people were frank in their aspirations toward each candidate.
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The interviewers were very friendly and conversational
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It was a wonderful experience overall. I can't say I love the Houston weather, but the school seems to more than make up for it with it's facilities, students, and faculty. I have to admit I hadn't given Houston much interest before, but now I know I'd really enjoy going there. Staying with a student host was great. She told me tons about the school and she helped get me to the right place the next morning. You can have either morning or afternoon interviews, just depends on what group you get. My first interview lasted for an hour (really casual and conversational), the second for 30 min (more typical question and answer). The lunch was good.
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I really enjoyed my time at Houston. I was able to stay with a student which helped a lot by giving me more insight to the school before having to interview. Everyone there was very welcoming and it was the least stressful interview you could have.
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VERY relaxed. Don't worry just be yourself!
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Lively, engaging, not informal but not stressful: I left thinking that I hate Houston, but if they accepted me, I don't think i could turn them down (Short of getting into Yale or something that far-fetched).
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It was a good experience. Great staff and educational opportunities, as well as, great student body. Bring comfortable shoes for the tour and make sure you know your way to the school before interview day.
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Positive overall, no hard questions, just conversational. If you have research experience review beforehand, and don't come up with excuses about the negative aspects of your app...just be able to explain them
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I'm so pleased with the medical school. It definitely solidifies my opinion that this is my number one choice. I would love to go here!
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The faculty and students are extremely approachable and nice. Almost every student that saw the interviewees stopped by to talk to us and ask us how we are doing. All of them gave us advice and told us about the school honestly. Everyone there seemed genuinely happy and as they stressed since the beginning, very ''family-like.'' Also, TMC is amazing.
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It was extremely relaxed! I read on here that a lot of people said that but I didn't expect it to be that comfortable. Don't frett... it was fun!
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I had the best experience yet at UT-Houston. My interviewers were extremely genuine and made the day very easy. The food was great and afterwards, while on the tour, we got to peek in (through an observation dome) at an open heart surgery being performed. Also had the chance to go out on the helipad and watch a crew land and take off. Overall, the day was long, but very relaxed and informative.
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It was great!
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It was good. In retrospect, I wish I could have changed a few of my sentences but overall felt that I did well. I would love to be admitted to this school!!
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This interview day was the best I have had by far. The tour was well-organized, the fajitas were great, and the interviewers were very friendly. The only negative thing was the board scores; they are only slightly above the national average.
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Very laid back. The students take a great interest in you, as does any person from the school that you might run into. I had doctors in passing conversation asking me how it was going. The student I stayed with even got me a little souvenir from the bookstore before she had even met me. They definitely make you feel welcome and impress you while you're there.
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I showed up that morning after struggling to find the specific parking garage. They gave us a ut-houston bag with all of the information we could possibly need. We had a little orientation meeting before the tour for those interviewing in the afternoon. It was kind of sobering, but humorous to watch a video with the song we are the world about the Katrina volunteer efforts. I was very impressed with the facilities. I had read over and over in the Baylor view book about how wonderful the Medical Center is, but the student resources for UT-H look incredible. The lunch was spectacular. We actually had fajitas (other schools should take note!). My two interviews were really laid back, but I had trouble understanding my first interviewer's thick hebrew accent! Overall, the day made me think twice about going to a different school with a possibly bigger name.
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Well, I really enjoyed this interview. The University of Houston Medical School knows how to sell their school and make you put them on the top of the list. I loved the TMC and had a pleasant experience.
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We had a welcome session, went on a tour, had a panel at lunch, and interviews in the afternoon. The day was very laid back.
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Both of my interviewers were very nice. Basically had 2 30-minute easy conversations, no hard questions!! Overall, had a GREAT experience. The students and faculty are very nice and supportive. Top choice so far!
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The facilities are really nice (thank you hurricane allison) and the professors and admissions people were so friendly and easy to talk to. Most of the students seem happy, which is the major determining factor of a school for me.
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The school, faculty, students, and administration are fabulous. The lunch was fabulous, the whole experience was fabulous. Great for my very first interview. I overheard some people had some trouble with their interviews, but mine were just fine. I wish I had known how relaxed it was, because I really needed to calm down and not be so tense. Both interviewers of mine had a lot of questions, so I got to speak alot. Topics ranged from typical questions to questions about family, movies, and just general discussion.
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It was a fun day. They really put together a great program for you and are very welcoming and relaxed. The new facilities are very impressive. The students were nice and helpful as were the faculty. I would love to go here.
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My two interviewers couldn't have been more different... one was ooollldd and soft-spoken, the other was extremely young and hip and exciting.
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The first interview was only 10 minutes but went very well. The second interview was 30 minutes and went well for the most part. The only bad thing about the second interview was that he had nothing good to say about out of state students and repeatedly asked me why I wanted to go to a school in Texas.
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Both were in offices. One a researcher, the other the former Dean of Admissions. Both were laid back but they jumped right into the hard questions, making sure you knew yourself and able to display that you are balanced.
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This was a fabulous experience! Everyone should take the opportunity to visit the Texas Medical Center, it truly is amazing. Everyone was professional and friendly. The facilities and resources are first class and the opportunities are endless; this is a good school that will someday be a top-tier school. Tours were great.
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UT-Houston is the best place to have your first interview. You'll feel so at home and so special. My two interviewers were so nice. The first one talked about half the time, mostly about UT-Houston- she was a resident here and is now faculty, plus she's meds/peds which is what I want to do! So that was basically a conversation. The other was more like an interview but still very warm, as is everyone else. I love it here!!
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The first one was kind of bad...I had to wait an hour to actually talk to the guy. It was a doctor and professor of nuclear medicine, and he was nice, but I think I was just really nervous (it was my first interview) and didn't convey my thoughts as well as I could have. He also asked me some tough ethical questions. The second interview, on the other hand, was really great! It was a professor who was really just interested in getting to know me better.
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Got confusing directions as to when it began so I was there very early. Got some coffee and chatted with the students, soothed my nerves and helped me get a better read on the student body. I had two morning interviews; both were wonderful friendly people. I felt a real connection with the school. In the afternoon we went on a tour and other than the obscene Texas heat, I was really impressed with the medical center.
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I had two interviews with a cardiologist and a pediatric plastic surgeon. Each was one on one and i think they only had my ps and my gpa and mcat score but not the list of courses i had taken.
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Awful day and hard interviewers.
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Good experience with interviewers
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My interviews were back-to-back, and since they were my first ones, I was more nervous than I should have been. The first was with a pediatric emergency medicine doctor. She had a moderate accent which I had to parse at first; this also increased my nervousness. But she was very calm and sweet. She was mainly interested in my motivation to study medicine and how my extracurricular interests complemented my studies. By the end it was very much a conversation: we talked about the need for empathy but not sympathy for a patient, how to deal with terminal patients, and cultural factors of healthcare. She ignored her secretaries knocking for five minutes in order to finish up the conversation. The second interviewer was a Ph.D. specializing in elctron microscopy. I went arrived early, he invited me in, then took a few minutes to type a brief emailâ€â€fingertapping with only his index digit! Combined with his age (early 70's, I'd guess) and his crusty surroundings, I began to get some neagtive vibes. These were only increased when he finally turned around, picked up my app (obviously for the first time ever), scribbled some notes, and then asked, "So tell me about your extracurricularsâ€â€starting in freshmen year." He aura seemed displeased that I hadn't done any research. However, I took it upon myself to improve the situation and win him over. After a few minutes of me fumbling to remember the exact chronology of some of my extracurriculars and explaining some light periods in them due to very busy courseloads, things got rolling. He was very surprised and interested in my language background and my readings in Russian literature (which also form the basis of my undergraduate thesis). I think he was very impressed that I was a humanist who still had a very strong love of science beyond the core requirements. Things went really well from this point on. I had a great conversation with him for 90 minutes, by the end of which he was having me read some research grants and was showing me Powerpoints of his work (including some really awesome images of the PDC that were in my biochemistry text!). I was really flattered when he told me that he'd never had an interviewee like me in fourteen years and gave me advice about picking between schools!
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Both interviews were one-on-one. The first one was a bit more intense in the sense that my interviewer asked a lot more questions and our encounter was more engaging; the second interview was a bit more laid back and it kept getting interrupted but that wasn't really an issue; we talked about my college experience more vs. my qualities or attributes to becoming an MD; both interviewers were friendly and were never condescending or negatively putting me on the stop if you will;
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My interviews went very well. The first interviewer was a PhD that had been with UT-H for many years. He was very easy to talk to and really seemed impressed by me; we talked for an hour! The second interview was much shorter, and with an M.D. He kept getting paged, however, and so we kept getting interrupted. He was very nice and responsive also, though...
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I got to stay with a student. This is like money in your pocket! Two reasons, one it keeps money in your pocket so you don't spend it on a hotel. Two you get to ask them all kinds of questions that you don't know. Like, "What the hell do I ask the interviewer when he asks me if I have any questions?" or if they really like the school. The
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My first interviewer was an MD, a very amiable pediatrician who was so personable you couldn't possibly be intimidated by her. We have a very casual conversation beginning with where she practiced and then onto questions regarding my volunteer experiences. She spent 1/3 of the interview giving me a "sales pitch" for UT Houston and also allowed time for me to ask her questions I had which was helpful. The first interview lasted 25 minutes. The second interview was with a PhD in pathologies and lab and was different. Though his style came off as more abrasive and was drastically different from the first it was a pleasant experience as well. He wanted more of a timeline of my college experience and asked me some questins regarding the content of my personal statement. We then discussed some of the research he is working on in the lab and even discussed some of his health issues. The second interview lasted 45 minutes. All in all the interview epxerience was pretty smooth and a pleasant exprerience. Certainly not as nerve wracking as I had expected!
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My second interviewer was very personal because we were alot alike. she took me personally to the pediatric ward and walked me around. she asked alot about my family and even asked if i wanted to invite my dad to come tour the hospital with us. overall the campus was impressive but huge. i didn't have time to go on all the tours either.
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Standard questions by both interviewers. First one was a PhD who asked where I saw myself in a few years and who was concerned with what set me apart from other applicants. Friendly guy, very relatable. Second interviewer was a cardiologist, and this session went very easily.
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Extremely relaxed, not as laid back as UTMB, not hard if you know why you want to be a doctor.
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This was the most laid back interview that I have had. They just seemed like they wanted to get to know me and didn't bother with the typical stressful interview questions.
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One interviewer played devil's advocate, making that interview definitely the hardest I ever had. My other interview was really easy.
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1 interview was crazy hard (hardest of my 14 interviews) and the other was average.
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It was fine, I got lost a bit and there is a "g" floor and a 6th floor. When a doctor writes a "g" it resembles a 6. I was wandering around on the 6th floor for a while before I figured it out. One interviewer didn't read anything of mine until I walked in the room. He just went through my transcript with me.
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Very laid back. It seemed like the intervieweres were trying harder to recruit rather than be impressed by the interviewees.
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I enjoyed my interviews very much. They were very conversational and friendly.
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I was impressed with what I saw at UT-Houston. The atmosphere among the students seems very laid back and friendly, yet they have the world's largest medical center around them. The Hospital tour was nice, we saw an actual helicopter landing and a guy get rushed to the ER. The interviews were conversational and low-pressure, and if you have good credentials they will immediately shift to selling their school to you. My first interviewer was a community relations guy who gave me a book he wrote detailing the history of UT-H and the Medical Center...not a bad read if you're bored. The second was friendly and encouraging, though a bit more rushed for time. Overall, UT-H is one of my top choices now.
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This was my first interview so I was pretty nervous. I was really excited about this school since it is in H-town, but I felt that it was really busy, there were too many interviewees. It seemed pretty unorganized.
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The texas medical center and the student body are really what makes this school stand out. my first interview was very casual and lasted for more than an hour, but the second interviewer scheduled interviews in 15 minute interviews and it was so rushed it was discouraging.
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Both interviewers asked me interesting off the beaten track questions. I clicked with both of them so well that I went over the alloted 30 min each time and they both gave me their contact information without me having to ask for it.
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There weren't enough students giving tours and the initial speech by Dr. Gunn was a bit dry. Other than these things the schools seems pretty good. I think that the faculty I interviewed with were great. No hard questions, just conversation about me and the current state of medicine.
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Overall, the experience was very good. There seemed to be little structure in the tours, but the rest of the day went fairly smooth. The student panel was very helpful.
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Overall both of my interviews went fairly well. The interviewers were really nice and laid-back, and they didn't ask any hard questions.
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Make sure you go on as many tours as possible. One of my interviewers asked me about the tours and what I thought of them.
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Overall, I like the school and the resources it has to offer. the faculty seem really nice and so do the few students I got to meet. The school should do a better job of presenting itself though. The tours were poorly organized, sometimes there was no student to lead the tours, sometimes they were led by first years who didn't really know what was going on yet. I was one of the 6 people being interviewed at the psychiatric center off campus which meant I missed a lot of the talks and tours anyways.
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You either have one or two interviews, and from what I heard it makes no difference how many you have.
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The day started at 7:45 AM. Dr. Gunn, the Dean of Admissions, was very unimpressive. He was rude to my dad (even though the invitation said spouses and family were allowed) and basically asked him to leave. His presentation wasn't any better. He constantly rambled about all sorts of random issues and never really talked about the school very much. It seems that A&M people (or at least the 3 I met) sometimes are stuck with only one interview: so, the moral of the story is make your interview count, b/c it's ur only chance. I left the TMC around 11 AM, but some others had to stay until 5 PM. A student panel also came and talked in the morning, and they were very informative and helpful. Like I said earlier, b/c I had only one interview, and b/c they said you can leave as soon as u finish your interviews, I left at 11 AM and missed the tours and all the other things they had scheduled for later in the day. I had some engagements I had to attend to, but I guess they might be worth your time if you want to stay. I've already seen the medical center as part of a summer program, so nothing was that new to me. My 1 interview was kind of interesting. Dr. Covinsky was a kind of eccentric guy. He even called himself that. Since this was my only interview at UT-H, I really wanted to make a lasting impression on him. He asked me about some of the service I had done in India and what I had learned from it. He then asked me one thing that wasn't on my application that I wanted to tell him about, and I talked about my lifelong tennis career. The rest of the interview was spent with he and I having a long conversation about Baylor and UT-H and the differences between the two schools, as well as his opinions of UT-Houston. He had a couple of interruptions with pathology samples he needed to take care of, but the wholet thing was very conversational and I came away from it knowing he probably didn't get to know so much about my passion for medicine, but he got to know what I do outside of school so I thought that was significant. All in all, I think it went very well.
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Went fairly well.
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It was great. The lunch was good, the people were awesome and made you feel right at home. It completely changed my perception of UTH. I had thought that it was just kinda a sad little school that wanted to be Baylor, but they have totally different ideas and ways of doing things and I absolutely loved it.
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The first interviewer kept talking about his research and i couldn't get a word in edgewise. the second guy was really interesting. we ended up just having a discussion about nationalized healthcare, it was a very good experience.
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Extremely positive, one from a pediatrician and one from a phd. The first didn't ask a whole lot but seemed to try to sell the school and told me how they evaluated me. The 2nd interviewer we talked for over an hour about X countries health system vs the US. Overall great so I ranked this number 1 in the texas match.
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This was my first interview so I was not sure of what to expect. I probably studied up on the school too much because I wasn't presented very many opportunities to flaunt my knowledge in the interview. They really just want to get to the heart of who you are and occasionally ask you a hard question from which they will be able to judge your ability to respond and stay composed. I came out of there very excited and positive about UTH, but my later interviews turned out to be the same thing.
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This is my number one choice of the state funded schools in TX. There is not enough time to go on all of the tours due to interview schedules. However, there are so many opportunities in the TMC to pursue anything you're interested in
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It's important to visit as many schools as you can to see which would be a good fit for you--you really don't know until you interview there
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Will be ranking this school below ut-southwestern and ut-san antonio. would rank ut-mb above ut-houston if it weren't in galveston.
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Totally positive. Became my first choice.
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I was great. I got there on time and really poured out my heart on why I want to become a Doctor. Both of my interviewers were great and nice. I could not have ask for anything better. Also all of the other students were nice as well and really wanting to talk to you. If you just sit back and listen you hear what people are saying and how they try to "work" the interview process, which I thought was wrong.
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Excellent overall
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I got there on time, and the dean had already started talking. His presentation was very impressive and encouraging for the students. My first interview was scheduled in the wrong place (luckily I arrived early, asked someone, and got there on time). I lucked out with the interview, because we had a lot of things in common and had an enjoyable hour long talk. Then lunch was "interesting," chicken fried steak and potatoes (needed caffene for my last interview after that). My last interviewer was also awesome - we talked about balancing family and profession. No hard/ ethical questions. I got the sense that neither was on the adcom, tho both said they wanted me back next year. :)
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Overall, the interviewers were extremely friendly. The first was extremely straightforward and asked me typical interview questions (listed below) and lasted 30 minutes. The 2nd was very conversational. In fact the second interviewer talked more about his philosophy of practice rather than asking me questions. So I had to work to get my 2 cents in. Lasted one hour. The people seem to make the school great, and the doctors seem very much like caring and compassionate individuals.
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Positive, seemed to go well, but you just never know
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The school was great. I especially like the relaxed atmosphere there. The dean of admissions reminds me of Don Rickles.
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I came in with extreme reservations about this school, thinking I had absolutely no chance of getting in b/c of my major, which they list on their website is not looked upon favorably. Fortunately, my interviewer did not feel the same way - she was just awesome and told me she would give a high recommendation to the admissions committee. It is so important to be yourself. If you want this badly enough and are motivated by the right reasons, they can tell. Also, the student tours were nice - try and get a small one b/c you have more one-on-one and opportunities to ask questions and find out about life there.
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Moved Houston up on my list of schools. I was very impressed
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Overall very relaxed and enjoyable.
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Overall a good positive experience. it has made houston my # 1 choice.
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Good overall
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Had a great time, my number one choice
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I really enjoyed the whole experience,except for my feet hurting from all the walking. Everyone was very friendly, my interviewers both worked in avenues I am strongly interested in, so my questions weren't hard.
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Like others have said, the day was really disorganized with interviews going on throughout the day and at least 3 tours going on at the same time. Since most of the tours are only offered once, there is absolutely no way that you can go on all of them. Instead, once your interview(s) is(are) over, you suffer downtime until the next one begins. Not a whole lot of students were anywhere to be seen (on a Friday) and so I didn't get a lot of chances to ask them questions about the school. My particular interviewer seemed to be more interested in my social and family life rather than my academics and I guess I never felt that either of those fields were really appropriate things for me to talk about during an interview for medical school, so I wasn't prepared with say, a tally of friends and a list detailing how often I see them.
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The first interview was great and he made me very comfortable; the second wasn't so great. The woman was VERY relaxed and wanted to answer any questions I had about the school... She didn't really ask me anything
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My first interview was done by an MD in the radiology dept who just asked straightforward questions and didn't really expand on my answers, so it only lasted 25 mins. Second interview was done by a PhD in the Dental School and was more conversation-like. The 2nd one lasted about 50 mins.
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Very good interview experience, but I'm not sure if I "connected" with my first interviewer. At the end, he asked if I had any questions, and I used the time to expand on why I would make a good physician. Only time will tell. Very conversational interviews. No questions on healthcare reform, stem cell research, etc. I absolutely love the UTH facilities, teaching method, and integration of sprituality into the curriculum. Everything is available.
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I had an excellent experience. It was my first interview and I was very nervous but that all disappeared within minutes. The administration, facutly and students are incredibly friendly and very caring. I had very relaxed interviews with nothing tough.
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It was a great experience and allowed ample opportunities to talk to current students.
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Very low stress level! As everyone else is saying, it was conversational and less of an interrogation, although some of my fellow interviewees had different experiences...
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My first interviewer focused more on my race and when my parents immigrated here as opposed to me. I left that interview really annoyed. The second interviewer was much better. She was so nice and easy to talk to.
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The day started with a BORING talk by the dean of admissions Dr. Gunn. He tried to be interesting, but just seemed unenthusiastic. UT Houston's interview day is not very organized, and like the previous feedback stated, it's hard to make all the tours because of your interviews. They scheduled my two interviews about 6 hours apart, which pissed me off (lot of downtime). The speech by this OB/GYN faculty member during lunch was pretty inspiring. The Texas Medical Center is amazing and UTH's facilities are great (Hermann, MD Anderson, Texas Heart Institute). I even got to view a bypass surgery on the tour of THI (really cool). The night before social was really cool...med students outnumbered interviewees by 3:1. Overall it was a pretty good day despite the lack of organization on their part. They tried.
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I went in thinking it was just a 'practice' interview, but I had a really great time, and was VERY impressed by the TMC and UT-Houston facilities (the latter of which have been recently renovated.) Though I was really against going here before I visited, I might rank it as #1 or 2 now.
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Overall it was a good experience and I felt like Houston would be a good fit. The students seemed to get along and the speaker at lunchtime was an alumni of the med school and he seemed to be an enjoyable person to be around.
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The day was great! I really enjoyed UTH. I only had one interviewer that day. Around lunchtime I was told that my second interviewer had an emergency and that they did not have any back-up interviewers. She proceeded to tell me that the first one was on the admissions committee and that I was free to go for the day or go on additional tours. It was a relief, but at the same time I wanted another chance to say all the things I forgot to mention in the first interview. Also, I would highly recommend staying with a med student host and going to the night before social. Both were fun and very insightful. No chicken-fried steak this time. We had some kind of baked lemon chicken and some yummy cookies.
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I interviewed with one PhD and one MD. The PhD was Dr. Pate from the dental branch for some reason and he basically asked me very standard questions. By the end of the interview I did not feel like he had gotten to know ME that much but I had answered his questions. The second one was GREAT. Dr. Potts, the assistant dean of surgery and he was very nice. We talked about baseball and fencing and my future plans in medicine. I actually felt like I connected with the second guy much better. Overall the interviews went really well.
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I really enjoyed the whole experience. The school seemed laid-back which goes well with my own personality. Everybody I interacted (students, docs, and administrators alike) were all excellent ambassadors of their school. I was pleasantly surprised that my interviewer was in my sub-specialty of interest. She gave me a lot of great advice and insight. She also put me at ease by openly expressing her support of me. I believe she could be a great mentor for me in the future. My interview experience has bumped this school up on my list!!
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It was really strange because the first interviewer was so bad and the second one was so good. I didn't much care for the dean, he seemed to just tell us all that we'd make bad doctors. The students seem really laid back, they were pretty cool.
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My first interview went flawlessly. The interviewer seemed very interested in me and my experiences. The second interviewer literally asked every question you can find on SDN. He didn't ask me at all about my previous research experiences.
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I thought the day was disorganized and unnecessarily long. It starts early and students have interviews throughout the day. Some were done by lunch, some had one in the morning and another late in the afternoon. Some of the tours weren't even available when they said they would be. Some of the previous feedback entries talked about an interviewer who said, "If you can tell me what this is (some kind of stone), you'll get into medical school." Well, it's true...when the doctor came to speak to us about the admissions process, he said that he just likes to shock people and see their reactions. He seemed like a fun guy to interview with.
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Both interviewers were a bit, say, nonpersonable. The first one lasted 17 minutes, the second was better and a bit longer. Fairly standard questions, nothing out of the ordinary. Overall good impression of the school.
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I attended the pre-interview social the night before which acquainted me with some of the current students and prepared me for what was going to take place the next day. It was also nice to see familiar faces the next morning amongst all the anxiety. We were greeted by many happy & smiling faces & a nice continental breakfast @ 7:45am sharp. This was followed by an extraordinary speech by the Dean of Admissions. Afterward, there were a variety of tours to choose from throughout the day which had to be carefully selected so as not to miss your assigned interview times. I had an 11am interview and a 3pm interview. My first interviewer (a surgeon) got caught in surgery at the time of my interview so her colleague in the same office ended up interviewing me. She was very kind & comforting and since she had not seen any information regarding my background the interview was conducted in a very informal get-to-know you style. Afterward I returned to the main hall for lunch and more speeches. The second interviewer was a PhD and was much more formal and a bit more intimidating, but nonetheless nice & informative. My second interview seemed a little non-typical too. She would ask questions, but allow very little time for thorough answers (she would give me approx 20-30 seconds). Then she would quickly shift to another thought/question which may or may not have correlated with the previous thought/question. She also went through each basic science course listed as part of the 1st & 2nd year med students' curriculum and asked which classes I had any background in from my undergraduate studies. Towards the end of my interview she presented me with a folder which contained summer preceptorship & research opportunities for 1st year med students. Towards the end of the day, I made some quiet-time and wrote out thank you cards for each of my interviewers & delivered them to their secretaries. At this time, I also completed a survey provided in the interviewee packet. The day concluded around 5pm.
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The students are normal kind people. The faculty seem jaded and upset by the administration. The dean of admissions is a relic from the old days (complete jack-**s)
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Very disapointing
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My first interview was pretty short (about 25 minutes); however, the interviewer did warn me at the beginning that she tended to conduct short interviews. Second interview was longer (almost 1.5 hours) but i was basically just conversing with the interviewer the whole time. Almost all of the questions I was asked were based on my personal statement and experiences listed in my application.
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Average....
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Overall is was a great experience. Not too stressful! Go to the mixer the night before, you really get a feel for the students' perspectives of the school from that - invaluable because we'll be in their shoes soon hopefully. Also staying with a med student for the night was incredibly helpful. Go on the tours, the facilities are impressive! One interviewer was very relaxed, very conversational in her approach. The other was more formal, but not grilling. Neither my interviewers nor the other applicant's interviewers discussed were "out to trap or intimidate" us. ON the whole it has become my first choice of Texas schools.
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Go to San Antonio but dont come here
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The whole process was very stress-free. The interviewers I got were both very friendly. Besides the question asked above, the interviews were very easy. They seemed to be more interested in making small talk and getting to know me than with any of the research or clinical experiences I have had.
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The social dinner was a nice touch to meet a few students before the big day. The med students that showed up were easily approachable but I thought it was more beneficial to meet the other applicants. As one student put it, these would be the people with whom I would potentially be spending the next 4 years of my life. There was a lot of time for social interaction during interview day as well. I was a little uninmpressed by the cavalier attitude from some of the students and faculty I met. They seemed to lack focus and bragged about sleeping in all day only to watch their classes later that night while having a beer or three. My first interviewer was very dry and only asked questions directly from my application. In fact, he was reading it during the interview and would just ask questions as he went along in the exact order I had listed them on the app. My second interviewer was awesome. She is a PhD in surgery and ended my day on a positive note. Her questions weren't exactly difficult, but I at least felt like she learned something about me not evident on from the piece of paper in front of her. If I decide to go to UT-Houston it would be mainly for the Texas Medical Center, some of the unique programs offered, and the focus on clinical care.
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This was my first interview and it was very low-key
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I was very unimpressed by my interviewers' questions. I have significant research experience including a publication in a major journal, but neither interviewer asked for details on that. I also discuss health care policy at length in my application, but one of my interviewers didn't even know enough about current politics to have a discussion with me! Overall a very disillusioning process, but hopefully good practice for future interviews.
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The Texas medical center alone is a great reason to go to this school
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I was really, really disappointed.
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Interviews were extremely laid back. Overall a very good experience.
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I didn't go to the night before mixer, which was at some bar. I heard from a friend that the med students were totally drunk while the premeds were all uptight and trying to be good. The interview day began early at 7:45, which was kind of bad, although they provide coffee, juice, and muffins (they were HUGE). The dean gave a nice motivational speech, and it probably would have been more interesting had it not been so long and so early in the morning. Interview times were scattered through the day and often overlapped with tours. I only got to go on 10 min of the med school tour because I had an interview. Also, the hospital tours were cancelled because of rain. The interview was partially open file; they only had my personal statement, list of courses, GPA, and MCAT, nothing else, but that's the important stuff. I had one physician and one PhD interviewer. THey were both really nice but the PhD seemed more conversational. I talked with him for over an hour. The area around the Texas Medical Center isn't too busy, and seems like a liveable area. Didn't get to see the gym but apparently it's right across the street from student housing. The medical students seemed glad that they chose Houston and they all said it was their first choice. Problem based learning seems helpful in honing diagnostic skills also. One med student said that they tape all the lectures and put them on the internet so that you can watch live or later on. Pretty nice school, will rank it first.
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Basically everyone was very nice, the school was renovating the first floor. UTH seems very laid back but also wants to produce competent, caring doctors. The dean's speech was cool also.
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Good experience, especially if it is your first interview.
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Overall the falculty tried to make the experience as pain free as possible. The students were very helpful even though some of them were in the middle of exams.
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I interviewed in the faculty members office. The interviewers were very approachable and tried to carry a conversation with you and not an interrogation. I left feeling good about each one.
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UT Houston is a great school, and what really stood out were the students. They seem to really like what they are doing, and they get along so well. It is a place where I can see my self being happy.
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UT Houston is a top notch medical shool with a long history. They matriculate a large class of about 200, but interview about 1200. The med center has a premier Heart Institute, Children's Hospital and level 1 trauma center. The facilities looked pretty good, the students seemed genuine and friendly, as did the faculty. Both of my interviews were fairly laid back. There were still a handful of candidates there at about 4pm when I left, so it is a long day.
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It was a wonderful first interview experience. It has given me confidence to go into my next interview, so that I don't break out in hives again! (Yes, it happened and my interviewer commented on it.) Just to clarify, only one of my interviews was over an hour, the other was 35 minutes.
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I was very impressed at just how relaxed the whole process was. I really enjoyed seeing the facilities. I was able to observe coronary bypass surgery at the Heart Institute.
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Fantastic. Loved meeting the students. One of the few schools that puts on a mixer with students the night before the interview. Students and admissions faculty go out of their way to make the interview day a good experience for all.
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I, overall, like UT-Houston. I had one really laid back interviewer and one serious interviewer. The students are friendly. The faculty seems nice.
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It rained the day of the interview, so bring an umbrella along. There are many tours given throughout the day, and they do involve outdoor walking. Going to Two Rows the night before is also invaluable - you get to meet lots of students and fellow interviewees.
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The school seemed really great, and everyone who goes there seems to really enjoy being there. They are really family oriented, which is good if you are married or whatever, and the professors seem like they are very willing to be there for you and to provide you with further opportunities to learn if you just ask.
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One thing to know when interviewing here, the faculty will use your profile to take your questions from. I had several direct questions on my educational background. Also, faculty are only given your essay and profile page to look at (the one you get a copy of from TMDSAS). They do not see evaluations or additional information.
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This is a great school.
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I really enjoyed UT Houston! This is a great school for people who want a more laid back medical school environment. Also, all the students I talked to loved their school and said the faculty went out of their way to help them.
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If I had to pick one of the schools in Texas as the most representative
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Dr. Gunn is a motivational, inspiring admissions chair. His rousing speech easily cleared any doubts that I had about pursuing medicine. UT Houston is doing a lot of construction, but they promise the bulk of it will be done by late next year. Stay with a student for the best experience...
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Good overall. Just a note... I don't think the interviewers have the full file. I believe they just have GPA, MCAT and a couple of lines from essay.
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Overall I think it went really well, the students and faculty were really friendly and made you really want to be a doctor
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This was my first interview, and it was a wonderful introduction. Yes I was nervous but I put my best foot forward. The people were very nice and the day went rather smoothly for me.
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It was a very good experience, the hospital tours were great. Not quite as "touchy feely" as some other schools but that isn't a drawback. My interviews were very different from the ones I had before this. (see questions)
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UT-Houston definitely impressed me, I really enjoyed talking to the faculty and the students. The students themselves were pretty funny and easy-going.
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Medical students were in the middle of exams so the pre-Interview social was cancelled. The students that were able to make it were very friendly and helpful. Overall, I ejoyed my vist to the school.
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Overall a positive interview experience.
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Great! Best interview ever! So organized! The food was so great!
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First interview lasted an hour; second one lasted maybe 30 minutes! The interesting thing was when we had to evacuate the building first thing that morning because someone pulled a fire alarm. Definitely not an experience I'm used to!
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My first interview was short- like 20minutes which kind of freaked me out but my second interview was 35min. Both interviewers asked standard questions. The lunch was really good- they give you a real hot meal no sandwiches. lots of time to talk to and interact with current medical students.they also had a great info session on having a family and being a doctor which was great.
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I really enjoyed interviewing at UT Houston. The students and faculty were generally nice and excited to speak to the interviewees. I had one difficult interviewer who nit-picked me because of the school I attended; however, the overall experience was positive and my second interviewer was the most pleasant I have had yet.
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Wonderful school, I really enjoyed my stay.
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Overall good. They have limited tours one or two of which are likely to conflict with your interview. The interviewers are relaxed as are the students. Everyone I met seemed to genuinely like it there. I also went on a tour where we saw the Helipad, which was cool.
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I left with a much better impression than I started with. I was impressed with all the facilities (hospitals, clinics, etc.) but wonder if it would be too large for me.
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A very positive experience, my top choice as of right now.
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My first interviewed was a cross between a stoner and a cheap zombie from the Thriller video. He hadn't read my file and was clearly not really interested in conducting an interview from the get-go. All of his questions were very bland and could easily have been answered by reading my file. Bleh. Hopefully that was just the interviewer and not representative of the school - my second interviewer was great, very conversational. The students were very helpful, though I got a feeling of a whole lot of Texas A&M-ness, which may or may not be a detractor for you. Overall, it was a pleasant day, and the message from the Dean that started the day was very inspirational - they are indeed serious about their patient-care there, so I think it may be a better place for clinical medicine than others.
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The students were very friendly and I was impressed with the school although I didn't expect to be
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Laid back interview, the students seem to get along great although they act much more professional than in other schools I had been to.
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Just be yourself and everything will be fine. Most students had good interviews. I was asked the ethical question above probably because that interviewer was a Ph.D in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
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Overall a very good experience. I was only stressed a lot because it was my first interview. My 2nd interviewer rushed me a little because he had a patient waiting for him, but I was very impressed and would love to attend UT Houston.
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Overall- a positive experience.
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I enjoyed my interview experience. I could not wish for a better first interview. Keep your confidence level high and be affable during the entire process. UT Houston has many more postives than I previously thought. Its non-competitive atmosphere makes this school attractive
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It was wonderful. i have much more respect for the school now and it is definately on the top of my list.
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It was nice. I was not put on the spot by the itnerviewers, and rather it felt more like a friendly chat than an inquisition I was expecting. When I expressed interested in clinical research, both of my interviewers discussed the opportunities for that and encouranged me, rather than ask me why I didn't just get a PhD then.
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The interview went really well. Both interviewers were really nice and easy to talk to. They both told me they would write a favorable report on me.
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Very laid back and relaxed.
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I really love UT houston. I felt very much at home and relaxed. The students are vey nice and willing to give you advice. Medical school building was not that exciting but the hospitals around were very nice. The first interviewer was a man and he was vey encouraging and nbice. The second was a lady and she was sweet although in a hurry.
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I really liked the school as a whole. The students were so nice and the facilities were amazing! The Texas Medical Center is one of a kind!
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A good, easy first interview that was not stressful at all, I was impressed with the school
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I left feeling better about the school than I did when I first arrived. Not a bad day at all.
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My experience wasn't horrible and yet wasn't great. i think the experience at houston is determined by what you want to actually pursue in medicine
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A really great day. It is true what they say about the incredible quality of students that UT Houston attracts. They made the day really cool and informative for all of the applicants. Doesn't hurt that a lot of Aggies go there either!
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Overall, a great experience for a first interview. They really make you feel at home. And relax, it's so low stress! They even say they're not out to rattle you like some other schools. They're just looking for who's a good fit. Also, I get the impression that they are not focused on the numbers game...ECs are more focused upon.
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I went to the night-before outing at Two Rows on Thursday. That was really fun. I ended up being rejected from UTH, and I found out that I scored poorly on my interviews even though they seemed fine to me. The interviews are very friendly and laid back though, so it's hard to evaluate what they thought of you.
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Wonderful time. Came away really wanting to attend UT-Houston.
💬 Interview Process ▼
Length, number, and type of interviews
🕐
Length:
36 Minutes Average
🔄
Number:
2 Interviews Average
👥
Interview Type (Interaction):
100% One-on-One
0% Group Interview
📁
File Type:
91% Open-File
9% Closed-File
💻
Interview Modality:
86% Virtual
14% In-Person
🏫
Interview Location (for In-Person):
100% At the School
0% Other Location
UT-Houston-COMP interviews are an average of 36 minutes, with an average of 2 interviews. 100% of interviews are one-on-one, 14% are in-person, and 9% are closed-file. Of the in-person interviews, 100% are held at the school.
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiring about the applicant's motivations for pursuing medicine, their strengths and weaknesses, experiences in research or clinical settings, interests outside of medicine, and ethical considerations related to healthcare. Applicants may also be asked about their career goals, family background, academic history, and how they handle challenges or failures. Additionally, some interviews are structured in an MMI format, where questions may not be disclosed due to confidentiality agreements.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Give me 3 of your values
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They really just reviewed my application and asked me to elaborate on my experiences.
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Tell me about yourself
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Why did you choose to major in ___ and minor in ___?
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How would you handle not excelling in medical school?
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What’s my biggest accomplishment
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Tell me about your research.
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What are your interests outside of medicine?
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Why medicine?
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What is one of your weaknesses
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First interview was solely "I see you did x, tell me more about that." 5-6 times then okay any questions?
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Very conversational. Mostly just talked about my research with my PhD interviewer
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Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
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Which discovery do you think has had the greatest impact on medicine?
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What would you like me to tell the admissions committee?
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Tell me about your research experience.
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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What do you think of the ethics involved with Michael Jackson's doctor?
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Tell me about yourself.
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Why did you withdraw from this course?
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What (job, career, etc) would you do if you couldn't do medicine?
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How do you foresee being able to improve care amongst the underserved population?
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Tell me about (experience x) on your file.
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How do you think your family will handle moving to Texas?
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Asked me about my involvement with acupuncture and alternative forms of medicine.
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How was having a parent in X profession?
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What do you see will be your greatest challenge in Medical school?
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Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
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Tell me about your different clinical experiences.
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How do you deal with difficult people?
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First question out of the gate: Do you think death panels are real? Followed by 'How do you feel about our current situation in medicine?' ect ect. **They told us we wouldn't be asked about health care reform and I was so have a neutral opinion ready just in case.**
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What do you do for fun?
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Do you have any other interviews? Where?
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No specific questions really--we sort of just chatted about some of my activities, about my interests in medicine, and about what I am doing now.
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Do you think healthcare is a right?
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Tell me about yourself. Why UT Houston? What was it like being bilingual and learning another language? Tell me about this research you did.
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Questions about my research.
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What specific things did you see today while touring the school?
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Why do you want to become a doctor?
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Tell me about your job
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What is your view on nationalizing healthcare?
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Tell me about (hobbies listed on TMDSAS application).
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What do you think needs to be improved in today's healthcare system?
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Do you plan to stay in Texas?
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Where do you see yourself in ten years?
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How did growing up in West Virginia influence your life?
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Why UT Houston?
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What do you do in your free time?
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Give me five adjectives your friends would describe you with.
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Tell me a little bit about yourself.
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One interviewer went by that ''worksheet'' with the standard ''how do you deal with stress'' and ''what are your strengths and weaknesses'' kind of thing. Advice: turn it into a convo.
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Tell me about your research (and other jobs).
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Tell me about your family
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Tell me about your siblings. What do your parents do?
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What do you like to do for fun?
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So why do you want to work in medicine?
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Tell me about your interest in medicine
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Why do you want to be a doctor
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What kind of medicine are you interested in practicing?
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Tell me something about yourself that is not in your application.
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What are your strength and weakness?
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What kind of doctor do you want to be?
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Tell me about yourself, starting from the beginning. (The internet was down in my interviewer's office so he didn't have my file)
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Why do you want to go to medical school?
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What opportunities have you had that display leadership? Following up, what do you think is important in being a leader?
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Do you belong to any organizations?
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What is your greatest asset?
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Tell me where and with what molecules emboli can form from?
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Tell me about your research
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Tell me about your family.
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Where do you see yourself 5 years after you finish your practice?
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What books have you read recently?
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Describe your volunteer experiences.
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Tell me what you know about healthcare and its relation to insurance.
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What do you expect in return from being a doctor?
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What would you do if you did not get into medical school?
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What do your parents do?
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Should and can America nationalize healthcare?
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Trace the path of bile from the liver to its point of action.
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Why did you get a "c" in calculus?
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Why not just MD or PhD (instead of MD/PhD)?
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Why are you an English major/Psych minor?
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What can I answer for you about UT-Houston? (This led into a lot, believe me)
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What is your family like?
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What do you think of the ethnic and religious fighting going on in Nigeria?
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Why did you choose Northwestern for college?
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Tell me about the papers you wrote.
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What do your parents do? Is anyone in your family in the medical profession?
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Tell me about your medical experiences in India.
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What is/are your favorite course(s)?
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What made you choose this? (this=medicine)
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There are 46 million americans without healthcare, what are you going ot do about it?
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Where do you want to practice? (say Texas if you are serious about this school).
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What has been your hardest challenge?
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Most of the questions were about my application such as "Tell me about experience X"
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#1 do you have any brothers or sisters? tell me about them. #2 tell me about yourself (duh, read my application).
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What are your strengths?
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How did you make it to the seat you are in today? My seat in the interview.
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Tell me about yourself?
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What specialty are you interested in? (asked by both)
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What is your ultimate goal?
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Explain how you got to this point. (from elementary school until now)
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How does your daughter feel about you going to medical school?
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Have you ever had experience with a terminally ill patient?
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What is your greatest strength?
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What research have you done?
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What is your favorite non-science class?
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Tell me something about yourself
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"I am on your side, what do you want me to tell the addmissions commitee?"
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Why did you choose to study economics?
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Why do your parent's do? What do you do for fun?
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The whole family/friends ordeal.
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Tell me about ______ (several experiences I mentioned in my essay)
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Do you think you benefited from an all-girls highschool education?
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"Why are you interested in medicine?"
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Tell me about your best friend. how would your best friend describe you?
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What are you doing now (research? volunteering)? Do you like to read, and if so what to you read?
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When do experiences begin to shape children?
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Are any of your family members a physician?
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What are the major issues facing women's health today?
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What strengths do you have that make you a good candidate for the study of medicine?
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What kind of leadership roles did you have at your university?
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How do you fulfill x, y, and z of the Admissions Criteria for UTHSC-H?
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What was your hardest undergraduate class?
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What do you think of stem-cell research?
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Tell me about yourself? What have you been doing since you graduated? What has motivated you to pursue a career in medicine? What specialty interests you?
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Explain some of your grades.
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What will you do if you don't get in this year?
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Tell me about the research you are doing now.
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All standard questions
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I see a steady improvement in grades, tell me about why that has occurred and about your early colllege years.
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What was your favorite course in your major? Why? What was your favorite non-science course? Why?
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If you could change anything about your college career, what would it be?
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Talk about a patient encounter that was meaningful to you.
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What ethnicity is your name? (Both interviewers asked this, it was rather annoying.)
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What kind of doctor do you want to be? (Not Specialty)
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What books have you read lately?
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Do you have any clinical experience?
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What was your childhood like?
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Explain the classes you've withdrawn from? How do you study?
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What qualities of your family physician do you see in yourself and do you think these are inherent or learned?
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Tell me about yourself. Talk about your most meaningful experiences and explaining why they meant so much to you.
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Why did you get __ grade in this class?
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So what can I tell you about our medical school?
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What are you 2 most prevelant strengths and weakneses?
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Tell me about yourself...
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Why did you decide on medicine?
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Are you really interested in that specialty???
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What are you strenghts and weaknesses?
-
Explain the pulmonary system to me. (ack)
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Why your degrees? What do you plan on doing with (non-science degree)?
-
What are your hobbies and which one in particular do you spend the most time with?
-
Why did you choose medicine?
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What was the last book you read? What type of books do you read for entertainment?
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Why UT Houston? Why not (XYZ School)? What other schools did you apply to?
-
How do you plan to balance family and medicine in the future?
-
Where do you see yourself in 10-15 years?
-
If you could spend an hour with President Bush, what would you talk about with him?
-
The classic "why do you want to go into medicine?"
-
What 5 words would your friends use to describe you? Why?
-
Read Above
-
Why do you want to be a physician and when did you make this decision?
-
Why did you go to a special Honors Engineering Medical Program in Chicago?
-
Describe your family
-
The question about health care...
-
What do you think it takes to be a doctor?
-
Your strengths and weaknesses?
-
Why did you choose your particular undergrad school?
-
Expand on this sentence in your personal statement...
-
Do you exercise
-
What is your hometown like?
-
Why are you looking at UTH when you left Texas for undergrad and studied abroad?
-
What questions do you have for me?
-
Why did you choose to come to Texas A&M being from Nebraska?
What was the most interesting question?
Students said most interesting question asked at University of Texas McGovern Medical School at UTHealth discussed a wide range of topics, including personal motivations for pursuing medicine, ethical dilemmas in healthcare, future of medicine, and balancing personal interests with a medical career. While some responses suggest a conversational approach with questions about hobbies, family, and past experiences, others indicate ethical scenarios, such as handling patient disagreements, addressing healthcare disparities, and making tough treatment decisions, reflecting a holistic view of applicants' readiness for medical school.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Name one volunteer experience that impacted you the most
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Nothing out of the ordinary, but we did talk a good amount about hobbies: coffee, crafting, music, houston life.
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How can I sell McGovern to you?
-
Why did you choose to pursue medicine and not follow your entrepreneurial side?
-
What do you do for fun?
-
How would you handle a patient that doesn't want the care you are suggesting?
-
Asked me about what I would do as a doctor if someone asked for an abortion (since I put that I was religious in my app)
-
Tell me something about yourself not on your application that I need to know
-
Tell me about yourself. (ya know...because I'm interesting ;)
-
What is a disease that we can effectively cure today?
-
Tell me about a time where you failed. How did you respond? What did you learn?
-
Tell me about yourself, your hobbies, family, etc.
-
My second interview, we talked a lot about the future of medicine in regards to healthcare expenditure.
-
Nothing out of the ordinary, typical talkative questions.
-
If you were accepted to all these schools you applied to tomorrow, where would you go? (i.e. would you want to go here?)
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Do you like to cook? What kind of music do you like? What sort of activities do you enjoy in your free time? (I thought they were interesting since they were so unrelated to medicine specifically.)
-
So, do you cook a lot of German food?
-
Nothing in particular. One of my interviewers was an ER doctor and the interview was strictly conversational.
-
Does your mother drink? (this was related to another topic and was a segway into a joke)
-
What were your previous life plans?
-
What do you see as the biggest problem in healthcare today?
-
Do you think Health Care a right?
-
How important is it for you to teach?
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Healthcare
-
If your 98yr old great grandmother had a abdominal aneurysm would you support surgical intervention? then when I said no and stated why was asked, how do you think she would feel?
-
Have you ever made a molten chocolate cake? (Baking was the response to what I do for "fun")
-
Something about integrity in medicine.
-
Question 2
-
Define integrity. Should doctors have integrity?
-
How would you like me to advocate your application to the committee?
-
My 2nd interviewer had a list of questions the admissions office provided him to ask us...He said scratch the questions.. just "Sell Yourself to me..."
-
Why is UTH different and better in some ways than Baylor?
-
N/a- they were standard questions (tell me about clinical work, leadership work, etc)
-
How do you feel about illegal immigration? What if an illegal immigrant came to you to be treated medically but resources are scarce, what would you do for them or tell them given the Hippocratic oath that physicians have historically sworn by?
-
Tell me about this special language you program in
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Do you like food?
-
None
-
What is the difference between a neonate and an infant?
-
Who was the first President of Texas? 2nd?
-
The standard.
-
None-all were very basic
-
How do you study? How did you prepare for the MCAT? How is your mother doing?
-
If you had a patient who needed a treatment, and his insurance would not cover it. What would you do?
-
Who's your role model?
-
Describe the first time you did something independently, and how this affected you.
-
Most questions were pretty standard...the most interesting might have been what do you think is the most ethical dilemma facing physicians?
-
Two along the same lines...The interviewer first asked me, ''What's the hardest question I could ask you?'' (say that question is). Then he asked me what's the hardest question I could come up with for him.
-
It was all very conversational, so I can't think of one.
-
Tell me about private investigations (I used be liscensed) This question is from my personal statement..they really read them closely.
-
Why do you think you scored lower on the verbal part of your mcat? Are you a slow reader?
-
What is your second interviewer's name? No, don't look at the packet, I want to test your short term memory. (I got it right)
-
What one unique quality would you be able to bring to our school?
-
Was I affected by Hurricane Katrina? (I'm from New Orleans)
-
Why did you not apply to Texas's D.O. school?
-
Tell Me about your interest in Medicine
-
If you had $5000 to travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
-
How do you think you'll handle being at the same school with your brother? (My brother and I had the same interviewer by coincidence)
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Where I had traveled (I lived abroad).
-
I was given a scenario where somehow the top five doctors' knowledge was programmed into a machine that could replace a doctor in practicing medicine. I was the chief counselor to the president who would be making the decision on whether or not to incorporate this miracle wonder into today's healthcare system. I needed to give 5 pro's and 5 con's.
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N/A
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None really. Just conversational
-
Nothing really that interesting. Mostly conversational.
-
What are you most proud of in your life?
-
What was your favorite course in undergrad?
-
What is unique about you that sets you apart from other applicants?
-
How do you like St. Louis? (My interviewer had lived there.)
-
What do you do out side of school and work?
-
Interesting? I started talking with an interviewer about his research and he started asking me questions (testing me I suppose) about how I would go about solving a certain problem. Good thing I remembered some cell bio.
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Questions about my religion as compared to Catholicism or Protestantism.
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What would you do if you didn't get into medical school?
-
If you were a pediatrician, and you had been seeing the same girl for 16 years, and now she wanted birth control pills but wanted you to keep the information from her parents, what would you do?
-
What city is most typical of rural texas life? (I'm interested in rural medicine).
-
If you could have dinner with anyone in history and they paid who would it be?
-
Tell me where and with what molecules emboli can form from?
-
Do managed care programs get in the way of physician's effots to effectively cooperate and communicate?
-
So are you going to employ your language and literature background in your medical studies?
-
What is your biggest fear about becoming an M.D.?
-
You seem more like Baylor material, why are you applying to UT-Houston?
-
"What would you change about medicine?" and "Why UTMB Houston?"
-
There wasn't any particular interesting question asked most of it was about my background, having come from out-of-state, and then the rest of it was just conversational questions.
-
Is there something that can be done about the healthcare problem? (was told my answer had no bearing on his evaluation of me.)
-
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? (the questions were not out of the ordinary)
-
Nothing really. Both of my interviewers just went through my application with me.
-
Should America's military pull out of Iraq?
-
Anatomy questions. WHOA!
-
Why are you interested in the MD/MPH program?
-
Why not business school? Why not become a salesman? (He later compared both back to being a researcher and a physician, respectively.)
-
Who would you say is your biggest hero?
-
What do your parents do for a living? (I don't know that it's of any importance, maybe he was just trying to learn more about me)
-
What do you know about our school?
-
Do you know what your middle name means? turns out it is a pretty cool arabic word.
-
What books are you currently reading?
-
What was the last book you read for fun?
-
What are your personal goals, outside of medical school?
-
Don't remember anything that stuck out - it was all general questions about work, why medicine, etc.
-
Name one thing about you that is not in your application that you want me to know about.
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What was your favorite class.
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How do you think that you would handle having an infant that was critically ill or abused?
-
Why did you mention religion in your personal statement?
-
Conversational so not a whole lot of outright questions. Talked about the knowledge base being so wide that doctors are now more managers. Also alot about my study abroad exp.
-
Do you like to play music? (This lead into a long and interesting conversation about music)
-
Standard stuff, nothing unusual
-
Nothing too interesting, standard stuff
-
None too interesting.
-
If you could have lunch with anyone from history, who would it be and why?
-
Do you play sports? Where is Medicine going? What are the negative aspects of new technology?
-
Do you know any good elementary schools in the city? (he has a 3 year old).
-
Nothing too out of the ordinary. One interviewier talked a whole bunch and then towards the end asked, "what is the one thing about yourself that you want me to convey to the admissions board?"
-
What was the last book you read?
-
How does your daughter feel about you going to medical school?
-
What do you think X country will be like in 15 years?
-
What do you think the Astros chances are next year?
-
Why medicine instead of business?
-
Who do you think was more just in the Peleponnesian Wars? (after asking about my favorite non-science class)
-
Nothing really.. all were straightforward
-
I was just asked to tell about myself
-
Who inspired the altruistic part of you?
-
Tell me about a patient you worked with at_________.
-
Why did you go to ____ for your undergraduate degree? (when I said that I had some attachments to my family, she proceeded to ask me whether that would play a role in me going to medical school in Texas)
-
What do you think physicians themselves can do to rebuild doctor-patient trust?
-
Questions regarding running.
-
Tell me about your best friend.
-
Do you like to read, and if so, what do you read?
-
When do children become "them." When do experiences begin to shape who they are?
-
Do you have a significant other that will be moving with you? (she said I didn't have to answer it since it was personal)
-
My interviewer asked me if i had applied to TCOM and if I didn't why not? I knew it was a D.O. school and I just gave her a truthful answer. I'm not sure if she was a D.O. or not.
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"Many years ago, I was reading an article from the literature that criticized the biomedical model and suggested that it should be referred to the biopsychosocial medical model. What do you think biopsychosocialmedical model means?"
-
What non-clinical activities should I be sure to tell the admissions committee about that prepared you for medicine?
-
What was the most recent book you have read?
-
What do you think of the current healthcare system/how would you fix it?
-
What do you think of stem-cell research? (out of the blue)
-
What do you like to brag about?
-
Give me an anecdote from your life that will tell me that you are willing to be inconvenienced (ex. personal time) by medicine.
-
How do you plan to have a family and practice medicine
-
A list of 1st & 2nd year medical school basic science courses were presented. The interviewer went through each one and asked if I had any experience/background in the subject from undergrad.
-
Explain some of your grades. Why UT-H? Do you know what kind of specialty you want to pursue?
-
Do you want to explain your GPA for Fall of your Soph. year?...this wouldn't have been interesting if my GPA hadn't been above a 3.5 for that semester. It was my lowest GPA, but it didn't effect my cumm.
-
One interviewer asked detailed questions about what I'd studied in my computer science classes, which is unusual.
-
All standard questions
-
Tell me about your research experience working at the CDC working with the HIV virus.
-
How have you prepared yourself for a life in medicine outside of academia?
-
Did you write your personal statement yourself?
-
If you can tell me what this is and convince me why it is what you think it is, you will get into medical school. (showed me a case containing a kidney stone)
-
Pretty standard questions. Unfortunately the most interesting questions had to do with hindsight and whether I would change anything about myself or my experiences.
-
Nothing out of the ordinary
-
What books have you read recently?
-
What could you do to improve your application?
-
Why don't you want to be an OBgyn?
-
What will you do if you're not accepted to med school?
-
Is there anything you would change about your life so far?
-
What are you doing now? Would you like to come to the hospital with me?
-
Tell me about yourself
-
As a busy physician, how will you balance your time to include your family?
-
What are you reading now?
-
Tell me what you think about preventative medicine? How do you study?
-
So you have an interest in medicine. Why do you want to be a physician rather than a nurse, PT, etc.?
-
Just the standard get to know you questions.
-
Why do you want to subject yourself to becoming a doctor, considering the problems facing the field today?
-
Nothing interesting really....just get-to-know you questions
-
As you know, the medical field has been changing in the last few years. Where do you see it going in the next 10 years? (how do you know?)
-
What are today's greatest ethical challenges as you see them?
-
My 1st interviewer didn't really ask me any standard questions. He just said, "Tell me what you want to know about the school. Ask me anything." We still managed to talk for about 30 minutes, but it was different from what I was expecting.
-
None...they were all ordinary get-to-know-you questions.
-
I know you just put down primary care to play the admissions game. What specialty are you really after?
-
Do you know what the chief role of a hospitalist is?
-
I somehow ended up with 2 very laid-back interviewers. They didn't really ask many questions - we just talked. I also got the quesiton "Do you know what your getting in to?" This was my first interview and it couldn't have a better introduction. Everyone was so very nice. Very minimal stress.
-
What's the weirdest class you've taken?
-
Do you plan to provide services to a county?
-
Explain Cultural Anthropology to me. (my undergrad)
-
How do you plan on using your degree in political science? Even consider lobbying?
-
What do you think of the health care system and is its involvement with politics integral?
-
What is something that I would like to tell the admissions commitee.
-
Why are you minoring in History? How will this help you with your medical practice?
-
How do you define premedical experience, and how would you rate yourself on your premedical experience?
-
How do you feel about the current health system in the U.S.? What would you do to change it?
-
Nothing really creative...all standard questions.
-
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? How do you plan to balance family and medicine in the future?
-
Where do you see yourself in 10-15 years? Seriously, how do you answer that?
-
If you could spend one hour with the president of the United States, what you talk to him about?
-
How do you plan to deal with failure as a doctor (i.e., when you can't help your patients)?
-
If you had 10 minutes to speak with President Bush, what would you tell him?
-
What is the hardest question you've ever had to answer?
-
What do you envision yourself doing in the next 10 years?
-
My 13 year old daughter is about to lose her virginity so she comes to you for birth control pills. Do you give her the pills and what do you tell her?
-
Hmm.. the questions were pretty standard- background, motivation for medicine, comparisons between access to healthcare here and in Nigeria where I grew up. My first interviewer wanted to know why I was applying to the school instead of other well known schools-I'm from Houston but went to school out of state. Hobbies etc....
-
I was given a series of ethical questions. The one I received is a common one but one that I feel was very interesting. John has a terminally ill wife. There is a new type of private drug out in the market. However, this drug is very expenisive. John is not wealthy and therefore can not afford to pay for the medication. He tries to collect money, attain loans, talk to the company, basically everything in his power to do this legally. He comes to you to discuss a plan to steal the drug. What do you tell him?
-
Do you have any musical abilities?
-
What are your interests other than medicine?
-
Why do we as a country spend more on health care than another nation yet still ranking in the middle as far as life expectancy or infant mortality? How can we fix this?
-
What would you do if a patient did not agree with you on a course of action you want them to follow?
-
What is the biggest problem that you will face in medicine?
-
Since I didn't have a whole lot of clinical experience one interviewer asked how I knew for sure that I wouldn't pass out during a surgey. (no idea what the proper response is)
-
Nothing really - both of my interviewers just flipped through my app and asked me questions about my personal statement, volunteer experience, etc.
-
Many ethical questions--do i agree with animal research, if yes would i volunteer my dog for research....
-
One of my interviewers was a microbiologist (my major) so we talked about the subject for about 10 minutes.
-
All were very standard (motivations for medicine, life story, etc.), except for the question listed below under "Most Difficult Question."
-
What kind of books do you like to read, and why do you like them?
-
What the economy was like in my hometown? I think they asked this to see if I was really interested in staying in Texas or heading back home to Nebraska.
How did you prepare for the interview?
Most applicants prepared for the interview by reviewing their application materials, reading through interview feedback on Student Doctor Network (SDN), researching the school's website, and practicing answers to common questions. Many also engaged in mock interviews, reviewed current healthcare issues, and sought advice from current students or health professionals.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
SDN
-
Reviewed my primary application and see exactly what the interviewers have access to.
-
Confetto, reading SDN
-
Read previous interview questions on SDN and read my primary and secondary applications.
-
Mock interviews
-
SDN and reviewing my primary/secondary
-
Read over stock questions and learned the school's mission.
-
Read through the school's website. Prepared for basic questions.
-
SDN, reddit, friends/ mock interviews
-
Sdn, school's website, various websites to form opinions on current events in healthcare
-
Read these SDN questions and prepared answers for common ones
-
Review primary and secondary essays, as well as the mission statement of the school.
-
School website, reviewed my essays from TMDSAS, etc.
-
Read about the school online and went over the questions on this website.
-
School background, UTH motto, UTH future goals, listening to the morning session tidbits.
-
SDN Interview feedback, read over application and essays, UTH website
-
Studentdoctor.net, Wikipedia, night before social
-
Practice interview with the prehealth advising department at my undergrad. SDN interview feedback. SDN forums. Writing out answers to stock questions. Reviewing my file.
-
Read over personal statement, SDN interview feedback, PRAYED!
-
Reviewed my file, prepared talking points on hobbies/life outside academics.
-
SDN, reviewed my application, went through standard interview questions, did some research on the school and did a mock interview with my health professions office.
-
Read my application, SDN, did a mock interview with a friend,
-
I read through the interview feedback section on SDF, I read the articles on SDF, I read the Sunday Times, I googled about the current health care debate and the most recent bill, I went over possible questions in my head, I read up on UT-H mainly through the website.
-
SDN, reviewed the school's website, and my TMDSAS app.
-
Read my personal statement, reviews on SDN
-
MSAR, SDN, etc.
-
SDN feedback
-
The book: The Medical School Interview, SDN, looking over essays, mock interview ect. Note: one interview was open file, one closed. It was obvious that the open file interviewer just skimmed the information.
-
SDN, reviewed the top medical school questions on about.com, reviewed my application.
-
Only had two days notice so I didn't prepare. But it all worked out in the end.
-
Looked over general lists of possible questions, reviewed my AMCAS and TMDSAS apps, reviewed my research work
-
Read over some material about the school. Thought about some common questions that may come up.
-
SDN, read over app
-
SDN feedback, talked to current students who told me a few questions to look out for, read up on healthcare issues
-
That interviews don't require a huge amount of preparation, just answer: 1) why do you want to become a doctor?;2)What have you done to evidence your interest in medicine?; 3) What do you know about the state of healthcare?
-
Reading SDN, re-reading TMDSAS file, read a book on health policy
-
Read their website, practice answers to questions from this interview feedback, look over my TMDSAS application
-
Looked up some information on their website, re-read my application, rehearsed common questions.
-
Looked over statement, application, some random questions
-
Read application, this website, school website
-
Went to the pre-interview social, watched Friends.
-
Read a/b school
-
I read a short book about med school interviews, did research on healthcare and controversial topics and prepared some facts in my mind about who I was and I want to be a physician. seemed to work; i pre-matched to UT-H.
-
Read their website, went to the social the night before and talked with current students
-
Reading about the school, keeping up with NPR.
-
Reread app, formed answers to basic get to know you questions, relax
-
SDN, read about issues on wikipedia, thought of questions they might ask and how I would answer
-
SDN, school website, reviewed app, mock interview, read up on hot topic issues
-
Student Doctor, TALKED WITH A 2ND YEAR UT HOUSTON MED STUDENT (I cannot stress how helpful this was in fine tuning my questions).
-
Websites, student doctor network, reviewed my application, reviewed my research
-
SDN feedback, med school interview book (by Dr. Fleenor), read-up on health care policies and watched Sicko, reviewed my app, reviewed my research, prepared some answers to common questions
-
Mock interview, website, SDN
-
Reviewed app stuff, especially research project details etc
-
Student doctor network, review personal statement and application
-
SDN, looked up and practiced sample questions, re-read my application especially my personal statement, updated myself with insurance policies...way too over prepared!!!
-
SDN, read over my application, looked up insurance policy differences (for some reason)
-
Reviewed my TMDSAS app, looked at school website, SDN interview feedback, reviewed research
-
Thought about answers to likely questions, SDN, and school website
-
School website, read over application
-
Reading, mock interviews...
-
SDN, reviewed tmdsas app
-
SDN feedback, went over my application
-
Read over my application and read some of the interview feedback for the school.
-
I looked at this website, read my application, and read information about the school through both the internet and pamphlets
-
Read my app and current events in healthcare
-
SDN, friends
-
SDN, thought about how to explain my extracurric's and research, researched the healthcare system, schools website (shabby, btw)
-
Mock interview with MDs in lab, read healthcare books, read up on ethical issues, current events, my research publications, etc.
-
School website, talking with students and alumni, SDN
-
SDN, mock interviews, school's website, talking to students
-
Check out Student Doctor, review the schools website, review my application, and prepare a resume for the interviewers.
-
Looked at the school's website, rehearsed interview questions and read over application
-
SDN, this was my third school in TX, so I had a pretty good feel of how it was going to be--no surprises.
-
Read interview feedback on SDN, read through my notes from med sociology class (totally unnecessary), got drilled by my good friend who used to do debate and is a fellow pre-med (best thing), got my nails done ;)
-
Mock interviews, read up on current events, read books that have to do with medical insurance and ethics
-
This website, school's website, reading over application
-
I had a mock interview with my advisor read studentdoctor.net, and practiced answering various questions on my own
-
Relaxed
-
Read school's website, reviewed application, and reviewed recent research
-
Reviewed application, read up on school's website, attended local interview workshop.
-
SDN Interview Feedback, 1st year student feedback, reviewing application, reading up on bioethical issues
-
SDN Feedback, reading online about the school, talking to 1st year students
-
SDN; printed out tons of questions with google help; watched the video on the UT Houston website with "Red"
-
SDN, read recent articles in scientific magazines, read Wall Street Journal, had a mock interview, spoke with physicians.
-
Review application, sdn feedback
-
Stayed relaxed.
-
Read my application, UTMB interview, relaxed for a while before the interview
-
Read up on website and SDN. Looked through application
-
Read SDN
-
Read my application
-
Read school website, went over application, sdn
-
Read SDN, AMCAS, asked student host questions.
-
Interview feedback, SDN, read MSAR, website, and course catalog, talked with alumni I know
-
Went around Houston and found a Lebanese restaurant/hookah bar, hung out with friends, basically cleared my mind of anything related to medicine. It was pretty relaxing, and there is no need to be uptight at UT-H.
-
SDN, Website, talked to Med students, looked over app.
-
Student doctor
-
SDN interview feeback, self-reflection
-
Got a good night sleep.
-
Read interview surveys provided by my home university, SDN, read about school, read my application
-
SDN, prepared answers to frequently asked questions, looked over medically related current events
-
I read up on the school via their website, spoke to other people about the school, practiced questions and read this site
-
Read SDN site, went over possible questions
-
SDN, mock interview, website
-
Read this site, prepared from a list of frequently asked questions for medical school interviews.
-
Read SDN, website, talk to my parents and students
-
SDN interview feedback; school website; talked to students morning of
-
Sdn, website
-
Read personal statement, SDN, prepared questions
-
Studied the website and medical current events like crazy! (this was my first interview so I was quite naive)
-
SDN, thought of answers to questions I might be asked, knew my application thoroughly
-
Read this website, looked over my apps
-
Didn't. not too keen on this school.
-
SDN forums and this site, re-read application, read school materials
-
School's site, my application, SDN, friends, professors, and talked with grandmother.
-
School website, mock interview with brother, looked over my application and honors thesis.
-
Sdn, google, other students from the school, looked over application, thought of specific examples from my life to talk about.
-
This website, sitting in front of a mirror and practicing.
-
Reviewed my personal statement you should definitely know about any Cs you've ever made, and be sure you have a good explanation of why.
-
Read feedback, read essays
-
Had an answer (not memorized) ready for any possible question or situation by compiling huge list of questions ever asked. WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY OVERPREPARED. You really need not do this, though there are just some you should expect. Know why you chose your major if it isn't the typical science. =)
-
N/A
-
SDN, read criteria for admissions
-
Talked to friends and looked at web page
-
SDN, asked friends, practice
-
Websites, SDN
-
Looked over my old research, read my essay, researched the school's website, looked on here
-
Read this website, had husband ask interiew questions, read newspaper and web
-
Read SDN, went through a list of possible interview questions, talked to myself in the mirror (haha)
-
Review application, look over school's website (not very helpful), review this site
-
Read my personal statement and SDN website.
-
Questions from SDN, re-read my application and transcript, reviewed my timeline since graduation, prayed, meditated, hugged my kids and dog.
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Read interview feedback, looked at the school's website.
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Mock interview, read sample questions on this website and other books, researched managed care, brushed up on health care issues addressed by 2004 presidential candidates, attended the night before event to ask questions from the med students that were there, and reviewed my application
-
Read this site, looked over my app
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Read over UTH curriculum, facilities, and history; interview feedback
-
Read this site, reviewed my app, not much really
-
Read my personal statement, looked at the website, talked to students
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This website, the UTH website, researched current healthcare stuff but nothing was asked about it.
-
Just looked at the school catalog.
-
Reread my application, read over SDN interview feedback, read up on election 2004 and health care issues.
-
Read comments on SDN, slept well before :)
-
Looked at this site, read some interview books, tried to learn some about the school.
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SDN, my app
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Interview Feedback, UTH website
-
School web-site, studentdoctor, pray
-
Read over application
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Reviewed my personal statement/application; read up on current events in the world, government & medicine; reviewed ethical debates/issues while trying to formulate my own opinions & thoughts; 3 mock interviews; re-evaluated my own motivations to become a doctor and attempted to verbalize those thoughts to myself; prepared a portfolio with extra copies of my personal statement/application, a pen, a notepad, & thank you cards; visited school the day before so I knew exactly where everything was located on the day of the interview
-
Website, SDN
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Read some medical journals, my application, etc.
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Mock interview, read school website and this website
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SDN, practiced answers to questions, read app and personal statement
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Practice answering questions in my mind.
-
Researched the school, went over my application, read these interview feedbacks, thought about answers to possible questions.
-
Looked at school website
-
Read my application, this website
-
Read over my application and personal statement
-
Read my application, UT-Houston viewbook, this site
-
Read this site and took the advice of other interviewees--didn't stress about UT-Houston.
-
Talk to the students, learn about the school, have question to ask the interviewer
-
Reviewed Houston's website. Went over my application.
-
Read my application, personal statement, SDN, school website, got plenty of sleep
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Read feedback on studentdoctor.net, read over my application and personal statement, surfed web for interview tips
-
Looked at UT website, interview feedback.
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UT Houston Medical School website and SDN.
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SDN, made up answers to hypothetical questions, found out whatever I could about the school.
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Looked over application, went to this website, wrote out answers to typical interview questions
-
Read SDN, school website info on the varous teaching hospitals at the medical center.
-
Read studentdoctor.net, read an interview book from Kaplan, brushed up on my application and personal statement
-
SDN, School website, Stayed with students and went to social
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Reviewed my file and brushed up on federal and Texas health care issues. Also did some reading about bioethics.
-
Read SDN, school website, and reviewed my research experience.
-
Read studentdoctor.net, read the website, stayed and spoke with my student host, went to the pre-interview gathering at Two Rows.
-
Read the school's website, my essay, and looked at this website
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Read comments and the UT Website
-
Reviewed website and my application.
-
Stayed with a med student night before, read feedback on SDN, relaxed.
-
Relax
-
Went out the night before with friends
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I went to Houston a day or 2 in advance to make sure I could find the building/parking garage. Looked on their website for info about subjects that are of interest to me to help develop some questions
-
Read over my app
-
Went to the night before and talk to family and friends, and looked up information on the internet.
-
Website, current news, etc.
-
Read website, look at interviewfeedback, look through materials they handed out.
-
Mock interviews with friends and read over the school catalog.
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UT-Houston website, student doctor network.
-
I read over my file and read the reviews here.
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Read over application, skimmed through Houston's med school catalog, looked over other interview feedbacks
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Read interview feedback on this website! read over school web page. read over healthcare/coverage articles. went over my research experiences.
-
Read SDN, my essays, and kept up with current events
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I read interview feedback from this website, looked over my application, and read some medical journal articles.
-
Read over reviews and site. If you get in a bind, just talk about how great Problem Based Learning is.
-
Mock interview at home with video camera, read 3 books of interview questions, read up on UT-Houston
-
Looked over the school's website, but nothing serious.
-
Read school website, talked to classmates who had attended UT, read my personal statement, application, and read over potential interview questions
-
Read over my application
-
Read stuff here. Mock interview at my school.
-
Read SDN Interview Feedback, SDN forums, UTH website, application, and personal essay.
-
Read the interview feedback and looked over my personal statement and UT Houston's Website.
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Brwosed SDN quite a bit, visited the school's website and the area of medicine at the school that I was interested in, read up on faculty research at the school in my area of interest.
-
I read all the feedbacks on this website, searched the web for questions and answers, read about UT - Houston, reviewed my application, outlined what i wanted to say about some basic questions, watched smallville to relax =)
-
Reviewed my application, researched the area and school, and reviewed interview questionaires from this site
-
Looked over the website.
-
Looked over the school website, looked at frequently asked questions, mock interview at school
-
Studied their web site, talked to students currently attending
-
SDN and internet sites
-
Looked over my application, looked at the website, talked to students who interviewed before me.
-
Not much, read over the UT Houston website in order to formulate questions to ask.
-
I researched some health care issues using the internet and SDN student forums; read over my app and personal statement.
-
Read app and looked over school's website
-
Look over UT Houston materials.
-
Read up on UTH website. Tried to collect my thoughts on such things as managed care, genetics, etc. The interviewers will be able to tell if you're spouting out something from TIME magazine last week, versus really know what you're talking about.
-
Went over my application, interviewfeedback.com, UTH website
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Nothing. I knew it was laid back with no tough questions, so I didn't bother to prep much for it. I just went over my application I sent in.
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at University of Texas McGovern Medical School at UTHealth discussed a wide range of topics including conflict resolution, healthcare challenges, career motivations, and ethical considerations, with some facing inquiries about specific scenarios like abortion, ethics, and prioritization. The interviews seemed conversational for some, while others mentioned anatomy questions and unexpected inquiries, indicating variability in the types of questions asked.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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If you were to go back to one of the places you shadowed, what would you change?
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Tell me about a time you experienced conflict and how did you resolve it?
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Tell me your overall impression about the US Healthcare system and its challenges.
-
Why specifically a doctor and not a nurse or social worker?
-
If you went to a very diverse school for undergrad, how will you continue to be apart of a diverse community in medical school?
-
Probably the abortion question.
-
Nothing really. First interview was a bit awkward because the interviewer seemed uncomfortable/not conversational. Maybe the healthcare issues one but that's a pretty common questions so not too unexpected
-
None really. Both of my interviews were conversational and very relaxed. Really don't stress about interviewing here
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Tell me what you want the admissions committee to know about you.
-
Explain to me the concept of the PCMH (patient centered medical home). We had been discussing the PCMH in regards to the above topic, so this question was expected.
-
Your science scores are much higher than your verbal. Would you say you struggle with standardized testing?
-
What do you think of the ethics involved with Michael Jackson's doctor? He was getting at the fact that doctors have to choose whether or not it is ethical to prescribe medications outside the standard amount based on patient needs (eg painkillers).
-
Once you're a doctor, besides being a good doctor, what will be your other main priorities in life?
-
Why did your gpa did sophomore year?
-
"What else?" My first interviewer literally asked me nothing but this. Have a little speech prepared in case you get something like this!
-
What are you looking forward to least about medical school? (Hard to answer honestly without shooting yourself in the foot or having them doubt your ability to handle med school)
-
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
-
Nothing, really. The toughest part was keeping up a conversation with this sweet lady interviewer for 45 minutes...
-
The first interviewer was hard to read, so the whole interview was difficult.
-
None were very difficult.
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How I would get healthcare to everyone in America.
-
Nothing too difficult.
-
N/A
-
There wasn't one
-
What are your weaknesses? (I hate answering this question!)
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Question 2
-
What will you do if you don't get into medical school? (It was difficult b/c then he told me if I didn't get in I should go back and get more clinical experience, and that if I got into the other school I interviewed at, to take the spot, haha)
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Why weren't ALL your publications listed on your application? (there was not enough space on the TMDSAS as well as AMCAS to fit all of them)
-
I'm currently a 10th grade teacher so I was asked several questions about how I discipline my kids, handle difficult behavior, etc.
-
Why become a doctor with all the challenges and personal sacrifices?
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N/a- same as above.
-
After my response to "What would you do if you didn't get into medical school after multiple tries?" the question was "Why not go to dental school, there you've got patient interaction, specialties, and can get in with lower scores?"
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(after asking what I did at one job): Those tasks you did sound very menial; what did you take from that experience?
-
Why not a detective or a lawyer? They do their part too
-
None
-
So what do you think about your MCAT
-
Same as most interesting, the questions werent hard
-
The standard.
-
None-all were very basic
-
Would your mother's disease affect your decision to go into X specialty?
-
How can you improve upon your faults?
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Who's your role model?
-
Why didn't you apply to UT Dallas (South Western)... [I couldn't say because I didn't have a chance without research, for fear of making both myself and UT Houston appearing 'lesser']
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What about your application makes you a good enough to get in to our school?
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What do you think would be the ideal setup for health care in the US?
-
Why did you only apply to four Texas schools?
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(after explaining that one reason i liked the location was my significant-other's job industry was there) ''Significant other. What, are you a lesbian?''
-
Why do you think you scored lower on the verbal part of your mcat? Are youa slow reader?
-
I noticed your grades have a bit of a dip in your senior year, why?
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None, interview is very conversational
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What are your strengths?
-
Nothing was difficult. I was asked simple questions about myself.
-
I really did not have any difficult questions. It was really laid back. It was conversational. However, one of the interviewers made his interviewees DRAW KIDNEY and asked them to locate kidney stone.
-
None were ''difficult''
-
None were difficult.
-
There wasn't a single question that I couldn't answer off the top of my head. They were all about me!
-
Same as above.
-
The interviewers really wanted to know why I applied as an out-of-state resident
-
If you had to deal with an ethical dilemma, how would you handle it?
-
Same as above
-
Why were some of your grades poor?
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What is unique about you that sets you apart from other applicants?
-
What do you want the adcom to know about you?
-
Not many question. The hardest question was "Do you have any other questions about the school?"
-
My first interviewer didn't seem like he took the time to look over my application and didn't seem to ever understand where I was from, so explaining this over and over again was frustrating.
-
Where do you see medicine going in 10 years?
-
IF you could have dinner with anyone in history and they paid who would it be?
-
Tell me where and with what molecules emboli can form from?
-
Same
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What personal factors do you think might cause you problems in medical school?
-
What would you do to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants coming to the U.S.? What needs to be done in their countries to ameliorate their situation?
-
You seem more like Baylor material, why are you applying to UT-Houston?
-
"What was your favorite class that you have taken?" and "Tell me about yourself"
-
There wasn't any difficult questions asked. The 2 interviewers just seemed interested in esatblishing an idea of what extracirriculars I participated in during my college years.
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What makes you unique?
-
Same as the most interesting
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Nothing
-
Pretend I'm a government official from a rural town in Texas: why should my taxpapers' money goes towards your medical education if you practice overseas?
-
Anatomy questions. WHOA!
-
Why did you get a "c" in calculus?
-
See above.
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What will be your biggest challenge in medical school?
-
Not really anything hard, both my interviewers turned out to be quite conversational.
-
What about this school do you like over the other schools (difficult, since it was my first interview and i didn't know much about the other schools)?
-
Nothing difficult, pretty basic and straitforward
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Tell me about your relationship with your grandmother. (I talked about her in my personal statement)
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Nothing difficult
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Explain the trend in your grades.
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How did your interest in medicine come about?
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Which class was your most difficult during your college years?
-
Nothing hard, but I heard another interviewee complaining about a tough question on socialized medicine.
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You did some experiences in India. What lesson did you learn from these experiences?
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What do you see yourself doing in 15 yrs.
-
What made you decide to join the military?
-
What will you give this medical school?
-
Nothing difficult.
-
What would you do to solve the most important medically-related current event?
-
Nothing really. This was probably the easiest interview experience I had.
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How would you balance life and career?
-
How do people perceive you?
-
What did you like about TCOM when you interviewed there?
-
So you took the MACT in April and then in August with little change explain why.
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Why should i let you in this school when I have interviewed several other people with better GPA and MCATs?
-
Best/ worst classes...I kind of rambled.
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None difficult really
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Name your top three strengths and weaknesses. It's a simple thing, but caught me off guard, so I thought of a good answer.
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How do you know you want to be a doctor if you have no medical experience?
-
Surprisingly, nothing difficult at all! No ethical no issues no nothing substantial. He did ask me about my childhood and father, but he could tell from my reaction that it was a touchy subject for me and told me that I didn't have to talk about it.
-
What is the biggest business problem facing medicine today?
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What problems do you see yourself having in medical school?
-
Given that Beowulf was written after Heroditus' History, which do you think is a more modern style of text?
-
What field of medicine do you want to enter
-
Role-play: "Imagine that you are a doctor attempting to get me to sign a consent form for a spinal tap and I am the patient. Tell me how you would ask me to sign this form."
-
Why do you have all of these withdrawals?
-
How many friends do you have? What are they like? Do you go out and have fun with them? How often do you see them? Are they your own age? etc. I really got the feeling that she thought I couldn't get along with people my own age.
-
What's up with your freshman year grades?
-
What specialty are you interested in? Yes, it is standard, and I was prepared, but I still maintain that it is impossible to know until you have experienced all of the areas.
-
None were too difficult. I was asked to explain my grades that was a bit painful.
-
How do you think managed care will affect the way you practice medicine?
-
None were too difficult
-
What is the future of healthcare?
-
How would you fix the national healthcare in the US?
-
She threw a couple of questions out that I really hadn't considered mostly because I thought Houston stuck with the basics. They were kind of hard during the interview because I wasn't expecting them, but I thought on my feet and she said I did well. Some of them were: How would you handle cross-cultural differences as a physician? Why is educating the community as a physician important? Why is it important for a physician to make a patient feel comfortable and confident when they are in your office?
-
What happened to your science GPA at the end of your senior year?
-
Where do you see yourself in fifteen years?
-
See above
-
What do you think of stem-cell research?
-
Very, VERY standard questions for both of them. Questions right off my application for the first interview (which was only 20 min long)
-
Did you take calculus in college (my answer was no, so it was difficult for me to admit that).
-
What will you do if you do not get into medical school?
-
Nothing really.
-
See above
-
What should I tell the admissions committee about you that will set you apart from other candidates?
-
Nothing really
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Why UT-Houston and not the other UT schools and what do you think about living and working in and around the Texas medical center.
-
What was the hardest thing you've ever tried and failed and how do you think that will help you as a physician?
-
What if u dont get in? will u keep applyin indefinitely?
-
Nothing was that difficult.
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Where does UT-Houston rank among all the med schools you have applied to--i.e. How serious are you about returning to Houston (I grew up there but am currently out of state)
-
Name two strengths and a weakness.
-
Describe what your life will be like in ten years?
-
What should I tell the admissions committee about you?
-
What has been the most difficult challenge that you have overcome?
-
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
-
Tell me about yourself
-
None were difficult - just the usual get to know you questions
-
What were the reasons surrounding each of the withdrawls on your transcripts?
-
So you have an interest in medicine. Why do you want to be a physician rather than a nurse, PT, etc.?
-
Talk about a difficult experience, and don't say getting a C in Organic Chemistry.
-
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
-
The same as above. He also used this ? to lead into a discussion of Eugenics.
-
What area of medicine do you think you will be interested in pursuing?
-
The first and only question my first interviewer asked me.... Will you ask me any questions you have about our program, our faculty, or our school?
-
There were no difficult quesitons. The interviewers were just interested in my background. Very basic stuff... what field peeks my interest etc.
-
What was the most emotional/physical moment you had?
-
What do you bring to this school?
-
What do you think of the President? ( I never expected political questions!)
-
Nothing really, I don't think my list of hobbies exactly impressed them however.
-
Reason for Test Scores.
-
None!
-
What ethical problems do you think doctors face today?
-
I see that your science grades slipped your junior and senior year. How come?
-
Biggest failure?
-
How seriously are you considering UT Houston? . . . Uh huh, so are you considering UT Houston very seriously? . . . Yes, but it seems like it would be very convenient for you to go to Southwestern . . .
-
Where do you see yourself in 10-15 years?
-
Besides the one listed above, nothing. Most of the questions were very conversational, asking about college, my family, etc.
-
What could you have done to better prepare yourself for med school?
-
Have you taken an ethics class? (She had read my entire transcript and knew I had not.)
-
A man has tried everything to raise enough money to buy a new, expensive drug that cure his possibly terminally ill wife but fails. He comes to you as a friend and tells you that he plans to outright steal the drug from the pharmacy. What do you tell him to do?
-
See above- everything was pretty standard- nothing too difficult. I didn't get asked any ethical questions- just my stance on access to healthcare and ethnic disparities in access to health care (based on my file).
-
Most of the questions were very basic and conversational. However, one interviewer asked my stance on the current HMO structures and on the Clinton Plan.
-
The questions were all pretty straight forward. None were all that difficult.
-
Why I did not do as well on a section of the MCAT.
-
Nothing.
-
I was asked where I would be in 15 years and I mentioned possilby out of state. don't say that, later in the interview he said UT Houston wants to train TEXAS doctors.
-
Again - nothing really.
-
What did i think about europe's healthcare system--i had put in my app that i did a lot of traveling...
-
Questions about what I thought were my particular weaknesses.
-
A man's wife is near death and the only medicine to save her life is much too expensive. After thinking about it, he decides to steal it from a local pharmacy. What are your thoughts? Is he justified in his actions?
-
No really difficult questions. These interviews are very laid back.
-
No difficult questions. It was laid back and so easy. We just talked about ourselves. fun interview
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were overwhelmingly impressed by the warm and welcoming atmosphere at the school, with a particular emphasis on the friendliness of both students and faculty. The Texas Medical Center stood out as a highlight, providing immense resources and opportunities for clinical experience, while the facilities, faculty support, and collaborative student community were also commonly cited as positive aspects of the school.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Pretty laid back interview
-
How chill and comfortable it was. Both of my interviewers were busy physicians who took the time out of their day to talk to me, showing that they really cared about this process and it made the conversation super valuable to the both of us. The student ambassadors were also super helpful and friendly. Super open and honest! Such a great community here.
-
Very conversational and relaxed
-
The amount of resources available in the Texas Medical Center
-
Students were very happy and the interviewers were kind
-
Location and research opportunities
-
Excellent faculty, happy students
-
The facilities were truly incredible, on top of this every student I met both days was extremely kind and friendly.
-
The friendliness and collaborative environment of the school. MS1s always had incredible things to say about MS2s. Class boasted (in a good way) about having a page filled with notes and anki decks.
-
The student culture and faculty accessibility
-
Medical center
-
Texas Medical Center, McGovern community/students/faculty - everyone was very likable and genuine
-
The TMC for sure. Also how happy the students seemed and how much they talked about the collaborative environment. Free STEP 1 prep materials (UWorld and First Aid) for med students is cool too.
-
The people. Everyone from medical students, to the staff and faculty were warm and inviting. Everyone seemed as though they truly loved the school.
-
Everyone at the school was very warm and encouraging. The tour was great. The hospitals and medical center available to the students is incredible.
-
The tour and the food!!
-
The facilities available to the students were amazing.
-
Facilities. UTH will definitely sell you on their facilities and students.
-
Texas Medical Center (amazing), school facilities and hospitals were beautiful, extremely social and friendly students who were very accomodating
-
The interviews were very informal, relaxed, held in other people's offices, no one wrote anything down while I was talking.
-
Open heart surgery, helipad, awesome tour
-
The huuge TMC! How happy and friendly students were. Several random students wished me good luck, just because they saw me in a suit! The students seemed to be a good mix of people.
-
Everything TMC, facilities, how much the staff supports the students, friendliness of everyone involved in interview day, tour (though not necessarily the length of it ~2hrs).
-
The school, the students, the location
-
Study body attitude; community and area.
-
Texas Medical Center. The incredible hospitality and friendliness of the students, staff, and locals. My student hosts drove out to the airport to pick me up, took me to the interview social, boarded me an extra night, and answered my follow-up emails promptly and thoroughly. Texas Medical Center. NOBODY hosts an interview day like UTH (not even close) - from the first meeting through the closing session every part is top notch. The lunch is fabulous. Did I mention Texas Medical Center!
-
The Texas Medical Center was amazing, friendly and happy students, nice and personable faculty, good location, etc.
-
TMC (need i say more?), Dr. Kellaway, the students (at lunch they were so funny I almost spit my ice tea out), the video at the beginning of the day (it was corny but kinda broke the ice for the day).
-
Dr. Kalloway is as great as every says. I was impressed with friendliness of everyone I encountered. Brand new facilities. Looks state of the art. I like how they want you succeed.
-
The students were super-friendly, and were happy to answer all of my questions. You could tell that they really loved being there. The school is within the largest medical center in the nation. The second largest is only 1/4 of the size. Therefore, the educational opportunities are endless!
-
The faculty seems concerned with students' success. Very high Step 1 scores this year. The Texas Medical Center. Lectures are recorded and put on web.
-
Tour was AMAZING - i have worked in, lived next to, been a patient in the TX medical center, but it is still astounding. Open heart surgery and a helo landing - what more can you ask for?
-
Amazing facilities, supportive environment, ability to individualize medical education, medical students down to earth and kind, school does incredible things to ensure the success of students, university housing is cheap, nice and safe. Work hard play hard attitude.
-
Dr. K's philosophy and genuine concern for us. TMC!!!! I saw a code 3 land on the helipad then an open heart surgery from the dome. The Gross Anatomy Lab and the Surgical and Clincal Skills Center are top notch facilities.
-
How laid back the school was.
-
Beautiful new facilities, friendly admissions staff, friendly students.
-
The facilities were great. TMC is great. The students and administration were INCREDIBLY friendly. It was very laid back and chill. The interviewers were very relaxed and fun to talk to. I had a great experience overall.
-
People were incredibly FRIENDLY. I got lost on my way to an interview because my paper didn't have a letter in front of the number, and when I stopped a person in the hallway, he (ended up being a surgeon) stopped and rallied about about 3 other people (I think also surgeons) to help me. The students seem pretty laid back, and are into the "work hard play hard" attitude. I like the non-competitiveness as well. The TMC, clinical opportunities, I loved it.
-
The greatness of the TMC
-
The friendliness of the faculty and students in the school
-
Texas Medical Center is the best place to get a med education, period.
-
Facilities are brand new
-
The enthusiasm of the students, the incredibly welcoming and cooperative environment with students and faculty. The facilities in the TMC, namely technology and how they are catered for learning.
-
The facilities had to be refinished after flooding a few years ago, and they are absolutely stunning. The anatomy lab and other areas in the basement are top-notch and have the latest technology. The medical center itself is huge. The admissions staff is extremely friendly and easy to talk to.
-
The location of the school, how friendly the staff and students are, how beautiful the campus is, the curriculum
-
Facilities
-
Students were nice, honest. The faculty seemed more concerned with producing good doctors, not high stats. The school seems to care about each student as a person. Memorial Hermann
-
Facilities, city
-
TMC is incredible. Clean, state-of-the-art. surgical and clinical skills center. you can do your clinical rotations anywhere in TMC....this includes MD Anderson. WOW.
-
The students enthusiasm for their school. The Texas Medical Center!!!
-
The school is trying to be in a change mentality. The location, you can't beat TMC.
-
We had an excellent speaker during lunch, the student's willingness to sit and chat with the interviewees
-
Incredibly nice students, the extent of the TMC including the volume of patients there and free medical care given
-
The hospitals were amazing.
-
TMC is enormous! Students are friendly and encouraging. Laid back atmosphere(suits me, may not be for everyone) and recreation center.
-
The hospitals at the TMC & school facilities were amazing. The whole interview day was very organized. The staff, faculty & students were very friendly and really tried to sell you the school.
-
Everything. Seriously. This tour was VERY well put together. The 2nd year I was talking to told me about the recent change in admissions criteria
-
The facilities, the students and faculty - everyone was so nice
-
The facilities are absolutely amazing! there are few other places where you can get the opportunities for seeing as many patients and rare conditions as you can get here (world's largest medical center). the current students were awesome, very friendly and genuinely seemed to love going there. houston's cultural and social atmosphere is great, for those few free times you'll have during school.
-
The students at Houston are so supportive of each other. Everyone seems to take their studies seriously without taking themselves too seriously. Also, the resources and campus are amazing!
-
The facillities and monetary resources are just incredible. The scope of the medical center floored me, and it was way way nice than other places I interviewed! They struck a good note between being a supportive program with laid back, happy students and being a resource-rich high-quality top-notch institution. Also: excellent living facilities for students, incredible rec center, support mechanisms for spouses, community-feeling.
-
Wealth of opportunity to see things you wouldn't see anywhere else in the world
-
Laid back attitude, no cut throat attitude, everyone had a smile, interviews were laid back and very conversational
-
The facilities are AMAZING, the possibilities in the Texas Medical Center (largest in the world) are limitless, and the wonderful camraderie between the students (they email out review sheets they make, helpful tips, etc), that there are no curves or anything competitive, everyone can honor, high-pass etc a course.
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TMC, faculty, students
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The friendliness of students, faculty, and staff! And the facilities are awesome!
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How many opportunites UT-Houston actually offers. Also, the tour was great (very complete)!
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The faculty and students worked as a unit. They were family oriented.
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The huge facilities
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The students seemed geniunely enthusiastic and the facilities were fantastic. The Texas Medical Center is amazing.
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Everything! The students are incredibly friendly and laid back, the faculty is involved, they do a great job of integrating you into the school, and their resources and facilities are amazing.
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The facilities were unmatched! The admissions people were very very very nice.
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The Texas Medical Center.
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The TMC is amazing! The students and faculty seemed really friendly too.
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Location, location, location!! TMC is amazing.
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The professors! All the ones I talked to were very friendly and amazing. To this day, I'm convinced MD's make much better professors than PhD's.
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Impressive, impressive campus.
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How great the facilities were
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Great location, great facilities (brand new), school seems to have a good balance of work and free time, amazing hospitals for 3rd year-two world class and one indigent.
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The Artificial Intellegence maniquins used to test the skills of med students.
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The facilities were state of the art and the medical center is the largest in the world. The people there are extremely passionate about their work and your success. (Both students and faculty)
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They seemed to have the best facilities of anywhere I've interviewed. I would love to go to school here because of all the opportunities you have right there at the Texas Medical Center.
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How warm everyone was: from the admissions people to the students to the president himself!! I really felt like they genuinely loved their school, and it made me love it too. It was almost like a day long promo for UT-Houston, even my 2 interviews!
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The Texas Medical Center is so HUGE and the whole vibe of it was really great. Everyone just loves what they do and it gets you really excited. Most of the facilities and equipment are new and state-of-the-art. Also, all of the students are really nice.
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The atmosphere of the student body. Everyone is so helpful and friendly and it really does feel like a family.
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The TMC is really impressive. It seems like its own city inside Houston. The hospitals all seemed like hotels and were big with huge resources. The UT school was nice and since the flood had alot of new things like the learning center and a new simulation lab. The staff was very nice and made the day go really smooth.
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Size of facilities and student's attitudes
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The breadth of facilities in the Texas Medical Center. The pleasantness of the students at the luncheon, during tours, and at a mixer the night before.
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The friendliness of students/faculty/staff; the vast medical facilities available; the fact that students are not so "cut-throat" competitive;
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I love the Texas Medical Center! It is so large and has so much to offer the students!
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Everything. No competition between students b/c of the standard grading. Grades are Pass/Fail. Eight hospitals join together! Baylor Med is right across the street.
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The facilities as many have commented on were quite impressive. Beyond the facilities the faculty and students were very friendly both those participating in the interview day as well as those just doing routine things on campus. I had first year students who were studying for exams wish me luck. The faculty seems to have quite an "open door" policy for the students which was a very impressive point. It also seems that cut-throat nature of competition ends once you get admitted into UT Houston which is nice. The entire ambiance was friendly, warm, and welcoming.
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The facilities and hospitals are state-of-the-art
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Cooperation amongst the students. Sat in on a student conference and the professors are terrific. Texas Med Center is awesome.
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Texas Medical Center...its badass
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The facilities are brand new because of the flood. The hospitals look like malls
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The facilities: the Houston medical center is very impressive, even despite its lack of parking and a lot of construction.
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Houston Medical Center
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The texas medical center
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How BIG the Texas Medical Center really is.
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I loved my interviewers! They were both women, and I felt like I connected with them very well. The med students and professors greatly emphasized the non-competitive atmosphere and the helpfulness of the faculty.
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The clinical facilities (Hermann)are absolutely amazing...there are so many resources that UT-Houston draws on, virtually the entire medical center is available for your education. Also, much of the basic training area was renovated since the flood in 2001, so they are all new and clean.
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The medical center
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The texas medical center is unbelievable. the students were also very friendly.
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My interviewers were both awesome. I swear my first interview was the best medical school interview anyone has ever had! My application made her start crying and then I started crying and then we started hugging. It was awesome :)
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The med center is great. The faculty that I interviewed with were excellent.
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Students enthusiasm, school being in the heart of the medical center
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The friendliness of students and faculty, the location - right in the middle of TMC
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The familial feeling that everyone portrayed throughout the whole process. They were all helpful with one another and the school did not have that cut-throat feel to it.
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Texas medical center, amazing hospitals and opportunities
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The facilities are amazing! MD Anderson is one of the best oncology centers in the world, got to see an open heart surgery at TX Heart Institute. The students were genuinely happy to be there.
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Location in the Texas Medical Center.
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Students seemed relaxed
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The dean, Dr. Gunn, he was awesome; all the students and faculty; my interviewer was really really nice
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TMC (Texas Medical Center), one of the interviewers was amazing
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Newly renovated facilities (thanks to the flood), friendly and warm atmosphere. The 2nd tour I took of MD Anderson was from a student who was a former patient at the cancer center. Really left a positive impression. Also the food was good and my interviewers were considerate and kind and seemed geniuinly interested in me.
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The students that we met seemed very positive and supportive. They made it seem like there is a very tightly-knit community. All the facilities were new or renovated since the flood took out a lot of buildings.
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The TMC, students I talked to, my interviewers, food was excellent (fajitas)
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It's in a huge medical complex--any resource is at your disposal
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It's in houston, the tmc, affiliated hospitals, interviewer #1.
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Both interviews were great, they made me feel calm and relaxed. We just talked for a good time about ME.
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Students very laid back and don't seem to be competing with each other.
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The students were willing to show me where an office was, even tho they were in the middle of tests. The interviewers were not grilling me, and were very candid.
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The students and how laid back they were. There did not seem competetive at all. The new Harlingen site seems like a great opportunity.
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The first interviewer was very kind and attentive. The PhD interviewer was not as easy
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Very laid back faculty. The students were very helpful and seemed to enjoy the school a lot.
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The facilities are amazing and people in the area are helpful. The clinical opportunities there are endless and it seems a great place to balance a social life with academics.
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It was very laid back and very friendly.
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Facilities were great
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The school is very pretty. The medical center in Houston is awesome. The facilities are great. Everyone was very nice. Herman Hospital is state of the art.
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The school is awesome. the faculty and students are very helpful. great friendly environment.
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The anatomy lab is new and impressive. Most of the first floor is new because of a flood
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The facilities at the TMC are absolutely incredible. The students and faculty were very friendly and helpful. I liked the comradre amongst the med students
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The numerous opportunities to work within the community, how friendly everyone was.
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The Texas Medical Center is a really great resource and a lot of people seem to continue doing their residencies there.
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Friendly environment of the school
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The facilities. The Health Center has it all- Level I Trauma Hospitals, Cancer Research centers, Baylor and UT Houston Med Schools, School of Public Health, etc.
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The facilities (fantastic!), the students (positive, helpful, and happy), access to lectures online. Interviews were scheduled very close together, so reduced stress.
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Incredible facilities, how excited the med students were to talk to the all of us interviewing
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The students, the med center.
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The Texas Medical Center is AMAZING! I don't think anyone will get a better training anywhere else! The new anatomy lab and Learning Resource Center are great new facilities. I toured M.D. Anderson and was very impressed.
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No ranking system therefore the students are friends too
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VERY friendly students, Texas Medical Center
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The Texas Medical Center! It was amazing. And really pretty too. Had a campus-y feel.
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The fact that you are not ranked during med school at UTH and the light rails and susidized student housing is available
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MD Anderson was really awesome. I liked the whole idea of trying to make it feel more like a hotel than a hospital. I didn't get to see any of the other tours.
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The enormous Texas Medical Center and the vast amount of learning opportunities available. The students are genuinely happy and nice.
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I really enjoyed the orientation speech by Dr. Gunn (Dean of Admissions), and my interviewer was amazing!
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The openness and friendliness of the students and the staff. It seemed like a wonderful environment to be a part of, and the TMC is amazing!
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The second interviewer was really really nice and caring and seemed to want to get to know me. Also, the Texas Medical Center is very impressive, I liked the tours of Memorial-Hermann and MD Anderson hospitals.
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The TMC is amazing. Endless clinical/research opportunities.
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TMC, my second interviewer (one of the nicest and friendliest doctors I've ever talked to)
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The medical center complex is AMAZING and the med school (some of it anyway) is being renovated. Food was good. One of the Doc's let us see pt.'s with him!
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The city
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Lots of shiny fantastic people all around at UT-Houston. The students seemed candid, kind & sincere about there medical school experiences. Faculty/staff were congenial, genuine & true role models for their prospective fields. The Dean of Admission's opening remarks/speech was notable for not only providing inspiration and eliciting excitement for the field of medicine but also grounding "eager all-conquering&invincible-soon-to-be-doctors" by acknowledging the not-so glamorous-realities of medicine and imprinting the commitment and responsibilities that come with the honor of being a doctor. The Texas Medical Center is the WORLD's (not the nation's) largest medical center and the opportunities to be exposed/study/learn medicine are limitless. The medical school has it's own gymnasium with cardio equipment, weights, bb court, aerobics room & locker rooms; There are no letter grades or class rankings; Classes can be viewed and accessed over the internet at any time which frees up students' mornings/days for more hands-on experiences with doctors/hospitals. There are many preceptership programs & research opportunities...enough in quantity & variety to suit every students needs, likes, & personalities.
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Students are great, they're not ranked, they don't compete. Online lectures. cheap tuition. good research and preceptorship opportunities.
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The medical center itself is amazing. The tour of the heart hospital was impressive. We were actually allowed in the observatory dome of an OR during surgery.
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The Texas Medical Center always impresses me. I went on a tour where we saw bypass surgery being done.
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The current students are all laid back and seem to have a very altruistic attitude; Texas Medical Center; a lot of new construction
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Found out that you can view lectures online.
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Students and faculty are outstanding, the dean is very personable and involved, excellent facilities available to students, opportunity to stay with a first year student the night before the interview, good speakers, good food
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Nothing really....
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The Medical Center is amazing. Can't imagine any of the other Texas schools would have anything that could compare.
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The Texas Medical Center is huge. We saw a surgery in progress during the Texas Heart Institute Tour. Classes are available online one hour each lecture in streaming video format. The students were supportive of one another. There is a huge emphasis on clinical care (as opposed to research). My interviews (along with others whom I met) were with doctors (MD and PhD) in areas I had listed as being interested. They offer some interesting programs, one of which allows students to analyze paintings in a nearby museum for subjects' emotions in order to more efficiently diagnose a patient. They also have the Problem Based Learning program and something along the lines of a spirituality in medicine program like those mentioned in Newsweek's recent article.
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TX Medical Center; TX Heart Institute tour was cool
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The students were definitely approachable. No competition here.
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The Texas medical center is the best, and all the lectures can be viewed on-line
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The students seemed nice, and my interviewers were pretty good.
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Students were really friendly--very family oriented.
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Atmosphere, problem based learning
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Student, faculty, staff attitudes. Staff and faculty introduced themselves to me and made small talk, students in the hallway smiled at me and asked me how things were going.
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Students' enthusiasm for the school and close contact with faculty.
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UT Houston Medical School is in a medical center that has world class facilities such as M.D. Anderson. Learning opportunites are endless.
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Everyone is really nice, the curriculum seems hard but manageable, TMC is HUGE.
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The students really got along with eachother. They were down to earth, and really nice.
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Students and faculty seemed pleasant and interested. The shared resources in the library. Lots of localized research and patient care opportunities.
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The family-like atmosphere between the students and the faculty
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Student and staff attitude
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The students are unbelievably friendly. They help each other and really are invested in creating a positive school community. They seemed to care about who would be joining them next year.
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The Texas Medical Center and the lectures are available online.
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The students are a very tightly knit group. They are almost like a family. The TMC (Texas Medical Center) is also very impressive and a great place for clinical experience.
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The students were great and the Dean of Admissions was really nice, his speech at the beginning was great. The interviewers were both really nice and personable.
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The students are amazing, they held an evening event the night before interviews to get to know each other. Really Nice.
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Students and faculty. This school seems very supportive and more relaxed than the other schools.
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The friendliness of students and faculty and the clinical opportunities available in close proximity to one another.
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Laidback students. Olympic pool (I am a swimmer). All the hospitals in one area (less travel during rotations).
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The students were so amazing. I stayed with a student the night before and she was very friendly and helpful-- a great cheerleader for her school. And she gave out a lot of information what it is like to go to UT Houston. the housing for students and tranportation to and from the med school is wonderful.
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Huge facility, huge city, nice people, super students, great atmosphere. The dean gave a nice talk about keeping your ego in check and such.
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The amazing clinical work that you have an opportunity to participate in
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The students were really nice and helpful.
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The students, they were the most forthright and unrehearsed group I've seen so far.
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Friendliness of students, faculty. Emphasis on student education and happiness. The students seemed really happy and funny as well. I really liked UT-Houston.
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The Texas Medical Center. Friendly atmosphere and everyone was down to earth.
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The friendly and supportive atmosphere of the faculty, staff and students.
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The great atmosphere of the school. My interviewers; Houston Medical Center; the students.
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Med students were very easy to talk to
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The students are extremely friendly and the admissions staff is very friendly as well.
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The students and facilities. Their match-list is pretty solid as well.
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The students love their school. Everyone I talked to ranked Houston as number one. I even talked to a guy who, due to strange circumstances, was admitted to Houston and Southwestern. He chose Houston.
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The students were all nice and seemed to really like being there.
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I was surprised by how friendly everyone was. I thought since it was so big people wouldn't be as friendly.
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The atmosphere and attitude of the students. Everyone was so friendly, and students that I hadn't even met would stop and ask if I needed to find where I was going, or just to ask how everything was going for the day. Everyone seems to know each other very well, whick I liked a lot.
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Texas Med Center is great. The students were overwhelmingly happy and enthusisastic about their school... maybe a little too enthuiastic?
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The introductory speech given by the dean who emphasized UTH's commitment to training doctors with a genuine motivation for medicine
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Texas Medical Center, everything your heart desires is there.
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Camaraderie of students and faculty. A lot of them went out of their way to help the applicants.
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The friendly students and laid back atmosphere. The Dean of admissions was also very down to earth.
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The students, the atmosphere, the school's proximity to the medical center and the quality and depth of ongoing research.
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How everyone was so laid back. The interviews are very conversational. The students are extremely friendly and social. The overall atmosphere created a casual, fun tone.
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The students and faculty were very friendly and were obviously very proud of their school. it seems very noncompetitive amoung the students and alot of the students have families as well.
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The new Heart Institute, the new look Hermann hospital got, and that the faculty there were very friendly, and the students were quite laid back.
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The students were really friendly.
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The Texas Medical Center and the enthusiasm of the faculty
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The students were very nice. That day was a beautiful Houston day that I know never happens, but it was a pleasure to be at the Medical Center and walk around. The Texas Heart Institute is amazing and Hermann Hospital is beautiful. I really enjoyed this whole experience
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The students were amazing! So nice and sincere to everyone in the class.
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The students and faculty are very friendly and were open to any questions
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The students - they were really helpful and laid back and sounded excited about the school. Even people who had nothing to with the interview process (e.g., other physicians and staff) would stop me and ask if I was interviewing, give me advice, and wish me good luck.
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The TMC and potential for contacts
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The Texas Medical Center. Absolutely incredible place. Take all of the tours that you can.
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The camaraderie of the students. UTH will sell this on you -- and they are right in doing that, because it's really apparent. The faculty is supportive as well. And lunch is great, too - fully catered.
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The students were great.
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The whole Texas Medical Center how everything is right there in one area. Plus, we got to see the Texas Heart Insitute with doctors performing surgury (which I'm hoping to do) so I could have spent the entire day there.
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants expressed concerns about disorganization, disinterested interviewers, Houston's weather and traffic, a lack of diversity, the outdated facilities, and the overwhelming size of the medical center. Suggestions included improving organization during interview days, addressing the disrepair caused by flooding, and enhancing the overall experience for interviewees.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Spammed questions at me
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Nothing really.
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One of my interviewers did not know how long the interview was supposed to last
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Nothing
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Honestly, nothing
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Nothing much.
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N/A
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Felt disorganized
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Safety in Houston, commute to the school/living arrangements
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Parking/traffic is expensive/awful. Everyone said to live in a close apartment with a free shuttle or to live along the rail (some type of public transit rail system). It's like $100/month for parking in the TMC for your first and second year, so no one drives
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The social the night before the interview was very disorganized.
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Nothing.
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Houston traffic.
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Houston weather is HOT.
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The students seemed very stressed and not as happy as others I visited.
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The second interviewer (from Egypt) kept ending every question with "and don't lie now" or "and tell the truth" or something like that. I could tell he was kind of joking but it made things awkward nonetheless.
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The curriculum doesn't give you a lot of self-study time.
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Nada
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Hugeness of medical center...kind of overwhelming.
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Houston humidity compared to CA coastal weather. Our student tour guides seemed to have a bit of "small man syndrome" with respect to Baylor.
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They don't hand out very much prematch offers so interviewing early isn't much of an advantage. Houston is very humid.
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It snowed my day (yeah SNOWED in houston), so they had to cancel the bus tour which was just disappointing. The social the night before was ok, but the music was SO LOUD that it was hard to talk to everyone.
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Just that one tough interviewer. Everything else looked great.
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Nothing really!
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No relationship with Texas Children's is a little bit of a downer. The size of the class makes it feel like a bit of a 'doctor factory'. Traditional curriculum leads to 'hell weeks' of exams throughout the preclinical years. Not P/F.
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At student social, one of the students was badmouthing other schools. Not impressive.
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Humidity.
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No parking for commuter students.
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I was not impressed with the tour.
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The humidity in Houston kind of sucks. The school definitely has a Texas feel to it (unlike Baylor or UTSW).
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One of my interviwers was a guest faculty member so when I asked him a question about UT Houston, he said "I don't know" and left it at that....
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Did not get tour because it was md.phd
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Absolutely nothing
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They interview a lot of people and you can tell they are looking for you to mess up something; there are very few prematches.
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Tour guides were a little immature
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School is right in the thick of things. It gets really humid there. There's not a lot of diversity in the student body.
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The tour is interesting, but it was extremely hot outside.
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Some of the med students didn't hear their match results for the school until may or june
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You have walk a long ways to each interview. My second interview was on the other side of the TMC. MD Anderson tour was cancelled because of the rain. School is run down
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Pretty much nothing
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The school tried to be personal. My first interview was very rushed. The guy was 15 minutes late, the next interview was already there so all in all it lasted 15 minutes and would have been shorter had I not asked a lot of questions that I had.
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Horrible traffic, difficult getting in subsidized student housing
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Seemed a little impersonal
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Humidity and the cost of living.
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Nothing except humidity... but it's HOUSTON, so that's understandable.
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Parking, construction around the TMC
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Houston's climate sucks, but you're going there for the education, so it's ok.
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The only bad thing about Houston is the weather, which everyone there will admit.
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I hate Houston. I just hate it. It's in as nice an area of Houston as I think it gets, but its still sprawlsville. But I could come up with nothing negative about the school.
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The tour was long and it was a big group in the afternoon...it was hard to hear the tour guide, found myself just gong through the motions to finish the day...cuz my interviews were in the morning
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That final exams were in place, so many of the students were holed up in classes, and my tour guide was exhausted, having just come out of a gross anatomy final. Gotta admire his dedication to the school for doing a tour after a final!
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Location is nice but everything is so busy- just a personal preference
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The student-interviewee panel discussion was a bit unorganized.
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Nothing!
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I feel that they tried too hard to illustrate their ''laid-back'' mentality. Unless you're a genius, I don't feel medical school should be taken lightly.
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My tour guide didn't take us to MD Anderson and didn't quite know as much about the various facilities.
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Well, the construction that is going on due to the latest flood, but that is expected. Also, because the students were having tests that day, I was unable to really converse with any of them.
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The weather.
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The first student that was leading my tour group seemed arrogant and pretentious... which made everything that he showed me seem unimpressive. But other students seemed cool and nice.
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Nothing other than the blistering heat.
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Kinda empty
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Parking is an issue, a couple of big city assholes lurk around the school. They tell you to go to a different elevator because they don't want to go down to the ground floor with you when they're going to floor 11. Anatomy labs are 8 people to a body...
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My second inteviewer seemed to have a contempt for out of state people.
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The heat. Seriously, it's hot there.
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Nothing really. Everyone seemed to ignore the fact that Baylor was across the street. Guess they don't like addressing that obvious reality.
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Nothing, I'm in love.
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Nothing, really.
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Cramped nature of downtown
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They cut out all the speeches about the school and most of the information about the school and area was answered by the students which wasn't that bad. Walking around in the heat before the interviews made everyone really hot and sweaty.
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Tour guide got lost 4 times, unorganized day
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I'm kind of an architecture snob, so the layout and appearance of some floors on the school bothered me. Some older, unrenovated floors seemed dark, secluded, and slightly depressing. The ones renovated after Allison, however, looked great!
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Leaving Houston during rush hour on a Friday afternoon is definitely a bad idea; I had to catch a flight out of Dallas the next morning so I had to leave then; I wouldn't recommend leaving Houston at that time
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Nothing - I would LOVE to go to this school!
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The plane ticket cost to fly down to interview.
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Construction which created some confusion on how to enter the building. But, there's construction everywhere so....
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Sometimes the size of everything seemed overwhelming
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School felt bland - didn't offer anything I couldn't find elsewhere, and I couldn't go on many tours. Also the actual structure inside the school looks and feels very old.
-
It was very disorganized...they let everyone just go around whenever
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The students didn't seem as close as other schools, and I missed out on a couple presentations because of my interviews.
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1st and 2nd years pay $10 per day for parking or find alternate transportation. Also tours were given by first years that didn't know the place. We got lost 6 times. Absolutely rediculous!
-
They didn't do a great job selling the school
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Although most faculty members tried to sell their school, some mentioned that UT-H can't compare to schools like Baylor or Duke (my home institution). "I'm sure you will get many choices, so perhaps you should consider the name and reputation of each school before you decide on one to attend." It just made them seem less confident in their own school.
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My interviews were scheduled during all of the hospital tours, so I only got to tour the med school.
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I wasn't able to tour every place, esp MD Anderson and the Texas Heart Institute, although that may be because the place is so big.
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My first interviewer was 30 min late (althought she was the sweetest lady so I didn't mind too much). The second interviewer did not take any notes or have anything on her desk except for a diet coke. It seemed like she did not want to be there.
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Tour was disorganized and thrown together.
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Nothing. I am very pleased with my interview there.
-
The day is a bit disorganized. Some people only had 1 interview instead of 2.
-
I was not able to attend many tours due to my interviews, interviewees were left to figure out the day
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Dr. Gunn seemed kind of condescending
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The parking is $10 a day which will definately make me want to live close by the school
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Organization of the tours and the entire interview day
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Traffic & lots o people.
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Admissions Director Dr. Gunn must be one of the most rude people I have ever met. Also, the day is not that well organized. Such a strong school clinically should do a lot more to sell their school, but the interview day doesn't give you the impression that the Admissions people don't seem to have the charisma or enthusiasm that any medical school admissions recruiters should have. I thought A&M did a far better job selling their school, even though academically and even clinically they might not be as strong as UT-H.
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Organization. there was a alot of free time before and between interviews
-
I can't think of anything
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Students seemed to have an inferiority complex with baylor
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The student of the 1st tour said some negative things about the school across the street. I don't care much for elitism in the first place so I don't want to be in a place with a bunch of people with inferiority complexes. Luckily this wasn't so about the rest of the students I met, just this guy.
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The medical center is huge and crazy. There is no parking. Their board scores were under national average last year. The administration and faculty were avoiding discussion of the board scores like the plague.
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This is the least organized interview day of the TX schools. I think they interview way too many students and they are understaffed for it. Tours could possibly be more organized to allow you to see everything
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I got EXTREMELY lost coming into houston; it was my first time there and i spent 9 hrs in my car the day before, fighting traffic and getting lost; i only had one interview because they were understaffed; students didn't seem as friendly as those in other schools
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Almost everything: female ophthalmologist interviewer was 30 mins late and rude (she was in her office with another interviewee the whole time; heard she has done this before). better school just across the street. unhappy, complaining students (wishing to have gotten into baylor). ~1 month to study for step 1. below average board scores. 8-5pm days. weird and quirky dean (who talks in detail about anal exams during a welcome address?). curriculum not integrated. lana gaines.
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No financial aid brief.
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I think the interview time should be longer, there is more that could have been discussed.
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Students were in the final exams, so they had limited tours.
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The horrible map that is incorrect & confusing. The huge group of interviewees. The room numbers for interviews could be wrong.
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The facilities were aged. There doesn't seem to be much to do in the city of San Antonio.
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The student body panel was not as impressive as compared to other schools.
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The parking and humidity were awful. Also the maps were not very good so I ended up walking quite a ways in the morning to find the main entrance (the main entrance is on the east side of the medical school building next to the library).
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Houston is HOT. Goodness, I came from Dallas where it was a little breezy so I brought with me a very light jacket. Stepping out in Houston I looked like a freak! I had no idea there was such a weather difference. I was sweating walking on the different tours outside. Also, traffic is horrendous, but that is to be expected in any big city downtown area. I got lost trying to find the school.
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The interviewees were left to their own voilitian (i.e. find the buliding your interview is in with only a shoddy map).
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Lots of down time
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Every medical student I talked to said the school was "alright". Nothing really positive (must have been exam week).
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Houston traffic ofcourse
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Med School is in a very "downtown" atmosphere
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I had to wait a long time for my second interview (I had the last one of the day), but that wasn't a really big deal
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How I could only take one tour b.c. of interview schedules.
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I didn't even get to go on the school tour because there are so many things going on at once. Also, we pretty much only got to talk to second-year students (the first years were taking tests), and from what they said, they seem to be in lectures all of the time.
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Classes at UT Houston are everyday for about 8 hours. Yar.
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The chancelor of admissions started his speech 5 minutes before scheduled and I arrived with my sponsor 5 minutes after scheduled.
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Couldnt do all the tours because of the way the interviews are scheduled
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The fact that most of the day was just spent sitting around. Both of my schedules conflicted with the tours such that I was only able to make 2 tours and missed the other two speeches.
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Superficial stuff, like the amount of construction going on, but that just means that they are concerned with progress!
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I don't think anyone here has ever been through any sort of diversity training. Ultra conservative school. I felt like a flaming liberal...
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Houston weather (it was hot and very humid), paying $10 for parking in the garage
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My second interviewer kept me waiting 30 min, but she was so nice it made up for it. Also, the heat/humidity was awful and the day was kinda disorganized (I couldn't go to half the tours I wanted to.)
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The weather
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Houston traffic. It took me nearly two hours Friday afternoon to go from the school to the west side of Houston! And I'm not used to the traffic...everybody kept honking at me and I thought I was driving fine! LOL!! :)
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Parking is very expensive but students can take the train to TMC and save on gas and parking. The building is run down.
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Nothing that I can think of!
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The traffic in Houston makes it impossible to go anywhere without becoming stressed out.
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The first interviewer. I had to wait 90 minutes to talk to him and he only talked to me for five minutes, asked almost all questions straight off my application, didn't seem interested in getting to know me at all. Also, the lunch they served was chicken-fried steak and succotash--gross! I hate the south sometimes.
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My second interviewer.
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Traffic, parking, cirriculum
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A bit unorganized but it was their first round of interviews so it'll prob. get better. Not just too many students around (but it was the first week of classes). Parking sucks. The whole place is one big confusing mess.
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Disorganization, my interviews both conflicted with the tours
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Not much! Parking is tight but it seems like a small trade-off for a world class institution and infinite facilities/resources. Currently there is quite a bit of construction/noise because of the terrible flood, but most of it is projected to be completed soon & the final outcome promises to be spectacular!
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Parking totally sucks, run-down med school building, both faculty interviewers were complaining about the administration, the dean of admissions is a stooge (said some sexist off-color comments). the curriculum is EXTREMELY traditional, and there doesn't seem to be much student input in fixing things. tuition is going up 50% over the next 2 years, but still dirt cheap compared to out-of-state students.
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Disorganization and disinterest of interviewers at times. All interviews take place in faculty members' offices. So after finding the office in the maze of color coded hallways, my first interviewer treated me like an annoyance; seldomly making eye contact, didn't shake my hand, asked vague questions, sighed...a nightmare come true. I confirmed with a fellow interviewee that they received similar treatment from the person. My second interview was much better and more laid back, but still seemed disorganized. Overall, my interview felt like trivial in regards to my interviewers.
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Students were stressed because they had tests in each subject at roughly the same time. One student I talked to wondered aloud how everyone was learning so much yet did not do well on board exams.
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School is in disrepair from flooding, but there is a lot of ongoing construction
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The medical school building... it's falling apart... old and outdated. Morning comute into the TMC, parking as latter a medical student, high cost of living in TMC, students are TOOOOOO laid back, seems like everyone is out for themselves even though they say that they all "work together".... working to maybe in the bars or what not... but I think that the students are all quitely competing against each other.
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Not enough time to see everything, which is understandable!
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So much to tell...can't fit in here
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Houston traffic is horrible.
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The dean's speech at 7:45am left a lot to be desired, especially because he had to cut it short once he realized he had been talking for over an hour and people had to leave for interviews. Many people were unable to take tours because of interview scheduling. The overall feel was a little "too" laid back - the grading systems, the lack of class rankings, classes acknowledged by students as those of the obvious 'blow-off' variety. Traffic and parking sucked as well.
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Some of the students on the Q&A panel were rolling their eyes when the other students were answering questions; didn't get to do a school tour because of the way my interviews were scheduled
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Almost all of the students come from UT schools or A&M. They almost all end up in TX for residency. (I am a resident but go to school out of state and don't necessarily want to stay in TX for the rest of my life.) Also the facilities are in such a state of disrepair that it was sad. The "gym" is not impressive at all.
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The curriculum is kinda traditional, which is OK
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The dean talked like he was on crack, complete with an extremely sexist comment or two. The facilities were pretty grungy. The students seemed a little dippy.
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School seems run down.
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Tmc very busy, no parking
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Texas Medical Center is so big, but once used to it, TMC is a wonderful learning center.
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Some students seemed immature.
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Traffic at any time of day.
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The school seems pretty old. It is pretty Ghetto outside the TMC. The dean of admissions seemed to ramble.
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The interviews are hard to find...ask someone directions because I got lost.
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Lots of construction going on and many rooms and labs will not be where they are currently.
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The Houston area
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It's a long day, begins at 7:45 and my last interview didn't finish until 4:45. Lots of faculty talks, which are interesting but can be long and disjointed.
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Houston is really busy. I mean, there's traffic and parking's a hassle. These seem like small things and sacrifices to make for a great medical center. But, I think as a medical school student, I would have enough stress anyways and to add worries of transportation on top of that would be a pain...
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I had an interview scheduled at a nearby building, to which a single shuttle was provided. As a result I missed out on several tours while waiting before and after my interview.
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Houston is one of the most polluted cities in the country. The medical school itself wasn't that nice, they are about to tear up the whole ground floor from the flood that happened like 2 yrs ago that they are just now fixing.
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Honestly, nothing. I only wish we had had more opportunities to see the surrounding hospitals. Time conflictions with interviews.
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Not one thing.
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Some hospital tours/panels were only available during the time I had interviews; the parking.
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Horrible color scheme
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They scheduled my interviews at the same times of the speakers.
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We didn't get a chance to see the anatomy lab.
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I had to walk 10 min to my interview in the heat! humid heat!
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I was not able to go on any tours. Therefore I can only make a judgement on the school based on what I have read and was told.
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My interviews were short and one of the interviewers was very preoccupied.
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Nothing really, some of the lab facilities look a bit old. MD Anderson is incredible though. Parking is the worst ever, they try to make excuses about it, but its just horrible horrible planning.
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Did not get to interact with many medical students - they were in the middle of exams.
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Construction.
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Houston is too humid!
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Cost of living is much higher than where I am living now. Also, because of the times of my interview, I was unable to go on the tours.
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I know some people mentioned parking but since i am from boston i didn't think it was a problem- seemed normal to me.
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The one unpleasant interviewer I had.
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Asthetics. It isn't the most beautiful school ever, and the research opportunities for med students are not abundant.
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A lot of construction and repair from the flooding.
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I had a hell of a time getting to where I was supposed to be in the morning due to the enormous size of the complex and road construction due to previous flooding and the future light rail system. After finally finding where I was supposed to park, I tried to find the room we were meeting in. I ended up in a building across the street and a doctor escorted me to exactly where I was supposed to be. I was very close to being late.
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There was a huge flood in the medical center the summer before last, and the entire basement is sort of tornn up because of it. They are in the process of fixing everything now...although no one seems to know when they'll be finished.
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Downtown Houston. The flood damage is still severe, and it looks like they're not going to fix it any time soon. I don't know if the school tries to attract the top academic students - they repeatedly stated that "your grades and MCATs don't matter to us"
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The construction
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Houston, Why is the TMC in houston?
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Tours were somewhat lacking. Nothing went on inside Texas Heart Institute.
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The cosmetics. Not very pretty on the inside due to recent flood damage.
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Construction- they're still working on reconstructing the ground floor which was damaged during the flood.
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The reconstruction. It was flooded last year, so now they have to rebuild the first floor. Compared to Baylor, it is not asthetically pleasing to look at.
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I didnt get to go on all of the tours because of my interview schedual.
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Nothing really... lots of people were complaining about parking. I didn't get to experience that though, since I got a ride to the medical center.
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PARKING and TRAFFIC are horrible.
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Parking
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The Parking issue. Th students said that it's a nightmare and to have a spot in the garage you pay $120 a month. OK I will not be able to afford that.
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My interviewer. The interview only lasted 15 mins. He didn't seem interested in what I had to say and he cut the interview off short because he had paperwork to do.
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All of Houston (including the the Texas Medical Center) is torn up, so driving around is a pain.
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The amount of time I spent at the school. Most of us had one interview in the morning and another one 4 or 5 hours later. They tried to keep us occupied with tours, however.
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Some of the students that led the tours were very arrogant (there were some very helpful ones also); every school i have been at has touted the community-like atmosphere of the students yet only one school has actually been able to support it with examples (that school wasn't UTH)
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Usual stuff, parking, construction, etc.
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Parking. It ran me $9.00 for only 8 hours there.
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Several of us got stuck at the psychiatric facility (had to take a bus there) for our second interview. We sat in the lobby while each person interviewed. That was kind of a waste of our time (although I enjoyed meeting the other applicants) and we missed a lot of the afternoon activities. A student gave me a personal tour of the med school and Hermann hospital at the end of the day though. Interviews were scheduled at random times and you had to walk to the interviewer's office, which was usually in another building. It was hard to catch all the presentations and tours.
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It was damamged by floods in the summer, so it wasn't the prettiest place in the world. however, their future projects look impressive
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants wished they had known more about the relaxed and conversational nature of the interviews, the size and layout of the Texas Medical Center, the importance of comfortable shoes for tours, and the need for time management due to potential traffic and construction in the area. They also appreciated insights on attire, parking details, and the overall supportive and welcoming atmosphere of the school.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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How long the day was going to be
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That the interview will be chill as it was. As an immigrant, it was pleasant that I was interviewed by a faculty who is also an immigrant.
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It is extremely conversational
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How chill it was going to be!
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Nothing really. It was a very low stress day. Laura Avery did an incredible job! I would say, if you get the unlucky draw of afternoon interviews I feel for you. I interviewed in the morning but after that tour (1 hour of walking) I was surprisingly worn out
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To relax more. It was a super chill day and the program really impressed me
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Very bad traffic in the morning (leave early if coming from a suburb)
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Where to go. Got a little mixed up with parking and such.
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Make sure to either leave right away to try and miss traffic out of Houston, or wait until past 7-8PM.
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How overwhelming/enormous the medical center was
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That both interviews were practically closed file, and that neither of them knew much about me ahead of time
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Just wish it hadn't been my first interview. Would've liked to have been more relaxed during the 2, 1-on-1 interview sessions.
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To wear comfortable shoes. They told us, but I didn't listen....
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Nothing.
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I wish I had known the following details: There were 56 students interviewed on my day. We were split into 2 groups. One started at 7:45am and finished at 2:30pm. Mine started at 9:45am, and finished about 4:30pm. We were a little bigger than the morning group with about 30 students. Morning group did interviews first, afternoon group did interviews last. Here was my schedule for the day. I arrived in the parking garaged and went to the very top floor (8) to find parking by the elevators. It probably took at least 10 minutes to get parking and walk to registration. Budget extra time to get there. Walk straight out of the parking garage across the street into the building across the street. Go in and walk straight. You'll see the security guard. Make a left and you will see the registration table. They give you a bag containing materials for you, including a pen and notepad, maps of the area, day schedule, and interview schedule. They have breakfast for you. Opening remarks start after 10am. Nice room. Table in back of room with bagels, danishes, juice, water, and other breakfast foods. Before 10am is a great chance to start talking to other interviewees and MS 1 and 2s. Multimedia presentation about Why UT-Houston. We then went on a Bus tour. Lunch at noon (Beef, chicken, mushroom fajitas with rice and beans + chips and salsa, fruit, cookies and cake, bottles of water, tea). 1 faculty and 1 MS at each table. Med students answer questions to the whole group at the end of lunch. After lunch, we went on the walking tour (morning group had opposite tour times). We even went up to where the helicopters take off. My interviews were scheduled for 2:30pm and 3:30pm. Those who had the 2pm and 3pm did not have any break after the tour to prepare. Walk into the day ready to interview. 4pm we regrouped with Dr Kalloway and Ms Murphy to answer questions. They had water and soda and snacks for us as we filled out the evaluations. Everything is pretty relaxed and organized. Lots of opportunities to talk with current med students and other interviewees. I went to the social the night before. It was fun. I stayed late. At the social, there was a large variety of dress. At the interview day, everyone wore a suit besides me. Mostly dark colors with the girls wearing brightly colored blouses underneath. More pant suits than skirts. Most had their hair tied back. Only about 3 or 4 girls with their hair down. Like me, Dr. Kalloway wore a 3 piece outfit that wasn't a suit. Most of the interviewees were from the big name Texas Schools and the most prestigious schools around the country. I met a lot of fellow Longhorns. Lot of non-trads. Variety of ages.
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That it is so difficult to commute to this school. The housing situation could be difficult. Student housing seems good, if that works for your situation.
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In MHMP building the different sets elevators go up to different sets of floors. Don't just hop into an elevator if you are running late. by the way, we finished the tour of the school with 5 min to get to interview and hit bathroom.
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Relax- it is not that hard.
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Which parking garage was the correct one!
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That it would not be scary at all. It was a very relaxed process and so there was no need to fret beforehand.
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NA
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That my interview did not need much preparation, they were honestly just conversations between myself and the faculty members.
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The travel time; it took 1.5 hours for a normally 20-30 minute ride.
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That interviewers can ask controversial questions, and that what kinda suit, shirt, or tie, you wear seems not to matter at all. That they won't really ask you about anything in your app, but really want to see how you handle stress or pointed questions.
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That it would be so laid back and easy to handle. There's no reason to stress out about this interview, just be aware of your file and have answers to the typical "Why do you want to be a doctor?" questions.
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Dunno I feel I prepared well.
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Bring an umbrella!! If you have an interview in another building and it is raining outside, you'll get wet.
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Nothing
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Know the dean
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How happy the students are and how welcoming the atmosphere is. the faculty are great (especially dr. farnie and dr. kellaway)
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There is no need to stress over interviewing at UTHouston. the interviews are very low stress.
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Strength of the hospitals
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UT Houston really really really wants to attract med school students. They are SO nice. The atmosphere is GREAT, and the admissions dean is SO affectionate.
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That the interviews were so relaxed. It wasn't stressful at all.
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There's this 80ish old-school-medical-establishment type who I think just likes for mess with with his (female?) interviewees. I think he's just amusing himself and seeing how you handle it, but I got the most inappropriate questions! it wound up being a great, engaging conversation, if somewhat of a debate, but if I hadn't had a sense of humor... I can't believe this man hasn't gotten sued.
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Nothing....it is wise to find your way there the night before though (worked great for me)
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Don't place the parking or validation ticket next to a cell phone because the magnetic strip will get jacked up and it won't work at the end of the day when you are in a rush to get out of houston...you will have to call an attendent and they take about 10 minutes to get to you....
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None (maybe who was interviewing me)
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How big the medical center area is.
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My way around the area. This place seemed huge.
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Who my interviewers were
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How freakin' impressive UTH really was.
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I had done my research, and so nothing was new to me.
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Not much...
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How relaxed it was going to be, maybe I wouldn't have been as tense during the interviews.