Applicants generally found the interview experience at UTMB to be relaxed and enjoyable, with conversational interviews that focused on getting to know the applicants personally. The school's curriculum, facilities, and student atmosphere received positive feedback, although there were some concerns about the location and past reputation of the school.
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I love this school, they did a great job in making sure you are scored from multiple perspectives. Each MMI station could have given more time. I recommend really drinking a cup of coffee before this, taking a second to relax, and being prepared for a fast paced interview that you will likely really have a lot of fun in. It is very open ended, but please try to pay attention to what type of response your interviewer is trying to steer you to based on the phrasing of their questions AND the follow up questions they ask.
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A majority of my interviewers were current medical students and only a couple of faculty members.
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UTMB's interview day was relaxed and enjoyable, and I believe it is a fantastic place to receive a medical education;
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Very positive feeling, open communication with faculty which is rare
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My interview was virtual due to Covid-19, but I still felt I was able to connect with the interviewers via Zoom. The interview was thorough but still relaxed. They did ask a lot of questions, but nothing out of the ordinary. Great experience overall.
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The interview was pretty chill. They do look at your CASPer scores when making decisions. There are required questions from the committee and from the interviewer themselves. Be prepared to explain some weak points in your application, be aware of your weaknesses.
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Overall, I left interview day feeling good about how I performed and excited by the idea of potentially attending the school. Everyone was very nice.
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Make interviews in one building to avoid the sweatfest my interview group went through. I'm sure other days were the same.
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UTMB was at the bottom of my list as far as Texas schools go. After visiting it is near the top. Every single student and faculty member talked about how the program is geared toward cooperation. not competition. The p/f grading and PBL style curriculum certainly help you understand how to work in a team and meet nearly every med student. The campus is big and very historic being the first med school in texas and with the infectious disease research center. The surrounding area is kind of sketch but that's coming from a suburban kid who now lives in a nice city so in reality it's probably not bad. Everyone seemed to genuinely enjoy being there, despite the oppressive humidity and unpredictable rain. Both interviewers were PhDs which was disappointing (considering I'm MD only) but both implied the interview here is mainly a formality to split hairs between similarly qualified applicants. Don't sweat the interview, use it to really find out if it's a place you could see yourself living in.
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Very chill interview and super conversational.
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I was very impressed with this school and I hope to attend! Interviews went kind of well... in my second interview, I was not sure if the interviewer understood some of what I said and had this confused look on his face 50% of the time which led me to babble more than I wanted. But overall, I think I did well and am keeping this as my top choice!
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Great school, awesome history. Would love to matriculate here!
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This was my worst interview thus far. Walking out of this interview, I didn't even want to be a doctor any more. I loved the school's curriculum, campus, track programs, and basically everything about it, but after such horrible interviews I can say with 100% confidence that I would take a gap year before going to a school that cares so little about recruiting good candidates.
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Had a great time. Easily became one of my top choices after everything I heard and saw at the school. VERY VERY impressed.
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Great school
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Laid back interview but somewhat stressful.
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Overall I liked the school! I was disappointed by some aspects of the medical center and my actual interviews though.
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It was a great place and a very fun interview, the students were awesome, and with the new hospital it should be an attractive school to anyone.
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Overall, I'm greatly impressed with this school and would love to be able to attend school here. Hope I get in!
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Great school, everyone is really relaxed.
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Great curriculum, interesting track programs, amazingly enjoyable and conversational interviews, cheap housing, very happy students!
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UTMB is a great place to interview at and a great medical school to attend. I kept on reading how laidback their medical interviews were and I didnt believe it until I did mine. I was so shocked how laidback it was both of my intervieweers were super nice, friendly and personable!!!!
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Great interview, great town, great school!
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UTMB is a great place. Awesome, friendly students, so many opportunities other than just the standard MD route, Galveston National Laboratory was amazing.
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Make sure you where good shoes for walking : )
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Best lunch on Interview day is served here.
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Last choice.
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Really liked the people at this school. It was my first interview and I didn't feel like it went well at all. First interviewer was a phd: very conversational, but talked mostly about himself. Second was with an MD: friendly, had specific questions prepared from my application. One of the main drawbacks about this school was that I felt they were trying to hide the damage of the storm. The few places they showed us were nice, but i got the impression that the rest of the school/ hospital system was still in shambles. My first interviewer told me his department was only 10% of what it was, and he felt it was a similar story across the UTMB system. I know they are making significant progress in the rebuild, i just don't know how quickly its happening.
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This is a no-stress event so be relaxed and comfortable.
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We got to see the cadavers which was soooo cool!!
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It was over all a great day for me. Good luck everyone!
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--My interviews were more like conversations than question and answers. They were both very laid-back, and my first one I was even able to talk to for almost an hour. Not stressful at all!
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Bring mosquito repellant! Also, the food is not nearly as bad as everyone says it is! The interviews at UTMB are very laid back. There's nothing to stress about... just be yourself.
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I LOVED this school and really hope that they give me an offer!
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Open file except for GPA/MCAT
great school. even with ike, they haven't skipped a beat. if i only got in here, i would have no problem attending.
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GREAT school. Really, really enjoyed it.
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School has above average board scores and offers significant residency application assistance. Interview was conversational style.
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Good school--much better than the city it's located in. They really take care of their students and everyone is friendly. The laid back atmosphere is perfect for certain people. I think this will be my back up school. In terms of "fit", I think I need a medical school that is a little more intense for me to have the best experience. Galveston is just so laid back and so chill that it doesn't fit my personality.
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Interview day made me go from "maybe this place will be kind of cool" to "I could really see myself enjoying being a student here"
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Great school and very personable students and staff. Loved the history of this, the oldest medical school west of the Mississippi.
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I ended up liking the school more than I thought I would.
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I LOVED the school. The students seem very happy and well prepared to be doctors. I like that as an MS1 you have patient contact (not simulated patient contact). The classes seem well diverse which is a plus. My interviews were pretty much conversational...just wanted to get to know me not size me up. (Kudos to our tour guide, Patrick-he sold me on PBL!!)
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The interviews were very relaxed. a few questions regarding my application were asked in the beginning, but as soon as we started talking, we ended up chit chatting the entire time about everything. it was more like a flowing conversation than an interview.
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Really enjoyed the school. My tour guide was so excited to show us the school and it made it so much better. I really like the schedule and how the school wants the students to have lives outside of school. Very enjoyable experience.
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Nice area, impressive teaching strategy, high board scores (higher than Hopkins), laid back atmosphere, prison hospital
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I was very impressed with the atmosphere at UTMB. The students and faculty all look and sound very happy. The students had very few criticisms about the school, the biggest one focusing more on Galveston than UTMB (that Galveston needs a giant mosquito net), which says something about how they feel about the school's program. UTMB is one of the few sites in the country with a BSL-4 facility --- how exciting --- and there are opportunities to work in Global Health, research, volunteer/community service projects, etc.
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It was very relaxing and exciting. My interviewers were really nice and got to kinow me. My first interviewer actually used 45mins! and then my second used about 7 mins!. My second interviwer gave me lots of advice about medical school.
Overall, i'll say it was good.
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Very relaxed atmosphere, interviews are very conversational
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I went to the interview not expecting much out of the school, but in leaving I dont know how this school is not ranked with their high bord scores and their clinically based curriculum. But the interviews were really relaxed and the interviewers were really nice.
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I felt like I was being grilled. They asked many many hypothetical questions as well as scrutinized my past education. I did not feel like I was having a conversation to get to know me, I felt like I was proving myself and explaining why my life choices were not inappropriate for a medical career.
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I expected really laid back interviews, and one of my interviews was as such, but the other interview was intense, with questions about fMRI (i work on a study that uses it, but am not expected to know the technical aspects of how it works) and medical ethics.
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Overall it was fine, the interviewers didn't ask any tough questions. Both of mine were PhD's and professors of some of the 1st year courses so they just talked alot about the curriculum and if it was right for me. The students seem pretty relaxed and the really high board scores are what set this school apart for me. My car brokedown on the way back to Dallas in Houston so it was very frustrating being stuck.
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I thought that the staff, students, and interviewers that I met with were all very courteous and informative and they did the same thing all the schools are trying to do...recruit intelligent students. It's amazing to me how quick people are to criticize something like the food they fed, as if you should choose a school based on the food they serve on interview day or like it is some how their fault that you didn't like it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but you have to take all of the stuff that you read on here with a grain of salt. I have interviewed almost everywhere in TX and even though each place is different I have no had a bad experience anywhere and would feel lucky to go to any of the schools. The point of SDN should be to prepare other people for the type of atmosphere and interview philosophy to expect. It was a very pleasant day. Yes, Galveston is galveston it's not Houston or Austin or Dallas so if you go into it expecting that then it won't be for you. They have a well thought out curriculum and are genuinely focused on the student's learning, which is represented by their excellent board scores, but again if you are a big city person then just simply don't waste your gas, your money, or UTMB's time.
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UTMB is an ok school, i just really hate the location, and campus. the construction going on was annoying.. my interviews were fantastic, the first was a surgeon at shriners and although he didnt read my file, he was very nice and wanted to get to know me. he talked alot, but also gave me alot of time to say what i wanted, so that worked out well. my second guy was a phd who published some paper in nature (!) and pulled that out in the middle of our interview when he realized how much into research i am. very nice guy and asked interesting questions about my research, and i really liked his research as well, although his lab looked very out dated. food was HORRIBLE...
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Very laid back and informative. I got the morning interviews, so after a brief introduction with breakfast, I immediately went to my two interviews. My first interview with a PhD professor went very well and we ended up conversing for 45 minutes despite the time limit being 30 minutes. My second interview with an ID doctor went well too, but he spent most of his time explaining the opportunities at their school rather than asking me questions. We ate lunch and then went on a tour of the campus.
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Interview was pretty nice. I had my interview in the morning after a brief introduction to the school. Interviews are really all over the campus in PhD's office and some parts of the hospital (for MDs). Interview wasn't too stressful as I did some prep-work, but could have been better. Nothing really too obvious except to KNOW the flaws of your application and have a prepared answer for it. There's nothing like trying to answer a question like ''Why haven't you done research?'' or ''Why don't you have more clinical experience?'' because honestly there's NO good answer to those questions and trying to deflect them on the spot can have disastrous results. Also, be aware that they have no idea of your GPA or MCAT while you are interviewing, so there's no bias in your interview.
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Good. Nice people. 2 interviewers:
1) Reviewed my entire application with me (they don't have scores tho). Was very nice, very easy to talk to, not a single difficult question.
2) Didn't talk about my app once - talked about health policy, just had a conversation. Really liked the guy.
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UTMB has mastered the art of ''Work hard, play hard,'' and that really helps to create the positive atmosphere there. Considering their match rates and board scores, the curriculum is obviously very effective. But unlike other places, the students also seem to be very happy and get a fair amount of time for activities such as working out, intermurals, families, etc. The atmosphere at UTMB is what sold me. It's not about competition at all...moreso just the attitude that they are all becoming doctors together and will do anything to help the experience be more positive in any way. It's quite amazing, really. If you're looking for the cut-throat, prestigious type reputation, this place is definitely not for you. But if you are like me and want a good, solid medical education with a positive atmosphere and a chance to have SOME fun during med school, then you'll probably love this place.
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If only it weren't in Galveston...
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I thought I would fall in love with UTMB, but I quickly found out that it is not the school for me...seems way too laid back...the facilites are outdated...and looking at galveston crime rates a horrible city to live in, just about every med student I talked to there said at one point are another they (or someone they knew) were victims of crime.
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I was nervous because it was my first interview. Other than that, it was a great experience meeting other applicants, the med students and checking out the facilities.
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It was great...definately one of my top choices. Interviews were very relaxed and stress free. The campus and hospitals are nice. Lunch was good and all the students had to talk about was ''free time'' and how much fun they have at school.
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I stayed at the Quality Inn Suites, only about 10 mins away, and it was very nice. It was rather windy the day of interview so the our was a little uncomfortable. Overall, it was a great first interview experience.
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I don't know if it was because it was my first interview but I really had fun and thoroughly enjoyed the tour. People were laid back, I was fully enthusiastic about expressing myself and the questions weren't really challenging. It was more like getting to know a friend. I have heard that students at UTMB Galveston are required to go to the prison and treat people there but I think that would only be a good learning experience. After all, you don't get to choose the patients you treat.
Definitely go on a tour of a medical school. It will motivate you like no other in realizing how much you want to pursue this profession. At least it did for me. I already know how much I wanna go but touring the school made me picture how things would be if I were actually there, which excited me even more.
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The first interviewer asked questions almost exclusively from a form. The second interviewer was awesome and basically said that he didn't think that any of those form questions were relevant to whether or not I would be a good doctor. He just wanted to get to know me. Neither were MDs, both were PhDs.
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Overall both interviews went well.
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The interview day was more enjoyable than it was nerve-racking. In the morning my half of the group took a tour with a student, who was quite sarcastic but pretty entertaining and truthful nevertheless. The facilities were nice and there's a lot of construction going on for projects that should be completed relatively soon. The second half of the day consisted of the two interviews. I got to the first interview early so it ended up lasting almost an hour, and then the interviewer walked me half of the way to the next interview. The second interviewer was very easy to talk to.
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The weather was great, fortunately I didn't have to go through all the humidity and heat that people usually have to deal with at UTMB. The hotel I stayed in had bugs, wasn't too great. The campus itself was fine, I'd rank the facilities between Houston and SA. The people are about the same - they seem to be great no matter where you go in TX. My interviews were mixed. The first one was just simply awesome. Felt like I clicked with the doc, we shared common interests and he was very engaging and informative. The second interviewer ruined the whole experience for me. He was late (understandable), but he spent 20 min reading my file and asking a question every now and then. Also asked about MCAT/GPA when it was supposed to be closed file. Then he got beeped away (understandable). I just wish I had a more discussion type interview, but oh well win some lose some.
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I arrived in Galveston about midnight the night before. I stayed with a MS II which was a really wise decision as he gave me a tour of campus and told me where orientation would be and where I could park. Orientation went from about 8:30-10am and they went into detail about the history of the school and its many attributes as well as the curriculum which to me is the best of all the meds schools in Texas; my interviews were in the afternoon so half of the interviewers split off to their morning interviews and those with afternoon interviews went on a tour of the campus; lunch went from 11:30-1pm...I left early enough to make it to my 1:15pm and 2:15pm interviews...both interviews were supposed to last only 30 minutes but I was lucky enough to have a lot in common with my interviewers (a Ph.D. and an M.D.) that time flew by faster than we thought....the interviews themselves were at the same time laid back but serious....they really got to know me well....I do hope to put this as my first choice of at least 4 schools...after my interviews the MS II I was staying with invited me to an afternoon class on Colorectal Cancer...pretty cool...after that I hung out with some med students and then drove back to Hobby to make my flight.
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I was impressed by the information session in the morning; I had no idea the school was an authority in infectious diseases. The tour was mediocre, but they faculty and medical students were all very friendly. My first interviewer seemed to be negative from the start and the second interviewer assured me that I would have no problem getting accepted...I felt like they were using the
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It was really enjoyable, very friendly, but different from all the other
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UTMB is a really decent school. Anyone who gets accepted should really consider going.
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They were the most low stress conversations ever.
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It was my first interview. I went into it expecting to be challenged and grilled but left feeling like I had spent an hour not really offering them any reason to select me over anyone else. To me, anyone can sit and have a decent conversation. They were very laid back and basically just wanted to get a feel for my personality.
UTMB has a very interesting curriculum, but its location coupled with its recent funding struggles make it an unattractive choice for me.
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They sold me on the place. Their anatomy lab is incredible. Nowhere else will you find sky lights in the anatomy lab. They really sold me on the place. Everyone there loves to be there.
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Extremely pleasant. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Interviewers were extremely interested in me as a person. Location is good and reasonably priced.
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I stay the night at a fraternity house. The fraternity guys weren't very hospitable.
My interviews went fantastic. I was able to get a lot out and learn a lot about the curriculum and the programs of interest. The interview was more like a conversation.
The tour was good. We got a demonstration of their artificial intellegence maniquins. Their gross anatomy laboratory was impressive.
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I had the single worst interview I have ever had and the single best interview I have ever had.
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Good overall. The first interview was pretty typical, but the second was more interesting. We talked a lot about foreign travel and health care systems.
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Overall it was a great day. My first interviewer LOVED me and wanted to keep talking but I had to leave for my next interview. The second interview went well, but the guy interviewing was one of those people that didn't seem too interested in me but rather liked to inform me about the school and admissions policies.
I really liked the school.
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My first interview was very conversational. Our topics ranged from destination weddings in mexico, to rock climbing with priest/professors, to my experiences working with underserved groups. The second interviewer seemed annoyed because i was the "second of four of these today." She didn't have much of a personality, but I think it went ok.
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It was overall a good experience; the people were friendly and helpful. The day was relaxed and was meant for the school to get to know the applicant better.
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The interviews were very relaxed. More of a conversation than anything. The 2nd interviewer talked more about himself than about me.
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Overall, the interview experience was very relaxed.
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Don't like Galveston that much, but faculty and students seem nice.
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My first interviewer was a PhD and super laid back, t-shirt and jeans laid back. No real questions were asked, he just got to know me. My second interviewer was a general surgeon. He seemed a bit retentive, but overall the interview was similar to the first, laid back conversation style.
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Really laid back...almost unnervingly easy interviews. lots and lots of walking around construction
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The first interviewer was great. Talkative, and jovial. The 2nd was a stark contrast. He didn't look like the talkative type, so he just shot tough, straight questions at me without an expression. Seemed very different from the first interviewer. I freaked out and got a 3rd interviewer. He seemed much cooler, but since he didn't know anything about me until the last minute, we mainly talked about other stuff, like authors, Iraq, and the UTMB administration.
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Extremely laid back. I walked into my first interview and I was pretty nervous because he was a neurosurgeon. He told me to sit down, I did, he looked me straight in the eye, and said "I don't believe in canned questions. I think they're a bunch of bullsh!t." Right away, I knew I was home.
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Really great time. Number one choice!
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8:30-9 breakfast, 9-10 welcome, 10-11 interviews, 11-12 second interview, 12-1 lunch/student panel, 1-2 tour
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Very laid back kind of atmosphere...the students and admissions staff were friendly and emphasized their spirit of cooperation. I have actually done an internship there so I know this is not a show--this is really one of the nicest places to get an education. The interviewers were kind of weird, the first was an OB-GYN who asked quite a few direct questions at first, but then it became more conversational. The 2nd guy (Rabek) was a PhD who threw out a lot of weird hypothetical situations...stuff that I really couldn't answer definitely without having experienced them. I just hope my answers didn't sound too out there.
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The 2 interviews were night and day. The first one was probing. She wasn't very respectful- believed that no one could really want to go into medicine to help other people. (I talked about a shadowing experience with a great doctor who made next to nothing but was making a huge difference in his community)
The second interview was a conversation. She didn't ask me anything except if I liked birds. At the end of the talk she said that she hoped I came to this school and that my creditials were above what they were looking for.
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This was my first interview, so I was probably overly prepared. Everyone seemed really nice and laid-back though, which definitely made things easier.
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The interviews were very conversational
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My first interviewer asked many difficult theoretical ethics questions. I was prepared to anwser such questions, just not for 45 minutes in depth. It didn't help that he didn't make eye contact and mumbled as he spoke(MD interviewer). My second interview, while very late and not with the person it was orginally scheduled for couldn't have gone better.
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Overall it was a great interview. I don't know if I got in but it was a positive experience.
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I like this school a lot, especially the people and the curriculum, plus the students are only in lecture a couple hours a day, but they still do really well on the boards
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Great. Both interviewers were extremely nice. The first had a list of questions to ask, without looking at my application. The second (also without my application) was conversational with occasional "Tell me about yourself" or "why do you want to be a doctor?" questions mixed in. I LOVED this school.
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Very easy, very low-stress, I don't think they learned anything from me other than the fact that I could speak english and could make eye contact
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The interviewers were both great and very different. One had read my application from top to bottom, the other printed it out when I got there. When the second one had to go see a patient, I went with him and watched an endoscopy
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Interviewers very relaxed and laid back; the med student i stayed with was absolutely awesome (i recommend this experience!); lunch was great (catered mexican food)
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The interview is meaningless at UTMB. It's nice that you get a free meal and a tour, but the interviewers are told to keep their time with you short (which really quite offended me). I worked hard to get here, but I am also more than just a statistic!
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I love this school! It is definately one of my top choices.
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I'm a little iffy about Galveston - it's small island surrounded by dirty Gulf of Mexico water. But it's a really historic town, and if you're into cities with kind of an old-world small town feel, it's not so bad. Because it's a small city, students seem to make their own fun and have an extensive extracurricular system in place. The campus itself is nice and there's lots of construction going on for biocontainment facilities and whatnot. They schedule and hour for interviews and say that most interviews take 30 minutes, but I went over an hour on both of my interviews. Food is the best out of all of the Texas schools (FYI). However, I've never really liked open-ended interviews (feels like we're always getting off subject), and both were extremely open-ended even though they asked me some of the hardest questions I've encountered so far. The biggest hesitation I have about this school, however, is that I don't know if a curriculum with so much emphasis on PBL is right for me.
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Very enjoyable day. Very relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
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Overall a great experience. it was my first interview and I left feeling very great about the whole day. my first interviewer was a phd from japan- it was difficult at times to understand him clearly; however, he was extremely supportive and down to earth. My second interviewer was very laid back and very interested in just hearing about me and my experiences thus far.
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I LOVED my interviewers. They were both so outspoken and genuine. My first interviewer recited a poem he wrote while he was a sociologist to me and showed me pictures of toddler - we just had a great conversation. My second interviewer was also excellent. The curriculum is awesome -they've really been working hard to help their students succeed, and it shows with scores better than the national averages on the USMLE. I was watching a path video from a first year lecture, and the professor cracked some pretty funny jokes. I didn't think I would like this school AT ALL when I went down to interview - now it is probably my first choice.
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It was a great interview day! The facilities are great, the faculty is relaxed and for the past two years UTMB has had the highest scores on the USMLE's.
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One of my interviews lasted an hour (it was supposed to be 30 minutes). I didn't put any specific questions down because they asked standard interview questions (why doctor, what specialty...).
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Overall, the interview experience was great. I really enjoyed the interview part of the day the most. Folks are very helpful and friendly. The tour was very informative and I thought that the anatomy lab looked nice.
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It was ok but not great, the students are nice but some of the researchers there will badger you if you get them for interviewers.
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Very laid back day. If you have any inclination that you did not get a chance to represent yourself positively to your interviewer, let someone know and they will glady re-schedule your interview. They want everyone to have a fair chance at acceptance and no butthead interviewer should get in the way of that. I thought that was pretty cool!!
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The school is great but the climate sucks.
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I was really impressed by the curriculum, the facilities, and the school. My only concern is that Galveston might get a little boring after 4 years.
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Pretty decent if you ignore the problems with the administration
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I loved Galveston, and I really think I may be ranking it #1. The people there were awesome. I never thought a medical school could be so chill.
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Pretty much what the previous poster said. I was glad that this was my first interview...very low key, low stress. They made us feel very welcome and like they actually wanted us to go there. The students seem happy with where they are and most of the picked UTMB as #1 on their match. Interviews were conversational, nothing really hard or unexpected. One interviewer just kept staring at me though, like she wanted me to say something--but I have no idea what. They take you on a tour around campus (bout 1 hr). It was a beautiful day in Galveston though and no body broke a sweat! =)
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I was amazed with how low stress the day was. This was my first interview and I was expecting more. The interviews were very conversational. The interviewers asked really vague/open-ended questions and did not really try to steer the conversation so I could pretty much talk about whatever I wanted. NOTE: The interviews were open file except that the interviewers couldn't see your grades or test scores.
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Good day. Organized. Helpful faculty & students. Students all insist that they are happy.
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It was a really good interview. I was disappointed in the night before event, but overall impressed with the school, curriculum and faculty
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The school is nice, easy interviews, so don't worry about it. Take it easy and you will do fine.
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Both interviewers were really laid-back. The interviews seemed 100% conversational and I was laughing and joking with both my interviewers by the end.
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Overall enjoyable experience
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The school does a really good job on selling you the PBL curriculum. i'm not sure if it's for me, but they do a good job convincing you that it is effective and produces good physicians.
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Fair
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Loved the school, great experience with one interviewer and the other was lukewarm. It is closed file but I saw that one of my interviewers had my grades/mcat!!!!!!!
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UTMB is a great school, with great students. They are there to become physicians, not there to impress anybody. The interviewers that I had just wanted to get to know me, not the me on paper. I found this really refreshing. They were mainly conversational...No tough questions. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Galveston is actually really pretty.
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The interviews are spread out and not very organized. I had two interviews, but not one was with an MD which I thought was strange.
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Relaxed. The interviews were formulaic, and thankfully did not ask any ethical or current issues questions
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I will rate UTMB as my top choice. They gave me an interview before they had my MCAT scores. Students are very positive and everyone seems to get along really well. My first interviewer was a physician. He took me on a tour around his unit and some other places. He even walked me to my second interview (very good first impression). My second interview was with an MD/PhD. He was just as approachable as the first and very easy to talk to.
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Overall, the day went very smoothly. There was not a whole lot of downtime and the day ended relatively early. The island is great!
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I think that this is a great school with a very relaxed atmosphere.
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UTMB provides free parking in the parking garage. The opening presentation was short and sweet. Interviews were scheduled one after the other, but the interviews were only supposed to be 30 min long, and there was plenty of time to get to the next interview. My interviewers were both very nice and answered all my questions about Galveston and UTMB at length. The interviews were stress free and conversational instead of grilling. Lunch was delicious and they gave us candy because it was Halloween! Also, the campus tour was cool, it was a small group (there were 4 of us plus the student guide) so it was easy to ask questions. He took us to the gross anatomy lab and showed us a cadaver, and also to the "control room" where they watch you as you interact with a standardized patient (an actor). Overall, UTMB has very nice facilities, great students and faculty, and if you like a small city and island weather, Galveston is great.
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UTMB gets a bad rap due to its low board pass rates after it introduced its new curriculum. However, they have really worked out the kinks and they are now up to a 97% pass rate. I was really impressed by the whole experience.
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I was very exited even before I got to the school. I took the online tour and was amazed at how beautiful the school was. This was also a feeling shared by many of my fellow interviewees. I was interviewed my two doctors, one PHD and one MD. The PHD was interested in my research. The MD was concerned about my undergrad grades, seemed satisfied with my answer (I hope). There are things to do in Galveston. I was told that the waves do get big enough to surf(by my PHD) I was also told by my MD that the greens fee at the municipal golf course is only 10 dollars.
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It was a decent interview experience. The night before event was not too helpful. The interviews weren't stressful at all, which I was weirdly disappointed by. Not that I like stress...but it almost seemed like they didn't really care. ?
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The first interview went how everyone else reported their interviews went: great, no stress, just a nice conversation and a few questions. The second interviewer seemed like he was interested in finding mistakes in my application and confronting me with them. It was more stressful, and I felt like he didn't want me to succeed from the moment I walked in the door. He was not actually rude or anything (other than calling me OLD), but I felt like he was adversarial and like he was testing my reaction to stress. It saddened me that it wasn't as pleasant of an experience as the first interview.
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It was an overall good experience. Board scores are up at this program. Looks like UTMB is trying to get out of the cellar with its reputation compared to its sister programs.
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I was very impressed by UTMB. Their new curriculum is great for very motivated and organized individuals who like to learn independently. The faculty and students are friendly. The UTMB campus looks like a small town college campus.
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This was my first interview of the season and I had a great time. While I did not get too much out of the night before the interview program It did give me the chance to meet my fellow interviewees and to sort of share our axiety about the night before. I was able to get many of my questions answered and had new ones to ask at my interview the next day. Both of my interviewers were scientists not Physicians so I made it a point to ask them about their research. overall it was laid back and non threatening.
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Very positive. Great school, nice people!
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Incredibly laid-back. UTMB seems to use the interviews to simply get to know who you are. They're not trying to stump/stress you. Both interviews felt like conversations rather than interviews. The day starts @ 8:30AM, ends around 2PM. Overall, I was impressed w/the campus, the students, and the faculty.
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I had only heard bad things about Galveston, but the visit really improved my attitude. This is another fine medical school. Just don't forget your can of OFF.
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Both of my interviewers were really nice. Your interviewers see your application, except they do not know your MCAT score or your GPA. So they really want to get to know you as a person (aside from numbers), and see if you would be a good fit for the school. The students were helpful as well-- they answered a lot of my questions.
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In addition to tons of exposure to community medicine in the area... UTMB also serves Texas' prison community (lots of end stage pathology). Their curriculm is what really attracts me b/c my learning style fits with this type of instruction.
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I was impressed with how enthusiastic every one is about the curriculum, including the interviewers. There were tons of students available to talk to and they seem like a great bunch of people. Very relaxed and positive experience.
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Just wanted to clarify on the previous 2 posts. Austin: 3rd and 4th years can choose to either spend the whole year in Austin or do a couple of rotations there (Brackenridge, Children's). If you spend the whole year, you need to find your own housing for the year. I think there are 24 students there from the current 3rd year class doing the whole year. If you do a couple of rotations in Austin, housing is provided for you for free (4 students per 2 bedroom apts) because they don't want you paying rent for 2 places. Rotations that require a patient simulation to demonstrate your history and physical exam skills (internal med, family med, pedi) will require that you come back to Galveston to take the exam (travel costs are reimbursed but capped). For family med, you can request to go anywhere in Texas.
Boards: It's hard to tell whether the curriculum has any affect on anything. The administrators will say "yes" if the results are good and "it's too early to tell" if the results are bad. We're not in class as long as other schools are, which is both good and bad. Students end up skipping class anyways if there're too many classes. Bottom line: Board studying is up to you, how motivated you are, and how much your friends motivate you. The class that had the reputation for the bad board scores/pass rate just graduated (or at least should have). Current 4th years improved on that class, but hovered around the UTMB average (~210, nat'l avg 215) because the people who did poorly did really poorly, dragging the average down. But a lot of people in the current 4th year class did really well because they freaked out over how the class before them did. We freaked out too. The current 3rd year class studied early and studied hard. And when everyone is studying for the Boards, it's hard to slack off. Anyhow, we've always had the 6 weeks of summer break after 2nd year. I don't know if the Dean said this during the info session, but what the Dean's office did was purchase a national prep course/board question bank for ALL OF US for free. We could extend our access to the bank at our own cost. We also had 3rd & 4th years tutor us for free or for a nominal fee. That probably made the difference. The 97% pass rate they're quoting you corresponds to a 225, when the nat'l avg is a 217 this year. At least 111 students scored above 221 (corresponds to a score of 90), and at least 24 students had scores that corresponded to a 99. Obviously, students and faculty are all very excited about this and they want to keep the upward trend going. Hope this helps. Best of luck with interviews!
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This is a school that is selling itself. Instead of the feeling... prove to them why they should accept you, it is quite the opposite. The interview is basically them selling the school to you. This attitude spills out into everything else. This is a great school, and I sense with all the positives about it... applicants who appreciate the friendly atmosphere will be placing it as their top choice in the match.
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Galveston appears to be a wonderful place to live for those, like myself, who are attracted to a smaller, more intimate community. The clinical facilities seemed to offer a lot of opportunities, and the option to spend the vast majority of your third and fourth years at Breckenridge in Austin was very appealing. (Although, again, no one seemed to be very informed about this either.) The school has more of a campus feel than many other Texas schools. They have a nice gym, plenty of quiet study environments, and a decent student center. The curriculum allows for a ton of time off during your basic science years, which implies that a lot of the learing is done by you at home. Honestly, it was really hard to get a straight answer as to how this formula played out as far as future success in residency, but this is likely because the curriculum is only 5 years old. They are conscious of their reputation for turning out low board scores and strongly emphasized that there second year class this year had a 97% pass rate for Step Ones, and that their mean score was well above the national average. It's hard to know whether or not this speaks to the tweaking of the curriculum or to a unique class. I tend to lean toward the former.
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Very stress-free. The interviewers were very laid back and just wanted to talk and get to know me better. I do appreciate that the school looks at the whole individual and not just stats and numbers.
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I think UTMB has lost a lot of quality in recent years. I hope that the school will be able to get back some of it's former glory.
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I had a very positive interview. I learned a lot about the school and its curriculum. The students are awesome!
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I really liked this school and it is now number 2 on my list mostly because of the curriculm and the history behind it. My interviewers were great too and gave me alot of useful info about living there. Some of the students didnt seem to be happy there though but they seemed to be the type that would complain about anywhere there were.
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Great school with really friendly faculty and students, although the emphasis on PBL may not be to every applicant's liking. Interviews are very relaxed, so no need to be nervous.
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Great interviews!! They were totally interested in me as a contemplative individual rather than as a pre-med. Very innovative curriculum; in several years will no doubt be the top school in the state.
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Horrible! :(
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The interviews at UTMB were pleasant. I enjoyed seeing the school but left with a very neutral impression.
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The interviews were really laid back and everyone was friendly. galveston is not my first choice but the experience was okay.
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The interviews were very laid back. They seemed mostly to want to see if you fit in with the atmosphere - friendly and cooperative. This was the best organized & friendliest interview I've had.
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It was a good experience, except for the 30 bug bites i got!
although both my interviewers ended up talking way more than I did, so I felt like it was almost a waste of my plane ticket and time for me to even be sitting there. But they were fairly nice, so that was good.
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The first one was a bit odd, but friendly all the same. the second was much better. the interviewers are not writing anything down when they talk to you. i guess they're just there to see what your personality is like. no need to plug your C.V. here, just be very personable.
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It was a really nice, laid-back day. no rough questions. one of my interviewers ended up chatting with me for an hour and a half and then told me he'd give me his highest recommendation (wow). i was told that they instruct interviewers to keep the sessions laid back and easy. And they really were.
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Faculty is arrogant (with an 82% pass rate!)
Students say they have few postive experiences with the faculty and say they are treated like an "experiment" with the new PBL based curriculum. students said that the USMLE step one pass rates have declined there every year since the school adopted the self directed learning curriculum.
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UTMB was really great. The students seem to really love it. Our tour guide was extremely friendly and helpful.
The interviews are semi-open file. They have your application, but not your grades or MCAT scores.