Med School Visits...Worth It?

Has anyone visited a med school? I will be going to UT Southwestern medical school (Dallas) this Saturday (Feb 21). They have an annual minority pre-medical conference. Although the title is for minorities, anyone can register to attend. The conference has topics on all the info I’m interested in, so I registered to attend. There is also a tour of the school.


I live in Dallas, so UT Southwestern will be my primary choice for med school. I believe it won’t hurt anything to get my foot in the door and see what a medical school is really like. And maybe network with some of the admissions staff.


Beside the normal admissions process, any suggestions on what I should be asking or looking for during this conference.

It is always a good idea for the school that you are interested in to see your face.

Don’t skimp on information gathering. :slight_smile: The more you know, the better your decision-making process will be. Opportunities like this are very worthwhile.


Cheers,


Judy

Ask what they look for in candidates. If you get a chance to talk to someone in admissions, have a very very short spiel about yoru background and what you’re planning to do to be ready to apply and ask for advice on how to be a stronger candidate.

Thanks. I know that I need to “on” during the discussion with the admissions folks. As they say, the first impression is the lasting impression. I just want to try to come off with a bit more mature questions/comments than the younger people.

I went to the pre-med conference yesterday. Speaking with the admissions staff, faculty, and students provided me with a wealth of information about my target school (UT Southwestern). They answered a lot of questions about medical schools in general and really were interested in the pre-med students at the conference.


I took two important bits of information from this conference. First, the MD in in charge of the admissions department made it clear that GPA and MCAT will get you considered. He used the illustration that I’ve seen before: “Being in the box”. He said that to be a serious candidate for med school the GPA must be > 3.5 and MCAT > 25, period. He used empirical data to back this up by statistically analyzing the GPA and MCAT scores of people who made it into med school over the past few years.


Second, once you’re “in the box”, they appeared to be very serious about finding a mentor. They really stressed that mentorship is a critical component of the study of medicine. The candidate should use mentors throughout the medical career.


Finally, I got some one-on-one with the associate director of admissions, a person I’ve actually spoken with once on the phone. It was good to get some networking in. I’ve been wondering about my older (15+ years) math/physics coursework. She said that UT Southwestern doesn’t have a time limit on coursework. However, they use the MCAT to let the candidate determine if they need to retake these courses. But, she did say that I would need to retake older chemistry and biology…Understandable.


So, my advice is that if anyone on this forum gets a chance to attend one (or more) of these conferences, DO IT!

I visited two schools that I was particularly interested in; they let me sit in on classes, I met a couple of docs, got tours, spoke extensively with the admissions people. Neither school admitted me; one of them did not even invite me for an interview.


It could be that I just didn’t do my homework and meet the right people. What I got from this experience is that if you visit a school, or see them at a conference, make sure you know whom you’re talking to and don’t expect great things to come out of a smile and a handshake with an administrative assistant in the admissions office. You need to talk to the shakers and movers who are in the profession and who see your potential. This was my experience; your mileage may vary!

ttraub,


Your post interested me. When you left this conference/orientation did you feel that you made a solid contact with those two schools? Meaning, you felt going away grades aside, that you would have been accepted to either of those two schools based on your “connection”?


Also, you mention make sure you know who you are interacting with, out of curiousity, if you would have met/talked with the “right” person, do you feel you would have been accepted or at least improved your chances based on that interaction? I am just asking for a little insight and not questioning your statement, just trying to get some more detailed explanation for my own use…Thanks

  • maddux31 Said:
ttraub,

Your post interested me. When you left this conference/orientation did you feel that you made a solid contact with those two schools? Meaning, you felt going away grades aside, that you would have been accepted to either of those two schools based on your "connection"?

Also, you mention make sure you know who you are interacting with, out of curiousity, if you would have met/talked with the "right" person, do you feel you would have been accepted or at least improved your chances based on that interaction? I am just asking for a little insight and not questioning your statement, just trying to get some more detailed explanation for my own use..Thanks



Mad Dux,

I probably just didn't do my homework. I did know a doc who teaches at one of these schools, and I made sure to get a letter from him, and I visited the place twice. I visited a doc at the OMM clinic attached to the school, took the tour, etc. That school didn't even invite me for an interview! The other school, I visited twice, and sat in on an MS2 OMM class, and spoke to a couple of grads from the school, and basically expressed great interest. They invited me for an interview; the interview was with a PhD (public health or something) and a med student, neither of whom seemed very interested or enthusiastic, and they waitlisted me to hell, meaning I could maybe go there if I waited a year.

I would say, the moment you set foot on the premises, you're under scrutiny, and it may actually work against you. As a 40-something nontrad applicant, I was already sort of an odd fish, and my lackluster grades and competitive (but not stunning) MCAT didn't speak well for me.

I would say, these site visits worked out for the best. Neither school is doing very well--financial difficulties and a hospital closure at one, and other problems at the other--so I'm quite happy that I didn't go there. And frankly speaking, though I really wanted to like both schools, something about the ambiance at both places left me cold.

ttraub,





Mad Dux? LOL!! Hmmm…ok…works for me?


Anyhow, it sounds like it worked out the best then. I am still curious as to what you meant by talking to the “right” person?


Are you saying, (that’s the impression I get??" that if you meet with the right people, it could affect your app. status?


Say for instance, my current doctor is on staff at one of our med. schools. But I have always been under the impression that it does not really, truly, make a whole lot of difference in who you know, since it is by committee? Clue me in…PLEASE!!!


-Mad Dox?..Wait…Mad Dux…

sorry for misinterpreting your handle. is it your last name? all I can really advise is to proceed confidently and carefully through this kind of minefield of visiting a school or meeting their representatives. If you make a misstep, it may work against you, versus the thousands of applicants with whom you are competing who are just faceless applications to them. Just be careful.


Having said that, I think it’s not a bad idea to visit a school that you’re really interested in. Some experts have advised doing it. It didn’t work for me, that’s all.

Oh, no worries. It was clever I thought. Maddux is actually the last name of my idol Greg Maddux. It didn’t bother me one bit…Thanks though for the info!


Any perils of wisdom you can pass along is priceless in my opinion!