Other Points to Consider

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It is very competitive to gain admission into a Texas medical school:
According to the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service, there were over 5,800 applications submitted for approximately 1,700 seats for the Texas public medical schools in 2018.  Over the past four years, applications have increased considerably. Subsequently, it is getting harder to gain admission.

TCOM encourages applicants to formulate an application strategy that includes applying to all of the medical schools in Texas as well as selected medical schools outside the state. While it is desirable among most applicants to attend a medical school in Texas, there is simply not enough space available to accommodate everyone who wishes to do so.

Applicants should research possibilities outside the state. There are a number of allopathic and osteopathic medical schools around the nation that may admit you. However, while the mean GPA and MCAT scores for these schools may be lower than medical schools in Texas, it does not mean that they are any less competitive to gain admission or less rigorous academically.

You should have a “Plan B”:
You should have planned for this possibility regardless of how strong your academic credentials are. Whether this means applying to more medical schools next year or choosing another health professions field is entirely up to you. However, you should be doing some research on this topic. There is a web site at http://www.explorehealthcareers.org that has information about numerous opportunities available in health-related fields.

During this process, you should also be considering your interests and future goals. If you like the research aspect of science, you may be better suited for a career as a biomedical scientist. If you enjoy working on health education and prevention for entire communities, a career in public health may be of interest to you. Being a physician is a wonderful and rewarding career. However, it is not the only field that contributes to the well-being of others.

Sometimes it takes more than one year to improve an application:
Sometimes applicants may take more than one year to remedy any weaknesses. If this is the case for you, we do not recommend that you apply until you have addressed your weaknesses, even if it takes more than one year to do so.

For example, if you are completing a master’s degree program that takes two years, you should not apply for admission when you will only have completed the first year unless the program is specifically designed for this purpose. Otherwise, it does not show a sense of maturity in an applicant who does not see an academic degree through to its completion.