Dean Scholars 2018

<p>@cdkmom , I have been accepted to CNS HSS program. Would you have an idea regarding this program as to how different t it is from DS program. I did try to search on CC but couldn’t get much info on it. I am leaning towards premed , which would have been a better program DS or HSS?</p>

<p>You can do either DS or HSH on a path to medical school. From what I have read DS is more research oriented and is one of the oldest Honors programs ( and probably the best honors program at UT). I have read that 100% of DS pre-meds get in to medical school. HSH is relatively new and more focused ( narrow) on Pre-Health related activities. If you are planning on Plan II as second major, I know that Director is more receptive to students pursuing Plan II and DS rather than Plan II and HSH ( I am sure there are exceptions). If you are sure you want to go to medical school then go with HSH if you are not sure now then go to DS.</p>

<p>tdoc20: So all I can tell you is from my older S’s experience while in DS and what he has told me since he graduated last year. I am probably going to repeat things you’ve read in one of my previous posts, but it’s easier to do that then to find my old post at this point. :slight_smile: Back when he applied to DS, HSS was not in existence. He wanted DS because history showed a nearly 100% acceptance rate into med school from that program. He was also interested in doing research as a freshman and of course, DS allowed him to do that. The program was fantastic. He got to know his professors very well, which gave him wonderful recommenders for his med school applications. A couple of the med schools where he interviewed said he had some of the best recommendation letters they had seen and I think that was because they knew my S so well. The med schools where he interviewed also loved the amount of research he had done. (He’s planning to do research while he’s in med school as well.) He also got grant money do research each summer, which was very nice. He worked in the same research stream all 4 years, which gave him continuity and great mentors when it came to thesis time. When HSS came into existence, he talked to his advisor about transferring over into that honors program. He was told that would be a mistake and that DS carried more weight with med schools (at that point) because of its reputation. So he stayed in DS. All that being said, after he graduated, he said that he really wasn’t a perfect DS student because the program really prefers the kids that want to go on to graduate school and then get a doctorate. He also said that DS did not, of course, help him find the volunteer work he needed to do with hospitals and doctors as a med school applicant, whereas HSS helps their students with those sorts of things. So bottom line is that I believe that now that HSS is more established, it is probably the best place by far for pre-med students. My S said that if he was applying now, he would probably go with HSS because it would be a better fit. He does not, however, have any regrets about being a DS. Being in that program (and a good MCAT score) helped him get accepted to 5 good med schools. But my S was certain from the age of 10 that he wanted to be a doctor. If someone is not totally sure that’s where they want to end up, HSS might not be the best place to be. Sorry, this got a bit wordy. Hope some of it helps.</p>

<p>@cdkmom - wordy ? Come on - you have no idea how helpful that was. Thank you so much.</p>

<p>@yetanotherid, so appreciate the info and I am very sure about medical school</p>

<p>@tdoc20 - hmm , i thought my comment was appreciative of the information she provided… Maybe it didn’t come across that way. What other schools are you considering besides UT</p>

<p>@ cdkmom, what a detailed and deep info. Thank you so much.This will surely help a lot of future HSS 'ers researching this forum. I was also very sure since middle school about taking the medical route. I know HSS is the route for me to take but at the same time also hear that medical schools want well rounded diverse personality trying on different majors rather than just sticking with subjects related towards medical sciences. thank you once again .</p>

<p>@yetanotherid , you sure were appreciative of @cdkmom’s comments, but I also appreciated your comments in my previous comment, may be I didn’t put it properly.
Right now it is mainly UT, Although I have been invited and going to UTD’s mcdermott finalist’s weekend . </p>

<p>Has anyone admitted to HSS or DS received any scholarships yet this year ?</p>

<p>@yetanotherid - havn’ t received any yet . what other schools are you looking at </p>

<p>Is it true that acceptances go through “early March”, or has everyone who will be accepted heard by now?</p>

<p>yetanotherid: Just thought I would comment on the scholarship part of DS based upon my older S’s experience. I assume that you have been to the “DS Day” by this point & that you had a couple of interviews at that event. (I know the first day it was scheduled got cancelled due to UT being closed for “bad weather”.) I looked back at our records and saw that my S got his scholarship letter near the end of February, but it could definitely be on a different time frame now. I do know that only people who were getting $$'s heard back from them. And back then, only about half of the DS’s got money. The ones who did received either 1/4, 1/2, or full tuition, and there was at least 1 full ride scholarship. All of this could be different by now, but I thought I would let you know what happened back in 2009.</p>

<p>@cdkmom - thank you for taking the time to tell me about what happened in 2009. Unfortunately, the DS day got cancelled due to inclement weather. Coincidentally, I just received an email that it has been rescheduled to March 24th ( Monday). This is the FIRST DS event I am aware off ( Next one is in early April). I am definitely going to attend this. Hope the interviews go well. </p>

<p>yetanotherid: I wanted to pass along a tip from my older DS Son about the interviews. I don’t know how many science-related ec’s and awards you have on your resume, but if you happen to be like my son and are a bit light in those areas because of being involved in other things in hs, make sure your interviewer knows that. Because of my S’s heavy involvement in sports and music, he was not able to do academic science and math competitions or be on the robotics team, etc. because they were in direct conflict with his sports and music competitions 90% of the time. He took all of the hard science classes and aced them, had good rec letters from two science teachers, and made 800’s on his science and math subject tests, but really had nothing else to show his interest in science. Yet, he WAS really interested in science–just also loved music and sports. Somehow he convinced them, I guess, because he was one of the lucky ones to get a very nice scholarship award. BTW, he said his 2 interviews were pretty relaxed. Of course, I would guess that depends on your interviewer.</p>

<p>This is a question for DS applicants that did not get accepted. I am just curious if anyone has received a rejection or waitlist email/letter. My younger S called back when the first large group of acceptances went out and was told they would continue through the end of February. I realize that it’s only March 3rd and those letters might be in the mail, but I’m just curious since the rejection/waitlist letters went out already for Turing.</p>

<p>I heard UT is releasing CNS honors decision on rolling-based. So, my question is when the 2014 DS recipients applied to CNS honors ? My kid applied in Oct 15th last year.</p>

<p>@Dad2013 - submitted Oct 15th - heard back on Jan 19th for DS</p>

<p>I don’t think it matters when you applied. If a student hasn’t been accepted to DS at this point, it means they were passed over in the first waves of DS students chosen and they are either on some sort of waiting list or in the very unlikely pile and they are waiting until they know they have a full DS class before they send out rejection letters. I don’t even know for sure that they make an official waiting list for DS, but I’m guessing they probably do. Back in 2009, my S heard that at least 1/2 of the kids accepted to DS ended up going elsewhere (most probably to Ivies or near-Ivies). My S was almost one of those himself. He didn’t push the button to accept his DS offer until late April. I imagine others wait until close to the deadline as well, and I assume that if that causes the class to fall short on acceptances, they will then pick off some people from a waiting list. I want to throw in here that although my S turned down Duke and Rice (didn’t apply to Ivy’s because he didn’t like their locations, LOL), he has never regretted his choice to attend UT and be a part of DS. And he graduated with a 3.97 GPA (which is very important for med school) and I don’t think it would have been quite that high at either Duke or Rice. My younger son has given up on DS. His application looked almost identical to his older brother’s, but when you are picking a relatively small group of people from a self-selected group of applicants, one application starts to look like the next and it can get a bit arbitrary at that point.</p>

<p>Bump. Has anyone who applied to DS and did not receive an acceptance received notification of being on a wait list or a rejection letter? Does anyone even know if they send out rejection letters to those who applied and did not get in?</p>

<p>Just accepted the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program offer!
Looking forward to becoming close friends with the rest of the program scholars. :)</p>