UT Tyler to Rice University?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I am currently a ending-freshmen at UT-Tyler majoring in Biology while a doing a pre-med track. I am currently under the CAP program to go to UT Austin in the Fall of 2013. I only have a 4.0 GPA and a few months of biology research under my belt currently, and I am offered many research and internships already for the Fall semester of 2013. </p>

<p>The thing is, I don't think UT Austin would fit me because it's a very big school and of course, people would say go, but I'm just not the type of person within a 50k size student body and do well. UT Austin also does not have a very straight pre med path, so thats a hinderance. Not to say, the various internships and jobs I've been offered currently is making UT Austin more of a no-go. When it comes for med school rec letters, even if you do suck up to profs, they still won't care too much about you (Friend's personal experience).</p>

<p>Therefore, my ultimate goal is to go to Rice University. Their science fields are just spectacular and I really would love to go there. It's the same size as Tyler, which I love, but way more prestigious and academically advanced. </p>

<p>Here is my current plan: I am planning to drop CAP, stay at UT Tyler for another year, keep my GPA to around a 3.8-4.0, get as much EC's, research experience, and internships as I can, and apply for Rice for my junior year, which is Fall of 2014.</p>

<p>My worries: Is it worth dropping CAP and UT Austin? I know UT Austin is a very good school already, but I don't think my chances from Austin to Rice is as high as Tyler to Rice. I feel I can accomplish so much more at UT Tyler than Austin. My ultimate goal is Rice, and If I go from Tyler to Austin to Rice, I feel there is too much switching, which could influence my consistency of classes. I will also apply to UT Austin next year as a backup (which I should get in) in case my plan is far fetched. </p>

<p>My HS record, if it is still factors at this time, is crap. Graduated with a 3.2 GPA, lower 50% of my class, 1800 SAT. No AP Tests were taken. EC's were varsity tennis, french and Chinese club. I was a lazy bum then who did not care at all for education at that time until senior year, which was too late. But hopefully you can see that I did a complete 180 on life. </p>

<p>How does this seem to anyone? Is this plan ok to go with? Or should I just keep CAP and go to Austin and see what happens then?</p>

2

<p>Moved the post to premed forum since it seems more appropriate.</p>

<p>My personal opinion is that you should make most of what UT Tyler is offering rather than transfer anywhere else if you want to apply to medical schools.</p>

<p>You seem to be thriving there and doing all the right things and transferring after 2nd year will disrupt your momentum. Others may see this differently.</p>

3

<p>Rice parent here. First of all, congratulations on your 4.0 and your many internship offers. It sounds as though you have not only turned your life around, but that you are making the most of your opportunities at UT Tyler, which is a small enough university for you to forge the ties with your professors and research mentors that you will need when requesting recommendations for med school.</p>

<p>If your interest is Rice (and you can voice several more specific reasons for transferring than “their science fields are just spectacular”), then certainly apply to transfer for your junior year. At the same time, if your bid to transfer doesn’t work out, have a solid Plan B for finishing your degree at UT Tyler in distinguished fashion and accumulating all the shadowing and other medical and volunteer experiences you will need.</p>

<p>One additional alternative would be to find a Rice professor whose field interests you, and ask to work alongside her/him over the summer of 2014. There are summer internships available, some of them paid, and not all reserved for Rice students.</p>

<p>All this being said, your best source of guidance may well be the premed adviser at UT Tyler, who will know how previous med school applicants have fared, and can direct you to Austin if s/he feels that will improve your chances of acceptance. S/he may also know if any recent premeds successfully transferred to Rice.</p>

4

<p>OP,</p>

<p>I have the same opinion as texaspg. You can get accepted to a med school from any college. You are doing fine now, why change?! The biggiest fish in a small pond could also do well as a similarly-sized fish in a large pond.</p>

5

<p>Thank you two for replying. As a FYI, this is my first ever forum post and reply so forgive me if i sound naive.</p>

<p>So far, it seems like I am getting a lot of advice to stay and make what I can get out of UT Tyler. But the problem is, when it comes to Rice, will they see that I came from a not-too-competiiive school rather than a competitive and prestigious school such as UT Austin? I’m just trying to make heads or tails whether UT Austin will give me a boost or not. Peer’s experiences have taught me that coming from a not too well known school but with outstanding and unique accomplishments will overshadow mediocre performances from more prestigious schools, but to what extent?</p>

<p>As well, does med school really take into consideration whether you graduated from UT Tyler, UT Austin, or Rice? I’m sure Rice will give get them to turn their heads, but not too sure about UT Austin and Tyler and the difference they make. </p>

<p>Again, sorry if the post isn’t in forum format or going by the rules, first post and still learning! Thanks in advance!</p>

6

<p>Thanks for your post mcat2. </p>

<p>The reason why I’m transferring is my Backup Plan. Say I graduate from UT Tyler with all my EC’s and internships, but for whatever reason, I still could not get into med school. I will then have to find a living for how ever long while studying again for med school. Now then, the difference between UT Tyler degree and a Rice degree is apparent. Of course, a UT Tyler degree isn’t bad, but a Rice degree will definitely trump a UT Tyler degree. Hope this makes sense.</p>

7

<p>OP, is money an issues? It could cost more to attend a private college. Also, if you care about the school name, as in your backup plan, I think few in Texas or in US would think UT Austin is not a good school.</p>

<p>In my opinion, if a premed student wants to be a big fish in a large pond (I.e., a college where there are much higher percentage of successful and aggressive premeds), it may be better to start there in freshmen year, or the sophomore year the latest. The same class may be taught differently at different colleges. The groups of study partners may have been formed - if you transfer to a small college, it may be harder to be a part of a group when you transfer between sophomore and junior.</p>

<p>I am a parent whose child chose to go to a large pond (a school quite similar to Rice in their student housing arrangement.) He went through the premed process not long ago. Many of his friends were at either UT Austin or Rice. At one of the med school interview, it was almost like a mini-reunion of his high school’s top 10-20 students :slight_smile: A good student can be successful from any good enough college.</p>

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<p>BTW, if you rock your MCAT, say, get the score of 40, you will immediately be noticed by many med schools, no matter what college you are from.</p>

<p>I also know that a student from an ivy did not do quite well on this test. He struggled a lot to get into any med school. (He did get into one of his in-state ones in the end.)</p>

<p>I mentioned this because in Texas it appears more applicants have troubles with their MCAT scores than their GPAs. So getting a good enough MCAT score may be more critical than the name of your school or the kind of your research experience.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I think a little like you too, I just want to shine… and no money is no issue at all. All I’m worried about is IF I don’t get into med school what can I do. But this is not the place or time to think about it. I think I’ll stay at UT Tyler for another year, see how it goes. If I really get involved, then I will stay. But if everything is normal, then I will transfer to Rice. Thank all you for for your opinions, I really appreciate it!</p>

10

<p>just cuz i think we often forget this when we toss out MCAT scores, 40 is 99.8th percentile and I think it’s safe to assume that your MCAT percentile will most likely be lower than your SAT percentile. <a href=“https://www.aamc.org/students/download/320554/data/combined12.pdf.pdf[/url]”>https://www.aamc.org/students/download/320554/data/combined12.pdf.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I really don’t believe one needs a 40 in Texas. 4.0 and 30-32 should be good to get into one of the schools. OP should concentrate on ECs like research, volunteering and shadowing.</p>

12

<p>^ Agree.</p>

<p>I really did not mean to say that one needs a 40. What I tried to say was that, even if a student is from a Podunk university (UT Tyler is NOT one of these schools), fair or not, his/her 40 will immediately wipe out any doubt about his/her academic capability (as long as his GPAs at his/her school is not too bad.)</p>

<p>In comparison, the school’s name likely does not carry such a significant weight as MCAT.</p>

<p>OP, Frankly speaking (I hope you do not mind), due to your past 1800 SAT score (unless you intentially did not work hard on your SAT back then), I think it may be more important to somehow make sure that you could get a good enogh MCAT score in the near future. This could be a more pressing issue than changing the school, as changing the school will likely not affact your MCAT score much. (However, going to a higher calibered school will make you set a higher standard, as likely more premeds there would set their standards high.)</p>

13

<p>My SAT of 1800 resulted from probably around 20-30% prep, since I didn’t give a beeswax about education back then. Therefore, it gives me some kind of hope, and I will defiantly aim for the top score. I have decided that I will stay at UT Tyler. Although the education may not be the best, at least I will have the chance of getting a lot of EC’s and shadowing, as well as forge good bonds with my professors and peers ( I already met a friend who is doing the same exact thing as I am and will possibly be a long term study partner, perhaps even in med school.) However, my GPA this semester will not be a 4.0, as a prof. went against his promise of dropping a quiz grade, which will give me a B and drop my gpa to a 3.92-ish. However next semester I will learn from this mistake and buckle down on Orgo and Genetics, and raise that GPA by how ever much.</p>