Long (UTHSCSA) vs UTMB (I am non-Texas resident)

[illmaatic]

I'm having a hard time

I'm very settled on pursuing anesthesia. I would VERY much like to match in socal (anywhere in LA, irvine, or san diego). i'm a california resident if that matters.

first thing i'll note is there's a big price difference. like 20k for Long vs 30+k for UTMB. but UTMB is releasing aid/scholarship awards sometime this month so maybe that would change. i guess i can talk to the financial aid office?

sentimentally i've liked UTMB this whole time. i like the location (i've been), the school showed confidence in me very early which i appreciate, the student body seems great (as does Long's though), i'm set to live at a cheap frat nearby (really a coop it seems to me). i've talked with anesthesia people and seems like there's some good opportunities. i like that pre-clinicals are P/F unlike Long (though i'll be aiming for aoa so idk how much that matters).

otoh, everyone in texas seems to **** on utmb for whatever reason. they're unranked because of shady behavior on their part i guess (not that ranking matters but shadiness does). people hate galveston (which is kinda mystifying to me).

i don't know i've just assumed i've been going to utmb this whole time and i was happy with that, my living situation there is even already settled, in a situation i'm really happy with (i thrived in a coop as an undergrad and really wanted something similar for med school).

i know much more about utmb and don't really know much about Long, but i'll have to decide quick. Long is just so much cheaper (as of right now anyway) and idk if it would be better for career goals. i would appreciate any and all input. thank you.

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[photovoltaic123]

How much time do you have to decide?

Long I think nowadays is considered to be slightly more prestigious than UTMB, but this is due to the fact that they inflated their incoming stats, which is somewhat used as a metric for US News Rankings. In your case, if you're set on anesthesia, both schools should open the same doors career-wise. San Antonio is almost always considered to be a better location than Galveston, though I agree with you, in that I never understood the Galveston hate train either.

UTMB's pre-clinicals are P/F, but its actually ranked as explained to me by others for AOA purposes, whereas Long, as explained by my friend that attends, is full letter grades with cutoffs, but most people there are scoring really well and I think Long has a good rep for producing some of the happiest students in the state, despite the letter grades. The end result seems similar, though you'll have to look at the curriculum differences in depth. For AOA, you have to perform high anyway, so no further comment there.

Hope this helps!

 

[illmaatic]

How much time do you have to decide?

Long I think nowadays is considered to be slightly more prestigious than UTMB, but this is due to the fact that they inflated their incoming stats, which is somewhat used as a metric for US News Rankings. In your case, if you're set on anesthesia, both schools should open the same doors career-wise. San Antonio is almost always considered to be a better location than Galveston, though I agree with you, in that I never understood the Galveston hate train either.

UTMB's pre-clinicals are P/F, but its actually ranked as explained to me by others for AOA purposes, whereas Long, as explained by my friend that attends, is full letter grades with cutoffs, but most people there are scoring really well and I think Long has a good rep for producing some of the happiest students in the state, despite the letter grades. The end result seems similar, though you'll have to look at the curriculum differences in depth. For AOA, you have to perform high anyway, so no further comment there.

Hope this helps!

i think i have three days but that's going by amcas rules so idk if it's different for texas schools.

yeah the schools are pretty much equal from what i gather. utmb does rank for aoa purposes but i do not believe that they release your ranking to residency programs as part of your letter packet or whatever (that's what students who have gone through the match have told me).

both student bodies seem really happy. i have been to san antonio but it was during the winter storm so i did not receive a very representative experience of the city to say the least. but i have zero issue with galveston as a location. touristy island/beach is right up my alley, if only for a few years.

idk maybe it'll come down to me being so stoked for the living situation i've secured in galveston. but the difference in price is significant.

i just don't know. thank you for your input, it is very much appreciated

 

[photovoltaic123]

Agreed with all of your points. Best of luck man! Hopefully UTMB pulls through for me in the next few days and I could see you there if you stay there!

 

[wysdoc]

Whether a school enters into the ranking game or not depends on whether they are willing to fill out all the extra paperwork requested by whatever business is asking for it (are you referring to USNWR?). I don't know of anything 'shady' if they chose not to participate in this.

If you are talking about rank as in AOA, UTMB does have an AOA chapter.
UTMB results speak for themselves; if you would like to see where their residents matched last year see this list: #25
23 people matched in Anesthesia.

Galveston does not feel urban or have as much shopping as San Antonio, which may make people not like it, but not as much traffic either.
Long often gives OOS students a "tuition discount" which lets them pay IS-level tuition, sounds like this is the case with the OP.
UTMB scholarships are offered but you may not find out anything by the time you need to decide.

 

[photovoltaic123]

Whether a school enters into the ranking game or not depends on whether they are willing to fill out all the extra paperwork requested by whatever business is asking for it (are you referring to USNWR?). I don't know of anything 'shady' if they chose not to participate in this.

I’ve asked about this and never got a good answer. By “shady” I think people are saying that UTMB is that way because they supposedly inflated their board scores and got banned from sharing ranking data. It’s interesting, because UTMB actually does pull in students with lower stats but somehow was producing step 1 scores on par with UTSW years ago. But again, some part of this seems like petty bashing with little to no evidence. Thoughts?

 

[wysdoc]

I’ve asked about this and never got a good answer. By “shady” I think people are saying that UTMB is that way because they supposedly inflated their board scores and got banned from sharing ranking data. It’s interesting, because UTMB actually does pull in students with lower stats but somehow was producing step 1 scores on par with UTSW years ago. But again, some part of this seems like petty bashing with little to no evidence. Thoughts?

I hadn't heard about this so it might be many years in the past. UTMB admin seems very honest.