When you apply to TMDSAS, you can select from thirteen medical schools in Texas to submit your application to. Twelve of these schools require secondaries. The secondary essays are due when you submit your primary application. You submit these essays directly to the schools, at the same time that you submit your primary application on the TMDSAS website. The schools will not review your application until you have submitted both the primary and secondary essays.
TMDSAS schools
- Baylor College of Medicine
- Dell Medical School
- McGovern Medical School
- Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Texas A & M College of Medicine
- Texas Tech University HSC El Paso Paul L. Foster SOM
- University of Houston College of Medicine
- University of North Texas HSC — Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
- UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
- Texas Tech University Health Science Center SOM at Lubbock
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
- Long SOM at UT Health San Antonio utilizes the TMDSAS application, but does not require a secondary application.
5 steps for successful TMDSAS secondaries
To submit your best work, use these strategies:
- Plan for success by getting started early
Since your application will not be considered until both the primary and secondary essays are submitted, give yourself enough time to work on all of these essays well before any of the schools’ final deadlines. Create a timeline for yourself. If you need additional time to write the essays because you are a slow writer, include this time in your plan. Set reasonable goals. Have deadlines for your first drafts as well as second and third drafts. Academic success is determined by your ability to set and reach small goals. I don’t recommend using the final deadlines as a milepost for any of your work as this would be considered waiting until the last minute. If you are procrastinating or self-sabotaging, I recommend you take a long hard look at that behavior since it needs to be addressed before you can allow yourself to earnestly approach any academic endeavor.
- Take your time with the writing process
Trust the process! Rarely does anyone write a first draft and expect anyone else to deem it perfection. It’s not realistic to expect that your first draft will be your final draft. Include a period of brainstorming, outlining, writing a first draft and revising repeatedly until you have created a final draft. Reading the essay questions and giving yourself enough time to think about them and how you will approach each writing task that they represent will help. Build enough time into each step so that you can glide through the process. Anticipate the challenges and create strategies to manage each one. - Use outlines to map out a plan for each essay
Can you imagine how a house would turn out if there was no plan for how to build it? It would not be habitable. Outlines are to essays what blueprints are to building. The outline provides the plans. It provides the structure for your essay. It should stand firm, like a house. Taking the time to create outlines can set your essays apart from everyone else’s work. - Take breaks from each draft
In anticipating the massive amount of writing that you will need to do in applying to medical school, schedule time to work on your essays almost every day. You do need to take breaks from your work in order to see it clearly. Work on one essay while taking a break from another. Be efficient in your approach. I’m not recommending that you take weeks off unless you have given yourself enough time to do so. - Edit and revise your work
This step is actually the most important in the writing process. It takes time to edit and revise. So few people spend time on it, and then they submit unfinished or undeveloped essays. If you have created a strong outline, your essay will require less editing, but you’ll still need to edit and revise your work. Spend enough time on editing and revising to ensure that you can submit your best work.
It can be easier to have another person critique and edit your work. Working with a professional consultant and editor like me or my colleagues at Accepted can give you a significant advantage and save you time.
Using these five strategies will ensure that you have an easier time completing your essays for the TMDSAS application. Most people don’t like to write, but your writing is one of the most revealing aspects of your application. It introduces you as a person to the evaluation committee. Make sure your writing process introduces your best YOU.
You need to work hard if you want to submit a winning TMDSAS application — and we can help! Check out Accepted’s Med School Application Package to receive complete application guidance from conceptualization to final review. Your experienced consultant will guide you through the entire application, ensuring that you make the best use of your time to create a compelling portrait of yourself as a future leader in the medical field.
Alicia McNease Nimonkar worked for 5 years as the Student Advisor & Director at the UC Davis School of Medicine's postbac program where she both evaluated applications and advised students applying successfully to med school and other health professional programs. She has served Accepted's clients since 2012 with roughly a 90% success rate. She has a Master of Arts in Composition and Rhetoric as well as Literature. Want Alicia to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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