TMDSAS is the Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service which is equivalent to AMCAS, but is only composed of schools located in Texas. As noted in the name of TMDSAS applicants can use this service to apply to dental and veterinary schools, but I will bypass these aspects of the application.

Important Dates & Deadlines

May 1 - TMDSAS Application Opens

Aug 1 to Jan 15 - Most medical school interviews are conducted. 

October 1 - Submission deadline: all sections of the application must be complete.

October 15 - Letters of Evaluation must be post-marked by this date.

January 15 - Submission deadline for RANKING of SCHOOL PREFERENCE for TDMSAS admissions match.

February 1 - Results of medical school admissions match are announced.

Application Fee

There is a nonrefundable flat fee of $185.00 which is payable by credit card only. 

Please note there are no fee waivers. 

Secondary Applications

One unique aspect of the TMDSAS is that for some schools the secondary application must be completed near the same time in which the original application is completed. This is in contrast to the AMCAS where the application must be verified first and only then will the individual school issue their secondary application. The medical schools which require secondaries at the onset include:

• Dell Medical School
• McGovern Medical School
• Sam Houston State, College of Osteopathic Medicine
• UT Southwestern Medical Center
• UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• Texas A&M University College of Medicine
• Texas Tech University HSC School of Medicine
• The University of North Texas HSC - Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Texas Tech University HSC El Paso Paul L. Foster SOM

Core Residency Requirement

You will be asked to provide your residency history along with enrollment in Texas schools of education at both the secondary and university levels. A claim to Texas residency may be made by you the applicant or your legal guardian(s).

Texas residency is important because Texas state law states no more then 10% of the entering classes of medical schools can be made up of non-Texas residents. Texas law will classify you into one of three categories:

• A resident of Texas
• A nonresident, or
• A foreign (international) student.

Medical and Dental School Information

Section 5 of the applicant is where you indicate which schools you will be applying. A stark difference to the AMCAS is you will be required to list all non TMDSAS schools to which you will be applying. In addition, if you are a reapplicant you will be asked if you had previously applied to non-TMDSAS schools. Again these questions are being asked to ensure that you are committed to practicing medicine in Texas.

Personal Biography

This is section 6 of the application and is very comparable to the work/activities section of AMCAS. On the TMDSAS there are roughly nine subset of responses to be completed. These range from the standard listing of honors received, service activities, extracurriculars to employment, criminal record, and academic disciplinary action taken.

Chronology of Activities

I am so glad I did not apply to Texas schools with this section (section 7). As you are required to list all major activities since high school graduation to present inclusive of dates and brief description. But hey, this is a small price to pay to gain admission to medical school and more power to all the Texas applicants.

Personal Essay

This is a crucial aspect of any application and it comprises section 8 of TMDSAS. Essentially, you will be responding to the prompt of explaining your motivation to seek a career in MEDICINE, while discussing your philosophy of the medical profession and indicating your goals relevant to the profession. You will be allotted 4,960 characters to complete your response which includes spaces and symbols in calculating the character limit.

Relevant Information

This application must be completed online and you will need a valid email address. To get started you will need to request your personal identification number (pin) from the TMDSAS homepage. Upon completion of the online application it is important to mail in your certification page (section 13), application fee(s), and photos.

An aspect which will require work on your end is the submission of official transcripts and letters of evaluation. The official transcript must be submitted directly to each TMDSAS school to which you will be applying. The letter of evaluation must come from a committee or TWO individuals and they must be submitted to the individual schools to which you are applying.

Therefore a complete application file will have the following:

• Online Application
• Application Fee
• Certification Page
• Photos
• Copy of Visa or Permanent Resident Card (if applicable)
• Official Transcripts
• Evaluation (Recommendation) Letters
• Official DAT/MCAT/GRE Score Report
• Secondary Applications

Please allow between 2 to 4 weeks for processing of your application. If you application passes the initial processing without problems it will be transmitted to the schools which you have designated. You will receive notification via email. Lastly, evaluation of applications and admissions actions will be made by the individual medical schools.

Click here for applying to Texas medical schools.

Schools Participating in TMDSAS

Medical

• Long School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio
• McGovern Medical School
• Sam Houston State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Texas A&M University College of Medicine
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
• The University of Texas at Austin, Dell Medical School
• The UT Southwestern Medical Center
• The UT Medical Branch at Galveston
• The UT Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
• University of North Texas - Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine

Dental

• Texas A&M University College of Dentistry
• UT School of Dentistry at Houston
• UT School of Dentistry at San Antonio

Veterinary

Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine