Preparing for the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin interview

This part is well documented, and it hints at what the interview will probe.

1. You apply through TMDSAS, the shared Texas application, which closes October 1 at 11:59 p.m. CST with no extensions.
2. The admissions team screens your TMDSAS application for mission fit.
3. If you pass that screen, you're emailed an invitation to a video secondary. Each question addresses part of the school's mission, and you get two minutes per answer. The Application Details page gives a priority deadline of November 15, while the FAQ page says December 15. Aim for November 15. To rehearse the two-minute, on-camera format, Confetto's one-way video practice lets you set custom think and answer times and gives feedback on each answer (you can start with a free trial).
4. Two reviewers score your file independently, without seeing your GPA or MCAT. Each ranks you against the pool on eight areas: personal attributes, life experiences, academic preparation, contribution to and fit with the mission, teamwork, community engagement, problem-solving for the betterment of others, and resilience. Their overall rankings decide who's invited to interview.

Dell Med isn't on TMDSAS's list of medical schools that require CASPer or on the AAMC's 2026 PREview participant list, and it doesn't set a minimum GPA or MCAT (Admissions Criteria).

The class is small. Dell Med says it gets more than 6,000 applications a year for 50 seats (Admissions 101, October 2025).

That's fewer than one seat per 100 applications. Texas law caps nonresidents at 10% of the class, which the FAQ works out as five out-of-state students.

Dell lists those eight areas for the file review, not for the interview. Still, walk in with a story for each.

Dell Med follows the shared Texas calendar. From the TMDSAS deadlines page for Entry Year 2027:

When offers go out

Dell's FAQ says acceptances go out from October 15 through January, matched applicants hear in February, and waitlist offers run February to May.

In the Admissions 101 piece, the school's interim assistant dean of admissions says Dell has admitted students in the pre-match period, through the Match and off the waitlist every year.

How the Match works

The Match is for Texas residents only. Per TMDSAS's after-submitting guide, you rank every school where you interviewed, and you can rank a school above one that gave you a pre-match offer without losing that offer unless you match higher.

People search for the mission because they want it for a "Why Dell?" answer. From the school's Mission and Vision page, the mission is "to revolutionize how people get and stay healthy," through six commitments:

• "Building a sustainable academic health system that delivers person-centered, integrated care across the continuum."
• "Embracing novel, collaborative solutions to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible."
• "Empowering patients, families and communities to be active participants in the health care process through information, access, engagement and agency."
• "Cultivating transformative research, entrepreneurship and innovation that leads to real-world impact."
• "Equipping faculty, staff and learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead the next generation of health care."
• "Leading the advancement and use of cutting-edge technologies, data and digital capabilities that serve the needs of patients, physicians, health care professionals, faculty, staff, learners and our community."

Vision and values

The vision is "defining the future of health." The guiding value is "Putting Patients First," and the listed core values are excellence, innovation, impact, collaboration, compassion, humility, stewardship and altruism.

How to use it

Don't recite this in the interview. Pick the one commitment your own experience actually touches and talk about that.

The admissions criteria page says the school wants applicants who go past identifying problems to building solutions. A project you started, even a small one, will do more for you than any phrase from the mission page.

From the Leading EDGE curriculum page and the Admissions 101 interview:

• Year one. Preclinical science is compressed into 12 months instead of the usual two years, and the first year is pass/fail.
• Year two. Clerkships start in year two, a year earlier than most schools: six rotations of about eight weeks each in hospitals and clinics around Austin.
• Year three. Year three is a nine-month Growth block for a personal area of interest, such as a dual degree with another UT Austin school, plus work that benefits the Central Texas community.
• Year four. Year four covers electives in your chosen specialty and a capstone transition-to-residency experience.
• Longitudinal courses. Longitudinal courses run alongside the science and clinical work through all four years. In the clinical skills course, teams of five students work with one faculty mentor. The interprofessional education course puts you with students from social work, nursing, pharmacy and other fields.

Expect the accelerated first year to come up. The admissions criteria page says the school reviews your history for "academic aptitude and stamina," so have one concrete example of handling a heavy, fast course load.

Is the Dell Medical School interview virtual?

Yes. Dell's MSAR 2027 entry says all interviews will be conducted virtually, using "innovation and traditional formats."

When are Dell Med interviews?

From early August to February, per Dell's Application Details page, though its How to Apply page says interviews begin in early September. MSAR says invitations can go out as early as June and continue on a rolling basis.

Does Dell publish a station count or interview length?

No. As of October 2026 neither Dell's pages nor its MSAR entry give a station count or length, so prepare for both a conversation and a scenario-style answer.

Most Texas applicants interview at several TMDSAS schools in one season.

Our guides to UT Southwestern, Texas A&M, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine and Sam Houston State's osteopathic college cover those interviews, and the medical school program page has the rest.

When your Dell invitation arrives, check what it says about format against this page and go with the invitation.