TMDSAS Application 2027: $235 Flat Fee, Dates, Essays and Letters

How much does TMDSAS cost, with secondaries?

The application itself is a flat $235, by credit card only, not refundable, and TMDSAS grants no fee waivers. The same 14 schools at AMCAS's per-school rate would cost $804 (our math from the 2027 AMCAS fees), so Texas is cheap to apply to widely. The cost is in the secondaries. TMDSAS lists 8 medical schools with a fee, and they add up to $635. With the TMDSAS fee, the fees TMDSAS lists come to $870 before Casper (our sum). TMDSAS lists no secondary for Texas Tech Lubbock, UT Tyler or Long, and no fee for Dell or UTRGV, so check those schools' own sites before you budget.

Do secondaries as soon as they arrive, since TMDSAS says they should be done as soon as you submit. Questions about them go to the school, not TMDSAS. The prompts themselves are in our secondary essays guide, and our cost calculator adds TMDSAS to an AMCAS or AACOMAS list.

How does the TMDSAS activities section work?

There is no limit on the number of entries. Medical applicants list everything since high school graduation, each activity in one category (paid healthcare work and leadership roles may appear twice). Descriptions are short, and activities lock when you submit.

What are the TMDSAS essays?

Three for medical applicants, all counting spaces. TMDSAS says essays cannot be changed after you submit under any circumstances, and suggests typing them into the application rather than pasting formatted text.

The 2,500-character personal characteristics prompt is new for 2027, and our personal characteristics essay guide walks through it with an example. For the personal statement, start from our medical school personal statement guide and check length with the character counter.

How many letters of evaluation does TMDSAS need?

Medical applicants send three individual letters or evaluation forms, or one health professions committee letter or packet, and may add one more either way. TMDSAS recommends at least one science professor. Dental applicants also send three, one of them from a dentist. Veterinary applicants send three evaluation forms, at least one from a veterinarian, and no extra.

Letters arrive separately and never hold up your application. Direct uploads take up to 10 business days to process, TMDSAS evaluation forms within one business day, and Interfolio up to 14. Aim for October 15. After that, schools decide whether to accept late letters. You can swap an evaluator until the letter is marked received. More on choosing writers is in our letters of recommendation guide.

How do transcripts and test scores reach TMDSAS?

Not at the start. TMDSAS asks for transcripts later, usually after interviews, from medical, dental and podiatry applicants who have been accepted and veterinary applicants who have been interviewed. If you send them early it does not keep them. Early Decision, JAMP and Academic Fresh Start applicants are the exceptions. Until then you enter every course attempted as it appears on your official transcript, repeats, withdrawals and failed courses included. Our TMDSAS GPA calculator shows the result.

MCAT scores must come from the AAMC, released by you to TMDSAS, and reach your file within 36 hours. They can be up to five years old at your start date, but Baylor takes only three. For 2027 entry the last MCAT that counted was September 12, 2026. DAT scores must be within five years, from a test no later than December 1.

What happens after you submit TMDSAS?

TMDSAS processes most applications within four weeks, up to six in peak periods, then sends them to your schools. Missing letters and scores don't delay that. Here is our math on when schools see an application, on the 2027 calendar.

An application submitted in mid-September may reach schools after offers open on October 15. That is why we suggest submitting in the first month and doing secondaries the week they arrive.

Once your application goes out you can download your Prerequisite Coursework Report (PCR), which shows any prerequisite hours you are missing. A deficiency does not stop processing, review or interview invitations, and planned courses clear once their grades are in. Update grades each term between the deadline and your start date. Essays and activities stay locked.

8 medical schools require Casper: the six marked in the table above plus UT Tyler and Long School of Medicine (UT San Antonio). Results are valid for one cycle, so reapplicants retest. See which other schools use it in our Casper school list.

Who counts as a Texas resident, and who is in the Match?

You must have lived in Texas for the 12 months before the application deadline, and either have graduated from a Texas high school after 36 months in the state or have established domicile (through work, owning a home or business, or marriage). TMDSAS decides residency for admission only. Tuition residency is the school's call at enrollment.

The TMDSAS Match is for Texas resident medical applicants. It confirms pre-match offers and fills the remaining seats. You rank schools by January 29, 2027 and results come out February 12. How pre-match offers work, and how to rank, is in our TMDSAS interviews and Match guide.

Before you submit: our checklist

We wrote these from the parts of TMDSAS that lock or slow you down. Run through them before you pay.

1. Read every essay and activity one last time. TMDSAS will not change either after you submit.
2. Split each ongoing activity into a current entry (to September 30) and a planned entry (from October 1).
3. Pick your top meaningful activities from entries already listed, with a label so schools know which one you mean.
4. Create all three letter placeholders at once, with each writer's correct email, then tell them the request is coming.
5. Release every MCAT score to TMDSAS through the AAMC. A personal score report does not count.
6. Do not mail transcripts. Wait for TMDSAS to ask, unless you are in Early Decision, JAMP or Academic Fresh Start.
7. List your planned fall courses as Not Yet Reported, and update the grades as soon as they post.
8. Pay by credit card before 11:59 p.m. CST on the deadline. An unpaid application is not submitted.

Practice the question Texas schools ask

Interviews often start from what you wrote, so be ready to talk through your essays and activities. Expect to be asked why Texas, too. Start with why do you want to be a doctor, then try this one out loud.

Frequently asked questions