TMDSAS 2028 Timeline: Dates, Activities, Essays

TMDSAS 2028 Timeline: Dates, Activities, Essays

TMDSAS has not posted Entry Year 2028 dates. The calendar it has posted, for Entry Year 2027, ran from May 1 (application available) to an October 1, 11:59 p.m. CST submission deadline that "TMDSAS does not grant deadline extensions under any circumstances." Plan EY2028 to that shape and recheck in spring 2027.

That fixed date is the planning fact to build around. AACOMAS keeps its 2026-2027 cycle open until April 30, 2027, and DO schools set their own deadlines inside it. TMDSAS gives every medical applicant one date, and the TMDSAS match runs on fixed dates after it. The second fact: the TMDSAS activities section asks for hours you have not done yet. If you are writing now, start with the TMDSAS personal statement rubric and the rules below.

Every TMDSAS, AACOM and school page quoted below was checked on November 7, 2026. The TMDSAS deadlines page lists Entry Year 2027 and Entry Year 2026 only. Recheck it, and the essay prompts, when the EY2028 application opens.

The Entry Year 2027 calendar TMDSAS posted

TMDSAS's deadlines page gives month and day but no year. The years in this table are ours, taken from the activities page, which uses October 1, 2026 as the EY2027 cut-off.

If TMDSAS keeps this pattern, EY2028 runs from May 2027 to an October 1, 2027 deadline. That is our projection, not a TMDSAS date.

The letter line carries a warning: "Some schools will not extend an interview offer until all letters of evaluation and test scores have been received." October 15 is the outside edge, not the target.

What a fixed October 1 deadline changes

Our view: submit in late May or June and treat October 1 as a hard stop that you never get near. TMDSAS's own guide says its processing takes "usually" four weeks and "up to 6 weeks" in peak periods, and offers start on October 15. An application submitted in September is still on time. It is not early.

The countercase: early-decision and early-admission applicants have earlier dates. In EY2027 the deadline for the listed Early Decision programs was August 1, with supporting documents due August 15. Some programs closed September 1. If you are in one of those programs, your calendar is set by the program, not by October 1.

Month-by-month plan for an EY2028 applicant

This is our recommended plan, anchored on the rules quoted on this page. It assumes an October 1, 2027 deadline until TMDSAS posts one.

For the AMCAS and AACOMAS side of the same year, use the 2028 medical school application timeline. For how many Texas schools to select, see how many Texas medical schools to apply to.

Activities: current, planned and top meaningful

The TMDSAS activities guide sets these rules:

• "There is no limit to the amount of activities you can enter in your application."
• "Activities CANNOT be changed or updated after submitting under any circumstances."
• Current activities run up to the deadline. Their hours "include the hours you have completed AND the estimated hours you plan to complete by September 30th."
• Planned activities run from October 1 to matriculation: "Estimate (but don't overinflate) the hours you expect to complete from October 1st until your end date."
• An activity that started before the deadline and continues after it goes in both sections, split at September 30 / October 1.
• Shadowing goes under Healthcare Activities. For several doctors at one site, "create ONE entry per location and list each doctor in the description." A different specialty may get its own entry.
• Healthcare descriptions are limited to 500 characters. "Unlike other application services, you do not need to enter the contact information in the activity descriptions."
• Top Meaningful Activities: "You are required to identify the most meaningful activity and may list up to three total (500 character limit, each entry)." They must be completed or ongoing: "Do not include activities with a future start date."

AACOMAS works the other way. Its Experiences guide says: "Enter only current and in-progress experiences (not planned experiences)." If you apply through both systems, keep one log and enter it twice. Do not copy one system's hour totals into the other.

The TMDSAS activities page mixes dates from more than one cycle in its examples (one line still gives a "November 1st" deadline). Follow the rules, not the years printed in the examples, and take the deadline from the deadlines page.

Constructed example: one volunteer role split into current and planned

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant entry. Context (invented): an EY2028 applicant volunteers as a Spanish interpreter at a student-run free clinic, 4 hours every Saturday from January 2027, and submits on June 1, 2027. We assume the EY2027 split moves forward one year.

The 470-character description for the current entry:

Interpreter, Spanish-English, at a student-run free clinic on Saturday mornings. I interpret during intake and visits, then read back discharge instructions so the patient can repeat them in their own words. In March a man nodded through his new insulin plan; when I asked him to repeat it, he could not. The resident redrew the schedule as a picture and I translated it line by line. I now ask for the read-back before anyone leaves, because a nod is not understanding.

It uses the space for one observed moment and a changed habit. It does not repeat the dates or hours already in the form, and it claims no clinical decision the volunteer did not make. The planned entry gets its own description, because TMDSAS says "Don't copy and paste from your current activity descriptions." For how many hours to aim for in the first place, see how many clinical and shadowing hours for med school.

The three essays and when to start each

From the TMDSAS essays page, EY2027 wording. "Essays CANNOT be changed after submitting under any circumstances."

Our recommendation: draft the personal statement first, in February or March. It carries the most evidence, and the other two essays must not repeat it. Draft the personal characteristics essay next, from the same activity log, and expect to check its prompt again in May because it changed for EY2027. Decide on the optional essay last. TMDSAS describes it as space "to address any issues that have not previously been covered," so you only know whether you need it once the other two are done. The three-essay content split shows how to divide one story among them, and the personal characteristics essay guide covers the second prompt.

TMDSAS also warns that "the character count includes spaces" and advises typing into the application rather than pasting formatted text.

Letters: committee packet or three individual letters

The TMDSAS letters page gives medical applicants two routes, each with "Option to submit one additional letter":

• "Three individual letters of evaluation or evaluation forms", or
• "One Health Professions Committee Letter or Packet".

Three rules change the timing:

1. "You can submit your application before TMDSAS has received your letters of evaluation."
2. Processing: direct uploads up to 10 business days, TMDSAS evaluation forms within 1 business day, Interfolio up to 14 business days.
3. Dates count: "Admissions committees will take the date of the letter into consideration during review, with a strong preference for letters written after May 1, 2025." That was the EY2027 line. For EY2028 we expect the date to move forward a year, but TMDSAS has not said so.

TMDSAS also recommends "that at least one of your evaluators be a current/former professor who can speak to your academic ability in the sciences." The TMDSAS letters of evaluation guide for evaluators covers what the writer has to include.

Secondaries and Casper on top of TMDSAS

TMDSAS is one application, but not the only one you fill in. Its after-submitting page says "A secondary application is required by the following medical schools" and lists them, with three patterns:

• Required of everyone, invitation on submission. "A Baylor College of Medicine Supplemental Application is required of all applicants."
• Invitation after an initial review. Six of the 11 listed medical schools send it "after an initial review of their TMDSAS application."
• No invitation at all. For TCOM, "Applicants will not receive an email invitation to complete the secondary application." You find it in the school's portal yourself.

Casper is school by school: "Some TMDSAS schools also require that you submit your CASPer test results," and "CASPer test results are valid for one admissions cycle." For EY2027, UTMB's John Sealy School of Medicine said that "October 20, 2026 , will be the last test accepted for the 2027 entry year." Expect a new date for EY2028. The PREview and Casper requirements for the 2028 cycle page tracks the tests.

Questions about the TMDSAS 2028 timeline

When does the TMDSAS application open for Entry Year 2028?

TMDSAS has not posted it. For EY2027 the application became available May 1 and submission opened May 15, both at 8 a.m. CST. Check the deadlines page in spring 2027.

Can I get an extension on the October 1 deadline?

No. The EY2027 page says "TMDSAS does not grant deadline extensions under any circumstances," and payment must be submitted by the deadline.

Do I need my letters before I submit?

No. TMDSAS processes letters separately and adds them as they arrive. But some schools will not offer an interview until every letter and score is in, so do not let letters drift toward October 15.

Can I list activities I have not started yet?

Yes, in Planned Activities, for activities that start after the deadline. Activities that start before the deadline go under current activities with projected hours. Top Meaningful Activities must be completed or ongoing.

Is there a fee waiver?

No. TMDSAS's certification page says "TMDSAS does not grant application fee waivers at this time." The EY2027 application fee was $235, a flat fee for all schools.

Get a free review of your personal statement

Get a free Quick Review of your personal statement against GradPilot's TMDSAS medical personal statement rubric. It reads for an evidence-based reason for medicine, what your experiences changed or taught you, and a realistic picture of physician work. For the second essay, use the personal characteristics rubric; for the third, the optional essay rubric or the TMDSAS optional essay review. More Texas and MD guides are on the medical school essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026.

• TMDSAS, Deadlines & Important Dates (Entry Year 2027; EY2028 not posted): calendar, no-extension rule, letter and interview warning.
• TMDSAS, Activities (no year stated; examples mix cycles): activity limit, current and planned hours, shadowing entries, character limits, Top Meaningful Activities.
• TMDSAS, Essays (EY2027 prompts): limits, prompts, no changes after submission.
• TMDSAS, Letters of Evaluation (EY2027 date preference): letter routes, processing times, date preference, professor recommendation.
• TMDSAS, After Submitting (no year stated): processing times, secondary patterns, Casper rule.
• TMDSAS, Certification and Payment (EY2027): fee and fee-waiver answer.
• UTMB John Sealy School of Medicine, Ready to Apply (2027 entry year): MCAT timing advice, Casper last test date.
• AACOMAS Applicant Help Center, Experiences (no year stated): no planned experiences.
• AACOM, Apply to Medical School (2026-2027 cycle): AACOMAS cycle end date.