TMDSAS Pre-Match Offer: Hold, Decline, or Reply

TMDSAS Pre-Match Offer: Hold, Decline, or Reply

A TMDSAS pre-match offer is a formal acceptance you may hold alongside any other pre-match offers until the match. You can decline it on the portal's Pre-Match Offer Withdrawal page between October 15, 2026 and January 29, 2027, and ranking another school above it does not put it at risk.

The rules are generous. The mistake is in the reply email. Applicants write "I will definitely attend" to a school whose seat they already hold, which promises something the match settles for them. This page covers the three things you can do with the offer: hold it, decline it, or answer it. For how the match algorithm pairs applicants and schools, read our TMDSAS match explainer; this page does not repeat it.

Every TMDSAS and school page quoted below was re-checked on November 7, 2026. The dates are for the 2026-2027 cycle (entry year 2027).

What a pre-match offer is, and this cycle's window

The TMDSAS Guidelines for Conduct of the Match, Section I, on the TMDSAS after-submitting page:

"Formal offers of acceptance to Texas residents may be extended prior to the match for a period between October 15, 2026 (12:01 a.m. CST) and January 29, 2027 (11:59 p.m. CST)."

Two lines on the same page decide what counts as an offer:

"Offers of acceptance should only be considered valid if an acceptance letter is received. Verbal offers of acceptance or ranking are not binding to either the applicant or medical schools."

So an interviewer who says "we'd love to have you" has offered nothing. The acceptance letter is the offer.

Pre-match offers exist only for Texas residents in the match. TMDSAS: "Non-Texas residents, MD/PhD, DO/PhD, MD/MBA and Assured Acceptance Program applicants are NOT included in the match process." Their rules are in the last section below.

Note the seven hours on January 29. Your rank list locks at 5 p.m., but schools may still send pre-match offers until 11:59 p.m. A list ranked by true preference works for any offer that lands in that gap. A list built around the offers you held at 4 p.m. may not.

Can you hold more than one?

Yes. TMDSAS:

"Applicants may accept offers from more than one medical school during the pre-match offer period without the risk of an offer being withdrawn by a medical school during the pre-match offer period."

You cannot keep them all. "If you are holding multiple pre-match offers, you will come out of the match holding only one offer". The match picks the one you ranked highest. You do not have to choose before February 12, 2027.

Should you decline one? A three-question test

Holding an offer costs you nothing, and TMDSAS says declining is "purely optional and for their convenience." Holding still has a cost for someone else. Run these three questions on each offer you hold.

1. Is there an offer you definitely will not take? Decline it now. The guideline is plain: "An applicant who receives more than one offer should decline any offer from a school that he/she definitely does not plan to attend as soon as that decision is made." The seat goes back to the school.
2. Is there a school you prefer to this one that can still match you? Then keep this offer and rank the preferred school higher. You lose nothing (see ranking another school above your pre-match).
3. Is anyone asking you to decline other offers as a condition? Section II of the guidelines rules this out: "Requiring that all other offers be declined cannot be a condition of accepting a scholarship." It also says "No scholarship may be offered to an applicant before a formal offer of acceptance has been extended."

Our view: decline an offer the day you know you will not take it. Waiting for "certainty" about a school you have already ruled out keeps a seat from a Texan who would take it, and the guideline uses "should".

The countercase: if you are truly torn between two offers, hold both. TMDSAS lets you, schools "may take reasonable actions to recruit applicants to whom offers have been made," and recruiting events or aid information may settle it. Rank the two in your current order; the list is due by 5 p.m. CST on January 29, 2027.

How to decline: the Pre-Match Offer Withdrawal page

TMDSAS describes the route in one passage:

"Applicants can decline pre-match offers via the [Pre-Match Offer Withdrawal] page between October 15 and January 29. Applicants are not required to decline any pre-match offers – this is purely optional and for their convenience. Once they decline an offer via the application portal, the schools can track the withdrawal by a report in the School Portal."

The steps:

1. Log in to the TMDSAS application portal and open the [Pre-Match Offer Withdrawal] page.
2. Decline the offer you will not take. The school sees it on its School Portal report, so no email is required.
3. Leave that school off your rank list if you like. Section I: "Applicants must rank all schools where they interviewed except those schools where a pre-match offer was declined." The school must otherwise stay on the list.
4. Do it before 5 p.m. CST on January 29, 2027. TMDSAS does not say what happens when a school you declined after 5 p.m. is still on a locked list. Declining earlier avoids the question.

A short email to the school is a courtesy, not a requirement. The constructed decline below is one paragraph, and that is enough.

What to reply to the offer email

Read the acceptance letter first. If it asks you to confirm receipt, submit a form or meet a deadline, do exactly that. Nothing else is required. A thank-you is fine. A promise to enroll is a mistake. Section III: "Participating schools do not have access to the applicants' school preference rankings." Your rank list is your commitment, and the school will never see it. A written "I will attend" adds nothing. It is untrue if you rank another school first and match there.

Constructed reply 1: holding the offer

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's email. The applicant and school are invented. It is 82 words, subject line included.

Subject: Acceptance received: Ashwini Bianchi, TMDSAS ID [number]

Dear Dr. Takahashi and the Admissions Committee,

Thank you for the offer of acceptance to the Gulf Plains School of Medicine, which I received on November 11. I have completed the acceptance form linked in your letter.

I enjoyed my conversation with your second-year students about the longitudinal clinic in Beaumont, and I am grateful for the committee's time. I look forward to the recruiting information you mentioned in your letter.

Sincerely, Ashwini Bianchi

What each sentence commits to:

• "I have completed the acceptance form": the one action the letter asked for. State it only if it is true.
• "longitudinal clinic in Beaumont": a specific, true detail, so the note is not generic. It promises nothing.
• No "you are my first choice", no "I will attend". Neither is needed, and the school cannot check either against your list.

Constructed reply 2: declining the offer

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant's email. It is 67 words, subject line included.

Subject: Declining my offer: Milan Ellery, TMDSAS ID [number]

Dear Admissions Committee,

Thank you for the offer of acceptance to the Gulf Plains School of Medicine. I have decided to attend another school, and I declined the offer today on the TMDSAS Pre-Match Offer Withdrawal page so the seat can go to another applicant. I appreciate the time your faculty and students gave me.

Sincerely, Milan Ellery

It names the action already taken in the portal, so the office does not need to reply. It gives no reason beyond the decision.

Ranking another school above your pre-match

You may rank a school that did not make you an offer above the one that did. TMDSAS says you can do it "without risk of losing the pre-match offer (as long as you do not match to a higher ranked school)." If you match higher, you are withdrawn from the pre-match school and every lower-ranked school, and "The applicant will remain open to be selected by schools ranked higher than the school matched to." The full ordering method, with a decision sheet, is in how to rank Texas medical schools on the TMDSAS rank list.

No pre-match offer yet: what Texas schools say

TMDSAS: "Applicants that do not receive pre-match offers can still be matched during the match." Neither TMDSAS nor the school pages we checked publish how many pre-match offers each school makes, so nobody can tell you what your school's silence means. What the schools do publish:

No offer in November means nothing at Long SOM, by its own account. Use the wait to make the rank list right and to send the one letter a school says it reads. Our TMDSAS letter of intent guide covers which schools say they read letters.

Out-of-state and dual-degree offers

These applicants are outside the match, so none of the pre-match rules above apply. Section I:

"Formal offers of acceptance to non-Texas residents, MD/PhD, DO/PhD, MD/MBA and FMAT candidates may be extended on or after October 15, 2026. These applicants are not included in the match and may receive offers from more than one school."

A non-Texas resident holding several offers must choose one "By April 30 of the matriculation year (April 15 for schools whose first day of class is before August 1)". The guidelines also limit holding seats at more than one US school to two weeks outside the pre-match period; that clause is quoted and explained in matched TMDSAS but have an AMCAS acceptance?. If you are weighing Texas odds as a non-resident, see the TMDSAS out-of-state acceptance rate.

Questions about TMDSAS pre-match offers

Does accepting a pre-match offer commit me to that school?

No. You keep it unless you match to a school you ranked higher. Your rank list decides, and the match leaves you with one offer.

Can a school withdraw my pre-match offer because I ranked another school first?

No. Schools cannot see your rankings, and TMDSAS says offers held during the pre-match period face no "risk of an offer being withdrawn by a medical school during the pre-match offer period."

What if a pre-match offer arrives after I submit my rank list?

Offers can arrive until 11:59 p.m. on January 29, 2027, and the rank list is due at 5 p.m. that day. Every school where you interviewed must already be on your list, so a later offer sits where you ranked that school.

Do I need to email the school when I decline?

No. The school sees the decline in its School Portal report. A two-sentence courtesy email is optional.

Will a school pull a scholarship if I keep my other offers?

A school cannot make declining other offers a condition of a scholarship, and it cannot offer a scholarship before it has made you a formal offer of acceptance.

Review the writing you send next

If a school you prefer has not made you an offer, the next document is a short letter of interest or an update. Get a free Quick Review of your letter of intent against GradPilot's medical school letter of intent and interest rubric, which reads whether the letter ties a stated feature of the school to your reason for attending. Sending new grades or a new role instead? The medical school update letter rubric checks that the letter says what has changed since you applied.

More Texas guides are in the medical school essays hub, including what to do after No Match and which Texas schools take update letters. Looking for residency instead of medical school? Residency pre-match offers for IMGs follow NRMP rules, not TMDSAS.

Sources

Retrieved November 7, 2026.

• TMDSAS, After Submitting: Match, pre-match offers and Guidelines for Conduct of the Match, Sections I–III (2026-2027 cycle): window, validity of offers, holding several, withdrawal page, declined-school ranking exception, scholarship rule, out-of-state and dual-degree rules.
• TMDSAS, Deadlines and Important Dates, Entry Year 2027: rank list deadline, Match Day, April 30.
• UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine, Interview Process (no cycle year on the statement): pre-match volume.
• UT Tyler School of Medicine, Admissions (2026-2027 timeline): offer rounds.
• UT Southwestern Medical School, Admissions (2026-2027): rolling offers from October 15, 2026.
• UTMB John Sealy School of Medicine, Application Timeline (no year stated): early offers October to January.
• Dell Medical School, How to Apply FAQs (no year stated): contact and offer window.
• Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Prospective Students FAQ (no year stated): pre-match participation.