2009-2010 University of Texas Houston Application Thread

[Tolip]

1.) The traditional UTH curriculum is still the traditional system where you take separate anatomy, biochemistry, microbio, physio, etc... courses right? I heard that there are weeks in which you have like 4-5 tests in a row. How are you guys able to cope with that?

For block tests, we typically (first semester, at least) have a single test each on Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday off and another test each on Thursday and Friday. I'm pretty stressed the weekend before and on Monday and Thursday nights, but it really isn't all that bad. It isn't as bad as I was expecting when I first saw the syllabi. It's nice to be able to take a little time off after exams, too.
Some portions of the courses are organized so we're studying the same systems from different approaches in each of the classes (ex: development of the kidneys, while dissecting them and looking at slides of them in Histo).

2.) How much of the rotations do you guys do in Memorial Hermann, and how many rotations can you do in the other hospitals, like St. Luke, Methodist, Texas Children's, M.D. Anderson, etc... Are the other hospitals readily accessible to UT-H students?

3.) Since Memorial Hermann, a private hospital, is UT-H's main teaching hospital, do you guys get to do a lot with yall's patients? (The people at UTMB say that since they are in charge of the healthcare of the Texas prisoners, the medical students get to really get their hands on them and do anything they want. My friend at Baylor says that get to "do almost anything" they want also since Ben Taub is run by Baylor residents and most of the people there can't even pay for their healthcare.)

Thanks!

The two main hospitals we rotate at are Memorial Hermann and LBJ, a county hospital. There are also a lot of rotations at UT-MD Anderson, and options to do certain rotations at St. Luke's, Texas Heart Institute, St. Joseph's, Texas Children's Hospital, Harris County Psychiatry Center, Shriner's Hospital, Methodist, etc...

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[armybound]

block exams aren't bad, but it demonstrates why you can't cram in med school.

 

[aggiesarah2007]

Hi there! I'm a current 3rd year, just finished up surgery. Woohoo!

So I'm not sure what they mean about us not being very protected. We get a lot of freedom, but I'm not aware of any med student that said "hey! i'll do that bedside trach!" We are bound by the 80 hour work week and no more than 30 at a time just like residents. But there really isn't any hand holding once you get to 3rd year. You're expected to be part of the team and carry your weight. Of course your weight is a little less since you aren't as experienced, but they really want to know what the patient told you and what you heard on exam. Since we have more time to talk to the patients we can often get more of the story.

As for working hard, we certainly do, but I don't feel over worked or abused in any way. I haven't had any malignant attendings or residents yet, but I know they're there. The odds of you having someone crappy for EVERY rotation are pretty slim. Unfortunately if you do have a bad attending or resident, it might turn you off to that specialty, but you have to do the extra work of figuring out, ok, if this jerk wasn't here would I like it? You'll find that in the times when you're seeing the patient by yourself etc.

And overnight call is a REALLY great time to learn stuff because you can be a huge help to your resident. Sometimes they don't know how to use you efficiently, but you can suggest you do this or that to take some of the work off them and they appreciate it. On surgery I'd often go see the patient that we were consulted on, they resident would get the super important need to know right this second details and exam from the patient, and then I'd get the details full H&P, do a full exam, and get the consult H&P written, and then sometimes I'd write the admit orders. And don't worry, the resident always looks over what you've written because it is their behind if something is wrong. So I guess in that sense we may not be "protected" but its the residents job to also oversee us, so they are the protection.

I've finished neurology, family medicine, pediatrics, and surgery, and even on the things I KNOW i do not want to do, I can say I enjoyed all the rotations. Some day to day things and the attitude of the team vary with residents and attendings, but I don't think things are as malignant as some people make them out to be. I'm a very sensitive person and cry about everything and I really haven't felt abused or talked down to by anyone. Also, 3rd year is way better than 1st and 2nd because you're actually doing what you came to med school to do Unless you want to do pathology.

I have a question for any of you current students who post here.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=603959&highlight=houston
Above is a link to the IM thread. In it is this interesting tidbit:
"UT-H also really works the med students, who are not very protected, so you'll have students by your side on overnight call (if this isn't useful, at least you'll have some company)"[FONT=Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]

.What do you think is meant by "works the med students hard"? What is meant by "who are not very protected"? Also, I'm sure current students are well aware of the issues of the malignant rumors for various residency programs. Sure its residency and we're just med students, but won't a bad residency atmosphere spoil the atmosphere during clerkship?

Another post I found (unrelated to above topic) is concerning curriculum:
"UT-H curriculum is 8-4 or 9-5. This is very stressful considering the materials you have to study. By the time you get back to your apt, take a nap and study, you have few hours of serious work done. Compare that to UTMB. Classes are 8-12 in first year and 1-4 in second year. Plenty of study time."[FONT=Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]

.The above quote was taken from a post dated 2006. It appears to me that UT-H has changed the curriculum so that classes are in the morning and its not 9-5, is this true? Has there been a curriculum change since 2006 or am I missing something?

 

[H2O2]

. I'm a very sensitive person and cry about everything and I really haven't felt abused or talked down to by anyone.

LOL, that is a very good point to make. Thank you very much for your response, from what you and others say....it sounds like UTH really wants to make sure its students have strong clinical skills, with a much greater emphasis than other med schools. Sounds like years 3 and 4 at Houston are just residency-lite, which I can't really argue is a bad thing.

Side note, where do you guys stay on overnight calls? I know at UTSW/Parkland there is a special room for med students to sleep (but thats because the residents didnt wnat them using their space). Is there a similar arrangement at the various TMC hospitals?

 

[H2O2]

More questions...sorry. I am very close to committing to this school so I want to flesh out all the details.

It seems like of all the Texas med schools, UTH has one of the more tight knit student bodies. I am assuming people work together well studying for tests, this isn't a cut throat atmosphere? I turned down UTSW purely for this reason...while UTSW has made great improvements to their "competitive" reputation, some comments I overheard from current med students lead me to believe improvements can still be made. I worked hard enough to get to med school, I don't want to be worrying about being backstabbed by my peers too!

I think there was some mention of attrition at UT H earlier...I don't recall anything was due purely to academic reasons. Do you feel there is adequate support (ie "hand holding") to prevent any sort of failing out? I am strongly considering Texas A&M as well, and I felt this school had a very supportive administration to prevent any sort of failing.

 

[Scaundo]

More questions...sorry. I am very close to committing to this school so I want to flesh out all the details.

It seems like of all the Texas med schools, UTH has one of the more tight knit student bodies. I am assuming people work together well studying for tests, this isn't a cut throat atmosphere? I turned down UTSW purely for this reason...while UTSW has made great improvements to their "competitive" reputation, some comments I overheard from current med students lead me to believe improvements can still be made. I worked hard enough to get to med school, I don't want to be worrying about being backstabbed by my peers too!

I think there was some mention of attrition at UT H earlier...I don't recall anything was due purely to academic reasons. Do you feel there is adequate support (ie "hand holding") to prevent any sort of failing out? I am strongly considering Texas A&M as well, and I felt this school had a very supportive administration to prevent any sort of failing.

I'm just a pre-med, so I guess I don't really know for sure, but if you were accepted into a medical school then it means that that school knows you can handle what they will throw at you. You shouldn't be worried about failing out because if you wouldn't be able to do what they require then they wouldn't have admitted you. Have some faith in yourself. You got this far, you can definitely go the rest of the way.

As far as supportive, Kellaway is the most supportive person I think I've ever met.

 

[disarticulate]

UTH has one of the more tight knit student bodies. I am assuming people work together well studying for tests, this isn't a cut throat atmosphere?

I wish I could show you the 600+ messages and 100+ files on our google group. Mostly people posting reviews, digital note cards, practice questions, recordings of reviews, etc.... Yes it is extremely helpful.

I think there was some mention of attrition at UT H earlier...

Um... not that I know of. The only way I can see people dropping out is if they just aren't into it. Our class averaged close to 80th percentile nationally on NBME Biochem and I'm pretty sure we rocked NBME Anatomy as well. So if anyone is not passing, they can't blame the school.

 

[disarticulate]

1.) The traditional UTH curriculum .....

2.) How much of the rotations do ....

3.) Since Memorial Hermann, a private hospital, is UT-H's main teaching hospital, do you guys get to do a lot with yall's patients? ....

1 - Since there is only one exam each day it's pretty legit. It's nice that there is no class during exam week. So you get to concentrate solely on exams, rather than having to balance your lectures an take and exam the same day. As said in my previous post, our class did exceptionally well on the NBME Subject Exams (averages ~80th percentile nationally), so the cirriculum definitely works well. It also leaves a weekend after exams that nothing is going on. So you can take a 3 day breather and get hammered in vegas, jet-set to cancun, or just veg in your apartment and play modern warfare for 60 hours.

2 - I don't know the specifics so I won't answer this.

3 - Memorial Hermann is NOT a private hospital. It is not-for-profit, big difference. Trust me... check out Methodist & St. Lukes vs. Hermann... you'll see the difference. If you're a true philanthropist and absolutely have to assist in the convalescence of the indigent, then you'll still get your fix at Hermann. There is still a fair amount of indigent care that comes to Hermann, mostly trauma related though. Because there is a little more money to work with at Hermann, they have less of a "treat 'em and street 'em" mentality. Also, Hermann's equipment is a lot more up to date: Dedicated Heart and Vascular Institute; Multiple Da Vinci Systems; 39 ORs.... 39 ORs!!!; Several Interventional Suites; but sadly no McDonald's (sorry, that was a cheap shot at Ben Taub)

And if you absolutely have to have a true general hospital experience where you can just pop into any room and perform a rectal exam then there's LBJ which has an open-door policy for UT-H Students... If you're willing to work, just show up and they'll give you something to do.

 

[armybound]

I know of a student our year who began the year and then took the rest of the year off for personal reasons. Only 1 person in our class failed the NBME biochem exam. I believe if you have problems at UTH, it won't be because you don't have enough academic resources to help you get through. We have free tutors and tons of classmates willing to help you out. We are definitely not competitive. Everyone wants to succeed, but we're not competitive toward each other.

BTW, there are no cut-offs regarding how many people can honor, etc. If everyone honors, everyone honors.

 

[Tolip]

I think there was some mention of attrition at UT H earlier...

Um... not that I know of. The only way I can see people dropping out is if they just aren't into it. Our class averaged close to 80th percentile nationally on NBME Biochem and I'm pretty sure we rocked NBME Anatomy as well. So if anyone is not passing, they can't blame the school.

I'm sure it's been mentioned, but our school also provides tutors for any class on request, free of charge to the students. Obviously, the school wants to see you pass and do well on standardized exams, so they make as many resources open to you as they can.

I'd also like to second what disarticulate said about the cooperative study habits at our school. We just got an email from one of our classmates informing us that our allocation of space on the Google Groups server is almost full after only one semester. That's almost 100mb of student-generated text, excel files and PDFs created and uploaded to help each other.

 

[pman9691]

i was wondering if any current students had any info on the scholarships UTH gives out.

how many students actually get the scholarships?

what is the awarding process based on (grades, need, etc)?

generally how much are the scholarships for, are they full rides?

 

[OddNath]

Side note, where do you guys stay on overnight calls? I know at UTSW/Parkland there is a special room for med students to sleep (but thats because the residents didnt wnat them using their space). Is there a similar arrangement at the various TMC hospitals?

Hermann has big general student call rooms (one for girls, one for guys). There's a separate student call room on the OB floor, a separate call room for 4th year Acting Interns on pediatrics, and there may be some other special cases like that.

At LBJ, there's a dedicated student call room for the surgery rotation. Other than that, there are individual call rooms for the residents and sometimes I'd try to snag one of those if it was free. My very first call night on medicine, I was very confused, and a very nice intern let me sleep in the top bunk of a resident call room.

Hermann and LBJ are the 2 main places where you take call.

 

[baller99]

so i really like uth and would love to go there, but i have a few questions about stuff i'm considering. these questions are mostly for 3rd/4th yrs:

1. How is the quality of the clinical experience in 3rd/4th yrs? As in, do students actually do procedures and hands on work? Is there a lot of scutwork? Are there malignant residents?

2. If you know, compared with students from other schools, are students at UTH worked harder during their 3rd/4th yrs? Are students worked 80+ hrs/week(or is it maxed at 80 ALL the time)?

3. Do UTH students usually pass shelf exams on 1st try? Is there protection against scutwork that prevent learning?

4. How much did you study(or go to class) during your 1st 2 yrs? and then clinical years? If it varies, just give examples, that would be good.

5. How does class rank work? Are the 1st two years ranked internally, or are you judged solely based upon your performance 3rd/4th year?

6. Do you find that UTH students usually get quality residencies? Do contacts at the top hospitals help people get interviews and match well?

Thanks for answering all my questions, I really appreciate it!!!

 

[baller99]

anybody, plz help?

 

[armybound]

not many 3rd/4th years post here. they're probably busy on vacation or in the hospital.

fwiw, I don't think any of that stuff is really worth worrying about. I imagine most clinical experiences in any med school in Texas are roughly equivalent, in terms of work load, stress, responsibilities, grading, etc.

If you're cut out to match neurosurgery at Mayo, you'll probably manage to do it regardless of which school you go to.

 

[H2O2]

so i really like uth and would love to go there, but i have a few questions about stuff i'm considering. these questions are mostly for 3rd/4th yrs:

1. How is the quality of the clinical experience in 3rd/4th yrs? As in, do students actually do procedures and hands on work? Is there a lot of scutwork? Are there malignant residents?

2. If you know, compared with students from other schools, are students at UTH worked harder during their 3rd/4th yrs? Are students worked 80+ hrs/week(or is it maxed at 80 ALL the time)?

3. Do UTH students usually pass shelf exams on 1st try? Is there protection against scutwork that prevent learning?

4. How much did you study(or go to class) during your 1st 2 yrs? and then clinical years? If it varies, just give examples, that would be good.

5. How does class rank work? Are the 1st two years ranked internally, or are you judged solely based upon your performance 3rd/4th year?

6. Do you find that UTH students usually get quality residencies? Do contacts at the top hospitals help people get interviews and match well?

Thanks for answering all my questions, I really appreciate it!!!

Hey,
I'm not a med student but I asked a couple of questions similar to yours and got some good responses. See the responses to my Post 444 to answer questions 1-2. My impression, from the responses in this forum and by searching "UT Houston" and reading past year's threads....is that UT Houston has a very strong clinical program that WILL work you, and by nature of this intense preparation (not many med schools have 3rd/4th years take call) students perform very well at their residencies or away rotations.

For question 3, I think armybound mentioned something about only 1 person failing the biochem shelf exam.

For question 4, you will get a lot of good answers by looking at past year's threads...or at least, I was satisfied with those responses. My impression is that a small majority of people choose not to go to class regularly and study on their own...everybody gets lecture outlines, and the lectures are recorded and put online. As for how much to study, again I don't know but I just assume all med schools are going to be the same and there will be A LOT of studying.

I have no idea on question 5...not a student.

For question 6, 2009 match results found here
http://med.uth.tmc.edu/students-current/2009MatchResults.htm

 

[baller99]

tks everybody for the help.

unfortunately, i couldn't find the last years thread even though i went through a bunch of searches. i'm not that good with technology sry . what is the name of the last years thread or the link?

i guess the big thing about clinical years that i was wondering is if it prepares you well for a GOOD residencies of whatever specialty (especially since oncall = painful). Do these clinical years help students get a residency of their choice (as opposed to bad or malignant)? Is this because the TMC provides one with contacts, unique experiences?

I probably will have to wait for the MS3s/MS4s/residents to look at this before i get answers.

 

[H2O2]

tks everybody for the help.

unfortunately, i couldn't find the last years thread even though i went through a bunch of searches. i'm not that good with technology sry . what is the name of the last years thread or the link?

i guess the big thing about clinical years that i was wondering is if it prepares you well for a GOOD residencies of whatever specialty (especially since oncall = painful). Do these clinical years help students get a residency of their choice (as opposed to bad or malignant)? Is this because the TMC provides one with contacts, unique experiences?

I probably will have to wait for the MS3s/MS4s/residents to look at this before i get answers.

There is no specific UT Houston thread in previous years that I found. Instead I just did a generic "Houston" search and skimmed through the results...some are previous "UT Houston Application Year .." and some are actually Baylor threads (found these useful for housing information).

What do you mean by "good" residencies? Almost a quarter of people get into a ROAD specialty if thats what you mean. I think thats pretty impressive. That link I provided you gives a full list of every student as well as the residency program that they got accepted to, so I am not sure what else you need to know about the type of residencies people get into? Skimming the list I saw at least 3 people going to Mayo, and a lot of people staying on at Houston (I think this would be a sign that they are satisfied of their education thus far?)

 

[SuperSpaz]

Hey Guys, quick question...how are we supposed to submit the grades that we just received this semester to UT Houston? do we update TMDSAS or send some sort of an email? thanks for your help!!

 

[TexasPrincess]

Here is the info:

http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/

To update TMDSAS with your Summer 2009 and/or Fall 2009 grades, you must send an updated transcript directly to TMDSAS at the address below. You do not need to include a transcript request form.

TMDSAS
702 Colorado, Suite 6.400
Austin, TX 78701



​

I plan on sending an update letter next week, too and mentioning that my grades are available through TMDSAS.

 

[armybound]

I don't think TMDSAS pushes the changes to the schools, though I don't know that for sure

you could always email them to the admissions office if you wanted to. not sure if it would make a big difference this late in the game.

 

[hemotologist]

Yeah, I assumed there was no point sending a update letter, at least for the match. It would probably be a good idea to send one if you find out you were placed on the alternate list though...

 

[SuperSpaz]

thanks guys...dont know how i missed that

 

[Bluffer]

i am thinking about sending a letter of interest with an updated transcript to the admissions office in about a week. any thoughts on whether this could be potentially beneficial for the match?

 

[armybound]

I know they get really busy. they may not read the updated info and discuss it in time for the match. but by all means I'd send it in... it's better to try and have a chance at it making an impact than to not even try.

 

[yemms1172]

I'm doing a Houston second look on thursday- any idea what I am supposed to wear? HELP PLEASE!

 

[Tolip]

I'm doing a Houston second look on thursday- any idea what I am supposed to wear? HELP PLEASE!

Something warm

 

[armybound]

I'd say you don't have to wear your suit/interview clothes, but I wouldn't wear jeans & a t-shirt either.

"business casual" is probably best

 

[armybound]

are any of you interviewing this Friday? if so, do you plan on going to the social on Thursday night?

 

[pman9691]

im interviewing this friday, im not sure though if im going to the social, dont know if it would be helpful or not

 

[disarticulate]

im interviewing this friday, im not sure though if im going to the social, dont know if it would be helpful or not

I speak for myself when I say this weeks social is likely a no-go, but I surmise that most will seek vindication for lack of attendance by at least one of the following...

1) UT vs. Bama.
2) It will be 26 degrees and windy.
3) Jersey Shore (admit it, atleast 50% of you watch this show faithfully).

 

[pman9691]

for those of you that interviewed this past friday (jan 8) , has UTH shown up on your tmdsas page to rank yet?

 

[lonestartx]

Nope, hasn't shown up yet. I'm waiting so I can put it in its rightful place at #1.

 

[sd2010]

i think someone may have asked this before but i was wondering
1) does ut houston ranks its students?
2) do residency programs within the area favor ut houston graduates as opposed to graduates from med schools based in other cities (san an, dallas, ...)?

 

[riley290]

from an email from Dr. Kellaway

No individual rankings, and no GPA (through the four years) have created a cooperative, interactive, supportive student body, who are helping each other to succeed and excel. We have done this for thirty years, and it works! You will distinguish yourself for competitive residencies and AOA membership through other, more meaningful work during medical school!

 

[yemms1172]

Ranked Houston #1 in the match! I CANNOT WAIT for Feb 1!

 

[tigerLSU]

Good luck in the match everyone!

 

[cher25]

I'm going crazy over here waiting for the match. I interviewed with UT-H the first week of August so this is like a 6 month wait for me.

Sorry, just needed to let that out LoL

Good luck to everyone waiting to hear back.

 

[kinda1]

Hey guys, just wondering about Houston for OOS. Can I expect to hear back from them on Feb 1st whether I'm accepted or waitlisted? Also, if my interview was on November and haven't heard anything from them, should I resign myself to the alternate list? Thanks.

 

[armybound]

I think they typically accept OOS later than the match.

I wouldn't assume anything based on not hearing from them. They tend to take care of IS first and then handle OOS. This isn't always true, but most of the time it is

 

[DHite]

I think they typically accept OOS later than the match.

I wouldn't assume anything based on not hearing from them. They tend to take care of IS first and then handle OOS. This isn't always true, but most of the time it is

I could be misinterpreting the email they sent, but it seems UTH will notify both IS and OOS applicants who have be accepted on Feb. 1st at 8am. The line in the email they sent me reads, "At 8 am on February 1 the TMDSAS website will post the results of the Match. You should check the website now and whenever you have a question-the answer is likely to be there! Our school will also notify our matched students via email, in state and out of state applicants, at 8:00."

 

[disarticulate]

Well after waiting in line for over 14 hours I have some really good insight on the student housing. The algorithm they use for housing placement is a little obscure, but I think I have a decent grasp of it.

It seems as though there are really only 2 pertinent scenarios for which you'd need to really understand the placement process. These scenarios involve placement into the El Paseo complex. I'm not 100% sure on this, but it seems as though placement in the Cambridge complex is pretty easy to get.

First off... Lines. People wait in line overnight until the office opens at 8am. I'm not sure exactly when the line started this year, but I was told that at around 3pm there were roughly 25 people in line, 35 people in line at 5pm, and about 50 people at midnight. There was a large in flux of people at 5am-6am that eventually bumped the line up to around 130 or so by 8am.

1) You are looking for a 2-bedroom in El Paseo.
*** I don't know very much about this, but the staff at the leasing office were saying that if you're not in the first 5 of the list, you're very unlikely to get a 2-bedroom unit in El Paseo. I'll post unit quantities when I find out the exact number.

2) You are looking for a 1-bedroom in El Paseo.
*** When applying, you are required to select your top 2 choices for floor plans. There are 4 total floor plans, and there are varying quantities of units for each floor plan. There are 64 units of floor plan 2, 128 units of floor plan 3, 8 (yes only eight) units of floor plan 4, 70 units of floor plan 5. So you can probably deduce how you could play the odds by selecting certain floor plans. Also, since there are 270 total 1 bedrooms at El Paseo, if you assume 25% turnover each year, that means there are ~67 units that open up each year.

*** Waitlist - Your place on the waitlist is paramount, naturally. They have waitlists for each floor plan. So you could be #14 on Floor Plan 3, and #25 on Floor Plan 2, depending on the people before you and their choices. Regardless of your place on the list, you do not become "active" until the month before your desired month of move in. And you will not be eligible for an open unit unless you are active. I was told by the office staff that the most popular month for move out is May, followed by June and July. So if you put June on your move in month, AND you're next on the list, AND an apartment will open up sometime in may, they will contact you anytime after May 1st to see if you want that apartment. If you decline, you are moved to the bottom of the waiting list for that Floor plan.

After the lease is up, every tenant becomes a month-to-month tenant. This is the main reason why it is so difficult to figure out when units will be open.

I'll expand this further when I get home, just thought I'd put this info out there. Hopefully this can be referenced when people are applying next year.

 

[Tolip]

Well after waiting in line for over 14 hours I have some really good insight on the student housing.

What is so attractive about student housing? Is there more to it than the price and convenient bus?

I went to the office at Brompton Court at 1:00pm on a random Saturday and was shown a large assortment of available apartments, some of which had yards. Prices weren't bad, and they charter a bus for getting to school.

 

[armybound]

student housing is cheaper than most places and also nicer/newer. the apartments on the Knight Rd side are pretty nice

 

[riley290]

what percentage of students roommate up and go in on a house or apartment that isn't student housing?

 

[disarticulate]

What is so attractive about student housing? Is there more to it than the price and convenient bus?

What makes it attractive to me...

*The ability to walk to the rec center in 30 seconds makes exercising almost mandatory.
*A bunch of class mates live there.
*24/7 Gated and guarded with mandatory ID after 10pm.

There are places around the TMC that are just as safe and convenient to get to school, but they're gonna run you upwards of $900-$1000/mo. Relative to student housing, a lot of people living at those places don't have the same student lifestyle that you do. Unless it's next door to a 24 hour fitness, it can't come close to the accessibility of the rec center.


Edit: Have you guys heard of the nightmares people are having at Lanesborough? Apartments are getting broken into and laptops being stolen.... YEESH!

 

[disarticulate]

what percentage of students roommate up and go in on a house or apartment that isn't student housing?

I know of quite a few people in our class who are rooming right now or plan on rooming next year. It just depends on your personality and living preference. I prefer to live by myself so I don't have to worry about offending my roommate by leaving my books on the dining room table or building up a pile of dirty dishes during exams or doing laundry at 2 in the morning... etc... I do know of a couple people who roomed with another med student this year and have told me they definitely plan on changing their living situation for next year. When they tell me this I'm just happy that I don't have to deal with roommate issues when I'm knee deep in studying.

It's just personal preference....

 

[MiSfiT2013]

What makes it attractive to me...

*The ability to walk to the rec center in 30 seconds makes exercising almost mandatory.
*A bunch of class mates live there.
*24/7 Gated and guarded with mandatory ID after 10pm.

There are places around the TMC that are just as safe and convenient to get to school, but they're gonna run you upwards of $900-$1000/mo. Relative to student housing, a lot of people living at those places don't have the same student lifestyle that you do. Unless it's next door to a 24 hour fitness, it can't come close to the accessibility of the rec center.


Edit: Have you guys heard of the nightmares people are having at Lanesborough? Apartments are getting broken into and laptops being stolen.... YEESH!

I wish the above statement was true. I live in student housing and I have been to the gym less than 5 times since August. I really need to change that

 

[Scaundo]

So, is it too late to get on the waiting list for next year? I thought it wasn't even open yet, but I guess I was wrong...

 

[riley290]

any MS1's or 2's wanna give me a breakdown of what I should be expecting schedule-wise first semester? I know I'll make extensive use of the streaming lectures but would like to know the actual class schedule.