Hey guys!
Sorry I've been MIA, but things have been absolutely crazy for a while and will continue to be until the end of January, so bear with me.
Brief point: I receive a zillion PM's asking me Vandy questions so let me answer a couple of things here as a FAQ type thing:
1) I have no idea if LOI's/ thank you notes make a difference. One of my close friends here was waitlisted, sent a LOI and was accepted a couple of weeks later. Obviously, he has no idea if that's what tipped him over the edge, but hey, can't hurt right? But yeah, the workings of the waitlist are a total mystery to me, sorry I can't help you any more than that.
2) the scholarships are also pretty mysterious. I received mine about a week before winter break 2 years ago and it was by no means the first one on SDN, but last year I think they started a little bit later. FWIW, I think each committee for the named merit scholarships (Dean's scholarship, Canby Robinson, et al) meets independently of one another, so just because people hear about one it doesn't mean you're out of the running for a different one. I think there are roughly 20ish people in my class who get merit money, but that's a VERY rough estimate based on what I've heard and there may be way, way more who haven't shared that info. Also, I don't think they all go out at the same time (i.e. one person may get Canby in December and another in March...this is especially true when people start narrowing down their choices and the money is "up for grabs").
3) it is WAY too early to think about housing. Believe me, I understand the urge to get all into the med school business and be as prepared as possible, but let me assure you that it is entirely unnecessary to worry about it now. First of all, you'll have WAY more choices after the school year is over and some people have moved out. Also, many of the people who get housing right now and sign a lease end up regretting it later when they realize they could have gotten a much better deal or have been in a much more popular area/building after Second Look. If landlords tell you you won't find anything by then...they're lying to you. Just wait at least until April- and most of us didn't get our housing until May/June so there's plenty of time still. Also, the first years will be compiling a very thorough publication on housing at Vandy with phone numbers of individual, highly-ranked landlords and building ratings and such in April or May at the latest, so please stay tuned.
4) Along with that theme, no, there's absolutely nothing you can do right now to prepare. Anything you review will be covered in about 2 days so it's just not worth the effort. If you desperately want to do something useful for med school, start gathering office supplies, index cards, notebooks, whatever you normally use- and get a lot of them. Campus bookstores are always more expensive than like, Costco, and you'll need them anyway. Really just get your crap organized, figure out whether you need to change phone companies (Sprint is the best one on campus, followed I think by Verizon and with ATT being the worst I believe), buy a new computer, etc. Starting to look at anatomy is a total waste of time so don't do that. Just get a lot of sleep, buy exercise equipment if you want to have some at home, etc.
5) Finally, about the workload: I get asked about how much sleep I get/ how much I study CONSTANTLY, and I never really know what to answer to that, in part because it's so variable and in part because I have never been able to come up with a satisfactory metaphor to describe how much work med school is. I'd say expect to study 3-6 hours on each day of the week, with a little more on weekends and a lot more starting 2-3 weeks before each exam. There are outliers who study more or less than that, but for the most part, that applies to most of us as far as I can tell. As many point out, most of the concepts aren't difficult- there's just a LOT of information, and it's very, very dense. When a professor hands you 10 pages of notes on a 1-hour lecture, it doesn't look like much- except you have to know just about every word on those 10 pages. As a first year, you also have to expect extra time spent in the anatomy lab dissecting and reviewing structures, etc. You end up getting frustrated with the most minor things because time is truly a precious and rare luxury. You will have to learn to prioritize and let go of a lot of things you don't feel as strongly about as others- this may be anything from dabbling on the guitar to your clingy boyfriend/girlfriend. On the other hand, you can be assured that your classmates are on the same boat, so this odd thing binds you from the very beginning and you become a big family. So yes, I sleep ok, and haven't had any real all-nighters yet (except for a night I shadowed a transplant surgeon, but that wasn't studying-related) although about 2 weeks before each exam I start sleeping less and less. The only thing I can tell you is that you, like everyone else, will get through it, even if you're not really the study-for-12-hours-straight type.
Ok, that should cover most of the questions I've received. As I said, the next couple of weeks are going to be totally crazy so don't be offended if I don't get back to you- such is the life of a med student.
Good luck on everything!
nice surprise, and on a Sunday 
