Albany Medical College c/o 2013!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Nice. I'll be playing ALOT this summer but its good to know I'll still be able to play every once in a while when school starts.

And $17 is a steal! You can't play anything decent around here for that much.

You got a partnere here!
.. how much for non-residents?

Members don't see this ad.
 
You got a partnere here!
.. how much for non-residents?


I think it's 28 to walk during the week and like 35 on the weekends. Resident rate is $17 every day. I'm not sure what a cart costs, I'm more the walking type. I switched my license to NY for $40, so after I played 4 rounds at the resident rate I had made up that $40, just something to think about.
 
Hey guys, thought I'd join the party. I'm really unmotivated to study for my classes, so I'm finding ways to procrastinate.

I still can't believe I was accepted to AMC. Despite what I read on SDN I felt really good about the school and I can't wait to get started. I'm from Seattle, so I'll probably be heading up in early august to look for a place. Dont know if I want rommates yet.... We'll see...

How much free time is there during the first year? I see people on this site saying they study for 6 to 10 hours a day. That is way more than I've ever studied. This whole golf discussion is encouraging though. I just bought some clubs and my goal for the summer is to get good enough to stop making a fool of myself (most of the time). It would be great if I could keep playing (or at least going to the driving range) every week in Med school.

Also, would switching my license have any unforseen consequences?

Congrats to all and I can't wait to get to know everyone.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Hey,

My brother is actually from Seattle... great great city. w.r.t. your question: I think it might be better to keep your WA residency in case you want to return for training (UW prefers in-stater's). Since you don't get any tuition advantage being a NY resident, might be prudent choice.

Cheers
 
Hey guys, thought I'd join the party. I'm really unmotivated to study for my classes, so I'm finding ways to procrastinate.

I still can't believe I was accepted to AMC. Despite what I read on SDN I felt really good about the school and I can't wait to get started. I'm from Seattle, so I'll probably be heading up in early august to look for a place. Dont know if I want rommates yet.... We'll see...

How much free time is there during the first year? I see people on this site saying they study for 6 to 10 hours a day. That is way more than I've ever studied. This whole golf discussion is encouraging though. I just bought some clubs and my goal for the summer is to get good enough to stop making a fool of myself (most of the time). It would be great if I could keep playing (or at least going to the driving range) every week in Med school.

Also, would switching my license have any unforseen consequences?

Congrats to all and I can't wait to get to know everyone.

Uh oh, what have you read?? :eek:

This is also my goal. I want to get better at golf.
 
Hey guys, thought I'd join the party. I'm really unmotivated to study for my classes, so I'm finding ways to procrastinate.

I still can't believe I was accepted to AMC. Despite what I read on SDN I felt really good about the school and I can't wait to get started. I'm from Seattle, so I'll probably be heading up in early august to look for a place. Dont know if I want rommates yet.... We'll see...

How much free time is there during the first year? I see people on this site saying they study for 6 to 10 hours a day. That is way more than I've ever studied. This whole golf discussion is encouraging though. I just bought some clubs and my goal for the summer is to get good enough to stop making a fool of myself (most of the time). It would be great if I could keep playing (or at least going to the driving range) every week in Med school.

Also, would switching my license have any unforseen consequences?

Congrats to all and I can't wait to get to know everyone.

I don't know about switching your license. I kind of had to for other reasons involving spouse and her work, car registration, tax reasons, etc. And when you apply for residencies, I'm pretty sure you can make it known your a WA native (and assuming you do away rotations in WA you can also demonstrate your urge to return to the Pacific time zone).

As for 1st year; I would say 1st year has less free time than second year due to certain required elements, mainly anatomy lab. During the anatomy heavy times of the year you will either be dissecting or reviewing dissection 3 days a week. During 2nd year you can often go almost an entire week without 1 required element. The flip side is that most people need to study more 2nd year b/c there is just more to learn. If you have decent time management and aren't neurotic, you could quite easily carve out a 5 hour chunk each week to play a round of golf or to follow any other hobbies you have. Our class has EMTs, marathon runners, dads, and all sorts of other hobbies/interests that people make time to pursue during the pre-clinical years.

I think studying 6-8 hours/ week day is fairly realistic for first year, including class time. If you go to class all morning and study in the afternoon that's pretty much an 8 hour day, just like work. Weekends are usually good times to catch up if you need a few extra hours. They throw a test at you after two weeks, giving you a pretty good chance right off the bat to figure out if your study plans are going to serve you well or not and if you need to give more time or if you can study less.
 
If you have decent time management and aren't neurotic, you could quite easily carve out a 5 hour chunk each week to play a round of golf or to follow any other hobbies you have. Our class has EMTs, marathon runners, dads, and all sorts of other hobbies/interests that people make time to pursue during the pre-clinical years.

I think studying 6-8 hours/ week day is fairly realistic for first year, including class time. If you go to class all morning and study in the afternoon that's pretty much an 8 hour day, just like work. Weekends are usually good times to catch up if you need a few extra hours. They throw a test at you after two weeks, giving you a pretty good chance right off the bat to figure out if your study plans are going to serve you well or not and if you need to give more time or if you can study less.

Agree with this. If you go to class, you're probably good studying about 2 hours/day outside of class and maybe for a couple hours over the weekend. During the first week of each theme, I generally didn't study outside of class and would use that time to watch a lot of TV, play video games, and eat a lot of food (in a related story, I did fine but I'm not AOA or anything... :) ) The week before a test, I probably studied for about 4-6 hours a day, and the day before, I'd probably do about 8-10 (usually that's a study day with no class scheduled, or at least it was 4 years ago)

At the risk of sounding like a Geico commercial, I switched my license to NY and saved about $350/year. I don't think state of residence came up during interview season for residency spots- you can definitely let people in Seattle know you're from there and interested in returning, and I doubt living in NY would harm you.

Capital Hills is VERY nice for a public course. There are a couple other nice ones (there's one a little east of Albany that I can't remember the name of). Actually, that's one of the regrets I have (to revisit a previous post)- I wish I had discovered Capital Hills sooner so that I could take advantage of it during the first two years when I had a lot of free time!
 
Uh oh, what have you read?? :eek:

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but just in case.... If you search for Albany med there's this one guy who hates on it all the time. I think he's just really bitter....

I think studying 6-8 hours/ week day is fairly realistic for first year, including class time

Yeah, I guess including class time this makes sense. I know I'll have to change my study habits slightly so that I can keep up with the coursework. I am the kind of guy that waits until the few nights before a test to start studying. I don't think thats gonna work for med school, but I think because the material is more relavent to my career I'll be more motivated to put the time in.

As for the license, as of now I would love to come back to Seattle and do my residency here. I already miss Seattle, and I haven't even left yet. I may change my mind while I'm in Albany though. I mean, I've lived in Seattle my whole life and I'm kind of excited to be going somewhere else for med school. Anyways, if it affects my opportunity to do my residency in Seattle, I definitely won't do it. I guess I'll just have to make the decision while I'm over there. Anotherdork, how did you save $350 dollars/year by switching? Just random discounts here and there?Thats a pretty good amount.
 
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but just in case.... If you search for Albany med there's this one guy who hates on it all the time. I think he's just really bitter....



Yeah, I guess including class time this makes sense. I know I'll have to change my study habits slightly so that I can keep up with the coursework. I am the kind of guy that waits until the few nights before a test to start studying. I don't think thats gonna work for med school, but I think because the material is more relavent to my career I'll be more motivated to put the time in.

As for the license, as of now I would love to come back to Seattle and do my residency here. I already miss Seattle, and I haven't even left yet. I may change my mind while I'm in Albany though. I mean, I've lived in Seattle my whole life and I'm kind of excited to be going somewhere else for med school. Anyways, if it affects my opportunity to do my residency in Seattle, I definitely won't do it. I guess I'll just have to make the decision while I'm over there. Anotherdork, how did you save $350 dollars/year by switching? Just random discounts here and there?Thats a pretty good amount.


Sorry, no, I didn't mean it to come off that way.

The great thing about the albany area is that there are many great places within driving distance that are nice to visit. Lake george and Saratoga within an hour north, Boston 3 hours east, NYC 3 hours or so south. I'm not a huge fan of winter in general, but there's a pretty decent selection of skiing within a 2 hour drive as well.


Golf courses: What about Colonie Country Club, and Hiawatha trails? I've only been to hiawatha a couple times (and not in a long time), though I'm no golf course expert and can't say how good it is. I'm sure CCC is pretty nice though probably expensive. If you ever make it up to lake george, Top o' the world on lockhart mt rd is so beautiful (but 9 holes). One of the things I plan to do on my time off before school starts is play some golf.
 
Most of you are working on housing, and I saw this message posted on the Facebook AMC 2013 page and thought I'd repost it here because it seems very helpful.

Posted by Kellen Galster '12:

"So you've been acceptance to AMC, congratulations. I'm from the 2012 class and in addition to welcoming you to AMC I have a few pieces of advice for the non-locals looking for housing. I had some problems finding a place and this is what I've learned...

When it comes housing you have a few options. I've attached a link of what I believe to be the best two neighborhoods in the area. They are safe, they are walking distance to AMC and its where all the med students live. If you want to live by yourself I'd look for places in those neighbor hoods. if you want to live with another med student (still live in those neighborhoods) look for people on the AMC groups on facebook, or email Shatoya Graves ([email protected] (518) 262-6354 ) in student services she keeps a list of all the housing options for AMC students. You can also get a place and post an available room on facebook and with Shatoya Graves. For all you west coasters like myself, try to find a place with off street parking and"

It cuts off there, I don't know why.

http://picasaweb.google.com/KGalster/AlbanyHousing?authkey=Gv1sRgCLnB4NuX9Le1pAE#5333680121560767106

hope this helps you guys with the housing hunt.
 
Anotherdork, how did you save $350 dollars/year by switching? Just random discounts here and there?Thats a pretty good amount.

Not sure- that was the price they quoted me for the same level of coverage I had. I'm from Boston though, and the rates there are ridiculous. The driving in Albany is easier (less traffic, more parking, etc.) so maybe they take that into account. It was like $650/year or something in Albany.
 
I have NO idea why this was made but its pretty cool!

[YOUTUBE]pmUAwYP5o2o[/YOUTUBE]
 
wow. that jumping scene must have been exhausting.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
All this interviewing in the spring really took a toll on my grades. Hoping for the best. :smuggrin:
 
Last edited:
What caliber of grades do we have to maintain post acceptance? (Lowest grade = B, B- or C, C-)? As long as we graduate?

All this interviewing in the spring really took a toll on my grades. Hoping for the best. :smuggrin:
I think it would take a fairly monumental turn for them to rescind your acceptance. Do as well as you can; but the fact of the matter is YOU'RE IN!
 
Did anybody recently get a packet of information in the mail from AMC? If so, what was in it?
 
Alright sounds good. I was told something got bounced back to them from my address, and have been antsy ever since. I keep thinking they are going to send me a "just kidding" letter, that'd be just my luck...
 
Alright sounds good. I was told something got bounced back to them from my address, and have been antsy ever since. I keep thinking they are going to send me a "just kidding" letter, that'd be just my luck...

:laugh: That would be so mean. I also got the welcome card. I have gotten a couple of emails, primarily about the tablet.
 
Haha yeah it would be really mean! But I mean we haven't heard very much. Just the initial welcome packet with a request for tuition deposit, and the various other forms. There was no information even about the start date of classes! Ridiculous...
 
Haha yeah it would be really mean! But I mean we haven't heard very much. Just the initial welcome packet with a request for tuition deposit, and the various other forms. There was no information even about the start date of classes! Ridiculous...
If you're accepted, then don't worry. Everything will get to you soon enough. They just finished graduation (which makes me an unoffical 4th year), so they'll start to get information to you all.

If it helps, I remember my first day was something like Aug 12th.
 
You did the MD w/ Distinction in Research, right? Why did you choose to do it and what exactly did it entail? Its something I've been mulling over in my mind lately. Thanks!

I am doing the MDDR program at AMC now. I am currently getting ready to defend my thesis.

I chose to do it because I knew I wanted research to be a part of my career in medicine and though I have an ok research background, I knew I needed more experience. Though it will take up many weekends and afternoons, it doesn't prolong your degree in that it fits within the regular 4-year MD(though, now that I am taking a year off to do the NIH's CRTP, that seems a poor reason!).

It entails several steps. By Dec of your MS1 year, you'll figure out who you want to do research with. There's some night sessions to help you find mentors, and Dr. Andersen has a list of good guys to work for. Then you'll write a proposal, which should outline your experiments and your hypothesis.

This proposal is due a little before the end of MS1. This doubles as your application for Summer Research Fellowship (SRF) money. Funding is supposedly competitive, but I've never known a serious application (i.e., not half-assed) to not get funded.

A SRF will get you a stipend for the summer and grant-writing classes. 99% of people work at AMC, but you can use your money to go elsewhere. 99% of people do bench/basic science research, but you can do clinical projects (like me). At the end of the summer, you re-write your proposal using the results you found, submit it, and you participate in a fall research poster fair.

From there, your re-written proposal can double for your app to the full MDDR. Acceptance usually comes with the requirement for a few more experiments, to fill out your original findings, as well as forming a committee. People generally do these experiments over the next two years, whenever they have time. You take all of your findings, present them in a formal presentation and defense to your committee, and then if you pass, you get the MDDR. If not, you get an extra chance to remediate.

Most people defend in MS4, but if you defend in MS3, your MDDR gets on your dean's letter to residencies. About 20% of any class does the SRFs, about 10% of graduates get MDDRs. At minimum, it's another line on the resume that is fodder for residency interviews. Depending on your experience/mentor/project, you can get papers, present at society meetings, or awards (I've recieved all 3). Like anything, what you get out of the program is dependent on your level of effort.

Another benefit, and you only realize this as a busy med student, is that there is no penalty for dropping the program. There's no committment but the effort you put forth, and there are several good break-points. You can do the SRF and never go further. If MS3 backs you up, and you can't fit in the time for research, no sweat, you can call off the MDDR without it showing on your record or looking poorly on you.
 
We can re-evaluate whats happening at the beginning of June, and also see if anyone else wants to jump on board. Lets just keep in touch.

So i'm definitely going to albany now. whoever wants to start looking for places to live, PM me. I posted earlier about my wants in housing and whatnot. or i can send u a message about it. Im a 22 y/o male, 1 year removed from Penn State undergrad, from chicago.
 
So i'm definitely going to albany now. whoever wants to start looking for places to live, PM me. I posted earlier about my wants in housing and whatnot. or i can send u a message about it. Im a 22 y/o male, 1 year removed from Penn State undergrad, from chicago.
I'm still interested; though I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to be able to get out there and take a look. I will continue to peruse craigslist in the mean time.
 
Can you give me an idea of what you've seen on craigslist as far as prices? I'd be looking there too if it wasn't blocked at work.
 
Can you give me an idea of what you've seen on craigslist as far as prices? I'd be looking there too if it wasn't blocked at work.
Sure thing. I've been looking at 3 BR places within walking distance. They are ranging between $950 - $1200 for most. There are a few ridiculously nice and priced ones as well.
 
Thats not bad at all. Keep your eye out for a ridiculously nice and ridiculously cheap 1 bedroom place for me. :)
 
Thats not bad at all. Keep your eye out for a ridiculously nice and ridiculously cheap 1 bedroom place for me. :)

There are some really nice places for about $600 or so. That's not rediculously cheap, but isn't too bad for a one bedroom.
 
I'm still interested; though I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to be able to get out there and take a look. I will continue to peruse craigslist in the mean time.

ive been talking with one other guy, whos also 25, from philly, looking for the same kinda situation we are, 3 BR, but hes looking for a nicer apartment. Hes willing to drive if he has to, hes just tired of living in shtty apartments, which i kinda agree with. 3 BR would work just fine for me. PM me if youd be down, im trying to figure out when a good time to go out there and look for places would be. in the meantime im also looking at craigs list. me and the other guy were thinking of getting a place earlier (i.e. starting in july) so not all the goodplaces will be gone.
 
So I am "the other guy." Just wanted to clarify that while I am not trying to live in a dump, I'm also not trying to live at the Ritz. Mid-July I think would be ideal to start a lease so that we dont have to eat much rent for a place we dont live in, but are somewhat on top of things so that we just dont land ass backward into whatever is left.

That being said, Hello everyone. My name is Matt. Look forward to meeting everyone and catching a beer or two before this all goes down.
 
Hi all. I was searching AMC on google and I came upon this website. I am going to AMC this fall, and I want to congratulate you all in getting into AMC! I am sure you are excited to start medical school in August and are looking forward to meet your fellow classmates.

We will be formally initiated into AMC during the white coat ceremony in the fall. The white coat ceremony is a symbolic event in which the first year students are presented with a white coat to signify their formal entry into the medical profession. Currently, guests such as family members and friends are not allowed to attend. The public can view this ceremony on the internet as a live web feed. However, loved ones especially our parents should be invited to witness such an important event in our lives.

If you would like to make the white coat ceremony open to guests, please go to this link
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/amcwhitecoatceremony/ and sign the petition. :)

With your support, AMC may consider allowing guests to attend our white coat ceremony. Please extend this petition to any incoming AMC students. With a collaborative effort, we can make this significant event open to our loved ones.


If you have any questions, let me know. Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you all in the fall!
 
Hey guys. Another soon to be MS1 @ AMC here. Congrats to all. On the subject of housing around the college/hospital, just a warning about craigslist. I just got back from apartment hunting up there. The 3BR places that are posted have the smallest bedrooms I have ever seen. Most are not even big enough to put a queen sized bed in with one other piece of furniture in the room and every single house I looked at was like that. This is what's called a "typical Albany house". 3BR places are only big enough for two people. Each can fit a full bed and maybe a chest of drawers in one room and then share the third for storage, a desk, another chest of drawers, etc. Another thing, a lot of the rooms don't have closets or if they do they are also really tiny. A lot of the places are very run down, but I guess that's the price you pay to be able to walk to school and not have to dig your car out in the morning. Hope this helps.

On the subject of the white coat ceremony I disagree. It's a tradition and if you really think about it, we haven't done anything yet. Let the parents come for graduation (once we've accomplished something) and let the white coat ceremony be private, for the students, the way it always has been.
 
Hey guys. Another soon to be MS1 @ AMC here. Congrats to all. On the subject of housing around the college/hospital, just a warning about craigslist. I just got back from apartment hunting up there. The 3BR places that are posted have the smallest bedrooms I have ever seen. Most are not even big enough to put a queen sized bed in with one other piece of furniture in the room and every single house I looked at was like that. This is what's called a "typical Albany house". 3BR places are only big enough for two people. Each can fit a full bed and maybe a chest of drawers in one room and then share the third for storage, a desk, another chest of drawers, etc. Another thing, a lot of the rooms don't have closets or if they do they are also really tiny. A lot of the places are very run down, but I guess that's the price you pay to be able to walk to school and not have to dig your car out in the morning. Hope this helps.

On the subject of the white coat ceremony I disagree. It's a tradition and if you really think about it, we haven't done anything yet. Let the parents come for graduation (once we've accomplished something) and let the white coat ceremony be private, for the students, the way it always has been.

Thanks for the info!

Interesting point about the white coat ceremony as well.
 
They try to change the white coat ceremony every year. It's not going to happen. If your families and friends are from the area, there's a catered event right after. There's no room in the school for all those people so you can try all you want and nothing will change even if the administration agreed with you.
 
Well, I think you're mexican pallate is a little more sophisticated than most.

99.9% of people who might enjoy a burrito will love bombers or bro's or both...

What's your favorite pizza, Steiner?

I'm not going to say it's my favorite, but The Fountain is pretty popular among many people I know.

edit: does the link in my sig work? I wasn't sure what url to use.

I like this little joint by my house called Little Bit of Italy. They're closed Sunday and Monday though. The Fountain is good I like their hot sandwich-bake-things. There's a deli called Andy and Son's on Delaware Ave. that has some of the best sandwiches too.
 
Hey guys. Another soon to be MS1 @ AMC here. Congrats to all. On the subject of housing around the college/hospital, just a warning about craigslist. I just got back from apartment hunting up there. The 3BR places that are posted have the smallest bedrooms I have ever seen. Most are not even big enough to put a queen sized bed in with one other piece of furniture in the room and every single house I looked at was like that. This is what's called a "typical Albany house". 3BR places are only big enough for two people. Each can fit a full bed and maybe a chest of drawers in one room and then share the third for storage, a desk, another chest of drawers, etc. Another thing, a lot of the rooms don't have closets or if they do they are also really tiny. A lot of the places are very run down, but I guess that's the price you pay to be able to walk to school and not have to dig your car out in the morning. Hope this helps.

On the subject of the white coat ceremony I disagree. It's a tradition and if you really think about it, we haven't done anything yet. Let the parents come for graduation (once we've accomplished something) and let the white coat ceremony be private, for the students, the way it always has been.

Yeah, I agree about bedrooms being pretty small. Also, Alot of the apartment buildings are pretty damn old.

But, I've never been in a city where the bedrooms were all that big in a typical apartment.

Just going to throw this out there again... Still haven't found a third roommate in our house yet. $450 a month to live in a house. (house = big bedroom, big closet, big kitchen, big living room, backyard, hot tub!)
 
Does anyone have an idea of when we can expect to recieve more information about classes and immunizations? Before the end of June perhaps??? I'm trying to schedule some appointments... thanks.
 
I haven't heard anything. You should just give em a call.
 
Yep, I'll call em tomorrow and let you all know.
 
I called today about the same things- they said more info would be coming out "within a couple of weeks"... that's all the specifics I could get! She said a physical for sure was required along with a form
 
I called today about the same things- they said more info would be coming out "within a couple of weeks"... that's all the specifics I could get! She said a physical for sure was required along with a form
The student admin office just got done with graduation. The current 3rd years are next up trying to get their 4th year and away rotations scheduled. You guys don't start until Aug. We all have to wait in line.
 
You need a physical exam as well as vaccinations for rubeola, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox/varicella (unless you have documentation of previously having it), PPD yearly, and Hep B.

page 16 of the catalog

http://amc.edu/Academic/Undergraduate/documents/AMCCollege_Catalog.pdf

Orientation is the 12-14 and classes start the following Monday.

If they still do things the same way, you'll need to get a physical and then during orientation they'll draw blood for titers of all the required immunizations. If you're missing anything they'll let you know and then immunize you.
 
I was just accepted here off the waitlist and am thinking of deferring for a year. Does anyone know how receptive the school is about this?
 
I havent the slightest. Why are you thinking about deferring? If I may ask.

*Edit:

And Congratulations!!! :thumbup: :)
 
Last edited:
When I applied to medical schools I remember my advisor telling me that you cannot defer if you are accepted from a waitlist. Only if you are accepted in the regular cycle and notify them before May 15th... Not sure if AMC is different, however.

Unless it is a serious illness preventing you from attending, I wouldn't risk having to be a reapplicant. It is much harder to get in 2x than the first time, unless you plan to redo the MCAT, etc.
 
Yep, seems you are right about the papers.

Another question for you all, how is cell/data service in the hospital and near the school + city? I've got T-mobile, should I switch or am I good? I'm getting to the end of a contract, any particular ones you recommend?

I'm brimming with questions but low on answers :smuggrin:. Thanks.
 
I don't know about t-mobile but my verizon service was on point everytime I've been there. I mean it is a major NY city so I would expect all of the companies to have pretty good coverage, of course I could be wrong.

One other thing to think about though. I am pretty sure we are required to have pda's later on so it might be worth it it get an iphone because has an app for epocrates and everything else you need. As much as I hate to jump on the band wagon that's what I'm doing when I get up there for good. I know a lot of schools have special deals with certain companies so that's worth checking into. Like right now I have a 20% discount on my verizon bill because of my job at UNC School of Medicine. I'm hoping AMC has something similar.
 
Top