Columbia P&S Class of 2012

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Ebuff said:
Revisit weekend is going to be so cathartic after this long, brutal process. I'm looking forward to putting the party shoes on and actually celebrating the MD path. Hope to see many of you there. Maybe in a couple weeks some of us on the east coast can put together some car pools to save some $ and get a head start on that precious med student bonding?
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yea definitely! i am coming down from nh with at least one other guy from my school but if there is room in my car i will post on here because i could stop in the boston area on the way!
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Just wanted to say hi and that I'm totally psyched about P&S! I'll be at revisit for both days and I look forward to meeting you all.
 
anybody needing a ride in between burlington vt and ny,ny i can pick up along the way - plus i may have room for people to crash in town

oh one more thing, did i mention?

yeeeeeeaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!:D:laugh:
 
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As I am working on some of the forms for P&S, I thought I should ask about the form for accepting the admissions offer. Are we supposed to send this in right away or is it supposed to be send in as our final decision? Would sending this on May 15 be what is expected? I don't want to sit on this and receive an angry email or call from P&S in a couple weeks.

Thanks in advance...
 
Ebuff said:
As I am working on some of the forms for P&S, I thought I should ask about the form for accepting the admissions offer. Are we supposed to send this in right away or is it supposed to be send in as our final decision? Would sending this on May 15 be what is expected? I don't want to sit on this and receive an angry email or call from P&S in a couple weeks.

Thanks in advance...
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Send it in! As I understand it, you're letting them know that you're going to hold onto their acceptance. They can only let a certain number of acceptances sit out there before May 15th, because after May 15th they can only have 150-155 accepted students.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure there's a deadline for that form. I can't remember, because I didn't really read it. I just filled it out and sent it back immediately. :)
 
Ebuff said:
As I am working on some of the forms for P&S, I thought I should ask about the form for accepting the admissions offer. Are we supposed to send this in right away or is it supposed to be send in as our final decision? Would sending this on May 15 be what is expected? I don't want to sit on this and receive an angry email or call from P&S in a couple weeks.

Thanks in advance...
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The letter that came with mine said they would like a response within 3 weeks. I don't think any decisions are binding (unless you bind yourself like me haha) so def send it in.
 
Ebuff said:
As I am working on some of the forms for P&S, I thought I should ask about the form for accepting the admissions offer. Are we supposed to send this in right away or is it supposed to be send in as our final decision? Would sending this on May 15 be what is expected? I don't want to sit on this and receive an angry email or call from P&S in a couple weeks.

Thanks in advance...
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I think that you're allowed to hold multiple acceptances until May 15th, none of which are binding before then. But then afterwards, you're suppose to narrow it down to 1
 
So there was some concern about the facilities at P&S over in the Pre-Allo Columbia thread...

I may be crazy, but I didn't really notice anything too bad. There were elements of the hospital that were a little older, but that's to be expected in a old/huge institution. In my mind, UMass and Mount Sinai didn't look any better. Dartmouth definitely looked newer, but there was much much less traffic in the hospital - the major culprit of deterioration. Not that lower traffic volume should take away from Dartmouth, I thought the school was fantastic... but I was waitlisted. :)

In my mind, Bard hall just wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. I definitely lived in a worse dorm as a freshman undergrad - arguably as a sophomore too. :) Maybe I'm just used to dorm living after spending 4 years at boarding school before doing a couple years in the college dorm thing.

Is there some problem with the facilities that I'm totally missing???
 
dienekes88 said:
So there was some concern about the facilities at P&S over in the Pre-Allo Columbia thread...

I may be crazy, but I didn't really notice anything too bad. There were elements of the hospital that were a little older, but that's to be expected in a old/huge institution. In my mind, UMass and Mount Sinai didn't look any better. Dartmouth definitely looked newer, but there was much much less traffic in the hospital - the major culprit of deterioration. Not that lower traffic volume should take away from Dartmouth, I thought the school was fantastic... but I was waitlisted. :)

In my mind, Bard hall just wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. I definitely lived in a worse dorm as a freshman undergrad - arguably as a sophomore too. :) Maybe I'm just used to dorm living after spending 4 years at boarding school before doing a couple years in the college dorm thing.

Is there some problem with the facilities that I'm totally missing???
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I thought the facilities at Columbia were fine. Parts are sort of old, but they also have many new buildings. Some of the research facilities I have seen are really nice. Bard is pretty old, but I don't think it's terrible. It's definitely livable for a year. I interviewed at Hopkins, and some of the facilities there were just as old. And I don't think anyone would turn down Hopkins because of its facilities.
 
dienekes88 said:
I definitely lived in a worse dorm as a freshman undergrad
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Yeah, you definitely have lived in worse! haha

Runner585 said:
I thought the facilities at Columbia were fine. Parts are sort of old, but they also have many new buildings. Some of the research facilities I have seen are really nice. Bard is pretty old, but I don't think it's terrible. It's definitely livable for a year. I interviewed at Hopkins, and some of the facilities there were just as old. And I don't think anyone would turn down Hopkins because of its facilities.
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Yeah, Bard is old, but it's ok with me, especially since it's only for a year. I actually thought Reed Hall at Hopkins looked worse (I'm referring to the singles side). As I said in the Pre-Allo thread, the condition of the dorms at any school isn't playing a role in determining where I'll go.

Like many similar schools, Columbia is continually looking for ways to upgrade. They're building new research facilities as we speak, and they do renovate different areas within the medical center. Columbia may not have a pretty campus, but its lack of aesthetics shouldn't deter anyone, in my opinion.
 
I agree! And you can always go study down at the morningside campus which is gorgeous!

LovelyMD said:
Yeah, you definitely have lived in worse! haha



Yeah, Bard is old, but it's ok with me, especially since it's only for a year. I actually thought Reed Hall at Hopkins looked worse (I'm referring to the singles side). As I said in the Pre-Allo thread, the condition of the dorms at any school aren't playing a role in determining where I'll go.

Like many similar schools, Columbia is continually looking for ways to upgrade. They're building new research facilities as we speak, and they do renovate different areas within the medical center. Columbia may not have a pretty campus, but it's lack of aesthetics shouldn't deter anyone, in my opinion.
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Runner585 said:
I agree! And you can always go study down at the morningside campus which is gorgeous!
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Mmmm... definitely. It's a hike, but how else am I going to meet a lawyer wife who'll be my sugah momma?? :D I sure as heck won't be making any money for a long time.
 
I agree with most that while Bard may be old and slightly prisonish, it is very livable. The rooms were actually very spacious, especially when compared to some of the first year rooms for Cornell. Besides, in a year you will likely be in the towers, which are awesome and even come with roof top partying. Bard is actually nice housing compared to most of NYC. I'd much rather live in a big room with community kitchens than in the cartoonishly tiny apartments of Manhattan for oppressively large amounts of money.
 
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yeah, and there are shuttles down to morningside every hour or so. I also think they're trying to expand the campus as well.
 
Columbia has just bought most of the buildings, mainly warehouses, in the Manhattanville area, around 125th under the West Side Highway. This project has been in the works for years (since my boyfriend was in undergrad at Columbia earlier this decade), and has taken a while to come to fruition because of strong community resistance. Like many universities, Columbia has tense relations with its surrounding Morningside Heights and Washington Heights neighbors. Still, I think they are finally making way on expanding the campus there. From what I understand, most of it will be dedicated to the sciences (basic science research). The facilities for research now on the Morningside Campus are cramped and old, especially compared to lab space at other top universities. I'm not sure how much this will benefit med students directly, but I'm sure it'll be good for the university overall.
 
Anybody worried about Columbia online-resources???

cattt said:
another 1st year P & Ser here. just wanted to add my voice about the technology thing, because i got the same impression on my interview here last year (that they were nonexistent). i was pleased to find when i came here that my impression was way off.

they're actually QUITE good. all the lectures are recorded, and some pertinent ones (such as neuroanatomy) are videotaped. there are some phenomenal online atlases for histology, anatomy and neuroanatomy designed by our instructors here and made specifically for columbia students that the whole class relies on. old exams are posted for us to use to study. in our physiology course, not only are the lectures recorded, but the lecturers will also sit down and record a 20 minute, truncated lecture timed with the slides going over the most important information from each slide.

in addition, before every exam block, the 2nd years hold study sessions for the 1st years to review all the lectures and provide us with an indispensable study packet to help guide our pre-exam study efforts. it's really remarkable.

our physiology instructor has also designed his own online simulators for renal, cardio, and pulmonary, which i have secretly provided to students at other med schools because they are so useful. he also will frequently host "online office hours" from his home where he'll go over the simulators via online conferencing with us and answer any questions we may have. we also do that interactive clicky thing during many lectures to keep us active and awake.

also -- there is now wireless in bard.

so yeah, don't let the seeming lack of technology spook you. as pjl said, there is more than enough provided to allow us to succeed. and if you take advantage of them you will have no problem succeeding.
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http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=6356973&postcount=713

BAM! :D

LovelyMD said:
Yeah, you definitely have lived in worse! haha
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le sigh. Oh L-dub...

Hahaha. I didn't even think Lanman Wright was that bad. Some might argue that my dorms freshman and sophomore of high school were worse... :)
 
Congrats newbies!!
I am a 3rd yr (almost 4th yr!!), living in the area. I am from NYC. If you have any Q's about the neighborhood etc, feel free to email me.
Also, I am trying to sell my 1st & 2nd year bks ASAP so if you need anything, just email me at [email protected]. I just joined this forum & probably won't ck messages that often.
Good luck!!
 
By the way... we definitely need to get some of those people in the pre-allo thread to come over here.
 
I see all these people in pre-allo who are panicy or unhappy or scared. am i the only one who is excited about next year?!?
 
notlikethat said:
I see all these people in pre-allo who are panicy or unhappy or scared. am i the only one who is excited about next year?!?
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No, you're not! But are you talking about pre-allo in general, or the columbia pre-allo thread? I've noticed that the ones who have the most concerns seem to be the ones who need to make a choice but can't make it to revisit. That makes sense to me.
 
notlikethat said:
I see all these people in pre-allo who are panicy or unhappy or scared. am i the only one who is excited about next year?!?
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I am beyond excited!!! :D I can barely contain myself!

LovelyMD said:
No, you're not! But are you talking about pre-allo in general, or the columbia pre-allo thread? I've noticed that the ones who have the most concerns seem to be the ones who need to make a choice but can't make it to revisit. That makes sense to me.
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Well, I think all those worries have been addressed by the current students who have posted. There should be nooo worries anymore! Now to convince these people who are on the fence...
 
Oh. I'm so excited... that I started telling some of my culinary school classmates! Most didn't even know I was applying.

Get this, one girl's reaction: "did you really get into Columbia...???"

Wow.

Everyone else I told was really excited for me! Wooo! Spread the excitement. :)
 
dienekes88 said:
Oh. I'm so excited... that I started telling some of my culinary school classmates! Most didn't even know I was applying.

Get this, one girl's reaction: "did you really get into Columbia...???"

Wow.

Everyone else I told was really excited for me! Wooo! Spread the excitement. :)
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Ohhh i know YOU are excited :laugh: this has already been established and i already consider you my future class mate. Maybe i dont visit preallo enough but it just seems so negative while i am just.... yea and dienekes, its ok I asked myself "did you really get into Columbia...???" many times
 
did anyone else think they were going to get a "we didnt mean to accept you" letter which turned out to be their acceptance of our acceptance??? ahhh the joys of ocd-ness
 
AHOY! I am SOOOO excited for Columbia. I still have to wait for the end of March/financial aid for everything to shake into place, but Columbia is definitely my emotional numero uno. See you all at revisit!
 
Dr OCD said:
did anyone else think they were going to get a "we didnt mean to accept you" letter which turned out to be their acceptance of our acceptance??? ahhh the joys of ocd-ness
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HAHAHA!!! I had the exact same reaction.

Ooch said:
AHOY! I am SOOOO excited for Columbia. I still have to wait for the end of March/financial aid for everything to shake into place, but Columbia is definitely my emotional numero uno. See you all at revisit!
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!
 
Congrats to all of you potential P&S 2012ers! Does anyone know a schedule for what's going on at 2nd look? I've got another revisit I want to attend at the same time, so I'd like to know which are the best days to be in NYC versus the other one.
 
I'm also very excited about Columbia! Having grown up in NYC, it's always been my dream school!

On another note, does anyone know how much time is spent in lecture/lab/small group first and second years? I can't seem to find if Columbia is one of those 9-5er schools or one that gives you more time to do your own thing.
 
TigerSoup said:
Congrats to all of you potential P&S 2012ers! Does anyone know a schedule for what's going on at 2nd look? I've got another revisit I want to attend at the same time, so I'd like to know which are the best days to be in NYC versus the other one.
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I wish I knew the specifics since I'm juggling revisits as well. Here is the rough idea of what the schedule will consist of, as posted by a first year on the Columbia 2012 facebook group:
"Thursday- register, lunch, meet faculty/administration, info sessions, dinner (reeeally good BBQ), then a whole slew of social events carrying into the night (live music, games, drinks, other activities...should be a good time). It's a pretty jam-packed day.
Friday- curriculum overview, meet more faculty/administration, lunch with students, then an assortment of afternoon activities."
 
sunkisst30 said:
I'm also very excited about Columbia! Having grown up in NYC, it's always been my dream school!

On another note, does anyone know how much time is spent in lecture/lab/small group first and second years? I can't seem to find if Columbia is one of those 9-5er schools or one that gives you more time to do your own thing.
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It seems to be one of those 9-5 schools. Scroll down to the bottom and there is a link to the class schedule for 2007/2008 for first years. Most days are scheduled until 5.

http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/ps/affairs/first.html#Schedule
 
The schedule seems a little misleading though because it shows Clerkships 3 afternoons per week. I thought clerkship was only one afternoon a week, and anatomy lab was 2 afternoons a week. Maybe a first year can weigh in...
 
LovelyMD said:
The schedule seems a little misleading though because it shows Clerkships 3 afternoons per week. I thought clerkship was only one afternoon a week, and anatomy lab was 2 afternoons a week. Maybe a first year can weigh in...
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Monday/Wednesday/Friday scheduling is typically something like class from 9 or 10 till 12. On one of those afternoons you'll have your clerkship from 1-5.

On Tuesdays/Thursdays you'll also have class in the morning, then an hour break for lunch, anatomy lecture from 1-2:30ish and then lab from whenever class ends until about 5ish.

With the exception of a few classes/small groups you absolutely have to attend, our schedule is remarkably clear. Class attendance is not mandatory -- which is awesome -- and so depending on how much or little you attend class your schedule will be quite open. :thumbup:
 
Severus said:
With the exception of a few classes/small groups you absolutely have to attend, our schedule is remarkably clear. Class attendance is not mandatory -- which is awesome -- and so depending on how much or little you attend class your schedule will be quite open. :thumbup:
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Yeah -- you can plan on having lectures generally starting at 10, sometimes with some non-mandatory small group stuff at 9. You can also plan on having at least 2-3 afternoons off per week ... and then more when anatomy is over.

And don't underestimate what Severus is saying here. My advice is to think really long and hard before choosing a school that has mandatory attendance policies. This was something I didn't really consider when I was in your position last year, but now I realize what a big deal it actually is. At Columbia, we really only have our clerkships and then a small group thing for one hour once per week that's mandatory. Beyond that, though most everyone in our class chooses to go to classes and lab, being able to skip out on them when you want and take a day off -- to fly home, take a stroll through central park, shadow a doctor, or whatever else -- is huge.

Even anatomy lab in the afternoon is optional -- though most people do choose to go because they find it useful, (or at the very least out of courtesy to their lab group).

So yeah -- don't look at that calendar and get confused. There are blocks of time alloted for certain things (i.e. clerkship, morning small groups, etc), but at any given time, only certain people are scheduled to attend them -- not the whole class. And as Severus was saying, since all the lectures and lab resources are at your disposal online (and you can go into anatomy lab whenever you want), your schedule is very much what you make of it. From what I understand, second year is the same way.
 
notlikethat said:
When does anatomy end?
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Day after tomorrow!!!!

Yeah, we have a lot of anatomy here. If you don't like anatomy, first year's gonna be a little rough for you.

Here's a link to a sample of the interactive stuff I was talking about.

http://www.cumedlearn.org/main.html

Obviously it's much more extensive than what you see here.

Also, a bunch of the interactive animations and the cardio/renal/pulm simulators aren't included here, but this'll at least give you a taste.
 
Deleted
 
notlikethat said:
3 weeks to revisit!!


that is all
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Did you mail in your response for the revisit? Or did you e-mail it in? It said on the response sheet that you could e-mail a response... and that's what I did. I didn't get a confirmation e-mail, though...

Ah well, I just got an e-mail about the revisit schedule of events. Cool beans.

Casual dress. Hmmm... I'm working on a mullet/faux-hawk. Does that count as casual or is it just on a different scale of terrible/awesome? :laugh:
 
Yay! I got the revisit schedule too. I think I'm just going to go on Thursday and then go to the Friday afternoon stuff. I live in the area and have to conserve my vacation days. :rolleyes:

Can't wait to meet everyone! :)
 
dienekes88 said:
Casual dress. Hmmm... I'm working on a mullet/faux-hawk. Does that count as casual or is it just on a different scale of terrible/awesome? :laugh:
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Don't worry, I'm sporting an actual (if impossibly trendy) 'hawk. Last chance to be ridiculous-looking before the years of respectability begin.
 
no, you don't have to look respectable first year either. revisit is going to be epic, prepare yourself.
 
Congrats to everyone coming (or thinking about coming) to P&S next year. I'm a 4th year -- matched (!) and on my way out -- but I'd be happy to answer any questions y'all might have about the school, life in NYC, etc.
 
Pinner Doc said:
Congrats to everyone coming (or thinking about coming) to P&S next year. I'm a 4th year -- matched (!) and on my way out -- but I'd be happy to answer any questions y'all might have about the school, life in NYC, etc.
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Congratulations!

What'd you eat during your first year? It sounds like the stoves/ovens don't get overly crowded in Bard Hall, so people must be eating some other way. Sandwiches? Cart food?
 
dienekes88 said:
Congratulations!

What'd you eat during your first year? It sounds like the stoves/ovens don't get overly crowded in Bard Hall, so people must be eating some other way. Sandwiches? Cart food?
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I lived in Bard till about Feb of first year, then moved to Tower 3 when there was a vacancy. For the time I was in Bard, I had a mini fridge and a microwave in my room. For the most part, I think I cooked in bulk up in the kitchen on the 11th floor of Bard, and then reheated for the next few days in my own microwave. (Think large quantities of pasta, etc.) I also did my fair share of eating out and ordering in. There are several small neighborhood places to pick up food.

I believe there is currently some sort of food option on first floor Bard during the days/early evenings, but someone currently living there could let you know more.
 
I heard that there will be major curricular changes for the class of 2012.. does anyone know the details??

Also, does anyone know what the grading interval is for clinical years?
 
iatrogenic7 said:
I heard that there will be major curricular changes for the class of 2012.. does anyone know the details??

Also, does anyone know what the grading interval is for clinical years?
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I think I read somewhere that Lee Goldman is still in the planning stages...He hasn't announced anything yet, right? He drew a distinction between "official curriculum" and "unofficial curriculum" (i.e. how students teach each other). He says he's looking at ways to bring the official up to par with the unofficial. Also, he suggested that we should have a type of "scholarly major/concentration". I don't think this is all happening right away though.
 
i don't think the curriculum changes are going to apply to you guys...i think it is for 2013. in case youre interested, i think the talk is they are going to condense first and second year into 1.5 years, mostly by truncating anatomy (which is longer at P&S than at most schools--a plus in my opinion). can't help you regarding the clinical grading scale, too far in the future. feel free to ask or send me a private message if you have any other first year questions.
 
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