looking for more info on schools

[post-bac premed]

I hope I'm not intruding on this list, as I am only a pre-med, but I would love the input of those who are already at the schools!

Having accessed a lot of information about schools, my remaining question is what about your lives outside of school? I suppose I'm wondering about outdoor activities, social "scenes", athletics, the city/town in general.
So, if you know anything about UMDNJ, WUHS, NSUCOM, AZCOM I'd love to hear! Sell me on your school!
To give you an idea of what I might be looking for: matriculate at 28; SWF; like the culture cities have to offer (lived in Pittsburgh, Madison, Boston, Charlottesville, London); very active; love the outdoors (run, bike, crew, kayak); not big into really LOUD and smokey clubs/bars.
Also, can someone tell me about Touro? Talk about location, WOW! But then I research online and it seems like it is littered with some frightening chemicals!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the advice/information!!!!

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[me454555]

Although I will not be attending a school untill september, I have interviewed @ touro. The campus was a lil bit scary. There was a guard at the front gate who had to clear you before you entered. The whole campus was very grey and looked a little run down on the outside.

Inside, however, the classrooms looked real nice and the anatomy lab looked fairly new.

The location of the campus was a little bit remote. The town of Vallejo does not offer much for nightlife or social events, but it is an easy drive from San Fran and Oakland which have a lot of nice restaurants as well as good night life and outdoors type things to do.

Hope this helps a little bit.

 

[mcataz]

I PM'd you but I will add to that reply here. Phoenix is like a mini-LA. The bars are scattered all over the city. They aren't in just one prime downtown location like in Philly, London, SF etc. You have Tempe, Scottsdale, North Scottsdale and the Biltmore. Some people like that because you have many areas to choose from. Other's don't like it because of the inconvenience and the lack of a true downtown. Our downtown is pretty much reserved for pro-sports and events surrounding that. They have some nice bars and clubs there but they only get packed when the Diamondbacks play.

We have a lot loud and smoky bars. But if you have seen Swingers, we also have lot of quiet dives too in which you can just chill.

Plenty of outdoor activities but you pretty much stay indoors during the summer unless you are laying out by the pool.( Our summers are like our version of Winter. You stay indoors except in the evening and early morning.) A lot of hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking here. During Jan-March, you can go snow skiing and snow boarding in Flagstaff and Showlow. However, Flagstaff is 90 minutes north of Phoenix and Showlow is about 3.5 hours away so it's not as convenient as say living in Boulder, Colorado or Seattle or some other place that has quick access to skiing.

Las Vegas is a fun excursion. People drive to Vegas for a weekend at least twice a year if not more. I go about once per quarter. It's only a 4 hour drive. LA is 5 hours away and San Diego is 4 hours away.

 

[post-bac premed]

MCATAZ-
Swingers ... What a hilarious movie!

AZCOM just keeps looking better and better. You named many of the things I love to do... climbing, hiking, mt. biking...

How is AZCOM's current relationship with area hospitals? I don't think discussion on this forum ever reached a consensus.

I have yet to hear much about Nova, WUHSCOM... Touro I think I should just see for myself.

Anyone have anything to add on those schools?

 

[Vince]

YOU SHOULD LOOK INTO WESTERNU/COMP.....

I am from Texas and I chose this school based on the location, weather, and cool stuff to do.....

Things to do out here in Southern California...

1. Beach Baby!!!.. .You are close enough for weekends, but its far enough away that you don't go everyday and cut into studying

2. Mountain Biking. I got my mtn bike in Texas after I had my interview here...I had a good feeling about the interview and I could see the mountains everywhere....really good Mtn. Biking here....the place where i go the most is only about 10 min away....I took some pics last time but haven't got them developed...If i remember when I develop them, I'll e-mail one to you....Last year I saw a couple deer while I was taking a break...didn't have the camera then though...

3. Golf. We have a golf club here...lol....we get some money every year and go play a couple tournaments for fun...get some prizes for the winners....our Spring tournament is actually Tuesday....I am looking forward to beating the Dean....
I can say that because he and I were on the same team last year and we won....

4. Soccer. I should put this higher on the list because I have enjoyed this more than classes this year. We put two teams together...1st and 2nd years...and we played indoors at a local arena last semester, and this semester we are playing outside...Friday is the final game for outdoors....the two DO teams are playing each other..... GO MIGHTY DO'S!!!! lol

5. Scuba diving. A couple students have gone scuba diving together, and some have actually gotten certified since they started. One of the anatomy prof's is an avid diver. The diving here isn't as good as Cozumel, but its cool(Literally...the water's cold...lol) Kelp beds, etc...I am hoping to dive Catalina Island next.

6. Hiking......i'd rather be pedaling...but i'm sure you can hike around here...

7. We have had a softball game once a semester...for fun at a local park, haven't this semester...studying for boards.... lol

8. Snow skiiing, or snowboarding if you choose, is about an hour or so away I think.....I know some people who went the past couple months...I think its Mammoth Mtn. or something...I have never gone because I have relatives up in Colorado...so I go to Breckenridge or Copper Mountain. That's some good skiing!

9. Groups of students have gone Salsa dancing or out to clubs, etc. Plenty of that in LA! Which brings me to something else that's important...NO SMOKING IN PUBLIC PLACES IN CALIFORNIA....although the traffic sucks sometimes, this no-smoking thing rules! Keep the cancer sticks outta here!

10. DID I MENTION THE BEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!! that should be enough in and of itself

11. If you have your pilot's license, there are alot of airports to rent planes.....I haven't had as much time as before med school to do it though...and there are so many planes flying around you really have to watch your you know what

12. I know some students that go rock climbing indoors....not sure where to go outdoors but I'm sure there are places.

I give tours here at COMP for interviewees and I really stress location when choosing a med school...because you need to be happy and do things that make you happy when you want to take a break from studying. The campus looks a little goofy on the outside(used to be a strip mall), but inside it is very nice and the facilities are good. If the stuff I mentioned is important to you....consider checking COMP out...there is plenty more to do, but these are the big ones that I can think of...

 

[melancholy]

Heh.. you'll have to excuse Vince... he is studying for a repro final just like me (he just went to sleep so I can post now!)

Anyway, I should put in my two cents that I had enough time to learn golf during my first year neurosensory system course and there are a lot of decent and inexpensive places to play golf around here in socal! The weather is great so you can play almost year-round too. I also started learning/playing soccer when we had two indoor teams of WUHS/COMP students in the fall and now, two outdoor teams going in a local rec league. Fun fun fun.

Vince didn't mention Vegas is a paltry 2.5-3 hr drive away, SD is about 1.5 hours, skiing can be anywhere from 30 min to 1.5 hrs, and beach is about 35-40 minutes. LA is about 30 minutes west of here and SF is 6 hrs north. (Probably easier to go to TUCOM if you want to be around 45 min away from SF.) Oh yeah, we must be around 3.5-4 hrs from AZCOM based on MCATZ's post.. heh.

FYI: Outdoor rock climbers around here usually make a trip to Joshua Tree although there are a lot of other places to go around here I believe.

Nearly free gym membership to LA Fitness (multiple locations where students live around school) or Bally's.. something to the tune of $40 for the entire year.

Anyway, sorry to sound so biased, but I am just feeding off my classmates' vibe. I'm sure other schools have a lot of unique activities that might not be available around here... but southern California is southern California for a reason...

 

[post-bac premed]

Repro final... Sounds fun!

Great to hear from students at another school. I do plan on applying to WUHS/COM along with NSUCOM, AZCOM, maybe CCOM and MSUCOM also. Apparently I'm trying to head south! I guess growing up in Pittsburgh and doing my undergraduate work in Wisconsin gave me enough of the snow!

The information I've gotten is very helpful in narrowing down my selection. I know inevitably the decision will be made once I interview. Don't think an early decision ANYwhere is something I'll opt for.

So, any takers for filling me in on NSUCOM, CCOM, MSUCOM? Same lifestyle q's.


Snowing in (almost) April in Virginia!!

 

[mcataz]

I will totally advocate what melancholly said. Without a doubt, SoCal is so much fun. I don't know of any other city in the U.S. in which you can go snow skiing and surfing in the same day. Lots to do! If you don't mind their strip mall campus and curriculum, go to Western without a second thought!!!

I would never want to settle in LA, but to attend school there for 4 years would be a lot of fun. I'm just used to the lifestyle convenience and lack of traffic that Phoenix affords. But yeah, SoCal is so much fun!!! The only bad thing about LA is the traffic. It's the worst in the nation. Everything seems like it's at least an hour drive....one way. And on Friday and Saturday nights, it can take as long as 2 hours to Sunset from Pomona....one way. I hate that. I don't like the beaches in LA. But I love the beaches in San Diego and that's only 1.5 hours away. You can learn how to surf. It's fun. Definitely check out Western!!!!