Northwestern Class of 2010

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oneaat said:
hi - i'm on the northwestern waitlist and have a question about financial aid - most schools say if you're on the waitlist you should fill out the forms now, so that it's one less thing to worry about if you get in. but i've only been able to find the 05-06 forms on the website. is the financial aid website secure or something? anyone know about that?
thanks in advance :)
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NU says not to fill out financial aid stuff unless you get in tho, so you may not want to fill it out (im waitlisted as well)

Thanks to those who are withdrawing :smuggrin:
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I hear ya Punisher. I am really worried about the debt that I will have after school. How is it that the ave. debt around 130k when the 4 years will cost at least 200k? Does the average student have parents that pay for 70k or more of their tuition? That's nuts.
 
My EFC went through the roof too - part of the reason is one of the variables is how much you have in retirement funds (IRA, SEP, etc). My wife and I have built up a lot, and that contributed to a 48K EFC. It's absolutely ridiculous and I told Ken Brown about that and he said something along the lines either it's a Northwestern University policy or there is some law about it. I think it's the former.

It is absolutely ridiculous. It is shameful that such a fine medical institution requires you to take some money out of retirement to pay for your family contribution.
 
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thegenius said:
My EFC went through the roof too - part of the reason is one of the variables is how much you have in retirement funds (IRA, SEP, etc). My wife and I have built up a lot, and that contributed to a 48K EFC. It's absolutely ridiculous and I told Ken Brown about that and he said something along the lines either it's a Northwestern University policy or there is some law about it. I think it's the former.

It is absolutely ridiculous. It is shameful that such a fine medical institution requires you to take some money out of retirement to pay for your family contribution.
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I don't think that is right at all. In fact, it's almost criminal. If they really want the best students going there they should stop spending all their money on facilities (although I must say that I love them) and more into scholarships like Wash U.
 
thegenius said:
My EFC went through the roof too - part of the reason is one of the variables is how much you have in retirement funds (IRA, SEP, etc). My wife and I have built up a lot, and that contributed to a 48K EFC. It's absolutely ridiculous and I told Ken Brown about that and he said something along the lines either it's a Northwestern University policy or there is some law about it. I think it's the former.

It is absolutely ridiculous. It is shameful that such a fine medical institution requires you to take some money out of retirement to pay for your family contribution.
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Can you take out an NU optional loan for as much money as needed, up to the cost of attendance? Did they give you enough loans so that you would only have to pay a small amount with your retirement? I think it is ridiculous to include retirement in EFC... that is probably why my parent's EFC when wayy up. I guarantee they aren't taking out any money of their retirement for me :(
 
ultimateend said:
I hear ya Punisher. I am really worried about the debt that I will have after school. How is it that the ave. debt around 130k when the 4 years will cost at least 200k? Does the average student have parents that pay for 70k or more of their tuition? That's nuts.
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I think everyone that goes there is rich... At 2nd look, just about every med student I met had their parent's paying for their whole 4 years. Many were even living in big, beautiful, half million dollar condos. I wish I was that lucky...
 
I feel for y'all as well. My financial aid statement didn't turn out so well either. I'm still planning on Northwestern right now, but I've decided to wait to see what my state school offers me...
 
ultimateend said:
I don't think that is right at all. In fact, it's almost criminal. If they really want the best students going there they should stop spending all their money on facilities (although I must say that I love them) and more into scholarships like Wash U.
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I know what you mean, just about every building has someone's name on it, yet NU only has 60M trust for scholarships, and they dip into that around 4-5% a year. I think when they have donors who give 10's of millions of dollars, they want to see their name somewhere rather than having it go into a fund to keep the cost of med school down.
 
Punisher said:
Can you take out an NU optional loan for as much money as needed, up to the cost of attendance? Did they give you enough loans so that you would only have to pay a small amount with your retirement? I think it is ridiculous to include retirement in EFC... that is probably why my parent's EFC when wayy up. I guarantee they aren't taking out any money of their retirement for me :(
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NU said that I'm not *required* to dip into the retirement funds. I can take out loans in lieu of using the retirement funds to fund my education.

I fully expect, on some level, to use up most (if not all) of our non-retirement liquid assets for med school. There are penalties for withdrawing money from IRA's and that's why NU has this silly formula of not asking you to take all of those monies at once. Instead they only take 35% of 50% of your total retirement kitty.

So 100K then goes to 50K, then goes to 17.5K. So that is part of my EFC. If I dip into my IRA by 17.5K, I have to take MORE because there are penalties for early withdraw.
 
Does NU caculate fin aid for 9 months or 10? Because my EFC at Pitt was much higher than at NU, and the lady at Pitt said it might be b/c most schools calculate for 9 months, whereas pitt does it for 10... Does anyone know about this?
 
pallcare said:
Does NU caculate fin aid for 9 months or 10? Because my EFC at Pitt was much higher than at NU, and the lady at Pitt said it might be b/c most schools calculate for 9 months, whereas pitt does it for 10... Does anyone know about this?
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I dunno, but are you expected to live on your own for the 2-3 months you are not in school? Do they expect you to find a job? (not that that would be a bad thing to do).
 
I know that NW sends out a list of people who are searching for roommates but I wanted to take some initiative and post here. I am lookin for roommates, I will be a 1st year student. Contact for more details and we can discuss possibilities.
 
Anyone interested in tickets to the Pearl Jam show in Chicago Wed. 5-17-06 :horns: ....I have 2 good fan club seats available.....Face value....CATCH: you have to be a Ten Club member to transfer the tickets. PM me for details.
 
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is anyone considering living in lincoln park next year?
 
i dont have any idea of the neighborhoods in chicago...If anyone has any insight then that would be great. I want to live relatively close (15 min or less on the train) or within walkin distance

pallcare said:
is anyone considering living in lincoln park next year?
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Yes, I'm going to be living north of Northwestern. We are looking into buying a condo within 1-5 miles north of NU. This puts you in either Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, or Lakeview (parts of Lakeview can be really far from NU).

What I'm writing below is for those who are considering buying. (we haven't looked into renting yet). Our objectives are the following:

1) commute time is on average NO GREATER than 30 minutes during peak hours. I'm looking in the 20-30 minute range.

2) access to transportation is close and reliable (consistent)

My wife and I have a realtor and I have scoured about 100 listings so far, calculating distance and estimated PITI (principal, interest, taxes, insurance) plus assessments for all of properties. This is what I've uncovered so far:

** Living close to NU, within 1.5 miles, will be expensive if you want to be a condo owner. Almost all units we have seen are in big high rises, and these units tend to have high assessments ( > $400/month). The minimum for these properties is 350K. For the most part we have decided not to buy close to NU because gross monthly payment will be in excess of 2.8K/month and we can't afford that or are unwilling to pay that.

** Going farther north, 2.5 - 4 miles from NU (which is around DePaul University, Lincoln Park) the properties start to become more manageable. The dues and taxes are generally lower, and I have seen about 5 condos that we are interested in. The gross monthly payment ranges from 2.1K/month to 2.8K/month, with an average around 2.4K/month.

** In the 4 - 6.5 mile range from NU, we start to get really far away. But the places start to become a little cheaper provided you don't buy real estate on the lake. I think you get a little more space, but the cost doesn't go down all that much. Subtract perhaps 5-10% from the units south of here.

Hope this helps. You guys can always ping me if you want more details. Again, I don't know much about renting, but my sister (who is a resident of chicago) claims that we can find a nice 2 bdroom to rent for well under 2K.
 
sweetmelody said:
I dont even know how ppl can afford to buy a house as a med student if they dont have an employed partner or rich parents....am i missing something here?
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well FWIW i must have run into at least 10 people whose parents were paying for their condos
 
sweetmelody said:
I dont even know how ppl can afford to buy a house as a med student if they dont have an employed partner or rich parents....am i missing something here?
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You essentially cannot purchase a property if you can't put a downpayment on it. My wife and I have been working for the past 7 years so we have amassed some savings (which will all be used towards med school :( ). We also own an investment property that we are currently beginning to sell.

Or, like the other poster said, you have rich parents.
 
what kind of laptops are you guys buying? anyone thinkin of a tablet pc? do you know if northwestern has any good deals?
 
yg1786 said:
what kind of laptops are you guys buying? anyone thinkin of a tablet pc? do you know if northwestern has any good deals?
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I was thinking about getting a tablet, but I am going to stick with my 12'' ibook (it is pretty new, about 6 months old) and see how that goes. I love its portability and it is so easy to use and also has a great battery life. From the little research I've done, tablets seem really expensive and rather bulky, but they definitely seem amazing with being able to take notes directly on the screen. If you have any questions about apple laptops like the ibook, let me know...

Good luck shopping!

-Rachel
 
I'm a 4th year at Northwestern, and absolutedly loved my 4 years here. Just wanted to congratulate everyone on making the right choice ;) Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about the school or Chicago!

In terms of housing, if you have a car anywhere from hyde park to lincoln park would put you within 30 min of school even during rush hour. I would also call the parking office to find out the boundaries outside of which you have to live in order to get subsidized parking (I live in Hyde Park, and have not found commute to be a problem).

Public transportation wise, Redline is convenient, or any of the buses that stop on Michigan street for people who are living north of downtown. They usually run very frequently during rush hour.
 
thegenius said:
I saw some of lack of diversity, but the kind of diversity I was looking for was life experiences. Now, is it true that there were HMPE's there? That will significantly cut into life experiences that I seek.

I can't expect a majority (or even a large minority) of my fellow classmates to share some of the things I've been through. But I would like about 5% of my class to be over the age of 25. I've been in California working for the past 7 years, and I'm older, and I saw numerous young people (around age of 20) at Northwestern.

But, such is life. BTW, I was at NU with my wife, you might have remembered seeing me. I was also the one who made the wisecrack comment during the financial aid meeting that to prepare for med school we should not go to Vegas and gamble our savings.
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I'm a 4th year at NU, and I am (was?) HPME. However, I don't think you can lump us into one category and say that we all lack life experiences, or that we are all young and still into partying and such. I worked a 15-20 hours/week job during my first 2 years of med school. I don't believe that all of us are into drinking and partying. I think we do add to class diversity, and besides, who else can everyone make fun of during In Vivo? :)

But, anyways, I've been (mainly) happy my 4 years here, I hope people decide to come. I lived in Onterie these years, with a roommate, and our rent is only about $800/person for a pretty decent sized place. So if there are questions or concerns, feel free to PM me--I'm done with school and have nothing to do!
 
I'm visiting Chicago next weekend to apartment-hunt (I'm moving July 1st). :clap: Hoping to find a place in Lincoln Park, but will live in Lakeview if necessary to stay in my budget. As long as it's on the redline and doesn't require getting up too early for those 8am classes, it's all good. But it would be nice to be within 2 or 3 miles of NU b/c I'd like the option of walking back from class on nice days. Anyway, I have an appointment with chicagoapartmentfinders.com, so if it turns out to be a good service, I'll report back here to let you guys know.
 
FrankGK said:
I was thinking about getting a tablet, but I am going to stick with my 12'' ibook (it is pretty new, about 6 months old) and see how that goes. I love its portability and it is so easy to use and also has a great battery life. From the little research I've done, tablets seem really expensive and rather bulky, but they definitely seem amazing with being able to take notes directly on the screen. If you have any questions about apple laptops like the ibook, let me know...

Good luck shopping!

-Rachel
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I've got a laptop so I won't be buying a new one. It's a standard Dell Latitude D610. I would not recommend buying this model, but I think the majority of my frustration is with Windows and not Dell.

I'm seriously considering purchasing a new Apple laptop before school too. I need a new computer.
 
Thundrstorm said:
I'm visiting Chicago next weekend to apartment-hunt (I'm moving July 1st). :clap: Hoping to find a place in Lincoln Park, but will live in Lakeview if necessary to stay in my budget. As long as it's on the redline and doesn't require getting up too early for those 8am classes, it's all good. But it would be nice to be within 2 or 3 miles of NU b/c I'd like the option of walking back from class on nice days. Anyway, I have an appointment with chicagoapartmentfinders.com, so if it turns out to be a good service, I'll report back here to let you guys know.
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Please report back! I am going to Chicago first weekend in June to look for rentals and condos. I will use chicagoapartmentfinders.com if you think they are a valuable service.

How have they been so far? Lots of listings to choose from?
 
thegenius said:
Please report back! I am going to Chicago first weekend in June to look for rentals and condos. I will use chicagoapartmentfinders.com if you think they are a valuable service.

How have they been so far? Lots of listings to choose from?
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They have tons of listings on the site in my price range, but they don't post alot of info or photos for the listings. I've heard good things though, and my time is limited, so hopefully it works out. They've been very good about keeping in touch, and even reminded me of my appt. by phone and e-mail. I'm meeting with them on Saturday. I'm in town Friday as well and I'm trying to see if a similar service, apartmentpeople.com, has an opening for me then. If they do, I'll let you know how they compare. If not, I'll just check out some independently listed places on Friday. I really hope I can find a place because can't afford to go back for another weekend.
 
Thundrstorm said:
They have tons of listings on the site in my price range, but they don't post alot of info or photos for the listings. I've heard good things though, and my time is limited, so hopefully it works out. They've been very good about keeping in touch, and even reminded me of my appt. by phone and e-mail. I'm meeting with them on Saturday. I'm in town Friday as well and I'm trying to see if a similar service, apartmentpeople.com, has an opening for me then. If they do, I'll let you know how they compare. If not, I'll just check out some independently listed places on Friday. I really hope I can find a place because can't afford to go back for another weekend.
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Good luck then. Hope everything works out.
 
IMHO it's definitely worth using an agency....beats having to deal with parking/transportation issues if nothing else.

I went on my apartment hunt with Chicago Apartment Finders this past weekend (yay!) They don't schedule apt. visits until you actually get there, so be sure that you know what you're looking for beforehand--that's my only advice. Chris (one of the agents) only scheduled us to go see four places in (around? slightly above?) my predetermined price range, but I actually found a nice apt. close to school...

By the way, I'm looking forward to "officially" meeting everyone later this year. I feel like MSTPers kinda got sequestered for 2nd Look...At any rate, may everyone find the Chicago home/hut/hovel of their dreams :luck:
 
Here's what I'm doing regarding computers and housing - does this sound reasonable?

Computer: I have an iBook that I'm very happy with and hope to continue to use. Does anyone know if the NU program uses PC specific software or is Mac OK?

Housing: My husband and I are older people and have homes that we're selling here in the northeast, so we're very lucky in that we'll have a down-payment for a house. Our plan is to buy a place in Evanston since we have to have a single family home with a yard to accomodate our three (yikes) dogs. Is this a crazy commute or can we find something closer in for not-insane money?

Thanks in advance for any input!
 
Hey everyone,

I used Apartment Guys of Chicago to find my place and they were fantastic. No matter who you use, I would call first and give them your info, including where you want to live and your estimated price rangeso that they can get some places together to show you. It is really nice because they drive you around to each place and have appointments set up with the leasing agents; all you really have to do is show up. Best part: it is completely free. Please let me know if you have any questions about this particular service. The guy that showed me around is named Sado.

As for computers, I asked 2 M1's about the whole mac/PC situation, and they both said that there is no problem using macs and that plenty of people use them. I am pretty sure that we will be able to access and use everything on a mac as well as on any PC.

Can't wait to see you all!

-Rachel
 
I have posted on SDN and I've contacted a number of ppl via email who are on the NW roommate list sent out by linda daniels, and out of them only 1 person has responded....Am I crazy to want to find housing ASAP before all the good deals are gone and I end up payin way too much for a lil hole....lol....if anyone out there is as concerned about where they are goin to rest their heads when they get to chicago...then let me know :)

Is anyone else (who's renting) already startin to look or am I a lone soul?
 
sweetmelody said:
I have posted on SDN and I've contacted a number of ppl via email who are on the NW roommate list sent out by linda daniels, and out of them only 1 person has responded....Am I crazy to want to find housing ASAP before all the good deals are gone and I end up payin way too much for a lil hole....lol....if anyone out there is as concerned about where they are goin to rest their heads when they get to chicago...then let me know :)

Is anyone else (who's renting) already startin to look or am I a lone soul?
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I am looking for a roommate. I finally decided to go to Nwestern. PM me.
 
I'll probably need a roommate as well. send me a PM if you would like to talk about it.
 
I've gotten a little confused over the course of this thread as to who is still going to Northwestern, so now that it's May 15th I propose we start a list! Everyone who has decided on NU, add your name. I realize that some may still be holding out for waitlists elsewhere, but if your current plan is NU, join the list! So here it is:


Northwestern Class of 2010:

MNsocsci
 
Thundrstorm said:
They have tons of listings on the site in my price range, but they don't post alot of info or photos for the listings. I've heard good things though, and my time is limited, so hopefully it works out. They've been very good about keeping in touch, and even reminded me of my appt. by phone and e-mail. I'm meeting with them on Saturday. I'm in town Friday as well and I'm trying to see if a similar service, apartmentpeople.com, has an opening for me then. If they do, I'll let you know how they compare. If not, I'll just check out some independently listed places on Friday. I really hope I can find a place because can't afford to go back for another weekend.
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Hey Thundrstorm, how did it go with apartment hunting?
 
Northwestern Class of 2010:

MNsocsci
thegenius
FrankGK
sweetmelody
DogzRool
 
Northwestern Class of 2010:

MNsocsci
thegenius
FrankGK
sweetmelody
DogzRool
smidge
 
thegenius said:
Hey Thundrstorm, how did it go with apartment hunting?
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I'm going this weekend. I'm looking with ApartmentPeople on Friday and ChicagoApartmentFinders on Saturday. I'll post on Monday to let you know how it went.
 
Hi everyone, I've been lurking on this thread for a while. Time to add my name to the list!

Northwestern Class of 2010:

MNsocsci
thegenius
FrankGK
sweetmelody
DogzRool
smidge
barkler
 
I'm in.

Northwestern Class of 2010:

MNsocsci
thegenius
FrankGK
sweetmelody
DogzRool
smidge
barkler
Punisher
 
i have a car, but lately i have been thinkin about selling it before moving to chicago...so i wanted other nw students with and without cars to weigh in before i make my decision.....what do you think about having or not having a car?
 
sweetmelody said:
i have a car, but lately i have been thinkin about selling it before moving to chicago...so i wanted other nw students with and without cars to weigh in before i make my decision.....what do you think about having or not having a car?
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I think you would have to be crazy to bring a car to chicago. It costs an insane amount to park it (>$200/month) and the traffic sounds pretty bad. Also, there is great public transportation for wherever you need to go. I was going to sell my car before I move to Chicago... but it got stolen 3 weeks ago. :mad:
 
I'm really attached to my car (Toyota Prius-Hybrid) so I'm having a hard time giving it up, but there's no way I can afford parking in Chicago. It seems like the public transportation is good enough so that you don't need one if you live downtown. I'm not selling my car yet, though. It's going to stay at my mom's in Minneapolis until I am ready to let it go... ;)

Edit: Punisher, that sucks! Can you get a big insurance check for it, at least?
 
Hey Northwestern peeps,

Sorry to invade your thread, but I'm trying to see if there would be interest in organizing a Chicagoland SDN meetup for this fall.

I'm curious as to when you all start classes and if you would want to have a night out with your fellow SDNers from other Chicago area med schools.

Please PM me if you are interested!

Thanks!

Molly (Pritzker 2010)
 
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