***\ Northwestern University Feinberg SOM Class of 2011!!! /***

[luhando]

Hey everyone...I'm a current M1 at Feinberg and am happy to answer any questions about Second Look, Feinberg, Chicago, etc. so feel free to PM me with any questions. Good luck with your decisions!

ditto

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[yobynaes]

look forward to see all you guys at the second look!

 

[Zerodegree]

Is there an unspoken dress code at these second look dealys or is jeans/tshirt ok? sorry if this has already been asked.

 

[Shake_yabooties]

I'm getting worried about the NU fin-aid.. I'm searching and all I see is a saying that NU fin-aid is very lousy.. can anybody shed some light on this matter?
Also, are there any merit scholarships?

Thanks

 

[wagonwheel]

I'm getting worried about the NU fin-aid.. I'm searching and all I see is a saying that NU fin-aid is very lousy.. can anybody shed some light on this matter?
Also, are there any merit scholarships?

Thanks

cue tumbleweeds....

 

[The Buff]

There is lots of free money floating around, some of which might be labeled 'merit'. IMHO, NU does not have the best financial aid ever.

 

[incubate6times]

I emailed the fin aid department asking about merit scholarships and here is what they said:


You are automatically considered for Merit Scholarships if you apply for
financial aid on our web site. Last year we awarded about 20 Merit
scholarships to our entering medical class.

 

[racheljk]

I emailed the fin aid department asking about merit scholarships and here is what they said:


You are automatically considered for Merit Scholarships if you apply for
financial aid on our web site. Last year we awarded about 20 Merit
scholarships to our entering medical class.

did you happen to ask when they plan on offering these merit scholarships?? I loved NU but its so expensive and could make or break my decision...

 

[incubate6times]

I didn't ask when they award the scholarships, but you should ask and post their reply.

 

[yobynaes]

it'd be sweet to get a merit scholarship to NU...

 

[ElementOfDanger]

did you happen to ask when they plan on offering these merit scholarships?? I loved NU but its so expensive and could make or break my decision...

They will probably give them out at the same time they offer the rest of the financial aid packages, which I believe was sometime in mid-April. Maybe they´ll say something about it at the second look weekend. My stance right now on fin-aid is to fill out the forms and wait. They´ll be ready when they´re ready and once I have them all I´ll make my final decision. We still have a month and a half to decide!

 

[yobynaes]

They will probably give them out at the same time they offer the rest of the financial aid packages, which I believe was sometime in mid-April. Maybe they´ll say something about it at the second look weekend. My stance right now on fin-aid is to fill out the forms and wait. They´ll be ready when they´re ready and once I have them all I´ll make my final decision. We still have a month and a half to decide!

EOD, i was just looking through your MDappl profile. between vandy and NW, which do you lean more to? and why? thanks

 

[blackrsx]

EOD, i was just looking through your MDappl profile. between vandy and NW, which do you lean more to? and why? thanks

cornell

lol

 

[racheljk]

I didn't ask when they award the scholarships, but you should ask and post their reply.

Just called the admissions office, they said they award the merit scholarships and also need based ones by looking at financial aid info. Scholarships are announced seperately from finaid package, and should be announced in April, she was unsure if it would be before or after 2nd look...as with everything from admissions offices I would take all the above with a grain of salt...

 

[incubate6times]

they award the merit scholarships and also need based ones by looking at financial aid info.

Thanks Rachel. Since they base it on fin aid info, doesn't this make it seem like the merit scholarships aren't really merit based, but need based? Weird.

 

[ElementOfDanger]

cornell

lol

My decision process in general right now is a big lol. Thanks blackrsx

Right now I'm going to wait until I hear about financial aid stuff before getting my heart set on a certain school or in making any type of decision. There are things I like about Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, NYU and Boston U anad I could definitely see myself attending any of these schools.

Personally, between Vandy and Northwestern I like NU more for several reasons:
1) I'm really interested in the MD/MA in bioethics and medical humanities program. I was a humanities major in college along with a science major and would like to continue that area of my education during medical school. Although it is a relatively new program, it seems to be rather well developed and coordinated from what I heard in the presentation. I'm interested in going into academic medicine and I think having an MA would make it easier to get a good faculty teaching position, plus I would love to teach a bioethics course in medical or graduate school.
2) I like Chicago a lot more than Nashville. I want to be living in an urban area during my 20's. I just don't feel as if Nashville can provide the cultural lifestyle I'm looking for right now. I also have heard that you need to think of the possibility that you might stay at the same school for both med school and for residency (I think 1/4 of Vandy students stayed at Vandy for residency). 8 years in Nashville? I dunno if I can do that.
3) I'm not 100% on the Vanderbilt Emphasis Program. Maybe I just need to get more information about it, but for some reason I'm not thrilled with it.
4) I'm really excited about the new women's hospital that is opening up that will be affiliated with Northwestern. I'm interested in women's health hence the excitement!
5) For some reason I just felt great after my NU interview. I couldn't wait to hear from them and was counting down the days until I got the letter in the mail. Whereas I didn't get that feeling with Vandy. That's just me though.
6) I like the fact that NU is a bigger class. I think I would do better with a class of 170 as opposed to a class of 102.

Those are just a few things I can think of right now. May 14th is going to be a fun day.

 

[yobynaes]

My decision process in general right now is a big lol. Thanks blackrsx

Those are just a few things I can think of right now. May 14th is going to be a fun day.

thanks, EOD, your considerations are far more meticulous than mine. I liked the two schools equally. i had my four years of undergrad in chitown (loving it), but i didn't feel anything negative about nashville when i interviewed. i suppose it does all come down to the finaid at the end.

blackrsx, good call.

 

[chela47]

Hey everyone...I'm a current M1 at Feinberg and am happy to answer any questions about Second Look, Feinberg, Chicago, etc. so feel free to PM me with any questions. Good luck with your decisions!

Hey FrankGK

I know you're an M! but maybe you'll still have some idea about this -- do M3/4 students generally need a car to get to any of their hospital rotations or are they all within the downtown area?

Thanks

 

[blackrsx]

can any of the current med students comment on opportunities abroad for medical students?

thanks in advance

 

[luhando]

yeah no problem. so im not completely sure about this M3 thing...but i HIGHLY doubt youll need a car. the public transportation in chicago is good and the vast majority of your rotations will be at NMH, Children's (that's an NU affiliated hospital in Lincoln Park so there's a free shuttle that takes you directly there), or Prentice (the woman's hospital). i don't see a car being a necessity. parking is VERY expensive in the city anyway so i wouldnt recommend keeping a car unless you need one.

as for abroad opportunities...the major organization here is NU-AID. It is a student run org that does something like 2-3 trips a year to a couple different sites (including Nicaragua) to help out with some free medical care. im pretty sure there are some other opportunities as well but have never looked into it myself since ive never had the time free to go anywhere. whatever it is, if you'd like an opportunity to go somewhere, you should have a chance to do so.

any other questions just feel free to ask. one piece of advice i can give all of you is get to know at least a couple M2s when youre M1s just to answer sdimple questions/advice. it can be very helpful.

 

[luhando]

just found this word doc with abroad info

 

[The Buff]

yeah no problem. so im not completely sure about this M3 thing...but i HIGHLY doubt youll need a car. the public transportation in chicago is good and the vast majority of your rotations will be at NMH, Children's (that's an NU affiliated hospital in Lincoln Park so there's a free shuttle that takes you directly there), or Prentice (the woman's hospital). i don't see a car being a necessity. parking is VERY expensive in the city anyway so i wouldnt recommend keeping a car unless you need one.

Agree with luhando. Some people have cars, but expect to pay $200 per month to park it downtown. As for third year, all of the hospitals we do rotations at that are not right around NMH (ie Evanston, the VA, Children's) have shuttles that run to them all day so it is not really an issue.

 

[chickendump]

Question for a current student or someone familiar with the housing market near Feinberg. I will be out of the country all of June. Is it too late to look for housing when I get back (early July)? I'm thinking of getting a studio in one of the Streeterville high rises (MccLurg Court, Lake Shore Plaza, Onterie, etc.). Also any opinions on Streeterville buildings is welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[luhando]

not sure about how late you have until you apply for apartments. of course...the earlier you apply the more options youll have. all the apartment buildings on ohio (onterie, 420 e ohio, lakeshore plaza, etc) and mcclurg are all pretty standard. i recommend 420 e ohio out of all of those but i dont live in any of them so i dont know how accurate my advice is. there is a brand new building on ohio called the streeter that is unbelievable...but pricey. very very nice building with a lot of nice perks.

 

[The Buff]

Question for a current student or someone familiar with the housing market near Feinberg. I will be out of the country all of June. Is it too late to look for housing when I get back (early July)? I'm thinking of getting a studio in one of the Streeterville high rises (MccLurg Court, Lake Shore Plaza, Onterie, etc.). Also any opinions on Streeterville buildings is welcome. Thanks in advance.

I don't think it will be too late, although you may not have the same range of choices you would have had if you started in mid June. That said, if you start as early in July as you can you should still be able to find something decent for August. There are lots of buildings to live in and they are all pretty comparable, so you should be able to find something.

As for anyone in a normal situation that will be looking for housing: Chicago laws state that people moving out of apartments do not have to tell their landlords until 6 weeks before the end of their leases. Thus, the best time to start looking for an August 1st lease would be the middle of June. You might be able to find something earlier, but the most options will be available to you around that 5-6 week mark. This is just something that I learned along the way and wanted to pass on.

 

[NN11]

I don't think it will be too late, although you may not have the same range of choices you would have had if you started in mid June. That said, if you start as early in July as you can you should still be able to find something decent for August. There are lots of buildings to live in and they are all pretty comparable, so you should be able to find something.

As for anyone in a normal situation that will be looking for housing: Chicago laws state that people moving out of apartments do not have to tell their landlords until 6 weeks before the end of their leases. Thus, the best time to start looking for an August 1st lease would be the middle of June. You might be able to find something earlier, but the most options will be available to you around that 5-6 week mark. This is just something that Ilearned along the way and wanted to pass on.

Hey Buff, thanks for the valuable advice...

 

[chickendump]

I don't think it will be too late, although you may not have the same range of choices you would have had if you started in mid June. That said, if you start as early in July as you can you should still be able to find something decent for August. There are lots of buildings to live in and they are all pretty comparable, so you should be able to find something.

As for anyone in a normal situation that will be looking for housing: Chicago laws state that people moving out of apartments do not have to tell their landlords until 6 weeks before the end of their leases. Thus, the best time to start looking for an August 1st lease would be the middle of June. You might be able to find something earlier, but the most options will be available to you around that 5-6 week mark. This is just something that Ilearned along the way and wanted to pass on.

Appreciate the info. Is it generally harder to find a studio?

 

[The Buff]

Appreciate the info. Is it generally harder to find a studio?

There are lots and lots of studios in these buildings (up to a quarter of the rooms in some of them). I have never heard of anyone not being able to find a studio if that is what they were looking for.

 

[Shake_yabooties]

how was 2nd look everyone?

 

[GoBlueMD83]

anyone know when the finaid packages are due back?

 

[ElementOfDanger]

Second look was a lot of fun!! Looks like 2011 is going to be a great class

At SL they told us that fin aid would come out by May 1st and to make sure you had set up the Northwestern email address because that was how they were sending them out this year.

 

[Shake_yabooties]

by may 1st.. does that mean it's released on may 1st or by then?

kinda confusing.

 

[ElementOfDanger]

They said the financial aid packages would be sent out by May 1st. So if not on May 1st, probably a couple days before then. They also will be sent via email and there is an electronic contract that has to be signed. So, no waiting to receive the package via snail mail.

 

[Shake_yabooties]

They said the financial aid packages would be sent out by May 1st. So if not on May 1st, probably a couple days before then. They also will be sent via email and there is an electronic contract that has to be signed. So, no waiting to receive the package via snail mail.

aight thanks! btw, did they mention anything about a merit scholarship?

 

[blackrsx]

Like EOD said Northwestern did a great job of selecting students; everyone I met was great.

aight thanks! btw, did they mention anything about a merit scholarship?

if you applied for fin. aid you are automatically considered and decisions should go out in the next 2 weeks

 

[ElementOfDanger]

Like EOD said Northwestern did a great job of selecting students; everyone I met was great.

Of course they did
I also just realized that I started one of my last sentences with "so." I'm surprised you didn't comment on that I lost track of the final count...

 

[ElementOfDanger]

hahaha there are definitely three Feinberg Class of 2011 facebook groups. Let's join forces! And I'm definitely lovin' the enthusiasm

 

[Shake_yabooties]

received grant mail today on the NW mail account.
Anybody else? did they also announce merit scholarship?

 

[ElementOfDanger]

Yeah I got an email too, but I´m confused as to either this constitutes my complete financial aid outside of loans. The grant they emailed about was need-based, so no word yet on merit-based grants *crosses fingers and toes*

 

[UCLAMAN]

Congrats to everyone who got accepted to Feinberg!

There is a shuttle service to each of the hospitals we rotate through so no one needs a car. I just finished my last rotation ever as a medical student last week and I survived without a car.

 

[yobynaes]

Yeah I got an email too, but I´m confused as to either this constitutes my complete financial aid outside of loans. The grant they emailed about was need-based, so no word yet on merit-based grants *crosses fingers and toes*

yeah, I really hope that's only the need-based part.

 

[yobynaes]

Now, what do you guys think about the curriculum? 2hrs lecture/day?
to be honest, im still a bit shaky about the whole pbl thingie. i've heard many horror stories (not from NU, but other schools).

any input's appreciated.

 

[chela47]

yeah -- i don't know about it either, i kind of like lecture

 

[The Buff]

Well, let me just say right off that while I am not a huge fan of PBl, the way they do it here is the right way, imo. We are not graded on pbl in any way that matters, so if one of the other students in your group is not presenting a topic in the best way, it is really no sweat off your back. The big unit tests only cover lecture material. PBL here is used only to enhance what you learned in lecture and help you integrate and refine your analytic skills. So I think many of the horror stories you hear about PBL, and I have heard many, do not really apply to the NU curriculum. Also, despite rumors here to the contrary, NU is not "PBL Heavy", we only have it a twice a week for about half the weeks in the year. Maybe that is heavy to other people, I don't know, but since there are no tests on it I tend to forget it is even there.

As far as lecture time: I think only 2 hours per day is awesome, but you will have to spend time on your own going over them b/c they are extremely dense. This style may not be for those who would rather have a slower-paced, more-lecture-time-per-day format.

Just my two cents.

 

[yobynaes]

Thanks, TBuff. I was very relieved to find all the people i talked to during the second look wk loved the curriculum at NU. And, I honestly can't say that slow paced traditional lecture is what help me to perform the best as i've never really had much alternative in the past 16yrs of schooling. I suppose we all adapt when the time comes.

I also have a question for UCLAMAN (or anyone knowledegeable of the subject). I was looking through NU's 2007 matchlist. I would like to first congratulate all the M4's for their impressive work. i noticed that a lot students decided to stay at Northwestern affiliated hospitals for their residency. Now, is that a good thing? I mean does that show they are so impressed with NU that they are willing to stay another four years there? or are they having a hard time competing for a spot at the ivy school affiliated hospitals? I apologize ahead of the time if i sound abrasive in anyway; i have no such intention. Im just curious of your opinion on the subject.

 

[yobynaes]

I just called the finaid office about the grant. it does not include the merit scholarship. They say if you are eligible, you'll receive an email this thursday or friday. again, fingers crossed.

 

[500free]

Hey all
Definitely adding to the sentiments of hope for a scholarship notification this week...especially after receiving the need-based grant package.

My question is probably better addressed by a current student, but some of y'all may have an answer too. I'm shopping around for a new laptop for the Fall, and was wondering if Northwestern had any requirements or recommendations for purchased computers. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[UCLAMAN]

I also have a question for UCLAMAN (or anyone knowledegeable of the subject). I was looking through NU's 2007 matchlist. I would like to first congratulate all the M4's for their impressive work. i noticed that a lot students decided to stay at Northwestern affiliated hospitals for their residency. Now, is that a good thing? I mean does that show they are so impressed with NU that they are willing to stay another four years there? or are they having a hard time competing for a spot at the ivy school affiliated hospitals? I apologize ahead of the time if i sound abrasive in anyway; i have no such intention. Im just curious of your opinion on the subject.

i'll give you the inside scoop/and my thoughts on our matchlist later tonight...but for now...i have salsa lessons to go to. i have to say...it feels good to be done with the journey you all are about to embark upon.

2007 NU Match Day Pix This will be you in 4 years.

Were there any specialties in particular that you were concerned about?

 

[Shake_yabooties]

i'll give you the inside scoop/and my thoughts on our matchlist later tonight...but for now...i have salsa lessons to go to. i have to say...it feels good to be done with the journey you all are about to embark upon.

2007 NU Match Day Pix This will be you in 4 years.

Were there any specialties in particular that you were concerned about?

Actually, long time ago I was in the middle of sending you a PM about the same question about NW students staying at NW for residency. It does seem like a lot of people are staying for residency. I stopped writing since it may sound offensive. But.. it does seem like others schools on similar level (U of chicago, vanderbilt.. etc) seem to match at more prestigious institutions in terms of residency. Do you have any insight on this?

 

[yobynaes]

i'll give you the inside scoop/and my thoughts on our matchlist later tonight...but for now...i have salsa lessons to go to. i have to say...it feels good to be done with the journey you all are about to embark upon.

2007 NU Match Day Pix This will be you in 4 years.

Were there any specialties in particular that you were concerned about?

inside scoop would be much appreciated. I have no particular specialty in mind for my lacking of clinical experience.