Penn State class of 2010

[Scalpellum]

So....what are you all planning to do this summer before we start?

I myself am going to spend some time overseas. Hopefully, I can have a break and just get mentally ready to start med school.

I am going to Europe for 5 weeks in the summer and then I am driving to Hershey from California.

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[LT2]

I am going to Europe for 5 weeks in the summer and then I am driving to Hershey from California.

where in europe are you venturing to?

 

[Scalpellum]

where in europe are you venturing to?

Scottland, London, France, Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain. I will be in Europe from 6-21 to 7-28. Then off to Hershey I go.

 

[socal1015]

Scottland, London, France, Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain. I will be in Europe from 6-21 to 7-28. Then off to Hershey I go.

Wow, so I see you're cutting it kind of close. And I believe you mentioned that you're driving from California. When do you expect to get to Hershey? The reason I ask is I'm facing a similar predicament.

 

[Scalpellum]

Wow, so I see you're cutting it kind of close. And I believe you mentioned that you're driving from California. When do you expect to get to Hershey? The reason I ask is I'm facing a similar predicament.

I get back from Europe on 7-28 (Friday) and then I will leave on Sunday or Monday (7-30 or 7-31). It should take no more than 3 days to drive to Hershey from California. I should be in Hershey no later than 8-3 (Thursday). Orientation starts on 8-7 (Monday).

 

[Scalpellum]

Did any one else receive this e-mail:

"We have recently received notification from the Association of American
Medical Colleges (AAMC) that in addition to holding a place at The
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, you are also holding a
place at another medical school.

We recognize that the AAMC listing may not include all recent withdraw
actions reported by medical schools and some schools may not be
up-to-date in reporting admission actions to the AAMC. However, it is
important that you clarify your enrollment decision at this time. This is
necessary because the schools that have offered you a place need to be
clear and so that the other qualified, candidates who are still waiting
for acceptances may make their enrollment plans. We ask you to notify us
in writing as to whether or not you plan to enroll with our 2006
Entering Class no later than May 15, 2006 and withdraw your acceptances from other medical school(s). A $100 dollar deposit is also due by May 15,
2006 to continue to hold a place in our class. If you plan to enroll,
please confirm in your letter that you have notified and withdrawn from
any other medical schools that have offered you an acceptance and
enclose your $100 deposit."

I am not sure why I got this e-mail because I already withdrew from the other schools. I recevied this e-mail on 5-5.

 

[The JockDoc]

I get back from Europe on 7-28 (Friday) and then I will leave on Sunday or Monday (7-30 or 7-31). It should take no more than 3 days to drive to Hershey from California. I should be in Hershey no later than 8-3 (Thursday). Orientation starts on 8-7 (Monday).

Do you drive a rocketship or something? That's about 1000 miles a day.

If you do drive one, can I come along? It'll take at least 5 days for me to drive my regular car out there.

 

[Scalpellum]

Do you drive a rocketship or something? That's about 1000 miles a day.

If you do drive one, can I come along? It'll take at least 5 days for me to drive my regular car out there.

My g/f and I will be driving so I only have to drive a little more than half the time. I plan on spending two nights in a hotel (8 hours each night). The distance from SD to Hershey is about 2658 miles with the estimated time of 39.6 hours of travel time. If I average about 78-80 mph it should actually take about 33 - 34 hours to drive to Hershey. I think I will drive about 14 hours/day for day 1 and 2 and then I will have 6 hours of driving for day 3.

 

[The JockDoc]

My g/f and I will be driving so I only have to drive a little more than half the time. I plan on spending two nights in a hotel (8 hours each night). The distance from SD to Hershey is about 2658 miles with the estimated time of 39.6 hours of travel time. If I average about 78-80 mph it should actually take about 33 - 34 hours to drive to Hershey. I think I will drive about 14 hours/day for day 1 and 2 and then I will have 6 hours of driving for day 3.

That makes more sense. Man that's a lot of driving.

You guys from ca are animals behind the wheel.

 

[LT2]

That makes more sense. Man that's a lot of driving.

You guys from ca are animals behind the wheel.

i was just thinking about the math, i think 3-4 days is realistic, but i wouldn't count on being able to drive 78-80 miles an hour across the entire country... anyhoo, just my $0.02. what routes are you all taking from southern cali?

edit: so i just mapquested from SD, it's about 2650 miles taking ~40 hours as per mapquest... interesting. anyone going to stop and sight see?

 

[The JockDoc]

i was just thinking about the math, i think 3-4 days is realistic, but i wouldn't count on being able to drive 78-80 miles an hour across the entire country... anyhoo, just my $0.02. what routes are you all taking from southern cali?

edit: so i just mapquested from SD, it's about 2650 miles taking ~40 hours as per mapquest... interesting. anyone going to stop and sight see?

I'm spending time in yellowstone, grand teton, colorado, and chicago on the way over. I'm taking it easy as much as possible until school begins.

 

[kahoona]

can anyone guide me to where I could find more info about lenders. Are there any comparison tables between the different ones? How do you go about choosing one? I'm lost with this process...

 

[KWDD65]

Hey everyone. I'm looking for 2 roomates to live with me in a house near the medical center. The rent and location are very good and there is a lot of space. Let me know if you're interested.

 

[Scalpellum]

can anyone guide me to where I could find more info about lenders. Are there any comparison tables between the different ones? How do you go about choosing one? I'm lost with this process...

When you look for a lender you will want to compare the following:

- fees
- loan limits
- I.R.
- Ceiling (Max I.R.)
- grace period
- capitalization policy
- repayment term
- repayment bonus
- repayment benefits
- customer service
- payment options

The lenders the school recommend are Total Higher Education, PNC, CitiBank, and MEDLOANS. Most students go with Total Higher Education. You also might have to get a lender for your Stafford loan and an alternative (private) loan as well.
EDIT: The terms of the loan will be different for the Stafford loan and the alternative loan even if you go through the same lender. The interest rate (I.R.) is much higher for the alternative loan.

 

[Scalpellum]

i was just thinking about the math, i think 3-4 days is realistic, but i wouldn't count on being able to drive 78-80 miles an hour across the entire country... anyhoo, just my $0.02. what routes are you all taking from southern cali?

edit: so i just mapquested from SD, it's about 2650 miles taking ~40 hours as per mapquest... interesting. anyone going to stop and sight see?

I just want to get to Hershey so I can furnish my apartment. I would like to finish the apartment by orientation week starts so I can relax and not have to worry about apartment stuff. I don't really plan on site seeing much because I will just be coming back from 5 weeks or so in Europe.

 

[Dr.UserName]

hey, I have kinda of a general question. I didn't get a chance to go to second look day but i was wondering if anyone could answer what the average time is spent in class each week? Is it a 8-5 or are days 8-12 or so on? Any response would be great. I tried looking online but couldn't find any info giving like a weekly schedule.

 

[kahoona]

Is anyone considering using a Graduate PLUS loan instead of a private loan? anyone have any opinions on this?

 

[Scalpellum]

can anyone guide me to where I could find more info about lenders. Are there any comparison tables between the different ones? How do you go about choosing one? I'm lost with this process...

Here is the information for Total Higher Education (Stafford loan/Alternative loan):

fees: Zero/Zero
loan limits: $40,722/Cost of School - other loans
I.R.: 6.8% (fixed)/*LIBOR + 2.75% (variable)
Ceiling (Max I.R.): 6.8%/18%
grace period: 6 months/42 months
capitalization policy: once at repayment for both
repayment term: 25 yrs/20 yrs
repayment bonus: 1.3% annually (monthly credit)/1.0% annually (monthly credit)
repayment benefits: 1 payment for all loans
customer service: 888-843-0004
payment options: phone, internet (check free)

*LIBOR Rate: 4.68% (currently)

The best way to find this information out is to call the lenders and ask them questions.

 

[LT2]

hey, I have kinda of a general question. I didn't get a chance to go to second look day but i was wondering if anyone could answer what the average time is spent in class each week? Is it a 8-5 or are days 8-12 or so on? Any response would be great. I tried looking online but couldn't find any info giving like a weekly schedule.

hey, it's still kind of up in the air i think. it's not really 8-12 and it's not really 8-5 either. it seems to range. i have the powerpoint presentation from a third year (from second look) who broke it down, but i'm at work and it's at home.

i was worried about the amount of class time, but i don't think it's going to be too bad. sorry i can't be of more help now...

 

[Scalpellum]

I just received this e-mail from Fred Stuppy about the Student Laptop Program:

Hello Medical Students
I currently have you on my list for students interested in the Student laptop Program. I wanted to bring you a little more up to date on the program details. The Web page listed below has been updated and indicates we will be going with a Dell D620 laptop for this years program, you can see the details on the page. I am still working with Dell to get the best price possible so I don't have a fixed price for you yet. I will update you as soon as I have more info. If you have any questions or have changed your mind about the program please email me. Talk to you soon.

http://www.hmc.psu.edu/md/students/laptop.html

If you are interested in the Student Laptop Program you should e-mail Fred Stuppy at [email protected].

 

[Dr.UserName]

hey, it's still kind of up in the air i think. it's not really 8-12 and it's not really 8-5 either. it seems to range. i have the powerpoint presentation from a third year (from second look) who broke it down, but i'm at work and it's at home.

i was worried about the amount of class time, but i don't think it's going to be too bad. sorry i can't be of more help now...

yeah thanks that powerpoint would be great. If you could send it whenever you get a chance that would be awesome. My email address is [email protected]

 

[LT2]

yeah thanks that powerpoint would be great. If you could send it whenever you get a chance that would be awesome. My email address is [email protected]

hey guys-

sorry for the confusion, i don't have an electronic copy of the powerpoint presentation, just the hard copy they gave us at second look. in any case, i'll look for a scanner in my department to try to get an electronic copy for all of you who couldn't make it to second look. otherwise, i'll try to get the gist of it to all of you. sorry again! i should be leaving for home shortly...

 

[FDoRoML]

Yeah, that powerpoint was pretty useless in hammering down the hours. It was better than any other info we got before, but didn't quite give a finite answer. The student who put it together made it a little cryptic-- let me show you an example:

Year One
Struc basis of med (Aug-Oct)
- 1-5pm daily, Tu-Th 10A-12P
Cell and Molec basis of med (Nov-Mar)
- 10A-3P daily
Bio basis of med (Mar-May)
- 10A-12P daily, Tu-Th 1-3P
Patients, Physicians, & Society
- concurrent throughout Year One
- (no info about hrs, but includes lectures, physical dx, Patient Project,
- clinical interviewing, humanities, behavior, etc)

Year One Rough Time Overview
-Exams: every 4 weeks
-Class time: 4.5 hrs/day
-Library/study time: 0-5 hrs/day
-PBL time: 6 hrs/section, 3-6 hrs outside of class
-(PBL meets 1-2x/wk total)

So yeah... still makes no real sense, right??!!?? One slide was a little helpful at putting it into a different light:

CUMED Perspective
Basis for contact hours in med school
20hrs/wk in class PLUS
2 hrs outside of class for EVERY hour IN class
Total: 60 hrs/wk

Oh well. I guess it will make more sense when we get our schedules and stuff.

FD

 

[Avianburner]

In response to Hersheypark, I haven't heard of cheaper tix for students, but usually after 4 or 5 the tickets go way down.....chances are you wouldn't get there before then anyway. There's an office somewhere that gets free tix to stuff now and then that will email you about things that come up, but I think I've only heard about symphony tix through that




SCHEDULES

I won't go too much into this, because you'll be experiencing it soon enough. But here's an "average" breakdown of what you're looking at for each course

Generally we start at 10, with 8am's on Tues and Thurs
And generally we're done by 3

Anatomy (SBMP)
-Morning or Afternoon in the lab ~3 hours 9am or 3pm
-Anatomy lecture at 1 for at least 1 hour (Dr. Zagon tends to drag on, but he's the ONLY professor you'll ever have that can talk for 3 straight hours and you're completely interested in what he has to say)
-most MWF there's an embryo lecture in the morning or afternoon
-Intro to physical diagnosis Thursday 8-10am

Biochem/Physio/Histo/etc. (CMBMP)
-LECTURE LECTURE LECTURE
-usually 3-4 a day starting at 10am
-PBL MWF in the afternoon for one week per test block
-Histo Lab in the afternoon a couple times per test block
-Humanities tues or thurs 8-10am

Micro/Immuno (BBD)
-much easier schedule and much harder to generalize
-2-3 lectures a day but only 3-4 days a week
-PBL 9-12 MWF once per test block
-Micro lab here and there either AM(early! starts at 8 or 9) or PM(late! ends at 5ish)
-No more humanities

Hope this helps!

I haven't looked at 2nd year schedule in depth yet, but it is close to BBD schedule...few lectures a day, more PBL in the AM. Lots of days where you're finished by noon

 

[Dr.UserName]

hey guys-

sorry for the confusion, i don't have an electronic copy of the powerpoint presentation, just the hard copy they gave us at second look. in any case, i'll look for a scanner in my department to try to get an electronic copy for all of you who couldn't make it to second look. otherwise, i'll try to get the gist of it to all of you. sorry again! i should be leaving for home shortly...

I'm sorry that i got you confused and assumed it was electronic. To FDoRoML and Avianburner that was amazing, maybe because I type so slow but i really appreciate the length and detail of your posts.

 

[wtwei02]

-Hershey Park Season Passes Cost about 100 a year, so if you plan on going atleast 3-4 times, it'd be worth it. Plus, you get free parking with a season pass.
-Briarcrest. I'd stay away from the townhouses if possible. As mentioned before, the places are poorly built, and electric bills in the summers and winters will run you about $200 a month. Even with that, you'll be freezing in the winter and sweating in the summer.
-Schedule. You're probably looking at 2-6 hours of class during MS2. You have PBL 3 times a week for 2-3 hours. Get ready to start waking up earlier, because PBL often starts at 8am.
-Golf. There's an outdoor driving range 10 min from Hershey. Spring Creek in Hershey is public, and very nice, but only 9 holes.

 

[greekdoc]

Hey everyone. I'm looking for 2 roomates to live with me in a house near the medical center. The rent and location are very good and there is a lot of space. Let me know if you're interested.

hey how are u doing? i was just wondering how much you are expecting for a room in ur house. i am looking for housing and though i have talked to some apartment complexes in the area, i still want to weigh my options.

 

[LT2]

ok guys-
it's a slow day at work today so i typed it up. the forums won't allow ppt uploads so it's being converted to PDF right now. as soon as i have it, i'll post it...

 

[keedz]

Hey everyone. I'm looking for 2 roomates to live with me in a house near the medical center. The rent and location are very good and there is a lot of space. Let me know if you're interested.

Hey I PMed you...

 

[LT2]

ok guys-
it's a slow day at work today so i typed it up. the forums won't allow ppt uploads so it's being converted to PDF right now. as soon as i have it, i'll post it...

ok, here it is. i cut some of it out, but the important parts are there...

 

[Scalpellum]

ok, here it is. i cut some of it out, but the important parts are there...

LT2, thank you for the powerpoint. It was very informative.

 

[keedz]

ok, here it is. i cut some of it out, but the important parts are there...

THANK YOU!!! It was really great to read.

 

[Dr.UserName]

ok, here it is. i cut some of it out, but the important parts are there...

Thank you for posting

 

[LT2]

no problem guys! glad i could be of help...

 

[socal1015]

Yes, thank you.

It was very helpful

 

[LT2]

hey guys, i'm bouncing options around for housing and i've found a house in hershey with three rooms for dirt cheap (a fraction of the price of briarcrest) and i need one roommate. the other roomie is going to be a 4th year next year and she's going to be on away rotations for all but 3 months of the year. this means 2 people for a 3 bedroom house! let me know if you're interested! laundry facilities in the house and high speed internet access available too...

 

[socal1015]

I was wondering if anyone besides the first round of people has received their financial aid award letter yet. I still haven't got mine yet and I just wanted to know if they've distributed them or not.

Thanks

 

[LT2]

I was wondering if anyone besides the first round of people has received their financial aid award letter yet. I still haven't got mine yet and I just wanted to know if they've distributed them or not.

Thanks

i'm still waiting on my financial aid. i called last week and was told i should have an award letter by the end of this week. well, the end of this week is here and i still haven't heard anything. so who knows?! i'll let you know when and if i hear anything...

 

[FDoRoML]

i'm still waiting on my financial aid. i called last week and was told i should have an award letter by the end of this week. well, the end of this week is here and i still haven't heard anything. so who knows?! i'll let you know when and if i hear anything...

Wow, that's crazy. I wonder why they're so slow? So, is it all the Cali people who are still waiting? Maybe they waited until after the 15th thinking Cali people could get better options and they didn't want to put in the effort? Grrr.... like I said in an earlier post, I hope like heck they get better once we are students. If not, I'll be the med student at PSU known to have re-vamped the FinAid office (my methods must remain secret). <gg>

On another note-- has anyone submitted their Cost of Attendance increase form yet (mine's for off-campus housing)? I was wondering if they responded to it, if you had to call, etc.

Thanks,
FD

 

[The JockDoc]

i'm still waiting on my financial aid. i called last week and was told i should have an award letter by the end of this week. well, the end of this week is here and i still haven't heard anything. so who knows?! i'll let you know when and if i hear anything...

Maybe they gave you guys all the scholarships so they needed some extra time to sign, seal and deliver .

 

[Scalpellum]

Wow, that's crazy. I wonder why they're so slow? So, is it all the Cali people who are still waiting? Maybe they waited until after the 15th thinking Cali people could get better options and they didn't want to put in the effort? Grrr.... like I said in an earlier post, I hope like heck they get better once we are students. If not, I'll be the med student at PSU known to have re-vamped the FinAid office (my methods must remain secret). <gg>

I am from Cali and I recevied my financial aid package in April but I also interviewed ealry (October).

 

[LT2]

Maybe they gave you guys all the scholarships so they needed some extra time to sign, seal and deliver .

wouldn't that be cool! with my luck, it got lost in the mail and i'll miss an important date and end up with no federal aid.

 

[LT2]

I am from Cali and I recevied my financial aid package in April but I also interviewed ealry (October).

i interviewed in september so there goes that "theory".

 

[LT2]

ok, for anyone wondering, i received my financial aid letter today. loans, loans, loans!!

 

[ccatgg]

Hey! Looks like I'll be joining you guys come this fall. Like lots of people on this thread, I am from So. Cal (Orange County). While I am still waiting for a couple of final decisions on some waitlists, I'm not sweating it because Penn State is a good fit for me.

For those that are interested, I came across this link for the fall 2005 schedule... it doesn't seem that bad: http://www.humangrossanatomy.com/schedule/fall_semester05.pdf

 

[keedz]

Hey! Looks like I'll be joining you guys come this fall. Like lots of people on this thread, I am from So. Cal (Orange County). While I am still waiting for a couple of final decisions on some waitlists, I'm not sweating it because Penn State is a good fit for me.

For those that are interested, I came across this link for the fall 2005 schedule... it doesn't seem that bad: http://www.humangrossanatomy.com/schedule/fall_semester05.pdf

uh huh....yeah.....okaaay....

 

[Avianburner]

uh huh....yeah.....okaaay....

anatomy goes quick...the schedule looks scary, but it's one of the best classes i've ever taken. Also the fastest learning curve i've ever seen.....Put your time in and you'll be fine.

Just trust me when I say to enjoy your summer....effort=P and P=MD!

 

[socal1015]

ok, for anyone wondering, i received my financial aid letter today. loans, loans, loans!!

I also received my financial aid award letter yesterday. Mostly loans for me.

 

[keedz]

Just trust me when I say to enjoy your summer....effort=P and P=MD!

I must have missed this, but what does P=MD mean?

 

[socal1015]

I must have missed this, but what does P=MD mean?

I think what he means if you Pass (P) then you'll be on your way to get your MD.