Touro-NY Class of 2011!

[Mr. Jess]

Let's get it started! Who's saying yes to Touro-NY? I thought this would be a good chance for us to get to know our classmates ahead of time!

So, without this sounding too much like a personal ad, my name is Jess. I'm originally from San Diego, CA, went to UC Berkeley for undergrad, lived in San Francisco for a bit, and am now doing my MPH at Brown in Providence, RI. I'm really excited about going to Touro and living in NYC (something I've wanted to do for a long time).

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[clement]

Let's get it started! Who's saying yes to Touro-NY? I thought this would be a good chance for us to get to know our classmates ahead of time!

So, without this sounding too much like a personal ad, my name is Jess. I'm originally from San Diego, CA, went to UC Berkeley for undergrad, lived in San Francisco for a bit, and am now doing my MPH at Brown in Providence, RI. I'm really excited about going to Touro and living in NYC (something I've wanted to do for a long time).

Hey Mr. Jess and friends, I'm not only a fellow Californian but a native San Diegan! Yea, big change huh? Haha...Though I haven't been living in SD for almost 9 years...UCLA undergrad, got into the Mare Island campus, forked over my deposit, and now hoping my tax return will come in soon enough to help me make some decisions...But yea, I'm like 96% Touro-NY right now...(Oops, did I say *like*?) I'm really excited about NYC as well, and have been wanting to make this move for a while. As a med student, I think the demographic advantage is going to be AMAZING...I'm still a little worried about finances and projected kinks (i.e. my eyeballs freezing over on the way to class), but have faith that this will be a great experience, regardless of what my family tries to convince me of (staying in CA, that is). I think there are a few others who were either solid or close to making a decision? Lkoffman, Gprotein, HousingDO, the rest of you fine applicants, etc...Let me hand the mic over to you guys...

 

[lkoffman]

helllllo...i have to say that after the interview i got really excited about the school AND the building isnt even finished yet...i'm lauren, living in the boston area, graduated from umass amherst last year and doing a masters in clinical research at mass general right now...now that i am sending in the deposit i have an obsession with looking at apts on craigslist and village voice, i cant wait to move to the city and cant wait to meet you guys!

 

[clement]

helllllo...i have to say that after the interview i got really excited about the school AND the building isnt even finished yet...i'm lauren, living in the boston area, graduated from umass amherst last year and doing a masters in clinical research at mass general right now...now that i am sending in the deposit i have an obsession with looking at apts on craigslist and village voice, i cant wait to move to the city and cant wait to meet you guys!

PS: For the last week or so my boss has had no idea that I've been *working on craigslist and nyhabitat.com*! Just wanted to get some ballpark $$$ ideas hehe... I'm thinking of living in the Columbia U area or Upper West Side, pretty much whatever the red subway line dictates...Faintly dabbling/dreaming of having my own place which I could sell in 4 years and pay off a little debt...Wishful thinking.

 

[lkoffman]

yeah i was thinking upper west side/columbia area too...i thought the school neighborhood looked fine but someone from the area said its a different story at night, so living a little south of the school might be a good idea...i was on the columbia housing website to get some links to brokers for the area, nytimes.com classifieds have a ton listed...i know that im not down for 'dorm style' at the Y, so it should be interesting to see what other options the school gives us.

 

[clement]

yeah i was thinking upper west side/columbia area too...i thought the school neighborhood looked fine but someone from the area said its a different story at night, so living a little south of the school might be a good idea...i was on the columbia housing website to get some links to brokers for the area, nytimes.com classifieds have a ton listed...i know that im not down for 'dorm style' at the Y, so it should be interesting to see what other options the school gives us.

interesting point...before my interview, all the NYers I asked said the area of harlem where the school will be is touristy and safe (except for the ones that hadn't been living in NYC for many years!). My impression of the area was good and I love the convenience of having all those stores/eateries/coffee shops at our fingertips, but was wondering about walking around later in the evenings? on my interview day, we talked about possible shuttle service for those times where we have to stay in labs late, etc (i think we should push this one too) and they said something about security guards being *mandatory* (not sure if that's school policy or ny?).

Morningside Heights is definitely a convenient and more affordable option, though if I end up sharing an apartment for $ reasons, then I'd try to live a bit further south and still on the west side. East Harlem seems to be a lively/safe area from what i hear...Dorm style might fly if I were 22ish-- maybe as an initial/temporary situation. I do believe we might be hooked up with a real estate service that will set up a website to help us hunt w/o charging us brokers fees...HousingDO mentioned maybe working something out with Obed... We'll find out soon enough I tried to poke around Columbia's website, but the off-campus service (OCHA) was all password restricted.

 

[lkoffman]

here is the link i was referring too...not sure how helpful it will be...

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ire/ocha/links.html

obed did mention setting us up with some real estate groups and had a preliminary sheet of some places they had checked out with prices, but i think a majority of them were not in manhattan

in terms of security he mentioned there being security in the school but there was no mention of a shuttle service. that is a great idea though, i know that i'm a night owl and would most likely be there late at night

 

[Hexanol]

accepted here but not sure where i'm going as of yet.

when did you guys interview? i interviewed on the 6th!

 

[lkoffman]

i was there on the 7th

 

[GProteinStar]

Hexanol, I interviewed the same day as you. I was the only girl from Texas there. This has been a very difficult decision for me, but I think I'm sticking with California for medical school. I still plan on doing rotations in Harlem and the hospitals in NY so I'll be running into you guys in a couple of years. I wish all of you the best and by the looks of it, it will be a great school.

 

[clement]

Hexanol, I interviewed the same day as you. I was the only girl from Texas there. This has been a very difficult decision for me, but I think I'm sticking with California for medical school. I still plan on doing rotations in Harlem and the hospitals in NY so I'll be running into you guys in a couple of years. I wish all of you the best and by the looks of it, it will be a great school.

Hey there,
Congrats on your decision! I can only imagine that it feels good to get to that point (of no more pondering, that is!). I'm a firm believer that in the end, when it comes to schools, we all make the right choices for reasons based on solid ground.

I'm at about 97% Touro-NY now (well, the 3% is because I'm waiting to see if my deposit money will settle in this week or if the school will be flexible w/ my payment)...I want to give my $2K at Mare Island a fair shot (as I've harped on about in previous posts)...
Though I increasingly think I'm going to go with my gut feeling feeling that this school will be simply amazing for me personally.

What a lot of us potentially overlook is that we, as the first class, will play a BIG role in HOW the school turns out...THAT, in turn, gives US a lot of leverage in seeing things get done the way WE want them done, AND in return, we will have the confidence to believe that the school will deliver Don't forget, we are a representation of their face...It's going to be a symbiotic relationship no matter how you look at it.

 

[Mr. Jess]

I put my acceptance confirmation and deposit in the mail today. It's official! I'm not looking forward to that $2000 check being cashed (OUCH), but I'm excited that I'm going to be a part of Touro's class of 2011!

I just talked to Obed and it looks like we won't be starting classes until September (with a late August 3-day orientation). I was kinda surprised because it seems most med schools start in early August. I'm not opposed to a longer summer, but I'm just wondering what I'll do with myself!

But he says to send suggestions by email so that he can print them out and show them to the powers that be. I'm suggesting (or rather, emphasizing since these have been mentioned already):

- Lockers (like high school again!)
- Late night shuttle around the vicinity
- Online lectures
- Broker for apartment hunting
- Class start time of 9am. I don't know about you guys, but I'm *way* more awake at 9 than at 8.

 

[hps2103]

That all sounds great. Just wondering what your thoughts were about the online lectures? Did he mentioned what type of format they would be...for example would we be able to download to an ipod...that might be pretty cool.

Is anyone for starting orientation in September? Or is that just pushing it???

Also, I heard there was talk of having an actual gym at the school? It that like long shot idea...or something that was actually considered?

 

[Mr. Jess]

I didn't even think to specify the form of the online lectures (I just assumed it'd be streamed on their website, but maybe someone more technologically savvy could be more specific with them?)

I'm really surprised at how late the semester will be starting. I think Touro-MI starts in early August. I can't even imagine how it'd start later than early September and still end before the holidays!

I had only heard about Touro getting some sort of deal with NYSC. From the architectural renderings, I have no idea where they'd fit a gym!

 

[lkoffman]

When I was there asked Obed about the gym situation and he said that when he signed up for his own membership he tried to get some kind of a deal for us, but it seemed like it would still be pretty expensive. He also said that during the orientation all the businesses in the area will be coming to get some business and hopefully give out some sweet discounts.

I'm totally for classes at 9am vs 8am...the later the better!

 

[paramba]

hello all . . .now that i found the right forum. . . ill take a moment to introduce myslef. I am a native new yorker, went to SUNY Binghamton for undergrad, spent some years in the upper east side, before the fam moved to Queens. I plan on commuting from queens, its a lot cheaper to live with the fam obviously, i would recommend it to you guys too the commute isn't bad, but i guess if you are out of state you might feel isolated so far from the school.

 

[HousingDO]

Wow,

Everyone here seems so cool!

LKoffman, it was I, HousingDO who told you that Harlem can be a little sketchy at night. Mind you, that is in comparison to Boston. I did high school there and there is a difference. However, you need not fear. It's just the side streets that people should watch out for. Main streets are all good all the time.

And listen everyone, the East side of Morningside Heights, on the East Side of Morningside Park is not a nice area. Despite tons of Columbia (my alma mater) students living there, it is not nice. Just thought I'd clear that up. And by not nice, I mean there are CRACKHOUSES on many blocks. That's all I'm saying. No biggie. Just crack.

Upper West side is great and several parts of both Spanish Harlem, Harlem and Washington Heights, Inwood and several other nearby areas are really well suited for us.

I'm going to show you guys apartments that are also on the A/C line rather than just the Red lines. The red lines land 1 avenue from Touro and the A/C arrives 2 avenues away. That line is a good option. I live on that line.

And as far as suggestions:

-I almost feel like we should push our luck and ask for 9:30 am and then negotiate to 9am, if needed. But there's no reason to start at 8am. That just sucks. But that's my number 1 thing. Let's all email our suggestions and make sure we include that. Finishing at 2 vs 3:30pm for me makes no difference whatsoever.

-We should ask for the classes to be put on both "podcast" and "webinar," and be downloadable so we can put them on our laptops to watch somewhere else. This is huge.

-We should also request PDA's like the students have at NYCOM. Dr's are getting increasingly more digital. I was reading about doctors billing clients for email correspondences. That's the future of follow-up medicine. And it will save a ton of time for insurance billing purposes. We need to be comfortable with the state of the art gear from day one.

-The lockers, for sure. Can't break our backs lugging crap around all day, unless we all want the OMM practice on each other.

-A chatroom/forum setup by school for us to voice things to each other efficiently. We've got to be a team in a lot of ways and them providing convenient communication will help.

-We won't have our own gym this year, but the place will expand and buy more space in Harlem, which will make the place like NYU, but improve all of the ammenities onsite. The discounts won't be impressive and I've been to a million healthfares where we're wooed for a discount to a variety of places. The deals are generally weak unless the school does it for us. And by that I mean, the school commits all 125 of us to membership and guarantees it. As a result, the school itself buys a block of memberships and therefore, gets them for like $25/mo each. (I've brokered a deal like this before) The school then ads this fee with a modest profit, say $30 total to the student activities fee. It's smart business. But that's how you pull it off. We could suggest it. And I can set it up, if they'd like.

-We will likely need to buy a real skeleton and our own OMM tables so working on group discounts for those things, stethoscopes and the like. And real skeletons are like 4-5K or more.

---Oh, sorry, I wait so long and then drop a big bomb msg like this, but I like to get it all done at once.

 

[HousingDO]

Also,

Email me if you need apt help. Searching the sites won't find the best apts. Knowing landlords and having connections in the area will. That's what I've done for years up here and it helps. I end up knowing about some places before they hit the market and I'm in the same boat so I understand the what we're looking for from these neighborhoods better.

email is: [email protected]

We can start working now on finding apts, especially for sale. No fees to you guys whatsoever on purchases.

And 2 br shares are a good idea. Just spend a lot of time talking beforehand so you know if you can stand that person and their living habits before committing. Cuts your costs 30% easy.

 

[Onstarr]

hello all . . .now that i found the right forum. . . ill take a moment to introduce myslef. I am a native new yorker, went to SUNY Binghamton for undergrad, spent some years in the upper east side, before the fam moved to Queens. I plan on commuting from queens, its a lot cheaper to live with the fam obviously, i would recommend it to you guys too the commute isn't bad, but i guess if you are out of state you might feel isolated so far from the school.

hah.. interesting.
I also graduated from bing, fam moved to Queens as well, also thought of commuting as well.. similar/same boat huh? thats..if I decide on Touro...
dang. only few more days until my deposit is due....

 

[Dr Kay]

Hi everyone, I got accepted to touro-ny also, and very excited about attending, I am working on getting that deposit in, and like I posted in the other thread, I'm searching for a local bank to rob . Well I am from nj, and would defiently need to find a place close to harlem, cause I have no plans of commuting back and forth to NJ. congratulations everyone, and this class is looking good

 

[Dr Kay]

Also,

Email me if you need apt help. Searching the sites won't find the best apts. Knowing landlords and having connections in the area will. That's what I've done for years up here and it helps. I end up knowing about some places before they hit the market and I'm in the same boat so I understand the what we're looking for from these neighborhoods better.

email is: [email protected]

We can start working now on finding apts, especially for sale. No fees to you guys whatsoever on purchases.

And 2 br shares are a good idea. Just spend a lot of time talking beforehand so you know if you can stand that person and their living habits before committing. Cuts your costs 30% easy.

I am definetly looking for an apartment close to the area and also willing to share a 2br apartment. please let em know if you come across anything good. Thanks

 

[GProteinStar]

Congratulations to all of you! You guys are going to make a wonderful class. See ya'll during 3rd year rotations!

 

[NJDO01]

I just got the email today and I will definitely be going. I hope to see you guys there.

 

[NJDO01]

Hi everyone, I got accepted to touro-ny also, and very excited about attending, I am working on getting that deposit in, and like I posted in the other thread, I'm searching for a local bank to rob . Well I am from nj, and would defiently need to find a place close to harlem, cause I have no plans of commuting back and forth to NJ. congratulations everyone, and this class is looking good

Hey Dr. Kay where in NJ you from? Im from Bergenfield. Im probably not going to be commuting either the GW bridge is horrible in the morning.

 

[Dr Kay]

Hey Dr. Kay where in NJ you from? Im from Bergenfield. Im probably not going to be commuting either the GW bridge is horrible in the morning.

Congratulations NJDO01, I am from parsippany NJ, would love to communte to save money, but the traffic and hassle isn't worth it.

 

[Onstarr]

its wise not to deal w/ the traffic in your commutes.. esp w all the additional stress you have to deal with when med school starts

 

[TerpDO]

Hi everyone. My name is Wei and I was also recently accepted as I posted on the pre-osteo forum. I am just jumping in here because I think that as the first class, we should have a good deal to say about some of the policies that are yet undecided at the school.

some of the things I want to see are:

- a gym just for the students and faculty and if they can have one after accumulating more buildings then that is fine. (as long as we don't have to wait more than a year perhaps) Some sort of discount in the meantime would be great but if it is still $80-$90 a month as someone mentioned then it is unlikely that many students will be able to afford it. That is okay though, I'll just do some push-ups at home in between studying.

- casual dress would be great during the normal days where all we have is lectures and OMM lab, etc. I am sure that as we progress to second year and do standarized patients and possibly spend some time in the hospital or with patients, we will adopt to more business casual or business dress. I am certain that we will all dress appropriate and conservative while doing our rotations 3rd and 4th year. I think making it business casual from the start would be dampening our spirits a little by giving us less choice (but that is just my opinion).

- I am actually okay and possibly in favor of starting our days early and ending early. Personally I think I accomplish more out of the lecture rooms and more during the individual or group study sessions after school. With that in mind, I'd rather be studying from 2-6 PM most days as opposed to 3-7 PM. But again that is just me and if the majority of the student body feels different then I'm willing to adapt.

- As for the OMM tables, I think during the interview we were told that we will be getting lots of state of the art height adjustable tables so that should not be a concern.

- Lockers would definitely be a plus and I think many, if not most med-schools have them for the students

- lectures that would be videotaped and posted online available for download ASAP (or within the same day) would be spectacular. This would seriously help out those who may need to step out of town early on a weekend, for those who may have a minor illness and needs to stay home for 1-2 days, or for those days when it is 5 degrees outside and you live very far from the subway stop. Having lectures available would really put our minds at ease for those instances and as a class we would have very little reasons why we couldn't keep up to date with what is being taught.

those are pretty much my main concerns so far. I am kind of worried about the perma-stress of having exams every two weeks (term borrowed from someone on the Touro-NV class 2011 thread) but if the schedule is made and set, then I will do my best to succeed in that situation even though I do prefer block scheduling myself. Otherwise I am excited to look for apts. in Manhattan and hopefully won't be stuck in some shoebox in an alley.

I am very excited to attend Touro NYC as it is my #1 choice and I am done with interviewing this cycle. But the choice is out of my hands. In case you were interested, my significant other is a 4th year med-student and she is going to match into residency on the 15th of March. She has Mt. Sinai (also in NYC) ranked #1 but if any of you are familiar with the matching process, nothing is 100%. Hopefully she will match there and I will be back to confirm enrolling at Touro NYC but it'll be up in the air until then. Keeping my fingers crossed ***

 

[clement]

Well, it's somewhat more official now that I mailed in my check <sigh>. Hope they'll give me an extra week or so before cashing it
Housing updates anyone? (Yea, it's entirely way too early if you don't plan on starting the hunt no more than 30 days in advance, from what I hear...). Seems like more recent interviewees are getting updates on housing. Back to the pre-osteo forum for a bit...

 

[wally223]

Questions/comments:

Does anyone have any idea who will be teaching our classes? I'm a bit nervous that they don't have a faculty link on the website yet. That should be the most important part of our education right?? Good professors always help..but I have no idea who they are going to be? Also, do y'all think they going to help us prepare for the boards and be well prepared to compete for residency spots?

-I'm curious to know where the NV folks will be placed...this could be an indication on how residency programs view new medical schools.

-I think 9am or later sounds good...especially for some of us who might not be able to afford to live in mahanttan. Any thoughts?

-Video lectures would be awesome...if they can be put on the computer or ipod even better!

-Thumbs up for the night shuttle...as well as the lockers (I say the larger lockers would be ideal). Now if only there were a place to work out for a reasonable price!

-Finally, how bout a few microwaves and/or fridges so that we can bring our lunches to campus?? Anyone know if this is a possiblity?

-Melissa

 

[Somath]

I have heard that many former NYCOM instructors are part of the new TOUROCOM. Of course the Dean is former NYCOM.

 

[clement]

Hey Everyone,
This is the link for admitted students to connect online (I got it via Obed):

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/TOUROCOMNY2011/

I think you just tell them who you are and they will approve your *membership*
Of course we will STILL want our own network with school emails assigned, right? (push for that?)

 

[HousingDO]

No worries. I've got you guys. I'll be posting some things soon once more people are logged onto the network. I have lots of apts available now. It's just a little early, unless you want to pay for months when you're not in the apt, whether you're buying or renting. And I encourage buying. It pays off.

Again, I REALLY think we should each individually email Obed about starting at 9:30am (that we we'll definitely get 9:00am the earliest). We'll finish at 3:30pm, which is the same as finishing at 2:00pm to me. It just takes the pain out of the morning. And the trains run more frequently at that time. It's also much warmer at that time than it is at 7:00am trying to commute. Thinka about it.

Of course, the lockers, PDA's, web & podcast classes posted hopefully the same day, emails addresses, etc too. But let's all go ahead and send individual emails to Obed about them now to set off the campaign to mould the program to our will. And let's communicate to the newer enrollees as they come aboard to make sure they do the same.

 

[clement]

I suspect the bulk of us who are not from the city may be planning to move sometime in the summer. I was thinking late July at the latest, but could make it earlier if need be. BTW, for those who didn't know, Obed is working out a deal with an agency who will help us find housing. What IS NOT clear is whether we are getting a discount on the brokers' fee (that's what was IMPLIED by the agency--unless I misunderstood) OR if the brokers' fee is waived (this is what OBED told me on Friday via Email). I then Emailed Obed to ask if I misunderstood the agency? So I'm waiting to hear back...Not sure if Obed means we pay and the school reimburses us (when he said "WAIVED?") They might still be negociating?? Will keep you guys posted.

Anyway, if you're going to rent, I think 2-bedrooms are the way to go. Wow, this is going to be my first time moving across state lines...Do people use UPS ground?

Finally, since I also got in at Mare Island, they're starting to send me health info stuff and vaccinations that I need...At my NY interview, they mentioned being able to hook us up with insurance. I'm currently not insured and I noticed that Mare Island has a rather lengthy list of vaccines (chicken pox, MMR, tetanus, various hep, polio, etc) for which you must show proof of immunity (titers) AND proof of vaccination 2 months before school starts (I know most of us had these done as babies, but I think some of the doses have to be recent plus no matter what they wanted proof of immunity via titers)...So without insurance at the present moment, this is going to cost me $$$ <bling bling bling>. Anyone else? Hopefully the school WILL make sure we have the option of getting insured through them (another thing that should not be compromised on our list!)

No worries. I've got you guys. I'll be posting some things soon once more people are logged onto the network. I have lots of apts available now. It's just a little early, unless you want to pay for months when you're not in the apt, whether you're buying or renting. And I encourage buying. It pays off.

Again, I REALLY think we should each individually email Obed about starting at 9:30am (that we we'll definitely get 9:00am the earliest). We'll finish at 3:30pm, which is the same as finishing at 2:00pm to me. It just takes the pain out of the morning. And the trains run more frequently at that time. It's also much warmer at that time than it is at 7:00am trying to commute. Thinka about it.

Of course, the lockers, PDA's, web & podcast classes posted hopefully the same day, emails addresses, etc too. But let's all go ahead and send individual emails to Obed about them now to set off the campaign to mould the program to our will. And let's communicate to the newer enrollees as they come aboard to make sure they do the same.

 

[HousingDO]

I second that Clement. Insurance is big. Also, 2BR's us a great idea to cut costs. Ideally, communicate with your potential roommate through SDN and get to know each other well ahead of time to avoid an NYPD incident.

Also, as far as housing goes, I'm actually communicating right now with landlords in the area that I know who have several apts and holdings near one another to see if we could convert one entire building to Touro apts. That would be really cool because everyone in the place would be in med school at the same time with exams at the same time. Couldn't be more conducive to studying, helping one another and practicing techniques. I'm talking to several now so we'll see how I can work this out. Email me people and let me know what you're looking for. [email protected]

 

[clement]

While we're on the topic of housing in NYC, I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to what happens during the summers in terms of renting? Schools base financial aid on the 9-month academic year right? So with most of us having 1-year leases, any worries as to how rent will be paid over the summer? I certainly don't want to sublet to others or apartment hunt every year all over again (nor do I want to have to take classes necessarily to stay eligible for loans or take out private loans!).

Also, if one buys, does that compromise aid?

I second that Clement. Insurance is big. Also, 2BR's us a great idea to cut costs. Ideally, communicate with your potential roommate through SDN and get to know each other well ahead of time to avoid an NYPD incident.

Also, as far as housing goes, I'm actually communicating right now with landlords in the area that I know who have several apts and holdings near one another to see if we could convert one entire building to Touro apts. That would be really cool because everyone in the place would be in med school at the same time with exams at the same time. Couldn't be more conducive to studying, helping one another and practicing techniques. I'm talking to several now so we'll see how I can work this out. Email me people and let me know what you're looking for. [email protected]

 

[lkoffman]

In terms of financial aid, there wont be any, according to the coordinator I met on the interview day. You can take a max of $38,500 under a stafford per year I think, and then you can take out additional loans that are grad plus (federal) or privare (higher interest and more difficult to consolidate). I know that I will most likely take out as much as a stafford as possible and then a grad plus to cover the rest of my living expenses.

 

[clement]

In terms of financial aid, there wont be any, according to the coordinator I met on the interview day. You can take a max of $38,500 under a stafford per year I think, and then you can take out additional loans that are grad plus (federal) or privare (higher interest and more difficult to consolidate). I know that I will most likely take out as much as a stafford as possible and then a grad plus to cover the rest of my living expenses.

Oops, I meant to say, loans rather than the generic term "financial aid"...I thought the loans are given to you based strictly on your need for the 9-month academic year (both stafford and grad plus)....I know grad plus accounts for the difference between the cost of attendence and all other aid (stafford etc) you are given...I wonder if the grad plus amount can be increased in forseeing summers?

As an undergrad, I typically had excess loan money left over or I was able to sublet my place. Though I wondered if left over money from maxing out academic-year loans would suffice for NYC rents in the summer.

I've been searching some threads and it seems you can increase your academic year loans in anticipation of the summer (i.e. if $ is left over), but then the finaid office needs to increase your "financial need/cost of attendence" during the school year for this to happen. Given that NYC housing is expensive, I thought I'd raise this issue of survival during summers. Also, note that during my interview (I was in the earliest batches) they mentioned increasing the housing portion of the breakdown they handed to us (that breakdown estimated housing at about $15K, which was because they were using the California branch's breakdown).

 

[lkoffman]

I am getting my masters this year and what i did was get the max stafford loan and then a grad plus, because I needed the excess funds, but it isnt dispersed until a few weeks into the semester. So I asked when we could expect to get the excess check and she said that we should plan to have enough to live on until October, because the first time you take a loan through their school its an extra 30 days. I'm not sure if you're in school now but what I did was apply for a grad plus with what was remaining in my budget for this year, so I should get that soon and put it towards the first few months of living expenses while I wait for the Touro excess check. I hope that makes sense!

 

[clement]

I am getting my masters this year and what i did was get the max stafford loan and then a grad plus, because I needed the excess funds, but it isnt dispersed until a few weeks into the semester. So I asked when we could expect to get the excess check and she said that we should plan to have enough to live on until October, because the first time you take a loan through their school its an extra 30 days. I'm not sure if you're in school now but what I did was apply for a grad plus with what was remaining in my budget for this year, so I should get that soon and put it towards the first few months of living expenses while I wait for the Touro excess check. I hope that makes sense!

Hmm...Yes and no (by the way, hello! I'm raniamania in the yahoo site). So the part that confuses me is the 30-day excess funds thing (I'm NOT in school right now). So what was confusing me is this, I figured we'd be offered the max amount of stafford loans regardless and then together with the grad plus, that would equate to our cost of attendence... but then with NYC rents/cost of living, there's a risk we wouldn't be left with anything extra?? so what you're saying is, we have to manually max it out by request?

while we're on the topic, i actually emailed them about the fact that I'm thinking of moving out there in july or august and since most landlords will want proof of financial backing, when will the checks or finaid letters be disbursed? they answered typically we could get a letter backing funds by june even though money won't actually come through til later (i believe they're planning on starting up in sept?)... though i finished my fafsa 2 weeks ago and got my sar asap, but they still don't see me in the touro database.
another thing that hairied me a bit was i got this finaid packet from touro-mare island the other day, and it had a section of things to find out from your school (i.e. specific repayment policy etc)...one part of the FAFSA booklet mentioned confirming the school's accredation status since this effects how much federal funding will be available to them. i read somewhere else that a DO school is not 100% in terms of accrediting until the first class graduates, but I highly doubt this will impact financial aid in our case (at least i hope not! bottom line, banks want that interest and i doubt they'll be tough on schools in terms of their accredation status, don't know about fed funds though??)

 

[clement]

I'll probably double post this on the yahoo site, but anyone get the broker letter and confused between what the letter says ("mention touro for a discount") and what Obed is saying, "broker fee is waived?"

 

[lkoffman]

Yeah I'm not really sure what the discount is-just a waiver of the broker fee I assume. I'm waiting to see what other options the school throws out there.

 

[clement]

Yeah I'm not really sure what the discount is-just a waiver of the broker fee I assume. I'm waiting to see what other options the school throws out there.

I just want a home dang it! I'm thinking of looking for 2 bedrooms anywhere on the west side between midtown (though pricey I know) up to 125th-ish (more realistic) and west of morningside park.

i wish the financial aid dept would update that part of the cost-of-attendence estimate in terms of housing (i believe they initally used a generic $15K model for touro-CA to give us ballpark ideas?)...We need to know how much to ask for in loaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaans...

 

[lkoffman]

Hey clement-thats pretty much the region i'm looking at too-I've just been scanning villagevoice.com and nytimes.com apts to get an idea of how much they cost, but it also seems like using a broker might not be so bad bc the rent is lower, although you pay a fee...hopefully they'll send out some more info soon.

 

[clement]

Hey clement-thats pretty much the region i'm looking at too-I've just been scanning villagevoice.com and nytimes.com apts to get an idea of how much they cost, but it also seems like using a broker might not be so bad bc the rent is lower, although you pay a fee...hopefully they'll send out some more info soon.

Yea, I had actually Emailed that broker from the letter to see what the deal was, and he responded by telling me to call him...Hmm...So I'm curious about this discount vs. waived thing. Regardles, from what New Yorkers are telling me, brokers are absolutely the way to go, unless you want to find random roommates on craiglist (hmmm noooo). I guess the worst case scenario is splitting brokers' fees with your roommie and realizing we'll probably keep the same place for a while (in exchange for getting a potentially better place).

I've been doing some thinking as to whether I want to find a studio (which for my budget won't be in the greatest of areas I guess) or live with someone else in a 2-bedroom. Seems like the latter will be cheapest in terms of splitting the cost of eveything. As long as I find something close to transportation, walkable shopping, and safe to walk around after dark (my most important must-haves), I think getting ready to shell out between $850-$1300 for our own room is reasonable.

Oh yea, I'm a girl! So whenever we have looking-for-roommate time, I'm putting myself out there as a potential candidate for either gender (EDIT: Damn that sounded bad)

 

[Mr. Jess]

We should start a thread for people looking for roommates when the time gets closer. I think I'd like a 2-bedroom apartment around 125th (or at least a place easily accessible to 125th). And I like to think of myself as a fun/clean/responsible roommate, so let me start advertising myself now!

clement -- Let us know if you hear from the broker. I was also confused about whether the fee was "discounted" or waived altogether.

 

[iwant2baccepted]

hi im new to the forum and have an interview in march. i just wanted to know what type of things they ask during the interview and if there are any pointers. My grades may not be that great compared to others but i really want to go to this school, so any tips would help. Also, how long after you guys interviewed did they give a final decision on your acceptance. When did you guys interview? I feel like i have less of a chance because u guys are already accepted and im still waiting on an interview. Thanks in advance for the help if i get responses, im just really nervous.

 

[Mr. Jess]

Questions seem to vary between people, but I got pretty standard questions: Tell us about yourself. Why medicine? What do you know about osteopathic medicine? Obed had told us to sell ourselves, so I really tried to take the opportunity to do that. I made sure to cover the major experiences I've had that have influenced my decision to go into medicine.

It's a closed-file interview, so I think it really is important to sell yourself and tell them all about who you are. Like Obed said, if you're shy, this is the time to get over it!

I think most people have found out pretty quickly after their interview whether they got in or not. I interviewed on January 31 and was accepted on February 5.

Good luck!

 

[Dr Kay]

I'll probably double post this on the yahoo site, but anyone get the broker letter and confused between what the letter says ("mention touro for a discount") and what Obed is saying, "broker fee is waived?"

I"m a little confused as to what letter you guys are referring to. did it come through e-mail or snail mail? All I have received so far are e-mail's regarding financial Aid. someone please help me I'm a little clueless.

Also I know HousingDO was working on helping us find apartments, but it seems like people are looking at going through a broker.

By the way, I am also interested in finding a roomate, I am a female, and really easygoing.

 

[lkoffman]

Heyya-Here is a copy of what Obed sent me. I'm waiting to see what the school recommends but as of now I am just looking to see whats available on my own.

ps-I'm also an easygoing 23 yr old girl and love to bake!


Dear Student,

Congratulations on your acceptance to the Touro College School of Osteopathic Medicine. My family has been involved with the field of Osteopathy both in practice and administration for many years. It is a dynamic and rewarding career and I would like to welcome you to the profession.

Allow me to introduce myself; My name is Zev Keisch and I am a licensed real estate salesperson and represent Best Apartments, Inc. Helping people relocating to New York City find affordable apartments in Manhattan is my specialty. My experience at negotiating the complex and demanding rental market will be a valuable, time and money saving resource for your search. I pride myself on my professional approach and my detailed customer service.

Relocating can be extremely stressful. I can help you with all aspects of a successful home search. This includes help on obtaining proper documentation for your application, negotiating a favorable lease and arranging appointments to see only the best apartments that fit your requirements.

Best Apartments, Inc. has thousands of listings that update daily. I have arranged with Touro College to offer you a substantial discount on all our open listings. This will save you hundreds of dollars.

Remember, there is no charge to look at apartments.

The first step in finding your new home is to call me to answer your questions and to set up an appointment to define your search.

I can be reached on my cell phone at 845-430-2895 or my office phone at 646-792-7433. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please mention Touro College to obtain your discount.

Once again congratulations on your new career!




140 W. 72rd St. #1, New York, NY 10028119 W. 23RD STREET #300 New York, NY 10011

 

[Dr Kay]

Thanks much Ikoffman.

I think the "discount" applies to monthly rent. From my understanding we are not paying the brokers fee, at least I hope so. hmmm.