University of Maryland 2013

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I "got" my fin aid award summary today, but when I go on, it says that there are no awards for me... is this happening to anyone else?
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funkydrmonkey said:
I "got" my fin aid award summary today, but when I go on, it says that there are no awards for me... is this happening to anyone else?
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yes

email came out 35 mins ago, maybe it takes a bit to get into the system...

either that or we get no $$$

:(
 
Tali501 said:
Hi guys- can anyone remember what neuroanatomy labs were like? Were they similar to gross labs, and if you have to miss how difficult is it to make up?
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Nothing like gross lab. Its basically some hemisected brains and you point at a couple things. They're not really very helpful vs. something in a neuroanatomy atlas.

On Finaid: chill. Everyone gets money.

On PDA/smartphones: They're not required. If you have a Tarascon or other pharmacopedia plus a sanford guide, that covers about 99% of what I use mine for, aka Epocrates for drug doses. They're useful for other small programs, but you can def get by without forking the dough.
 
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My fin aid says the same thing, no money!? Grrr, maybe they sent the email out prematurely.
 
rogerwilco said:
What a coincidence. I was just thinking to myself "you know, $41,000/year isn't all that much money to be paying for tuition, isn't there some way the school could financially rape me some more?"

Luckily, they came through in the crunch and jacked it up to $44,000/year. Sweet.

I know, it's my own fault.
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Yeah, I just saw that...

I got this email from financial aid:

Thank you for applying for financial aid at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Your initial award notification can be viewed on SURFS.
You must accept or decline these awards on the Student User Friendly System (SIMSWEB) at www.simsweb.umaryland.edu.
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But when I log into the system, it says "No award information is available for you at this time."

Did this happen to everyone? I can see my cost-of-attendance breakdown ($75k+ :eek:) but I can't seem to find the financial aid they're offering me...
 
^Whoops!!!! I just now realized that I skipped this whole page of posts. I guess everyone's having the same issue.

I'm assuming that if we were getting any significant free money, they would have already contacted us individually. :( I can't believe tuition went up $3k.
 
same issue with regards to fin aid.

chad: i'm being optimistic that significant amts of free money could still be available :rolleyes:
 
amp3r5and said:
same issue with regards to fin aid.

chad: i'm being optimistic that significant amts of free money could still be available :rolleyes:
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It sure would be nice. Unless I get a decent amount of free money from Maryland I'll probably end up at VCU. :( Although I'd rather attend Maryland, it's quite difficult to justify spending an additional $15k a year and uprooting my entire life when I have the opportunity to attend a [debatably] comparable and cheaper school that is so close to home.
 
Seriously, guys - chill about the financial aid. I am starting 4th year in a few months and I just got the same email. There are no awards yet in my account, either. They'll be there. It just takes a little while. The email was a bit premature - there's no need to freak out about it.

As for "significant amts of free money" - you need to be realistic. Most medical schools (especially state schools, which are already partially subsidized for in-state students) aren't going to throw money at you to get you to attend. If they were going to offer you a substantial scholarship, they probably would have contacted you already. I don't really know what you guys are expecting. The tuition and cost of attendance should have been made obvious on interview day. Of course tuition increases every year - this is not unique to Maryland. Medical school is EXPENSIVE. If you have gotten into a substantially cheaper school, by all means - go with that option.

Most of us get some scholarship/grant money every year. I'm in-state and have received ~6-7K per year for the past 3 years. It doesn't make a huge dent, but every bit helps. I still have to take out the full amount of Staffords (~40K/year combined sub and unsub) each year, but I have managed to avoid using GradPlus or other loans so far. If you are really strapped for cash, Maryland also offers students some work-study money as well (for tutoring, helping with A-V stuff, doing research, helping admissions, etc). Also, sometimes you won't find out if you've received grant/scholarship money until 1-3 months into a semester. I think this is because different programs have different deadlines, and the Office of Financial Aid awards them as they come.

Re: PDAs. I was going to get one, but put it off - and now I still don't have one. I don't think I've missed out on much, though. I have my pocket pharmacopeia and Sanford guide, and of course my rotation-specific "pocket" guides, and that's all I've needed.
 
LadyWolverine, you are right... but now I think I will have to drop UMD...:cry: the tuition alone is more than the COA of one of my other schools...:eek: I really loved UMD though...:(
 
LadyWolverine,

Thanks for the shot back to reality. :) I knew that it was incredibly unlikely for me to get any sort of significant scholarships, but I was hoping that maybe I'd get lucky because I really do love this school. I am aware that tuition increases every year, but I was surprised to see it jump $3,000 for OOS students. I was told that if you submit your FAFSA before March 1 then you're eligible for a $4,000 institutional grant - well that tuition increase pretty much negates any effect that the grant would have had. That seems like a pretty significant increase and I'm wondering if it's an effect of the current economic climate. I know that here at VCU we have less funding coming in and there have been budget cuts across the board.

Maryland was my dream school before the whole cycle began, and I'm just really disappointed that I'll probably have to give up the opportunity to attend because of financial reasons. :(

Thanks again for all of your advice!
 
I guess I gotta play catchup on some things:

Match lists:

First, I advise caution to you all when reading match lists. A match list is only as good as how far down on your list you need to go. Add in the fact that people may not even get an interview at their most desired programs, and you get two instances where ideal matches are not realized. You cant see either on a match list.

Now, also from hearsay, but the majority of people who didn't match from our seniors were either derm or plastics, which are impossible matches. Advising is pretty on point, theyll be honest if youre not up to snuff. But personally, if they told me i couldnt match PM&R, im damn sure stubborn enough to do it anyway. Im sure thats more likely why anyone anywhere goes unmatched.

The one fluke was a sub-I on my service when the match went down, but this particular MS4 will end up with a spot thankfully, this person deserves it. Unless you gun for an insanely dificult specialty, most of us dont worry about matching at a program.

Fin aid:

I agree with my clasmates in that you'll get the aid packages after tuition bills come back. They like to remind us how much we need to pay back eventually.

PDA:

I have a Palm Centro, and honestly the best it's done is match my gf's pink one (I have black). It's convenient to work on powerpoints with, as well as word docs and the rare excel sheet, to check email and surf the web, but that's about it. I've used epocrates and the free merck manual, but just because I could. You can easily survive with pharmacopoia and sanfords for the drugs. I use epocrates for pharmacologic mechanisms and merck for a quick reference for diseases, since it has excerpts from Harrisons in it. Convenient, but by no means necessary. Not worth the coin unless you're already getting a new phone anyway, def not worth it before your third year begins.
 
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Thanks for all the responses about match lists, PDAs and fin. aid. You guys are a huge help.

I guess maybe I will put off on the PDA for awhile. Even though the iphone seems super cool, I might wait til my contract expires and I'm due for a new phone.

Also, my budget for financial aid was a few thousand lower than I expected since somewhere along the line of filling out 100s of forms and applications I said I would live "on campus". Did this happen to anyone else? I don't know if the difference will be enough to make a difference in how I choose my housing...speaking of which, anyone live in centerpoint? Looks good and cheap.

Sorry to all the out of state people. Big bummer about the cost, but at least you get to go to med school somewhere.
 
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chad5871 said:
^Whoops!!!! I just now realized that I skipped this whole page of posts. I guess everyone's having the same issue.

I'm assuming that if we were getting any significant free money, they would have already contacted us individually. :( I can't believe tuition went up $3k.
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That's the expected rate of tuition increase. The actual numbers don't come out for a few more months. I am hoping (though this is definitely conjecture) that they throw in a higher number so that when actual numbers come in, the financial don't look nearly as bad.

Tuition this past year was around $22.5K. With a 5% increase, that would bring it up to 23.6, about a 1K increase for in-state students, which is reasonable.

I am more annoyed about the cost of the computer than anything else. $1200 for the first year and probably around $1000 for second year. I'll stop harping on this, because it's already been covered on this thread.
 
Why is medical school so expensive:mad:
 
funkydrmonkey said:
Why is medical school so expensive:mad:
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I just called Financial Aid and they said probably another week before the numbers come out. "expect an email, a more accurate one."
 
Anyone still care to comment on PEDS/OB rotations hours?
 
dancerchick said:
Anyone still care to comment on PEDS/OB rotations hours?
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Hey, sorry, I started a post on this subject when I was on break, but my connection was terrible so I deferred and then forgot...

OB: This rotation is 6 weeks, split into three 2-week segments: Clinic, Labor & Delivery, and Gyn Surg. At almost all locations, you'll have one week of Surgical Gyn Oncology and one week of benign Gyn Surg. At one particular location (Franklin Square), they don't have much oncology, so you'll mostly see benign gyn surg - I was at this location.

Clinic hours are similar to those of family medicine as described by LW (9-5ish). Some days you may get out a bit earlier, some days a bit later. L&D and Gyn Surg are longer - usually getting in around 5-6ish and leaving at 6-7. Keep in mind that these were my hours at Franklin Square and that there are students at other locations for OB. You must do one Friday, one Saturday, and one Sunday call on OB. Friday and Saturday call are overnight and it doesn't matter when you take call during your 6-weeks. Call will be done on L&D (even if you are on clinic or surg at the time).

Peds is like Medicine Lite. You have 3 weeks of outpatient and 3 weeks of inpatient. On inpatient, depending on the number of patients, I was usually in by 6:30. Some days I left by 5pm, some days later up until like 7 depending on how much work there was to be done or if something interesting was going on that I wanted to see that was happening later.

On outpatient peds, hours will differ based on your particular schedule of clinics - you generally get scheduled for something different each morning and afternoon, but in general your hours are pretty much like Family Med again (9-5ish or better).

Peds ER and PAC: Regular time 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Subspecialty clinics:
Morning clinics: 9:00 a.m. To 12 noon
Afternoon clinics: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m

Hematology/Oncology:
Morning clinic: 9:00 a.m - Afternoon clinic: 1p.m.

Full Term Nursery:
Report at 7:30 a.m.

You will take call q5 during Peds, regardless of whether you are on inpatient or outpatient. On inpatient, you'll be on the floor at your site for call. Call is generally until 10-11pm. If it falls on a weekend, you'll be there generally 8a-8p. If there's nothing coming in from the ED, generally you might be cut loose a little early (I went home at like 8pm a couple times from weekday call). On outpatient, you'll take call in the Peds ED. Same hours generally.

That covers general hours pretty well. If you have more specific questions ask. Except that I start at Shock Trauma tomorrow and so it might take me a bit to get back to you. But of course I'm not the only one who has done OB/Peds already so there's more around who can help.
 
Money is up in SURFS.

Good luck OOS's
 
rplyler1 said:
$4000 University Grant. Anyone get anything else?
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Same here.

And yeah chad, you're right, it should be looked at as generous, despite the monster numbers underneath.
 
$4000 is extremely generous considering I'm OOS and only ever got $3000 per year. :(
 
rplyler1 said:
$4000 University Grant. Anyone get anything else?
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curious rplyler, did you apply for the prof school scholarship (available to md residents)? i was wondering if this would have been "awarded" now if we received any of the money or if that might happen later on
 
amp3r5and said:
curious rplyler, did you apply for the prof school scholarship (available to md residents)? i was wondering if this would have been "awarded" now if we received any of the money or if that might happen later on
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Yes I did apply for it, and no I do not think that it has been awarded yet (at least i hope not). I am just guessing though. I would assume that it would come out later (May-early summer), since most of the delegates scholarships, etc are not decided until then.

Maybe some of the current students know more about the timeline for these things? I know that LW talked about getting some funding while the semester was already in progress, but I do not know what source that was from.

I am still holding out hope that there might be more funding coming (not that I am not happy about the $4000)
 
rplyler1 said:
Yes I did apply for it, and no I do not think that it has been awarded yet (at least i hope not).

I am still holding out hope that there might be more funding coming (not that I am not happy about the $4000)
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same here. i'll be keeping my fingers crossed as well. and now i have more incentive to get moving on my delegate/senate scholarships
 
Same 4K grant. Bye Bye UMD Thread :cry:
 
Just wanted to say that I've appreciated all the great info in this thread from current students. Thanks for taking the time to write such detailed replys! I really liked a lot of things about Maryland, but unfortunately $4,000<<<$75,756 which means I just can't justify the extra cost.

Looks like it will be IS or a more generous OOS school for me.

Best of luck to everybody else on this thread! :luck:
 
I will say that the estimated budget they throw out is way, way overblown. With that said - if you were expecting FA from UMD to bring OOS tuition to an instate level you're kinda kidding yourself, sorry to say.
 
Pontifex Maximus said:
I will say that the estimated budget they throw out is way, way overblown.
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You know I forgot this point, and thats completely true.

Remember, OOS tuition as ~40K, but living expenses REALLY shouldnt run you more than 20K. If they do, youre really, really too frivolous for medical school anyway (though I'm sure there are classmates of ours that have trouble living on 20K/yr lol). You should be fairly close to scrimping these four years, regardless of residency status or the school you decide to attend.

Granted, 60K is more realistic as far as expenditures and is still a ton, but they offer 75K in total loans to make sure you dont become homeless after your rent is 3 months overdue. Reasonable rent with a roommate in Baltimore should run you ~$800/month. Any private/OOS public school is gonna run you about 60K these days (assuming no scholarships)
 
MSKalltheway said:
You know I forgot this point, and thats completely true.

Remember, OOS tuition as ~40K, but living expenses REALLY shouldnt run you more than 20K. If they do, youre really, really too frivolous for medical school anyway (though I'm sure there are classmates of ours that have trouble living on 20K/yr lol). You should be fairly close to scrimping these four years, regardless of residency status or the school you decide to attend.

Granted, 60K is more realistic as far as expenditures and is still a ton, but they offer 75K in total loans to make sure you dont become homeless after your rent is 3 months overdue. Reasonable rent with a roommate in Baltimore should run you ~$800/month. Any private/OOS public school is gonna run you about 60K these days (assuming no scholarships)
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There are also all the hidden "fees." Unless you were counting them in with cost of living numbers.
 
Pontifex Maximus said:
I will say that the estimated budget they throw out is way, way overblown. With that said - if you were expecting FA from UMD to bring OOS tuition to an instate level you're kinda kidding yourself, sorry to say.
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I certainly wasn't expecting anywhere near IS level of help, but I was expecting more than $4,000 with a large demonstrated need according to FAFSA. I guess UMD just doesn't have much money to go around, especially for OOS students. Other OOS schools have been much more generous in grants.
 
blurryLines said:
I certainly wasn't expecting anywhere near IS level of help, but I was expecting more than $4,000 with a large demonstrated need according to FAFSA. I guess UMD just doesn't have much money to go around, especially for OOS students. Other OOS schools have been much more generous in grants.
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I assumed that the Financial Aid person told everyone the same thing that she told us on our application day, but I guess not.

She explained that they do not give out money on a need-based basis (this is one of the reasons that they do not require parental info on the FAFSA). They do have a few minority scholarships that they give out, but that is about it. She said that they take whatever money they have for the year and divide it evenly among all of the incoming students (whether they are IS or OOS). That is why everyone is reporting the same $4,000.00 grant. However it is quite a high price tag for the OOSers.
 
rplyler1 said:
I assumed that the Financial Aid person told everyone the same thing that she told us on our application day, but I guess not.

She explained that they do not give out money on a need-based basis (this is one of the reasons that they do not require parental info on the FAFSA). They do have a few minority scholarships that they give out, but that is about it. She said that they take whatever money they have for the year and divide it evenly among all of the incoming students (whether they are IS or OOS). That is why everyone is reporting the same $4,000.00 grant. However it is quite a high price tag for the OOSers.
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That's really interesting. I don't think whoever did my financial aid presentation explained that to us. I don't remember zoning out, but then again, the presentation was only 10 mintues long. :) She mostly just talked about what to submit and when.

I wonder what the logic is behind need-blind financial aid anyway? To me, that defeats the purpose of even bothering with FAFSA. If everyone gets exactly the same package, then what do they do all day in the FA office? It certainly can't be "need analysis" if the grant is simply the total funds/number of students? :laugh:

And I can't believe they give someone whose parents are paying for their entire medical education the same package as someone who is getting no help and putting themselves through school. That seems completely counterintuitive. Anyway, sorry for the ramble and thanks for the explanation!
 
blurryLines said:
That's really interesting. I don't think whoever did my financial aid presentation explained that to us. I don't remember zoning out, but then again, the presentation was only 10 mintues long. :) She mostly just talked about what to submit and when.

I wonder what the logic is behind need-blind financial aid anyway? To me, that defeats the purpose of even bothering with FAFSA. If everyone gets exactly the same package, then what do they do all day in the FA office? It certainly can't be "need analysis" if the grant is simply the total funds/number of students? :laugh:

And I can't believe they give someone whose parents are paying for their entire medical education the same package as someone who is getting no help and putting themselves through school. That seems completely counterintuitive. Anyway, sorry for the ramble and thanks for the explanation!
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Its "need blind" because basically everyone has the same need. For professional school, your parent's financial info is no longer pertinent - you are considered an independent adult and so basically everyone has the same need. Generally only married students have less "need" calculated by FAFSA if their spouse is employed. You need the FAFSA to qualify for Federal Stafford Loans and Grad Plus Loans. If someone's parents are paying for their education, this is great for them and in theory should be reported to the school but I'm sure that doesn't happen all the time. But there are few students who's parents are footing the bill for their education; the majority that I know of who are getting assistance had college funds which went unused because they had substantial scholarships for undergrad. Sure there are a fortunate few who's parents can loan them the money or gift it outright but they are not the norm.
 
LucidSplash said:
Its "need blind" because basically everyone has the same need. For professional school, your parent's financial info is no longer pertinent - you are considered an independent adult and so basically everyone has the same need. Generally only married students have less "need" calculated by FAFSA if their spouse is employed. You need the FAFSA to qualify for Federal Stafford Loans and Grad Plus Loans. If someone's parents are paying for their education, this is great for them and in theory should be reported to the school but I'm sure that doesn't happen all the time. But there are few students who's parents are footing the bill for their education; the majority that I know of who are getting assistance had college funds which went unused because they had substantial scholarships for undergrad. Sure there are a fortunate few who's parents can loan them the money or gift it outright but they are not the norm.
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That makes some sense. Thanks for the explanation.

Still, though, Maryland is certainly not the norm on this. Most medical schools (4/5 in my case alone) take parental information into account when giving out grants and awarding their institutional money on a need basis. They all have secondary FA applications in addition to FAFSA. While I agree that virtually everyone has some level of financial need for medical school (or professional school in general), there is definitely a lot more variation than you let on. If this wasn't the case, then why wouldn't more schools have need-blind FA?

Regardless, thanks for helping me understand Maryland's policy better. I don't like the logic, but that's not going to change anything ... :rolleyes:
 
I'm on hold at MD, but I'm trying to figure out when each potential school is having orientation. Anyone know when UMD orientation begins?
 
blurryLines said:
That makes some sense. Thanks for the explanation.

Still, though, Maryland is certainly not the norm on this. Most medical schools (4/5 in my case alone) take parental information into account when giving out grants and awarding their institutional money on a need basis. They all have secondary FA applications in addition to FAFSA. While I agree that virtually everyone has some level of financial need for medical school (or professional school in general), there is definitely a lot more variation than you let on. If this wasn't the case, then why wouldn't more schools have need-blind FA?

Regardless, thanks for helping me understand Maryland's policy better. I don't like the logic, but that's not going to change anything ... :rolleyes:
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I hear what you're saying. Sure, most parents may not be paying outright for their child's medical education, but the "safety net" factor varies extremely. There's a huge difference between someone who's borrowing the full cost of tuition but can rely on parents for extra food/car/rent/etc money if need be, and a person who's borrowing the full cost of tuition and doesn't have an outside leg to stand on otherwise. The "calculated need", while maybe the most standardized way to do things, doesn't delineate between these two situations (or any in between). It sucks, but apparently that's how it goes.
 
Anyone know when all the "on hold" can expect to hear anything? I would so love to be able to start planning my life a little.
 
When is the white coat ceremony? or when is it traditionally held?

From digging around through last years schedule, i think i found a ceremony around the end of October...is this right?
 
Stixman28 said:
When is the white coat ceremony? or when is it traditionally held?

From digging around through last years schedule, i think i found a ceremony around the end of October...is this right?
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Yes. White Coat is held after the end of the Structure and Development block (Anatomy). This first block is about 10 weeks long which brings you to the end of October for White Coat.
 
LucidSplash said:
Yes. White Coat is held after the end of the Structure and Development block (Anatomy). This first block is about 10 weeks long which brings you to the end of October for White Coat.
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I miss how crispy white those fresh new coats were :(
 
rogerwilco said:
So do most of us first-years. And we hardly do anything in them.

Actually I just hate wearing the coat, period.
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I'm just really happy that I'm going into a specialty which, for the most part, forsakes ties and white coats. I'll still wear a coat as a resident from time to time, but the ties will be buried in my closet...deep in the closet...
 
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