\\***University of Michigan Class of 2011***//

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Hey guys,

First off, congrats on getting into Michigan! If you decide to come here, I'm sure that you'll enjoy it, as most of us in the first year class have found it an enjoyable experience thus far.

I'm currently living in Medical Center Court, in the White Coat Ghetto... the area where most of the 1st year students live. My apartment complex is offering a $300 bonus if I refer a resident. So... if any of you are considering signing a lease there, let me know, and--if you are interested--we can split the referring bonus... $150 for me and $150 for you.

FYI... Med Center Court is a nice place to live, a short walk from the med school, with it's own workout facility, and it will soon be getting free wireless internet. It is also (by general consenus) held to be much nicer than Island Drive (the other apartment complex that a majority of students consider).

Good luck with the application process and PM me if you are interested.
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Fireboy said:
Hey guys,

First off, congrats on getting into Michigan! If you decide to come here, I'm sure that you'll enjoy it, as most of us in the first year class have found it an enjoyable experience thus far.

I'm currently living in Medical Center Court, in the White Coat Ghetto... the area where most of the 1st year students live. My apartment complex is offering a $300 bonus if I refer a resident. So... if any of you are considering signing a lease there, let me know, and--if you are interested--we can split the referring bonus... $150 for me and $150 for you.

FYI... Med Center Court is a nice place to live, a short walk from the med school, with it's own workout facility, and it will soon be getting free wireless internet. It is also (by general consenus) held to be much nicer than Island Drive (the other apartment complex that a majority of students consider).

Good luck with the application process and PM me if you are interested.
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I'll give you $151 and a six-pack from Bell's, a great Michigan microbrewery! :p

P.S. Most of us have found it to be waaaay more than an "enjoyable experience" thus far! :D
 
Fine. I'll give you $152 and some shots of Petron Silver.

:p
 
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Let revive this thread everyone! Where is everyone thinking about living?
 
The white coat ghetto sounds about right to me, at least for first year. I want to be able to walk to class, plus being around other students would be sweet. When should I start looking into that...?
 
Hello. What is the likelihood that a UM undergrad would be accepted as a med student? I know they look for diversity and many schools won't accept students who attended the same school for undergrad.
Also, does Michigan allow you to defer your acceptance for a year?
 
KelClay said:
Hello. What is the likelihood that a UM undergrad would be accepted as a med student? I know they look for diversity and many schools won't accept students who attended the same school for undergrad.
Also, does Michigan allow you to defer your acceptance for a year?
Click to expand...
Michigan Med accepts a lot of people from Michigan undergrad, and yes you can defer. Good Luck! :luck:
 
Ridcully said:
The white coat ghetto sounds about right to me, at least for first year. I want to be able to walk to class, plus being around other students would be sweet. When should I start looking into that...?
Click to expand...
No need to hurry. There is pretty much always availability. The earlier you look the more choice you'll have in apartment location within the complex you select. I think I signed my lease in May and had no trouble. You can definitely sign earlier too, and I know people did. That said don't be too concerned over their "hurry up and sign" offers. At least Med Center Court always has the same offer (1 free month when you sign.)
 
So, current UMich med students, what other schools were you considering and why did you ultimately choose UMich?
 
Lorienne7 said:
So, current UMich med students, what other schools were you considering and why did you ultimately choose UMich?
Click to expand...
I was deciding between UMich, Harvard, WashU, Duke, Northwestern, UChicago, Case, and Cleveland Clinic (CCLCM), but in the end it came down to HMS (new pathway) vs. UMich. If any of you want to hear about my feelings about any of these schools, or about Penn (waitlist), let me know via PM or a post in here.

I can expand on my decision at second look (hope to see you there!), but the short and sweet is that I simply liked the curriculum, students, and faculty better at Michigan. After attending both revisit weekends I came away knowing that I didn't like PBL nearly as much as I thought I would, that the flexibility of the Michigan curriculum would work great for me, and that I could get along much better with the Michigan crowd. In full disclosure, my financial aid package was better at Michigan, my wife's career prospects were better in Michigan, and my family lives in Michigan. These factors were secondary in my decision-making process however as my primary concern was with getting a good education that matched my needs and that I could enjoy as well.

I haven't regretted my decision at all, I am having a great time at Michigan, and I'll be at the second-look weekend trying to convince you all to make the same (correct) decision I and all my classmates made. Let me know if you have any questions!

Go Blue!
 
Ahhhh Dajimmers I love your avatar. I see your wife did your hair ;)

For me, it came down to Duke and Michigan and at their respective second look weekends, Michigan did a much better job of wooing. The students seemed less uptight, too. Also, whenever I emailed Ruiz with a question he responded within a day, while Wallace at Duke never ever responded to a single email. I wonder if he never got them or if he really is that rude. Everyone at Michigan told me how great the faculty was and how much they respond to and value student input. I think Michigan is one of the few med schools that actually cares what its students think. Plus, Michigan was willing to match a scholarship from another school.

Also, imho we have one of the best med school musicals. The fact that a bunch of students can put together a hilarious script with singing and dancing that draws a crowd from the med school and hospital while matching into top residency programs says a lot about how talented and interesting our classes are. Just sayin' :D


So I don't know if Michigan will make it back into the top 10 this year but regardless of that, it's a great school and I don't regret my decision.
 
UMich is my number one choice right now, and although I have been accepted at several schools (some higher ranked), I would really like to have an opportunity to attend the school. I have been "On Hold. March Decision" since December... For the current students, would it be a good idea to send an update letter before the last commitee meeting? if so, what should i say? I'm not sure if they would want to hear about how I have compared UM to every school that I interviewed at or that UM is my top choice.
 
Lorienne7 said:
So, current UMich med students, what other schools were you considering and why did you ultimately choose UMich?
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For many reasons, most of them already mentioned here so I won't repeat them, Michigan was my #1 choice from a pretty early point. The one noteworthy factor that I don't think was reiterated is the consistently high ranking of Michigan's students by residency directors nationwide. You can get anywhere you want to go from here (as our early match statistics demonstrated again this year!)

I was fortunate enough to get in early (Oct. 15) so I withdrew from a number of great schools where I'd spent either some or a lot of time previously and knew I'd like a lot but wouldn't choose over Michigan (Stanford, Duke, Penn, etc.) That saved a bunch on secondary fees (I was holding off on my last ones to see if I'd get into Michigan right away) and a bunch more on travel costs for interviews.

While my decision was really made early on, I suppose at the end I still had the option of attending a number of schools (most with better financial aid packages) or coming to Ann Arbor. Northwestern was the only school I gave any serious thought to (love both Chicago & the school) but felt that UofM was the best fit for me.

In the end you'll all have a number of good choices, and you'll probably have differing financial aid offers mixed in there. Fortunately, we're all going to be physicians and whether we're in family practice, cardiac surgery, or academic medicine we're going to make enough money to pay off our loans and to support our families comfortably.

My best advice is to go with your heart and choose the place you think you'll be happiest. I suspect that the rest will sort itself out nicely from there.

Go Blue! :thumbup:
 
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frozenajd said:
UMich is my number one choice right now, and although I have been accepted at several schools (some higher ranked), I would really like to have an opportunity to attend the school. I have been "On Hold. March Decision" since December... For the current students, would it be a good idea to send an update letter before the last commitee meeting? if so, what should i say? I'm not sure if they would want to hear about how I have compared UM to every school that I interviewed at or that UM is my top choice.
Click to expand...
My guess is that a letter of intent ("if I get in, I will definitely choose Michigan") would be your best option.

Good luck! :luck:
 
Hi all. I'm an M4 at Michigan. It's been a long time now since I made the decision to go to Michigan... and seeing as how I can't remember what I did last week, it's hard for me to remember what I was thinking 4 years ago... (ok, not really... but hear me out). I can, however, tell you about one thing that I was surprised to learn is an amazing strength here: the clinical years. I didn't pay attention to the M3/4 years when I was looking at different medical schools -- mainly bc the idea of going to medical school in the first place was so daunting, I didn't have the foresight to look ahead 2 years. That said, I am so lucky to have ended up in Michigan. Of the top, say, 20 schools, I think we have one of the strongest training programs in the clinical years. You are encouraged to be very independent and take true ownership of your patients here, such that I truly believe we are ready to be interns by the end of our M3 year. When I did a sub-internship the beginning of my M4 year, the comment that both my senior resident and my attending wrote on my evaluation was that they would take me as an incoming intern right then and there (I was doing it in June -- when the newbie interns start at the end of the month). I think that says a lot. I went into this whole clinical year discussion in another thread, if you care to read more:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=4568228#post4568228
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=4569234#post4569234

In my opinion, the clinical training during M3 and M4 years is WHY Michigan's ranking among residency directors is higher than the general ranking (which is all NIH funding anyhow).

The flexibility of the curriculum in M1/2 years probably makes the most difference with regards to your quality of life -- but you will learn the material just like you would at any other school. The strength of clinical training in the M3/4 years, however, is pretty darn top notch -- and those years actually teach you how to be a doctor.
 
Hi All,
I can't resist joining this thread anymore and I guess it's about time to start representing.
I really loved the school, the program, and you might be surprised, but the weather too :)
However, I've been reading the reviews for Michigan at this site
http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/
and a couple of people have been mentioning that's a bit competitive over at Michigan. So I'm asking the current students, is this true? Please be as honest as you can be.
 
Hednej said:
Hi All,
I can't resist joining this thread anymore and I guess it's about time to start representing.
I really loved the school, the program, and you might be surprised, but the weather too :)
However, I've been reading the reviews for Michigan at this site
http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/
and a couple of people have been mentioning that's a bit competitive over at Michigan. So I'm asking the current students, is this true? Please be as honest as you can be.
Click to expand...

I remember when I was applying to med school 4 years ago, I heard this rumor about Michigan being competitive as well. With 1 month of my medical school career left, I still have no idea where this rumor comes from. Maybe it's based on ancient history, I dunno. But I definitely don't think it's true. It is difficult to judge a school based on anonymous comments on an AMSA site. Just as it is difficult to just us SDNers as well. Best thing for you to do is try to talk with current students (come to second look!) and judge for yourself.
 
GoSprout24 said:
I remember when I was applying to med school 4 years ago, I heard this rumor about Michigan being competitive as well. With 1 month of my medical school career left, I still have no idea where this rumor comes from. Maybe it's based on ancient history, I dunno. But I definitely don't think it's true. It is difficult to judge a school based on anonymous comments on an AMSA site. Just as it is difficult to just us SDNers as well. Best thing for you to do is try to talk with current students (come to second look!) and judge for yourself.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I thought too. Judgment shouldn't be based on comments on the internet. I guess I'll have to go to the second look and see for myself.
 
Hednej said:
Hi All,
I can't resist joining this thread anymore and I guess it's about time to start representing.
I really loved the school, the program, and you might be surprised, but the weather too :)
However, I've been reading the reviews for Michigan at this site
http://www.amsa.org/premed/medsurvey/
and a couple of people have been mentioning that's a bit competitive over at Michigan. So I'm asking the current students, is this true? Please be as honest as you can be.
Click to expand...
100% UNtrue! We have classmates who consistently email their typed notes to the entire class on lectures, learning objectives, & review items. I've never spoken with anyone who wasn't willing to interrupt their own studying (or relaxing) to help explain a point I had a question on, walk me through anatomy stuff I still didn't quite get the night before the practical, etc. Those are just a few of many examples I could list.

I don't know how long that survey has been around, and can't speak for the days before Pass/Fail (and remember it's real pass fail – that's just Pass or Fail with no hidden rankings or grades disguised as high pass, pass, etc.) but I can comfortably say that the attitude of the students here was one of the main reasons I was attracted to Michigan and one of the main reasons I love it here! :thumbup:
 
so just out of curiosity, did everyone get the email from mr. ruiz the other day inviting them to lunch on march 21st? i'm guessing this was for all of us, but there is a small twinge of hope in the back of my mind that maybe this has something to do with scholarships...it's probably too early for those kinds of decisions anyways, but it sure would be nice.
see you all at second look!
 
ordeliacay said:
so just out of curiosity, did everyone get the email from mr. ruiz the other day inviting them to lunch on march 21st? i'm guessing this was for all of us, but there is a small twinge of hope in the back of my mind that maybe this has something to do with scholarships...it's probably too early for those kinds of decisions anyways, but it sure would be nice.
see you all at second look!
Click to expand...
Yah, I got the email too. If you look on the accepted students website, Mr. Ruiz has updated it with info about scholarships, specifically citing March 30 as the day when scholarship decisions are made.

EDIT: It never occurred to me that it could have something to do with scholarships, and I kinda ignored it. Looking at it again, I just noticed its semi-personalized (though they mistook my last name for my first, lol). I don't know if that means anything but that would be pretty exciting!
 
ordeliacay said:
so just out of curiosity, did everyone get the email from mr. ruiz the other day inviting them to lunch on march 21st? i'm guessing this was for all of us, but there is a small twinge of hope in the back of my mind that maybe this has something to do with scholarships...it's probably too early for those kinds of decisions anyways, but it sure would be nice.
see you all at second look!
Click to expand...

Say what? Where did this come from? Damn, I guess it must be for scholarships cuz I never got it. Are they going to pay for you to go to Michigan and just have lunch? Then yeah, it's definitely for the scholarship. Ah well, here's hoping to a good finaid package.
 
Hednej said:
Say what? Where did this come from? Damn, I guess it must be for scholarships cuz I never got it. Are they going to pay for you to go to Michigan and just have lunch? Then yeah, it's definitely for the scholarship. Ah well, here's hoping to a good finaid package.
Click to expand...

There's no mention of paying for anything. It just seems to be a casual lunch and conversation. I'm also unclear about the date because it says Tuesday, March 21, though I won't be able to make it either way. I would LOVE a scholarship to Michigan, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Can anyone else shed some light on this issue, perhaps current students?
 
Lorienne7 said:
There's no mention of paying for anything. It just seems to be a casual lunch and conversation. I'm also unclear about the date because it says Tuesday, March 21, though I won't be able to make it either way. I would LOVE a scholarship to Michigan, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Can anyone else shed some light on this issue, perhaps current students?
Click to expand...

Wait, so is this for people who are in the vicinity of the school>? Otherwise, I wouldn't go all the way to Michigan just to have "lunch."
 
Hednej said:
Wait, so is this for people who are in the vicinity of the school>? Otherwise, I wouldn't go all the way to Michigan just to have "lunch."
Click to expand...

I live in NYC, so it's not just for locals. It says the location is TBA (ie it never specifies that it's in Michigan) and for a crazy second I thought maybe Ruiz was coming to New York for a day or so to meet with some accepted students. Wouldn't that be sweet? A director of admissions touring the country to personally meet with acceptees? Lol!
 
Lorienne7 said:
I live in NYC, so it's not just for locals. It says the location is TBA (ie it never specifies that it's in Michigan) and for a crazy second I thought maybe Ruiz was coming to New York for a day or so to meet with some accepted students. Wouldn't that be sweet? A director of admissions touring the country to personally meet with acceptees? Lol!
Click to expand...

I know it's weird to quote yourself but it turns out I was partially correct! Ruiz is coming to NYC to talk to premeds (woah, I'm still technically one of those, huh? ) about the application process/UMich, so it looks like he's taking some time out earlier in the day to meet with NYC (or greater tristate area?) acceptees. Mystery solved! Though I liked the scholarship hypothesis a lot more, this visit thing is still interesting.
 
Lorienne7 said:
I know it's weird to quote yourself but it turns out I was partially correct! Ruiz is coming to NYC to talk to premeds (woah, I'm still technically one of those, huh? ) about the application process/UMich, so it looks like he's taking some time out earlier in the day to meet with NYC (or greater tristate area?) acceptees. Mystery solved! Though I liked the scholarship hypothesis a lot more, this visit thing is still interesting.
Click to expand...

Wow, this is pretty cool- my roommate accepted a job with this company next year that regularly takes interns from our school, and any time they're in town doing interviews they take him out for dinner... I always joke around with him about how the med school app process isn't as fun as his job apps where he gets free food all the time. I guess I can't say that anymore- have fun and see you at second look!
 
Lorienne7 said:
I know it's weird to quote yourself but it turns out I was partially correct! Ruiz is coming to NYC to talk to premeds (woah, I'm still technically one of those, huh? ) about the application process/UMich, so it looks like he's taking some time out earlier in the day to meet with NYC (or greater tristate area?) acceptees. Mystery solved! Though I liked the scholarship hypothesis a lot more, this visit thing is still interesting.
Click to expand...

Hey, that's pretty cool! Honestly, I think that Michigan has one of the best/most organized/nicest admissions offices I've seen, and I think Dr. Ruiz is pretty awesome, too.
 
Lorienne7 said:
I know it's weird to quote yourself but it turns out I was partially correct! Ruiz is coming to NYC to talk to premeds (woah, I'm still technically one of those, huh? ) about the application process/UMich, so it looks like he's taking some time out earlier in the day to meet with NYC (or greater tristate area?) acceptees. Mystery solved! Though I liked the scholarship hypothesis a lot more, this visit thing is still interesting.
Click to expand...

Hey, maybe you can slip it into the conversation? Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
Ok, this may be a stupid question, but I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. To those who were accepted to UMich, where would one find the password for the financial aid form? It doesn't seem to be in any of my documents or emails. Thanks!
 
Password is your last name.
 
I actually won't be able to go the Ruiz lunch thing Wednesday. I was debating about whether I should skip class for it, but I decided against it because I've already been entirely too negligent in my classes lately :D He'll be at my undergrad on Thursday so maybe I'll try to chat with him about scholarships then. Is anyone going to the lunch?
 
I just found this thread! It's been about a year since I was last on SDN while applying... :rolleyes:

Regarding the weather: it's been pretty cold lately (and that's coming from someone who grew up in Wisconsin and went to school in Boston). HOWEVER, if you really don't want to, you don't have to go outside! All the lectures are recorded and the videos placed online within 10 minutes of the end of class. You can actually speed up the videos and watch them at up to 3x normal speed. I know a lot of students who watch them at 2x, so that a 50 minute lecture only takes 25 minutes to watch. It's very efficient and you don't even have to leave your bed. And you can sleep in. Or go to the hospital to shadow doctors all day. Whatever's your cup of tea :)
 
Lorienne7 said:
So what actually happens during second look weekend? Is it pretty much exclusively a social event, an opportunity to get to know your future classmates?
Click to expand...

I'm really glad I went to last year's 2nd look weekend. I was also deciding between Duke and UM, and going to both 2nd looks made all the difference. I was amazed by how considerate the admissions staff and faculty are -- they really care about the med student experience and want to make sure that we're happy. The whole weekend was really well organized, and I could tell that all the students I met were very, very happy.

Also, as a non-trad student, I felt much more comfortable at UM; I thought the students I met there had a wider array of experiences. Within my class, there are 2 people who worked at NASA, someone who was an NIH fellow, someone with 7 years of business experience, someone who started a company, a professional (minor league) baseball player, etc.

I'm sure they'll send out the itinerary for the weekend soon. If I remember correctly, there were student/faculty panels, social activities (bowling, bars, dancing, dessert/coffee), tours, and even hospital rounds!
 
Chinorean said:
Also, imho we have one of the best med school musicals. The fact that a bunch of students can put together a hilarious script with singing and dancing that draws a crowd from the med school and hospital while matching into top residency programs says a lot about how talented and interesting our classes are. Just sayin'
Click to expand...

DOUBLE-TRUE! lol

For the curious and/or bored, here's a video of a dance from the smoker:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DUFgod-3MrQ
 
GoSprout24 said:
Personally, this is my favorite song from this year's Smoker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETG2jk15LUU

It's the Vasectomy Barbershop Quartet. It's all in good fun. :D
Click to expand...
Definitely! While I really like that virtually all of the smoker is original writing, lyrics, acting etc. I'm glad this little gem was borrowed from the Family Guy. :laugh:

I do think it will be very difficult to every top the Michigan Difference parody video from last year's production!
 
amandil said:
*ahem* you mean this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hc0cB4z8WOc

D - R - E!
Click to expand...

Haha, I think it'd be a lot funnier watching it as a medical student. BTW, I just saw your thread on Duke about the racial slur thing; sorry about that.

For the people who were on the chat tonight, can someone give me a brief summary of what I missed?
 
omg it was high of 69 degrees today! I love global warming (it's a joke people, it's a joke...)
 
Anyone here doin MSTP?
 
amandil said:
*ahem* you mean this?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hc0cB4z8WOc

D - R - E!
Click to expand...

Okay the multiple jokes on rectal exams were confusing, but still funny. I'm not so sure how I feel about spoofing a post-op child, or imitating a prosthesis with a whisk (that's the kind of stuff that could surface on Drudge in 20 years and end a political career or something). This is Ann Arbor, people, have we forgotten all notions of being ridiculously over-P.C.?
 
hey everybody,

i wont be able to make it to the second look, but hope you all have a good time! i had a quick question about financial aid: i filled out fafsa and the webpage that you guys were talking about before, but i was wondering if there is anything else to do that may or may not be urgent.

these are tense days on the forums, hope everybody is takin it easy and here's to hoping umich works out for all of us!
 
HumbleMD said:
Okay the multiple jokes on rectal exams were confusing, but still funny. I'm not so sure how I feel about spoofing a post-op child, or imitating a prosthesis with a whisk (that's the kind of stuff that could surface on Drudge in 20 years and end a political career or something). This is Ann Arbor, people, have we forgotten all notions of being ridiculously over-P.C.?
Click to expand...
I think it makes a lot more sense in the context of the whole smoker. Last year's plot centered around a physician who'd hatched a money-making scheme by instituting mandatory digital rectal exams for all patients, then skimming money from the billing code created for this "Michigan Difference" program. The plot was a spoof on the movie Office Space, the smoker being Orifice Space.
As far as the video itself goes, it's poking fun at the health system and their commercial, not the individuals in the video. The smoker is definitely not P.C. but it is a lot of fun and pretty darn funny.
 
amandil said:
omg it was high of 69 degrees today! I love global warming (it's a joke people, it's a joke...)
Click to expand...
My thermometer read 73 degrees as I was headed back to school around 7:30 yesterday evening. Since it's usually 65 and sunny here all winter I'm not sure why you felt the need to point out yesterday's weather... :D
 
Im in! Im in! So happy right now :)
 
SailCrazy said:
I think it makes a lot more sense in the context of the whole smoker. Last year's plot centered around a physician who'd hatched a money-making scheme by instituting mandatory digital rectal exams for all patients, then skimming money from the billing code created for this "Michigan Difference" program. The plot was a spoof on the movie Office Space, the smoker being Orifice Space.
As far as the video itself goes, it's poking fun at the health system and their commercial, not the individuals in the video. The smoker is definitely not P.C. but it is a lot of fun and pretty darn funny.
Click to expand...

Just to drive home this point... the video is a mock of the actual, real Michigan Difference commercials that aired on TV all last year -- they aired so often in AA, it was a little ridiculous. For those of you out-of-towners... the "Michigan Difference" is the slogan of our hospital's current PR campaign. The characters in our mock video are based on characters in the real commercial. So, yeah, the Smoker is not exactly PC... but it's not like we're complete dinguses or anything.

And the video is WAY funnier in context of the entire musical, as stated above. Also helps when you know the people in the mock. For example, the guy playing the kid on the bathrub was our AMSA president during my M2 year, the guy in the wheelchair -- well -- really is in a wheelchair and is a rugby superchampion, and the student in the anatomy labs -- umm -- was actually the same student in the real commercial on TV. I guess it's one of those "had to be there"/inside jokes. But trust me -- it was amazing.
 
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