Sackler 2016

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Just called the office to ask about wait listed students. They said they are not reviewing them by order and that the next committee meeting is June. Wait listed students could hear back from June to August..so more waiting...

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Accepted! Just got the letter now, sent last Wednesday. Applied Mid-Feb, Interviewed Late March, heard nothing until now.

Very excited! Good luck to everyone still waiting!
 
I JUST GOT IN!!! :soexcited: :soexcited: :soexcited:

Interviewed in December, Waitlisted March, Acceptance dated May 16th!!
 
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Congrats to the recent acceptances! I was waitlisted a couple weeks ago. Called today and was told that though some of us might hear sooner, the next big admissions committee meeting is on June 21st.
 
Congrats to the recent acceptances! I was waitlisted a couple weeks ago. Called today and was told that though some of us might hear sooner, the next big admissions committee meeting is on June 21st.

sooner than june 21???
 
Hello..

Current 3rd year here. Just came across the forum and wanted to answer a few questions I saw previous.

1) Where do most students live? I know they take you around apartment hunting in the area but is that all very close to campus? Do people chose to live in the surrounding neighborhoods or cities? What about married couples?

Answer: The majority of 1st years live near the University in Ramat Aviv, usually with walking distance or very short bike ride. There are students that choose to live in central Tel Aviv and commute to school, either by bus, sheruit (shared taxi - van), or long bike ride. 1st year is all based out of the Sackler building at school. If you are a class-goer this is where you will be all the time. However, the students that lived in Tel Aviv loved it, don't regret it and still heckle those of us that lived in Ramat Aviv for 1 / 2 years. I however, don't regret it.

Married couples - same applies mostly. Two different classmates of mine are married with kids and commute from Jerusalem everyday by car. They seem happy! The other married couples live together in apartments in Tel Aviv. They are happy as well!!

2) Have you found that you needed a car? Do most students live within walking distance, or take buses mostly?

Answer: like above, most people live in Ramat Aviv and walk or short bike to school. Those that lived in Tel Aviv took bus, sheruit or the more athletic/fitness oriented biked. The public transport from The Uni to Tel Aviv and visa-versa is quite regular and convenient. The bus is like $1.60 each way. Sheruit is about $2.00

For 3rd year you will be doing your clerkships in Tel Aviv area hospitals. Some are not actually in city limits and the commute is do-able by public transport but def. more convenient with a car. In my class only a few people have cars, only 4 or so that I can think of. Usually people with cars will drive people from their hospital groups in a carpool fashion. We use a lottery system to decide who goes to what hospital for each clerkship. You rank your choices. Some hospitals are known to be better in certain specialities than others which people take into account, others LIKE ME purely factor in distance/commute. Personally I think there is no need for a car and def. something you really do not even need to think about until end of second year.

3) Do people try to get furnished apartments ever or just buy cheap furniture, like from Ikea?

Answer: A lot of students get furnished or partially furnished apartments for lease. Some students inherit apartments from moving 1st / 2nd years or leaving 3rd/4th years. Usually someone sets up a facebook group and upper classman start spamming it with their apartments and stuff. For example.. I am going back for electives in the States starting July. A group of 1st years are going to buy all the stuff in our apartment and sign a new lease with the landlord. There is an ikea although you can get a lot of second hand stuff CHEAP through websites here yad2.co.il if your hebrew is good enough (google translate!). My apartment 1st year was COMPLETELY unfurnished, a bit of a hassle to get everything but really not that bad. Factor it in to your living expenses though and what your willing to pay for rent.

4) Are you required to, or have you found it helpful to have a laptop for classes?

Answer: Some people like having the laptop in class.. but mostly because they like being on facebook or playing online scrabble. Very few people actually took notes on their laptops. I 'm not a huge class notetaker, but when I do I find it much faster to keep up writing by hand. But all in all, not necessary to have one in class, most didn't.

Also year to year there is a lot of talk about the wait list and when you will hear and so on. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. They have these "meetings" and some responses go out. There doesn't seem to be any order to it based on when you applied / interviewed. Some people hear very quickly and we even had a few students in our class notified with only a few days notice to get their butts to Israel if they wanted to attend!!! Don't want to make you nervous but just want you to understand there is no secret formula to deciphering when you will hear back.

If anyone has any more questions regarding whatever I would be glad to try and respond when I have a second. Just post them to the forum.
 
When do students usually take Step 1 and does the school set aside a certain amount of study time without class prior to the exam?
 
When do students usually take Step 1 and does the school set aside a certain amount of study time without class prior to the exam?

Answer: My second year ended around June 20th. At that time our school gave us a comprehensive NBME practice test with score report to estimate our current preparedness for the Step Exam. I stayed in Israel and studied for about 5 weeks and took my test in Israel around July 28th. Class started back up Sept 5th.

THIS YEAR, the school has instituted a new schedule. The current second year class finished their studies 2 weeks ago or so. Third year class starts July 15th for them. So the time in-between is used to study for and take the Step 1. Either in Israel or in the US.

People differ.. Sackler's do a lot of Step studying throughout second year. Some people feel ready to take it pretty early after class ends and have some sort of vacation. Others prefer to use a lot of the break for studying. Really a personal preference. Whether to take Step 1 in Israel or the US is also a personal preference I cannot help much with. I took it in Israel, I thought I would have too many distractions living at home.
 
I got a PM asking for some more details regarding apartments.. this is what I have to offer. Remember I am only one opinion and estimate. Answers below.

Whether or not to grab an apartment before hand I cannot really answer. Usually these apartments are from former students so they are setup "for a student" and they'll arrange to sell you their books and stuff. EVERYONE finds an apartment regardless. If you are the super nervous neurotic type and need to know you have a place lined up, then maybe this is for you. Personally, I liked the apartment tours and got to see what is out there. Also, you still need to deal with the landlord when you get here (get/sign a contract, get it approved by the school lawyer etc.. so its not like everything is set before you get here)

In my previous answer you will see I mentioned a lot of people like to live near school (Ramat Aviv) for at least the first year, although some want to live in Tel Aviv. I explained public transport in my previous answer. Some chose to leave Ramat Aviv after first or second year (like me) to live in the city. It is a much easier commute to most of the hospitals for 3rd year clerkships living in central rather than Ramat Aviv. Plus Tel Aviv is 5 billion times more fun than Ramat Aviv for all the obvious reasons.. beach, bars, people, cafes, events.. A few people, and I mean a few.. really enjoy the quiet life in Ramat Aviv (married/children, or just like their apartment so much they don't want to move) and will live there all 3 / 4 years.

As far as prices and what not.. The majority of all the leases you will be responsible for utilities (have to put them in your name most likely) - Gas, Electric, Water Internet, Cable (if you want TV). A few landlords include this in the price but is definitely not the norm. Also a small building maintenance fee and City Taxes ("Arnona" in Hebrew). Depending on how many roommates you have and the size/quality/location of the apt the price varies. Obviously the more roommates the cheaper the rent. Rent on the cheap is 4500 shekels / month (~$1,150), for a 2 person apartment. On the high end (central tel aviv, great locations.. blah blah) your close to the 5600 - 6200 shekel range ($1500) a month. So about $750 / month per person. Isn't cheap! Think one tier below NYC prices.

-Gas utility is cheap, don't worry about it.
-Water, depends on usage obviously but figure around $120 every two months for the apartment. (2 person) more with addition roommates obv.
-Electricity mainly depends on if you use A/C. Mine varies between $100 - $230 every two months depending on season/usage. 2 person again.
-Arnona/City Tax - depends on apartment but also figure like a little over $100 every two months. 2 person again.
-Building Maintenance (Vad Beit) around $60 - $80 every two months.

Best,
 
If I remember correctly the distance from central Tel Aviv to the University is only about a 10 minute bus ride anyways no? So if you want to go out it would be easy to get to central Tel Aviv.

Thanks for all of the info as well.

I have a few other questions if you don't mind.

1. What are the term dates for first year? Do we get much of a break before second year? What do people usually do during that time?

2. How is the work load? Do you have time to take the Hebrew classes and how important will Hebrew be for 3rd and 4th year? Currently my Hebrew is pretty basic but I have been studying now a bit every day even. I know most people in Tel Aviv speak English but I would love to come out the end of the program with a good understanding of Hebrew as a bonus.

It seems like the school attempts to build a strong social foundation among classmates which is nice.
 
Would any of the current students be able to let me know if they think it is likely for someone to get off the waitlist at this point.
 
Would any of the current students be able to let me know if they think it is likely for someone to get off the waitlist at this point.

As non-transparent as the admission process is, I'm under the strong impression that (some) waitlisters, at least, still have a good chance. If the FB group is any indication, less than half the class has accepted so far. I expect another wave of acceptances at the end of this month, and as others have noted, I've heard of situations where people are accepted as late as august.

Good luck, and don't give up hope!
 
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If you are a class-goer this is where you will be all the time.

Docrad543 thanks so much for all the great info!

Would you mind commenting though on what you meant by the above? Do some students really not attend class? Are some of the teachers not competent or is this just a personal choice?

Also I've seen that a lot of students like living near campus because they spend a lot of time there 1st and 2nd year studying in the library. Was this your experience as well? And if so did you spend a lot of time in the library in undergrad?

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth living near campus, and during undergrad I spent almost no time on campus except attending classes, because I study best at home. I don't want a long commute especially if class goes until late at night, but if I'll probably be doing most studying at home maybe it's not worth trying to be within 5 minutes of campus. Thanks again!
 
jf1987

Distance/time by bus depends where in Tel Aviv, but yes you are right. Bus ride can range from 10-25 minutes depending where in Tel Aviv you are coming from. Extremely south locations like Jaffa and further east might take longer, especially in mid-day traffic. Living in Ramat Aviv I still went out a lot in Tel Aviv, so no worries.

Can't comment on your academic calendar dates as I do not know. My break between first and second year was lengthy, I went back to the states and worked a job for $$$. I believe the current 1st years get a nice big break as well. Some students go chill in the States, some work, some travel and do health volunteer activities, research.. whatever you want. Can't promise you your schedule will be the same but I would guess it's likely.

Work load 1st year was super light in the first block, which was nice, gave us a lot of free time to adjust here and explore the city. It gradually picks up steam as the year goes on. The school offered a 2-night a week Hebrew Class which I found to be not so great. I tended to be tired after a long day of lecture and I didn't like the teacher very much, stopped going. Some people stuck with it and liked it. Hebrew for 3rd / 4th year is definitely a great tool to have at your disposal but A LOT of us definitely get by quite fine without it. Usually we can find patients to interview or examine that speak English depending on the department and hospital. There are times when we cannot however and we tend to pair up with a Hebrew speaker student to translate and work as a team. This takes away a little bit from the experience. If you have will-power to learn Hebrew you'll love yourself later for it. Get an Israeli boyfriend or girlfriend and that tends to expedite the process. I myself cannot take a history in Hebrew and get by just fine in the hospital.

And yes, you get to be really good friends with your classmates. Everyone is always helping everyone else out for the most part, a lot of class emails and communication.

nycfuturedoc

Nobody can answer this question accurately for you. If someone does, they probably do not know. What I can say is every year people do get accepted off the wait-list from now until August.

correctdonkey

I went to the vast majority of all the classes/lectures 1st and 2nd year. A lot of my classmates stopped going late 1st year and dropped off during 2nd year. I thought the MAJORITY of the lecturers were fine. People study and learn differently, and some rather just learn the material on their own. I have to admit though, I find a lot of the lecturers add information and clinical points you will not find in the textbooks. Backing up concepts with peer-reviewed studies and so on. The school is starting to crack down on attendance it seems so this might be changing. Personally I think there should be some sort of mandatory lecture. There were some students that almost never came unless it was a mandatory CBL (case based learning) group exercise. You can expect clases with a CBL style session built in here and there.

Students live near campus 1st and 2nd year just because you are at school a lot especially if you go to class all the time. Also there is an AMAZING gym with outdoor/indoor swimming pools, weight rooms, and all sorts of group classes. We get a special rate there. Also basketball courts and a full size soccer field that we play on once a week. Since I went to class a lot and used the gym 3-4 times a week living near campus was great for me years 1 and 2, even when a lot of my classmates moved to Tel Aviv after first year. I don't regret it.

I really do not like studying in the library (which is VERY nice though), in fact, I think I only studied there once in my whole time here. We also have access to a room just for us on the 9th floor of our medical school building which you can access 24 hours a day. Some of the real hard core studiers essentially lived there for periods of time. I also really did not like it and never studied there. This is mainly because Ramat Aviv and Tel Aviv are beautiful (most of the year) and I much prefer to be on my balcony or apt desk with the windows open or sitting for hours at a sidewalk cafe or something. Undergrad I spent tons of time in the library. This is a very personal choice however.

From what you say, living in Tel Aviv might be a good fit for you if you'll enjoy the city.. and don't mind things being a bit more expensive. From my apartment in central Tel Aviv it takes me about 20-30 minutes to get to school by public transport door to door.
 
Thanks docrad543 for the helpful info. Just a few questions on banking.

Did you open a bank account while you're there? If not, does your bank in the US have branches in Tel Aviv and so you just stick to that account? What are the requirements to open an account there?
 
i am waitlisted, but i am still hopinh to get in. does anyone know where i can find a tentative schedule for the upcoming year?
 
My application has been in for months now, but I have heard nothing.
(I guess not getting a rejection letter is still a GOOD thing.)
I live in the south/west/plains (Not exactly many Sackler grads here).
My MCAT is not great, and I've had to rehab my GPA, but I have LOADS of shadowing.
I'm staying hopeful and thinking of sending an update letter, but is that a moot point at this time?

Thoughts? Thanks.
 
i am waitlisted, but i am still hopinh to get in. does anyone know where i can find a tentative schedule for the upcoming year?

If you mean the curriculum schedule, I'm not sure. If you just mean academic dates, I can tell you the orientation is August 19-31, classes start Sept 2 and end June 13.

My application has been in for months now, but I have heard nothing.
(I guess not getting a rejection letter is still a GOOD thing.)
I live in the south/west/plains (Not exactly many Sackler grads here).
My MCAT is not great, and I've had to rehab my GPA, but I have LOADS of shadowing.
I'm staying hopeful and thinking of sending an update letter, but is that a moot point at this time?

Thoughts? Thanks.

I think it's worth a shot. It doesn't hurt to send an update letter, but if I were in your position I would call their office to see what, if anything, is happening with your application. The deadline for applications was June 1, I believe, so I would definitely follow up and speak with them.
 
Banks are not a problem. As far as I know no major US banks have branches here.. and if they do they definitely do not have local ATM's around the city. The big banks student use are Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi. I use Hapoalim and have no gripes with them. The orientation guides help you with all of that when you get here. I do not remember there being anything special you needed to open an account here outside of your passport and maybe some documents from the school. I have my student loan money mailed to my US address, someone at home deposits it into my US account and then I wire it online to my Israeli bank account, a lot of students do this. Some do it other ways such as having a US bank card that they draw money out of the ATM when needed but I think this is more of a pain in the ass, especially if your bank charges for oversees transactions. I opened up a US credit card that has no foreign transaction fees for when I need to charge something, I use Capital One but I am sure there are others as well.
 
Hi there,

As a hopeful Sackler 2016 candidate, I'm wondering to those already at Sackler - how big were your lecture sizes? Were there more than 30 students to a class at any time?

Sackler says that all their classes are small - just wanted to make sure there aren't any huge, lecture-based classes where there are over 50 students.

Thanks!
 
Hi there,

As a hopeful Sackler 2016 candidate, I'm wondering to those already at Sackler - how big were your lecture sizes? Were there more than 30 students to a class at any time?

Sackler says that all their classes are small - just wanted to make sure there aren't any huge, lecture-based classes where there are over 50 students.

Thanks!

I'm an incoming student, so I can't speak to how many people actually attend lectures, but I know the target class size is 65 students.
 
hi SdN,

i'm not sure if i worded it correctly - what i mean to ask is, for those of you already at sackler, what was the largest number of classmates you had in a particular course? as in, do all 1st years take the same course together (meaning it's a class of 65 students) or do you vary it, so the lecture is given to fewer students at a time?

thanks!
 
hi SdN,

i'm not sure if i worded it correctly - what i mean to ask is, for those of you already at sackler, what was the largest number of classmates you had in a particular course? as in, do all 1st years take the same course together (meaning it's a class of 65 students) or do you vary it, so the lecture is given to fewer students at a time?

thanks!
All students take the same course, and for some courses like anatomy we have small groups of 6-8 per TA
 
Dean Lazar just posted on the FB group that the NY Office has sent out another 18 acceptances.

Just letting those of you that are still waiting know. Good Luck!
 
Is there anybody we can call to find out if we were on that acceptance list? Or do we just have to keep checking the mail?
 
I don't think they will tell you over the phone.... But I guess it doesn't hurt to try.
 
Did anyone else from the wait list hear anything since Thursday's meeting?
 
Would anyone who was accepted off the wait list mind posting their stats?
 
question is, did anyone get accepted off the wait-list?
 
they over nighted it to you?

Yea they did. I'm in Michigan, btw.

Stats: 31, ~3.2 cum GPA. I re-took a couple classes, so if you take that into account, my GPA gets up to about 3.4...

I got in off the wait list. I'm SO excited! Good luck to everyone who's still waiting :luck:
 
I'm just starting the application for next year. My university did not provide GPA stats for the BCPM and AO categories as requested on the transcript portion. Thus am I supposed to estimate these GPAs or can I just submit the overall GPA? Also, is the "Status" field simply to indicate whether the semester/course has been completed, i.e. what info is included in that column?
Thanks!
 
Try and calculate it yourself but make sure to try and do it correctly. Look around online. In the status field I'm not sure exactly what I did and don't have access to my save file right now.
 
I interviewed way back in late December. Found out I was waitlisted in March. Did you guys receive the e-mail from Dr. Lazar about hearing backing soon? I havent heard back yet from Sackler...Ive sent intent letters, and update letters. Im not sure what else I can do at this point. Any advice?
 
When did you receive the email from Lazar? I don't really know if there is anything else to do. I'm in the same position.
 
I got the e-mail exactly a week ago. Did you get one? It just said they would be making final decisions soon.
 
I am in the same boat...best advice is to just wait. Unless you havent been aggressive with letters and recs. There is really only so much you can do to show them you really want to go there. As it was mentioned before people can get in a couple days before orientation. I never received Lazar's email either..
 
Thanks guys. Im sure you know just how nerve-wrecking it can be! Im in Israel just waiting to start... Anyway, best of luck to all of you!
 
Thanks JF1987! Appreciate the help. Congrats to you for getting accepted. :)
 
Thanks. Does anyone have any idea how many people are on the wait-list? do we really have a shot?
 
No, but when I received the first email it said only a "selected few". Now, it seems theres much more than just a few on the waitlist. I am guessing around 100? Does anyone know if theyre still interviewing people, and how many have been accepted so far?
 
Thanks JF1987! Appreciate the help. Congrats to you for getting accepted. :)

My pleasure, and thank you.

After getting on the waitlist I sent two highly enthusiastic and detailed letters of intent and two additional reference letters of high quality and length. That is what worked for me. Good luck.
 
Accepted off the waitlist! Originally placed on it in May, sent two new letters of recommendation and letter of intent. Received the acceptance letter today via Email (although the official letter was also overnighted for tomorrow). For those of you who have already been accepted - have you received information about financial aid yet? Big decisions to make now...
 
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