TUCOM-CA Discussion Thread 2008-2009

the smell of vallejo is in the air.

sithr said:

Does anyone know if the lectures will be online?

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The Power points will be but they are currently working with having the actual video of the lecture online. So maybe soon

anybody that interviewed on Nov 25th get an email yet about their decision?

dangit said:

anybody that interviewed on Nov 25th get an email yet about their decision?

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No.. Not yet!!! But anxiously checking my email every 5 min :/

Nevermind, I just received in my email! And I got in!!! Woo hoo!!!

really?? man...i'm still waiting... you're from fresno?

i'm still waiting anxiously too! checkin my email like my life depended on it...oh wait...it does!

so if we didn't get an email does that mean we didn't get accepted? didn't dr haight say that we'd get an email regardless of being accepted or not?

I ended up sending an email to Dr. Haight ~4pm that Friday. He wrote me a few minutes later with an attached letter that he said went out at noon. In addition, I have a friend who interviewed, but also didn't hear anything today. So it sounds like this happens sometimes. You might even get your news in snail mail by tomorrow. I did. If not, email or call them on Monday. Just remember that no news does not mean bad news. Good luck!

Hey,

If you've been accepted and plan to attend, join the Touro facebook group TUCOM 2013!

Steve

I am looking to get a house/apt/condo for my wife and I, that is within biking distance of TUCOM. When thinking about safety, convenience to food, coffee shops, a park ect.. where would anyone recommend?
On Mare Island?
From my research, It looks like it would be great to live near the Ferry Building in Vallejo (close to coffee shops, a few restaurants, farmers market, the ferry to SF, the public library, ect.); Is this area safe? Would anyone recommend living here??? Is there any other area, within bicycling distance (a few miles), that you would recommend??
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Enjoy

I grew up in the Vallejo/Benicia area so hopefully I can help! As far as I know, Mare Island does not have residential housing, only student housing for those attending Touro. Therefore, you may want to find out from the University if they supply housing to families. My personal opinion would be to live in Benicia. It is a smaller town (pop ~ 30,000), have really good puplic schools (that is if you have kids), safer than vallejo (don't yell at me if you are from Vallejo but it's true!), and if you lived in the downtown area everything (shops, restaurants, suppermarkets, farmers market, etc.) are within walking/biking distance. It would only be a 10-15 min drive to Touro.

However, if you chose to live in Benicia, sadly it is not within biking distance to Touro. If this really is your number one concern, the area around the ferry is pretty nice too. An added bonus would be that if your wife worked in the city (SF) she could take the ferry to work (no traffic). Glen cove is also a good neighborhood but not too close to school. I know that some parts of Vallejo may look "scary" but it is actually pretty safe. They have done a lot to clean up the city and it is getting better.

Hope this helped and good luck with the house hunt.

I just got my interview letter to TUCOM =)

Does anyone know the timeframe for this interview cycle?

I'm not sure if I want to interview earlier and have a better shot of getting accepted, or interviewing late and not having to pay that $2k deposit -_-

Congrats on to those who got accepted!
Hope ill be joining you guys sometime this year =)

UCLAgrad2008 said:

I just got my interview letter to TUCOM =)

Does anyone know the timeframe for this interview cycle?

I'm not sure if I want to interview earlier and have a better shot of getting accepted, or interviewing late and not having to pay that $2k deposit -_-

Congrats on to those who got accepted!
Hope ill be joining you guys sometime this year =)

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i got my letter a few weeks ago, and the earliest they had was the middle of february, but i live close so they called me bc a spot freed up sooner. and if you receive an acceptance, you have 2 weeks to accept. it makes sense from an admissions standpoint, bc they need to know how many seats they have available.

good luck! i enjoyed it and felt comfortable/relaxed there.

Luckydogmdmph said:

I am looking to get a house/apt/condo for my wife and I, that is within biking distance of TUCOM. When thinking about safety, convenience to food, coffee shops, a park ect.. where would anyone recommend?
On Mare Island?
From my research, It looks like it would be great to live near the Ferry Building in Vallejo (close to coffee shops, a few restaurants, farmers market, the ferry to SF, the public library, ect.); Is this area safe? Would anyone recommend living here??? Is there any other area, within bicycling distance (a few miles), that you would recommend??
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Enjoy

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There is no university-sponsored housing on/off campus. There are a number of private homes on the island. A number of 1st and 2nd years have places on the island. Vallejo has good and bad areas. People live in Vallejo, Benicia, Berkeley, and even the city. The ferry to SF is super easy, but is not cheap.

Luckydogmdmph said:

I am looking to get a house/apt/condo for my wife and I, that is within biking distance of TUCOM. When thinking about safety, convenience to food, coffee shops, a park ect.. where would anyone recommend?
On Mare Island?
From my research, It looks like it would be great to live near the Ferry Building in Vallejo (close to coffee shops, a few restaurants, farmers market, the ferry to SF, the public library, ect.); Is this area safe? Would anyone recommend living here??? Is there any other area, within bicycling distance (a few miles), that you would recommend??
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Enjoy

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When I visited Touro a couple weeks ago, it looked like there were a lot of nice homes for rent in the new development on the island. Our student tour guide mentioned that many students live in these homes and it sounded quite affordable. I think due to the rough economic times the developers decided to rent them out (to students).

Anyone interviewing tomorrow (12/15)?
I'm staying at the Marriott that they love to promote. It's a nice hotel but definitely a little more pricier than I wanted to pay. I don't think there is much to do in Vallejo; I suppose I'll try to see if I can spend the day in San Fran

any interviewees have luck with public transportation?
i think the BART can get me to richmond
then maybe a bus to vallejo?

also, i've tried every number for admissinos and financial aid
and the call either drops after one ring, i get a "this number not in service" message, or a really static-y answering machine for the past 4 days
what gives?

I would recommend renting a car because I don't know if public transportation will take you into the island. [you need a cross a bridge from Vallejo]. I interviewed today and although it looks pretty barren from outside, the tour was pretty good and the facilities nice.

rabruno said:

any interviewees have luck with public transportation?
i think the BART can get me to richmond
then maybe a bus to vallejo?

also, i've tried every number for admissinos and financial aid
and the call either drops after one ring, i get a "this number not in service" message, or a really static-y answering machine for the past 4 days
what gives?

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hope this is helpful
I am flying back home from my TU interview; you can PM me if you need some advice. I flew here (SFO) on Saturday with my interview today (12/15) and I'm flying back tomorrow. I stayed with the Marriott that they loved to talk about. They provide transport to and from TU but getting here you use Evan's shuttle service.
I went to the City for the day with the help of this website:
http://www.vallejotransit.com/

hope that helps

Luckydogmdmph said:

I am looking to get a house/apt/condo for my wife and I, that is within biking distance of TUCOM. When thinking about safety, convenience to food, coffee shops, a park ect.. where would anyone recommend?
On Mare Island?
From my research, It looks like it would be great to live near the Ferry Building in Vallejo (close to coffee shops, a few restaurants, farmers market, the ferry to SF, the public library, ect.); Is this area safe? Would anyone recommend living here??? Is there any other area, within bicycling distance (a few miles), that you would recommend??
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Enjoy

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i'm actually tucom 2009. i was searching for something else on the forums and somehow ended up here. ANYWAYS...

if it's that important to bike to campus, then living on the island would be your best bet. there are some new houses built on the island that are pretty nice. the prices 2 years ago were pretty expensive, but that may be different now with the housing market. at the same time, there is absolutely nothing on the island. i don't suggest living there because you'll get sick of it. besides, you would have to leave the island for everything - food, groceries, etc.

i don't recommend living by the ferry terminal or off of any street that is a state name (i.e. georgia, louisiana, etc). my classmate had a pretty nice apt in that area, but we used to watch drug deals from his balcony. let's just say he didn't renew his 6 month lease.

most students lived in either glen cove or benicia. benicia is a small town with a small cutesy type downtown area. you can walk along 2nd street for restaurants, cafes and what not. i lived in glen cove which is a small patch at the edge of vallejo that is a little nicer. it's actually closer to campus than benicia as opposed to what someone posted earlier. it'll take about 10-15 min to get to school. there were some students that lived in napa, which is great, but will take you a little longer to get to school. we did have some that lived in berkeley and SF as well which i thought was crazy..but hey it worked for them. there was an area of newer houses i looked at near costco as well. didn't live there, but it looked decent enough.

there's NOTHING to do in vallejo. everything closes at 9:00, but i wouldn't want to venture out in vallejo at night anyway. there are a couple of small bars in benicia, but still not so great. i lived there for 2 years and couldn't wait to leave. i don't plan on coming back again except for graduation. the only thing i miss is being so close to napa, SF, and berkeley.

sorry for the long and grim post, but just saying it how it is. you'll find out for yourself.

rabruno said:

any interviewees have luck with public transportation?
i think the BART can get me to richmond
then maybe a bus to vallejo?

also, i've tried every number for admissinos and financial aid
and the call either drops after one ring, i get a "this number not in service" message, or a really static-y answering machine for the past 4 days
what gives?

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don't take public transportation. you DEFINITELY need a car. the bus will not drop you off close enough to campus. you'll have to walk a couple of miles to get there...and TRUST me you don't want to do that.

1st time I went to Vallejo: From SFO airport, I took the Bart to the SF Ferry Building, then the ferry to Vallejo, then walked (1.5 miles) the the Vallejo Enterprise rental car and used the neighborhood discount online (20% off) to get a rental car much cheaper than from the airport [and i rented the cheapest car, but they don't stock that car, so I got a free upgrade], then drove around vallejo, the island and the vallies.

2nd time: Flew to oakland airport, took the airbart bus to the bart station, took the bart train to I THINK El Cerrito North..., then took a bus to Vallejo and got off about 1 mile from the Enterprise rental car, SEE ABOVE.

Both times everything worked great, it just took a long time to ride the bus/bart/ferry, but you get to sit back, relax, and watch the view.

Enjoy.

im sure this may have been asked a million times but how did you guys fill out all the info needed in those little boxes provided on the secondary??? They do not give you enough room

There's enough room. Just answer the ? w/o a lengthy explanation.

that is fine with me, i just thought others would have little font and make me look like a slacker

I need some help please
If you were to choose between Western COMP and Touro CA and location was not an issue which would you pick? What are the pros and cons of the two academic programs?
Thanks in advance and good luck to you all.

Hellothere2 said:

I need some help please
If you were to choose between Western COMP and Touro CA and location was not an issue which would you pick? What are the pros and cons of the two academic programs?
Thanks in advance and good luck to you all.

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One reason I chose Touro CA, besides its location, has to do with its potential. Despite the fact that it was founded in 1997, it has made significant gains in its curriculum, training and affiliations and is putting out great clinicians. Touro also has many plans to improve its campus grounds, including the development of a state of the art cancer treatment center, which I think will make its reputation even better.

When making your decision, you should also consider the students and faculty. I found them to be super friendly and supportive and I could really see myself fitting in there.

Hope this helps.

Hi pre-meds, I'm new to SDN.

I am having a little problem with my secondary application for Touro CA. In my AACOMAS personal statement I spoke much about characteristics and life experiences. Now Touro CA is asking me to do it again. Do I recycle my AACOMAS PS or do I think of a whole new set of things to discuss?

Thanks for any help,

theoldone

theoldone said:

Hi pre-meds, I'm new to SDN.

I am having a little problem with my secondary application for Touro CA. In my AACOMAS personal statement I spoke much about characteristics and life experiences. Now Touro CA is asking me to do it again. Do I recycle my AACOMAS PS or do I think of a whole new set of things to discuss?

Thanks for any help,

theoldone

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As a general rule, try not to recycle stuff as much as you can. You can say stuff like "as mentioned in my AACOMAS PS..." but then go off on a new life experience, because otherwise the secondary is useless information for them. It's not telling them anything new about you. But yeah, I totally understand that problem - I felt like I only had a couple of major "life events" that I could talk about, but individual experiences in your physician shadowing/volunteer work count too Good luck

so what are your personal opinions on valejjo

time2go said:

so what are your personal opinions on valejjo

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If I were to be completely honest: I'd say I disliked the area. I guess I expected to be closer to the Metropolis that is San Francisco. But then again, one can argue that while a medical school student, you really won't have the time or luxury of playing around in the city

I just received my interview invite and will be interviewing on march 24th. Does anyone have any tips for interview day??

Hi guys, for those who are considering attending TUCOM or will be attending TUCOM...the following are comments by actual students of the Class of 2011. Hopefully, they will offer enough insight to give you a better idea about the school. The following are questions to which they responded to:

1) How has the new integrative systems-based curriculum work for you and your preparation of the COMLEX boards?
2) Does the faculty genuinely seems to support and care about the success of each student?
3) How is student life (i.e. social, dating, etc.) at TUCOM?
4) Is there anything about the school or curriculum that seems lacking or may need improvement on?

Student #1 (Male)
"The new system-based curriculum is great, but we have yet to see if this new method of teaching will better prepare us for boards in comparison to the the old system. FYI - the class of 2010 had 4 people who got 99% on the USMLE. The only draw back i have encountered thus far is the first semester of first year which we take all the core classes (i.e. biochem, etc.). These subject are very different from each other and so it was difficult to integrate them into a smooth semester. But it looks like the class of 2012 is having a far better experience than we had. But once you get into spring semester and on the system based curriculum is in full effect. I believe this form of learning is great because you get to learn everything (from normal to abnormal) for an organ system. It is a little more demanding than the previous curriculum because you have to learn path, pharm, etc which were all second year curriculum. But i feel by learning this way we get a sense of what clinicians thinking process are like. It's more effective to be able to recognize the condition and know what steps to do in order to help. I couldnt ask for a more supportive faculty. They are all here to help you become a successful physician. Most of the time they act more like your friend unless it is exam time where they have to put on their game faces. But you will get to know the professors really well. Our class is very close. They will become your main support group. your experience here will mainly depend on you. If you are open minded and easy going than you would get along with just about anyone. As far the dating scene, a few people in our class are dating. it depends on your ability. lol. I for one am not looking for a relationship in med school. I am here to do well and make some lifetime friendship and connections. I hope this helps. but remember no matter where you go, the education will be great. If you do well on rotations and on boards it does not matter what school you went to.

Student #2 (Male)
"The new curriculum has been a testing moment for the faculty and the students alike. With the 2011 class, this has been the proving grounds and there are both pros and cons. Whatever has failed for our class have surely improved for the 2012 class and, presumptively, the 2013 class. The 2011 class had a very poorly taught Biochemistry section, but the cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal sections were taught excellently. Our musculoskeletal section was taught very poorly and our anatomy is deplorable. Our neurobiology section was pretty good. So, it seems to be split down the middle - as i mentioned, there are pros and cons. One advice is that you take or are familiar with human anatomy because I feel that our current anatomy instructor is absolutely terrible.

The best thing about TUCOM is not the school itself, but the people within the class. Vallejo is not a very "social" place, but San Francisco and other adjoining cities are. As far as the faculty goes, they are very receptive to your constructive comments and concerns. Some of them work very hard to make our education the best it can be...granted there are only so much a few faculty can do to appease the student body. Nevertheless, my experience at TUCOM has been very positive, but it really depends on how you take it. You can make the most of it, or you can bitch and complain about every little detail that doesn't live up to your expectation."

Hey guys,

do you kno how late the interviewing process goes until? how are the chances for people who interview later? i know the interviews start at mar/apr now. and also, how fast does tucom fill up its spots?

monkeytown1 said:

Hey guys,

do you kno how late the interviewing process goes until? how are the chances for people who interview later? i know the interviews start at mar/apr now. and also, how fast does tucom fill up its spots?

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I'm pretty sure Touro interviews up until April/May. From what I gathered at my interview, it sounded like people interviewing before the new year had a 1/4 chance of getting accepted (not including those who receive high waitlist status and get in later). I don't know how quickly spots fill up. But it's safe to say that the earlier you interview, the better your chances. I wish I could tell you more. Good luck!

Hey everyone,

I just got invited for an interview and the earliest I could schedule it was for March 24th. Does anyone know if its possible to reschedule if a spot opens up? March is so late I'm afraid there wont be any seats by the time I interview.

Hi All,

Has anyone started their fafsa application yet? I remember the financial aid lady during my interview mentioned that we need to make sure to file "completed" rather than "will file" for the taxes section of the fafsa form?

Does anyone remember how this affects a student? Do they receive less financial aid if they file "will file"?

If it is recommened to file "completed" rather than "will file", then doesn't taht mean we can't complete the Fafsa form until after this 2008 W2's are received (which happens in January/February)??

I ask these questions because I heard fafsa is on a first come first serve basis...

any thoughts are appreciated!

iLikeTea said:

Hi All,

Has anyone started their fafsa application yet? I remember the financial aid lady during my interview mentioned that we need to make sure to file "completed" rather than "will file" for the taxes section of the fafsa form?

Does anyone remember how this affects a student? Do they receive less financial aid if they file "will file"?

If it is recommened to file "completed" rather than "will file", then doesn't taht mean we can't complete the Fafsa form until after this 2008 W2's are received (which happens in January/February)??

I ask these questions because I heard fafsa is on a first come first serve basis...

any thoughts are appreciated!

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Here's what I heard from the financial aid lady at the interview:

Fill out the FAFSA after you have finished your taxes for 2008. Don't use the "will file" option.

First come first serve was important for undergrad but doesn't pertain to the type of financial aid you'll be receiving as a med student.

Boges said:

Here's what I heard from the financial aid lady at the interview:

Fill out the FAFSA after you have finished your taxes for 2008. Don't use the "will file" option.

First come first serve was important for undergrad but doesn't pertain to the type of financial aid you'll be receiving as a med student.

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Great that helps a lot!

Thanks

What part of the interview day do the actual interviews start? Is it at the beginning, middle, or end? Thanks!

hoopstaahh22 said:

What part of the interview day do the actual interviews start? Is it at the beginning, middle, or end? Thanks!

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At the end but before the boxed lunch.

My best advice: eat a large breakfast.

Thanks Boges, I'll make sure to have a big breakfast that day.

hoopstaahh22 said:

What part of the interview day do the actual interviews start? Is it at the beginning, middle, or end? Thanks!

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Do your answers change depending on time of day? Shouldn't really matter but they tend to do it early afternoon. That was when mine was. I think...happened in September so it is tough to recall now.

My interview happened after the lunch. So it is just variable on the day.

My interview was in December and it was at 12pm before lunch.

This is going to be a really embarrassing question, but I can’t find my interview confirmation letter. I know applicants meet at 9pm, but which building do we meet at? Where there any documents/items requested to bring along? Thanks for any quick responses. I will owe you big time!

Oski05 said:

This is going to be a really embarrassing question, but I can’t find my interview confirmation letter. I know applicants meet at 9pm, but which building do we meet at? Where there any documents/items requested to bring along? Thanks for any quick responses. I will owe you big time!

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you dont need to bring anything. and you meet at faragut inn, which is the admin building. go inside, and to the right. (there will be a sign).
it was cute inside, it reminded me of titanic, but from the outside, you would have no idea....