====Virginia Commonwealth Univ/ MCV Class of 2012====

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On another note, when do you guys plan to get your opthalmoscope / otoscopes? I was looking into stethoscopes at Welch Allyn and encountered their scope kits. Does the school have a standard set you're expected to get?
 
ChimpanzeeMinky said:
On another note, when do you guys plan to get your opthalmoscope / otoscopes? I was looking into stethoscopes at Welch Allyn and encountered their scope kits. Does the school have a standard set you're expected to get?
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DO. NOT. BUY. THOSE.

Seriously. You will NOT need them anytime during the first two years and likely not for the whole four. It is a total waste of money.

edit: to clarify, I mean the otoscope/ophthalmoscopes. You will need to buy your own stethoscope, but I'd still wait until you get here because you can borrow a decent one from FCM for the first year, then figure out what you really want to get. There are some great old threads here talking about stethoscope choice. You don't always want to get the Littman because the sound quality isn't necessarily the best.

Also, for god's sake don't buy any of this stuff from the MCV bookstore. Allheart.com has good deals, as does steeles.com (where I got my W-A Harvey Elite).
 
pseudoknot said:
DO. NOT. BUY. THOSE.

Seriously. You will NOT need them anytime during the first two years and likely not for the whole four. It is a total waste of money.
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Oh. Thanks. I noticed that they had a line item for a diagnostic kit on the budget sheet, so I figured it would be required.
 
They say a lot of things are "required," but partly that is just because people on military scholarships can only be reimbursed for required supplies, plus they have to come up with figures for financial aid. They don't actually enforce any of that (except I guess you do need to have a stethoscope by M2). That being said, I'm more of an advocate of buying certain books than a lot of my classmates, but even then I wouldn't buy every single one they tell you to.
 
ChimpanzeeMinky said:
That is a sweeping generalization. I have lived in the Northern Virginia area for the last 15 years or so, and I can say that I am very excited about relocating to the Richmond area because I feel that the quality of life will be much better there. As a poor student with no income, I will be able to enjoy myself better because the cost of living is much lower in the Richmond area. Without significant financial resources, Fairfax doesn't have that much to offer but it does cost a tremendous amount to live there. In Richmond, you have the advantage of a low cost of living but also the ability to live a city lifestyle, whereby if you are doing your rotations at Fairfax, without a ton of money to live in the district, you're not going to be able to live the city lifestyle.

Anyone not from this area thinking that doing rotations at Fairfax is going to lead to a better "quality of life" than in Richmond I think is deluding himself. If you really want to do your rotations at Fairfax hospital, which is a level 1 trauma center that would expose you to a large variety of clinical experience, then by all means do so. But if you go there for the quality of life, you're going to discover that you've only chosen awful traffic and a high cost of living. You won't have much time to enjoy yourself because you'll be so busy, and when you do have time you'll find you can't afford it.
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You give a good perspective of the cost of living in NOVA. However, having lived in Richmond, it leaves me wanting more. Don't get me wrong, many people I know do enjoy living in Richmond because of the small town feel. There's a good country, southern, feel to Richmond and the suburbs east and west. I tend to enjoy the big city with public transportation and tons of ethnic foods and people.
 
vicinihil said:
You give a good perspective of the cost of living in NOVA. However, having lived in Richmond, it leaves me wanting more. Don't get me wrong, many people I know do enjoy living in Richmond because of the small town feel. There's a good country, southern, feel to Richmond and the suburbs east and west. I tend to enjoy the big city with public transportation and tons of ethnic foods and people.
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Different priorities. I'd probably feel the same way if I had lived in Richmond for a long time too.

I'm also a bit biased because I've never really cared for DC. I'd prefer to live in NYC, but that wasn't an option at this point (residency? 😀).

Not much in the way of good ethnic foods down there? I was dismayed to see that Trader Joe's isn't there. Will I be able to find a decent Indian place?
 
pseudoknot said:
Apparently we're getting a Trader Joe's "soon." Not soon enough for me, but it's exciting anyway.
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That is terrific news. I hope it's there by the time I start! Just knowing that it'll be there at some point is good enough for me, though!

Favorite. Store. Ever.
 
mmm Indian shouldn't be hard to find. South side (chesterfield) has good Indian and lunch buffet!

Thai...meh I would try Tara Thai at the Short Pump shopping centre...otherwise, elephant thai is very run of the mill.

Chinese....yeah it's called China Star out by Innsbrook. Pretty decent for traditional chinese food.
 
Richmond has some fantastic restaurants. I have lived here for a decade now (BS at UR, MS and MD/PhD at MCV) and am somewhat of a "foodie" so I have been to many places. Here are some suggestions to appease the recent discussions.

Thai: Mom Siam (Carytown), Thai Room (Main St)
Chinese: Full Kee (Horsepen/Broad)...this place is one of the best restaurants in Richmond.
Italian: Mama Zu (Oregon Hill), Edo's Squid (Harrison St), Enoteca Sogno (Fan)
Japanese: Ichiban (West End), Akida (Mulberry St)
Cuban: Kuba Kuba (The Fan)
Contemporary: Verbena (Fan), Zeus Gallery (Fan), Millies Diner(won best Richmond restaurant this year)
Tapas: Cous Cous (The Fan), Si (The Fan)
Brunch: Millies Diner (Downtown), voted top ten by NYT for brunch
Classic: Morton's (Downtown), Ruth's Chris (West End)
French: 1 North Belmont (The Fan)
Vietnamese: Mekong (Broad St toward west end)
BBQ: Buz and Ned's Real BBQ (Boulevard near the diamond)
Beer: Capital Ale House (Downtown)

Also...

Best grocery store: Elwood Thompson's Organic Market
Best place to buy steaks/meats: Belmont Butchery (Belmont St, the Fan)
Best Dog Park: Bandy Field near U. Richmond
Best area to live in that's close (within 3 miles): The Fan
Best Mode of Transportation: Scooter

Books to buy before arriving: NONE
Equipment to buy before arriving: NONE

Biggest VCU Scams: Parking Pass (don't get it), recommended health insurance through GM southwest

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck!
 
montessori2md said:
The INOVA students take shelf exams to measure the new program's teaching. One of my tour guides at Richmond thought they were moving towards using shelf exams as well.
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At both locations (and for that matter any medical school you go to) will have you take a shelf exam after each rotation.


pseudoknot said:
Seriously. You will NOT need them anytime during the first two years and likely not for the whole four. It is a total waste of money.

edit: to clarify, I mean the otoscope/ophthalmoscopes. You will need to buy your own stethoscope, but I'd still wait until you get here because you can borrow a decent one from FCM for the first year, then figure out what you really want to get. There are some great old threads here talking about stethoscope choice. You don't always want to get the Littman because the sound quality isn't necessarily the best.

Also, for god's sake don't buy any of this stuff from the MCV bookstore. Allheart.com has good deals, as does steeles.com (where I got my W-A Harvey Elite).
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You will need an ophthalmoscope for 2nd year and 3rd year. You could probably get away with buying one set between two people and sharing it but it gets trickier 3rd year esp during your neuro rotation.

Either buying them online or getting them at school (there is a sale for the second years) is best. The best diagnostic sets are the large welch allyn and during the sale they run around $450. The bookstore has them for $650.

As pseudo said, if you can help it buy absolutely nothing from the bookstore. The books will be 5-10 bucks more expensive than amazon which, when you are buying board books adds up quickly.

You need a few books for 1st year:
Anatomy atlas- I, and most of my classmates liked Netter. The school recommends Grant's but everyone I know thought it sucked. (a must)

Neuroanatomy atlas by Haines- you just have to buy this one (a must)

Phys book by costanzo- Either the big costanzo or the BRS costanzo (shorter and more concise for boards) - this is optional

Bates Guide to history and physicals (a must)

Other than these books you wont need anything, and if you do you can look over it in CBIL, which has all the "required" texts. So dont waste your money before hand.

I will second NOT buying GM southwest heath insurance. How it has been explained to me is that the school is not allowed, by law, to solicit health insurance companies and plans so they basically have to decide based on what proposals are sent to them. Apparently they were sent some terrible plans because you get the crappiest coverage and not cheap. The students have continuously complained about this health care plan since it was first offered. If you shop around you should be able to find much better coverage for the same price.
 
Instatewaiter said:
Good lord... what kind of budget are you working with?
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Contrary to popular belief, one doesn't need to restrict their diet to rice cakes and ramen while in medical school here in Richmond (although I receive a stipend from the NIH and so have a bit more petty cash on hand). Although I honestly can't remember when I ate at those two last...the others (besides Mortons) are more reasonably priced.
 
Instatewaiter said:
I will second NOT buying GM southwest heath insurance. How it has been explained to me is that the school is not allowed, by law, to solicit health insurance companies and plans so they basically have to decide based on what proposals are sent to them. Apparently they were sent some terrible plans because you get the crappiest coverage and not cheap. The students have continuously complained about this health care plan since it was first offered. If you shop around you should be able to find much better coverage for the same price.
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I don't know the details on the proposal process, but that's not the reason why GM Southwest is so expensive. The two main problems are that the school is required by Title IX to include maternity coverage in their official insurance plan, but this greatly increases the cost. If you are a single male you will probably be able to find a cheaper plan on your own, but this increases the costs of the school plan. Also, the medical school is the only one at VCU with mandatory health insurance, so there are a very small number of people enrolled in the plan. If the insurance were required by the entire university, the costs would be dramatically less, but they have not chosen to do this so far.
 
gstrub said:
Biggest VCU Scams: Parking Pass (don't get it), recommended health insurance through GM southwest

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck!
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Where do you recommend parking? I'm in the 8th st deck now but haven't heard of any good alternatives.

Oh, and I would definitely recommend Nile for Ethiopian food.
 
3 reasons this insurance policy sucks and should never be purchased:

1. There is no out of pocket maximum. That means if you get in a car accident and end up with a $200,000 bill, you are required to pay 20% co-insurance with no limit. Yes that = $40,000 that you, a medical student, would need to pay (that means no more eating at Ruth's Chris). This is a new element to the policy that was implemented last year. It used to be FREE to go to the MCV hospital, but not anymore.

2. An individual plan costs roughly $1800/year. To add a spouse it jumps to way over $5000/year due to the potential of pregnancy.

3. They have separate deductibles for everything, and they increase the premiums ~10%/year.

Just don't buy it.

PS you don't need an opthalmascope 2nd year...you can use the ones FCM provides. I don't know about 3rd year yet because I am stuck in the lab in a never-ending PhD project.
 
pseudoknot said:
Where do you recommend parking? I'm in the 8th st deck now but haven't heard of any good alternatives.

Oh, and I would definitely recommend Nile for Ethiopian food.
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Parking is tricky. If you drive a POS car like I used to, there are 2 lots at the bottom of the Broad St hill that charge ~$2/day. This is where the majority of M1/M2 students park. The downside to this is 1: you have to walk up the hill (although this keeps you in shape) and 2: it is closer to the black hole ghetto part of Richmond, which means you may not feel safe if you are small and girly like pseudoknot. If you are driving an Audi A4 I wouldn't park there, but hey that means you can afford the valet parking.

Personally parking is one of the best reasons to invest in a bike or scooter...I park on the sidewalk and the money I have saved in gas and parking is easily equivalent to the cost of purchasing one. I understand if you live far away that isn't an option though. If I understand when you are on rotations like surgery you can park right at the hospital.
 
gstrub said:
3 reasons this insurance policy sucks and should never be purchased:

1. There is no out of pocket maximum. That means if you get in a car accident and end up with a $200,000 bill, you are required to pay 20% co-insurance with no limit. Yes that = $40,000 that you, a medical student, would need to pay (that means no more eating at Ruth's Chris). This is a new element to the policy that was implemented last year. It used to be FREE to go to the MCV hospital, but not anymore.

2. An individual plan costs roughly $1800/year. To add a spouse it jumps to way over $5000/year due to the potential of pregnancy.

3. They have separate deductibles for everything, and they increase the premiums ~10%/yea
Just don't buy it.

PS you don't need an opthalmascope 2nd year...you can use the ones FCM provides. I don't know about 3rd year yet because I am stuck in the lab in a never-ending PhD project.
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Do you have any suggestions to an alternative insurance to the GM southwest policy? Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
 
I have the pretty much the top of the line coverage from Anthem and I pay right around what GM SW charges.

If you live close enough there are a couple of options to get you out of paying for parking-
In churchill or shockoe bottom you can walk

In the fan you can ride a bike, scooter or take the bus (cheap pass offered through the school). Worst comes to worst, if it is raining you can always park at the bottom of the hill and pay by the day (2 -2.50) or valet park for $5 and drop off your car right next to class.
 
I noticed the new whitecoats for medical students bear a brand new yellow patch that says: VCU school of medicine. It looks kinda not so cool. i wish we got the resident patches that were green
 
mmmcat said:
I noticed the new whitecoats for medical students bear a brand new yellow patch that says: VCU school of medicine. It looks kinda not so cool. i wish we got the resident patches that were green
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Those are optional. I didn't get one since I feel like patches are more for the prehospital realm than physicians. The resident ones are kind of cool though, especially when embroidered straight into the coat. Not worth staying for residency though!
 
Oh boy! Email from Agnes Mack!

Does anyone know if the June finaid meeting is actually useful, or is it more of that "don't by a latte everyday" kind of thing?

Really wanted to get the finaid package info instead of orientation info......doesn't that arrive in April too? Or is that wishful thinking?

Also, Minky, I like living in NoVa, doggone it. I truly believe that Herndon has some of the best food on earth. And we have such cool patients at INOVA -WWII veterans, well travelled state dept types, lots of foreign pts, personally I think its fun, but to each his own. You can have a lot of free fun in DC also, there are free concerts like every weekend, and our season pool pass was $10. The rent is absurd in DC, but I don't think herndon is all that bad. It's certainly not as cheap as Richmond, though. For me, selling our house and having my husband get a new job in Richmond would mean such a loss that any difference in cost of living would be a wash.

That said, downtown Fairfax is an inconveniently designed mousetrap of a traffic hole.
Those of you from outside -the hospital is technically in falls church, VA. I haven't found getting there in rush hour to be an issue, but it does take a little longer (like 10 min).
 
montessori2md said:
Does anyone know if the June finaid meeting is actually useful, or is it more of that "don't by a latte everyday" kind of thing?

Really wanted to get the finaid package info instead of orientation info......doesn't that arrive in April too? Or is that wishful thinking?
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I didn't go because I was out of town. I think it is probably the latte thing. I remember the aid package coming out well after I was accepted...in May...
 
Thank god some information, I've been sitting around for six months waiting for detailed information and didn't really get a whole lot.

As far as Financial Aid goes, I'm just assuming at this point I'm getting nothing except loans. So I don't really care about any of that anymore. I'll be a quarter million in debt when all is said and done, oh well!
 
I got so excited when the orientation website went up. I was at a friend's wedding and talked the ear of one of the other bridesmaids about school schedule.
 
Financial Aid was somewhat helpful, but you get the same info during orientation. Basically they told you to live on a budget, pack your lunch, and not buy lattes from Starbucks. Some of the more helpful info was about the interest rates of your loans, when you have to start paying them back, what the rules are there on paying them back, etc.

It was a great way to meet people in the class and a good reason to come to Richmond to finalize housing.
 
glb5 said:
It was a great way to meet people in the class and a good reason to come to Richmond to finalize housing.
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I think this is why I'm going to come, just to take a look at where I'm living and meet some classmates. I guess I should buy my plane ticket now then!
 
In terms of the driving thing, I chose to live on the campus bus route so I don't have to drive. It runs roughly every 10 minutes. To see the bus route if you want an apartment on it, google "vcu ride guide." then you can search for apartments in that area if that interests you.
 
NEpats said:
Hi, guys..

I need some opinions..
I tried to search on curriculum related talks on this thread but there weren't many.

would you make some comments, opinions on the vcu curriculum,
for eg,

what are the positives/negatives?

what do you feel about the quality of its medical education? would you come here again

do you feel you're prepared for boards after you first two years? does the school help in anyway with preparing for the boards?

how supportive you feel about the faculty/admins there?

thanks a lot, i really appreciate your inputs 🙂
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Like with all schools, you'll have magnificient professors, and some where you come out thinking "...what?" I modify my daily schedule (going to class vs. studying in Starbucks) according to how my past experience with a lecturer was - if they were point-on the first lecture, I don't skip the following. However, almost all the professors are open to discussing your questions/concerns and are looking for feedback on their performance. These days, VCU seems to very enthusiastic about getting advice from students (we also have elected curriculum reps in our class) and making changes year to year.

The only negatives for me are the TBL sessions - but they are few and far between. The articles they give us to read ahead of time are interesting, but nothing is more annoying than listening to 2-3 hours of people arguing a moot point just to hear themselves wax medical.


Dr. Costanzo is the best thing ever. Her physio book is awesome and she's even more precious in person. Not only does she take a very active role in structuring the physio course, she personally meets with every. single. student during M2 year to help you write out a personalized boards study schedule...hour by hour. Not even my mom will do that for me. Yes, Costanzo might be more awesome than your mom.
 
glb5 said:
Financial Aid was somewhat helpful, but you get the same info during orientation. Basically they told you to live on a budget, pack your lunch, and not buy lattes from Starbucks. Some of the more helpful info was about the interest rates of your loans, when you have to start paying them back, what the rules are there on paying them back, etc.

It was a great way to meet people in the class and a good reason to come to Richmond to finalize housing.
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Also, when I said I study in Starbucks, I only buy a large hot tea (yes, I say large, and the employees hate me for it) or a plain coffee (which usually kind of blows, shouldn't they by nature of their business make good basic coffee?) for my 5-hour campout. And since I can walk to mine, it's cheaper than the gas to drive to a decent library.

I'm not advocating that you buy $4 vanilla nut half-soy half-skim largo macchiatos. (Sorry, I don't speak Starbucks...)
 
My experience with M1 courses is that the core courses (biochem, anat, phys, histo, embryo, and neurosciences are VERY well taught. The shorter courses are not always as well taught (genetics, immuno) but there are plenty of resources.

From what I hear from the M2s, they feel as ready as anyone can feel before the boards. Dr. costanzo meets with as many students who want to meet to form a detailed study plan for the month after school ends 2nd year. This is, I think, where people really get the feeling that they are prepared.
 
I already had my meeting with Dr Costanzo. She basically told me what books to use (there are at least 5 different books you could use for each topic- so about 100 options), which question banks to buy, and what to do each and everyday of my board review month. She gave me the order of topics I will have to get through, when to take breaks and how many days off I could or should take. She even told me what score to shoot for based on my grades thus far.

She really helps take out some of the guess work which helps relieve some anxiety out of an anxiety-ridden process. While I dont feel "prepared" at this point, I can tell that we have been taught what we need to know- it's just that I dont remember a whole heck of a lot of it right now.

She is a great resource and possibly the nicest lady you will ever meet. She does a ton of research as to the best books, what students like the most and the optimal time to take the exam so she knows what she is talking about. She also writes quesions for the boards (as do a few other professors here).
 
FFwannabeMD said:
Like with all schools, you'll have magnificient professors, and some where you come out thinking "...what?" I modify my daily schedule (going to class vs. studying in Starbucks) according to how my past experience with a lecturer was - if they were point-on the first lecture, I don't skip the following. However, almost all the professors are open to discussing your questions/concerns and are looking for feedback on their performance. These days, VCU seems to very enthusiastic about getting ...quote]

thanks a lot for the details!!
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so who else is going to be doing M3-M4 at INOVA?
 
Anybody have any experience with metroproperties? They have apartments at 1106 West Franklin and 1107 West Grace.
 
since I will going out of the country in about a month and won't be back until a few days before orientation starts, i thought the easiest route to go in terms of housing would be to get a dorm. that way, i wouldn't have to worry about looking for an apt, finding roommates, getting furniture, etc. on top of all the other planning i have to do. has anyone seen the mcv low-rise dorms and can give an opinion of what they're like?

after browsing through this thread, however, it seems like there's a general agreement that living north of broad st is a big no-no. but if i'm not mistaken, aren't the dorms are located north of broad st? does that mean it's not safe to live there? for those familiar with the area, the dorms are located at the intersection of E Leigh St and N 10th St. another reason i thought living in the dorms would be good is that they're within walking distance of the med school (~0.2 miles according to google maps), but if it's really not safe, then should i be walking around that area by myself at all?

i'm pretty confused as to what i should do...it seems so hard to get your bearings and figure out the best place to live when you're a new student and are still completely clueless about everything...
 
There's nothing near the dorms, so I wouldn't worry about living there in terms of safety. Further north there are some bad areas, but it's not like it instantly turns into Fallujah once you cross Broad.

Google Maps now supports Street View in Richmond, which is a pretty cool way to see what things look like.

Also, the probability of becoming a victim of violent crime is low no matter where you go, and there are no guarantees. Someone was murdered on a busy part of Broad St last year. I wouldn't worry so much about it.
 
pseudoknot said:
There's nothing near the dorms, so I wouldn't worry about living there in terms of safety. Further north there are some bad areas, but it's not like it instantly turns into Fallujah once you cross Broad.

Google Maps now supports Street View in Richmond, which is a pretty cool way to see what things look like.

Also, the probability of becoming a victim of violent crime is low no matter where you go, and there are no guarantees. Someone was murdered on a busy part of Broad St last year. I wouldn't worry so much about it.
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thanks for the quick response, pseudoknot! also, i know there was some discussion about parking before, but i didn't really get a clear message out of it. so according to gstrub, the vcu parking pass is a scam. when i called the vcu parking department today, they said the parking is about $250+/semester for the 8th St Deck. is that a lot for richmond? i've never lived in a city before or had to pay for long-term parking, so i really have no idea. if that is a lot, are there any other alternatives? i want to try to walk or bike everywhere and drive as little as possible (especially with gas prices nowadays), so i just want someplace where i can park and leave my car for the majority of time.

on a side note, how feasible is it to bike from place to place in richmond?
 
mangos3 said:
thanks for the quick response, pseudoknot! also, i know there was some discussion about parking before, but i didn't really get a clear message out of it. so according to gstrub, the vcu parking pass is a scam. when i called the vcu parking department today, they said the parking is about $250+/semester for the 8th St Deck. is that a lot for richmond? i've never lived in a city before or had to pay for long-term parking, so i really have no idea. if that is a lot, are there any other alternatives? i want to try to walk or bike everywhere and drive as little as possible (especially with gas prices nowadays), so i just want someplace where i can park and leave my car for the majority of time.

on a side note, how feasible is it to bike from place to place in richmond?
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If you want a place to park your car while you live your life...you'll probably get a spot with your apartment rental...

If you want a place to park occasionally, there is a pay lot on Broad Street at the bottom of the hill from MCV. You can get either a monthly subscription (~$25-30/mo, I think) or you can pay a few bucks per day.

Paying by the day would be your cheapest route for occasional parking.

Biking around richmond is easy or hard, depending on where you live. If you live south or east of school, it would be a arduous uphill ride to school, but a great easy coast home...it's a big hill. North or west is faily flat and a pretty easy ride. Traffic isn't very kind to bikers in Richmond though. I saw a dude get hit by a truck the other day...he flew over two cars and got up! 😱

On living locations: The area near the dorms is fine. The dorms aren't particularly nice though, from what I've heard...There are tons of great apartments downtown. Also, don't overlook more "suburban" areas. I live out by the beltway on the northside of town, and it takes me 10 minutes to get to school on an average morning. You can rent a NICE house out here for 1200-1500/month...split that 3 or 4 ways and you're golden! Big place, nice neighborhood...

The commute is a little longer from the more "desirable" Short Pump area west of town. The commute is eternal from Chesterfield/Midlothian in BFE...
 
Take it from someone who went to University of Richmond for 4 years, followed by 2 years M.S. at MCV, followed by the current MD/PhD program.

As an aside, please keep in mind that I am speaking as if you have some sort of life and aren't a complete shut in, and that you at least have enough $ to not live on ramen and be forced to take the bus everywhere.

1. Don't live in the dorms. They suck, big time. Dorm time is over for you.

2. Don't live in Jackson Ward, which is the area north of Broad. That place is the total ghetto.

3. Don't live in Church Hill unless you are buying a house in one of the nicer areas (meaning you are paying at least $250K). That place is also the ghetto. Basically the degree of "ghetto-ness" is proportional to the distance you travel North from broad or east from the MCV campus.

4. You can travel to class by bike if you live within 5 miles of campus. Don't worry about the hill...if you follow the advice outlined in #3, you won't be living in that direction anyway.

5. Don't rent from Metro Properties. I have. They cater to the masses of college college students who don't know better, and are notorious for keeping security deposits due to "damage" which is really just wear and tear. Another bottom-feeding real estate company is Waybright. They are even worse than Metro. The only good companies I know are the River Lofts. Those are very nice but are on the more expensive side, but this is Richmond, so it's still cheap.


Here is the best advice I can give you if you are looking to rent close to campus. Look in the Fan area for apartments that are being rented out by their owners, as in 1 owner-1 apartment. There are loads of these, but they may not advertise on the internet so much. You would likely need to come here and drive around writing down numbers. There are many "row houses" in the fan, which are basically houses divided into 2 apts, upstairs and downstairs. I live in one of these with my wife...2bdrm, 2 bath, ~1800sq feet, driveway, for less than $850/month. I ride a scooter 3 miles to campus everyday and don't pay to park.

The nicest areas are within the following dimensions (this is if you are going to rent an apartment in the fan): fill in the area between these streets: Belvidere, Malvern, Broad, and Cary. The further west, the nicer, but the further from campus. At the area of the Boulevard, you can go as far south as the highway toward Maymont park. 2 great streets with nice apartments are Boulevard and Monument, but again, try to avoid Metro and Waybright as they have bought up several of these buildings.

I would be happy to entertain specific questions about other areas, as I have lived in both the West End and in the South Side.
-G
 
I am a Richmond native. This should help you guys out. I posted this a couple years ago:

350px-RichmondFanDistrict.jpg


in the above picture MCV is located right above where the purple line intersects the 2nd O of downtown

Sketch areas that you probably don't want to live in include: oregon hill, Jackson ward, Randolph, or anything with court in it (ie Gilpin court). Also, dont live right across the river from downtown (ie called manchester on the second picture). Finally dont live too far north of broad street in church hill. For those of you that went to the financial aid workshop the director lady told you that Jackson ward is a good area to live in. I pretty much crapped myself when she told you that. Jackson ward is a really sketchy, really dangerous part of Richmond. Don't live there.


Here is a second picture that shows things a bit further east
350px-DowntownRichmondNeighborhoods.jpg


Here MCV is located right around where it says "court end"

The Fan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_District
Note that while Wikipedia doesnt consider west of boulevard 'the fan' many in Richmond do. Others refer to west of boulevard as "the museum district." Either way it is nice to live near carytown (shopping/eating area). You will be good living pretty much anywhere in the fan area. But the further away (west) from the undergrad campus, the quieter things will be. Generally around the 2000 block (of streets parallel w/ broad st) you should be in good shape. Other considerations are that there are a lot of bars on Robinson. So you might want to live around there (i think about 2500 block). The further west you go, generally the safer things get.

Church Hill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Hill
Note that you dont want to live very far north of Broad street. If you can, stay SOUTH of broad street (red line going up church hill). Really I cant stress this enough. If you go like 10 blocks north of broad around church hill you will get shot. Only half kidding about this. South of broad street has some very beautiful areas and some very nice apts. North of broad is a great place to buy crack. You see the dark black line going north of church hill, that is where the projects are and is arguably one of the most dangerous area of Richmond. So stay away from it.

Shockoe Bottom: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shockoe_Bottom
Apts are spotted throughout here generally above shops or in converted industrial buildings. The apts generally have a lot of character but, it can get loud if you are near the clubs/bars. Most of my class lives in the bottom so that is a consideration, plus it is nice and close to MCV. Basically on a decent day you can walk from the bottom. Things can get pricey here but if you look you can find a cheap place.
__________________________________________________________________________

Here is my update from this past year:
I had been hearing a lot of talk about the new revitalization of the Manchester area. I was curious about how much they could have done and my girlfriend was looking for a place to live so we decided to head across the river. I am not too sure what people consider a 'revitalization' but it didnt look a whole lot different. I'd still recommend not living there (well that is unless you plan to sling crack to pay for school-which i also do not recommend- but Glenda Palmer, the financial aid lady, always encourages us to be creative to save money so she may recommend differently).

Now a bit west from manchester you get to the Westover Hills/Forrest Hill Ave area (still in the southside). It is a bit of a drive but using the Nickel Bridge (which funny enough has a quarter toll) it takes around 10 minutes to get to school. This is a pretty safe area and you can get a pretty nice house to rent or buy for really, really cheap. Of the south-side area, this is probably one of your better options based on price and distance from school. This is right across the river from where the "fan" turns into the "museum district"

The Fan
Stretches of the fan are surrounded by kinda sketchy areas. In some stretches of broad you may feel unsafe. My GF lived on Grace a few years back and the alley behind her building was shared with the shops on broad. While I felt perfectly safe, she often felt uneasy walking alone at night. So if you are a female or would like to feel safer, if you choose to live in the fan, living either on the south side of grace (so you dont share an alley w/ broad) or just living south of grace st would be best.

The West end-
This is where I grew up so if you have any questions feel free to PM me. Unquestionably the safest and nicest area of Richmond. Can be a bit of a hike to class ranging from 15-45 minutes based on what part of the west end you live in. The apt prices vary wildly from obscenely expensive to pretty cheap.

Church Hill
I re-read what I wrote and it basically sounds like church hill is a war zone. It is not. South of broad is very very nice. Some of the nicest apts I have seen in R-Va are in Church hill. The people I know that live there feel safe. That said, stay south of broad because the projects really are about 10-15 blocks north with a nice little transition zone starting about 6 blocks north of broad. Stay south of broad and you will be fine and shouldnt feel unsafe.


I currently live in the fan/museum district. There are pros and cons about each area. My class is spread mainly in Downtown and the fan. There are probably a few dozen who live in the southside or west end. If you have questions feel free to PM me. If you have a specific apt complex in mind I probably wont be able to help you since I have limited exposure to the thousands of apt complexes in Richmond. But if you are worried about an area or want some input, feel free to PM me.
 
For those already accepted, do you guys have access to the e-board yet or is there anywhere they told you guys to post about finding an apt?
 
Instatewaiter said:
For those already accepted, do you guys have access to the e-board yet or is there anywhere they told you guys to post about finding an apt?
Click to expand...

We have a form to complete in the orientation pages of the application website. I've completed it, but as far as I know, what I entered went to /dev/null. I don't know who can view this information...
 
thanks, everyone, for all the info--it's been a big help!

i have a couple other questions:

1) what do medical school students usually do during summer breaks? as i understand it, the only real summer break we have during med school is the summer between M1 and M2. what do people usually do that summer? what happens during all the other summers for the rest of med school?

2) if you rent an apt, do you try to sublet it out during the summer or do you just bite the bullet and pay the rent those couple months?

thanks again!!
 
mangos3 said:
1) what do medical school students usually do during summer breaks? as i understand it, the only real summer break we have during med school is the summer between M1 and M2. what do people usually do that summer? what happens during all the other summers for the rest of med school?
Click to expand...

Some people do research, some people get jobs doing whatever, some people travel or do nothing.

After M2 everyone studies for about a month and then takes the USMLE Step I, and then M3 rotations start at the end of July. Third year is 12 months long so there is no summer off after that. Similarly, residency starts in July so there's not a lot of time for vacation then either (assuming you don't consider the entire M4 year a vacation :laugh:).
 
mangos3 said:
1) what do medical school students usually do during summer breaks? as i understand it, the only real summer break we have during med school is the summer between M1 and M2. what do people usually do that summer? what happens during all the other summers for the rest of med school?
Click to expand...

The 3 things people did in my class after M1 were 1- research or 2- travel (Hombre trip) or 3- nothing

Dont stress out about this. You probably wont know what you want to do so any research will be relatively meaningless. I recommend travel.

Between M2-M3 you will be studying for boards for about half of it and the rest will probably be decompressing from second year and boards.

M3-4 doesnt have a break but 4th year is not busy (4th year is easier than 4th grade)
 
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