At which schools can you get by okay without a car?

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sanford_w/o_son

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so at which med schools can one get by reasonably well without a car? let's try to list them out and indicate why.

here, i consider "getting by reasonably well" to mean 1) school requirements (rotations and other clinical experiences) that require no travel away from the campus area or occasional travel no more than one hour by foot, bike, or public transit; 2) residential area near campus (or within a reasonable distance to it) provides most of the basic necessities for daily living; 3) big plus if the area around campus is walkable and/or bike-friendly and/or well-linked to a good public transit system. this will probably lead to an urban bias in the list, but let's not try to rule out med schools in less urban environments. is there anything else to consider?

i'll start the list off. please feel free to add explanations to your suggestions or those of others, as that might be the most helpful information. thanks!

uic / rush (bike-friendly city, nearby neighborhood has all the basic amenities, near el train, active bus routes, i *believe* all clinicals can be done in area hospitals/clinics (university medical district))

northwestern (bike-friendly city, very walkable area, area has many basic amenities which are on the increase as it becomes more residential (e.g., dominick's grocery store is being built nearby), near el train, active bus routes, i *believe* all clinicals can be done at nwu h)

u chicago (bike friendly city, pretty walkable area, area has all the basic amenities, active bus routes but el train is 1+ miles from the area, i *believe* all clinicals can be done at u of c h)

nyu

mssm

columbia

aecom

cornell

upenn

thomas jefferson

gwu

harvard

suny-downstate

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UCSF. I went to undergrad at UC Berkeley, and you do not need a car to live in the Bay Area, least of all in SF. In fact, a car is a nuisance and liability, it'll just get in the way and rack up parking tickets. I wish I was good enough to go to UCSF. :(
 
University of Washington-
Seattle has one bus transportaion networks in the US
 
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one of the best that is =)
 
I hope students from these programs chime in, because although these cities are not so car friendly in theory, 3rd year rotations may force you to drive to different locations and associated hospitals. I can walk/bike to 75% of the hospitals at my program, but 25% of the time, its impossible because we have to go to associated hospitals further away. Aside from the cities with the best public transportation, I would guess that you at least need a car during your 3rd and 4th years. Any who, I would like to see what programs really fit your criteria, as it would be nice for my residency hunt coming up next year.

sscooterguy
 
U Chicago - don't forget to buy a bulletproof vest! LOL!
 
i would say georgetown and george washington because the public transportation here is so good.
 
UCSF. I went to undergrad at UC Berkeley, and you do not need a car to live in the Bay Area, least of all in SF. In fact, a car is a nuisance and liability, it'll just get in the way and rack up parking tickets. I wish I was good enough to go to UCSF.

My god man, how do you not get accepted to any freakin school you want to? Was looking at your application and a 3.94 science GPA from Berkeley? You're obviously a genius, and your MCAT isn't too shabby either. Lol, I had a 2.5 GPA out of Berkeley in mcb (now doing post-bac to make up for it. Ok granted I practically never studied and never cared at the time, but still...). Seriously though, I can't even understand how any schools at all would reject you.
 
Messerschmitts said:
UCSF. I went to undergrad at UC Berkeley, and you do not need a car to live in the Bay Area, least of all in SF. In fact, a car is a nuisance and liability, it'll just get in the way and rack up parking tickets. I wish I was good enough to go to UCSF. :(

What kind of stats do you need to get into UCSF?
 
I can't even begin to imagine what kind of stats you need if this guy was rejected. Seriously, maybe you have to cure a certain form of cancer or at the very least invent some kind of vaccine.
 
You can get by without a car at U. Chicago, but I don't know that you would really want to. On the one hand, you're off a bit on the distance to the el - from hospital buildings like the DCAM, it's probably half a mile. Not a bad walk at all, distance-wise, and not nearly a mile. You also have the Metra line on the east end of Hyde Park near the lake if you live over that way.

On the other hand, being a captive citizen of Hyde Park really bites when it comes to shopping, particularly for essentials. Groceries from the Co-op are probably at least 20% more expensive than going to a Jewel or Dominicks a little bit out of the area (and 20% is probably being optimistic). When I lived in Hyde Park I would drive to a Jewel at about 95th and Stoney Island because of how significant the price difference was. Outside of books, for which you now have a Borders and some great shops like the Seminary Co-op, you can't really buy much of anything in Hyde Park. Need some new winter clothes because you didn't prepare well for Chicago winters? Better get a friend to take you somewhere, or take the train downtown and pay more than you would just about anywhere else in the city or suburbs, and then lug your purchases all the way back on the train.

You're also pretty limited on food options. Roughly 3 dozen Thai places, ;) Dixie Kitchen and Calypso for good cajun/southern food and Carribean fare, Harold's and Kenny's for your typical south side bbq-chicken with fries and white bread, and a McDonald's, KFC, IHOP with limited hours, and whatever is still in the campus/hospital food courts. A few other spots not really worth mentioning.

Hyde Park with a car is not bad at all. You're near Lake Shore Drive, and fairly close to one expressway. You can be at Chinatown in about 12 minutes, downtown in 10-15, or out to one of the larger south side or south suburban malls in 20-25. Many more options as far as things to do as well, and ease with which to do them. Hyde Park without a car is not so fun though. It can be done, but I'd rather try it at the other Chicago medical schools that were listed, imo.
 
OHSU in Portland. There's a trolley that goes to campus and tons of people bike all over. There's also a lightrail that goes all over Portland and is free in many areas.
 
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I'm planning on selling my car if I get into Northwestern. The public transportation in Chicago is great, and the $400 a month I'd save by not having a car payment or insurance would be nice.
 
sanford_w/o_son said:
so at which med schools can one get by reasonably well without a car? let's try to list them out and indicate why.

here, i consider "getting by reasonably well" to mean 1) school requirements (rotations and other clinical experiences) that require no travel away from the campus area or occasional travel no more than one hour by foot, bike, or public transit; 2) residential area near campus (or within a reasonable distance to it) provides most of the basic necessities for daily living; 3) big plus if the area around campus is walkable and/or bike-friendly and/or well-linked to a good public transit system. this will probably lead to an urban bias in the list, but let's not try to rule out med schools in less urban environments. is there anything else to consider?

i'll start the list off. please feel free to add explanations to your suggestions or those of others, as that might be the most helpful information. thanks!

uic / rush (bike-friendly city, nearby neighborhood has all the basic amenities, near el train, active bus routes, i *believe* all clinicals can be done in area hospitals/clinics (university medical district))

northwestern (bike-friendly city, very walkable area, area has many basic amenities which are on the increase as it becomes more residential (e.g., dominick's grocery store is being built nearby), near el train, active bus routes, i *believe* all clinicals can be done at nwu h)

u chicago (bike friendly city, pretty walkable area, area has all the basic amenities, active bus routes but el train is 1+ miles from the area, i *believe* all clinicals can be done at u of c h)

nyu

mssm

columbia

aecom

cornell

upenn

thomas jefferson

gwu

harvard

suny-downstate

In most major cities with any sort of public transportation, you should be able to get by without a car. Thus DC, NY, Philly, Boston, Chicago, SF you can certainly do without a car.
 
BooMed said:
OHSU in Portland. There's a trolley that goes to campus and tons of people bike all over. There's also a lightrail that goes all over Portland and is free in many areas.

just what i was going to say, but there's not a trolley yet that i know of. ohsu does get frequent bus service, though, and they're building a tram that will connect ohsu with downtown (or well an area neighboring downtown). if all the rotations are in portland, which i sort of think they are, you should be okay without a car for that, too.

of course, having a car is nice because you can take nice weekend trips to the coast. :)
 
Law2Doc said:
In most major cities with any sort of public transportation, you should be able to get by without a car. Thus DC, NY, Philly, Boston, Chicago, SF you can certainly do without a car.

good posts so far, folks. keep em coming!

i had also assumed that major city + public transit = easy to get by w/o car, but as someone pointed out there are urban med schools that require you to do some clinical time at hospitals a good distance away. for example, boston university is very forthcoming (on their website) about such a clinical requirement, and they note that it can be a substantial inconvenience not to have a car in the clinical years. so i didn't put bu on my list, even though it's in boston.
 
uc davis. you bike everywhere. and you're a hippie and milk cows.
-mota
 
socal78 said:
University of Washington-
Seattle has one bus transportaion networks in the US
Sorry, no. You will almost certainly need a car at UW.
 
Mayo -- plenty of nice houses and apartments within a 5 - 15 minute walk. It would take your car at least that long to warm up in the winter anyway, longer if you don't keep it in a garage. Grocery store also within walking distance of some of these areas. Good bus system that hits all of the major spots and runs until around 10pm at night to some areas.
 
I don't have a car here in Birmingham, we live about a 20 minute walk from UAB. But for groceries and stuff my fiance has a car. Still, if you're in a couple it's awesome if you can share one car. We save a ton of money on insurance, gas, etc.
 
so this seems to be the list so far. as one might expect, a wide range of schools has housing and basic amenities nearby. so i'm thinking the most valuable info for us (as sscooterguy pointed out) concerns the clinical requirements.

uic / rush (bike-friendly city, nearby neighborhood has all the basic amenities, near el train, active bus routes, i *believe* all clinicals can be done in area hospitals/clinics (university medical district))

northwestern (bike-friendly city, very walkable area, area has many basic amenities which are on the increase as it becomes more residential (e.g., dominick's grocery store is being built nearby), near el train, active bus routes, i *believe* all clinicals can be done at nwu h)

u chicago (bike friendly city, pretty walkable area, area has many basic amenities (but groceries are somewhat more expensive, there is a limited range of restaurants in the area (and not many immediately outside of it), and certain amenities like clothing require trips outside the neighborhood), active bus routes but el train is 1+ miles from the area, i *believe* all clinicals can be done at u of c h)

nyu

mssm

columbia

aecom

cornell

upenn

thomas jefferson

gwu / georgetown (good public transit)

harvard

suny-downstate

ucsf (good public transit, car is a nuisance)

u of washington ??? [disputed]

ohsu (very bike-friendly city, bus that travels to campus (trolley coming soon?), light rail through the city that is free in some places (soon to connect the campus with downtown area?), someone *believes* all rotations are in portland)

uc - davis (very bike-friendly town)

mayo (good housing within a 5-15 minute walk to campus, some of the nearby residential areas also have grocery stores within walking distance, good bus system that runs until 10 pm in some areas)

u of alabama - birmingham (residential area 20-minute walk from campus, but attaining basic amenities may require a car)
 
uic (bike-friendly city; nearby neighborhood has all the basic amenities; near el train; active bus routes; all clinicals can be done in area hospitals/clinics (university medical district))

rush ((bike-friendly city; nearby neighborhood has all the basic amenities; near el train; active bus routes; required clinicals are done at rush-presbyterian-st. lukes h, cook county h (both of these are in the university medical district, where the rush and uic med campuses are also located), illinois masonic h (about a 30 minute ride by el train and bus from downtown), and rush north shore h (okay, this one's out in skokie, a chicago suburb. from downtown chicago it would take about an hour+ by public transit. one would need to take the el train (red and yellow line, right?) and then transfer to a bus)

northwestern - feinberg (bike-friendly city; very walkable area; area has many basic amenities which are on the increase as it becomes more residential (e.g., dominick's grocery store is being built nearby, plenty of restaurants, movie theaters, museums, performance theaters nearby); near el train; active bus routes; can all clinicals be done at nwu h ???--not clear from website)

u chicago - pritzker (bike friendly city; pretty walkable area; area has many basic amenities (but groceries are somewhat more expensive, there is a limited range of restaurants in the area (and not many immediately outside of it), and certain amenities like clothing require trips outside the neighborhood); active bus routes but el train is 1+ miles from the area; can all clinicals can be done at u of c h???--not clear from website)

nyu

mssm

columbia

aecom

cornell

upenn

thomas jefferson

gwu / georgetown (good public transit)

harvard

suny-downstate

ucsf (good public transit; car is a nuisance)

u of washington ??? [disputed]

ohsu (very bike-friendly city; bus that travels to campus (trolley coming soon?); light rail through the city that is free in some places (soon to connect the campus with downtown area?); someone believes all rotations are in portland, but the website mentions doing rotations in rural areas to fulfill part of their mission--is this required of students???)

uc - davis (very bike-friendly town)

mayo (good housing within a 5-15 minute walk to campus; some of the nearby residential areas also have grocery stores within walking distance; good bus system that runs until 10 pm in some areas)

u of alabama - birmingham (residential area 20-minute walk from campus, but attaining basic amenities may require a car)

usc - keck ???(the viewbook implies that all clinicals can be done in the medical campus area, but it is not stated explicitly. they do have affiliations with institutions not in the campus area)
 
mackie said:
Mayo -- plenty of nice houses and apartments within a 5 - 15 minute walk. It would take your car at least that long to warm up in the winter anyway, longer if you don't keep it in a garage. Grocery store also within walking distance of some of these areas. Good bus system that hits all of the major spots and runs until around 10pm at night to some areas.


You definately need a car at Mayo. Maybe not to school, but around town and to get out of town! Plus you start doing rotations that could be from anywhere around Rochester to other parts of the country in your first year.
 
Baylor College of Medicine- if you live in the Condoland/Reliant Stadium area of Houston, you can easily take a bus or apartment complex shuttle to Baylor. All of the clinical sites are in the Texas Medical Center (where Baylor is located) and about a 5 minute walk from the school.
 
TheProwler said:
I'm planning on selling my car if I get into Northwestern. The public transportation in Chicago is great, and the $400 a month I'd save by not having a car payment or insurance would be nice.

agreed. my little rice burner would be spat on by the high society that lives there anyways.
 
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