2009-2010 Rosalind Franklin Application Thread

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hereigoagain said:
Hey Minimoo, I am also interviewing here on Monday. Are you staying at the Days Inn? My flight's getting in at like noon and I have heard its not that exciting in North Chicago
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Yeah not much to see in N. Chicago, but if you're getting in at noon you could always explore Chicago itself a bit. My flight arrives later in the evening, so I really won't have time for much besides getting to my hotel and going to bed. Nope not staying at Days Inn, sorry. 🙂
 
3rd SDNer interviewing tomorrow. Really looking forward to it, the campus seems nice and a few students I talked to really seem to enjoy it here. Good luck to both of you!
 
MiniMoo said:
Hey I really appreciate you posting with your experiences with the curriculum. It sounds like there's a great balance between lecture and PBL. Do you have any criticisms or things you wish were different?
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regarding the curriculum, i don't like that we are constantly studying for exams. during our first term (=twelve weeks), we basically had one per week. i would take the test, relax for the rest of the day, then get back to serious studying the following day. in the second and third terms, the exams have essentially been every other week, which gives us a little more down time.

the other problem is that the vast majority of exams are at 7:45 on monday mornings - really ruins the weekend. in fact, as i sit here writing this, i will be waking up in less than four hours for some last minute studying and then another test. it's not all bad though, we basically treat mondays like weekends.

even though this set-up is considered "experimental", don't expect it to change much next year. i'm not quite sure how they are making this comparison (since we haven't taken boards yet), but the professors keep telling us how much better we are doing than previous classes.

but...don't confuse the clinical correlations and case conferences with PBL. my understanding of PBL is a small group discussion where the students work together to make a diagnosis. the clinical correlations are generally just lectures that are focused on specific diseases (some recent examples being diabetes, osteoporosis, and thyroid disorders). the case conferences are more like PBL, in that we read case reports and are expected to research them, but there is very little discussion/student input, as they are presented to the whole class together in our regular lecture hall. personally, i wish there was more of a focus on PBL, but then again, I don't know other school's curricula that well, so maybe they do a good job of it here...
 
Me again,

Anxiously waiting for the next acceptances to go out.

Anyone have any idea when they will go out? I know they went out this week last year, but I'm not holding my breath.

It would be nice if anyone could share some "inside" information. 🙂
 
chief illiniwek said:
but...don't confuse the clinical correlations and case conferences with PBL. my understanding of PBL is a small group discussion where the students work together to make a diagnosis. the clinical correlations are generally just lectures that are focused on specific diseases (some recent examples being diabetes, osteoporosis, and thyroid disorders). the case conferences are more like PBL, in that we read case reports and are expected to research them, but there is very little discussion/student input, as they are presented to the whole class together in our regular lecture hall. personally, i wish there was more of a focus on PBL, but then again, I don't know other school's curricula that well, so maybe they do a good job of it here...
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+1, thanks for pointing that out.
The only real PBL we've had this year were the cell bio and biochem small group thing in the fall. The recent ECR sessions are also sort of PBL-like. Students work in pairs, one is given a set of symptoms to portray. The other student has to take a history, and then both work together on a differential diagnosis.
 
For the current students:
are students generally competative with each other or are you guys tight knit. When someone asked about this on my interview day the tour guides said something about how all med schools are competative and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Considering that I heard from multiple other schools that their classes are close knit and there isn't that pre med competative mentality, the rf tour guides kinda left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Any thoughts on that?
 
red10 said:
For the current students:
are students generally competative with each other or are you guys tight knit. When someone asked about this on my interview day the tour guides said something about how all med schools are competative and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Considering that I heard from multiple other schools that their classes are close knit and there isn't that pre med competative mentality, the rf tour guides kinda left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Any thoughts on that?
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of course, there are a handful of "gunners" that are always trying to show you up. but on the whole, i think it's really non-competitive for a medical school.
 
chief illiniwek said:
regarding the curriculum, i don't like that we are constantly studying for exams. during our first term (=twelve weeks), we basically had one per week. i would take the test, relax for the rest of the day, then get back to serious studying the following day. in the second and third terms, the exams have essentially been every other week, which gives us a little more down time.

the other problem is that the vast majority of exams are at 7:45 on monday mornings - really ruins the weekend. in fact, as i sit here writing this, i will be waking up in less than four hours for some last minute studying and then another test. it's not all bad though, we basically treat mondays like weekends.
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Yeah, that's exactly what our tour guides today said. Mon/Tues are when everyone at RFU goes out, and then they study all weekend. The every-other-week tests seem pretty intense, but I guess it keeps you on top of your game.

I walked away with a really good impression of RFU from my interview today. Admissions staff was great, the campus was small but really nice. The students seem really friendly too, but man, they stare at you for the longest time. Everywhere I went - the union, library...everywhere except the bathroom. I felt like a stripper performing at a truck stop. But they were all really willing to stop and chat, which I thought was cool.

I had a couple questions for any current RFU students that have the time to answer:

-We didn't get to look inside the dorms/apartments. If anyone's lived there, I'm just curious what it's like in terms of space and $$$.

-Do you feel there's any negatives to the large class size? Does everyone know each other or is it more split up into groups?

Also as far as the competitiveness thing, obviously I'm not a student there, but our tour guides today said the class is pretty close (although they're M1s and they did say that their class is probably unusually close). For what it's worth.
 
Snoopy2006 said:
Yeah, that's exactly what our tour guides today said. Mon/Tues are when everyone at RFU goes out, and then they study all weekend. The every-other-week tests seem pretty intense, but I guess it keeps you on top of your game.

I walked away with a really good impression of RFU from my interview today. Admissions staff was great, the campus was small but really nice. The students seem really friendly too, but man, they stare at you for the longest time. Everywhere I went - the union, library...everywhere except the bathroom. I felt like a stripper performing at a truck stop. But they were all really willing to stop and chat, which I thought was cool.

I had a couple questions for any current RFU students that have the time to answer:

-We didn't get to look inside the dorms/apartments. If anyone's lived there, I'm just curious what it's like in terms of space and $$$.

-Do you feel there's any negatives to the large class size? Does everyone know each other or is it more split up into groups?

Also as far as the competitiveness thing, obviously I'm not a student there, but our tour guides today said the class is pretty close (although they're M1s and they did say that their class is probably unusually close). For what it's worth.
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i live in the dorms...its about $10,000 for the year. the bedrooms are 12 by 16 and the living room is 14 by 16, i think. more than enough for the vast majority of broke medical students. at the woodlands (the apt complex just south of campus where most people live), bedrooms are a little smaller, living rooms are about the same, and the rent is about the same.

i would definitely agree that we are unusually close - nothing like i expected coming in. i don't know everyone, but i probably do know 3/4 of them (and i just recognize the others). i would even guess i am below the norm on this, because i am not really a class-goer and i hate studying in the library. and honestly, i can't come up with any "negatives" regarding the class size.
 
i was complete here in mid-january

any chance at all that they'd look at my file in time for interview slots?
 
red10 said:
For the current students:
are students generally competative with each other or are you guys tight knit. When someone asked about this on my interview day the tour guides said something about how all med schools are competative and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Considering that I heard from multiple other schools that their classes are close knit and there isn't that pre med competative mentality, the rf tour guides kinda left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Any thoughts on that?
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Ha, sounds like you got one of the gunners for a tour guide. I've had the opposite experience; most people seem to be pretty chilled out.
 
I hope whoever interviewed today had a good tour. I was your tour guide!
 
Thanks for the answers, chief. Just curious, what does the class normally do for fun on Mondays/Tuesdays? Is it mostly the small-town bars, downtown Chicago, or something else?

mattng said:
I hope whoever interviewed today had a good tour. I was your tour guide!
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Haha definitely a good tour.

Oh, another thing I was really impressed with - how many places on campus (almost all of them, it seemed like) are open 24 hours. The library being open that long is huge (for me), the anatomy lab, etc. And I think they said the cafeteria is too. At the last place I interviewed, the cafeteria was open 3 hours during the day, so this was a good change.
 
Snoopy2006 said:
Thanks for the answers, chief. Just curious, what does the class normally do for fun on Mondays/Tuesdays? Is it mostly the small-town bars, downtown Chicago, or something else?

Oh, another thing I was really impressed with - how many places on campus (almost all of them, it seemed like) are open 24 hours. The library being open that long is huge (for me), the anatomy lab, etc. And I think they said the cafeteria is too. At the last place I interviewed, the cafeteria was open 3 hours during the day, so this was a good change.
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Mondays people usually just go out to local bars. Then once a month someone has organized a "field trip" (with school buses) into the city and sets up drink deals with a bar. Tomorrow (Wednesday, but obviously St. Patrick's day), people are taking a bus down in the afternoon and bar hopping for like 10 hours.

The cafeteria is not open 24 hours, I think it's actually like 8 hours a day where they are open for business - you can go and sit in there whenever you want, but nobody does that as far as I know. Personally, I've only been in there about ten times.
 
Chief-

I have some more questions on the social aspect at RFU:

1.) Are there any organized social clubs that students can join where they can organize events and hear about all the events going on at RFU (such as organized bar events or other things) or is mostly just through facebook?

2.) How many weekends or at least Friday or Saturday nights would you say are you free to go out on? It's cool that students party on Mon or Tuesdays but if i want to see other friends that aren't in med school will i have available weekends? Or are they pretty booked with studying for tests on Mondays?

Thanks again for your responses!
 
Snoopy2006 said:
Yeah, that's exactly what our tour guides today said. Mon/Tues are when everyone at RFU goes out, and then they study all weekend. The every-other-week tests seem pretty intense, but I guess it keeps you on top of your game.

I walked away with a really good impression of RFU from my interview today. Admissions staff was great, the campus was small but really nice. The students seem really friendly too, but man, they stare at you for the longest time. Everywhere I went - the union, library...everywhere except the bathroom. I felt like a stripper performing at a truck stop. But they were all really willing to stop and chat, which I thought was cool.
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Haha! I noticed this too. My impression on Monday was that there were so many students all over the place...it was noisy in most places. I can't imagine studying at the library, but I guess I can get accustomed to it.
 
Ari1584 said:
Chief-

I have some more questions on the social aspect at RFU:

1.) Are there any organized social clubs that students can join where they can organize events and hear about all the events going on at RFU (such as organized bar events or other things) or is mostly just through facebook?

2.) How many weekends or at least Friday or Saturday nights would you say are you free to go out on? It's cool that students party on Mon or Tuesdays but if i want to see other friends that aren't in med school will i have available weekends? Or are they pretty booked with studying for tests on Mondays?

Thanks again for your responses!
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1) as far as i know, there are no organized clubs that do these things specifically. but, different groups have organized events at different local bars/restaurants where a portion of the proceeds for the night go to charity. the majority of the events are just set up by really motivated students through facebook events.

2) even on the weekend before an exam, i am usually comfortable with partying one night, as long as i know the rest of the weekend will be dedicated to studying. trouble is, most of my friends trail behind me by a day or so in this respect (they like to relax and have fun during the week and then cram over the weekend while i like to work hard during the week so i can ease up over the weekends). the main point is that M1 year is not as hard as most pre-meds expect (unless you are shooting for straight A's) - the trick is to find the most efficient learning method for you. in the average week, i get to the gym 6 times, go out drinking once, watch a few movies, sleep 8 hours a night, and still have several hours of downtime for other random things.
 
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for those of you that have interviewed,

did rosalind franklin mention when you should expect to hear back from them

about a decision? im guessing the first week of april
 
crestfall said:
for those of you that have interviewed,

did rosalind franklin mention when you should expect to hear back from them

about a decision? im guessing the first week of april
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When I interviewed this week, they told me to expect a response by the first or second week of April.
 
crestfall said:
for those of you that have interviewed,

did rosalind franklin mention when you should expect to hear back from them

about a decision? im guessing the first week of april
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The admissions officer said that we would hear by the 2nd week of April at the latest, meaning we could hear back sooner than that.
 
thanks for the quick reply minimoo and maiden,

lets hope to hear good news in april
 
does anyone have the 2010 match list for RFU? 😀
 
Ari1584 said:
does anyone have the 2010 match list for RFU? 😀
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Not sure if they have published the list yet (at least its not were they have the previous one). Got to see a little bit of the match day festivities this morning though. It was very exciting! Lots of happy people. I know of some derm matches and some other competitive fields. Cant wait for mine.
 
I have to pick on the dates for interview, I was naive enough to send an email today picking my top 3 choices even though I got invite 1 week ago, now my dates of choice are full.

The only dates I am now available out of the remaining dates given to me are 0. I guess I am not destined to fly down to chicago from Canada just for an interview at this school. Lets see if I can find a spot somewhere after Apr 21.
 
collosalmockery said:
I have to pick on the dates for interview, I was naive enough to send an email today picking my top 3 choices even though I got invite 1 week ago, now my dates of choice are full.

The only dates I am now available out of the remaining dates given to me are 0. I guess I am not destined to fly down to chicago from Canada just for an interview at this school. Lets see if I can find a spot somewhere after Apr 21.
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I've heard that RFU interviews into May. They should have more dates available. Good luck finding a spot!
 
After 4 months since I sent in my secondary, it has finally cleared the screening process and into the pool for a possible interview. How likely is this, this late in the cycle? Any suggestions as to how I can increases my chances of recieving an interview invite. Please provide some feedback, Thanks
 
Hey y'all

I'll be removing my acceptance from RFU, so hopefully one of you guys will be taking its spot! Good luck!
 
apevo8 said:
After 4 months since I sent in my secondary, it has finally cleared the screening process and into the pool for a possible interview. How likely is this, this late in the cycle? Any suggestions as to how I can increases my chances of recieving an interview invite. Please provide some feedback, Thanks
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i don't think there is anything you can do at this point since they don't accept updates pre interview
 
Surprise !! still they are collecting people in small pool. All small pooled people are getting interview invitation? I guess, still there are lot of people in the small pool.


apevo8 said:
After 4 months since I sent in my secondary, it has finally cleared the screening process and into the pool for a possible interview. How likely is this, this late in the cycle? Any suggestions as to how I can increases my chances of recieving an interview invite. Please provide some feedback, Thanks
Click to expand...
 
coookiecrisp1 said:
ohare airport would be closest. i think it is about a 40 min drive from there with taxi.
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I wouldn't take a taxi though. It can get really expensive -- like $70+. Either take the train or make reservations for an airport shuttle (~$45 each way).
 
joshg said:
Where are you from / where do you go to school?
I get excited when other people are from Canada 🙂
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I am from Toronto. Go to UofT.

Thanks for the suggestions. From what it seems there is no student hosting program and I will basically have to reserve a hotel room in advance?
 
collosalmockery said:
I am from Toronto. Go to UofT.

Thanks for the suggestions. From what it seems there is no student hosting program and I will basically have to reserve a hotel room in advance?
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that would be a good idea to reserve a hotel in advance.
 
There's a lot of Canadians here at RFUMS. In this year's M1 class, there's at least 6 of them. In the graduating class of this year (2010), there's at least 5 of them. A few went back to Canada for IM, FM, etc.
 
4goneconclusion said:
I drove from Toronto and it saved me a lot of money.
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are you serious? What about the gas used? At least 3-4 tanks in return trip? Comes to about $150 + the hotel fare + car rental fees + driving for that long and sleep deprivation? I dont know if its worth it.
 
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redribbon said:
There's a lot of Canadians here at RFUMS. In this year's M1 class, there's at least 6 of them. In the graduating class of this year (2010), there's at least 5 of them. A few went back to Canada for IM, FM, etc.
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what do you mean by M1?
 
Anyone suggests a cheap hotel which is closest to RFUMS for one night? There are couple of options for me but I am looking for a cheapest and closest one, so throw in your experiences.

Thank you.
 
collosalmockery said:
what do you mean by M1?
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i believe he means first year medical student (M1) then M2 is second year and so on.

when i interviewed, i stayed at a Days Inn Great Lakes like a mile away. it was at 3000 U.S. 41Lake Bluff, IL 60044. However, i'll warn you it was not the best hotel. but staying somewhere for one night, how much do you need. i think it was around 50$ for the night. plus i drove the next morning to the school and it took like 5 minutes to get there. well good luck!
 
collosalmockery said:
Anyone suggests a cheap hotel which is closest to RFUMS for one night? There are couple of options for me but I am looking for a cheapest and closest one, so throw in your experiences.

Thank you.
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i stayed at the quality inn on green bay road in waukegan. i'm not completely sure, but i remember paying around $50, including an AMSA discount. rooms were OK, had free wireless and refrigerators, and it's about a 10 minute drive from the school. the other good thing for me was that there was a 24-hour diner right across the parking lot, so i didn't have to go to bed hungry.
 
MiniMoo said:
I wouldn't take a taxi though. It can get really expensive -- like $70+. Either take the train or make reservations for an airport shuttle (~$45 each way).
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Hi, which shuttle is this? Is it mentioned in the trip planner @ http://www.rosalindfranklin.edu/DNN/Portals/18/documents/admissions/InterviewTravelPlanner.pdf ?

Thank you.

Metra seems to be the cheapest way but my friend is telling me that it only runs at peak hours and if you miss one station, youll get lost ...

edit: OK found the shuttle info, its called Airport Express. Apparently it takes to Days Inn Great Lakes in North Chicago.
 
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