2010-2011 University of Virginia Application Thread

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Tippyboat said:
A question about setting money aside for supplies:

I read somewhere earlier in this thread that being paperless saves students a lot of money on textbooks. In the COA, is the $1039 for books/supplies all for mandatory texts? In general, how many books do you buy and how many do you get online?

For the $914 of medical instruments, aside from stethoscope and scrubs, what else are we buying? Did it cost everyone $900+?

http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/education/medical-students/financial-aid/medical-school-costs
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Yyyyeaah. I got by all 4 years with a cheapish stethoscope, trauma shears, and a few pen lights. You will learn how to use the steth as a reflex hammer for efficiency... and most rooms will have opthal/otoscopes in the rare case that u actually need to use them.... and there will be people in classes above you trying to sell theirs for cheap. It IS possible to need that much if you buy a blood pressure cuff and fancy scopes. If you buy scopes, I suggest the more portable kind that fit in your pocket (ie: http://www.allheart.com/wa92821.html)


You also do not need to buy scrubs.. you get some sets from the scrub machines by the OR when you need em.
 
Tippyboat said:
A question about setting money aside for supplies:

I read somewhere earlier in this thread that being paperless saves students a lot of money on textbooks. In the COA, is the $1039 for books/supplies all for mandatory texts? In general, how many books do you buy and how many do you get online?

For the $914 of medical instruments, aside from stethoscope and scrubs, what else are we buying? Did it cost everyone $900+?
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Your question slipped by, sorry.

I actually have bought a few textbooks, most of them for review purposes. You can probably get away with not having most of them, but there will be a few books that you will need to get. These include Radiology 101 (the newest edition, whatever it is) and High Yield Gross Anatomy. I think just about everything else is available in electronic form (we will send you the ones we have that aren't directly available through the library website).

You'll need scrubs for gross anatomy (and a dissection kit that you'll split among 7-8 people). You'll need a stethoscope (that I didn't have to pay for, because my mom bought me one once I got accepted), and an oto/ophthalmoscope (though you can cut this cost significantly by sharing among and between CPD groups). You'll need a blood pressure cuff, tuning fork, and reflex hammer (all of which shouldn't cost more than $20, and can be shared if your costs are that tight).

All total, I spent less than $450 for all my supplies. Of that, about $230 was in books that aren't required, but I felt I needed for understanding. That number will vary depending on how well you understand the texts provided. I think a good number of people invested in First Aid starting with MBB in the Spring, as well as pharmacology textbooks (cause the Pharmacology thread leaves something to be desired).
 
Thank you Richspider and mvenus, it's great to know that they over-estimate.
 
Just to chime in, that figure is an over-estimate. The COA for every school is an over-estimate because it represents the maximum that you are allowed to take out to cover the cost of your education. Like the two other students said, supplies and books don't cost very much. For equipment, I've had to purchase a stethoscope from the site that Richspiders07 linked to and a blood pressure cuff. The only mandatory books are the ones that mvenus listed (Radiology 101, High Yield Gross Anatomy) and possibly another book called Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases. All other books are online and free except for some board review books that they sometimes recommended that we study in parallel with our classes (BRS Biochemistry, HY Statistics, etc).
 
afob100 said:
As the administration noted, there will be fall breaks inserted into the first 2 years...along with an extended summer break of 10 weeks. Also, late winter break has been removed for the first year.
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Saying it's been removed isn't entirely accurate... you guys will have a break about 2 weeks after we did, but we had a whole extra system in second semester to deal with (they've moved it before winter break and combined it with part of MCM). So you'll have that same break, just slightly later, and you'll just get out a lot earlier in the summer, instead of having the Spring break we have between MBB and GI (because you'll have three less weeks in the spring).
 
Strontium said:
So do we have 7 weeks for Step 1 Prep?
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If you don't include the two weeks of winter break after classes end, then yes.
afob100 said:
For those who are interested, the pre-clinical schedule for the 2011 entering class has been posted
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It looks like they're taking away a week from MCM and our week of "CV/PULM/RENAL" (a review, I guess?) to give you guys a fall break each year. MIC has been completely removed to add three more weeks to summer, and I've heard they're going to spread that material across other systems rather than teach it at once. MSI is a week longer at the expense of our late winter break. Overall, that's four more weeks of break for y'all - very nice. Our last 'week' of MCM only went through Tuesday, so don't worry that they're taking out crucial info or anything.

As far as systems go, MCM is a lot shorter as it seems to have been split into a new system of MIS. I'm not sure what MIS will cover, but I'm guessing it'll predominately be immunology, since that part of MCM felt almost like a distinct system for us anyway. Immunology was only four weeks long though, so I'm not sure what the extra two will cover. GI is also now taught before MBB.

Probably the most important point I see - first semester exams end for y'all the same time we finish up. This means you'll be able to go all out for the End of Basic Sciences party! For EBSP this year, it was very painful passing up an open bar because I had class the next day haha. Nice.
 
Steeler7588 said:
As far as systems go, MCM is a lot shorter as it seems to have been split into a new system of MIS. I'm not sure what MIS will cover, but I'm guessing it'll predominately be immunology, since that part of MCM felt almost like a distinct system for us anyway. Immunology was only four weeks long though, so I'm not sure what the extra two will cover. GI is also now taught before MBB.
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I know a little more about this than I probably should... MIS stands for Microbes and the Immune system. They're taking the last 4 weeks of MCM and combining it with Microbes in this new system. Apparently they're moving a lot of MCM material to later systems as well, so that's how they're cutting it down so much.

And they're still trying to figure out where they're going to put the integration week for their class, which is why they didn't remove it to give us a fall break.

The Muholland Secretary has been given exam schedules to put on the Muholland Calendar. Not sure if she's gone through and done it yet, but for the general record, you can find that schedule here.
 
mvenus929 said:
MIS stands for Microbes and the Immune system. They're taking the last 4 weeks of MCM and combining it with Microbes in this new system. Apparently they're moving a lot of MCM material to later systems as well, so that's how they're cutting it down so much.
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Makes sense. I guess that means a week's amount of material from MIC and 2.5 weeks of MCM are being spread around. With MSI being a week longer, that'll help a lot.

Man, that break schedule is awesome.
 
haha...i wasn't expecting the extra week off in the fall or 7 weeks for step 1 prep. i just hope it doesn't mean they are cutting out important info...

overall though, all i have to say is...awesome.
 
I have a couple silly questions for current CVillians.

Is there now a real Verizon store in Charlottesville? One where you can get your phone serviced/replaced?
Anyone know anything about the rumors of Cville getting a Trader Joe's? Because that would be amazing.
 
tr0gd0r said:
I have a couple silly questions for current CVillians.

Is there now a real Verizon store in Charlottesville? One where you can get your phone serviced/replaced?
Anyone know anything about the rumors of Cville getting a Trader Joe's? Because that would be amazing.
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I'm not sure about the verizon store (I should find out, since I need to change my plan and all). And I believe they have broken ground on construction for Trader Joe's. Or the new location of Whole Foods, rather, since I believe Trader Joe's will be taking their location.
 
mvenus929 said:
I'm not sure about the verizon store (I should find out, since I need to change my plan and all). And I believe they have broken ground on construction for Trader Joe's. Or the new location of Whole Foods, rather, since I believe Trader Joe's will be taking their location.
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Ah ok. The nearest Verizon store used to be in Short Pump, which is ridiculous, but I noticed that the internet says there's one up on Rio. I wasn't sure if it was a real store or just one of those retailers.

So...they're moving the Whole Foods to somewhere else and putting a TJ's in it's place? Nice.
 
The new whole foods is supposed to be huge... didn't know that a Trader Joe's was going to be moving into the old location on 29. And there's definitely a real verizon on Rio.
 
I have a question about computers. Are the "bare minimum" requirements really necessary? Right now I have an HP mini with an Atom processor on which I run Ubuntu but can boot into Windows XP if I have to. (I'd love to have a reason to buy a MacBook Pro -- couldn't afford it when my PowerBook croaked -- so it's not the end of the world if my HP won't cut it.)

Also this: "Our students have found it essential to have a large screen display, 21" or larger, at home for study of online documents."

Essential, really? Does pretty much everyone have one of these?
 
tr0gd0r said:
I have a question about computers. Are the "bare minimum" requirements really necessary? Right now I have an HP mini with an Atom processor on which I run Ubuntu but can boot into Windows XP if I have to. (I'd love to have a reason to buy a MacBook Pro -- couldn't afford it when my PowerBook croaked -- so it's not the end of the world if my HP won't cut it.)

Also this: "Our students have found it essential to have a large screen display, 21" or larger, at home for study of online documents."

Essential, really? Does pretty much everyone have one of these?
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You need to be able to use the internet. You might have some issue with a couple of the programs we use in some of the systems, but you can access all of them on library computers, so if all else fails, you have that option.

As far as screen size, mine is 15" across... and I'm not sure if they measure computer screens the same way as they do TV screens. A number of people in our class have Macs that are standard size, and my screen is probably one of the larger screens in the class. We almost always use it for problem sets. I do have a TV that I can plug my computer into to have a larger screen, but I've only used it for that purpose once or twice, when I had to super multitask.
 
If you can run Microsoft Office, you should be set. "Our students have found it essential" is very strong wording. If I were going to choose the ideal laptop, I would go with a 15" screen so that I could comfortably fit a Word document open on one side and a powerpoint, podcast or pdf handout on the other, but I make do with a 12 inch screen. If you want to use a larger screen to view multiple documents, they have a few extra screens in the library that you can use.

Edit: I would guess that literally 4-5 people have an external display. It is certainly not a majority. I would recommend that you not get an extra display unless you find it very difficult after you start.
 
Thanks so much for the advice 🙂 I think my netbook has an 11'' screen, so that's kind of small.

You mentioned Microsoft Office...would Open Office not be sufficient?
 
tr0gd0r said:
Thanks so much for the advice 🙂 I think my netbook has an 11'' screen, so that's kind of small.

You mentioned Microsoft Office...would Open Office not be sufficient?
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I use Open Office, and beyond a few formatting changes here and there (with powerpoints), I haven't had any issue with it. That said, you can get Microsoft Office at the student bookstore for like $10, so it won't kill your pocket if you prefer the licensed software.
 
mvenus929 said:
I use Open Office, and beyond a few formatting changes here and there (with powerpoints), I haven't had any issue with it. That said, you can get Microsoft Office at the student bookstore for like $10, so it won't kill your pocket if you prefer the licensed software.
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Cool. It's not so much a money issue as an I-hate-dealing-with-Windows issue...though if I got an Apple I'd probably just got for Office. Thanks again.
 
tr0gd0r said:
Also this: "Our students have found it essential to have a large screen display, 21" or larger, at home for study of online documents."

Essential, really? Does pretty much everyone have one of these?
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Definitely not essential. I only got one recently, and although I think a decent amount of people have them, it's definitely not a majority. However, I love my 22" LED - after studying with it, there's no going back for me!
 
Another question...would it be at all feasible to miss class on the 15th (first real class, I think)? :/ I have a close friend getting married on Aug 14th on the west coast, and I'll be very very sad if I can't go (though I know it's very likely).
 
Hey guys,

I had a few questions about UVA Med. I love UVA, great school, fell in love with it the first time I saw it. I got accepted, but unfortunately, due to financial issues, I'm attending another school, which I'm happy with, mostly because of the scholarship.

My question to you guys is that in your class do you know of any students from VCU or George Mason (that didn't do post-bacs)?

It's definitely my #1 dream, UVA FTW!
 
FWIW, I'm about to graduate from VCU undergrad and will, at this point, be going to UVa in the fall. Kind of a weird question.... what up with that?
 
We have two students who went to VCU for the guaranteed BA/MD program but then decided on UVA for medical school, and at least one other student from VCU who was in a similar situation as you. He received a substantial scholarship to VCU and did very well in school and is now a happy medical student here with no undergrad debt, so don't be too worried. Nobody from GMU. The vast majority of students from in-state schools went to UVA, William and Mary or Tech, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
 
Bowchickawowwow said:
My question to you guys is that in your class do you know of any students from VCU or George Mason (that didn't do post-bacs)?!
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I'm assuming you're going to be attending those schools undergrad and potentially applying to UVA for med school in a few years.

I hope she doesn't mind me calling her out, but we have one of the top Bhangra dancers in the nation (maybe just the East Coast... either way, super impressive). She went to VCU undergrad. See a performance here.

I haven't heard anyone from George Mason, but I don't know everyone's college either. A lot of people are from Richmond, but I'm not sure how many went to VCU. We also have some Tech people in our class.

tr0gd0r said:
Another question...would it be at all feasible to miss class on the 15th (first real class, I think)? :/ I have a close friend getting married on Aug 14th on the west coast, and I'll be very very sad if I can't go (though I know it's very likely).
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I don't think any of us can really answer that question for you. We don't know what your schedule is going to look like next year. I will say that we were all shocked on the second day of class when it appeared we had to know far more than we were told about. It was a rude awakening. Your best bet is to e-mail the admissions office and ask them to put you in touch with the MCM course directors, and explain your situation to them. They'll be able to tell you how much you'd miss if you couldn't come that day.
 
tr0gd0r said:
Another question...would it be at all feasible to miss class on the 15th (first real class, I think)? :/ I have a close friend getting married on Aug 14th on the west coast, and I'll be very very sad if I can't go (though I know it's very likely).
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Probably not preferred, but email the course directors when you get their contact info. They're very nice people.
mvenus929 said:
I will say that we were all shocked on the second day of class when it appeared we had to know far more than we were told about. It was a rude awakening.
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Yep, that was definitely my 'welcome to med school' moment. A slightly different pace than what I had in undergrad, haha...
 
Thanks 🙂 I'll definitely try to get in touch with the course director.
 
Bowchickawowwow said:
Hey guys,

I had a few questions about UVA Med. I love UVA, great school, fell in love with it the first time I saw it. I got accepted, but unfortunately, due to financial issues, I'm attending another school, which I'm happy with, mostly because of the scholarship.

My question to you guys is that in your class do you know of any students from VCU or George Mason (that didn't do post-bacs)?

It's definitely my #1 dream, UVA FTW!
Click to expand...

Yep, another VCU undergrad here who'll be attending UVa Med this fall. Good luck!
 
can any current students comment on the condensed basic sciences curriculum? did you feel like it was really rushed and left you scrambling to prepare for step 1 or is it just as manageable as a 2 year curriculum?
 
From my personal perspective it's been good. I always feel like there is enough time to get through everything, although things got a little bit rushed in MSI. They've added a week to that system for next year's class. I would also say that, although our curriculum might be a little more "compressed" than last year's class--although I obviously can't make a direct comparison--it seems like certain aspects of their curriculum would have been much harder and left them 'scrambling'. For example, they had to learn every single drug at once in a pharmacology class and all of the pathology at once. From what I understand, this made aspects of second year very difficult. In contrast, our curriculum spreads everything out according to its relevant system, so you break the rote memorization stuff into reasonable and relevant chunks. I would also argue that we'll be better-prepared for boards because we get a longer amount of time to study for them (because winter break is now included in our USMLE-study period) and because they removed a large amount of material from the old basic-science curriculum that was neither clinically relevant nor boards relevant. Learning the material through integrated systems also allows you to understand everything is a clinical context, which is what step one tests.

I recently purchased First Aid 2011, Rapid Review pathology and some review books, and so far we have hit everything in those resources and more, but nothing has been overwhelming. I can see how compressing this into one year like in Duke's curriculum would be very challenging, but I would be surprised if other medical schools don't follow suit with a 1.5 yr pre-clincial curriculum given all of the benefits.

Edit: There's also time to go to lacrosse games, play tennis and go out on the weekends with friends, so don't feel as though you're signing your life away once you start medical school. It's a step up from college, but it's important to keep a balance between school and recreation.
 
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I agree with justinbaily. Though it's hard to comment on how well its preparing us for the boards simply because we don't take Step 1 until January. That said, I also have First Aid and a few other study books, and we've hit on all the salient points for neurology and psychiatry in this system. I haven't had much chance to go back over the previous systems' material yet, but I imagine its much the same. I feel certain aspects of the curriculum are weaker than others (I've decided to study pharm on my own, because I don't feel its emphasized enough during class time), but we're given a very good foundation of clinically relevant information that we'll use not only in studying for the boards, but also once we get on the wards.

We're all staying afloat and finding time for our own lives. The P/F system is awesome because we can focus on understanding the material rather than worrying about our grades (case in point: most people in our class need less than 40% on the exam we're taking this weekend to pass this system).
 
Y'all have already looked over First Aid? YOU ARE SUCH GUNNERS. jk <3

Yeah, it doesn't feel rushed. Like justinbaily said, they've cut out stuff that isn't clinically important. I read complaints on SDN about lecturers sometimes talking about their own research sometimes... that has NEVER been a problem for us. The neurologist partly in charge of our current system told me there's still some stuff that we're taught that he doesn't remember because it's not clinically relevant.

Of course, the more extraneous stuff you teach, the better students can understand - however, I haven't had any issues conceptualizing things yet. At some point, it's overkill. And to test students on random inane stuff is just overly stressful. Condensed curricula are definitely the way to go.
 
mvenus929 said:
I agree with justinbaily. Though it's hard to comment on how well its preparing us for the boards simply because we don't take Step 1 until January. That said, I also have First Aid and a few other study books, and we've hit on all the salient points for neurology and psychiatry in this system. I haven't had much chance to go back over the previous systems' material yet, but I imagine its much the same. I feel certain aspects of the curriculum are weaker than others (I've decided to study pharm on my own, because I don't feel its emphasized enough during class time), but we're given a very good foundation of clinically relevant information that we'll use not only in studying for the boards, but also once we get on the wards.

We're all staying afloat and finding time for our own lives. The P/F system is awesome because we can focus on understanding the material rather than worrying about our grades (case in point: most people in our class need less than 40% on the exam we're taking this weekend to pass this system).
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UVA students will be taking Step 1 in January? I obviously don't know how it works but I thought everyone took it in June. But it does make sense to take it at the end of the pre-clinical curriculum. How many times a year is Step 1 administered? Is the entire class of 2014 planning to take it in the winter?
I read somewhere that a school saw significant improvements in their Step 1 scores when they had students do a few months of clinical rotations first before taking the test in June. I just assumed this was UVA's plan, but I guess there are many options. Thanks for all the information, class of '14.

In other news, it's almost May 15th! I'm so happy to have decided on UVA. Can't wait to meet everyone. 🙂
 
Tippyboat said:
UVA students will be taking Step 1 in January? I obviously don't know how it works but I thought everyone took it in June. But it does make sense to take it at the end of the pre-clinical curriculum. How many times a year is Step 1 administered? Is the entire class of 2014 planning to take it in the winter?
I read somewhere that a school saw significant improvements in their Step 1 scores when they had students do a few months of clinical rotations first before taking the test in June. I just assumed this was UVA's plan, but I guess there are many options. Thanks for all the information, class of '14.

In other news, it's almost May 15th! I'm so happy to have decided on UVA. Can't wait to meet everyone. 🙂
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While every school does it a little differently, at UVA, you have to take Step 1 before you can start clerkships. And you technically have to pass to move on to third year, but since the wait period for scores is like 4-6 weeks, we actually start the first rotation prior to getting our scores. Dunno what happens if you fail, and I don't intend to find out. Prior to our class, UVA students took it in March/April. Since we're done sooner, we take it earlier.

Step 1 is offered roughly every weekday of the year (in looking at availability for January, the first two weeks weren't available, but every weekday after that was... and I only looked this up to see options for taking it early re: vacation), unlike the MCAT, which is only offered certain dates each year.
 
mvenus929 said:
While every school does it a little differently, at UVA, you have to take Step 1 before you can start clerkships. And you technically have to pass to move on to third year, but since the wait period for scores is like 4-6 weeks, we actually start the first rotation prior to getting our scores. Dunno what happens if you fail, and I don't intend to find out. Prior to our class, UVA students took it in March/April. Since we're done sooner, we take it earlier.

Step 1 is offered roughly every weekday of the year (in looking at availability for January, the first two weeks weren't available, but every weekday after that was... and I only looked this up to see options for taking it early re: vacation), unlike the MCAT, which is only offered certain dates each year.
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i was under the impression that we would start preparing for step 1 in jan and take the test mid feb. does this mean we will have to start studying before winter break?
 
ilikepancakes said:
i was under the impression that we would start preparing for step 1 in jan and take the test mid feb. does this mean we will have to start studying before winter break?
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We have to take Step 1 by like February 8th or so. That's 5-6 weeks of dedicated study time after winter break. But I think most people will be casually studying all through the fall.
 
it's been quiet around here lately....

anyway, is the student insurance allocated in the COA something that you are automatically enrolled in, or do you have to fill a form out or something? i am still covered on my parents, so i don't really want to drop an extra $2500 bucks on something i don't need...
 
Is there any word on possible wait-list movement this year? very definitely my top choice
 
mcctwist1 said:
it's been quiet around here lately....

anyway, is the student insurance allocated in the COA something that you are automatically enrolled in, or do you have to fill a form out or something? i am still covered on my parents, so i don't really want to drop an extra $2500 bucks on something i don't need...
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You have to enroll in it.
 
mvenus929 said:
You have to enroll in it.
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Qi Bo said:
Actually, I believe you are simply required to carry health insurance, whether that means you enroll in the school plan, stay on your parents plan, or buy your own plan in the private market is up to you.

See this link and note the wording of the first paragraph:
http://www.virginia.edu/studenthealth/insurance.html
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Let me clarify.

You are not automatically enrolled. You have to physically enroll in it. So if you're covered under your parents' insurance, you won't be shelling out extra to get the school's insurance anyway. The emphasis was on enroll, not 'have to'.
 
Right. If you're under 26 and covered by your parents' insurance then you don't have to sign up for the school's insurance. I was thrilled about that.
 
Congratulations to people getting off the list!
 
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