For current students, I recall a MS2 that said she lives in Alexandria by the guts bus line. She said it was considerably cheaper to live out there. What are "cheaper" places that med students live (that are reasonably safe locations)? I'm assuming these are apartment buildings. any idea of the monthly rates of these places?
I don't know a ton about this, and I didn't look much beyond Georgetown. What I do know is the vast majority of people live close to campus because it is way more convenient. DC is an expensive city, and Georgetown is not on the metro. Yes, there are free shuttles from Rosslyn and Dupont that run pretty frequently (only the weekdays) and some bus lines that are cheaper and more convenient than the metro itself. Still, you have to decide how much you will actually come to campus. If you are coming everyday, you may get annoyed with the commute (and the extra cost, the metro isn't cheap, buses are cheaper but still about 2 bucks each way). From what I know, living in Georgetown is not much more expensive than living in other parts of the city and is way more convenient. The further out you go, the cheaper it may get but it's a cost-benefit analysis then. Especially for first year when you need to come to campus more often and are deciding whether you want to attend class/study on campus, I would live in Georgetown. Once you get a better feel for the city, I would consider moving out. Also, in terms of social aspects, most people are around campus. Even among third and fourth years, it's still relatively common to stay in Georgetown since you do many of your rotations there (and may not get parking, which sucks).
Also, how many students actually spend $1650 on books? In college I always bought text books but I never used them so I'm curious if there are med students that don't ever use the books either.
There are a few books that everyone buys, but those total maybe a few hundred bucks a semester or less. Besides that, most people don't seem to buy all the books. As well, many of our textbooks are free online through the library if you need a quick reference, and there are some physical copies in the library if you want to borrow it for a few hours. You may buy a few required books as well as some non-required (like some board review books, though many older students will sell these to you cheap second-hand), but I don't think you will be spending $1650 on books unless you really just need to have them. In most cases, you can do just fine in classes without looking at the textbook.
I'm interviewing here in a couple weeks (the 16th) and am trying to nail down lodging/logistics. Have people been able to find reasonably priced hotels with convenient access to the school? I am flying into Reagan the day before and out the day after, so I was hoping I'd be able to find a good spot along the line between the airport and Georgetown to make things a little easier but am not sure if that's a viable hope haha. Any suggestions!
(And sorry if this has already been addressed, I didn't feel like re-going through the whole thread)
There is a student hosting program that you can check out. Not sure of the contact info (contact the admissions office), but they set up a stay with the student which is free and convenient. Besides that, I'm not too sure about DC hotels. There are free shuttles from the Dupont and Rosslyn station though that you can use. Rosslyn is on the same line as the airport so staying in Rosslyn or somewhere along that line could be an option.
