2013-2014 Tulane University Application Thread

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Can any students also comment on their feelings concerning safety/crime in New Orleans/the med school area? I've had some concerns brought to my attention about that :\
 
raisinette said:
Can any current students comment on what the day to day schedule is like for first and second years? Also, when can you start getting involved in the student run clinics? Thanks!

Can any students also comment on their feelings concerning safety/crime in New Orleans/the med school area? I've had some concerns brought to my attention about that :\
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I'll leave discussion of first year classes to any first years on here. Suffice it to say you'll have about a 2-3 month period of mandatory labs almost every morning (Mon-Fri). After that, I'm not quite sure what they've been doing, but it's a lot more variable, since there are more classes. For second year, it's very predictable, with blocks being 3 weeks long. Classes (for the 20ish that still attend second year classes) start at 8:30, end by 2 every day. You're guaranteed to have 1 SP, 1 TBL, a preceptor time (apx. 2-4 hours), and a mandatory tutorial in those three weeks. For most people, all time that isn't mandated is self-study time second year, so class schedules become somewhat irrelevant.

You can get started with student run clinics as soon as you get your introductory Foundations in Medicine classes out of the way, which the Office of Medical Education tries to have scheduled within the first month or so of school. You will be competing with your whole class for those spots, so no guarantees you get the first opportunities that first month.

Safety/crime in New Orleans is a very neighborhood dependent thing. For the greater New Orleans area, I'd suggest checking the nola.com crime map. It's also worth noting that a lot of the violent crime (which tends to be gang-on-gang) tends to stay in certain areas of the city, such as the 9th Ward, the 7th Ward, Mid-City, and Central City. As for the medical school itself, there are regular patrols by the Tulane PD, most of the area is well lit, and there is pretty regular foot traffic from 6am-8pm. If you're at school later than that, security can escort you to your car. The neighborhood isn't necessarily the best (although the demolition of the Iberville projects, which are on the other side of Canal, may do a lot to fix that), but I personally haven't ever felt really threatened while around the school.
 
I'll just add that second year class is usually done at noon. Sometimes you have a 1 pm class, even less often one at 2:15. Every block you'll have one standardized patient session, preceptor, TBL or PBL, and maybe a sim center session. And that's about all you'll have in the afternoon. MPH classes have protected time on like, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons.
 
neuronerd24 said:
Can any students also comment on their feelings concerning safety/crime in New Orleans/the med school area? I've had some concerns brought to my attention about that :\
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I wouldn't say New Orleans or the area around the med school is unsafe, but you definitely do have to take some steps to ensure your safety. Stay on the main streets after dark, and pay to park in the attached garage or one of the lots near the school. There's free parking on the streets about five blocks from the school that I use, but I do not recommend this to anyone else. I had my truck broken into once there, and it can be a scary walk back after a late night study session. Do yourself a favor and budget for parking at about $3/day near the school.

For New Orleans in general, it really matters a lot where you live. I can't say there are any truly safe neighborhoods though, at least not ones that most med students are going to be able to afford. Often the good areas are only a few blocks from the bad, and sometimes there's just a street separating them. Some criminals are lazy and stay in the bad areas, others will walk the few blocks to the good part of town where there's potentially more to steal. Theft is a problem here. You've got to be very diligent about locking up anything that isn't firmly embedded in concrete, because people will steal anything. Someone even stole the flat spare tire out of the back of my truck one day. Shortly before I bought my house, someone broke in and stole the fridge, stove and dishwasher. I don't know why anyone would want to steal a dishwasher, but things like that do happen here.

When you're making a plan on how to stay safe here, I hope your plan doesn't rely on a fast response from the police. I've had to call them twice for non-emergent things. One time it took them about two hours to show up, and the other time I waited three hours before giving up on them. One of my classmates called 911 once, and nobody answered the phone. The NOPD has improved a lot since Katrina and rooted out a good deal of the corruption that plagued the force, but the fact remains that when seconds count, they're minutes if not hours away. Make plans for self-defense that don't rely on them to respond quickly.

I hope I haven't painted too bleak a picture of New Orleans. Crime is going to be a problem anywhere you've got poverty living right next to wealth, not just here. Mostly this is a great city to live in, but the fact remains that bad things can and do happen. You need to be prepared so they don't happen to you.
 
Brownshorts said:
Soooooooo, how'd match go? Most everybody happy?
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I'll bet the guy who matched ortho in Hawaii isn't complaining. Granted he had to join the Army to do it, but still, can life get better than ortho in Hawaii?

I know that a few people didn't match and had to SOAP, but I don't know how many or what success they had. Overall the match list looks great. Lots of people matched in competitive specialties, and the matches in noncompetitive specialties looked really good. Nobody was matching to things like family medicine in southern Arkansas or rural medicine at an unaffiliated hospital in North Dakota.
 
squishandkali said:
For anyone else waiting to hear back post-interview, the school seems to be a little behind. I interviewed Feb 10 and called yesterday to ask about my status. They said Dean Beckman, who I interviewed with, still has my file and anticipates she will have a decision by early next week. That's about a 6 week turnaround. Just wanted to bring a little peace of mind to other students eagerly waiting to hear back!
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So, have you heard back yet?
 
Very quiet here. Has anyone been in contact with admission about if/when there will be wait list movement?
 
To any current students- do you know anyone living in the Saratoga building? I'm looking at apartments and that one is right near school, but I'm concerned about the neighborhood. Any comments?
 
Sorry for not updating sooner, but I STILL haven't heard back from Tulane. They told me two weeks ago that they would have a decision within a week. I called today and the woman who picked up said my file was still under review. I interviewed on Feb 10th. So much for a 3-4 week turn around...anyone who interviewed early Feb or later get accepted or rejected? I know someone mentioned they were waitlisted.
 
Just got my financial aid awards (or rather, lack there of..) 🙁 How does anyone pay for this?! May not be a realistic option for me any longer.
 
Well, you can take out as much in Grad Plus loans as you need, up to the cost of attendance. The problem is that the interest rates are awful. They're a point above Stafford loans and there's a 3% loan origination fee. When I wrote reviews of Tulane earlier in this thead, cost was always the first disadvantage of coming here that I mentioned. Tuition is about $10,000 more than the average private school or OOS public school, which means you'll be about $50,000 deeper in debt than usual by the time you start residency. Unless you've got millionare parents or you're on a military or NHS scholarship, you need to factor that into your decision about which school to attend. That's not to say you shouldn't come here; I passed up some much cheaper DO schools to come here, but you do need to consider if Tulane is worth the extra fifty grand to you.
 
For those who withdrew their acceptance, how long did it take for them to give your $100 deposit back?
 
I'm not sure if I should take my car or sell it... Any thoughts? I'll be living in student housing for at least the first year. I'm fine with biking and walking everywhere, but a little concerned about the safety of that plan.
 
Devassa said:
I'm not sure if I should take my car or sell it... Any thoughts? I'll be living in student housing for at least the first year. I'm fine with biking and walking everywhere, but a little concerned about the safety of that plan.
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You will need a car for third and fourth years. You can get by without one for the first two. Also, car insurance in Louisiana is probably the highest in the country. So if finances are going to be a problem, going without a car is very doable for the first two years, and then you can go looking for a cheap new one for the last two years.
 
Devassa said:
Their COA is more than my entire family makes in a year and they have $0 of need-based scholarships. 🙁
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It's my one big hesitation about Tulane. I loved my interview day and everything about the school and NOLA. Did they give out all of their scholarships already?
 
Devassa said:
I'm not sure if I should take my car or sell it... Any thoughts? I'll be living in student housing for at least the first year. I'm fine with biking and walking everywhere, but a little concerned about the safety of that plan.
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It shouldn't be too much of a problem. As long as you're safety conscious you'll be all right near the med school. See my post on safety in New Orleans at the top of the page. Be careful when you're biking. The reason Louisiana insurance rates are so high is of course because there are lots of terrible drivers here. That's enough of a problem if you're in a car, but if you're on a bike with no armor around you a collision will be much more dangerous.

As ArmyTiger said, car insurance is very expensive here. Registering a car is also expensive, though probably not the highest in the nation. For those of you coming from out of the state, look into what state you want to be a resident of and where you want your car to be registered. Besides some other benefits of being an Alaskan, I get twice the insurance coverage for half the price by keeping my car registered and insured in Alaska rather than establish residency in Louisiana.
 
sdbeachsun said:
It's my one big hesitation about Tulane. I loved my interview day and everything about the school and NOLA. Did they give out all of their scholarships already?
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I'm not sure if they gave them out already or if they are just having a lean year for funding. It could also be that first years are lower on the priority list for money than the other classes. The first year seems cheapest and most students can probably still borrow the full COA from the feds their first year.
 
Chip N Sawbones said:
It shouldn't be too much of a problem. As long as you're safety conscious you'll be all right near the med school. See my post on safety in New Orleans at the top of the page. Be careful when you're biking. The reason Louisiana insurance rates are so high is of course because there are lots of terrible drivers here. That's enough of a problem if you're in a car, but if you're on a bike with no armor around you a collision will be much more dangerous.

As ArmyTiger said, car insurance is very expensive here. Registering a car is also expensive, though probably not the highest in the nation. For those of you coming from out of the state, look into what state you want to be a resident of and where you want your car to be registered. Besides some other benefits of being an Alaskan, I get twice the insurance coverage for half the price by keeping my car registered and insured in Alaska rather than establish residency in Louisiana.
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Thanks for the input, guys! I thought the cost of insurance could increase, but I kinda doubted it would be significant. Glad I found out I was wrong without learning the hard way. 🙂 Thanks!
 
Just got an email about the online medical biochemistry course Tulane offers over the summer.... worth the $400? If anyone here has any experience with it how "self directed" is it. Do we set our own hours? For example if I went on vacation while the course was going on would that be a big deal, or would I be able to catch up at my own pace.
 
Brownshorts said:
Just got an email about the online medical biochemistry course Tulane offers over the summer.... worth the $400? If anyone here has any experience with it how "self directed" is it. Do we set our own hours? For example if I went on vacation while the course was going on would that be a big deal, or would I be able to catch up at my own pace.
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I've got a feeling it might be new, haven't seen anything about it on past years forums. Seems like a nice option if you're accepted, not so great if your on the waitlist considering no one from last years waitlist got in.
 
They sent along statistics of students doing significantly better haven taken the online class- so it doesn't seem new. Honestly though, 400 (800 up front) is a lot for things you can self study from the web.

I suppose if you're really concerned...
 
Hey friends, just got accepted to the MD/MPH program and was planning on starting this summer but I have no idea how registration works. I can get into Gibson with the ID/pin they sent me but it's not allowing me access to anything but the financial aid stuff. Anyone know anything about when we're assigned emails/registering for summer MPH classes?
 
pepes1lv1a said:
Hey friends, just got accepted to the MD/MPH program and was planning on starting this summer but I have no idea how registration works. I can get into Gibson with the ID/pin they sent me but it's not allowing me access to anything but the financial aid stuff. Anyone know anything about when we're assigned emails/registering for summer MPH classes?
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There's not a "Student" tab up at the top of Gibson where it says "financial aid"? Email Allys Dierker, the MD/MPH lady, she'll tell you what you need to do to get registered.
 
Missorleans said:
There's not a "Student" tab up at the top of Gibson where it says "financial aid"? Email Allys Dierker, the MD/MPH lady, she'll tell you what you need to do to get registered.
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The student tab has since appeared and registration went just fine. Thanks for your help 🙂
 
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