yes please can someone comment? In general I'm also hearing the new curriculum started August 2014 needs a lot of things worked out and already causing bunches of stress for m1 students and lots of counseling last semester to an extent it is very worrisome. hoping it will smooth out over the next few semesters??
2014-2015 University of Iowa (Carver) Application Thread
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I'm an M1 here... They haven't said much about Step 1 to us, since it's still 2 years away. Yes, according to the website there is a dedicated 2 week break from curriculum/clinical duties in January. I assume that we'll still get M3 winter break which is 4 weeks long, starting at the beginning of December. Additionally, you would have some vacation time or you could try and schedule a research rotation prior if you need more time. Ideally, you would be studying/reading up as you go. There are excellent tutor groups run by upperclassmen for boards, and I have heard rumors that a structured review course is being developed.
Keep in mind that the University is going to be more worried about our board scores than we are; they'll do everything they can to help us succeed.
Personally, I am confident that we'll be well prepared for Step 1. Other schools in the US and Canada have switched to similar curricula and their board scores have either improved or stayed the same. I think having the year of clinical experience will be helpful in solidifying information that you need to know for boards. This year has absolutely flown by, at times it kind of sucks (but I feel like that'd be the case at any medschool). I am really looking forward to clinical rotations less than a year from now!
I strongly disagree with "a lot of things worked out"... If you heard "some things or minor things", then yes that would be something I think is more accurate. The CAPS and MAS strands have been going for both the class of 2017 and my class (2018). The MOHD block that we just finished was neuroscience/neuroanatomy which is notoriously difficult material at any medical school (which may or may not have anything to do with people being upset)... The big thing that people didn't like was the exam/quiz scheduling; basically we had to keep up with new material for the in-class individual/group quizzes, while reviewing old material for the exam.This has been an issue for the one block(neuro). MOHD 3 is structured a little differently and my classmates like how it is set up. They have tried a couple different ways to organize quizzes and tests, I think to see what works out best/what the students like.
Yes, at times it is stressful... But medschool is going to be stressful. Even with all of this stress, our class exam averages have consistently been 80-85+% and professors have mentioned that our class has outperformed previous classes on test questions that they reused (to compare old vs new curriculum). Not everyone is going to be able to get 90+% on every exam in medschool.
The administration holds meetings with students/groups of students regularly for feedback. Everyone in the administration is approachable, and would love to hear any suggestions that you might have. They are willing to make adjustments and will take the feedback we have given to continually improve the curriculum.
If anyone decides not to come to Iowa, I hope it is for reasons besides the new curriculum or being worried about boards. My classmates are awesome and I feel like I've still been able to have a good time/work out/hang out etc. I'm happy I am where I am at and Iowa would still be my top choice if I had to decide all over again. It's a strong and well regarded school; you'll be able to do whatever you want coming from here.
I'd recommend that people come to second look if they can, it's a good time. I can almost guarantee you'll feel the same vibe as what I've been writing about above.
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M2 here studying for step 1 right now. My class is still on the traditional schedule with the exception of we have had MAS/CAPS. jfirefox already said most of the things I was going to say, but I'll just add a couple things from my perspective.
Having clinical correlation is HUGE for step 1. The diseases I remember best are ones I saw in the hospital via CAPS or shadowing. When you can associate chronic granulomatous disease with the cute kid you spent an afternoon with or anti epileptic drugs with a refractory college aged student just trying to have a normal life, you remember them so much better. All that is just to say, IMO the year you all will have in clinic should help for step 1.
Concerned about being further out from biochem? Don't be. I'm only a year and a half out from biochem and I'm still relearning all of it again even though I did very well in it at the time.
Lastly, the administration has put a lot of time, effort, and money into the new curriculum especially in regards to step. I have heard they have paid big bucks to outside companies to review the new curriculum ensuring it is preparing students for step 1.
And come to 2nd look day 🙂
Forgive any typos as I'm typing this from my phone
Having clinical correlation is HUGE for step 1. The diseases I remember best are ones I saw in the hospital via CAPS or shadowing. When you can associate chronic granulomatous disease with the cute kid you spent an afternoon with or anti epileptic drugs with a refractory college aged student just trying to have a normal life, you remember them so much better. All that is just to say, IMO the year you all will have in clinic should help for step 1.
Concerned about being further out from biochem? Don't be. I'm only a year and a half out from biochem and I'm still relearning all of it again even though I did very well in it at the time.
Lastly, the administration has put a lot of time, effort, and money into the new curriculum especially in regards to step. I have heard they have paid big bucks to outside companies to review the new curriculum ensuring it is preparing students for step 1.
And come to 2nd look day 🙂
Forgive any typos as I'm typing this from my phone
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Got my financial aid award letter. Got nothing, haha. It's hard when they take parental data into account, but I'll manage, if I decide to go here!
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Sorry to hear that--did you get loans? Did you already use the IRS retrieval tool and submit everything, or is this what is displayed on the ISIS page?
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Hey friends! So I was going through the ICON pre-M1 list and came across the link "2015 Laptop Computer Requirements." This link talks about the recommended and minimum configurations for laptop requirements. I currently have an HP Folio 13 which fulfills the minimum configuration requirements. I was going to personally increase the RAM from 4GB to 8GB. But I am not a big fan of Windows 8.1 (recommended by the Carver College of Medicine) - my HP currently runs on Windows 7 Professional.
So here are some questions to my fellow students:
1. Would you recommend I keep my HP Folio or I buy a new laptop?
2. If I do buy a new laptop, would you recommend I go for a Windows or a Mac.
3. If I buy a Mac (that I am more inclined towards due to their increased reliability), would you recommend I go for a Macbook Air or a Macbook Pro Retina Display? (the new macbook 12" is too expensive imo)
Thank you for all that respond to my post. I understand that investing in a laptop is crucial since anything that one invests in a laptop is "money lost." So I wanted to make the best possible decision.
So here are some questions to my fellow students:
1. Would you recommend I keep my HP Folio or I buy a new laptop?
2. If I do buy a new laptop, would you recommend I go for a Windows or a Mac.
3. If I buy a Mac (that I am more inclined towards due to their increased reliability), would you recommend I go for a Macbook Air or a Macbook Pro Retina Display? (the new macbook 12" is too expensive imo)
Thank you for all that respond to my post. I understand that investing in a laptop is crucial since anything that one invests in a laptop is "money lost." So I wanted to make the best possible decision.
I would say that the "minimum" requirements for laptops aren't actually necessary. IMO, the faster the better but I would definitely suggest having 8 gigs of RAM because I think it makes a massive difference. I'm not sure if tests are taken on the computer at Carver, but if they are I would imagine the last thing you would want to deal with is your computer freezing/acting up in the middle of an exam.
As for your questions, I would say if you have the money, upgrade. In the grand scheme of things ($200k+ tuition and living expenses), purchasing a nice laptop that you will hopefully have for the entirety of medical school is really a trivial amount of money expense. I prefer windows but that is just personal preference. Also, I cannot comment on the difference between the two Macbooks. Research the differences between the two and decide if the extra money is worth it for the more expensive model.
Tests at Iowa are taken on your own personal computer, so definitely make sure yours is reliable and fast. My friend's crashed during one of her exams in the fall...needless to say it was not a pleasant morning!
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Thank you so much for your response! It was helpful. I think I might go with a Mac. But another concern that I had was about note taking. I was reading up on it online without any special luck. So most people seemed to say that Windows computers were easy with note taking with One Note. While Macs had some problems in that regard. Then some people commented about using Parallels to have Windows on your laptop. I am not a tech savvy person so I didn't really know how that works or if it messes up your Mac by having Windows on it. If you would not recommend using Parallels or Boot camp, do you know of any note taking software that is easy to use with a Mac.
Thank you in advance!
I'm glad it was helpful. I do not know of any Mac specific notetaking software. I have also heard that Macs are not great for taking notes though compared to PC. Just curious, why do you want a Mac? If you are used to the operating system and Windows is unfamiliar to you I understand. However, you can get a more powerful Windows laptop for a cheaper price than a Mac. I may be biased, but unless you are an art or music major I think PC/Windows is superior in most circumstances.
If you are not tech savvy I would not recommend dealing with dual-booting if you have no experience with it, and FYI you would have to end up purchasing the other operating system which isn't necessarily cheap (unless you were to torrent it).
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So I have worked with Windows for several years now. And throughout the years I have had multiple problems with it: the multiple times it has crashed on me. the biggest problem I have with Windows is that as time progresses, the more and more slower it gets. My last laptop, a Dell had a 6GB of RAM, a huge HDD and was beefed up as far as specs are concerned - I have had it for 2.5+ years now but it seems like I have had it for ages. And mind you, I don't misuse my laptop. I do not play any hard core games on it. I only use it for school work. I have a software, Crap Cleaner, that I was told removes the built up cached memory so that the OS doesn't slow down overtime. I use that software once every while but still my laptop is slow beyond repair, I think. The reason I wanted to shift to Mac was because that if I am buying a new laptop, might as well add a couple hundred dollars to my range and get something reliable and strong that will last me a while. Also, I have multiple friends who have a Mac and many of them shifted to a Mac from a Windows and they speak very highly of Macs over Windows. I have never used a Mac myself so I can't say for sure. That's why I was wondering if people had experience, they could answer my queries. 🙂
Although I have heard conjecture that Macs typically last longer than PC's i don't think its necessarily true. Everyone in my family except me owns a Macbook (i have an iPad, though) and all of their laptops broke before my HP envy 14, which lasted about 4 years. This is just one case though. I think the difference is probably negligible but if I had to say I would admit that Macs do last longer when using simply for internet browsing, etc.
Regardless, whatever you decide to do get a laptop with a good processor and a large amount of RAM (8+ GB) as that is what will be most useful for your purposes.
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Do you think an HP Folio 13 with intel core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128 Solid State Drive (flash) be a reasonable combination? I have an iPad 2 that I was planning on using for hand-written notes using GoodNotes 4 or Notability using a Adonit Jot Pro stylus. I was hoping the laptop and the iPad would be a good setup and I could save up money on a new purchase yet and could later buy it if need be. I heard iPad mini is pretty sweet for M3 clinical rounds as it fits into the coat pocket neatly.
Those specs are exactly what I have in my 1.5 year old gaming PC and my computer is very fast. I also have an iPad with notability and it works okay for notes now, but I am going to switch to laptop when I start in the fall because I can type much faster than I can write.
iPad mini would probably be good for rotations, but for the first year and a half I would definitely recommend having a device you can take notes on via typing, maybe even a surface pro or something where you can write and type.
I will preface this by stating that no one but my 86-yr-old grandmother would consider me a tech guru. But, I've been in school here two years and have really enjoyed the following products so I'll share them here.
Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad T530 with 8 GB RAM, intel core i7 processor and a 180 GB SSD (I have an external hard drive for extra space). It runs Windows 7. It's a little heavy to cart around but that is the only thing negative I could say about it (and it's not a total brick or anything). Being a business laptop it's very durable, very fast, very reliable, great battery life, and never lags even with multiple things running. I have no concerns about having to replace it before I graduate, and it was cheaper than a Mac would have been. I use it as a desktop at home.
Tablet: Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 edition. This thing is why I don't mind a slightly heavier laptop - I only bring the tablet to school unless I have a specific need for the laptop (tests, some small groups). The rest of the time when I'm studying at school and need a computer I like to use a big screen one at Hardin or in MERF. Many people have iPads and like them for taking notes. They are definitely great tablets for all-around use, but in a side-by-side note-taking comparison (which I did before purchasing) the Note or any tablet with similar screen tech (Wacom digitizing) is a clear winner if you want it to feel like writing on paper with a pen and/or have horrible handwriting that would embarrass a kindergartner and would like to actually read what you scrawled. Now they have a newer version I think. So if you don't already have a tablet and want one, try it out in a store. I use EZpdfreader and Dropbox.
As for Windows v. Mac, it just depends what kind of Windows laptop you're looking at - there are great ones and crappy ones depending on the brand and specs, while there are only a few Macs on the market so comparison is kind of hard. If you get a sufficiently powered machine and take care of it, it should last at least 4 years either way.
As a general comment I would say that despite being a thrifty person, I do not regret a penny of what I spent on my tech choices - whatever you decide to get you will be using constantly for the next few years and paying a little extra for quality stuff that fits your needs the best is money well spent. That doesn't mean you need to run out and blow money on the latest and greatest, but I wouldn't try to skimp on it too much either. Decide what you want and then wait for the best deal.
Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad T530 with 8 GB RAM, intel core i7 processor and a 180 GB SSD (I have an external hard drive for extra space). It runs Windows 7. It's a little heavy to cart around but that is the only thing negative I could say about it (and it's not a total brick or anything). Being a business laptop it's very durable, very fast, very reliable, great battery life, and never lags even with multiple things running. I have no concerns about having to replace it before I graduate, and it was cheaper than a Mac would have been. I use it as a desktop at home.
Tablet: Samsung Galaxy Note 2014 edition. This thing is why I don't mind a slightly heavier laptop - I only bring the tablet to school unless I have a specific need for the laptop (tests, some small groups). The rest of the time when I'm studying at school and need a computer I like to use a big screen one at Hardin or in MERF. Many people have iPads and like them for taking notes. They are definitely great tablets for all-around use, but in a side-by-side note-taking comparison (which I did before purchasing) the Note or any tablet with similar screen tech (Wacom digitizing) is a clear winner if you want it to feel like writing on paper with a pen and/or have horrible handwriting that would embarrass a kindergartner and would like to actually read what you scrawled. Now they have a newer version I think. So if you don't already have a tablet and want one, try it out in a store. I use EZpdfreader and Dropbox.
As for Windows v. Mac, it just depends what kind of Windows laptop you're looking at - there are great ones and crappy ones depending on the brand and specs, while there are only a few Macs on the market so comparison is kind of hard. If you get a sufficiently powered machine and take care of it, it should last at least 4 years either way.
As a general comment I would say that despite being a thrifty person, I do not regret a penny of what I spent on my tech choices - whatever you decide to get you will be using constantly for the next few years and paying a little extra for quality stuff that fits your needs the best is money well spent. That doesn't mean you need to run out and blow money on the latest and greatest, but I wouldn't try to skimp on it too much either. Decide what you want and then wait for the best deal.
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Just want to give a shoutout to the classic iPad + Notability combination. It's what I've used the whole way through and it is a pretty popular option. I will say whatever method you go with you should test it out now. If you are transitioning from pen and paper notes (like me) there is a learning curve whether you go ipad, other tablet, or laptop
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Thank you! I am agonizing between making the trip to Iowa and going to one of the other Second Look Days. . .kind of all scheduled the same weekend. When I looked at the description, it looked a bit skimpy. I appreciate the promo. . .any more persuasion? BTW, just met a practicing doc who told me to choose Iowa over schools more "highly ranked"--that it is an awesome and under-appreciated medical school.
Appreciate any counsel. I am OOS, and didn't get a lot of financial aid, so this will be a tough decision. (My home state allows students to become residents while studying--Iowa most emphatically does NOT!!) Short of getting a job and paying state taxes for a year, I may not have the option of returning to the state in which I was born. (Doesn't it count for anything that I was BORN in the University Hospital in Iowa City?
)A weird question, so please forgive me, @markyb03. As my name might suggest, I am (South Asian) Indian-identified. Is there an active Indian community in the med school, do you know? I don't dislike other folks, just need to get my Bollywood, garba, samosa fix from time to time. Any ideas how to find out more?
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I've heard similar sentiments. 👍
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I too have been told this by multiple docs I work with. They seem so nostalgic when they talk about Iowa as though it's "the one that got away". They are strongly encouraging me to go to Iowa over D or Y. I'd like to go to second look too but all three are scheduled on the same weekend.
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As my username suggests, I am also South Asian (Pakistani) - I actually immigrated to the US (Iowa City) a couple years ago for college. I can personally vouch for the massive south-asian/"desi" population. ISA (Indian Student Association) is a very active student org which hosts multiple annual events. They range from Gathe Raho (south asian acapella contests) to Nachte Raho (south asian dance group contests) where teams from all over the country compete from prizes. The student org also organizes GRBB (garba, raas, bhangra, bollywood) dance nights to celebrate the four main dance categories in India. A very good friend of mine used to organize this event. It has also hosted Diwali shows throughout the years. You talked about samosas: we have multiple south asian restaurants around town and a proper grocery store. If you don't mind a bit of travel, Cedar Rapids (a city half an hour from Iowa City) has a larger collection of south asian restaurants and grocery stores. Additionaly, a theater in Cedar Rapids often has show timings for Bollywood movies. I remember watching Gunday with some friends a while ago. Even though I have not been in Iowa for long, the atmosphere of the south asian community and the "other folks" - as you called them 🙂 - has made me feel right at hoome. I would greatly recommend this school. I am also choosing it over other offers I got. If you have any other questions, you are more than welcome to either post here or send me a private message. I will try and answer it to the best of my abilities. Hope this helped.
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Since it seems like we have a good amount of current students in the discussion, can you guys comment on how long it takes you to commute to and from school, and how you do so (bike, moped, walk, bus)? I am currently trying to finalize housing plans, and am unsure if I want to take an option that is farther away from MERF (probably a 25-30 minute walk) but much cheaper. It is south of Benton St., so there don't appear to be any easily accessible bus routes there either. During warmer times, I will be able to either bike/moped to school, but I am unsure how to travel to school during the winter since there is no parking pass. Advice?
Do they not offer all students loans? I was, but I just assumed that it was standard because you have to pay for it somehow...
Do they not offer all students loans? I was, but I just assumed that it was standard because you have to pay for it somehow...
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I'm an incoming M1, but I've lived in Iowa City for a quiet a few years so I can give you some insight on the commute. I would warn you that its a long walk from south of Benton and there are a couple of hills (however there is an awesome HyVee over there that I use all the time as my grocery store). There are actually a couple of public buses that go over that way and you would just take that to the Pentacrest on the main campus and hop onto a free University of Iowa bus (Cambus) and it will drop you right in front of MERF. I estimate it would take you 20 minutes if you account for a short wait to change buses. The parking garage (Newton where you may have parked on interview day) is expensive so I hardly ever use it with my car. Instead I get a motorcycle pass for the year and park in that same garage for really cheap. Mopeds park there as well with the same passes. You can find all the options for parking passes of all sorts by logging into ISIS --> Student Records --> My Parking. There are also passes for nights and weekends and some options of bus passes for the public bus if you think you will be using that mode of transportation a lot.
Personally I ride my motorcycle when its nice, but when its cruddy weather I take the public bus. Its really clean and nice and there is an app called Bongo you can get for your phone that tracks the buses (no waiting outside in the cold in advance wooo). Winters are pretty brutal sometimes and while I've seen a few people on their mopeds in the winter pretty please don't do that. It is extremely unsafe and between the ice and lose salt its not worth the risk. The bus is warm and only 1$.
Link to city buses: http://www.icgov.org/apps/transitmap/
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As your post shows, you will be an AWESOME DOC!! I'm rooting for you!
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Thanks so much, @pakipride! I will definitely be sending you a PM, and greatly appreciate your guidance! Bahut shukriya!
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Haha! I loved the "bahut shukriya!" I'm sorry I don't know the Urdu/Hindi for you're welcome. But, you can contact me anytime!
Awwwww thank you @BengaliBrat ! I'm still floating on clouds knowing that I'll be in medical school next year. I hope you decide to come to Second look at Iowa! I'd be happy to show you around to all the best places in Iowa City if you end up making it over this way! Also want to agree big time with @pakipride there is a huge influx of asian cultures in Iowa City. You will have plenty of opportunities to engage in your culture with other individuals and explore some new ones as well!
Can any current medical students comment on the Research summer fellowship and its overlap into the first month of classes? I am considering applying for the RSF, however I am put off by the fact that I would still be in the lab for the first month of classes. I would prefer to settle into medical school without any distractions and make my transition as smooth as possible, but I'm definitely interested in the program so I'm having a tough time deciding.
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I have been doing some research but don't seem to find the answer to my question. What would be the best note-taking app for the iPad? Most say it's noteability (used with a stylus). But a huge number of online sources tend to suggest Goodnotes 4 as well. Would current medical students please shed some light on this. What is the main form of course material (PDF, powerpoints, etc) used by professors at Iowa and what is the best app for an iPad to work on that mode of teaching? If you could speak from (personal) experiences, it would be great. Otherwise, if anybody knows from what their classmates use and could help me in this, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!
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Hi everyone, congratulations to those who've been accepted! 🙂
I was also accepted but I'm not sure if I will go because I would have to do a long-distance relationship, and there's no train or plane that'll take me home easily... However, I really loved my interview day at Carver and thought the school and city was a great fit for me. I can also attend a school in my current location but it's known to be more cutthroat and I had enough of that in college.
Does anyone have advice on what to do in a situation like this?
One part of me says to go to Iowa where I might have more career support, and the other part of me says to toughen up, stay where I am, and have stronger family support. I feel that I'm having to choose my career or my relationship...
I was also accepted but I'm not sure if I will go because I would have to do a long-distance relationship, and there's no train or plane that'll take me home easily... However, I really loved my interview day at Carver and thought the school and city was a great fit for me. I can also attend a school in my current location but it's known to be more cutthroat and I had enough of that in college.
Does anyone have advice on what to do in a situation like this?
One part of me says to go to Iowa where I might have more career support, and the other part of me says to toughen up, stay where I am, and have stronger family support. I feel that I'm having to choose my career or my relationship...
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You're likely better off spending money on an ipad instead of a new computer. Yours sounds fine.
I think there's a certain amount of 'hometown'/'regional' pride at play here and while Carver is an amazing institution, I'd pick one of the other two if all else is equal or even close (i.e. money). If I'm not mistaken, you're pretty interested in academia and name often does make a difference in medicine.
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I've been told by research-oriented physicians that Carver has a great academic/research reputation as well.
I use Notes Plus and like it a lot!
Only you can answer this. But I was in a very similar situation toward the end of college, and long story short, I'm very glad I chose the institution that was right for me instead of basing it off of my relationship.
Start/end dates should be reasonably flexible with your PI. I don't know of anyone who was still working in the lab full-time after school (orientation) started; I was done the week before orientation. The abstract for your presentation is due the first day of official classes for the college of medicine (Monday after orientation week), and a week earlier if you want to do an oral presentation. Your project should basically be completed by the time school starts. You might have to do some work if you still need to analyze some data or put together your presentation/poster, which is manageable during the first two weeks of school.
Yes, it is true that the name brand of Iowa is not in the same league as the top ~5 (UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, UPenn, etc... Which no school outside of the tippy top tier is going to be in the same league as the aforementioned...). Personally, I don't think I'd want to go to a school like those mentioned (it's a completely different atmosphere/vibe from what I've heard from friends attending those schools).
I wouldn't mitigate the merits of this school. We have faculty who are highly respected in their respective fields and in some decently prestigious positions (incoming ACOG president, HHMI Investigators, members appointed to JNC 8, Director of Research for the Gates Foundation, and I'm positive others that I don't know about). Additionally, top tier residency programs in competitive fields like ENT, Ophtho, Ortho and strong programs in bread and butter fields like Internal Med etc...
In regards to pursuing academic medicine, I'd say that the residency you go to matters more than the medical school you came from. You should be able to get into a good residency program from here. I've heard from multiple M4's going into several specialties across the country that they were highly sought after and that they received feedback from PD's that coming from Iowa was definitely favorable.
So unless D or Y for Overanxious is one of the schools in the tippy top, I'd say Iowa would be in the same league as the next 10-20 or so schools.
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People's views on those schools change vey quickly when they get that acceptance.
I'm not talking down to Carver because it's an amazing school, but Yale's reputation precedes it.
Within academic circles, it's not likely to make a gigantic difference, but there's clearly a difference between the average accepted student at those two institutions. Their purposes are entirely different as well.
I'm not talking down to Carver because it's an amazing school, but Yale's reputation precedes it.
Within academic circles, it's not likely to make a gigantic difference, but there's clearly a difference between the average accepted student at those two institutions. Their purposes are entirely different as well.
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Question for current students or those in the area: This has been talked about a little bit but what are the *affordable* options for parking if you do live too far away to walk? I feel like at interview day everyone's advice was simply to live closer. What if you lived in Coralville for instance?
I have lived in Coralville for the past two years and have renewed my lease again for next year. There are pretty decent bus routes here that go to/from MERF, which is what I use most of the time. They do not come as often as I want sometimes, but overall it isn't a problem. If I only plan to be on campus for an hour or two I just drive 5 minutes and park in Newton Ramp but that gets pricey if you do it a lot. Several students in my complex bike to campus, so that's also an option. If you're too far to bike and/or not on a bus route, you could also purchase a commuter permit to park in the Finkbine Lot and then take a shuttle to MERF. Since you mentioned Coralville here is a link to those bus routes (there is construction happening now until August but then it will go back to normal). http://www.coralville.org/166/Bus-Schedules-Route-Maps
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My wife is concern about taking the bus in the snow as we are new to the concept of weather. Is it a problem?
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I can speak about this from personal experience. I have been living in Iowa for the past couple years. As an undergrad, I roomed with other undergrads on the east side of the river. Now for those from out of state, east side is the downtown side. I would not recommend living there: the entire medical campus is on the west side and the major bulk of undergrad population on the east side will not be a smart fit - in my opinion. I couldn't take it no more after a few months. No offense to anyone.
The west side (Coralville - as mentioned in previous posts) I think is a great fit for graduate students and especially medical students. The area is nicer, the apartment complexes are newer, the medical campus is on the west side as I earlier mentioned and you live away from the undergrad population. If you do wish to have a night life, the downtown area is only a 10-min bus ride away. That brings me on to the bus service. The Coralville transit is a nice mode of transportation. Like @Kantanan mentioned, the schedule is not as frequent as one would like, but overall it's a great service. I like it a lot. As a university student you can get a semester pass on a discounted price which can let you ride the bus unlimited times during that semester. If you plan well, you can end up living close to a bus stop served by the free (for all) Cambus service of University of Iowa - one of the best things that happened to me in undergrad at Iowa lol. The buses are pretty regular come rain or snow. The weather may be an "issue" for some but the entire Midwest faces that and Iowa is no exception. I can completely understand if one might be skeptical of walking and/or standing in rain or snow waiting for the bus. The great solution for that is the smartphone app: Bongo (bus on the go) which keeps track of the buses on the Coralville transit, the Iowa City transit, and the University of Iowa Cambus. You can track the next bus from anywhere and plan your trip to the bus stop as such you don't have to wait in less than favorable weather conditions.
If you need some help deciding where to live, Villas on 4th is an ideal option in my opinion. The bus stop is less than a couple minutes' walk away and it gets you to the medical campus in 5-7 minutes. The landlord themselves are super nice. Other than that, there are MULTIPLE great options. Much information about them can be found on ICON and Carver website. Hope this helps. 🙂
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A majority of the M2s I know use notability on ipad but that being said most people get used to and like whatever works for them. Everyone likes theirs the best because most people just chose one and stuck with it. Honestly whichever one you choose, learning to be efficient with that app is pretty much the biggest hurdle to get over.
For housing I definitely agree that very few med students live on the east side. However the West side is split into Coralville, University Heights, and Iowa City proper. What pakipride said about Coralville is definitely true and the friends I know who live there don't seem to mind the bus plus you do get more bang for your buck in square footage and quality. I seriously considered moving to coralville for M3/4 for some brand new condos that were. Check out Old Town Condominiums on 5th avenue and 808 on 5th if that is what you are looking for.
I ultimately decided to stay in University Heights because commute is the most important thing for me especially considering surgery morning rounds next year. Selfishly I want to be able to decide when to go to school, when to leave, and not have to worry about fitting in with the bus schedule. In University Heights, if you live east of Sunset and north of Benton, the walk/bike ride to school is very easy ~15 minutes. There are some nice condos over here too - check out grandview court, oakcrest, and woodside drive. If you are have enough people or are married there are some very nice older homes that people renovate then rent out to med students, residents, etc that are very close to the hospital.
Hope to see many of you on Saturday!
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I have the same question too. I thought I heard that it's fairly casual, but I don't think it really said in the email that was sent. Anyone know for sure?
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Thanks for the information! I have a feeling we will end up in the university heights area actually, but might have to drive kiddos to daycare on the way. I didn't think biking them in during the winter would be very fun, and I doubt they will fit on a vespa with me. Could you share about what times classes/required activities begin and end during M1 and M2 years?
And @markyb03, I have been searching in this area on craigslist for 3 or 4 bedroom places because of the whole distance thing, but the options are so limited. Are there other places to search? I also looked on the student housing page, but those were more for someone looking for a single room. Thanks!
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I don't remember exactly where I saw it, but I did read that it is casual. I think it might have been on the initial document they put on the student portal. I think I am going to go with nicer casual, but my husband will be in tee shirt and jeans per usual.
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Alright thanks!
There are definitely families around town that live in apartments, but I'm not sure about med students specifically since I don't know many that have families or where they live. I think it would just depend on the complex - some seem to have lots of kids around while others are almost entirely grad students.
I am not very familiar with the M1 schedule this year, so hopefully one of them will correct me if this doesn't apply to the new curriculum. It would be a great question to ask at Get Acquainted Day. Here is my best guess:
The earliest you would have a regular required activity would probably be 8 am, and something could go as late as 5:30 (maybe), but it wouldn't be every day, and most days you probably wouldn't be on campus for more than maybe 6 hours unless you like to be. Some days could be much less or you may not have to go at all if nothing is required. A lot depends on the semester and your individual schedule.
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Oh okay. Thanks! I will ask some of the current M1s about it this weekend! I have such a long list of questions haha. But I guess that's what second look is all about!
