What’s the general schedule when it comes to lecture, clinic, length of blocks, exam frequency, etc? Is the info on Admit.org still accurate regarding pass/fail, AOA, internal rank, etc? Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!
We have lectures almost daily, limited to 4 hours a day most of the time. Some are required in person, some aren't, and it varies a lot by block tbh. The first and fourth block, it's about 2 days a week, the second and third was basically daily. All of them are webcast live and recorded.
Don’t apologize; thorough is good. I like all of this, and if there’s dedicated time before exams and STEP, then I guess I don’t mind the strict attendance. It’ll get my ass out of bed. Are exams NBME-based?
Yes! NBME CAS. Basically they get the entire question bank of NBME questions and pick which ones they want. They don't test niche details tho, they actually try to make it representative of the topics available.
Do you know anything about financial aid and how to apply for it/how students without parental support pay for everything? I know the BBB messed graduate federal aid up so there might not be any good answers for this rn 🙁 I just submitted my FAFSA and idk what steps to take next. I've been living/working in LA for a few years already so I'm very familiar with how expensive everything is here and i'm worried about being able to pay for rent/food/etc without a job. ty 🙂
For now it’s just FAFSA. Most students have to take out loans. Some people get recruitment scholarships but you don’t need to do anything else for them. After being accepted, theres a few internal scholarships/loans that you can apply to.
So if I were to take out loans before the end of 2025, I would be able to take out a full 400k for example, or am I misunderstanding this?
It depends on the type of loan. As far as I’m aware the BBB applies to new borrowers of grad PLUS loans. So if you’ve take out grad PLUS loans before, you’re not considered a new borrower and the limit shouldn’t apply to you. I’m not 100% sure but that’s my understanding of it
Yep!
They took off 0 two cycles ago, but data on last year hasn’t been published yet. They also don’t release total WL numbers, so there’s really not a lot to say about it. Check last years threads to see if there was movement.
Are you all trying to take out loans before July 1st (when BBB supposedly takes effect) then so that we are not "new borrowers?"
It is my understanding that because federal Grad PLUS loans are disbursed right before classes start, i.e., after July 1, we would be held to the constraints of the BBB. Someone please chime in if I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that if we're going to be starting school after the bill has taken effect, the government and banks are going to be raring to capitalize off of the $200k limit.
Yup. I think you're right. Are you guys thinking of private loans to cover the gap?
Yes we are. They recommended that we max out our unsubsidized loans to be able to take out grad PLUS loans and then take out at least 1 dollar in grad PLUS loans to make sure we can take out any amount we need in future years
this whole thing is very confusing but from my understanding new students are not allowed to take out loans before july 1 since we don't actually start the year and get them disbursed until late july/early august. current students can take out more bc they're already considered students but i don't think that we would technically be students and be able to get loans before the year starts. but i could be wrong, especially bc it seems like nobody has any actual solid info on the new financial aid process for us.
The earliest a school can disburse a PLUS loan is 10 days before the first day of classes (by law), so unless your school starts classes before July 1st, you are screwed. That date was specifically set to screw classes starting Summer 2026 and there is no way around it.
Which schools have indicated a start date before July 1?
OHSU and WMed apparently.
Thank you! Im curious to know where most Keck students live — Is it difficult to find affordable off campus housing options?
Nothing in LA is priced reasonably. Source: USC alum.
I just got an interview from UCLA; you're not helping my excitement.
Doctorend you literally said you entered the last boat of a sinking ship. You should be excited or be frozen to death like them titanic lads
Sure am curious to see how things go for ucla after they're >$1bil poorer from Don's extortion
Correction: Donny demanded they pay $1 billion or he would withhold $580 million in research funding. Court ruled in UCLA's favor. They didn't lose any money. My potential scholarship money is saved.
There’s no “on campus” housing for med students. That being said, there’s an unofficial apartment complex less than 10 minutes from campus (Currie Hall) that gives priority to med students (and other HSC students like Pharm, DPT, PA, etc.) and even has random roommate assignment if needed. I would say somewhere around 50% of students live there.
What the other person said abt Currie hall is correct, but I wanted to add that the rent there is a bit more expensive than if you're able to find a roommate and live "off campus" (which is everywhere else bc there is no on campus housing lol) somewhere within transit distance like koreatown, boyle heights, etc. If you have a car you can live further and find better deals, I just don't have one. I'm sure it's nice to live w all other students but I'm broke so I think I want to either save money or live somewhere that's actually worth that price.
The other consideration here is that if we are taking out private loans to round out the cost of attendance beyond the $200k covered by Grad PLUS, debt is debt is debt. The little extra money taken out to cover housing in Currie Hall for a year or two of med school while you meet people (versus the money you’d take out to pay rent in surrounding Los Angeles) is going to be negligible in the long run when making a plan for repayment and the timeline to become debt-free. At least that’s how I’m looking at it for myself. There’s no avoiding the debt we’re undertaking unless we’re the 0.1% of people who get huge full tuition or CoA scholarships, so being frugal won’t help very much.
Current student here that helps out with interviews—do not send thank you notes. Keck prefers you don't send anything after and I promise this is not some sort of trick.
Most ppl live in currie hall but you can find affordable housing if you look hard enough. I'm part of a 4 bed 4 bath and im paying <1100 per month. only like 5 min drive from campus too and the apartment is quite modern. U still see ur classmates quite a bit during required classes so I wouldn't worry too much about the social aspect.
Mind sharing? 👉👈
Right now our class is split through Lincoln/Boyle Heights, Echo Park, and Alhambra, and then some even do 45+ minute commutes from places like Westwood if they live at home, and it seems to be pretty doable and saves money! I highly recommend just creating a list of apartments you'd like to tour/schedule tours for whatever day you come down and it'll also give you a good idea of the drive to school. Edit: There are also a bit of turnover of leases from upperclassmen and just generally medical students moving out
As soon as you register for gen chem 1 😤
Probably this or next week if it’s gonna happen before the New Year
not a keck student yet but ive lived in LA for a few years now - if u want to live off-campus and have specific needs/are on a tighter budget, usually 2-3 months in advance. the rental market here is insane and it can be really hard to find somewhere that has everything you want for the price you want. It helps to start looking early, but landlords won't really accept your application if if's more than 2 months in advance from what i've seen bc they want to get places rented faster than that.
Yeah...my result came out after around 9 weeks from my interview! Feel like their 2nd round of decisions will come out like dec 20 something! Good luck!
