Attn: USC Keck MSI and MSII

[frangeo27]

What are the hours you are required to be on campus (class, small group, ICM, etc,) a week...is it a 9-5 thing or a 9-12 then 3-5? Looking to see how close to live to campus..

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Sophie]

Depends on what you mean by 'required'.

We have class scheduled from 8-12 every day. On Fridays, that's typically it for the day. On Mondays and Wednesdays we're usually out around 3. Tuesdays usually go until 5. Thursdays we're sometimes out at 12, sometimes 5.

The only required classes are: Monday 1-3 (PPM); Tuesday 8-12 (ICM); and occasionally Thursday 1-5 (if there's a workshop that week). You'll probably want to go on Fridays from 8-12, too, since that's gross anatomy and your group might be annoyed if you always ditch.

Also, if you're into reviews, 2nd years do reviews one or two nights a week, typically from around 4-6.

 

[frangeo27]

Thanks sophie. i really appreciate it. So do you think that commuting about 45 minutes each way would a huge hassel dealing with those hours?

 

[Sophie]

45 minutes is kind of a lot. They're going to work you pretty hard, so 1.5 hours of every day being devoted to driving might become upsetting when you don't have much free time to spare.

There are a few people in my class who live in Santa Monica, so they make it work somehow. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're going to get free rent, or you have a strong reason for living there, I'm sure you can make it work somehow. Keep in mind that our classes start at 8am, so you're going to be in the peak rush hour traffic, though. If you haven't already, try driving from where you're planning to live to Keck on a weekday at 8am (if work/school permits), just to see what it's like.

 

[microgal]

Do most students go to class?

 

[Sophie]

Do most students go to class?

I think so. I typically don't go to class, so it's a little hard for me to assess. Most of the people I talk to go to class, and the rare classes I go to are usually pretty full, so I'm guessing that at least 2/3 of the students go to class.

 

[pennybridge]

what do you think's a better set up, Sophie, South Pas or Downtown?

 

[Sophie]

what do you think's a better set up, Sophie, South Pas or Downtown?

That's hard, because they're really different. I'm probably moving downtown next year, but South Pas is nice too.

South Pas
About 20 minutes from school (with traffic)
Very safe, family-type environment
Close to lots of grocery stores and coffee shops, but not much nightlife
More of a suburban, tree-lined streets, laid-back feel

Downtown
About 10 minutes from school (with traffic)
Not very safe, lots of homeless people
A few coffee shops and 2 (I think) grocery stores, good nightlife
Obviously very urban
Pretty close to the main campus (thus close to their gym and pool)

South Pas would definitely be more peaceful, and it's a bit cheaper, but Downtown is more exciting, and closer to most of the places you'd want to go. If you want to be close to lots of med students, though, downtown isn't the place to be. It really just depends on the kind of atmosphere you're looking for.

 

[pennybridge]

iiiiinteresting.


well I'm re-thinking my original plans to live in santa monica, so I guess south pas is more my speed

I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and drive to the beach

 

[Sophie]

You might want to consider Los Feliz or Silver Lake, too - that's the other area I'm considering moving to next year. I think they'd probably be a bit more like Santa Monica (minus the beach, obviously) than South Pas would.

Los Feliz/Silver Lake
25 minutes from school (with traffic)
TONS of grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, shopping
Huge park that's great for running in
Children's Hospital L.A. is here, and they have a free shuttle to our campus


(By the way, a lot of this info is taken out of the Salerni Guide, which you'll be receiving at some point before you start school)

 

[frangeo27]

Hey sophie, let me just say that it's really very nice of you to give us all this advice. much appreciated. By chance, do you have access to the Keck match list from this past app. cycle (2007)? or know where I can find it?

 

[njbmd]

Moving to Pre-Allo.

 

[riceman04]

You might want to consider Los Feliz or Silver Lake, too - that's the other area I'm considering moving to next year. I think they'd probably be a bit more like Santa Monica (minus the beach, obviously) than South Pas would.

Los Feliz/Silver Lake
25 minutes from school (with traffic)
TONS of grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, shopping
Huge park that's great for running in
Children's Hospital L.A. is here, and they have a free shuttle to our campus


(By the way, a lot of this info is taken out of the Salerni Guide, which you'll be receiving at some point before you start school)

Is there still on-campus housing (at the Health Science Campus)?

 

[Dedalus]

Hey sophie, let me just say that it's really very nice of you to give us all this advice. much appreciated. By chance, do you have access to the Keck match list from this past app. cycle (2007)? or know where I can find it?

I’ll save you the trouble: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=380893&page=10

Right now it’s towards the bottom of that page.

Sophie, how easy do they make it for independent learners? Do they post videos / audios of the lectures online, is there a note transcription service, or are you mostly on your own? Thanks!

 

[pennybridge]

I’ll save you the trouble: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=380893&page=10

Right now it’s towards the bottom of that page.

Sophie, how easy do they make it for independent learners? Do they post videos / audios of the lectures online, is there a note transcription service, or are you mostly on your own? Thanks!

a second year told me almost all the lectures are podcast.

 

[fightingon]

What are the hours you are required to be on campus (class, small group, ICM, etc,) a week...is it a 9-5 thing or a 9-12 then 3-5? Looking to see how close to live to campus..

i had a similar question so i called the admissions office. they gave me this website that has the current schedules on it: http://medweb.usc.edu/
click on "calendars & schedules" on the left hand toolbar and you can see the day-by-day schedule for the whole year, for each module and for each class, its very helpful.

 

[Sophie]

Is there still on-campus housing (at the Health Science Campus)?

There are dorms on campus, but they fill up REALLY early. I've heard most of the people who live in them are 3rd years. As a 1st year I'm not sure they'd be the best place to live - they are definitely incredibly convenient (they're right above the cafeteria, and steps away from the main lecture hall), but there really isn't anything to do in the neighborhood around campus, and there aren't many 1st years who live there.

If you're interested, though, I'd recommend claiming one ASAP. When I checked in mid-June last year they only had 1 double left.

 

[Sophie]

I’ll save you the trouble: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=380893&page=10

Right now it’s towards the bottom of that page.

Sophie, how easy do they make it for independent learners? Do they post videos / audios of the lectures online, is there a note transcription service, or are you mostly on your own? Thanks!

Thanks for posting the match list. Just to add to what was posted there, I heard that 8 students didn't match this year. I believe 4 of those were Derm, 1 was Plastics, and I'm not sure what the others were. I don't know anything about the other specialties, but I know this was a REALLY bad year for Derm. In addition to the 2 students listed on the match list, 1 other student (a reapplicant) matched. But that's still only 3 out of 8 (one student applied to both derm and radiology, and matched radiology, so he's not counted among the unmatched). Past years have been much stronger.

Regarding independent learning: In January of this year they started webcasting most of our lectures. There are still some professors who are holding out, but I'd rather have 85% of lectures webcast than 0% (which is how it was before January). The webcasts are not live - they're typically put online within about 6 hours of the lecture. Even before they started webcasting I skipped a lot of lectures, because our lecture handouts are usually very good. We are only held responsible for the material in the handouts (and the very rare "required reading" assignments), and there are 'learning objectives' listed for each lecture which lets you know what they're going to emphasize on the test. If the professor says something in lecture, and it's not in the handout, you don't need to know it. I think this is very conducive to learning on your own, since you know exactly what info you need to learn, and you don't have to worry about missing something by not attending lecture.

Also, every professor puts their lecture powerpoint up online as well, and these are sometimes really useful. I believe some of the students in my class started a notetaking group, but I really don't think this is necessary given all of the other resources.

 

[Sophie]

i had a similar question so i called the admissions office. they gave me this website that has the current schedules on it: http://medweb.usc.edu/
click on "calendars & schedules" on the left hand toolbar and you can see the day-by-day schedule for the whole year, for each module and for each class, its very helpful.

Compare neuro (our current block) to all of the other blocks (especially heme), and you can see why my life sucks right now.

 

[USCMed08]

I skipped 95% of 1st and 2nd year classes. Many of my peers were hesitant to skip, but if you really don't get anything out of lectures, don't go. It'll be a waste of time that could be better spent sleeping, studying, or chilling at the beach. Don't be afraid to rely on lecture notes as Sophie suggested. In hindsight, I wish had I studied First Aid and my lecture notes simultaneously from day one (I didn't start using First Aid until the second half of 2nd year). This accomplishes two things. One, First Aid will help solidify your understanding of key concepts. Two, when it comes time to study for Step 1, you'll have already familiarized yourself with First Aid.

Let me know if you have more questions about the first two years or, for the curious, the clinical years.

 

[frangeo27]

Hey USCMed08, thanks for all the input. I had a question about PDAs. Some med schools require that you have one, does Keck? Do they provide free program uploads for PDAs like drug/drug interactions, Prognosis guides, etc...

 

[microgal]

Hey Sophie and USC08,

So this question is a little less serious than the others, but what is orientation week like? What kind of things do they do? Was it fun? Also, how well do you think the students in your classes get along? Do they hang out together outside of class a lot?

 

[swtiepie711]

From looking at the first year schedule, it looks like USC has many weeks of class and then a full week of exams. How do you "like" this?

 

[Dedalus]

I skipped 95% of 1st and 2nd year classes. Many of my peers were hesitant to skip, but if you really don't get anything out of lectures, don't go. It'll be a waste of time that could be better spent sleeping, studying, or chilling at the beach. Don't be afraid to rely on lecture notes as Sophie suggested. In hindsight, I wish had I studied First Aid and my lecture notes simultaneously from day one (I didn't start using First Aid until the second half of 2nd year). This accomplishes two things. One, First Aid will help solidify your understanding of key concepts. Two, when it comes time to study for Step 1, you'll have already familiarized yourself with First Aid.

Let me know if you have more questions about the first two years or, for the curious, the clinical years.

Many thanks to Sophie and USCMed08 for all the info! Now that you mention it, I’m not entirely clear on the grading system. I know that third year is the only non p/f year, but do they still use the other years to calculate your class rank?

 

[USCMed08]

Frangeo: You're not required to have a PDA during 3rd/4th year. The school provides minimal support for PDAs in terms of free d/ls. I believe you may get some d/ls via Salernia (one of the clubs at USC). Some prefer using PDAs while others use paperback pocket reference guides. At any rate, don't get a PDA before 3rd year.

Microgal: Lots of logistical and administrative tasks during orientation week. I wouldn't necessarily classify it as fun, but you do get to mingle with your new classmates. You'll get your ID picture taken, get an intro to the library and how to perform lit searches, etc. As far as class comraderie, it's highly class dependent. In general, it's not uncommon for the 1st and 2nd year classes to throw classwide gatherings. As you move up through the years, though, people genearlly settle into their own groups and hang out as such. Nonetheless, my class does occasionally throw a party at a bar or club at the end of a rotation.

Swtiepie: The schedule you mentioned is in reference to Core, which is encompasses the first half of 1st year. There are positives and negatives with this setup. The positives are that because there are multiple exams throughout the final week, your grade isn't dependent on one exam as it will be in later systems. Thus, you have some leeway in case you mess up on one or two exams, enabling you to slowly adjust to med school. The negatives are that you have multiple exams, which might cause some to burn out by the last day of exams.

Dedalus: The first two years are P/F. There is no class rank per se, but the office does keep track of how you do on the system and comprehensive (end of the year) exams. These scores help determine who gets Dean's List and Junior AOA (along with ECs, research, etc). The last two years are H/HP/P/F. The number of "Honors-equivalent" weeks determine the adjective applied to you on your Dean's letter (Outstanding, Excellent, etc).

 

[searun]

That's hard, because they're really different. I'm probably moving downtown next year, but South Pas is nice too.

South Pas
About 20 minutes from school (with traffic)
Very safe, family-type environment
Close to lots of grocery stores and coffee shops, but not much nightlife
More of a suburban, tree-lined streets, laid-back feel

Downtown
About 10 minutes from school (with traffic)
Not very safe, lots of homeless people
A few coffee shops and 2 (I think) grocery stores, good nightlife
Obviously very urban
Pretty close to the main campus (thus close to their gym and pool)

South Pas would definitely be more peaceful, and it's a bit cheaper, but Downtown is more exciting, and closer to most of the places you'd want to go. If you want to be close to lots of med students, though, downtown isn't the place to be. It really just depends on the kind of atmosphere you're looking for.

What is the cost of renting a decent two bedroom apartment in South Pas...If you have a roommate, what would be spending on rent each month?

 

[Sophie]

What is the cost of renting a decent two bedroom apartment in South Pas...If you have a roommate, what would be spending on rent each month?

According to the Salerni Guide it's around $995-1200 for a 1 bedroom. They don't list prices for a 2-bedroom, but for a 2-bedroom in Pasadena the average is around $1600-2100. I would guess that South Pas is fairly similar to Pasadena. You should check out prices on losangeles.craigslist.org to get an idea of the approximate range. Most people I know spend around $800/mo on rent, regardless of where in LA they live.

 

[Saramagatic]

Hi, Thanks for the info.

Is the USC faculty generally welcoming and supportive towards students? (i.e. do they care alot?)

Are you generally happy with your choice to attend USC?

 

[Sophie]

Hi, Thanks for the info.

Is the USC faculty generally welcoming and supportive towards students? (i.e. do they care alot?)

Are you generally happy with your choice to attend USC?

The faculty is amazingly supportive - I really wasn't expecting this level of faculty care. Almost every professor tells us to please email them if we have any questions, and that they would love it if people would stop by their office. Plus, before each test we have review sessions that are run by the faculty. These are almost always very well planned-out, and usually go for as long as the students want them to. One professor in particular makes us pharmacology review sheets that obviously take him many hours to prepare and are incredible resources for class and for the Step 1.

Also, the administration seems very concerned with student welfare. We have received a lot of emails telling us that if we are stressed, need advice, or just want to talk to someone about anything they are available for us. There are quite a number of people we can talk to. They seem very accommodating towards any life situations that may come up, too.

Despite being in the toughest part of 1st year right now, I'm still very glad I came to USC.