Which school has the best library? I'm looking for ways to differentiate between programs, and one of the major things I have seen that it comes down to is where I will be most comfortable to study. That being said, I have always spent a lot of time studying in the library. So...which program in your opinion offers the best library access/hours/resources?
Best Library
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I can only speak towards DMU's library:
We have ample study rooms. I have never not been able to find a study room. In case you're worried about that, you are able to reserve a study room online through some reservation system. I've never done that because it hasn't been necessary, but you it's available.
DMU's library has extremely comfortable (maybe too comfortable...) chairs in the library all with an ottoman, they are really nice if you want to read something. There are huge windows along 3 of the four walls in the library that let in a lot of natural sunlight to keep you happy/alert. There are tons of study desks, and some study cubicles.
Hours are 7am - midnight weekdays, and 9am-midnight Sat/Sun.
We have a lot of online resources at our disposal as well.
Here is the website for more facts: http://www.dmu.edu/library/
We have ample study rooms. I have never not been able to find a study room. In case you're worried about that, you are able to reserve a study room online through some reservation system. I've never done that because it hasn't been necessary, but you it's available.
DMU's library has extremely comfortable (maybe too comfortable...) chairs in the library all with an ottoman, they are really nice if you want to read something. There are huge windows along 3 of the four walls in the library that let in a lot of natural sunlight to keep you happy/alert. There are tons of study desks, and some study cubicles.
Hours are 7am - midnight weekdays, and 9am-midnight Sat/Sun.
We have a lot of online resources at our disposal as well.
Here is the website for more facts: http://www.dmu.edu/library/
I wouldn't pick a school with the library being a major factor in your decision. You will have so much to study that you will learn how to adapt if the library is mediocre, trust me. I was a very big library person in UG and when I came to Temple, it wasn't the greatest so I learned to study in my room with no problem (although as an aside, apparently Temple has updated their library recently with more outlets and desks).
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The issue with basing on people's opinions about the libraries at certain schools on this section is that: First, many of us are PRE-pod students and have only taken a visit and haven't actually spent a lot of time there. Second, many of our opinions will be again basing it off just one visit and what we saw may be great.
For me, I have only visited Kent State and I loved the school, especially their library. I never went to the library at my undergrad b/c since MSU is a big campus and I live in a dorm on the East side of campus I am not going to walk over 25min to the library just to study where I can go into the study lounge that is ALWAYS quiet.
What I loved about Kent State's library is the fact that since Kent's school is JUST Podiatry everything in the library is geared towards the Pod students. They have the skeletons of the foot and ankle you can check out with your student card, tons of books on foot and ankles, medical terminology books, and several cubicles that are well isolated.
If you do plan on applying to Kent State and don't live that far away I would advise to take a visit. I live in SE Michigan and just 3hrs away from Kent State's pod school and if I never took a visit there I would have never known that the campus wasn't relocated after they changed their name. I was under the impression that it was on Kent State's campus, but it is just 8 miles away from Downtown Cleveland and like 25miles away from the actual Kent State undergrad.
And if you can't take a visit I assume that each school has at least a page or a couple paragraphs on their site about the library for their facility, but again they will also try to oversell it and it may not be as great as an actual campus visit. And again, you'll take a campus visit during your interview so then you'll see each with your own eyes.
Yeah I know, a lot of rambling on and on, but just trying to help out.
For me, I have only visited Kent State and I loved the school, especially their library. I never went to the library at my undergrad b/c since MSU is a big campus and I live in a dorm on the East side of campus I am not going to walk over 25min to the library just to study where I can go into the study lounge that is ALWAYS quiet.
What I loved about Kent State's library is the fact that since Kent's school is JUST Podiatry everything in the library is geared towards the Pod students. They have the skeletons of the foot and ankle you can check out with your student card, tons of books on foot and ankles, medical terminology books, and several cubicles that are well isolated.
If you do plan on applying to Kent State and don't live that far away I would advise to take a visit. I live in SE Michigan and just 3hrs away from Kent State's pod school and if I never took a visit there I would have never known that the campus wasn't relocated after they changed their name. I was under the impression that it was on Kent State's campus, but it is just 8 miles away from Downtown Cleveland and like 25miles away from the actual Kent State undergrad.
And if you can't take a visit I assume that each school has at least a page or a couple paragraphs on their site about the library for their facility, but again they will also try to oversell it and it may not be as great as an actual campus visit. And again, you'll take a campus visit during your interview so then you'll see each with your own eyes.
Yeah I know, a lot of rambling on and on, but just trying to help out.
It's helping. Thanks. I already applied to 7 of the programs but originally I did not have Kent on the list. From reading through this forum, it seems to be highly regarded so I think I'm going to add it as well.
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You've already applied to too many places. Unless you intend to pay for visits to all the schools I would strongly suggest you begin evaluating each of the schools to limit future costs. Location would be my first criteria.
Insecure pre-pods aside, I'm of the opinion that you'll have whatever resources you need wherever you go - skeletons, books, online catalogues, etc. However, some schools do have way "nicer" (which usually means newer) facilities than others. You'll have to decide for yourself how important or irrelevant that is to you.
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Have you ever lived in a big super-urban city like New York or Philadelphia? Not knocking it - just saying that the lifestyle is totally different than living in a suburb of Des Moines deep in the Midwest. I'm of the opinion that's something a person knows before they get there, but I still visited Temple due to circumstances.
I haven't spent much time in the RFUMS library since I do all of my studying in my apartment (so far), but from the small amount of time that I spent there it's fine. Nice and roomy and there are a decent number of study rooms too. People knock on it though, saying that it is nothing compared to their undergrad libraries but I don't think that is a fair comparison since those libraries are designed to serve tens of thousands of students and have books and publications from a large variety of subjects.
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Kent has plenty of places. When I'm there I study in their quiet study room which is always near empty, the library has many cubicles, the computer lab is also a good place to study. They even have desks randomly scattered around the main entrances up to the fourth floor. In short, there is no shortage of places to study at Kent. Hell even the cafeteria is a good quiet place to study throughout the day. Thought I'd add that even though you didn't apply here.
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I COMPLETELY AGREE!!!! I only applied to 4 (Kent, Scholl, Barry, Temple) and really don't even know why I wasted the $65 on Temple b/c I know that if I don't get into Kent or Barry then there is no way I would get accepted to Temple and I also don't want to live in Philly.
For me when I get interview acceptances I really may just go to Scholl first since it is my 3rd choice and schedule Kent the next week b/c it is my #1 choice. Reason for this is b/c I want to have already done one interview before I go to Kent. Interviews for grad/med schools can be a lot of pressure and sometimes the best idea would not to interview for your favorite school first. Some people feel the pressure on their first interview and use one as a preparation for the more important one in your eyes.
I do believe that the podiatry school libraries that will be better would be the ones in which it is just a podiatry school and not mixed with DO, like Kent State.
For me, I would never apply to any of the three western ones b/c I don't even want to go there and why waste $65 for each application and if you go to the interview it is gonna be hard to even find cheap airfare.
Heybrother has a good point about the living situation. Kent State gave me a brochure on my visit and the last page talks about the average cost of living in each of the cities among 8 of the schools. It says something like a 100 score is average and only Kent State and Des Moines are the only two that are below 100 (which means they are the most cost effective among the pod schools) and then there is San Francisco, NY, Philly (Temple) are at like 125+.
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Wut
The NY school library is super-small. Hours are:
Monday-Thursday 7:00am-11:00pm
Friday 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday 8:30am-6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm
That being said, they do make the most out of the space since it is NYC and they have multiple copies of required textbooks to borrow.
Also, there are about 25+ public libraries in Manhattan alone....
Monday-Thursday 7:00am-11:00pm
Friday 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday 8:30am-6:00pm
Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm
That being said, they do make the most out of the space since it is NYC and they have multiple copies of required textbooks to borrow.
Also, there are about 25+ public libraries in Manhattan alone....
Hate to piggyback on your thread, but you bring up a great point.
Aside from the size / "personality" of the city, what are other differentiating factors of all the programs / schools?
I can't find anything online that says "X school is better than Y school strictly based on education," i.e Harvard vs. a random community college. So I'm assuming that all of the schools are more or less the same, regarding the education you receive?
I feel like some of these threads and questions could easily be posted in the "Podiatry students" section, rather than the pre-pods section. Like another poster said, a poster's inferences can only be based on what schools they've actually visited.
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Some people on these forums have you believe this, but it isn't true. Most schools value an aspect of your training more than other aspects.
People argue on these forums that "you can get the education you need from any of the schools," and that is true. I liken this to traveling from two different cities. A ford pinto can take you the distance (especially if you change the oil, don't get into a car accident, etc), but a mercedes s-class will get you there much more luxuriously, a Ford GT will get you there faster, and an Astro van will get you there with more stuff.
Some schools value their clinial experience, some value academic education, and some seemingly value other things.
Maybe the pinto aint so bad. If you treat it nicely, it will get the job done.
I really cannot find any information separating each school based on areas like clinical experience, research, education, etc. Can you steer a pre-Pod in the right direction? Would love to get more information. Not to creep, but why did you choose DMU over the other programs?
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What I mean by that is that at the DO and POD schools the library will be geared towards both programs and in addition there will be 400+ other students that you would have to share the library with. While at Kent State you just have to share it with the 400 POD students and they will have books and skeletons for podiatry students, while there is less of a chance to get that stuff since from what I have heard that schools like Barry, Des Moines, and Temple who combine with DO it seems as if the school puts more effort into giving the DO students what they want and less to the Pod students.
But again that is just basing it off what people have said on here.
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Its an absurd fantasy spun around in the minds of pre-pods and non-integrated students, mixed with a dash of sugar, and then repeated in the rumor mill until you believe its an original thought. You've been rumor mill Inceptioned.
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People will start to get excited if I tell you my opinion about what schools value. A good indicator for academics is board pass rates. Some of the schools will release that information, some won't. You can search these forums and figure out a pretty good idea of which schools are passing boards and which schools aren't.
Most schools will post their curriculum online. If you want schools with a heavy clinic approach to podiatry school, look at the schools in larger cities (that are actually IN the city), and schools that start seeing patients in year 1 or 2.
I picked DMU for a variety of reasons, and it would take days for me to explain it fully. To be brief: Board pass rates, residency placement rates, low cost of living, integrated curriculum w/ DOs, smallish DPM class (get to know DPM professors better), and nice facilities. I would have gone anywhere to get this, but the fact Des Moines is so close to the promised land (Minnesota) didn't hurt either.
JuxGiant,
which schools are you thinking about and trying to differentiate between? I think if you message someone who goes to one of those schools, and ask why that person chose that school versus a different one, you may be able to get more insight into the qualities that each program offers that perhaps a different one may not.
