Hi serenestudent,
First, congratulations! It looks like you and your husband have some hard but terrific choices in front of you.
Should you end up at Loyola, I can say that there IS a very humanistic atmosphere there and they ARE very student (and patient) centered. The vibe you picked up on was not just a one-day thing. I really enjoyed my four years there, and would still choose them for med school if I had to make the choice over again, even with the tuition higher than some of my other choices.
I can't answer all your questions, but I'll do my best to answer the ones I can.
1.) I think classes start at the end of July/very beginning of August, so I would suggest moving ~1 month prior to that if you can make it work. This way you'll have a chance to set up your home the way you want it, and also have a chance to become familiar with the area and explore.
2.) Should you choose to live in Westchester, it would be possible to bike in ( I know a few students in my class did so for a while) however, to do so, you should be very comfortable riding on busy roads with quite a bit of traffic. Also, there are stretches next to these roads where people ride on the grass, as I don't think there is a sidewalk. If you choose to live in the Oak Park area I think it would be possible to bike in, but even more dangerous, as you'd have to cross over the viaduct for the expressway and there tends to be even more traffic in this direction... Although my boyfriend and I bought a condo physically further from the school, it takes only 5-10 minutes longer driving to get there since the Oak Park traffic is pretty rotten. A ton of people are commuting to Loyola from that area, which I think makes it somewhat worse. Oak Park is also closer to the city and has El stations which can be both good and bad, I think... I think you definitely have to be more aware of the good and bad parts of town.
3.) Parking isn't a problem at Loyola. You can either pay (included in tuition calculations) to park in the covered garage or you can park in an open gravel lot or across the street in the forest preserve lot. Personally, I think you're better off parking in the garage. The gravel lot fills up quickly, and I wouldn't want to have the hassel of moving your car at dusk from the forest preserve.
4.) I can't really say if there are or aren't specific programs you'd need with a mac as I had a tablet PC, however many of my classmates used macs and they never seemed to have any trouble with it.
Specific questions:
--The nearest train station is Lagrange road, which will take you into the city ~10 minute drive away. If your husband was going to drive to DePaul, it would take about 28 minutes (according to mapquest).
--As for the bookshelves, unfortunately, they aren't staying, as I still will need them.
Ikea is ~15-20 minutes away, though, and so you could recreate the look in whatever color of wood you wanted, and know exactly how they'd fit. They're a good investment and much cheaper (but nicer) than any of the alternatives I've found.
