dorms in med school - important?

[billybobbyk]

Hey all,
So, I'm narrowing down my list of med schools, and I really like that many medical schools have student dorms/apartments, because I figure that'll be one of the best ways to meet my classmates. However, I've seen a couple threads that rag on med school dorms quite a bit. So I have to ask - does going to a med school without dorms/apartments make it harder to meet your classmates, find stuff to do with them on weekends, etc?

I know off-campus living is nicer and often cheaper. I go to a school that has notoriously expensive, bad dorms, but I choose to live in them cuz all my classmates are right nearby.

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[apumic]

Repeat with me:

Medical school ≠ college
Medical school != college
Medical school is NOT college

Now, com'on...do you really want to live in a dorm when you're 24+ years old? Get an apartment, man! I suspect you'll be spending plenty of time with your fellow students as it is. While the dorms were fun, I wouldn't go back to them. Living on your own and/or with a few roommates (off campus) is much nicer.

 

[dingyibvs]

Yea, dude, you'll be spending a LOT of time with your classmates, you don't need to live in a dorm to build relationships.

 

[Jfz]

what if you missed out on the dorm experience in college because you lived at home

 

[ILikeDrugs]

what if you missed out on the dorm experience in college because you lived at home

It's over-hyped. Pantie raids don't occur as often as you might think.

 

[slight365]

The dorm experience is not necessarily the college experience. Dorming mostly is a nuisance than anything else, and it becomes more critical as your studies become more advanced and critical. Anything from the firedoors at the end of the hall opening and closing would drive one nuts. On top of that, sometimes you'd just need to blow off steam and get away from the others. Could be that you had them, but could be also that you are just under a lot of pressure. If dorming is the best, cheapest option, then take it. However, I'm not a fan at this level, unless the dorms are nice, modern, and clean.

 

[Law2Doc]

Yea, dude, you'll be spending a LOT of time with your classmates, you don't need to live in a dorm to build relationships.

You will most likely want a place far away from classmates, especially around exams-- you don't need to add someone elses stress level to your own. The one exception would be if the school offers subsidized form housing in a part of a city you otherwise couldn't afford (cornell does or used to do this).

 

[Dr Lyss]

You will most likely want a place far away from classmates, especially around exams-- you don't need to add someone elses stress level to your own. The one exception would be if the school offers subsidized form housing in a part of a city you otherwise couldn't afford (cornell does or used to do this).

cornell still does this.


I think it depends on the school. You won't be at a disadvantage for making friends, but in schools that offer "dorms" and 95% of the class lives there, you might feel a little less connected. That doesn't mean you won't make friends. You'll spend every waking moment with these people... but it's much easier to get involved in the community (study groups, going out on weekends, etc) when you live in the student housing. Again, depends on how the school is. I'm sure in schools where more ppl live off campus, it won't make a difference.

 

[armybound]

You won't be hanging out a lot with classmates outside of school anyway... you're going to be really busy.

A lot of my classmates hang out a lot in the library. Aside from that, we'll get together at a bar on the weekend or something, but we're not just hanging out and playing Rock Band on any given school night. I live in the same apartment complex (and within a 5-minute walk of several others) and haven't hung out with any of my classmates. It just doesn't happen outside of school until right after exams or on weekends.

 

[flip26]

You will most likely want a place far away from classmates, especially around exams-- you don't need to add someone elses stress level to your own. The one exception would be if the school offers subsidized form housing in a part of a city you otherwise couldn't afford (cornell does or used to do this).

Frankly the dorms at the NYC med schools are what make those schools especially attractive to me. Otherwise, in a more normal city, I agree with L2D and would not choose to live in a dorm that doesn't offer substantial cost savings over free market rentals.

 

[sleepy425]

Medical school ≠ college
Medical school != college
Medical school is NOT college

This is true.

Medical school = high school

 

[ChiDO]

This is true.

Medical school = high school

This.

 

[Dr Lyss]

This is true.

Medical school = high school

so true. I think it's more like boarding high school meets The Hills

Frankly the dorms at the NYC med schools are what make those schools especially attractive to me. Otherwise, in a more normal city, I agree with L2D and would not choose to live in a dorm that doesn't offer substantial cost savings over free market rentals.

Yea I guess the experience in a NY school is just very different. because 90% of all the med students live in the same building so we hang out a lot. It's inevitable.

 

[thegymbum]

I live in an apartment that's about a 5 minute walk away from the med center, and a lot of people from my class live in the same building. Not exactly your average dorm life, but you're always running into people and there's always someone just down the hall to party with (I mean, um, study, of course). There's a lot more freedom (and privacy) than you'd have in a dorm, though. I'm sure you could find something like that if you ended up going to a school that didn't have dorms.

 

[bigal40]

In what ways in medical school like high school?

 

[username456789]

In what ways in medical school like high school?

Lots of Trigonometry.

 

[DrYoda]

In what ways in medical school like high school?

The small class size and cliqueness.

 

[Dr Lyss]

In what ways in medical school like high school?

small # of people, you go to every class together, you study together, you live together, you eat together, you hang out together... it's like middle school with alcohol

 

[sleepy425]

not to mention medcest and the gossip that comes with it

 

[Moonglow]

Johns Hopkins offers the Reed Hall Dorm, really old and scary looking, but enormously fun to live in - located right between the Armstrong Medical Education Building, the Cooley Gym and the Hospital.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/housing/

 

[Beta Cell]

so true. I think it's more like boarding high school meets The Hills



Yea I guess the experience in a NY school is just very different. because 90% of all the med students live in the same building so we hang out a lot. It's inevitable.

If this is The Hills, I want to be the one that works at the magazine company.

 

[Beta Cell]

not to mention medcest and the gossip that comes with it

My friend's sister goes to DMU and he told me that he gets the distinct impression from her that she feels kind of left out that she isn't able to participate in any of the med school "hook ups" due to her married status. He and I laughed for at least two solid minutes when he got off the phone with her after she had told him about all of the gossip.

I think gossip in a group of 40-150 people who all know each other is kind of inevitable. The only reason it dissipates in college is because there are so many more people than there are in high school and medical school (depending on the college, but on average this holds true). It still exists in small groups like fraternities, sororities, etc where everyone knows each other.

 

[Raigon]

And don't forget that students in medical school express a unique variety in age difference.

For example, one time a friend of mine 3 years higher than me told me he once came in late in his first class and there was a student standing in the front making an announcement for one of the med school activities and he went in and said, "Sorry for being late professor."

That guy was in his late 30s nearing 40, and he had a little bit of graying in his hair, so it's not a wonder that he was mistaken for a professor.

There are students who are directly from college, students who worked a few years or took a break for a few years before applying, and even students who've already got 2~3 masters (and yes, may also be a professor), and some of them are getting married (so don't hit on med school girls so easily, they may already be married XD).

So there are quite a few people with lives of their own, and even families to take care of, with their own houses. And you want to live in dorms to get to know everybody like everyone just came from college. Well, maybe to a limited extent, but not really.

Apartments ftw in med school.

*If I make it to a school in New York, I'm still going to live at home. LOL.

 

[orthomyxo]

Just wondering: How the hell do med students afford to live off campus? If the cost of living in a dorm is covered by financial aid, you better believe I'll opt for one.

 

[Dr Lyss]

Just wondering: How the hell do med students afford to live off campus? If the cost of living in a dorm is covered by financial aid, you better believe I'll opt for one.

both are covered by financial aid. if you have an apartment, you just adjust your financial aid for your yearly rent. You don't have to pay for your apartment out-of-pocket unless you want to/can afford to.

 

[Jolt21]

dorms are usually optional. that said, Harvard Med's dorm is unbelievable. i want to live there.

 

[DrYoda]

Just wondering: How the hell do med students afford to live off campus? If the cost of living in a dorm is covered by financial aid, you better believe I'll opt for one.

Most med schools don't have dorms. Unless they allow grad students in the undergrad dorms, which sounds quite unideal.

Even if mine had dorms I would decline. Since, as much as I like my classmates, it's nice to live around a mix of people. Living in a building with just health students would drive me up the wall.

 

[Steeler7588]

It depends on the housing. I've heard some not so good things about NYU's housing, for example - it's supposed to be very "****ty freshmen dorm"ish. I've heard good things about Cornell and Sinai though - couple that with the NYC location, I think it'd be an easy choice at those schools.

Pitt's housing is also supposed to be pretty good, apartment style, and it's right next to the main medical school building. Again, seems like it'd be worth it.

But living in student housing when it's not very good or just to be around other students - no thanks.

 

[Moonglow]

Another example: UT-Southwestern has its own apartment complex for med-students - subsidized housing can be an important consideration for many.

http://www8.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw...on/auxiliaryservices/campushousing/index.html