Drexel Med Class of 2011

[Bernie3144]

haemulon, when i interviewed there last month i stayed with a friend who lives in mount royal (sw of camden) and the traffic wasn't too bad.. but the traffic would move then stop to a crawl inexplicably. that was annoying. but don't know if you would take my word for it based on a single experience.. i'm sure others would have a better idea of what its like day in and day out

anyway just wondering if you guys have started the fun task of scrounging for funding, besides what the school offers in loans of course.. and trying to solicit suggestions for doing so.

Graduate Plus Loan is the way to go.

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[Haemulon]

haemulon, when i interviewed there last month i stayed with a friend who lives in mount royal (sw of camden) and the traffic wasn't too bad.. but the traffic would move then stop to a crawl inexplicably. that was annoying. but don't know if you would take my word for it based on a single experience.. i'm sure others would have a better idea of what its like day in and day out

anyway just wondering if you guys have started the fun task of scrounging for funding, besides what the school offers in loans of course.. and trying to solicit suggestions for doing so.

Thanks for the suggestion. How long do you think it taskes to commute in from there, assuming anywhere from 7-9 am travel?

 

[pickmedoc]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at housing that is walking distance (less than 1 mi) from queen lane.

If anyone knows anything about the following apts, please post. Thanks!

- Alden Park
- School Lane House
- Birchwood Hills Apartments
- Marchwood Apartments
- Park Heights
- Kings Manor Apartments
- Chelton Arms

 

[NightnDay79]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at housing that is walking distance (less than 1 mi) from queen lane.

If anyone knows anything about the following apts, please post. Thanks!

- Alden Park
- School Lane House
- Birchwood Hills Apartments
- Marchwood Apartments
- Park Heights
- Kings Manor Apartments
- Chelton Arms

Alden park & park heights are really nice places. Alden park itself is an area enclosed within itself- like a small little campus. gives a sense of security. Park heights is really well kept. I have friends in both places that have had no complaints from either one of these places. School Lane house apts-- so so, but thats only b/c my friend who was on the 2nd floor was robbed. He then has moved to park heights. Hope this helps a little and doesn't scare you.

 

[NightnDay79]

Thanks for the suggestion. How long do you think it taskes to commute in from there, assuming anywhere from 7-9 am travel?

Fellow classmate travels from collingswood, nj and she'll be attending drexel in august too. She decided she will be commuting from nj to philadelphia b/c she likes being close to home. Anyways, it takes her 30 minutes by train at the most in the morning- usually less. That would take her to center city. From there she could either take another train that goes to the queen lane stop, or walk to hannehman and take the shuttle to queen lane directly for free (~15 minutes depending on the driver).
Driving- I wouldn't recommend as it can be really hectic in the mornings all along 76.

 

[Baroness312002]

Will anyone else be living in Park Heights next year too?

 

[jboz3]

hey all

i was accepted to drexel!! i'm on one waiting list so unless i get pulled from there i'll be joining you lovely people in philly next year. right now i'm on the other side of the state in pittsburgh. philly seems like a great place, though i haven't really spent much time there. i'm really excited for the pil program!! and to start med school in general!!

 

[Ginsengsul]

a

 

[DGHannah]

hi all... so i'm in for drexel (at least so far as my waitlists stay still) but i just got my fin aid award summary and they gave me work study?!?!
i did do work study throughout undergrad, but really didn't plan on/want to work in med school, basically didn't think this was an option. however, with the ~$20,000 not covered, is this going to be bad news? also, the numbers on my summary didn't add up (i.e. awards offered - expected direct cost didn't equal approximate bill)... so basically i'm kind of freaking out... wtf mate... i didn't work fulltime in undergrad to get shafted in med school... anyone else have similar issues? advice? you can probably tell i freak a little when it comes to finances. my checkbook is balanced to the cent.

 

[Bernie3144]

hi all... so i'm in for drexel (at least so far as my waitlists stay still) but i just got my fin aid award summary and they gave me work study?!?!
i did do work study throughout undergrad, but really didn't plan on/want to work in med school, basically didn't think this was an option. however, with the ~$20,000 not covered, is this going to be bad news? also, the numbers on my summary didn't add up (i.e. awards offered - expected direct cost didn't equal approximate bill)... so basically i'm kind of freaking out... wtf mate... i didn't work fulltime in undergrad to get shafted in med school... anyone else have similar issues? advice? you can probably tell i freak a little when it comes to finances. my checkbook is balanced to the cent.

Grad Plus Loan/Private loan will cover the rest. There is also a scholarship form you can fill out before April 30th, but that probably will not cover much. The financial aid office is very helpful when searching for loans and it will not be a problem, so don't sweat it! I recently had to take out some more money and they were able to get me the money within 2 weeks. Just stay on top of the funding that you need and you won't have to freak out.

 

[snarkypro]

Thanks for the suggestion. How long do you think it taskes to commute in from there, assuming anywhere from 7-9 am travel?

no prob. interview started at 9, and i left their house at 830. It took me 35 minutes to get to campus. so its not horrible, depending on where you live now... but it does cost you gas money and toll to live across the bridge.

 

[snarkypro]

Graduate Plus Loan is the way to go.

thanks 3144. where is the free money nowadays? jeeez. i miss college

 

[njmd55]

Hey guys,
Did everyone receive the scholarship e-mail a couple of weeks ago? Also, I'm having trouble deciding which scholarships I want to pick. Did you guys just pick them according to the criteria given? Also do we have to search for additional info on the scholarships on our own so we can better choose which ones we want or do we just pick them randomly from the list?

Thanks!!

 

[pleaseacceptme]

Hey guys,
Did everyone receive the scholarship e-mail a couple of weeks ago? Also, I'm having trouble deciding which scholarships I want to pick. Did you guys just pick them according to the criteria given? Also do we have to search for additional info on the scholarships on our own so we can better choose which ones we want or do we just pick them randomly from the list?

Thanks!!

bump

 

[NightnDay79]

I'll be researching the ones that I can find. Although I wouldn't apply randomly for the ones I don't qualify for right of the bat (since I'm not a female)
Yes, more information on the scholarships would have been nice. Oh well- at least it's there for us. Good luck everyone.

 

[Bernie3144]

Hey guys,
Did everyone receive the scholarship e-mail a couple of weeks ago? Also, I'm having trouble deciding which scholarships I want to pick. Did you guys just pick them according to the criteria given? Also do we have to search for additional info on the scholarships on our own so we can better choose which ones we want or do we just pick them randomly from the list?

Thanks!!

Unless you are one of the few lucky people with ties to alumni in older classes, just go by the criteria listed on that website. If none of them specifically fit, just pick some random ones that do not have specific criteria. It says that they will also consider people for other scholarships anyway... the only reason I can see that the top 5 choices matters is if you do fit criteria for some of the specific scholarships.

 

[Bernie3144]

Also, FWIW, I think all of these scholarships are for students in all of the classes. I am not sure if they give one out to one student in each year or if they just give each one out to one student. Their explanation is very vague... but that does not surprise me!

 

[Haemulon]

Yeh, I do not understand how all of the selections are made, and which scholarship go to which classes and so forth. I wish there were more information, but I'll just sit down this weekend and makes my selections and see what happens. Good luck everyone

 

[maizeNblue]

Hey Everyone! Just wanted to say a quick hello. I'll be attending Drexel next year and can't wait to meet everyone!! Anyone have any ideas of great tips on things to get before we begin (other than the books of course!) ?

 

[Bernie3144]

Hey Everyone! Just wanted to say a quick hello. I'll be attending Drexel next year and can't wait to meet everyone!! Anyone have any ideas of great tips on things to get before we begin (other than the books of course!) ?

A good idea would be to stop liking Michigan

 

[sierra89]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at housing that is walking distance (less than 1 mi) from queen lane.

If anyone knows anything about the following apts, please post. Thanks!

- Alden Park
- School Lane House
- Birchwood Hills Apartments
- Marchwood Apartments
- Park Heights
- Kings Manor Apartments
- Chelton Arms

I'm studying for finals and I think I must be getting cabin fever, I haven't posted on here in a long time, anyway congrats on the acceptances everyone. I really have enjoyed my time at Drexel and I think it's been a great place to attend school the past 2 years and, since this post is regarding living in Philly, I think I'd rather live around this school than any of the other 4 med schools in this city!! Here's my review on Carlton Park Apartments:

They're directly across the street from campus and that's been so convenient for me for the past two years. Another positive for this place is that the buildings are far enough apart that you get lots of light through the windows. Finding street parking is relatively easy, considering how it compares to the rest of the city. Maintenance will come out that day or the next business day, in my experience. I haven't had any maintenance emergencies, so I can't comment on that.

Some downsides are:
- You pay all utilities which sort of stinks in the winter when you get your gas bill of $130 for having your heat running off-and-on (more OFF than ON!).
- I'd suggest to get an upstairs apartment, because my first year here (not this past year), I knew people in four separate ground-floor apartments who had break-ins where the person had broken a window and entered the apartment that way. But I've had no trouble in my second-floor apartment.
- Snow removal? I put a question mark here because my first year they were really great and they would clear not only the walkways but the sidewalks the morning after snow fell, but this year I don't remember them providing that service. We just had snow last Sunday, in fact, and I remember Monday morning walking through the slush. And there was another time we had sleet on a Friday night and on Monday I had to call into maintenance to have them clear the walkway.
- Ask to see the apartment you'll move into before you sign the lease. Some apartments have nice, shiny wood floors and others have old ones. The linoleum on the floor in the kitchen and bathroom is not flat due to improper cutting and installation. My fridge is old and the gaskets (sp?) probably leak cold air, adding to my electric bill. It doesn't take away from the convenience but I'll be moving next year because I don't need to be one block from school when I'll be driving to my rotations at various hospitals throughout the year. You just want to see for yourself whether the trade-offs are worth it to you.

Most of their units are 2 bedrooms although there are some 3 bedrooms and I think (but I'm not sure) some 1 bedrooms.

 

[maizeNblue]

A good idea would be to stop liking Michigan

haha Looks like I won't be the only one looking forward to football season

 

[Bernie3144]

haha Looks like I won't be the only one looking forward to football season

Just got back from the Blue and White game and it's safe to say I am extremely pumped for this season. With all the talent tO$U lost this year and all the talent PSU and Michigan (aka scUM haha) have coming back, it should be an interesting battle! All Saturdays starting at the end of August until the bowl games are already marked down as non-studying days. We'll have to get a decent gathering together for the PSU/Michigan game

 

[razzle07]

can anyone give more info about park heights apartments. do they have a website?

 

[pickmedoc]

Do people usually bring textbooks and laptops to classes?

I'm wondering what kind of laptop and bag to buy. And if i need to carry it around, i'd like a light one and a smaller bag. I know drexel is pretty wired up and all, but are lectures paperbased or easily accessed on the comp? I think i remember there being huge binders of notes and things that we receive for each module. Do people actually carry these things around and take them to lecture?

I'm just wondering because i've been known to have nothing more than my lunch in my backpack and I'm not used to lugging books and things around.

Oh and are first years required to have PDA's or was that for third years?

THANKS!

 

[Bernie3144]

Do people usually bring textbooks and laptops to classes?

I'm wondering what kind of laptop and bag to buy. And if i need to carry it around, i'd like a light one and a smaller bag. I know drexel is pretty wired up and all, but are lectures paperbased or easily accessed on the comp? I think i remember there being huge binders of notes and things that we receive for each module. Do people actually carry these things around and take them to lecture?

I'm just wondering because i've been known to have nothing more than my lunch in my backpack and I'm not used to lugging books and things around.

Oh and are first years required to have PDA's or was that for third years?

THANKS!

PDA = 3rd year
Laptop = not necessary, I'm getting a 12" laptop from pugetsystems.com (3ish pounds), will fit in my backpack along with the module binder
Lectures=module guide(paper) + lecture slides(most are in your paper module). You can take notes with your laptop or by writing, whatever floats your boat.

 

[maizeNblue]

Do people usually bring textbooks and laptops to classes?

I'm wondering what kind of laptop and bag to buy. And if i need to carry it around, i'd like a light one and a smaller bag. I know drexel is pretty wired up and all, but are lectures paperbased or easily accessed on the comp? I think i remember there being huge binders of notes and things that we receive for each module. Do people actually carry these things around and take them to lecture?

I'm just wondering because i've been known to have nothing more than my lunch in my backpack and I'm not used to lugging books and things around.

Oh and are first years required to have PDA's or was that for third years?

THANKS!

Just to add to what Bernie just posted above. Drexel's lectures are also recorded online. So if you really need to you can always watch the lectures online, or check them later for parts you may have missed.

I hate to say it, but I think it may be time to get used to carrying more in your bag

 

[pickmedoc]

Thanks, guys.

I guess i'll be opting for a small (12-14") laptop and a BIG bag..

 

[mphthenmd]

Hey everyone, I'm a first year med student at Temple, and I need a new roomate (M/F) b/c my current roomate just matched @ UNC. Originally I'm from New Orleans, and I transplanted to philly for school. The apt is available as early as June 1st. I've been here for a year already and I love the place. Its a 2 bedroom 1 bath, and it has a parking spot off the street and plenty of free street parking. The rent is $450 includes heat and water, and our monthly bills have also been really cheap. This place is ideal for anyone who wants to be 10-15 minutes from the city or 5-10 minutes from manayunk. Also, its really close to Drexel Med (walking distance), Temple Med, and Temple Dental. Any questions please email me @ [email protected] or send me a message. Congrats on getting in and welcome to philly.

 

[jro]

hey all.

congrads on your acceptance and decision to come to drexel! i'm a PIL student (2010) and would be happy to help answer any questions about living/books/etc you may have before coming out here. my email is [email protected]

see you at orientation!
rockandroll.
justin

 

[pickmedoc]

another housing question..

how hard is it to get housing later in the summer?

I feel like most of the incoming class has arranged housing already, especially because most of the apts are becoming available in may/june when current students move out. But then that would mean you all might be moving in soon? Will you be living in philly all summer or just paying an extra set of rent?

What's your guys' situations with housing?

will I be able to find some decent housing later on?

 

[Boogernugget]

What's your guys' situations with housing?

I was planning on starting the search later as well...though I don't know much about housing in the area. I'm thinking I might just make a trip to Philly in June for a few days to see what's there and hopefully get a place arranged. Does anyone want to coordinate our efforts and plan a few days to meet in Philly?

 

[maizeNblue]

I just looked at a place in East Falls today, but I am sure I will be doing much more searching throughout the next few months. There are always places available in the city so I wouldn't get too worried about having to start your search a little later.

As for meeting up in the city, I would be more than willing to help out if people needed a means of getting around the city. I'll be living right outside the city for the few months before classes begin.

 

[MDInvestor]

This is an extremely helpfull post! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I have no idea really what the area is like, so did not mean to imply that I was expecting a ghetto gunshot area. Just saying that I wanted to avoid areas like that obviously. I will be going up there again in the next month or two to look around and will definitely be following up on your suggestions.

As for a straightforward answer on crime, type in '2900 Queen lane, 19129' into Google. Look at the map. See the railroad. That's the R8. Anything to the right of the railroad (east), is high crime area. Anything to the left (west), is nicer area. East Falls is actually OK. The homes are old-style and worth from 200-400K. (Source:zillow.com). You don't get those types of homes in the ghetto. However, they are dropping in value because when you are so close to a high crime area, you do get passerby's. By this I mean, people who are going from one bad area through Queen Lane to get to the east side of the railroad tracks. They will occasionally stop by and steal a car or two on the road.

Drexel is good because you can pay for parking which has cameras and surveillance. Walking around on campus, I feel safe. It could be 3am and I still feel safe. Walking home on the streets gets wierd around 3am but I tend to follow some simple rules. 1) Don't let anyone within 50 yards of you. (ie. I see a guy walking towards me 50 yards ahead.. I switch sides of the street.. I don't care if he's a blind harmless 12 yr old kid.) 2) Walk in well lit areas. 3) Don't walk.. Drive your car or use Drexel's complimentary drive home service.

However, crime does exist. I'm from uber-safe midwest but every once in a while, a car gets stolen. Even so, that's not scary crime in my eyes. Murders, rapes, armed assaults, and armed robberies are more my idea of crime. I did my research of police reports before I came to Drexel (Source: phillycrime.org) and confirmed that there was no such crime around the area I was going to live nor near the school.

It is important to note though that my car was not touched whether it was parked on the street or in a gated parking lot. My roommate on the other hand, his car was broken into several times throughout the year, and eventually flat out stolen.

Not wanting my fiancee to deal with the possibility of having her car jacked or shady areas just a couple blocks away, we've decided to move to a safer nicer area north of Manayunk. This way, she'll feel safe to walk the dog at night and we get a brand new kitchen with stainless steel appliances to hone our culinary skills on.

While I'm at it, I'll give a review of where I currently live. I decided to go super cheap and stay at School Lane House. While it was cheap, I don't recommend it to anyone who gets easily depressed. I don't know what about the building does it but most of the students who live in it complain about becoming depressed. I don't get depressed but I can see where they are coming from. The building's lobby is pretty nice. It looks like a hotel lobby. If you take a tour, do the following. When getting into the elevator, look up. Grease is dripping from the ceiling of the elevators. They grease the engines at the top to keep the elevators working (they frequently break.. approx: once per week). I live on the 8th floor so walking 8 flights of stairs is not cool.

Anyways, when you get off on a floor, you'll notice they are repainting the walls. I saw the same thing in August when I was touring the place. Why its taken them about a year to paint the hallways?- I don't know. Our apartment has been without problems compared to others we know. I know the pipes burst two floors below us and caused some flooding of someone's apartment since the maintenance people asked to search our bathroom for the source of the leak. The maintanence guy is good and fast thought I hear.

For the ladies, there is no plug inside the bathrooms. This means no curling iron, hairdryer, etc in the bathroom. I have an awesome view of the city skyline from my floor. However, the window is double pane but NOT sealed. Therefore, it fogs up for a couple days after any rain or snow or humidity change, and obstructs my view. The rooms are simple hardwood floor. Supposedly they were going to "sand them down and re-lacquer" them but I found out they tell everyone that and probably have never done so. The walls are made of concrete and some drywall/plaster material that has lately been crumbling due to moisture from the Nor' easter weather. I don't care because it doesn't hurt me and I just wipe it off the floor.

My biggest complaint is the kitchen. It's tiny. I wanted to cook this year but the kitchen won't allow you. There is 0 counter space once you put in a microwave. On another side note, the water is wierd. I don't buy into the wierd bottled water crap. When the water evaporates from a cup I leave laying around, it leaves a white film that I am assuming are minerals. I still drink it since I'd probably get a slightly smaller amount of residue if I evaporated REAL natural spring water. Moral of the paragraph: If you like your water like a bubble boy likes his water, bring a Brita water filter.

So do I like anything about the apartment? Yes, the price, the closeness to school, and the simplicity. (I'm a minimalist so I only need concrete, steel, glass, and white walls.)

Is it this cheap place worth the sacrifices? I thought so at the beginning of the year, but spending more on a nice place to live is a good investment in my eyes. My favorite mentor at the school told me that physicians tend to be 'delayed gratification'-types. They say that instead of living for today, we live for tomorrow (ie. ohh if I just sacrifice now, I can get into med school.. Ohh if I sacrifice fun in med school, I can get a good residency.. Ohh if I sacrifice fun in residency, I could get that fellowship.. Ohh if I sacrifice fun, I can get my practice up and running.. etc.. ). I'm determined to not be part of that statistic. A person in my group told me that the second they moved out of crappy apartments and into some nice ones, they suddenly enjoyed Philadelphia a lot more.

If you were driving for 3 hrs a day to school and back, I'd say to invest in a car that you will enjoy and make you happy (it can be a '98 KIA if it puts you at easy and is comfortable). However, since your not commuting for 3 hrs a day, get a place you'll enjoy studying, watching TV, and LIVING.

Your happiness will determine your success in school and in life. Sorry for the length of this post. Hope it shed some light on some questions.

 

[MDInvestor]

thanks 3144. where is the free money nowadays? jeeez. i miss college

Free money is a rarity for med school students for one simple reason. You go to college.. Put yourself in $60k debt.. Get an english degree.. Earn $25-30k per year with only $5k savings.. It'll take you 12yrs to pay it off.

On the other hand, your a med student, stack up $200k loans, you were just living off of less than $30-40k.. you get your new physician job earning $140k.. technically.. You can continue to live like a student for 2 more years while saving up $100k per year.. and you are paid off in just 2 yrs.. or you reconsolidate over 30 yrs and take your time paying it off (but pay more interest longterm)

Some college students NEED scholarships to not be stuck in debt for the rest of their lives..

Medical students don't NEED scholarships.. There's no reason you shouldnt be able to pay off 100-250k debt with a 150k salary

 

[MDInvestor]

Since some people private messaged me about where I choose to live, I figured I'd just post here. My fiancee and I spent a couple weeks looking at places to live over the course of the winter/early spring. One disadvantage that we hated about Queen Lane is theres nothing around. Go ahead, Google 2900 Queen Lane and find anything around other than the dunkin donuts on Fox Street. If you want some quick McD's.. Its going to be a small ordeal. Anyways, we checked out places on Henry Avenue.. Some of these include Dupont Towers, Summit Park, Henry on the Park, and some other crappy places. We took pictures of all the places and kept anaylzing them over and over. Summit Park was actually the front runner for a while but we decided the 2nd bedroom was too small for our roommate. In addition, I did an extensive search on it and found this story on a rape and noticed a second rape occured nearly across the street.( http://www.domelights.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6487 ). Even though it was random and could happen anywhere, it was less than a year ago and decided to cross that area out.

So that brought us to the Manayunk/Roxbourgh area. Manayunk supposedly used to be ****ty. Its been revitalized lately and has a lot of little boutique stores and bars for people our age. Now you can even find several custom ultra expensive furniture/wood working stores and other examples of fine living. However, from what we saw, most of the apartments were tiny and cost a fortune. Not only that, I remember last summer watching the news and seeing that Manayunk was flooded when the river went over its banks. We don't think we want to deal with floods while in Philly. However, at the north edge of Manayunk we found a super nice apartment community being built on a huge hill. We checked it out and the future wife instantly fell in love with it. I think they are the coolest apartments I've seen but I remained skeptical. I tend to always want the dirt/gossip from actual residents so we hung around and stalked a couple residents. One of them I drove up while he was checking his mail and probably freaked him out. Anyways, after badgering them.. the worst they could come up with is that "all the apartments buildings look the same" while they had tons of good things that they loved about the apartments. That sealed it for us. A technicolor rainbow paintjob was not on the list of criteria we were trying to fill.

It's called the Glen at Shawmont. If you are looking for a nice 1 bedroom or 2 bedroom. It's my recommended pick out of the 20 or so places we visited.
Here is the link to the pictures:
http://www.theglenapartments.net/shawmont/features_amenities.htm

Our specific apartment that we signed the lease on is having the interior finished so I'm assuming theres a couple more available but the rest of the buildings are mostly rented out. Manayunk's Main Street is like 3 mins down the street. Blockbuster (to return Blockbuster Online rentals) is also about 2-3 mins away. Andorra Shopping Center (Groceries, Applebee's, LA Fitness, Staples, Kohls, etc) is a couple of blocks down too.

As a side note, we have found ourselves needing a new roommate. Our roommate got his car stolen and is going to try to wing it without a car. If you are interested living with us, let me know. Here's our personal ad: I am a 24 yr old getting married this summer to my 24 yr old fiancee. We're outgoing people. We're adventurous (ie. our honeymoon is a month long whirlwind tour of Europe including Krakow, Rome, Venice, Nice, Monaco, Paris, Prague, & Munich.) but we also like to just relax with friends or watch movies. You would get your own bedroom, huge closet, and bathroom. We're hoping for someone friendly and outgoing. One bonus is that my fiancee is thankfully not a med student which allows life to not be filled with daily monotonous medicine talk. She's cool and funny too. A second bonus is that I just upgraded our TiVO to 180 hrs so you won't miss your Grey's Anatomy, Lost, 24, or Punky Brewster show. The layout is the 'Cambria'.

Just PM me if you are interested.

 

[maizeNblue]

MDinvestor thanks so much for your post. I have heard similar things about school house lane apartments. That the price is nice, but there have been alot of complaints about the living conditions and some safety issues on the lower floors. All of your posts have been so helpful! I've been spending some time looking around Philly for places so its nice to know what direction to look in.

 

[MDInvestor]

MDinvestor thanks so much for your post. I have heard similar things about school house lane apartments. That the price is nice, but there have been alot of complaints about the living conditions and some safety issues on the lower floors. All of your posts have been so helpful! I've been spending some time looking around Philly for places so its nice to know what direction to look in.

The crime is not limited to the bottom floors. In Alden Park, there was a student who was robbed over Christmas break. Basically, someone on the floor might have noticed they were gone for the week-long break and had all day to clear out their apartment of the TV and valuables.

However, that's only 1 case out of the 400+ apartments (0.25% of residents). So it more depends on your luck in life and how you hedge your bets.

 

[MDInvestor]

Holy cow. I just tried crunching some numbers with regard to student loans, as well as trying to buy a house in the area. I have no idea how I am going to afford any of this, even with my wife working. I am thinking I will probably need a house instead of a small apartment because of having 3 kids and all. Real estate is just so high everywhere though. I am even looking across the river in NJ to commute in. Anyone else commuting into school from outside the city?

If I was a parent of three kids and hellbent on getting a house. I'd use zillow.com . Find an area within 30 mins of Philadelphia with reasonable prices. You can watch every lecture from home with your kids on your lap. If you get restless, you click pause, get up and go play with them.. come back and continue. It's learning on your time. There is absolutely no advantage from going to class versus watching the exact same class on video a couple hours later. Some of the lecturers even talk slow so you can speed them up to 1.4x speed on Windows Media Player and you'll be able to normalize their slowness. As for exams, just wake up at 6am.. skip interstate traffic, and do some last minute reviewing while you wait for the 8 or 9am exams.

PS. I remember there are tax implications on where you live. I'm not a pro at them, but supposedly you get raped if you live within the Philadelphia County area on income tax. Therefore, if you think keeping an extra 5-10% of your wife's income might be handy.. do some research. (I could be wrong.. it could be 1-5% but I have seen articles in local papers complaining about taxes for Philly County)

 

[MDInvestor]

I made a crude link to help out getting orientated. I might update and make it more comprehensive over the summer.

Its a Google Maps link. You can zoom in & out, click on satellite view, or stick with the non-aerial maps.
Click on the links on the left hand side to be taken to the area of interest.

MDInvestor's Google Map

In addition, I stitched together some pictures of my current apartment to give you a panoramic view. If you are interested in subleasing it (you can have it anytime now to August 31st - if you want to come to Philadelphia early and get your life started early).

Current Apartment

This is my new Apartment. Do you notice the difference? Which puts you in a better mood coming in?

 

[maizeNblue]

Your apartment is so nice! That second picture really made my jaw drop a little, I was not expecting that!


I'm checking out your google map right now. Everyone on here who is looking for housing should definitely check this out. You did a great job with it, and it is very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to do that.

 

[Boogernugget]

That is a stellar map, thanks for putting that together. It sure helps to get a better idea of the layout of the city, especially since I'm in the other half of the country. Looks like the Manayunk area would be a good place to search for apartments. That picture of your new place is pretty amazing, though! How is the commute to the school from there? I bike pretty much everywhere I go, but don't know how the winter/snow situation would affect that...?

 

[yy0607]

Thank you MDInvestor for the awesome map and your words of wisdom!

I've been living in Philly all throughout undergrad (I'm from south america so the only place I've ever lived in the US is west philly, lol) and I just wanted to say that it is not as bad as it sounds safety-wise. There are places that are more ghetto than others, but in general it is just a matter of not putting yourself at risk by using common sense. I've never encountered any danger myself and, although I have heard of people who got mugged while walking outside drunk at 4 AM, I don't personally know anyone who has come across real danger like that.

I have decided to live in center city, a few blocks away from the Hahnemann Hospital (640 N. Lofts - www.lofts640.com). I love Philly because everything is pretty accessible without a car, it's not NY but it's a super fun place that is not as crowded. Since my bf works in center city and I hate driving, I think it's the best choice for me (we'll see how it goes with the commuting).

Just a few useful websites when you are looking for places to live:

- http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/PA-Philadelphia.htm (lots of reviews on different buildings all around the area)

- http://www.4wallsinphilly.com/ (listings on a lot of apartments/houses and you can look by region which is nice)

- http://www.phillyapartmentco.com/ (you can't see any listings until you register but someone will contact you after you register and make a comprehensive customized listing just for you. It's a really really good service and it's FREE!)

I hope that helps. I don't know much about the suburbs but if anyone has any questions about center city area, feel free to PM me.

 

[MDInvestor]

I have decided to live in center city, a few blocks away from the Hahnemann Hospital (640 N. Lofts - www.lofts640.com). I love Philly because everything is pretty accessible without a car, it's not NY but it's a super fun place that is not as crowded. Since my bf works in center city and I hate driving, I think it's the best choice for me (we'll see how it goes with the commuting).

Nice! I second the recommendation of the The Lofts @ 640 if staying in Center City. Super cool lofts. Just a side note: Philly is a place you don't need a car IF you live in Center City. Good advice though.

I'm checking out your google map right now. Everyone on here who is looking for housing should definitely check this out. You did a great job with it, and it is very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to do that.

The map only includes 3 housing complexes.. I was intending it more of a places to stay away type map. I'm glad that it helps though.

That is a stellar map, thanks for putting that together. It sure helps to get a better idea of the layout of the city, especially since I'm in the other half of the country. Looks like the Manayunk area would be a good place to search for apartments. That picture of your new place is pretty amazing, though! How is the commute to the school from there? I bike pretty much everywhere I go, but don't know how the winter/snow situation would affect that...?

Biking will limit you to Queen Lane area only. Manayunk is down two huge steep long hills. Getting to Manayunk would require almost no effort. Getting to Queen Lane from Manayunk would require 30 mins, tons of sweat, and Tour de France type legs. It's all uphill.

There is a problem with limiting yourself to a bike and Queen Lane. You will need to find rides to grocery stores since there are none that are within biking distance.(I take that back, there may be one closer to the east near Germantown Ave.. but after going to a post office there with bullet proof glass and so many theft prevention mechanisms, I decided to go more west or north for my needs.) As for winter, if snow is falling in the morning and your trying to bike to school, you have only two points of support (unlike a tripod). If one slips, your almost guaranteed to go down. I've seen a couple bikers though so it can be done.

 

[Boogernugget]

As for winter, if snow is falling in the morning and your trying to bike to school, you have only two points of support (unlike a tripod)

I'll have to see if my parents saved my BigWheels trike from my childhood...maybe that will help with the winter biking. Imagine rolling up to class on this sweet ride...

Getting to Manayunk would require almost no effort. Getting to Queen Lane from Manayunk would require 30 mins, tons of sweat, and Tour de France type legs. It's all uphill.

Maybe if we all live in Manayunk we can challenge Lance Armstrong to a race right before graduation. What a way to go out!

Anyway, I'm still thinking a trip will be in order sometime in June to try and find a place. So like I said, if anyone else wants to try and plan something so we can make a group effort out of this, let me know. Who knows, we might even end up neighbors, or roommates. Also, if anyone living in the area would be willing to lend a small bit of floor space for this venture that would be swell...and worth a few 6-packs or some cheesesteak.

 

[jboz3]

i am also planning to journey to philly in june sometime to look for apartments. possibly around father's day weekend... any interested?

 

[whyadoctor]

this post is so helpful! thank you guys for your recommendations; i will definitely be there in late-june. I think we should all try to meet up.

 

[whyadoctor]

Also, do any of you know anything about Queen Lane Manor? i heard they are nice apartments...and close to drexel

 

[pleaseacceptme]

Also, do any of you know anything about Queen Lane Manor? i heard they are nice apartments...and close to drexel

I would also like to know more about the Queen Lane Manor. I have an apartment held here but I haven't personally had a chance to take a look at the apartment or the area. Any info would be great.

 

[Haemulon]

Hey everyone. I wanted to post a big thank you to everyone for all of your help and advice here. I have met several of you and know without a doubt that you will do a great job in med school and will make excellent physicians. Drexel is truly an awesome school and I remain very impressed with the campus, faculty, and students, as well as the Philly area. I feel that the curriculum is an excellent match for my learning style and I am sure that I would have really enjoyed being there with you all. However, I wanted to give you all a heads-up that I have decided to matriculate at a different school. I had many good reasons to attend Drexel, but the clinchers for the other school involved practical aspects of my domestic situation, previous experience with my chosen school, and the cost of attendence.

I hope to keep in touch with you all throughout the process. Best of luck to everyone!!!! I hope that my spot goes to one of you that are still waiting and hoping.