Einstein Med

yup,...so far I have two rejection letters...both from Einstein. So it's pretty cool that they send two of those out
hope you didn't mind me intruding on a serious thread but i thoght i'd add my two cents about AE

 

You'd choose Einstien of UTSW???

 

I have no idea why they would..they were spaced out by about 2 weeks..oh well..i'm not losing any sleep over it!
Good luck with your decision Trek

 

Hey Trek-

I tried to send you a copy of a PM I sent to Merlin about Einstein, but apparently there is some sort of error "parenthesis in HTML" when I try to send it. I don't know what that means. Then I tried to post the topic PM here, but it won't let me do it either. Send me a PM with your e-mail and maybe I can send you a copy somehow.

Does anyone know what "parenthesis in HTML" means?

 

Hi Trek,

First, I have not been accepted to AE, but I interviewed there for MD/PhD. I think the program is a great fit for my interests in virology and I will enjoy going there if accepted.

I agree on your cons. Regarding the cons, I think that even that AE is in "Da Bronx" is not such a Bad area. You have to keep in mind that NYC is 30min on the express bus and if you go to one of the NYC schools you will not be able to "escape" from the area as you will be living right in the city. Being at AE gives you the break of escaping for having fun and then going back to the reality of studying and medicine. At least that's the way I see it, and many mudphuds students see it in the same way.

I know that Refuter (from the MSTP Boulevard) is going there for MD/PhD (or at least he is planning to go there at this time). You may check what he thinks.

I'll keep posted after I hear on the final decission from them.

Retro

 

I got accepted to Einstein about two weeks ago. I'm pretty excited about the possibility of going there. I liked the school a lot and the dorm type living is something that I thought would be pretty nice. I'm a little nervous about maybe living in new york city. I've lived in Nebraska my whole life.

 

Trek,

AECOM has been my only acceptance thus far, so.....I am seriously considering it .

I was accepted in January. I really liked the curriculum (emphasis on nutrition/preventive medicine in first year, block system, P/F, etc), the number of hours spent in class (i don't think it is second though, maybe on the east coast), the housing (really nice and really cheap = $300/mo or so), the gym isn't bad, and the clinical experience is known to be excellent. I've spoken to Dr. Kermit a lot about this, I think she would give me an "Amen!" to these sorts of things.

B/c of the orthodox influence, the library is closed friday night and through saturday. For me, I really like that. I will give me an excuse to go have some fun.

As far as the location goes.....it is in a boring part of the Bronx. There aren't many restaurants very close by, but there are some excellent italian restaurants around the area. I live in Manhattan right now. I live in a "boring" part of manhattan right now (Columbia U's Health Science campus) but atleast there are subways that get me to some fun areas. The express bus is kind of cool, but also is a bit of a pain. It stops running around midnight. There is a subway that takes you to about a ten minute walk from campus (the 6, I believe). I tend to go back and forth on this. I'm not exactly a party animal, but I do love to go out to eat a lot and enjoy accessibility to lots of things. It is really hard to get a feel for a school in one day. NYC has lots of really fun little areas, I'm hoping there is atleast more than a mechanic shop, a grocery, and a deli within one mile! ahh trials and tribulations of modern living.

All in all, I would be very happy to go there. I didn't get to meet as many students as I would have liked to, but those that I did meet were nice.

Are you seriously considering? I can tell you this. Those SDNrs that are thinking about going (those that I have met) are all really excellent people and the thought of being there classmate is a big compliment.

 

I will have an interview there on Mar 8.
I am looking forward to it since I get to go to NYC in such a long time. (I plan to spend the whole weekend in NYC <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Lots of people say the area AE is in is really nasty.
Does anyone know how nasty is nasty?

 

I was just accepted to Einstein last week...yay! I may be going there, but like everyone else I'm still waiting to hear from NYU. I was impressed with everything about the school except the students. They didn't seem really serious about classes or anything else for that matter. I think that that sort of disappointed me because other than that everything else was really nice, the housing, the classes...but then again, maybe I met the wrong students because others I have talked to didn't have that impression.

 

I didn't think the area around AE was great, but definitely not nasty. (Have you ever been to Hopkins? I used to sit in the Public Health cafeteria and watch the Balto cops do drug and gun stake outs there.) I'm also considering Temple in North Philly and the area at AE is much better than my there.

However, you should be warned, it's kind of dreary. There is not much beside the hospital systems and med school. Your food options will be a McDonald's, a few delis/sandwich shops, pizzaerias, chinese take-out. There is a new Pathmark grocery store two blocks north of the dorms. The students I met were relatively pleased with the area since most had cars and would study at Fordham's library or Barnes and Noble and then just get food around there. They also said they had plenty of freetime to perfect their culinary skills.

Despite the drawbacks, the area didn't bother me. Like I discussed with souljah, I don't plan on being around campus much on the weekends unless I have major exams. No, I'm not a slacker and I will be studying, but I plan to pack up my clothes and books and either head to see my boyfriend in Philly or upper Westchester depending on who is travelling and meet up with friends in the city. I think the AE is less desirable for those who are new to NYC and want to have time to play when they're not studying or have been living in NYC for so long that they enjoy the convenience. Hence many on this forum will talk negatively about Einstein b/c they would rather have everything right at their fingertips. From what I've heard the bus and subway can be annoying, but I like the idea of not being directly in the city.

Remember the worst thing you can do is to go into an interview with a warped impression of a school. Try to keep an open mind and make the best of the situation. No med school is going to be the perfect one, you just have to find the best place for you!

 

A couple comments since I lived in AECOM for a summer....

1) The express bus takes 30 minutes to get to the Harlem, 125th st area of Manhattan. That's not the final destination for most people. It will take another 15-20 minutes to get to midtown and other places. In addition, if you want to catch this express bus that comes once a hour (!) then you better get to the bus station something like 10-15 minutes ahead of time. If you add it all up, the trip can take 1 to 1 1/2 hours one way. And if you miss the midnight express bus on weekend, then sucks to be you. Either shell out $30 including tips to take a taxi or take the slow 6 train that goes all local in the Bronx and walk 10 minutes home from the Square (I had to that a couple times because I did not want to wait for the once a hour early am bus from the square to the dorm. it was a bit scary but as far as i could tell, i did not get any holes in my body. it is safe in that neighborhood but I would not recommend doing what I did).

2) I don't know how much that car thing will help. It is almost impossible at times to find parking in Manhattan and it is a pain to drive around there with all the rude drivers. If you want to go home to Brooklyn, Westchester County, Philly, Hartford, etc. on weekends, then the car would certainly come handy. But I am don't sure if you really want to drive the car into Manhattan area that often.

3) The area around AECOM is quiet, boring and somewhat safe. I know a couple faculty members who actually live in connecticut and commute to AECOM everyday. That is kind of funny because you will hear them talking about how great the neighborhood is and how safe it is (which in a sense is not bad) when they sell the school to you, and then wait until you ask them where they live and raise their kids....

4) I did not interact with med students while I was there for a summer. I do have an acquaintance there who says that students do study very HARD, just like at other good med schools. Sometimes, you will get stressed out by them since you will think that why would anyone spend so many hours studying on weekends? But nobody backstabs one another or anything.

5) I did not like the aesthetic part of AECOM. little trees and lots of concrete. The highrise dorms also seemed cold to me. If I want it to be that impersonal-looking, then I rather have that campus right in the middle of Manhattan, instead of the Bronx.....

6) great research! I don't know much about the clinical side of it.

 

replying to the above comment(s).

Driving can be a pain in the ass b/c the drivers are rude??? i like how we drive over here. buckle up and have some fun.

little trees and lots of concrete? out of all the nyc schools, aecom actually has the most "green".

high rise apartment seemed cold? I can understand why someone would feel that way, but have you ever been in one? the views are pretty damn nice.

aecom is in a boring neighborhood? i agree, but I don't think the 6 is such a pain in the ass, nor do I think driving is that bad.

it just seems like you don't like the city. regardless of what nyc school you visit (NYU, COl, COR, MT.S, AECOM) the traffic will be hectic, there will be lots of concrete, there will not be many many trees, and the students will study a lot (even on weekends when there are exams). some people just don't like nyc. it feels cold to them. i love it. i love the crazy driving and i don't think nyc people are rude. i think there are rude people everywhere, but nyc is so dense and so active, you run into more rude people here. anyway, just adding my 2cents.

 

I'll add a few comments too

Hmm, unless I took the wrong bus, it only took me 30 minutes to get to the upper east side. My friends who needed to get to other destinations in the city said they either took the bus to midtown and then hopped on the subway or they just took the bus to lower Manhattan. All said it was less than an hour.

I too like driving in crazy situations. Try driving in Philly, it sucks. Nobody follows rules, at least in NYC they follow the rules, they are just a bit impatient.

And, I have to say that I probably won't be living in the Bronx for more than four years. If I stayed at AE for my residency or anywhere in NYC, I'd either live in Manhattan or the suburbs. Westchester has some of the best school districts in the US and as I attended a very highly ranked PA public school system, I wouldn't want my kids in private school.

Just my $0.02.

 

I know someone at Albert Einstein and he is very happy. He chose it over SUNY Syracuse.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by souljah1:
<strong>replying to the above comment(s).

Driving can be a pain in the ass b/c the drivers are rude??? i like how we drive over here. buckle up and have some fun.

little trees and lots of concrete? out of all the nyc schools, aecom actually has the most "green".

high rise apartment seemed cold? I can understand why someone would feel that way, but have you ever been in one? the views are pretty damn nice.

aecom is in a boring neighborhood? i agree, but I don't think the 6 is such a pain in the ass, nor do I think driving is that bad.

it just seems like you don't like the city. anyway, just adding my 2cents.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">1) well, as I said, with so little green, I might like having those concretes located in Manhanttan rather than in the boring Bronx.

2) I lived in those high rises before. I did not like it. One of the bedrooms is actually originally part of the living room. Hence 3 bedroom apartments were converted from previously 2-bedroom apartments. Therefore, to me, it felt kind of crammed. I was not aware of any good view from the window

3) 6 is a major pain in the a$$. Let me explain it more. In the morning, it is express going to Manhattan, but guess what, you are in the classroom. At night, if you want to spend a weekday night in Manhattan, it is express coming back to the Bronx. Taking the 6 means you go local all the way through the Bronx (which takes around 30 minutes) and then another 30ish minutes if you want to go downtown or to the westside. And in the middle of the night, say, you miss the express bus, subway service slows down. Going through Manhattan is no problem since 4, 5 and 6 will all do. But if you are on 4 or 5, you gotta get off at 125th st and wait for that 6 to come. Sometimes, it seems eternity when it is so late at night.

Honestly, I feel AECOM is in a different city. I do like the city (specficially the lower part and west side of Manhattan) but AECOM is nowhere near it.

In response to the other post, there is not much to do in upper east! With all the transfers etc. taking the combination of express bus and subway will take you 1 to 1 1/2 hours one way if you want to go to lower Manhanttan or esp. the west side of Manhanttan. For you, perhaps you took that during the day when all these services are frequent. But for me, I wanted to party into later parts of the night and those waits for express bus PLUS subways can make those trips seem so long. I took the express bus home around midnight when it is traffic-free on the road and it still takes at least 45 minutes from mid-town. This is in contrast to NYU or Cornell (and Mount Sinai) which are in much much better locations.

There gotta be AECOM students floating here somewhere. Let's see what they have to say.