Jefferson Class of 2011 Class thread...

[Threehills]

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Hey Maestro,

Saw you are in Ann Arbor. I did my undergrad at michigan, what I would give to be sitting at Dominick's right now drinking a pitcher of sangria!

I'm starting at Jeff this fall but have lived in Philly for 3 years now, there is loads to do to occupy an afternoon.

For example
Art Museum (which would take 2 days to see)
Gallery Mall

But what I would do is hang out around the area near Jeff. Just walk around and get a feel for the area. Its right downtown so there will be tons of stuff to look at. Grab a coffee and just watch the people are check out some of the really interesting stores near by. If you walked to city hall (Broad and Market) and back, taking your time, that would take up a few hours and really give you a feel for the city. I have been working right around the corner from Jeff at Pennsylvania Hospital for some time now, but I still get excited every time I step off the subway, there just something about being in the city.

James

 

[naegleria brain]

Okay ... I'll ask a few questions. I apologize in advance if any of these have been answered already in this or other theads.

1. In your opinion, what is the best/worst first year class?

2. You have said in other threads that you have not found Jeff's large class size to be a disadvantage. But, over your two years how many of your classmates have you really gotten to know?

3. Other than Anatomy lab and small group clinical skills type classes, does anyone really care if you opt to skip class and study at home?

4. Dress code is pretty much whatever you want to wear (within reason) to class?

5. I know you and people on other threads have said not to pre-read anything before starting school. How about The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down which I understand is required reading during the first year. Skip reading even that until school starts?

6. Would you recommend Jeff housing over finding your own apartment in Philly? I think Jeff's housing is kinda pricey and you can do better on your own. Agree or disagree?

7. I know parking in center city Philly can be kind of pricey. What do people with cars do to minimize that expense?

8. How is security around Jeff? I know it's in a good area of center city. But, are there ever occasions where we will have to be coming in very early or staying very late?

9. Do Jeff students have a favorite bar they go to unwind near campus?

10. Given the workload of a first year, should I expect to ever see the inside of that bar?

11. If you could change anything about the MS1 experience at Jeff, what would it be?

I'm sure I'll think of some more questions as time goes on.

And come on people!! I can't be the only one with questions here! Let's give smq123 more reasons to spend time on SDN rather than study.

i thought id check this place out.
1. best = neuro. great faculty; grunwald i believe is the best first year prof; too bad he doesnt teach more (tho i believe he recently became coordinator for histo, so that'll change). brainard also excellent. van bocstaele does the molecular stuff, which usually dry and awful, she makes doable.

worst...mp21. dont have sex with your patients. i mean how many ways do you need to teach such obvious idiocies. they feel righteous by teaching it, but its a waste of time IMO. easy though.
biochem leaves a lot to be desired. taught by PhD's who want to share everything they know, much won't be on the boards. and i still have yet to see an application in the hospital, for second year, or pretty much anywhere else outside of his lab.

2. i have my own group of friends and haven't really made an effort to get to know the class. face it, you don't need to be buddy buddy with 200+ kids. but there's plenty of cameraderie, people help each other out all the time, and are quite nice. usu people get in "cliques" of like 30 kids or so, but its not like you have jocks, and band geeks. everyone's friendly and you can get to know as many or as few people as you'd like. totally up to you.

3. skip whatever you want, it's fine

4. yup, no one cares how you dress...except when they bring patients in. then you must wear a whitecoat. this is once every three-to-four weeks

5. i read half and got away with it. its an easy read so why not? when you got nothing better do at night, just read a few pages, and by school rolls around, you're done with it.

6. agree. first year i lived on campus until i got to know the place. second year i moved out.

7. dont have a car

8. security is decent. center city is relatively nice. you'll be walking around at all hours of the night, but the campus itself is pretty small; i've never really had any problems.

9. plenty of bars here. you'll find jeff kids around here. when marathon opens up i expect that'll be the new hotspot.

10. yes, post-exams all go out to the bar. it's organized, so theyll let you know where the drink specials are

11. if i could change jefferson, i'd completely revamp mp21 and biochem. however, for myself, i guess the best advice is the general stuff you'd get from this board, nothing really specific to jefferson. oh in anatomy lab, i forget his name, but there's one rather effeminate man who is extremely knowledgeable. i highly suggest you follow him for about half an hour or an hour each anatomy lab and get his daily spiel. you'll know when you see him.

 

[jeff09]

I'm also a Jefferson 2nd year, so I'll give you my answers to these...

Okay ... I'll ask a few questions. I apologize in advance if any of these have been answered already in this or other theads.

1. In your opinion, what is the best/worst first year class?

I liked physio, hated anatomy and neuro. I think part of that was because I didn't understand neuro at all, though...still don't.

2. You have said in other threads that you have not found Jeff's large class size to be a disadvantage. But, over your two years how many of your classmates have you really gotten to know?

I feel like I've gotten to know just about everyone on some level. I have a smaller group of friends within my class that I hang out with a lot, and I think that's one of the great things about a "large" class (bearing in mind that I went to a "small" college, and my class was twice the size of my class at Jeff)- with a larger class, you're more likely to be able to find people that you really click with.

3. Other than Anatomy lab and small group clinical skills type classes, does anyone really care if you opt to skip class and study at home?

Nope. I only show up for lectures once a month or so when we have review sessions, and I'm not the only one who does that.

4. Dress code is pretty much whatever you want to wear (within reason) to class?

Yep!

5. I know you and people on other threads have said not to pre-read anything before starting school. How about The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down which I understand is required reading during the first year. Skip reading even that until school starts?

You won't discuss this book until about October/November, so it's not like you need to have it read for orientation. I did read it over the summer and thought it was helpful just because once anatomy started I barely had time to read my email, let alone an entire book.

6. Would you recommend Jeff housing over finding your own apartment in Philly? I think Jeff's housing is kinda pricey and you can do better on your own. Agree or disagree?

I'm not the biggest fan of on-campus housing- it's overpriced for what you get, and while I was living on campus 1st year I felt like I wasn't experiencing any of the city other than school. I'm much happier now that I live off campus. That said, I think it's a great option for the first year or so, since you'll meet lots of people from your class who live there too, and it's hard to find a good apartment without knowing the city a bit.

7. I know parking in center city Philly can be kind of pricey. What do people with cars do to minimize that expense?

I left my car at my parents' house for the first 2 years, since you really won't need it at all. For 3rd and 4th year, most people get "discounted" parking at one of the Jeff garages, or find parking through craigslist.org.

8. How is security around Jeff? I know it's in a good area of center city. But, are there ever occasions where we will have to be coming in very early or staying very late?

For 3rd and 4th year rotations you often have to come in very early, though not always to Jeff. Unless you like to start your studying at 5am, there's never any reason to come to campus before about 7:30 or 8 during the first 2 years, and most people who live off-campus leave by about 8 or 9. I've never felt unsafe walking from Jeff to my place 10 blocks away.

9. Do Jeff students have a favorite bar they go to unwind near campus?

Doc Watson's, Locust Bar, McGillin's

10. Given the workload of a first year, should I expect to ever see the inside of that bar?

It seems that those in my class who want to spend their time in bars find plenty of time for that. I'm not a big drinker, so I don't spend much time there. Either way, there are lots of people who hit the bars on a regular basis and lots who don't.

11. If you could change anything about the MS1 experience at Jeff, what would it be?

Well, it sucked trying to study with all the construction on the new building, but that will be over in a couple months and won't really be a part of your M1 experience. I also would have taken better care to put wet socks on my cadaver, since her feet were almost too dried up to dissect at the end of anatomy.

 

[dangerfield]

Leaving Hawaii today for 2nd look... I'm so excited! See you all there!

 

[afr0dite01]

I am currently an undergrad doing research on medical schools. although thomas jefferson doesnt have that great of a ranking in most med school rankings, it seems that TJ is a very presitgious and respected school. I was just wondering how good the residency placements were for TJ?
thanks

From what I saw on the match day list, it looks pretty impressive to me but I dont exactly know what the best programs are in each specialty. I was however very impressive by the number of people that matched in the competitive specialties like derm, ortho, ophtho, ENT. It was quite a few and I know that the very few people that didnt match (3-5 I think) were applying for the more competitive specialties. As for the ranking, you can take this for what its worth, but what Ive heard is that since USNews started taking into consideration the amount of NIH dollars that each school recieves for research, we have dropped from the rankings from at least the top 20 to not really listed because we dont have a huge research instituition. I dont know whether thats true or not.

 

[polycon7]

Okay so everyone who went, please report back on what went on at 2nd look and what you thought and who has decided that this is the school for them for sure....👍

 

[maestro1625]

Okay so everyone who went, please report back on what went on at 2nd look and what you thought and who has decided that this is the school for them for sure....👍

so were you there too?

either way, I got there early, visited the touristy spots, ate a cheesesteak, etc. The reception had good food, but in small quantities, and was basically just a big mingling session. I tried to talk with as many other students as I could... basically good people, but there was a heavy east coast bias out there this weekend, mainly because of travel I assume. I was one of only a few midwesterners out there. For lack of better things to do, I went on the fraternity tour thing that I'm sure you've all been bombarded with emails about. I actually might keep in contact with one or two of them... the rest felt a bit too much like undergrad houses for my taste. I actually spent the night in one of the frats, just because the student host I stayed with lived there. I was pretty loud all night and I crashed on a couch, so it wasn't the best sleep I've ever gotten

day 2, I managed to get up way too early and made the first session, which was about financial aid and use of bannerweb. they actually handed out personalized financial aid info there. they then had a thing about "learning resources" on campus that wasn't too well organized, and basically had a bunch of people crowding around a few tables. Then a couple more talks: curriculum, "a day in the life", and some community service stuff. Clinical tours followed lunch, though my tour was more of a slide show than anything (I had ortho) though I do think the residents who ran the presentation were the most convincing of anyone who talked in jefferson's favor. The day ended with a couple more talks that weren't too well attended, then back on the R1 to the cluster**** that is the Philadelphia airport. All in all, a good weekend.

...I have to say, cool people, amazing facilities, great program, great location... I was leaning in the other direction before this weekend, but now the decision pendulum is back toward Philly...

 

[axadr2b]

Okay so everyone who went, please report back on what went on at 2nd look and what you thought and who has decided that this is the school for them for sure....👍

I generally agree with the above post....except the part that the reception had little food, I was a bit overwhelmed by the selection actually as were other people I spoke to (classic quote of that day: "wow, this is so fancy! What are they trying to prove...we're not doctors yet!!") .

Anyway the reception was really just a lot of mingling with other potential students and current students. Most of them were very positive about their experiences at Jeff, and honest as well. However, there was one self-proclaimed 3rd year cynic that sat me down and explained how med school on a whole is a bunch of BS, the doctors are all BS, no one cares about you at Jeff etc etc. Turns out he'd just come from a 6 hour clinical exam and needed a cigarette. 😉

I was quite shaken up for a while until I spoke to other students who gave me solid info about Jeff that eased my concerns and made me realize that medical school is really about how you perceive it. Anyway, even Mr. Cynic admitted that Jeff prepares you to be an excellent clinician, as he proclaimed that as a 3rd year he knows more than most 1st year residents from other medical schools haha.

Anyway, the informational sessions were draining to listen to, but quite necessary. I was impressed with the presentation of new anatomy software that allows for virtual dissections. I also enjoyed the presentation by the neurosurgeon Dr. Brainard (he let us handle real human brains!)....there were a few presentations that were a bit disorganized because of computer malfunctions, but other than that I felt that they squeezed a lot into one day, and I was glad I went to second look. Too bad I'm international so I'm not eligible for financial aid 🙁.

I was also impressed to see the jump in average Step 1 scores over the past five years, which are well above average...they must be doing something right!

My clinical tour was in the ER at Thomas Jeff hospital, which was quite interesting; they have a moderately sized ER that definitely can be action-packed at times, according to the resident.

I visited the on-campus housing too. Barringer and Orlowitz are very decent...I didn't attempt to visit Martin Hall (I'm way too old to be living in a dorm again👎).

All in all, I feel very secure in my decision to attend Jeff in the fall. I can't wait till August!

 

[smq123]

Anyway the reception was really just a lot of mingling with other potential students and current students. Most of them were very positive about their experiences at Jeff, and honest as well. However, there was one self-proclaimed 3rd year cynic that sat me down and explained how med school on a whole is a bunch of BS, the doctors are all BS, no one cares about you at Jeff etc etc. Turns out he'd just come from a 6 hour clinical exam and needed a cigarette. 😉

I was quite shaken up for a while until I spoke to other students who gave me solid info about Jeff that eased my concerns and made me realize that medical school is really about how you perceive it. Anyway, even Mr. Cynic admitted that Jeff prepares you to be an excellent clinician, as he proclaimed that as a 3rd year he knows more than most 1st year residents from other medical schools haha.

There are some students who complain a lot about Jeff. The thing is, many of their complaints are not specific to Jefferson - if you look around on the allopathic board, there are at least 2 active threads that involve med students from all over the country complaining about something.

Also, a lot of people who come directly out of undergrad expect to find the same hand-holding from their teachers that they got in college. But - come on. It's grad school, we're adults (theoretically) and about to become medical professionals. I have been consistently amazed and touched by how caring the administrators and teachers are if you need help. They're human, and honestly, very nice people. They're busy too - a lot of them have patients, and a lot of things to oversee, so they're not going to babysit you and anticipate ALL your needs. But, if you approach them and honestly ask for advice/help/just to talk, they're there for you all the way.

 

[naegleria brain]

hey all you prospects,

i'm a student here, and i'm definetely not a pro-jeff this place is friggin awesome, but jefferson does have its fair balance of strengths of weaknesses, and i'm very open with sharing everything

i wanted to address some of the points that were brought up here. mr. cynic third year; exams do that to you, no matter who you are. exam weeks here are hell and no one likes it, and everyone bitches. but i'm not sure that's special to jefferson, that's just medical school for you

dr. brainard is not a neurosurgeon, he's a PhD. he's excellent at his job, a bit spacey and out there, but a very cool prof that you'll love for neuro. one of our better professors. we put him out there for a reason 😉

our step 1 scores. i'm not sure where you got the "serious jump". our scores are right around the national average, maybe a couple points above, hardly worth any special attention. maybe you compared us to the international average and that is not fair. international medical students don't do nearly as well as american students (and i won't go into why but i'll slip in that they dont hold a candle next to us) and so the only way to compare us is to hold us next to the US stats. yes, we are slightly above though.

i know for residencies, jefferson seems to have a propensity to take their own. so you get sweet hookups for residency. we are extremely busy, and you get lots of exposure early on. the residents who go on to do fellowships all say they are far beyond their colleagues in terms of experience. but that doesn't mean much for our curriculum.

our curriculum is decently solid. there are perennial problems with it, like at every institution (ahem...mp21) that never seems to get fixed. but for every ***** mp21 you have an awesome guy like kocher or brainard.

philly - there are two types of people. those who love it, and those who hate it. i hate this city, period. but you're so busy in medical school that you don't really think it much. it is a metropolitan area though, so there is plenty to do. and this is probably among the safer areas in philly, so that's a huge plus.

orlowitz and barringer are the jefferson-affiliated housing. live there first year and leave afterwards; its not worth staying there for too long.

we have lots of affiliate sites for rotations third and fourth year, including jersey, delaware, western PA, pittsburgh, etc. will's eye is top notch so if youre interested in optho, you'll get sufficient opportunities to interact with them, depending on how much you like them.

you'll get plenty of exposure as, like i said previously, we're a very busy center. lots of world-famous profs are here, including i'm sure much of the ophtho dept (not really up on the field), rosenwasser (neurosurgery), vaccaro (ortho), rothman (ortho) - i heard he may have retired though, but still a great ortho program, yeo - king of whipples, etc. and you'll get face time with these guys during rotations

feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

 

[axadr2b]

Hey thanks for clearing some stuff up for me, 'ppreciate it!

Anyway regarding the Step 1 scores, you're right....in 2005 Jeff's average was 220 and the national average was around 216. The "huge jump" in the chart that I saw was Jeff's own average (in 2000 it was 212 and a progressive increase to 2005 which was 220).....

so it seems that there was an increase in Jeff Step 1 scores which may be due to an improved curriculum (or just smarter incoming students ) .... but yes you're right it's not THAT much above the national average (about 4 points in 2005)....but that's better than below average, don't ya think? 😉

And Dr. Brainard indeed a PhD....I have no idea why I said he was a neurosurgeon....but yes he's very awesome!

 

[polycon7]

Has anyone seen the co-ed frat house on their tour??

 

[axadr2b]

Yeah I actually toured the co-ed frat house. Right now they said they have space for 2 guys and one girl, and that most likely the guys would be sharing a double. The house itself is a bit old but pretty huge; there's like 3 flights and a basement. The bedrooms are all different sizes and those with seniority get the best picks for rooms. The one they said would be for the girl is a bit small, but the one that the guys would share is huge.

It's a really decent deal when you think about all the money you would save...but for some reason I can't see myself living in a house with all those people. If you don't mind though, I would recommend you contact someone from the frat with your interest.

 

[dangerfield]

Okay so everyone who went, please report back on what went on at 2nd look and what you thought and who has decided that this is the school for them for sure....👍

I actually enjoyed 2nd look and made me feel confident that I made the right decision. 😀 I just wish i had finished my financial aid application ahead of time so that I could have received it at the session. 😡

I stayed with a med student and got to hang out with his friends after the sessions. The students were great. I really like philadelphia, except for the parking issue. I'm gonna miss being able to drive. Also, I thought Philly would have a much cheaper cost of apartments compared to Hawaii, but in reality center city is comparable. 🙁

 

[maestro1625]

I actually enjoyed 2nd look and made me feel confident that I made the right decision. 😀 I just wish i had finished my financial aid application ahead of time so that I could have received it at the session. 😡

I stayed with a med student and got to hang out with his friends after the sessions. The students were great. I really like philadelphia, except for the parking issue. I'm gonna miss being able to drive. Also, I thought Philly would have a much cheaper cost of apartments compared to Hawaii, but in reality center city is comparable. 🙁

BUMP: almost decision date...

 

[mystre23]

Hey everybody,

I just got into Jefferson and am really excited since it was one of my top choices. I'm thinking about living on campus but wasn't able to check out the choices during my interview and hadn't been accepted yet when they had the second-look weekend (plus, I'm from Cali, so that would have been quite a trip.) Do most first-years live in on campus? Which buildings? Is it worth the extra price? Are there off campus buildings nearby that have a lot of students in them?

Oh yea,
Driving? Do people have cars or do you find they're not worth the hassle?

I'm totally looking forward to being a doctor!!

 

[Threehills]

Congrats on getting accepted.

From living in philly for a few years, if you do live on campus, you're not going to need a car, at least not for the first two years. On top of that finding somewhere to park it can be a bear, unless you want to shell a few hundred a month for a parking spot in a deck. If you don't mind circling the block for 20 minutes everytime you want to park, a city parking permit is only 35 a year, which quite a good deal.

If have friends who live a few blocks over from Jeff with a car. They never drive it becuase they don't want to lose their parking spot. They could park it in their aparment buildings lot, but its 350 a month to do that.

 

[smq123]

I just got into Jefferson and am really excited since it was one of my top choices. I'm thinking about living on campus but wasn't able to check out the choices during my interview and hadn't been accepted yet when they had the second-look weekend (plus, I'm from Cali, so that would have been quite a trip.) Do most first-years live in on campus? Which buildings? Is it worth the extra price? Are there off campus buildings nearby that have a lot of students in them?

Oh yea,
Driving? Do people have cars or do you find they're not worth the hassle?

Hey - congratulations!

Most people live in Barringer or Orlowitz. They're apartments, with separate kitchens and bathrooms. Many people just can't stand the idea of living in a dorm again, so they decide not to live in Martin. For the first year, a lot of people like living on campus - it cuts out the hassle of trying to find a decent, safe apartment and you're in close proximity of everything. Plus it's a good chance to meet your fellow students.

Lots of people, though, move out for 2nd year. By that time, they know the neighborhood, know where to look for a good house/apartment, etc.

There are quite a few buildings around that have students in them, although not all of these students go to Jefferson. I don't know of any that I can recommend off the top of my head.

For the first 2 years, a car is not necessary. 3rd and 4th year may be a different story, although many people don't get a car then either.

 

[mystre23]

Seems like everybody stays in one of the apartment style buildings, but those buildings' contract run out at the end of April. Do students usually eat the last month of their lease or is it easy to find a sub let? I really don't want to live in the "dorms" again but that just might make more sense financially.

 

[dangerfield]

I still have to turn in one more thing for financial aid... ARGH!!! I hope my financial aid packet will be a good one.

 

[Manthy]

From what I saw on the match day list, it looks pretty impressive to me but I dont exactly know what the best programs are in each specialty. I was however very impressive by the number of people that matched in the competitive specialties like derm, ortho, ophtho, ENT. It was quite a few and I know that the very few people that didnt match (3-5 I think) were applying for the more competitive specialties. As for the ranking, you can take this for what its worth, but what Ive heard is that since USNews started taking into consideration the amount of NIH dollars that each school recieves for research, we have dropped from the rankings from at least the top 20 to not really listed because we dont have a huge research instituition. I dont know whether thats true or not.

I am deciding between Jefferson and a school that has more of a research emphasis. Do you find there are a lot of opportunities for research even if it is not a huge research institution? Thanks!

 

[maestro1625]

well it's official... I'm Jeff-bound this august...

 

[bmarchufl]

it's may 14th, i had my jeff interview in early March. on my waitlisted letter they said "high priority category" in bold. anyone have a similar experience? anyone know my chances of getting in? is the waitlist pretty much over now? i applied late in the process. (34 mcat, 3.8 gpa)

 

[maestro1625]

ok, so new unanswered question: what do students tend to get for laptops at jeff... I'd hate to spend 2k on a macbook with leopard/windows xp if it's going to be incompatible.

 

[aertzin]

it's may 14th, i had my jeff interview in early March. on my waitlisted letter they said "high priority category" in bold. anyone have a similar experience? anyone know my chances of getting in? is the waitlist pretty much over now? i applied late in the process. (34 mcat, 3.8 gpa)

Being in the high priority category gives you a better chance of getting off the waitlist. I would suspect there hasn't been much waitlist movement yet. It will probably start moving after tomorrow. May 15 is the date when people holding multiple acceptances have to select a school and withdraw from the other schools at which they have been accepted. So, waitlist movement is far from over. It's probably just getting started. Good luck!

 

[smq123]

well it's official... I'm Jeff-bound this august...

Yay! Congratulations, and welcome to Jeff! 🙂

I am deciding between Jefferson and a school that has more of a research emphasis. Do you find there are a lot of opportunities for research even if it is not a huge research institution? Thanks!

Yes - although research isn't our main focus, there are lots of chances in both bench and clinical research. The deans hold a lunchtime talk to introduce med students to summer research opportunities. Especially in 1st year, you'll have a lot of professors who run their own labs, and they're always open to talking to students about doing research.

Seems like everybody stays in one of the apartment style buildings, but those buildings' contract run out at the end of April. Do students usually eat the last month of their lease or is it easy to find a sub let? I really don't want to live in the "dorms" again but that just might make more sense financially.

I'm confused by this, because I thought that Orlowitz and Barringer contracts run out at the end of June. It's not a big deal, because 1st year classes end in the middle of June. (Sorry - the med school academic year at all schools is horrendously long.) 2nd year classes end in mid-May, but most people stick around campus to study for Step 1. And 3rd year rotations don't end until mid-June as well. So you don't lose a lot by having the contract end in June.

 

[dannylee718]

i just withdrew my acceptance from JMC the other day... i just couldn't turn down the state school tuition. i really hope i didn't make the wrong decision!

have fun in JMC guys. it definately seemed like an awesome school~

 

[medbound2011]

Hi everyone. I am desperate to go to Jefferson and am currently on the high priority waitlist. would love to know if anyone else on the high priority list hears post May 15. Please keep me updated and I will do the same. Also, does anyone, waitlisted or not, know how many people are on the high priority wl/ if there is a lot of movement from it?

Thanks

 

[danesh23]

Hi everyone. I am desperate to go to Jefferson and am currently on the high priority waitlist. would love to know if anyone else on the high priority list hears post May 15. Please keep me updated and I will do the same. Also, does anyone, waitlisted or not, know how many people are on the high priority wl/ if there is a lot of movement from it?

Thanks

I suggest you call them like 2-3x a week telling them that you are really interested in attending their school and also, email dr. callahan like once a week telling her you are desperate to get in...send them a letter of intent and just be very persistent and you got a good shot at getting in

 

[medbound2011]

Who exactly should I call...just the main office?

Thanks

 

[aertzin]

All you can do is call the admissions office and speak with whoever answers the phone. You're not going to get through to Dr. Callahan. And I would think that those type of phone calls are only going to help if whoever answers the phone makes a note of your calls and that informaton makes it into your file. They may or they may not do that. I don't know. I would agree with Danesh, however. Dr. Callahan likes to hear that you really want to go to Jefferson. At least one email a week to Callahan is in order. Keep your name in front of her face. When she reviews the waitlist, you want your name to stand out as someone who really wants to go to Jefferson and who has been very proactive about trying to make it happen. Good luck!

 

[Threehills]

Dr. Grace Hershamn is my advisor at Penn. She had Dr. Callahan's job up until two years ago. She strongly emphasized calling at least once a week. Dr. Hershman had the secretaries make notes of whomever called and really seemed enthusiastic about coming to Jeff. According to her, unlike some other schools, Jeff likes to be bothered with inquireis or other actions on your part. They only want to people who really want to be at Jeff.

 

[medbound2011]

mystre23 vbmenu_register("postmenu_5131764", true); : were you on the high priority list or were you accepted without being waitlisted?

Thanks

 

[mystre23]

Sorry MedBound, I got in straight away, so I'm no help to you when it comes to the wait-list stuff. My advice would be what was said earlier. Just don't let them doubt how much you want to go there. Hopefully I'll see you in August!

 

[Threehills]

Sending a case a of scotch to Dr. Callahan probably wouldn't hurt your chances either. 😛

 

[Doc206]

Of the students who have officially chosen Jeff for next year...what are you guys looking forward to? I'm getting really excited about orientation in August and wanted to hear about everyone else!

 

[danesh23]

Of the students who have officially chosen Jeff for next year...what are you guys looking forward to? I'm getting really excited about orientation in August and wanted to hear about everyone else!

I was just wondering when do u think we will hear about housing because I am eager to move there as soon as possible... also do you know when we are suppose to send all the materials, i.e. college transcripts, health records to them, or we should just do it at any time?

 

[mysticfolken]

I was just wondering when do u think we will hear about housing because I am eager to move there as soon as possible... also do you know when we are suppose to send all the materials, i.e. college transcripts, health records to them, or we should just do it at any time?

Yea about that. Since I was accepted, I've received that little postcard and have replied with my deposit. But since then, I have yet to receive anything from JMC. Did everyone else get an info packet with requirements for matriculation, housing, fin aid, etc.?

 

[aertzin]

Yea about that. Since I was accepted, I've received that little postcard and have replied with my deposit. But since then, I have yet to receive anything from JMC. Did everyone else get an info packet with requirements for matriculation, housing, fin aid, etc.?

Unless you were only very recently accepted, you should have received all of that information. I would call if I were you.

 

[mysticfolken]

Unless you were only very recently accepted, you should have received all of that information. I would call if I were you.

I've tried. They've always just tell me to call the respective offices or to refer to the website (which I have done, but some of the links haven't been updates since last year).
It's not a big deal, I just want to know what I need to cover.
I've done housing, fin aid, and will be doing the health stuff later. But in terms of being ready for orientation, all i know right now is that its Aug. 6th and I should complete those white coat documents. Is there anything else I'm missing?

 

[smq123]

I've tried. They've always just tell me to call the respective offices or to refer to the website (which I have done, but some of the links haven't been updates since last year).
It's not a big deal, I just want to know what I need to cover.
I've done housing, fin aid, and will be doing the health stuff later. But in terms of being ready for orientation, all i know right now is that its Aug. 6th and I should complete those white coat documents. Is there anything else I'm missing?

Just use the links on the matriculation website to fill out stuff. The forms do not change much from year to year, and hopefully the links should still be functional.

There will be more emails coming to you as orientation draws closer. Right now everything at school is so crazy trying to help each class transition to the next year, that orientation stuff isn't happening.

 

[maestro1625]

bump...
and just in case anyone hasn't seen it yet...

http://albion.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2392161723&ref=mf

 

[JMC2010]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to say hello. I only recently have gotten back on SDN and I was remembering how helpful it was in the months before school started. I'm finishing up my first year here and it's been really incredible. I support a lot of the things that the second years have said about medical school being what you make of it. It's definitely true...I for one am a starry-eyed idealist and I love it all.

A few points. MP21 has been somewhat revamped from what I understand and is now called ICM (Intro to clinical med). I actually liked it quite a bit. Yes, there are some parts that will annoy you and seem silly because you are really stressed about anatomy or whatnot and everything else seems like a waste of time. But ICM helps you step back and realize what you're working towards...told you i was starry-eyed. In all seriousness, ICM brings in all the patients that you get to see as well as neurosurgeons, pulmonologists, nephrologists, optho, etc. etc. And ICM is also the class through which you interview standardized patients and get introduced to basic skills like neuro exams and optho stuff. So it's really pretty interesting. I think that with feedback from my class the ICM class will be pretty good next year because some of the kinks should be worked out.

I also recommend living on campus. I live in barringer and I can't complain. They are actually a fairly good deal for what they offer and my apartment (2 bedroom) is pretty nice. It's very convenient being close to all your friends and it's great to only have to run 50 yards to get to class when it's freezing out.

Biochemistry is pretty tough, but Dr. Ronner does a phenomenal job organizing it. It's probably the best run class I've ever taken. Physio seems almost seems easy after biochem. Neuro is intense but sweet.

As for location. Jeff has an unbelievable location. 8 blocks to old city, 8 blocks to rittenhouse, tons of bars and restaurants around. And philly is a cool city, it seems like it's coming into it's own again after a downtrodden 90's. I like how it's very walkable.

Let me just say that I think it's important that you guys enjoy all the exciting little things of being a first year. Don't be afraid to take a million pictures wearing your shiny white coat or listen to your heart beat for hours with your new stethoscope. Sure, maybe it's a little silly...but it sure did make me feel good to have finally gotten to the place that i'd been working towards.

Ok folks, I'll quit yammering away. I'm available for any questions regarding anything. Despite my obvious bias towards Jeff i'll be very honest with you.

 

[JMC2010]

ok, so new unanswered question: what do students tend to get for laptops at jeff... I'd hate to spend 2k on a macbook with leopard/windows xp if it's going to be incompatible.

There are quite a few people in my class that use Mac's and from what I know they don't have any real problems. I did a lot of research and bought a Dell XPS m1210 with a 20 inch widescreen monitor on the side. God, i'm such a nerd. Anyway, i did it for under 2000 and it's really great because m1210 is pretty small and lightweight which was huge for me. And the battery lasts forever...i study a lot at starbucks etc so it's great. Then when i come home i just plug it into this monitor which keeps me from having to strain my eyes...plus i use it to watch DVD's and stuff. It's also been really sweet for histology (all our slides are online = no microscopes..awesome) because my group and I can study histo from the comfort of home on a sizeable screen.

My two cents.


Last year there was a lot of interest in those tablet pc's but it seems like they aren't really worth the hype.

 

[dangerfield]

Just use the links on the matriculation website to fill out stuff. The forms do not change much from year to year, and hopefully the links should still be functional.

There will be more emails coming to you as orientation draws closer. Right now everything at school is so crazy trying to help each class transition to the next year, that orientation stuff isn't happening.

Hey smq123, do you have the link to the matriculation website? Thanks.

 

[smq123]

Hey smq123, do you have the link to the matriculation website? Thanks.

Sure:
http://www.jefferson.edu/jmc/admissions/matri.cfm

Just in case, here's the housing link:
http://www.jefferson.edu/housing/

 

[dangerfield]

Sure:
http://www.jefferson.edu/jmc/admissions/matri.cfm

Just in case, here's the housing link:
http://www.jefferson.edu/housing/

Thanks your so awesome!!!

 

[dago]

anyone know the date of the white coat ceremony for this year?

 

[smq123]

anyone know the date of the white coat ceremony for this year?

Aug. 10th

 

[opnmnd]

i'll be starting @ jeff in the fall. to any current students: do you recommend the health insurance package offered by the school? any comments regarding this topic would be appreciated. also, is there a particular bank in close proximity to campus that is recommended?