med schools in undesirable neighborhoods

[postbacker]

A revived thread talks negatively about the neighborhood where Temple is located, and there are similar comments about Johns Hopkins location...

Any other schools belong on this list? Also interested in hearing about the neighborhoods near these schools where med students tend to live...really more concerned about where I might live and how I get to/from the school and clinical sites (on foot? mass transit? car?) than I am about the school's neighborhood, but I would like to hear it all...

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[CATallergy]

definitely UCLA

visitor parking in westwood is a b*tch!

 

[tinkerbelle]

A revived thread talks negatively about the neighborhood where Temple is located, and there are similar comments about Johns Hopkins location...

Any other schools belong on this list? Also interested in hearing about the neighborhoods near these schools where med students tend to live...really more concerned about where I might live and how I get to/from the school and clinical sites (on foot? mass transit? car?) than I am about the school's neighborhood, but I would like to hear it all...

Although the hopkins med school is in a bad neighborhood, there are security guards at every block. Plus, you're safe in the immediate area of the school... you just have to be careful if you walk a few blocks in either direction of the med school.

If you go to Hopkins Med, you'll find that many student either live in the dorms (which is right across the street from hopkins hospital). The dorms are ugly (I lived there for a year), but it's super cheap and convenient. Plus, it's nice to live with a lot of your classmates. There is an underground tunnel that connects the dorms with the hospital so you don't have to walk outside at night. You could also call security and they'll walk you back.

Some hopkins med students also live near the undergrad campus, which is really nice. There is a shuttle that takes you from the undergrad campus to the med school. It's like a 15-20 minute ride depending on what time you go. The shuttles are always on time and reliable so you don't have to worry about being late for class or anything. You could drive if you wanted to, but parking is a pain in the butt.

I think those were two of the popular places, but there are tons more places. Some will live by Peabody or near the Inner Harbor or Canton.

Lots of improvements are being made in Baltimore, so it's not as bad as it was when I lived there.

 

[sagemedecon]

I would add Pritzker to the list.

 

[gotmeds?]

definitely UCLA

visitor parking in westwood is a b*tch!

 

[scrubsaresexy]

University of Maryland.

Basically, all of Baltimore can be kind of gritty. The problem is that really nice neighborhoods are next to really bad neighborhoods. You just have to be careful. It doesn't really scare me anymore, but I'm careful where I go and I'm used to it. All the same, I was going to try and get a summer job at U of MD medical center and I decided it wouldn't be worth fighting the parking and the fact that I'm not very comfortable in the area (I'm also a girl and I look young for my age, so I feel like kind of a target a lot of the time).

And Hopkins, but you already said that.

I feel like theres a SUNY in Syracuse, and some of that city can be a bit on the 'undesirable' side, too. I think all urban schools have the potential to be in bad neighborhoods.

 

[lina123321]

njms-->newark

 

[postbacker]

Someone on the "schools you would not attend" thread is panning the locations of Penn and Yale - can anyone comment on these schools, the neighborhood, where med students live, how they get to school, etc?

Similarly would like to hear about the NYC schools...worst to best for location and housing...

Short of visiting these places before applying, I feel like I am taking shots in the dark...all comments appreciated.

 

[TheGreatHunt]

Not to kill it again but:

HOPKINS

 

[Eric Lindros]

Someone on the "schools you would not attend" thread is panning the locations of Penn and Yale - can anyone comment on these schools, the neighborhood, where med students live, how they get to school, etc?

Similarly would like to hear about the NYC schools...worst to best for location and housing...

Short of visiting these places before applying, I feel like I am taking shots in the dark...all comments appreciated.

Penn isn't bad at all.

 

[zeff]

I was under the impression that most schools are since that's where the need is...

Certainly the schools already mentioned (Yale, Hopkins), UC Davis, Georgetown, Columbia, NYU come to mind.

Dude, not to be confrontational, but Georgetown? Really? The med school is across the street from the French Embassy--you can literally duck out of Anatomy class for a quick bite of foie gras and be back before the professor notices! John Edwards' house just off Resevoir Rd. just sold for $4 million! I understand why people slam Hopkins (even though I love Baltimore and don't like how it gets ripped repeatedly on this site) but how could you feel uncomfortable in Georgetown?

 

[Bacchus]

Someone on the "schools you would not attend" thread is panning the locations of Penn and Yale - can anyone comment on these schools, the neighborhood, where med students live, how they get to school, etc?

Similarly would like to hear about the NYC schools...worst to best for location and housing...

Short of visiting these places before applying, I feel like I am taking shots in the dark...all comments appreciated.

Penn is in West Philadelphia. I believe the medical college is on Spruce and 35/36th and the main entrance to HUP is Spruce and 34th. I go to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, literally 4 blocks from Penn. The area is not that bad but can be a bit sketchy at times. The Penn Police, USP Security, Phila PD, and University City Ambassadors can readily be seen at night around the campuses. I believe Drexel's police force (if they have one) is readily seen as well. Its most definitely in a better neighborhood than Temple. I've lived here now for 2 years and have had no problems with bums/murderers/roughnecks/anyone but I have heard of several altercations leading to gun and knife threats. Its Kill-adelphia, what are you going to do? I feel its one of the safest areas in the city.

Edit: When I volunteered at HUP I walked Spruce from 34th to about 44th before I got home and never had any problem at all. Penn is lucky in that there are many busy streets around it.

 

[njdmb820]

As a Penn undergrad, the hospital is really not in a bad location at all. The hospital is located on 34th Street...meaning that it is at the Southeastern end of campus. The bad areas are past 42nd and to the north.

 

[nycNerd]

Similarly would like to hear about the NYC schools...

Downstate is pretty sketchy. Campus security is decent and there is shuttle service to the subway station, but I wouldn't want to take the subway there alone at night. Many students live in the nearby neighborhood of park slope, so having a car or carpooling with someone who does would probably be helpful. If you live on campus, it's supposedly pretty safe, but anyway, the area in brooklyn is pretty bad.

The area around Columbia is pretty bad too, but has been cleaning up a bit over the past few years

Einstein is in a relatively decent area of the bronx. It's in a pretty quiet neighborhood that I would feel pretty comfortable going to and from on the subway or walking from a nearby apartment to campus.

Mt. Sinai is located on the lower edge of East Harlem near Central Park. I would consider the area safe, just be careful of going to far north. The dorms are really nice too, and affordable considering it's in manhattan.

NYU and Cornell are both in extremely safe areas. NYU's dorms for 1st years are supposedly pretty grungy and have community showers, and I don't know much about Cornell's, but the buildings look nice from the outside.

Hope this helps!

 

[badasshairday]

UC Davis? No way.

Yale? New Haven may not be the nicest city but the med school and hospital location is not bad at all.




Add USC to the list.

 

[durfen]

What's wrong with UC Davis? It's in Sacramento now, and it's great. I guess I'm a small-town guy though. If you don't like small-town locations, you should also add Penn State to the list, heh.

Penn didn't seem too bad at all. My cousin lives near there.

Temple should be added to the list, if it has not already.

 

[Institute]

If the school is in a metropolis, expect it to be plagued with innercity problems (except UCLA). The good areas will always be the suburbs of the city. Sociology 101 nubs.

 

[deleted128318]

I was under the impression that most schools are since that's where the need is...

Certainly the schools already mentioned (Yale, Hopkins), UC Davis, Georgetown, Columbia, NYU come to mind.

Hopkins, maybe Yale. The rest...

 

[jochi1543]

Wayne State.

 

[UVABranch]

I was under the impression that most schools are since that's where the need is...

Certainly the schools already mentioned (Yale, Hopkins), UC Davis, Georgetown, Columbia, NYU come to mind.

Georgetown TOTALLY does not belong on this list. I live in DC and what I wouldn't give to be able to afford a home in the Gtown area. Homes are easily priced from 800k-1 mil without breaking a sweat. The price of homes are usually indicative of the area, and needless to say this area is not suffering from the real-estate bubble problems of late.

I already commented about temple earlier today:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=362387&page=4
I don't know where the med students live but I can find out if someone really wants to know, a old friend is a 3rd year there.
EDIT: My sister is a PD in Philly so when I went home this weekend for mom's day she did point out the many bad areas of Philly (I've been thinking about buying and rehabbing a home there or Bmore) and she said oh there was a shooting there, or I had to visit a crime scene on that block, which made me think. But I don't think most students are venturing in those areas other than to avoid traffic. She did also mention that Philly is the murder capitol at present w/ the most murders this year so far so it does pay to make smart decisions about where you go, when and with whom.


I second the thoughts on Penn. Not so bad, but like any city there will be homeless people, and people who grew up in the "neighborhood" so depending on your perspective you might think that this automatically = bad area.

As for Hopkins and UMD Bmore is totally changing. It's like DC circa 2000 (i.e. the rough places are quickly changing and as such homes are being rehabbed, and the areas that were rough and tough are easing up). Much like any city you can usually find a place to live it may just require a short commute. Places mentioned above like the inner harbor and canton are good as far as I know. Some areas called upton and bolton hill have good parts too (although I defer to those who live there now).

As an aside, allllll of these areas have a rich history and often a diverse makeup. Many of the residents are the results of a number of societal changes/issues/problems etc, but it is their home and should be respected as such. Don't get me wrong, if a crackhead walks up to me as I'm go to my car late one night I'm not going to strike up a conversation about the good 'ol days But everyone has to coexist in the area so just use common sense and the bad areas shouldn't be too bad.

 

[Cirrus83]

John Edwards' house just off Resevoir Rd. just sold for $4 million! I understand why people slam Hopkins (even though I love Baltimore and don't like how it gets ripped repeatedly on this site) but how could you feel uncomfortable in Georgetown?

I think it's the fact that a malpractice lawyer lives right in the area that makes people skeered.

Oh well, I guess now that he sold his house the neighborhood will be safe for future doctors again?

 

[Cirrus83]

BTW, no offense people but...people really have to stop being such huge wusses. No, it's not 100% safe in most big cities, but just because some place doesn't look that fantastic doesn't neccessarily mean you're going to get stabbed/raped/mugged.

The reason why Georgetown is on this list is because some people are from such crazy sheltered places that they think everything is the ghetto. I remember when I first went to college and some kids were talking about how it was "the ghetto" when we were walking through a nearby neighborhood...a perfectly fine residential neighborhood that honestly looked cleaner than half the NICE neighborhoods in NYC, lol. That's not to say that there wasn't actually a ghetto neighborhood around (there are in fact many run-down parts of Rochester), but it was funny that these kids would think a regular part of town was the ghetto when it isn't.

In an urban area you're just not going to have your 10 acre plots with a huge driveway and a huge house, but that doesn't mean every neighborhood is the ghetto you crazy crazy sheltered people.

 

[Arc]

A revived thread talks negatively about the neighborhood where Temple is located, and there are similar comments about Johns Hopkins location...

Any other schools belong on this list? Also interested in hearing about the neighborhoods near these schools where med students tend to live...really more concerned about where I might live and how I get to/from the school and clinical sites (on foot? mass transit? car?) than I am about the school's neighborhood, but I would like to hear it all...

The hell? is Hopkins built around projects or something?

 

[Arc]

I was under the impression that most schools are since that's where the need is...

Certainly the schools already mentioned (Yale, Hopkins), UC Davis, Georgetown, Columbia, NYU come to mind.

UC Davis?
If you think Sacramento is bad, then don't even come to Stockton. And car theft is a pretty common crime here, after all Modesto, Stockton, Sac are rated highly in car theft (Read: Expensive as hell car insurance around here).

 

[Law2Doc]

BTW, no offense people but...people really have to stop being such huge wusses. No, it's not 100% safe in most big cities,

Agree. They don't tend to build teaching hospitals in the nice neighborhoods -- they build them where land is cheap and the population density is high enough to support one. And all cities have some crime, but that doesn't make it a particularly bad area, and you can usually avoid those issues by using a bit of common sense and street smarts.

Most of the schools on this list are not really in particularly bad neighborhoods (Penn, Georgetown, UMd, all have significant nonresidential buffers around them and you can live within walking distance to these without much concern), just "city" neighborhoods. Cornell and NYU are actually in quite nice neighborhoods -- many students live in the campus housing because it would otherwise be tough to afford rent in those areas near the school. Temple and Hopkins (and debatably Columbia, although I don't think it's at the same level) are in appreciably rougher neighborhoods than those others but have significant security presence.

I personally wouldn't let your fear of a neighborhood play a big role in your decision.

 

[postbacker]

I agree that it should not be the primary consideration, but for some of us personal safety (and the perception of safety) is an issue and the location of a school and hospital is one of the many things I take into consideration.

All else being equal (and of course "all else" never is truly equal) I take the location and the related issues of the neighborhoods where students live, cost of housing, access to the school, etc., into consideration.

Like everyone else, I am trying to come up with a broad mix of schools for applications, and at this point I have approximately 50 schools under consideration, so I am using this "location" factor (among others) to help whittle down my list to a more manageable or realistic number. Since it is not possible to visit all of these cities in advance of making applications, I seek opinions of others, particularly of people who have actually lived in these places.

FWIW I have lived in Boston, and I have my own standards for what is acceptable, and I was constantly amazed by the choices some classmates made in terms of the location of housing, how far they were willing to commute, etc., choices I would have never made myself (the point being that there is a huge diversity of opinion on this issue and different people weigh or consider these things differently...and that is totally cool).

Thanks to all who contributed...can anyone comment of the Chicago area medical schools?

 

[Law2Doc]

I agree that it should not be the primary consideration, but for some of us personal safety (and the perception of safety) is an issue and the location of a school and hospital is one of the many things I take into consideration.

All else being equal (and of course "all else" never is truly equal) I take the location and the related issues of the neighborhoods where students live, cost of housing, access to the school, etc., into consideration.

That's fine; my point was really that some of the so-called dangerous schools listed in this thread really aren't any worse than the surrounding city, so you wouldn't really turn down eg a Penn or a Georgetown out of fear of being mugged because the risk is fairly low. Probably not as low as Boston, but low. And there are educational advantages to working in urban hospitals (particularly if things like emergency medicine might be a possible career consideration). You tend to see more in the way of trauma, infectious diseases, STDs, drug related ailments. You tend to get to do more because they are inevitably short staffed. Most of the physicians I know who worked in urban settings simply say you "really learn how to practice medicine" that way.

 

[Phoenix.]

Postbacker: I'm originally from the burbs, but I live in downtown Chicago now. I wouldn't knock any of the Chicago med schools off my list simply because of location, although I'm obviously biased. First off, Northwestern med school is right off Michigan Ave in an impeccable neighborhood with hospitals that look more like upscale hotels than hospitals. (FYI: Northwestern undergrad is in Evanston, just north of Chicago). Hyde Park, where U of Chicago is (just south of the city), is known to be rougher, but I have friends that live there who I visit, and it certainly wouldn't keep me from applying (and I'm a single female). The areas my friends live in are actually very nice - I believe Hyde Park is definitely improving. And the hospitals were quite nice.

I've never actually been to the other Chicago med schools, but I've either driven past, or never heard anything that would actually keep me from applying to them. UIC and Rush are in the city, but a little bit south and west. Someone else will have to comment on their neighborhoods. I do have a friend that went to Rush and lived only a few blocks away. The neighborhood looked a little more "inner city" in certain areas, and I know his car was broken into several times (street parking), but I'm not sure overall what it's like to live there. Cars can get broken into anywhere. And having driven through there many times, I wouldn't have a problem with attending either (although from the comments here I am likely crossing Temple off, a school I was considering applying to).

Loyola isn't actually IN Chicago - but is about half an hour south/west in Maywood. I know nothing about it, but have never heard anything dangerous or sketchy about its location. Same with Rosalind Franklin - it's in a northern suburb, Waukegan, which may be dull, but certainly not dangerous.

Hopefully some students who live and go to some of these schools will weigh in.

 

[PhotoMD]

My thought is that the "worse" your neighborhood is, the more heterogeneous and therefore interesting your patient population is.

 

[postbacker]

Postbacker: I'm originally from the burbs, but I live in downtown Chicago now. I wouldn't knock any of the Chicago med schools off my list simply because of location, although I'm obviously biased. First off, Northwestern med school is right off Michigan Ave in an impeccable neighborhood with hospitals that look more like upscale hotels than hospitals. (FYI: Northwestern undergrad is in Evanston, just north of Chicago). Hyde Park, where U of Chicago is (just south of the city), is known to be rougher, but I have friends that live there who I visit, and it certainly wouldn't keep me from applying (and I'm a single female). The areas my friends live in are actually very nice - I believe Hyde Park is definitely improving. And the hospitals were quite nice.

I've never actually been to the other Chicago med schools, but I've either driven past, or never heard anything that would actually keep me from applying to them. UIC and Rush are in the city, but a little bit south and west. Someone else will have to comment on their neighborhoods. I do have a friend that went to Rush and lived only a few blocks away. The neighborhood looked a little more "inner city" in certain areas, and I know his car was broken into several times (street parking), but I'm not sure overall what it's like to live there. Cars can get broken into anywhere. And having driven through there many times, I wouldn't have a problem with attending either (although from the comments here I am likely crossing Temple off, a school I was considering applying to).

Loyola isn't actually IN Chicago - but is about half an hour south/west in Maywood. I know nothing about it, but have never heard anything dangerous or sketchy about its location. Same with Rosalind Franklin - it's in a northern suburb, Waukegan, which may be dull, but certainly not dangerous.

Hopefully some students who live and go to some of these schools will weigh in.

I will actually be in Chicago this weekend, and I hope to get a quick look at several schools and neighborhoods.

I am not a "car person" and I am very interested in schools where one can survive without a car for at least the first 2 years if not all 4 years - I am willing to pay a commensurate premium for nearby housing to avoid the expense of a car - so any comments you or others can make regarding cars and Chicago schools is appreciated (note that I have asked this question before and someone who is finishing up at Northwestern Med said he survived 4 years without a car, and that interests me greatly...).

FWIW, thus far the only schools I am not inclined to apply to based on everything I have read or heard are Temple and Hopkins, with a few others in the "questionable" column...

 

[postbacker]

My thought is that the "worse" your neighborhood is, the more heterogeneous and therefore interesting your patient population is.

Someone commented negatively on the location of Columbia. Can you comment on this, and include some discussion of where students live and how they get to or commute to school, what kind of housing one gets for the $, etc?

Thanks...

 

[Phoenix.]

Postbacker: There is NO question at all that you can live happily and easily without a car for four years going to Northwestern med school. Sure, the public transportation system isn't as great as SF or NYC (I've lived in both) but I have tons of friends who live in downtown Chicago without a car and have no problem at all getting around. In fact, most of the people I know in Chicago don't have cars. My friend in Hyde Park also doesn't have a car - she takes a train/bus into the city when she wants to go downtown, but I don't know what most people do that live in that area. I would want a car. As for the others, I'd guess that you need a car for Rosalind Franklin or Loyola if you want to get around at all. UIC and Rush - not sure.

 

[IUHoosier21]

Penn State...not because it's in a "bad" area, it's just in an extremely BORING area. Hershey is great...for about 2 hours (the time it takes to get through the entire chocolate plant).

 

[riceman04]

definitely UCLA

visitor parking in westwood is a b*tch!

hahahahaha...yep...parking and parking officials is what makes it a bad neighborhood!!!!

 

[riceman04]

UC Davis? No way.

Yale? New Haven may not be the nicest city but the med school and hospital location is not bad at all.




Add USC to the list.

Yeah...EAST LA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Yo wassup esay"!!!!!
"Wha chu lookeen at homes"?
"I rep 18th street gang, homes"
"What set you from dawg?"

 

[zeff]

FWIW, thus far the only schools I am not inclined to apply to based on everything I have read or heard are Temple and Hopkins, with a few others in the "questionable" column...

Postbacker (I'm a postbacc person too, by the way) it would be a shame to not at least apply to Hopkins and see it for yourself on interview day, I know the setting isn't for everyone but Hopkins really is a special place, you truly can do anything there. And Baltimore is a great town--with problems, certainly, but also a lot of character and good people. For whatever it's worth, I was born in Boston and lived there for a number of years, and while I like the place very much and enjoy visiting there (my Dad works up there at MGH so I go up relatively regularly) I doubt I will ever move back--I came across a picture of my second- or third-grade class a while back and was struck by the fact that there was exactly one black kid in the class (public school, BTW), something I hadn't remembered but was very struck by, living in Baltimore now. Whatever else will be said about Baltimore, it is the most integrated city I have ever lived in, and the most genuine. Okay, end of rant, hope this was of help and that you give Hopkins a shot if it otherwise interests you.

 

[Aynsl156]

Longwood Medical area in Boston is kinda sketch. There was a stabbing at the CVS right down the street from Harvard Medical School.

Harvard sucks, you shouldn't apply

 

[postbacker]

Longwood Medical area in Boston is kinda sketch. There was a stabbing at the CVS right down the street from Harvard Medical School.

Harvard sucks, you shouldn't apply

I lived in the Symphony area near Northeastern and NEC...the quality and safety of the residential neighborhoods varied widely from block to block...I looked at places near HMS (not my purpose for being in Boston) and was not real impressed with the housing options (fewer studios and 1 BRs for starters)...also took someone's suggestion to look out in Jamaica Plain, but it felt so unsafe and unwelcoming that I never even left the T station before heading back in to town, but lots of my friends love it down there...same with the very sketchy Roxbury area...

I could walk to school from my place and felt very safe doing it, but I paid through the nose for the privilege (edit: my schedule was such that I was at school most nights very late and I did not want a commute and was willing to pay extra to be close to school with a very safe walk). Lots of people opt for mass transit commutes in Boston, but having done some of that in Boston, I would not want to do it everyday, especially any T rides requiring a line change - depending on the station, those can be awful, and you sometimes have to wait 15 or more minutes in dank, cold stations for the next train...and one or two times on a Boston bus will cure you of ever doing that on a daily basis...but to each his own.

 

[notdeadyet]

The reason why Georgetown is on this list is because some people are from such crazy sheltered places that they think everything is the ghetto. I remember when I first went to college and some kids were talking about how it was "the ghetto" when we were walking through a nearby neighborhood...a perfectly fine residential neighborhood that honestly looked cleaner than half the NICE neighborhoods in NYC, lol.

Premeds seem to most often come from upper-middle class (or better) backgrounds. Many of these folks interpret the "danger" level of a neighborhood to be directly proportional to the % of non-white faces they see.

They also seem to base this a lot on the kinds of race as well. Growing up in socal, you'd see folks from the burbs who felt quite comfortable walking around certain latino neighborhoods that would have me check over my shoulder from time to time, yet reach for their wallets everytime they went through black neighborhoods, regardless of income level.

I think a few years of living in a racially/econonically varied city will cure most of this misconception. One hopes.

 

[notdeadyet]

btw, I still don't know where UC Davis came from. If that's too much city for anyone, they should probably stay out in the holler...

 

[ltrain]

one or two times on a Boston bus will cure you of ever doing that on a daily basis

What are you talking about? The buses always come on time and the weather is so nice here year round that it's just a pleasure to be outside waiting for the bus.

In all seriousness, Boston is such a small city, you can live in a number of different neighborhoods and still have a 30 min-ish commute to any of the med schools. Location really isn't an issue here.

 

[senseiturtle]

I think a few years of living in a racially/econonically varied city will cure most of this misconception. One hopes.

I do agree with your statements, especially the one I've quoted.

I live in an area that is considered "ghetto", just outside of the university (B.R.)... and I have had no particular problems with crime.

There was one break-in, and it was my neighbor's car. He actually walked up on the guy trying to take the stereo out. Turns out it was a RICH WHITE KID from a very upper class neighborhood going around ripping off stereos and selling it for cocaine.

Strange, but very, very true.

I wouldn't go LOOKING for trouble if you can simply avoid it, but there are some cases where poor folks in subsidized housing will band together and keep the riffraff out of the neighborhood. Those areas have lots of poverty, but very little crime.

 

[tacrum43]

Georgetown is definitely one of the safest areas in DC (and also the most expensive). That being said, I do know some people that have gotten mugged there.

 

[notdeadyet]

Georgetown is definitely one of the safest areas in DC (and also the most expensive). That being said, I do know some people that have gotten mugged there.

I believe it, but if you rule out medical schools because the environment around them contains folks who've been mugged, you're probably ruling out pretty close to 100% of all medical schools.

If you are nervous about the prospect of moving to a city, I'd strongly recommend some of these street safety classes. A previous girlfriend of mine took one and I attended and was very impressed. It wasn't so much the claw-the-eyes/knee-the-balls aspect of it, but the preventative skills they teach. How to walk assertively, where to look when walking at night, etc. And you'd be suprised how often when college kids become victim to crime, there's alcohol involved that reduces their common sense.

 

[yepiminthere]

I would add Pritzker to the list.

I completely disagree. I lived in Hyde Park for a semester and it is a wonderful neighborhood. The people are incredibly pleasant and always said hello/good morning when I passed. Nice culture, short ride to downtown. My neighbors had a negative view of University of Chicago students because although they lived in the neighborhood, they were very uninvolved (I think they were primarily referring to undergrads). There is also a shuttle that takes U of C students straight from the school to downtown, so they never have to interact with the people in the neighborhood, which contributes to the isolation of the school.

So..Pritzker is not in a bad neighborhood and Hyde Park is great.

 

[postbacker]

What are you talking about? The buses always come on time and the weather is so nice here year round that it's just a pleasure to be outside waiting for the bus.

In all seriousness, Boston is such a small city, you can live in a number of different neighborhoods and still have a 30 min-ish commute to any of the med schools. Location really isn't an issue here.

You must be talking about a different Boston than the one I lived in. Sorry for the confusion...

 

[CATallergy]

yeah, maybe she is thinking of Boston, Texas

 

[UVABranch]

Georgetown is definitely one of the safest areas in DC (and also the most expensive). That being said, I do know some people that have gotten mugged there.

Crime happens everywhere...litterally I mean it, in both traditionally "good" and "bad" areas. Case in pont: My parent's house is in a nice neighborhood, historic bc it was a part of the underground railroad. There's only about 20-30 homes there's a good amount of land (especially when compared to city living). One night right out back my father was car jacked. The nicest little neighborhood where I would go next door to a friend house , or ride bikes in the area. Turns out the next day the guy used the car for a bank robbery (the ink exploded in the front seat). That doesn't make it suddenly a bad place.

I know someone who commuted from that area to Temple every day for school for 3 years without incident (didn't mk sense to rent a place when you can live free w/ mom and dad I guess).

It's kinda disheartening hearing the fear that people have with regards to many of these areas...so it may be best for those who have concern or who are fearful to not apply/attend these schools because I would hate to see that same fear/concern on your face when someone from that same neighborhood comes into the hospital needing treatment. I chose to work at a hospital in Philly in an area people call "the badlands." It's no cake walk, but that's where people needed help (kids in particular since it's a children's hospital, not affiliated w/Temple). (I'm a female btw). Like LawToDoc said the diversity of the patient population and opportunities for training are usually best in these "gritty" areas...but hey, since I'm not in med school yet it's OK w/ me if you don't apply/attend, I guess that could leave one extra spot open for me

I doubt I will ever move back--I came across a picture of my second- or third-grade class a while back and was struck by the fact that there was exactly one black kid in the class (public school, BTW), something I hadn't remembered but was very struck by, living in Baltimore now. Whatever else will be said about Baltimore, it is the most integrated city I have ever lived in, and the most genuine.

I hear ya zeff! My High school was like that (but I was the one black kid), so that I have been/lived elsewhere I can appreciate how learning in a diverse environment (I mean genuinely diverse) can really improve the quality of one's education.

 

[postbacker]

It's kinda disheartening hearing the fear that people have with regards to many of these areas...so it may be best for those who have concern or who are fearful to not apply/attend these schools because I would hate to see that same fear/concern on your face when someone from that same neighborhood comes into the hospital needing treatment.

At least in my case, you are reading too much in to my concerns with neighborhoods and safety. My concerns are not racial - I am concerned with personal safety, especially at night. FWIW, I am lily white, but I attended an inner city high school roughly 50/50 black and white. I have lived all of my life in the South in racially integrated schools and neighborhoods, etc. So please don't lump me into the segregated white country club set or assume my motives...

As for medical schools and patient diversity, you don't have to be in a major urban medical center to encounter the full range of medical cases and underserved populations - this is another common misconception perpetuated on SDN...

 

[Cirrus83]

Someone commented negatively on the location of Columbia. Can you comment on this, and include some discussion of where students live and how they get to or commute to school, what kind of housing one gets for the $, etc?

Thanks...

To put it simply, Columbia is in Harlem. For what it's worth it's in a fairly nice part of Harlem, and all of Harlem is already no longer the crazy deserted crime infested Harlem of the 80's. But, it's still obviously not going to be the best part of town.

Most students probably live in Harlem/Washington Heights, just because housing there is fairly affordable and it'd be the most convenient. Umm...don't expect housing that's too nice unless you want to spend a lot of money though. It's not quite as bad as in the Spider-Man movies (Peter's NYC apartment is more or less a spot-on parody of cheap NYC apartments) but it's not going to be quite as nice as what you're most likely used to. So, invest in some Combat (roach traps, for some reason it's particularly popular in NYC, whereas I feel like Raid is more popular most places), and maybe some mouse traps (probably the humane variety...the glue ones are just cruel) and you'll be good to go.

You could accept a longer commute though and move out to Astoria or something, but if I was going to Columbia or Touro NY I'd just live in Harlem of Washington Heights.

BTW I dunno how much dorm space Columbia has but you can always look into that, and it'd probably be nicer. IIRC, the undergrad dorms at Columbia are pretty new and nice. And if that's not an option and you REALLY hate ratty Harlem apartments, you could always just accept the longer commute from Queens or something.