MSSM Class of 2008

[TheFlash]

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w00t, getting closer to orientation every day. 😀 Any new recruits?

Anyone return their FA packets with the master promissary note yet? I got mine, but I haven't sent it back... I just hope their isn't some kind of deadline . And anyone get an orientation/Aron Hall packet?

 

[TRUE]

I just got my FA package, but I too haven't sent it back. It doesn't seem there is any deadline. As I recall, Mr. Fuller said that you'll get the money eventually if you are "late", but you just will have to pay the bills when they're due even if that date comes before you get the money. I would send it in asap I guess. You could always ask Mr. Fuller. He replies within a day usually.

As for the orientation/housing package, I'm waiting anxiously, but I haven't gotten anything yet. Do you know anything about the white coat ceremony?

 

[TheFlash]

Yeah, Mr. Fuller is really cool. He's probably the most accomodating FA officer I've come into contact with at any school. I think I'll give him another call about the deadline.

All I know about the MSSM white coat ceremony is that it's near the end of the first month. They do it that way (instead of at the beginning of orientation) so that all the M1's have a good idea of what they're getting into before getting their white coats. Makes sense to me 👍 . I'm not sure about specific dates, but I hope that'll be in that long belated orientation packet.

 

[snuggles]

I haven't sent in my FA either i want to do it, but the lender choices are so confusing, how are we supposed to figure out which is best? I don't know how to begin calculating the difference between a 2% reduction here or a 2% reduction there..etc. Which lender are ya'll going with. On the finaid forum some people were talking up northstar. But is the fact that citibank is printed on MSSM letter head a signal that they think it is better? I'm so ready for this year of forms and paper work to be done with and to just get started with med school.

any ideas?

 

[TonyMontana03]

I've been waiting to post on this thread for a while. Now I have a reason to do so.


TonyMontana
MSSM Class of 2008 (looks nice, huh?)

 

[TRUE]

I did a little snooping around on the MSSM website and I came up with an academic schedule for 2004-2005. White Coat ceremony is Sept. 20th according to the site.

More info here:

http://www.mssm.edu/students/handbook/calendar_0405.shtml

NOTE: There is an asterisk at the bottom saying that the schedule is open to change (though they had the same thing for last year's as well).

 

[TheFlash]

Hey Tony, congrats on being official! 👍 So can we can expect some Scarface Cuban Judo (What, j'you don't know?) during orientation?

True, good call on the schedule for next year. Exciting and frightening at the same time to see that piece all laid out in writing.

snuggles, I've got no clue about the loan lenders. I still have yet to mail back my FA acceptance, since it got amended. Let us know if you figure it all out! 🙂

 

[DoctorDoom]

hello all,
i went to high school 3 blocks away from sinai, and have done a lot of work there...

Hunter or St Bernard's? I went to Hunter and MSSM...

 

[ewing]

Hunter or St Bernard's? I went to Hunter and MSSM...

Isn't Dalton pretty close, too? It's like Park and 89th, so 8 blocks south of MSSM, I guess.

 

[DoctorDoom]

Isn't Dalton pretty close, too? It's like Park and 89th, so 8 blocks south of MSSM, I guess.

Sure, so is Spence, Nightingale, et cetera... lots of schools in that area. But only Hunter is three blocks away, 94th Street... so I am curious...

 

[JohnnieBlue]

Question for you MSSM people:

I just got pulled off of the waitlist at MSSM, and have also been accepted at Einstein, NYU, and UMD. I already pulled out of NYU, but am holding Einstein because they offered me some money. What drew all of you to MSSM that you picked it over schools like NYU and Einstein? I don't care about location, just quality of school and quality of the education. Thanks!
(and sorry if this was already asked. I just don't have to time to read this crazy long thread now.)

 

[TheFlash]

Well, I'm on the verge of withdrawing from the only other waitlist that I'm on (Columbia) and making my MSSM status official. Their FA office awesome, they reconsidered my family's financial situation and amended my FA award. I 😍 Dale!

 

[Catalyst]

JohnnieBlue, check back on page 10 of this thread to when I listed my reasons for choosing Sinai over Pitt, that might help you out (also see AD2020's comments)...

That's awesome that they amended your FA package Flash, I'm pretty satisfied with the money I'm getting from them as well. It's nice to know that going to medical school in NYC is not going to force me into bottomless debt. I can't wait to start in August! 😀

For those of you applying this summer, read this thread and APPLY to Sinai. If you don't, you'll probably regret it later. I met a ton of people on the interview trail who had only applied to cornell and columbia in nyc and regretted not applying to nyu and sinai, both high-quality insitutitions with nice locations.

 

[TheFlash]

JohnnieBlue, check back on page 10 of this thread to when I listed my reasons for choosing Sinai over Pitt, that might help you out (also see AD2020's comments)...

That's awesome that they amended your FA package Flash, I'm pretty satisfied with the money I'm getting from them as well. It's nice to know that going to medical school in NYC is not going to force me into bottomless debt. I can't wait to start in August! 😀

For those of you applying this summer, read this thread and APPLY to Sinai. If you don't, you'll probably regret it later. I met a ton of people on the interview trail who had only applied to cornell and columbia in nyc and regretted not applying to nyu and sinai, both high-quality insitutitions with nice locations.

Yeah, the FA package there was pretty unexpected after their initial estimate. I surely can't complain. 😀

Ditto what Cat said about applying to MSSM. New applicants, don't regret the chance to apply here. It's an amazing institution... I'm crazy excited about my medical education! 4 years in Manhattan at MSSM is enough to make a grown man cry.

 

[buckythekat]

what have you guys received in the mail so far? anything on orientation or housing assignments/move-in dates?

all i've received is info on drug test, finaid award, and an email asking for address update...i hear that mt sinai's admin isn't so reliable (they don't always send everything to everyone), so keep posting as you get mail/emails from them!

 

[TRUE]

what have you guys received in the mail so far? anything on orientation or housing assignments/move-in dates?

I haven't gotten that stuff in the mail yet, though I did get an e-mail today regarding the orientation information (that'll be sent in July). One of the things written in the e-mail is to contact the housing department if you haven't receieved info about your housing already. They probably are referring to those who havne't yet signed up for housing correct? Not those of us waiting on housing assignments. Anyone know?

 

[TheFlash]

Ditto the recent email, I got it too. It was just sent out today. I'm kinda miffed that we're not getting our emails till we actually get to MSSM. It would've been ideal for them to mail out access to their matriculants beforehand.

TRUE-- I believe she meant if you hadn't received the initial forms yet, then you should contact the lady at the email they provided. I haven't gotten my assignment either.

 

[Lawrence]

Hey guys--

I'm headed to MSSM, too!

Just wondering if anyone is going to live off campus, i.e. downtown, west side, etc? I saw that one poster was thinking of living in Brooklyn. Any thoughts?

 

[TRUE]

Just wondering if anyone is going to live off campus, i.e. downtown, west side, etc? I saw that one poster was thinking of living in Brooklyn. Any thoughts?

It's possible, but the commute would eat up some valuable time (esp. since class starts nice and early most days, if you plan on going to class). Also, the housing in Aron Hall is really, really nice and I got the impression that the community is really tight due in part to most everyone living on campus. I'm also not sure it'd be cheaper to live elsewhere since it's about 600 a month + utilities to live in Aron Hall.

What are your motives for living off campus?

 

[Athena]

hey

as scary as it sounds, i am going to be living in brooklyn and commuting to school. my primary reason for doing so is that i got a great deal on a one-bedroom that came pretty much fully furnished. i will be living with my boyfriend, so since we'll be splitting the costs, rent will be about 2/3 of what aron hall would cost me (not to mention the privary!). also, just the price of living in brooklyn is soooo much lower than in the city -- i lived on upper west side during college, so i have a frame of reference. using up valuable time for commute is kinda sucky, but i have commuted in the past, and in the end, it is just so much nicer to have my own place and not have to worry about moving once the year is over..... anyway, i realize this is going to cost me in terms of tightness with my classmates, but i think [hope] that i will nevertheless become good friends with all of you!.

 

[TRUE]

Yea, I know what you're saying in terms of living costs (I too lived on the UWS). Brooklyn is def. cheaper and if you're staying with a significant other, then that is something that Aron hall cannot offer really. Def. more convenient to get your own place. One small correction though: as I have heard, students in Aron hall do not move from year to year, but only after the 4 years (unless they choose to move to a better suite if they are able to get off the waiting lists that develop for better housing).

 

[TheFlash]

Athena, you know you don't have to move year to year, right? And it's furnished.

 

[rCubed]

hey

as scary as it sounds, i am going to be living in brooklyn and commuting to school. my primary reason for doing so is that i got a great deal on a one-bedroom that came pretty much fully furnished. i will be living with my boyfriend, so since we'll be splitting the costs, rent will be about 2/3 of what aron hall would cost me (not to mention the privary!). also, just the price of living in brooklyn is soooo much lower than in the city -- i lived on upper west side during college, so i have a frame of reference. using up valuable time for commute is kinda sucky, but i have commuted in the past, and in the end, it is just so much nicer to have my own place and not have to worry about moving once the year is over..... anyway, i realize this is going to cost me in terms of tightness with my classmates, but i think [hope] that i will nevertheless become good friends with all of you!.

i'm going to be commuting from brooklyn too. i know the commute is long...its almost 40 min door to door, but the price of our one bedroom was just too good to give u

 

[Athena]

what i meant about not wanting to move after a year in aron is that i am not sure i would want to live in the multi-person suite style apartment for four years, and so i would probably move out into my own place after a short while anyway.

but thanks for replys guys! i am glad i wont be the only one subway-ing it.
maybe we should start a commuters club 🙂

 

[ewing]

Yeah. I also know someone who will be commuting from the west side, I guess on the M96 bus, though not 100% sure. Y'all will be fine. BTW, I dunno if anyone has posted this URL yet, such a long thread to read while on summer vacation, but just in case they haven't: http://www.mssm.edu/students/life_support/index.shtml Useful info about parking, amidst all of the other nuggets of wisdom. Good stuff!

 

[Athena]

on a different note.....

is anyone buying books yet? if so, which ones? and is there a list of some sort of whats necessary for the first year/semester?

also, this may be a stupid question, but what are you guys planning to use for taking notes, notebooks or looseleaf paper binders? throughout college i used notebooks, so that i would have each subject separate. ideally, thats what i would want to do in med school, but i wonder if there are just too many handouts that will make it hard to organize everything... any current/past med students have any input?

 

[TheFlash]

As far as books go, I think I'll be waiting to get my basic science texts a couple days before orientation. In the meanby, I'm looking for some decent copies of First Aid and some of the BRS books to keep handy during my preclinical years.

I've always used three-ring binders. I guess it's a personal thing, but I've never been comfortable taking notes in a spiral notebook, mostly because there's no way to easily insert handouts and they lack big pockets to keep any packets/old tests.

 

[TRUE]

Does anyone know if MSSM's lecture room is ok for laptops? Power outlets maybe? We walked through it, but i didn't get a chance to check it out too much. Also, does anyone know how lectures are conducted? Power point? Are slides given out? etc...

 

[TheFlash]

From the lectures I've seen, including the one I saw briefly last month with Mr. Catalyst, it depends on the lecturer. I've seen both the marker board and powerpoint used in class. I know some slides are also available online and/or given as in-class handouts.

 

[TRUE]

From the lectures I've seen, including the one I saw briefly last month with Mr. Catalyst, it depends on the lecturer. I've seen both the marker board and powerpoint used in class. I know some slides are also available online and/or given as in-class handouts.

Was anyone using a laptop in the lectures you saw?

 

[DoctorDoom]

Does anyone know if MSSM's lecture room is ok for laptops? Power outlets maybe? We walked through it, but i didn't get a chance to check it out too much. Also, does anyone know how lectures are conducted? Power point? Are slides given out? etc...

No outlets for laptops except if you sit near the three by the walkways, if they are still using 12-01 and 13-01...

 

[ewing]

No outlets for laptops except if you sit near the three by the walkways, if they are still using 12-01 and 13-01...

So I'm guessing no wireless internet, eh?

 

[kenji1124]

just wanted to add myself to thread! so wuts everyone upto this summer? school's gonna start up so sooon!

 

[DoctorDoom]

So I'm guessing no wireless internet, eh?

Honestly I don't know... wireless networking wasn't there when I was a student, but that was a while ago...

 

[TheFlash]

Actually, I do recall seeing a couple of laptops in the classroom, but I don't know if they were plugged in or not. They might have been just running on batteries for note-taking purposes. I'm not sure about wireless internet either, but I rememeber Kelliann Bailey mentioning something about it being installed in at least some of the rooms in the med school, if not the lecture halls.

 

[TRUE]

Thanks Flash. I was just wondering if some students actually did take notes via laptop instead of the old-fashioned pen and paper. I used my laptop this whole past year and I can't imagine going back now...haha 🙂

 

[TheFlash]

No prob, mang. I was actually thinking of doing the same, although I've never really been a laptop note-taker before. It'd be cool if they let us download Powerpoint slides before class that we could insert text onto during the lecture. One qualm I have: What do you do when you've got to draw a diagram/pathway/biomolecule? Do you have a tablet PC? Or do you just take along a pencil and notebook to supplement your laptop when you've got to draw something more complex?

 

[Catalyst]

No prob, mang. I was actually thinking of doing the same, although I've never really been a laptop note-taker before. It'd be cool if they let us download Powerpoint slides before class that we could insert text onto during the lecture. One qualm I have: What do you do when you've got to draw a diagram/pathway/biomolecule? Do you have a tablet PC? Or do you just take along a pencil and notebook to supplement your laptop when you've got to draw something more complex?

Eeeeek... this dilemma reminds me of a year and a half ago when I got a laptop and tried taking notes with it... I ended up deciding that I would use my laptop for everything except class notes/diagrams 😀 I think I'll stick with the same strategy in med school and pray it works

 

[TRUE]

I've started using microsoft onenote. While I don't have a tablet, you can draw whatever you'd like using the mouse, so it works simliarly. I don't think it's as fast it would be with the tablet, but it works.

 

[TheFlash]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I'm getting a laptop soon, so I guess I'll try it out for a few lectures. If it doesn't work, I'll just fall back to good ol' pencil and paper. After all, they've gotten me this far already.

Speaking of laptops, what do you guys think of the Dell Inspiron series? I've pretty much ruled out getting a Compaq or HP due to some bad experiences my friends have had, but have narrowed it down to a Dell or an IBM. Decisions, decisions...

 

[TRUE]

I have an inspiron 600m and I love it. No complaints.

 

[TheFlash]

I have an inspiron 600m and I love it. No complaints.

True, and Catalyst also recommend the Inspiron series. I think I'll go with my gut on this one and get the Dell laptop, especially since my four year-old Dell desktop has yet to let me down either.

 

[kito]

Once you go Mac, you never go back.

 

[TheFlash]

Yeah, the dark horse in this laptop contest is the Mac P-P-P-Powerbook! . It looks hot.

 

[Catalyst]

Alright, so who else here is feeling shafted by having such a short summer vacation since school starts August 9? I'm trying to travel a bit more before school starts and the fact that there are only about 6-7 weeks left before I move to NYC is terrifying. I want my 15-week summer back damnit.

On a brighter note, it's a beautiful day outside!

 

[TRUE]

Yeah, the dark horse in this laptop contest is the Mac P-P-P-Powerbook! . It looks hot.

Personally I'm not a big mac fan simply because it costs so much more and quite frankly, there isn't as much software out for it (in my opinion). It looks nice from the outside, but I stare at the screen when I use my computer, not at the case 😉 hehe. To each his own though.

 

[TheFlash]

Yeah, I'm a bit miffed about the early start date, but I figure that we get more of the warmer days of the year in NYC and get out earlier in the spring. It ain't so bad.

And the Mac thing was a joke. I'm not considering getting one for the very reasons you posted, TRUE. The P-P-P-Powerbook! scam (if you clicked on the link) was genius, though. 😀

On a random note, I seem to have generated a few more GMail invites with my active GMail account. Anyone interested? www.gmail.com

 

[rCubed]

just wondering, is there a deadline for returning the finaid info? I know i should hurry it up, but i'm having a hard time making a decision so i'll send in the stuff a bit late. would that be ok?

and flash...i'm interested in the gmail account. if u don't have any takers, i'm ur person.

 

[TRUE]

flash, true. haha. I saw that scam a while back. Very very funny stuff. As for the gmail account, i would have taken you up on the offer, but I just got invited by my cousin this morning 🙂

 

[exmike]

Yeah, I'm a bit miffed about the early start date, but I figure that we get more of the warmer days of the year in NYC and get out earlier in the spring. It ain't so bad.

And the Mac thing was a joke. I'm not considering getting one for the very reasons you posted, TRUE. The P-P-P-Powerbook! scam (if you clicked on the link) was genius, though. 😀

On a random note, I seem to have generated a few more GMail invites with my active GMail account. Anyone interested? www.gmail.com

sure, can you hand them out? i want one!