NCSU cvm c/o 2015

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Everyone's really different in their study/time organization habits, and you'll definitely find what works for you quickly. I don't have a dog down here yet (mine are several states away!) so that doesn't factor into my days yet. Hoping it'll be part of my day within the next year. 🙂

I get up around 6 since I hate being rushed in the mornings and get to school by 7:30 am. I like to have time to read my e-mails, eat breakfast, look over some notes, chit chat, etc. Class all da,y and I usually attend lunch meetings unless there's some really weird circumstance - I'm really aware of the debt I'll have this year and not having to pack food for lunch literally halves my food bill each month. Plus, it satisfies my craving for eating out, and I get to hear cool talks and presentations...and I'm not very productive in little one-hour chunks of time. 🙄 I usually head home right from school since I'm not generally a library studier, relax and eat dinner until 6:30 or 7 pm, then start studying. I get about 2 to 3 hours in each night (more if there are exams coming up) and go to bed between 10:30 and 11 pm after a nightly phone call with the boy.

I usually do work on the weekends too depending on the next week - this weekend for instance involves a LOT of studying without much else going on. Yay exams. However, I'm in a long-distance relationship which takes up every third weekend or so. I really try not to do much work at all when he's here or when I visit him (with only 48 hours together every three weeks, I refuse to open anatomy or physio in that time!), and I don't feel like that choice puts me in the hole. Now, we also schedule our visits so that they don't fall in front of major exam weeks (like the one we have coming up, which is why Valentine's Day is NEXT weekend for us). I also don't study hardcore each and every night of the week. Some nights I really can't get productive no matter what I do and end up taking that evening off. Basically, yeah, you'll study a lot, but it doesn't consume every waking hour that you're home. You can skip some nights and even some weekends without playing a ton of catch-up. Keeping your sleep, sanity, and relationships intact is more important than answering every question right on your exams, and it's important to keep that in mind.
 
Basically, yeah, you'll study a lot, but it doesn't consume every waking hour that you're home. You can skip some nights and even some weekends without playing a ton of catch-up. Keeping your sleep, sanity, and relationships intact is more important than answering every question right on your exams, and it's important to keep that in mind.

Thank goodness. 🙂 And I totally agree.
 
If you're even the slightest bit of a morning person, I would recommend doing your exercises in the morning just because I know when I do, it makes me feel more awake and just overall feel better for the rest of the day.

I'll offer an exception to this advice; if you are really training hard for something, or are just starting to do regular exercise, you may feel fatigued throughout the day and find yourself napping more than usual in class (or stiffening up from being in the same seated position most of the day.) I started working out with a trainer 2x/wk in the AM and found myself barely able to keep my eyes open in the afternoon, and crashed as soon as I got home. now I see my trainer in the evening and I can go home, eat dinner, and go straight to bed to let my body recover.
 
Oh, I'm a 30-minutes-of-cardio-most-days type of person, with some yoga or pilates thrown in. I doubt I'll have time for much else when school starts, anyway. I guess I'll just have to try exercising at different times of the day and see which one works best for me.
 
One of our instructors at the vet school does a weekly yoga class. it wsa out of my price range, but I know several people have taken it.
 
If I get in this year, I'm planning on starting an Army-based exercise program in the mornings, once I get a warm and fuzzy on the schedule. It'll probably start pretty early, but anyone is welcome to join me. The basic outline will be muscular strength and endurance MWF, and running TTh.
 
If I get in this year, I'm planning on starting an Army-based exercise program in the mornings, once I get a warm and fuzzy on the schedule. It'll probably start pretty early, but anyone is welcome to join me. The basic outline will be muscular strength and endurance MWF, and running TTh.

Hey, that sounds awesome, and I just might take you up on that!
 
Hey Sumstorm - I think you saw me sit in on that PE Skills class last Friday afternoon! It was a great class, so engaging and interesting!

Of course, I'm still waiting to find out about acceptances but in the mean time, I was wondering (and I think it's been asked) but about housing in the area...do most students that you interact with (friends and yourself), live with roommates or in one-bedroom apartments, or do you know any that commute from home? If they do live in single apartments do you know some places that have reasonable rent?

Happy Tuesday!
 
I don't know much about the rental market. Nittanykitty or Pythonchic might be able to help there.

There is a lot of variation; everything from solo townhouse and apartment rentals up to house ownership with rentals.

In our class I know we have students living solo in houses, townhouses, and apartments, group living in 2 bedroom, and 4 bedroom apartments and houses, and several owned homes with family/roommates/solo. A few folks do live at home with parents. The farthest I know of anyone commuting is Burlington, but I think everyone in my class that was living any real distance away ended up moving first semester first year because the commute can really burn time (and traffic in/out of Raleigh can be a huge pain.)

Some people have non-dvm roommates as well. I've heard rumor that there is some advantage to having upper class roommates for study advice and such. Alot of folks advise against living with your classmates, but several of us in my class do live with our classmates, just make sure your ok spending alot of time with each other (all day in classes + away from classes) and that you are able to carve out seperate spaces. That can be really nice when your frustrated with something and can ask your roommate....and sometimes having a roommate on the exact same testing schedule can be a bonus.

The school sends out a letter about housing to those accepted at some point, but double check the info. when I got the letter it said Cary limited folks to 2 pets/household, but that statute was overturned a couple years ago. If you have 'breed ban' dogs or more than two pets or large pets or unusual pets, rentals can be problematic.
 
Is anyone in need of housing next year? I'm in Raleigh, very close to the vet school and would love to live with a vet student or grad student next year in my 2 bed/2 bath pet-friendly luxury apartment. (I am currently a grad student at the school waiting to hear from the vet school at NC state.) PM me or email me please and we can discuss the details!

Thanks!
 
I don't know much about the rental market. Nittanykitty or Pythonchic might be able to help there.

Well, I'll pose this question to Nittanykitty or Pythonchic, or really anyone in the NCSU area right now:

Does anyone live at or know someone who lives at the Apartments of Westgrove? The rent seems pretty awesome for how close to the school it is. What are the downsides of the apartment?

I also heard that Regency Place is pretty good. Any word on those apartments?

Thanks guys.
 
Afraid I don't know anything about either place, Pelagia. My only suggestion would be to make sure that neither is veering too close toward main campus since you'll likely have a ton of undergrads there. If the complexes are heading out toward Cary or Apex, that is probably a better bet then if they are heading down Hillsborough St. toward NCSU. My suggestions would be to call the places and speak with them about their "average" tenant (family, young professional, student?), research lots of reviews online to see what people say, and also call the Raleigh/Cary/Durham/wherever police department for advice about the complexes. They are very helpful in gaining information about which complexes receive a lot of calls, which are safer, where lots of parties happen, etc.

I will ditto what sumstorm said about roommates. You will have classmates with every living situation you can imagine so don't worry about how everyone else lives - just find what is going to be most comfortable for YOU. I have classmates who live with four other people and some that live at home with their parents. There's no "right" way to choose your living situation. I live alone in a 1 bedroom apartment and love it. I'm not anti-social by any means but I need to study at home and like it pretty quiet so dealing with a roommate wasn't something I wanted to do. But if I did room with someone, I would personally be very hesitant to take on a classmate before you get to know them your first year. I'd opt for rooming with an upperclassman vet student who understands quiet, the need to study, being obsessed with pets, etc. but who you won't spend your entire day with in addition to you evenings, nights, and weekends. I wouldn't want to spend that much time with my boyfriend let alone a classmate! 🙄

Rental-wise, this is a very rent-friendly area. There are TONS of apartment/condo/townhouse complexes for every budget and need. Rental homes and private rooms in houses are also widely available. I am an OOS cheap-o student and managed to find an older, smaller apartment complex with a 1 bedroom for $485 per month. Now, the appliances aren't as new, the heater makes some noise when it's running, the gym has only two treadmills in it, but none of that bothers me. it's very affordable, quiet, safe, and fairly pet-friendly with great management and staff. You can then go all the way to the other end of the spectrum and find something much pricier with brand-new everything, a huge gym/swimming pool, car service, laundry en-suite, etc. You WILL find something that perfectly suits your budget, needs, and school distance if you look long enough.
 
You WILL find something that perfectly suits your budget, needs, and school distance if you look long enough.

Yeah, I am definitely trying to stay away from the undergrad heavy areas. It's going to be me, hubby, and our 3 kitties. Like you, I need somewhere quiet!
 
Pelagia and anyone interested: I've lived in Raleigh now for 5 years and gone through 3 different rental places. I will again echo the sentiment that you want to stay far, far away from the undergrad centric areas. That means many of the complexes on Western, Gorman, Tryon (unless it is out in Cary), and parts of Blue Ridge. In particular there is one leasing company that owns a lot of the larger, student heavy apartment complexes. I rented from them for two and a half years, and I can honestly say that if you are like me you don't want to live with a ton of undergrads and you don't want to deal with the obnoxious management practices of that company. The school will send out a list of recommended apartments at some point. I can tell you I have heard relatively good things about Regency Place. Not sure about the apartments at Westgrove, but if you mean Westgrove Tower I know that is a whole lot of apartments crammed into one hotel like building. Luckily, there are TONS of rentals in the area, and you can pretty much pick your rental price range. I have most enjoyed living in the Cary area. The apartments there are a bit more expensive, but are generally nice and in decent neighborhoods. I also know people that live further north in the Edward's Mill/Glenwood mall area and like it. If you are willing to invest time int he search, you should be able to find anything you want, from apartments to town houses to rental homes in actual neighborhoods. Nittany Kitty has given you some great suggestions on how to get information about places, and I think everything she has said is excellent advice.
 
Pythonchic, I see you are devotedly attending lecture. 😉
 
This week has been filled with good weather. 🙂 There are a lot of parks (Umstead, Lake Johnson, etc.) in the area that are good for taking advantage of all this good weather. When it comes to looking for a place to live, I would definitely consider the distance to school before considering the distance to parks but it is really nice living right at the edge of a nice park (Umstead, in my case). I don't know much about the apartment complexes or living situation here since once I found my place I permanently stopped looking since I plan on just staying where I am until graduation. It does seem like it'd be preferable to live more west, rather than east, of school, though, just because of all the main campus and downtown traffic toward the east. But then again, when I was looking at places toward the east was when there was also a lot of construction going on in that direction that may have been a big factor in the traffic.
 
This week has been filled with good weather. 🙂 There are a lot of parks (Umstead, Lake Johnson, etc.) in the area that are good for taking advantage of all this good weather. When it comes to looking for a place to live, I would definitely consider the distance to school before considering the distance to parks but it is really nice living right at the edge of a nice park (Umstead, in my case). I don't know much about the apartment complexes or living situation here since once I found my place I permanently stopped looking since I plan on just staying where I am until graduation. It does seem like it'd be preferable to live more west, rather than east, of school, though, just because of all the main campus and downtown traffic toward the east. But then again, when I was looking at places toward the east was when there was also a lot of construction going on in that direction that may have been a big factor in the traffic.

I live on the east side of downtown and I can hop on 440 or go down wade ave. and be at the school in 10 minutes. I have a dog park and another bigger park within walking distance and I don't live near any students. I really love this area! It's also a quick bike ride (or longish walk) to all of the downtown "hotspots". It's a good area if you're looking for a house and there are a few smaller apartment buildings in this area (all working professionals - no students!).
There are lots of bigger apartment buildings in central downtown as well. I lived in one in central downtown when we first moved to the area (so we could get to know it better) and it was really nice to be able to walk to restaurants and some shops. I'm a city person, so it took some time getting used to driving most places (I would still much rather walk or cycle!) - but at least by staying close to downtown you can have options.
 
Yeah, and downtown is very nice (in my opinion). 🙂
 
I'd encourage anyone looking in the area to test drive their routes during peak times. Peak time can add double our route in...which can be really important 4th year with clinics, and peak times can really cramp the interstates.

Also, some of the areas with apartments can become really difficult to get in/out of during peak traffic because so many people are leaving all at once.
 
I'd encourage anyone looking in the area to test drive their routes during peak times. Peak time can add double our route in...which can be really important 4th year with clinics, and peak times can really cramp the interstates.

That is a great idea, and I'll do that when I visit again in April for the welcome weekend. I guess I'm gonna be driving around and looking at apartments pretty much all day, but that's what you've gotta do when you live 1300 miles away and only have one day to spend looking at apartments! A bit of a pain, but exciting, too!

Also, this is not related to apartments, but are there any other NCSU c/o 2015ers lurking in this forum? I know the IS people are still waiting to hear back (I hope it's soon for you guys!), but what about other OOS people?
 
I'm OOS! I'm not definite on NCSU yet, just because I haven't been to see it yet. I've never really been anywhere besides the northeast before, so I wanted to keep my options open in case I didn't end up liking it in NC, but all of my friends tell me I will love it there!

I'm actually heading down in two weeks to visit and I'm sure I will end up loving it and that will be that! I'll be touring, meeting with faculty and students and sitting in on a pharmacology class. I'm so excited!!!!

If I end up choosing to attend I'll also be going again to the open house in April and then apartment searching that weekend.
 
I live in the NE before moving here. I have lived in a variety of areas in the south as well, and have to say, Raleigh is a great place. I live in Cary....(containment area for relocated yankees) and there are lots of northerns and internationals around.
 
Hey Pelagia, I'm OOS and was accepted to NC State. Like midnight, I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to NC State though and am stressing trying to figure out where the right place is for me. I'm going to visit sometime in March once I figure out my work schedule and class schedule.
 
If I end up choosing to attend I'll also be going again to the open house in April and then apartment searching that weekend.

I'm planning on getting my apartment searching done that weekend, too.

Midnight and Ithaca, good luck in choosing which school you want to go to. I love, love. love NCSU but it was still hard to turn down the other schools I'd been accepted to. So I can relate to the stress of choosing a school. I do hope you will choose NCSU, though! 🙂
 
Does NCSU have a free pet food program?
 
No FREE one (that I know of) but we do have Hills and Purina programs that offer food at greatly reduced prices (the food that I get has a retail price of $65 a bag and I get it through the Hills program for $23 a bag, about).
 
Ahhh you guys I just got my @ncsu.edu email account and student and unity IDs! The fact that I'm going to NCSU is becoming more real every day! I'm sooo excited! Seriously, the littlest things, like getting my student ID, just brighten my whole day! :soexcited:

So what's the difference between the student and unity ID? When do we use each of them?
 
I'm OOS! I'm not definite on NCSU yet, just because I haven't been to see it yet. I've never really been anywhere besides the northeast before, so I wanted to keep my options open in case I didn't end up liking it in NC, but all of my friends tell me I will love it there!

As said above, NC isn't too bad of a state. I was expecting a bunch of rednecks before I moved out here - my old room mate at Fort Campbell was from this area. Now, I'm planning to retire here - probably closer to the coast, which is more convenient for diving. Cary hasn't cornered the market on Yankees either. On a boat in Wilmington, I've encountered people who have moved down here from places like MN. Think of it as broadening your horizons. To me, the more places I live, the better a person I am. Much easier to relate to a client, if you can really relate to them.
 
I gripe a lot, but that's because I am always pushing to make things better; so if you read my posts, you'll see some of the things I gripe about, but thought I'd share that I love the diversity of our school (high percentage of non-SA vets), I love the rural pocket inside an urban center that our vet school is, watching the mares near foaling, then the foals, and the calves and the kids and the dairy cows all right out side the windows, I love the emphasis on variety in careers. I love that we cover the practical aspects of vet med and are the cheapest vet school in the US, and ranked just below (and some years with) Penn (top 5), which costs 4x as much to attend. I like that we have really diverse hands on experience, and very active clubs, and that the profs are very involved. I love this area community wise and I've lived in the midwest, northeast, deep south, and overseas and this is probably one of my favorite areas because it has an awesome blend of weather and culture and people.
 
...thought I'd share that I love the diversity of our school (high percentage of non-SA vets), I love the rural pocket inside an urban center that our vet school is, watching the mares near foaling, then the foals, and the calves and the kids and the dairy cows all right out side the windows, I love the emphasis on variety in careers. I love that we cover the practical aspects of vet med and are the cheapest vet school in the US, and ranked just below (and some years with) Penn (top 5), which costs 4x as much to attend. I like that we have really diverse hands on experience, and very active clubs, and that the profs are very involved. I love this area community wise and I've lived in the midwest, northeast, deep south, and overseas and this is probably one of my favorite areas because it has an awesome blend of weather and culture and people.

👍 Ditto all this. It really is a great school with a great program in a great location. I've never lived anywhere outside of PA before coming here, and while I was super-excited to have the opportunity to go somewhere new (and not have to attend vet school in Philly), I was a little nervous. Once I got here, I really loved NC, the Raleigh area, and the vet school community.
 
I gripe a lot, but that's because I am always pushing to make things better; so if you read my posts, you'll see some of the things I gripe about, but thought I'd share that I love the diversity of our school (high percentage of non-SA vets), I love the rural pocket inside an urban center that our vet school is, watching the mares near foaling, then the foals, and the calves and the kids and the dairy cows all right out side the windows, I love the emphasis on variety in careers. I love that we cover the practical aspects of vet med and are the cheapest vet school in the US, and ranked just below (and some years with) Penn (top 5), which costs 4x as much to attend. I like that we have really diverse hands on experience, and very active clubs, and that the profs are very involved. I love this area community wise and I've lived in the midwest, northeast, deep south, and overseas and this is probably one of my favorite areas because it has an awesome blend of weather and culture and people.

What percentage of each first year class would you say is undecided about which direction they want to go? At this point, I'm undecided, because I could see myself going in so many different directions in this diverse field. I do know that if I go the SA route, I don't want to work with only dogs and cats (I'm definitely very interested in avians/exotics, especially fish for some weird reason). I'm hoping that once I'm in school, the variety of opportunities can help me get more experience in the different areas of vet med, and that I'll be able to have a better idea of what I want.
 
well, you can't declare your focus area during the first semester. The only thing you really need to know is if you have any interest in zoo med; if so, you need to take the zoo med elective. even if you don't, the elective is 2 hours of lit review/rounds/current topics on thursday evening. I'd say a lot of folks come in with an idea of a couple of areas they want to go into....and I'd say at least 70% waffle or change at some point. And that isn't discouraged here.

The only reason you need to know about zoo med is that there are several extra requirements. If you think you are interested in research, equine, or lab animal med, there are some other things you are required to do. Research has a selective you need to take at the end of first semester, and lab animal has one that must be taken sometime in the first three years (it counts towards a zoo med focus area as well.) Horse folks have an elective they have to take at some point, and they have to take equine dentistry, generally 2nd or 3rd year.

However, I really feel like the only one you had to 'step up' for right from the beginning was zoo med and doing so wasn't incredibly difficult, just attend an extra lecture set 7 out of 10 weeks. And you are not tied to any of the areas; you can change focus areas easily as long as you can continue to fullfill the extra requirements that I mentioned above. our core curriculem is the same for everyone, and everyone is welcome to take electives.

we do have a small animal exotics focus area as well. no matter what, though, you will be learning about livestock, equine, small animals, and special species (rabbits, ferrets, mice, rats, birds, reptiles), with major emphasis on LA/SA
 
So my question goes back to the working out topic (since I can't go more than two days without doing something...) Do people usually join a local gym or does anyone go to the student recreational building (not sure what it is called) to work out? I am really into pilates, currently, and then all the usual cardio stuff. And if anyone does use the school's gym, how it is? Is it hard to get to since it would be on campus? Any info would be great or if it would be best to join a gym.
 
So my question goes back to the working out topic (since I can't go more than two days without doing something...) Do people usually join a local gym or does anyone go to the student recreational building (not sure what it is called) to work out? I am really into pilates, currently, and then all the usual cardio stuff. And if anyone does use the school's gym, how it is? Is it hard to get to since it would be on campus? Any info would be great or if it would be best to join a gym.

Aside from hiking, I am NOT a working out person, but plenty of people in my class are. A few are brave souls and trek out to the on-campus facilities, but they say it's a real hassle between traffic, finding parking, getting to the gym, crowded location, etc. I only go to main campus once every two to three months to get a Rx refilled at the health center and I can't imagine making the trip more than that. It's a PAIN. Most either exercise in their apartment complex gyms, go running/biking/swimming/etc. alone or with classmates, or have joined a different gym not affiliated with NCSU.
 
there are a couple of people in my class that go to the school gym, and they say there are some great classes.

I and a couple other students have a membership at a gym in Cary (at least a dozen of us) and there are several other gyms in the area with monthly costs of ~$30/mo.

several of the apartments have gyms/pools and I know a lot of class mates use those (at least another dozen.)

a handful of us have at least one piece of workout equipment in our homes (I have a recumbant, I know a couple with treadmills, and at least one elliptical.) I have a pool as well.

there are at least half a dozen runners in my class, plus hikers, bikers, and horseback riders. couple dog sports folk.

and of course, lots of wii's and kinects!

Finding time is hard...I'm training for a race, so I'm running 2-6 miles 3d/wk and 10+ one day a wk, plus yoga and strength training once a week each...but it is hard to maintain that schedule, and this is the longest I have done it into a semester. Saddly (pathetically) I'm known on my running team for carrying flashcards with me on runs (and I run with my dogs.) I find memorizing causes of acanthocytes better than thinking about how much running hurts after a couple of miles.

forgot to mention we also have scuba divers, sky divers, rock climbers, volley ball/basketball players, and martial artists in our class! pretty cool, now that I think about it!
 
Finding time is hard...I'm training for a race, so I'm running 2-6 miles 3d/wk and 10+ one day a wk, plus yoga and strength training once a week each...but it is hard to maintain that schedule, and this is the longest I have done it into a semester.

Hey, don't be too hard on yourself! That's a pretty impressive schedule for being in vet school. I'm aiming for a workout schedule roughly similar to that. What distance race are you training for? Are you training with any of your classmates?

Also, this is OT from the workout discussion, but do you guys suggest getting the rabies shots before school starts, or waiting until whenever they give them in the fall? I don't think that it will be much cheaper if I do them here, so I'm more concerned if it's a hassle to do them during the school year.
 
I think being able to get the shots in the commons area in between classes is super-convenient. It's nice that they basically come to you....

However, just as a warning: Even though MOST of my classmates were completely fine, I do know that at least one other person, in addition to myself, had a really bad reaction to the first shot that would have severely hindered any activity (like an exam, for example) if we had something important to do afterward. Luckily, the day of the first shot didn't coincide with an exam day or anything for us. After that, I took measures to ensure that the remaining shots wouldn't interfere with anything important (although, turns out only the first shot made me sick).

So I guess if it were me, I would get the shots now if it's the same price and isn't any inconvenience to you now. But that's mainly because of the really bad experience I had the entire afternoon and evening following the first shot....
 
I didn't apply to NCSU, but I was reading this forum and I wanted to ask, doesn't NCSU only accept 17 OOS-ers? If so, you OOS-ers that have been accepted must be pretty awesome to have gotten in! I really wanted to apply but cause of the 17 spot thing, I didn't even try. I don't have above a 3.5 GPA that I bet a lot of OOS-ers had. Or maybe I just have no idea 😛 Either way, congrats to you all! I also hope you IS-ers hear before beginning/mid April so you can more easily make decisions when thinking about multiple options! I'm at that spot right now so I definitely know how it feels.
 
I didn't apply to NCSU, but I was reading this forum and I wanted to ask, doesn't NCSU only accept 17 OOS-ers? If so, you OOS-ers that have been accepted must be pretty awesome to have gotten in! I really wanted to apply but cause of the 17 spot thing, I didn't even try. I don't have above a 3.5 GPA that I bet a lot of OOS-ers had. Or maybe I just have no idea 😛 Either way, congrats to you all! I also hope you IS-ers hear before beginning/mid April so you can more easily make decisions when thinking about multiple options! I'm at that spot right now so I definitely know how it feels.

I believe that NCSU accepts 18 OOS. Even though I did a lot of research about each school I applied to, I somehow wasn't aware of how few OOSers they took. I'm actually glad I didn't know, because that may have deterred me from applying! In fact, I didn't realize how many OOS they took until after I had gotten in, and then I looked it up on the website and was like holy crap, I got in, seriously?! 😱 🙂

Congrats on getting in to multiple schools! And good luck making your decision on which school you're going to. I was also in that position, and it was definitely hard to choose, because I really did love each school I got in to and know that I'd be happy at any of them (I mean, c'mon it's vet school!).

And ISers, I'm anxious for you guys! I sure hope you find out soon! :xf:

And Risika, that's a good point about the possible vx reaction. I think I may look into getting the rabies shots before school starts.
 
Yea, for real congrats to you for being one of those 18!! What are your 'stats' like? Just so I can compare and slap myself for not applying 😛
 
While I thankfully didn't get sick after the first rabies vaccine, be aware that they are a pricey investment. If you are going to opt for the student insurance here, it will cover $500 of the $600 series price (a price which is pretty standard in most places). I've heard that depending on your insurance carrier it's very, very difficult to get any of the shot cost covered, even though it is school/work related. $600 out of pocket can really hurt, especially when you're thinking of the poor-student lifestyle. To me, being out of commission for a day (provided no exams are in the way) would definitely be worth saving that much money! If you can get the cost covered though, having it done before school starts wouldn't be a bad idea.
 
While I thankfully didn't get sick after the first rabies vaccine, be aware that they are a pricey investment. If you are going to opt for the student insurance here, it will cover $500 of the $600 series price (a price which is pretty standard in most places). I've heard that depending on your insurance carrier it's very, very difficult to get any of the shot cost covered, even though it is school/work related. $600 out of pocket can really hurt, especially when you're thinking of the poor-student lifestyle. To me, being out of commission for a day (provided no exams are in the way) would definitely be worth saving that much money! If you can get the cost covered though, having it done before school starts wouldn't be a bad idea.

Hmmmm....now you've got me thinking that I'll wait to get the shots! This is one of the reasons I love SDN...there's lot of information being shared that helps people make more informed decisions. How much is the student insurance each semester, and in addition to the $500 for the rabies shots, what kinds of things does it cover?

Ang, I'll PM you.
 
To the OOSers who have already received letters - did they send your letter to your current or permanent mailing address? Just curious so I know which mailbox to start stalking in the next few weeks 🙂
 
Ah, yeah. I don't have the student insurance here but despite how bad I felt after the shot, a $500 saving definitely would have been worth it.
 
Hmmmm....now you've got me thinking that I'll wait to get the shots! This is one of the reasons I love SDN...there's lot of information being shared that helps people make more informed decisions. How much is the student insurance each semester, and in addition to the $500 for the rabies shots, what kinds of things does it cover?

Ang, I'll PM you.

The insurance is through Pearce and Pearce and costs $370 per semester. It covers things like (from website)...
  • Unlimited major medical lifetime maximum
  • $150 deductible
  • Unlimited pharmacy maximum; $10 co-pay/30 day supply at Student Health
    • Outside Student Health pharmacy
      • Tier 1 - $20 generic co-pay
      • Tier 2 - $35 preferred brand co-pay
      • Tier 3 – Brand co-pay, 25% coinsurance with $50 minimum & $100 max
      • Tier 4 – Specialty brand, 25% coinsurance with $50 minimum & $100 max
  • $500 max wellness benefit
  • Vision care benefit
Basically, I have gone for a few appointments and to get Rxs filled. I didn't pay anything for my women's health appointment and related tests or my sick visit and lab tests. My Rxs only cost me $10 per month to get filled at the health center (it'd be more than that elsewhere). That wellness benefit above is for preventative medicine - such as the rabies vaccines! That's where the $500 of coverage comes from with you having to only pay the difference of about $100. Also, a few classmates have indicated to me that it is accepted at places like CVS/Walgreens Minute Clinics if you're really in need of some medical help without being close to school.

Not trying to "sell" you on insurance, but it's a pretty decent deal and I think it covers you for the summer as well (it's not just a nine month plan). To me, considering I was shelling out about $100 per month during my year off for just catastrophic insurance, I'm happy with what they give us.
 
The insurance is through Pearce and Pearce and costs $370 per semester. It covers things like (from website)...
  • Unlimited major medical lifetime maximum
  • $150 deductible
  • Unlimited pharmacy maximum; $10 co-pay/30 day supply at Student Health
    • Outside Student Health pharmacy
      • Tier 1 - $20 generic co-pay
      • Tier 2 - $35 preferred brand co-pay
      • Tier 3 – Brand co-pay, 25% coinsurance with $50 minimum & $100 max
      • Tier 4 – Specialty brand, 25% coinsurance with $50 minimum & $100 max
  • $500 max wellness benefit
  • Vision care benefit
Basically, I have gone for a few appointments and to get Rxs filled. I didn't pay anything for my women's health appointment and related tests or my sick visit and lab tests. My Rxs only cost me $10 per month to get filled at the health center (it'd be more than that elsewhere). That wellness benefit above is for preventative medicine - such as the rabies vaccines! That's where the $500 of coverage comes from with you having to only pay the difference of about $100. Also, a few classmates have indicated to me that it is accepted at places like CVS/Walgreens Minute Clinics if you're really in need of some medical help without being close to school.

Not trying to "sell" you on insurance, but it's a pretty decent deal and I think it covers you for the summer as well (it's not just a nine month plan). To me, considering I was shelling out about $100 per month during my year off for just catastrophic insurance, I'm happy with what they give us.

Wow, that's pretty good, actually. I'm currently without any insurance, so that's definitely an upgrade! Did you use some of the $500 to pay for the women's health and your sick visit, or is that preventative care covered by the insurance?
 
Wow, that's pretty good, actually. I'm currently without any insurance, so that's definitely an upgrade! Did you use some of the $500 to pay for the women's health and your sick visit, or is that preventative care covered by the insurance?

I think it all went to the vaccines and the rest was covered by...other parts of the policy. I'm not real great with reading and figuring these things out, but as of now I only have a $100 balance that I owe on my health account which came from the vaccines. Once the semester is winding down, I'll pay that and anything else that crops up out of pocket.
 
To the OOSers who have already received letters - did they send your letter to your current or permanent mailing address? Just curious so I know which mailbox to start stalking in the next few weeks 🙂

I wish I could help you out more, but for me both of the addresses are the same, so I don't really know! I would just send a quick email to the student services office to find out which one they send it to! If I had to hazard a guess, though, I think they would send it to your current mailing address.
 
Hey hunterjumper I received my letter at my permanent address, but this was also right before the holidays so maybe they assumed we'd all be home for winter break.

I'm so excited for everyone IS to get their acceptances so we can figure out who the rest of the class will be!!
 
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