As of right now, I'm planning on starting at NU in the fall. If anyone is willing could you please describe an average day? Also, how helpful is the financial aid? I understand that there is a debt cap, but does everyone qualify for that or is it only for some. Thanks.
Northwestern Students Please Read
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debt cap is 140k right? That's alot of debt. I hear they're pretty stingy with financial aid as well.
I don't wanna diss Northwestern though, I really like the school, and I might end up there next year too. I have talked to some students there outside of my interviews, and the genuinely like the place. It's just from what I hear, they aren't great about money.
I don't wanna diss Northwestern though, I really like the school, and I might end up there next year too. I have talked to some students there outside of my interviews, and the genuinely like the place. It's just from what I hear, they aren't great about money.
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an average day = 2hrs lecture with labs or pbl. ethics/values, communication skills, physical diagnostic skills workshop classes. 2nd year = 4hrs lecture, no labs , public health/pbl/clinical encounters throughout the year
both years, pass/fail. (I LOVE THIS PART)
my average day?
skip class, study from board review books, enjoy myself as much as i can. (guitar/booze/futile attempts to meet people who are XX)
average board scores are good here, last year i think 232.
for some reason, NU gets trashed alot on SDN. i don't really have a good reason why. i like my school alot, it's just been difficult to adjust to the winter. thats my only complaint. i dig the curriculum and the location.
in terms of financial aid, i know ALOT of people who have some sort of scholarships. unfortunately, that's not me. it was a deciding factor for several people. hopefully you'll get one. =)
i think the amount of scholarships have increased, especially due to feinberg 7 figure donation to the school.
debt capping? i dont know too much about that, but i think you have only take so much in loans (less than what would be comfortable), in order to qualify. in my situation, i'm loaning tuition, and having my parents cover my living expenses.
either way, come check out northwestern's second look weekend. it's a ton of fun, and they'll fly you out for free. it's nice to experience downtown chicago when the weather isnt so frigid.
hehehe
good luck with your decisions, and feel free to message me.
nuclearrabbit
both years, pass/fail. (I LOVE THIS PART)
my average day?
skip class, study from board review books, enjoy myself as much as i can. (guitar/booze/futile attempts to meet people who are XX)
average board scores are good here, last year i think 232.
for some reason, NU gets trashed alot on SDN. i don't really have a good reason why. i like my school alot, it's just been difficult to adjust to the winter. thats my only complaint. i dig the curriculum and the location.
in terms of financial aid, i know ALOT of people who have some sort of scholarships. unfortunately, that's not me. it was a deciding factor for several people. hopefully you'll get one. =)
i think the amount of scholarships have increased, especially due to feinberg 7 figure donation to the school.
debt capping? i dont know too much about that, but i think you have only take so much in loans (less than what would be comfortable), in order to qualify. in my situation, i'm loaning tuition, and having my parents cover my living expenses.
either way, come check out northwestern's second look weekend. it's a ton of fun, and they'll fly you out for free. it's nice to experience downtown chicago when the weather isnt so frigid.
hehehe
good luck with your decisions, and feel free to message me.
nuclearrabbit
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Oh, I was under the impression that NW didn't give away any scholarships or grant money. I was confused about that in the financial aid session. So some people do get grants that are need based?
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Greetings to all of you at NU. I interviewed at Feinberg earlier this week and, no big surprise, absolutely loved it. I hope to join you all this fall. I have a few questions concerning admissions and housing.
1) A few months ago there was a discussion in the pre-allo board concerning an email from Hallen Chung sent out to people before they were officially accepted. In the email was an underlined sentence about Hallen being a resource for newly accepted students. Has this been a standard practice in years past? If it has, could you give me some timeline as to when you remember being contacted?
2) If I happen to be placed on the waitlist, how much movement is there?
3) On our tour we took a look at a dorm room. While it was not horrible, I wouldn't mind a kitchen. How much do the subsidized apartments run? Are they much cheaper than private apartments in the area?
Thank you so much for your help.
1) A few months ago there was a discussion in the pre-allo board concerning an email from Hallen Chung sent out to people before they were officially accepted. In the email was an underlined sentence about Hallen being a resource for newly accepted students. Has this been a standard practice in years past? If it has, could you give me some timeline as to when you remember being contacted?
2) If I happen to be placed on the waitlist, how much movement is there?
3) On our tour we took a look at a dorm room. While it was not horrible, I wouldn't mind a kitchen. How much do the subsidized apartments run? Are they much cheaper than private apartments in the area?
Thank you so much for your help.
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I'm not an NU student, but I also interviewed. I remember at my interview day the admissions lady said that only three people were taken off of the waitlist last year. She also said that they accept approximately 50% of those they interview. The financial aid guy also mentioned that apartments in the area were becoming competitively priced with the campus housing. The students I stayed with had moved out of the dorms and into a nice apartment after the first semester. They said that their rent was really pretty good and well worth having the apartment.
I hope we both get good news in mid-March, I'm just scared to death of the price. Eeeeesh!
I hope we both get good news in mid-March, I'm just scared to death of the price. Eeeeesh!
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I can't really help with most of the questions since I did ba/md. The subsidized housing is pretty good though. Rent is almost exactly the same as in the dorm if you get a studio (/w kitchen of course). Of the two apartments, Worcester is the newer/nicer one although Carriage House is better than the dorm too. Rent is around (edit)700 this year I think depending on the size of the studio. If you want a 1 bedroom, it'll be more of course. Apartments in the area are of course, more expensive (really really nice area). Still, a bunch of students do live right off campus and end up paying up 900 for a studio. Also, some people end up living further away and rent goes way down if you're willing to commute. There are plenty of good areas a few miles away where you can get nice apartments for 400-500. Also, you can't really get into the subsidized apartments until after 1st year because there's a waiting list. Being in the dorm for the 1st year isn't too bad though and you meet more people that way.
Milhouse Van Houten
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the debt cap is very misleading. basically if you go there you will be in massive debt. my first year package was 58500 in loans. with NO grant money!!!! ucsd's tuition is 10000 a year, and they gave me 6000 in NEED based grant money. how ucsd thinks i'm too poor to pay 10000 and northwestern thinks i should pay all 58500 is beyond me. it was a nice school, but **** you northwestern. that was a seriously insulting finanical aid package. four years would have put me at 25000 in debt, and with interest it would be well over 300000. gimme a freaking break!!! anyway, one problem with northwestern is you get a bunch of preppy kids whose parents can afford it--sooooooooo many students there told me they loved it but that if their parents couldn't pay for it there'd be no way they would be there. thank you UCLA for accepting me and saving me from northwestern's garbage can of a financial plan. yeah that rhymes and you KNOW it does. that's right.
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Yeah, I've also been accepted and i'm set to go, except for a few issues with financial aide.
Does anyone know of someone who actually graduated, and then had his loans of 200k magically cut down to 125 or whatever the average debt was?
I'm just curious; it sounds to me like the debt capping is this great little carrot to dangle at the end, but when the numbers are worked out, you don't end up with much help....
or i'm just assuming the worst....either way, they NEED to make this a lot more clear at the school, my financial aid session basically consisted of fuzzy numbers, and then fuzzy deductions at the end, that don't really have any meaning for me
ideally, they should give you various case examples, and how you how the debt capping actually worked...
but alas, i'll just wait for my state school, and then compare numbers at the end.
Does anyone know of someone who actually graduated, and then had his loans of 200k magically cut down to 125 or whatever the average debt was?
I'm just curious; it sounds to me like the debt capping is this great little carrot to dangle at the end, but when the numbers are worked out, you don't end up with much help....
or i'm just assuming the worst....either way, they NEED to make this a lot more clear at the school, my financial aid session basically consisted of fuzzy numbers, and then fuzzy deductions at the end, that don't really have any meaning for me
ideally, they should give you various case examples, and how you how the debt capping actually worked...
but alas, i'll just wait for my state school, and then compare numbers at the end.
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The most important thing you MUST know about the debt cap is the difference between need-based and "optional" or "recommended" loans in the aid packet they send you. Any optional loans that you take will not be covered under the debt cap. But if NU decides that your need is low, then your "optional" loans could add up to more than $35,000 in a single school year since they base your need on what your parents make. Then if your parents aren't giving you anything you get screwed by the school because you borrow the full amount but almost none of it is under the actual debt cap. On top of that, even if you know your parents are relatively poor, they use a ridiculous formula to calculate a number that is always a lot more than your parents can pay, even if they wanted to. It's confusing, but I hope this helps. Something like 50% of each class on average needs no financial aid anyway (thanks, daddy!).
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Well, I disagree with Milhouse that you will graduate with an enormous debt of close to 300k. Certainly compared to your in-state tuition but not vs. considerably more than other private schools. For my first year, I think I had *recommended* loans of 42,000 and another 8,000 in optional loans. That would give a total loan of 200k over four years. Total recommended loans would be 168k. Debt cap last year was 128,000, so the school pays 400,000 of it off leaving a debt of 160k. That's still a ton obviously. It's not cheap, but not as much as mentioned above I think.
Yes, you have to look at the *recommended* loans to figure out if you'll benefit much.
Yes, you have to look at the *recommended* loans to figure out if you'll benefit much.
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Could you NU students elaborate on what a typical day is like? I know you are supposed to research topics to discuss them in small groups, but how exactly does this work? Are you given a lot of direction about where to look for the information you need? Does it seem like a lot more work than you would have with a more traditional curriculum?
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Can someone answer this? I'm wondering the same thing.
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A typical day depends on the particular unit that we're in. The curriculum is integrated into an organ-based system. Right now, we're in the musculoskeletal, head, and neck unit so there is a LOT of anatomy. Recently, we've had days where there is lecture from 8-9, and then anatomy from 9-12 or earlier if you're fast.
On the other hand, in the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal unit, there were fewer anatomy labs. Lecture was always two hours, and sometimes three. Throughout all the units, on average you will have lecture for two hours (8-10) and 2 or 3 labs a week (anatomy and histo) from 10-12.
The other component of each unit is PBL. The amount of work you do really depends on your group and the preceptor. For each session of PBL (twice a week), you're assigned a topic to research. Basically PBL (at least at NU) is used to fill in and integrate clinically relevant material in our morning lectures. You have to look up the science too, but most of it is covered in lecture or is in the syllabis. You'll find that you're generally looking for information from journal articles or reviews (and of course, randomy via google =) ) Each person presents what they researched for a few minutes, although some people are very... thorough
The nice thing is that the preceptors will help to fill in if certain topics aren't covered adequately and will let you know what information is necessary for the exams. A LOT of what we look up is not at all tested on exams and is simply there for enrichment (a good thing I think) PBL can either be in the morning after lecture (when there are no labs) or in the afternoon.
So that the main part of the curriculum (lecture, lab, pbl, all related to the particular unit we're studying). The other aspect is called PPS (patient, physician, society) and covers communications skills, physical exam skills, medical ethics, etc. It's usually two afternoons a week for a couple of hours. Pretty self explanatory. Everything is P/F.
Altogether, there is a good deal of free time (at least compared to what I've heard at other schools). Even with PPS, afternoons are usually pretty relaxed and a lot of people try to get most of their studying done then. Otherwise, there are always things going on in the afternoons that you can be a part of (clinics, small research projects, etc.) I would also add that the administration is very helpful and supportive here. Each week, there are always activities that have been arranged for medical students such as the clinical departments giving talks on their particular specialty, doctors openly looking for students who wish to shadow them, etc.
On the other hand, in the cardiovascular, respiratory, renal unit, there were fewer anatomy labs. Lecture was always two hours, and sometimes three. Throughout all the units, on average you will have lecture for two hours (8-10) and 2 or 3 labs a week (anatomy and histo) from 10-12.
The other component of each unit is PBL. The amount of work you do really depends on your group and the preceptor. For each session of PBL (twice a week), you're assigned a topic to research. Basically PBL (at least at NU) is used to fill in and integrate clinically relevant material in our morning lectures. You have to look up the science too, but most of it is covered in lecture or is in the syllabis. You'll find that you're generally looking for information from journal articles or reviews (and of course, randomy via google =) ) Each person presents what they researched for a few minutes, although some people are very... thorough
The nice thing is that the preceptors will help to fill in if certain topics aren't covered adequately and will let you know what information is necessary for the exams. A LOT of what we look up is not at all tested on exams and is simply there for enrichment (a good thing I think) PBL can either be in the morning after lecture (when there are no labs) or in the afternoon.So that the main part of the curriculum (lecture, lab, pbl, all related to the particular unit we're studying). The other aspect is called PPS (patient, physician, society) and covers communications skills, physical exam skills, medical ethics, etc. It's usually two afternoons a week for a couple of hours. Pretty self explanatory. Everything is P/F.
Altogether, there is a good deal of free time (at least compared to what I've heard at other schools). Even with PPS, afternoons are usually pretty relaxed and a lot of people try to get most of their studying done then. Otherwise, there are always things going on in the afternoons that you can be a part of (clinics, small research projects, etc.) I would also add that the administration is very helpful and supportive here. Each week, there are always activities that have been arranged for medical students such as the clinical departments giving talks on their particular specialty, doctors openly looking for students who wish to shadow them, etc.
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