Northwestern University Class of 2007

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
M

manicmaven

all aboard the nerd train
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2002
Messages
586
Reaction score
3
Members do not see this ad.
Hi there.

Just wanted to start one of these for everyone heading to Chicago in the fall....

I'm going out there to find an apartment and sign a lease on June 11th and just purchased my laptop. (ouch)

Have you guys seen the recommended specs for computers at NU??? They're out of control. (Go under the Students and Applicants section and find Tech Support -I think).

Anyone else living off campus? (neuronix, I know you were thinking about it)

Any other random thoughts about anything...post them here.
🙂 manicmaven
 
Word.

I've lived in downtown Chicago for three years now, so don't hesitate to send me any questions you have about apartment locations, etc. My roommate is also going back to school, but he's moving out of town-- I'm considering just moving into the dorms for a semester or so. The rooms aren't great, but the location can't be beat.

As far as computers go, I'm probably just going to keep my reliable old desktop that I've had for several years. It's only a 1200Mhz Athlon, but I have yet to find anything it can't run. I may need a new hard drive though, this one is getting full of scrubs episodes and music videos.

Wrigley
 
Yeah, the dorms are tempting...I just have so much stuff and it sounds princess-like, but I can't freaking sleep in a twin bed again. Nor can I eat crap dorm food. I can be a little shy, so I hope living off campus won't make me a hermit. I'm less shy when I'm drunk...so maybe I'll be doing that more frequently.😉

I didn't know you were set on going, wrigley...that's exciting.
I'm looking at these apartments: Onterie, 420 East Ohio, McClurg and maybe Cityfront (but it's way expensive). Any others you can recommend? I've found most of these on the internet.

We'll have to have an SDN night out when we all get there...of course, involving beer.

I love beer. 😀
 
Hope you don't mind a UofC guy posting in here... 😛

Just wanted to say welcome to Chicago manicmaven! I've lived in Chicago my whole life and am very happy that I'll be sticking around for med school.

You'll absolutely love the area NU is in. It's in the best part of the city. We should all go do an SDN Chicago Cub game....plenty of beer there, trust me. 😀
 
Well, if I do move into the dorms I'm bringing my own bed for sure. After cooking my own food for the past few years, any kind of cafeteria sounds like a winner to me! It's sad how much I miss good old south dining hall at Notre Dame. On the other hand I've heard bad things about the food in the dorm we'd be in.

Another reason I was considering the dorms was to meet classmates. If I lived in an apartment I'd probably just retreat into hanging out with my old friends all the time instead of making more at the school.

I didn't realize you were looking at such swanky apartment buildings! Those are in a primo location, but they'll be quite expensive because of it. The medical school is unfortunately in a upscale (this is a big understatement) part of town, which means you'll be spending a big chunk of change if you want to live within walking distance.

On the bright side, the school is really close to an "el" stop (the chicago avenue stop of the red line), so you can live anywhere near a red line stop (or brown line) and still be close to the school in terms of commute time. I live about 5 miles from the school but can be there in 25 minutes or so door to door b/c I live near the addison stop on the red line.

If I were you I'd look at the Chicago Reader. It is a free weekly newspaper that gets distributed throughout Chicago -- it is used by everyone to advertise and look for apartments. You should be able to find something cheaper than the places you're looking at, but still within an easy commute to the school. Anything south of Irving Park (4000N) and within a couple miles of the lake is good.

Wrigley
 
Hi all!! I'm looking forward to meeting u in the fall. Planning to do the dorm thing again, should be fun!

@ manicmaven, my student host during my interview lived in Onterie (i think), and the place was very very nice, so i think you might like it. Good luck in finding the right housing and i hope u get some good deals too!

Is anyone still having a hard time figuring out what to do this summer? I know i am, and i'll be done with school in about three weeks, so any suggestions are welcome. See you all at the end of the summer, God willing.
 
Thanks for the welcome, Explosivo. I'm glad you'll be in chicago as well. I remember reading your posts in the Chicago schools thread (back when I thought I had no shot of even getting an interview in chicago) and am glad you got into such a great school. The SDN outing will definitely have to expand to include all chicago schools and a cubs game. Good fun.

Yeah, wrigley...I know I'm looking at swanky places. I'm afraid if I live too far off campus that I really will be a hermit. I'd also like people to be able to come visit me without a huge hassle. I'm going to try to bargain for some money off the rent, since most places downtown are kind of hurting for renters...but we'll see. I did my budget and it's tight, but doable. Luckily I was considered an independent student by NU and most of my loans are need-based, so I'm not totally freaking out about taking the full amount out. But yeah, it is a little stressful to have like 60% of my monthly budget taken up with rent. We'll see how all that goes.
 
Welcome bennet...where are you from (school and home)?
 
By the way, Chicago is laid out in a grid system -- Madison Street is the X-axis, and State Street the Y-Axis. Just remember that there are 800 grid units per mile, and you'll know how far you are from anyplace fairly easily at all times.

For example, since the school is at 303 E. Chicago Avenue, we know that it is roughly 3/8 of a mile east of State street (303/800 ~ 3/8). And since Chicago avenue is 800N on the grid, we know the school is a mile north of Madison Street (800/800 = 1).

This should help give you some perspective when looking for apartments in terms of where they are in the city.

Wrigley
 
Woohoo neuronix!

congratulations on that...sorry you won't be in chicago, but it's good to see you'll be happy at a great program.

Thanks for the xp office tip, NU cat.
 
After cooking my own food for the past few years, any kind of cafeteria sounds like a winner to me!
Click to expand...

Hey wrigleyville,
from what I heard on interview day the cafeteria is pretty--well-- greasy is how our tour guide described it. Not much selection if you have issues with burgers, fries, quesadilla type stuff. Anyway, I'd rather fumble through my culinary imcompetence than be forced to eat like that 😉

Peace, Doc
 
Hi Doc Ivy! Good to meet you.
I agree. Nasty grease isn't my thing. Although, I hear they have sushi regularly. I could go for that.
 
Nasty food, no cable, no fridge/microwave?? Looks like i'll probably be moving into an apartment after the first year. Oh the price of meeting my classmates!! LOL!
 
don't mean to interrupt but...where's UCLAMAN?

UCLAMAN, it seems like you M.I.A. lately...i might be wrong...😛
 
No cable?! My poor Tivo is going to starve to death! I guess I won't be watching much TV anyway, but that's a real stinker.

Speaking of sushi, I just went to a sushi class with my girlfriend! We made all kinds of tasty stuff. The two of us had made our own before, but it didn't always look right, lol. I think we've got the hang of it now. It's nice and cheap when you make it yourself too.

Wrigley
 
Originally posted by manicmaven
Welcome bennet...where are you from (school and home)?
Click to expand...

I PM'd you.
 
Just wanted to say Hi to everyone. 🙂 If you want a nice site to look at apartments try, www.relconapartments.com. When are people allowed to move in for the dorms? Anyone else get any stuff in the mail besides the Health Information recently?
 
Wrigleyville- I miss SDH too!

Congrats to everyone for being around chicago next year, not to mention getting into medical school 🙂

I'm applying right now and the GF really doesn't support the idea of me leaving chitown so there's a big chance I'll be doing the same (assuming such little things as acceptance 😎 ) Anyways, if you all wouldn't mind including me on a SDN chitown outing I'd love to go, hear all about your excitement to be studying medicine in Chicago (gotta love the city).

And explosivo- I'm up in the neurosurgery lab at U of C... if you're around before end august then maybe i'll run into you at the divinity school lunch place (best food on campus during the summer- tai, indian, etc brought in by local places)
 
Absolutely join us for the beer drinking in chicago! I'm getting so excited to move. I really love living in the city and chicago will be the biggest I've ever lived in.

Is anyone getting (or have) a PDA before third year? I'm getting mine now, since I got that loan for computers and god knows I won't have the money mid-school. I'm leaning toward the Pocket PC.

Also, I might be looking into working 1 or 2 days a week. The sleep lab at NU is hiring (that's what I do now) and I might see if they need someone for 10-15 hrs/week. We'll see. I don't want it to mess with my need based loans.
 
Hey maven,

I'm looking into a toshiba laptop, so after I defend my thesis in a couple of weeks I'm heading to the stores!! I'm also thinking of hitting my parents up for a PDA this christmas, leaning towards that Sony Clie or the compaq Ipaq...don't know which platform supports the most e-med textbooks and reference software but oh well---I'm just psyched about shopping for electronics---Long live Mastercard:laugh:

Also, manic maven, do you know if the Onterie et al have waiting lists. I don't think I'll be looking for an apartment until July, and I would hate to be out of luck and have to settle for a less secure building in a sketchy neighborhood
 
I'm probably going to hold off on getting a PDA till third year-- I've got an old Palm V that suits me fairly well for everyday use, but I'll probably want something better come time for clinical rotations. I received that 3000 loan for a computer as well, but do we have to use it right away? I'd rather pocket the cash and use it later, since what I have works well enough.

IrishOars-

Drop me a PM with your email addy -- I've still got most of my old application materials. I'll send them your way; it may help you out with your apps this coming year.

Wrigley
 
Originally posted by dreaminOfMD>.<
don't mean to interrupt but...where's UCLAMAN?

UCLAMAN, it seems like you M.I.A. lately...i might be wrong...😛
Click to expand...


Ya...sorry...I spent the memorial day weekend at camp ronald mcdonald. i just got back. now i'm having post camp depression. 🙁 😀

i have to wait a little over a month before i get to go back to camp. 🙁

anyhow...where are the rest of the northwestern people?

For the meantime...must....get....some....sleep😴😴
 
Hi all!
I have a question for the people that filled out the dorm housing application. Did anyone get their room assignments yet?

Also, when do you all plan to move to Chicago? I am trying to make all the neccesary plans, so i'll appreciate ur responses. Thanks everyone.
 
Originally posted by bennet
Hi all!
I have a question for the people that filled out the dorm housing application. Did anyone get their room assignments yet?

Also, when do you all plan to move to Chicago? I am trying to make all the neccesary plans, so i'll appreciate ur responses. Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

nope...haven't gotten my room assignment. i returned my housing application the day after i received it.

i'd imagine that we can't just move in whenever we feel like it and that they will probably give us move in dates when we get our actual room assignments.

how many people do you all think chose the big lake front corner room? i hope i get one.😀
 
If they follow what they did last year, the dorm will open the saturday before orientation. For this year, that would be Aug. 23 then.
 
Originally posted by UCLAMAN
nope...haven't gotten my room assignment. i returned my housing application the day after i received it.

i'd imagine that we can't just move in whenever we feel like it and that they will probably give us move in dates when we get our actual room assignments.
Click to expand...

I don't remember exactly but wasn't there somewhere where we had to write what day we planned to move in, so i just figured we could move in whenever. I think my tour guide told us that she spent the summer before M1 in the dorms. I hope this is true. Anyone have a clue?
 
Originally posted by bennet
I don't remember exactly but wasn't there somewhere where we had to write what day we planned to move in, so i just figured we could move in whenever. I think my tour guide told us that she spent the summer before M1 in the dorms. I hope this is true. Anyone have a clue?
Click to expand...

if there was then ...whoops! 😱 ...was your tour guide doing research or something? and how much extra did she have to pay?
 
Originally posted by UCLAMAN
if there was then ...whoops! 😱 ...was your tour guide doing research or something? and how much extra did she have to pay?
Click to expand...

I think she was working, probably on campus, but i don't know how much extra she paid. They were also really understanding or something like that.
 
Originally posted by NUcat
If they follow what they did last year, the dorm will open the saturday before orientation. For this year, that would be Aug. 23 then.
Click to expand...

Are you a recent M2 student? Just curious.
 
Bennet- Your tour guide probably paid extra to live there during the summer. There are definitely "summer rates" to live in LSC that they advertise during the spring each year that I've seen. The move-in date will be the same for everyone no matter what you put down on your application I think.
 
Soon to be M2 student 🙂

Originally posted by bennet
Are you a recent M2 student? Just curious.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by Doc Ivy
Hey maven,

I'm looking into a toshiba laptop, so after I defend my thesis in a couple of weeks I'm heading to the stores!! I'm also thinking of hitting my parents up for a PDA this christmas, leaning towards that Sony Clie or the compaq Ipaq...don't know which platform supports the most e-med textbooks and reference software but oh well---I'm just psyched about shopping for electronics---Long live Mastercard:laugh:

Also, manic maven, do you know if the Onterie et al have waiting lists. I don't think I'll be looking for an apartment until July, and I would hate to be out of luck and have to settle for a less secure building in a sketchy neighborhood
Click to expand...

Ivy, I'm also looking at the Sony Clie and the Ipaq. I've heard that they both support med software well, but that the Ipaq's downside is the 3 hour battery life in exchange for all the bells and whistles.

I know that the Onterie does have a waiting list, but the woman I talked to on the phone didn't seemed super concerned about it. The rest of the places didn't have one at all. You should be fine in July, I'd imagine as most residents give only 30 days notice.

I just found out that it takes 3-15 days to get your stuff halfway across the country with movers. I'm a ******* and didn't know that. Guess I'll be sleeping on the floor for the first 2 weeks of august. 🙄
 
hey guys!

-I am stoked about starting at northwestern this fall, and I can't wait to meet/hang out/party/study/etc with all you guys! :clap:

I turned in the housing application a little late but I plan on withdrawing as I have found a place on McClurg Court that I plan on living in starting early July. I am an MSTPer, so I have to get started on a few summer research rotations before we all hit the books in fall.

Again, I am thrilled to be in chicago for the next several years :laugh:
If anyone is going to be in the area starting early July PM or email me at [email protected].

I wish all a happy and safe move-in!😀

-Allen 🙂
 
Allen,
Yay for another first year living off campus! :clap:
I'm also looking at McClurg Ct. when I come out in June. Do you have a studio? How many blocks is it to school?

I'll be in chicago on August first, waiting for my stuff to show up. We should get together for beers/coffee (depending on your preference).
 
How much are these off campus places running? I'll be living in the LSC this first year but am curious about the prices of places when I move out.
 
The ones I've called on seem to be running $850-$1000. These might be more expensive because they are the nationally advertised places at websites like homestore.com.

When I called the Onterie, she had some units available for $933 or so. Ouch.
 
Also,

I'm all freaked out that I'll be missing some forms or have not done something when I get there. I know that our health forms have to be turned in by July 15th. Is there anything else I'm missing that needs to be turned in or reported to the school?

Ooh, that reminds me that I've got to send in the rest of my transcripts. Ack.
 
Originally posted by manicmaven

I'm also looking at McClurg Ct. when I come out in June. Do you have a studio? How many blocks is it to school?
Click to expand...

The med school is in superior avenue. 1 block south is E. Huron street which intersects McClurg court. I forgot the building #, but its a condo that my parents and I are investing in over the next..several years. Its a one-bedroom -small but nice place. Good resale value, newer building, and a very short walk to school.
 
Originally posted by manicmaven
Also,

I'm all freaked out that I'll be missing some forms or have not done something when I get there. I know that our health forms have to be turned in by July 15th. Is there anything else I'm missing that needs to be turned in or reported to the school?

Ooh, that reminds me that I've got to send in the rest of my transcripts. Ack.
Click to expand...

Haha, I was the same way. Health Forms is all I got, and I just lost a lot of blood today trying to check off all those boxes. Take Care. Paul
 
Yep, I was a little freaked out at the threat of forgetting one of those forms and getting charged $100 each!!! I wonder if they are really hard core about that. Yikes!
 
Yeah...the health forms suck. What is everyone doing this summer?
 
Working and drinking. Often at the same time.
 
sitting on my arse in front of my new laptop. watching terrible daytime tv, playing video games, running, and occasionally going out. ..can't wait for my first research rotation in early july
 
You guys are living the life. I am working for my Dad and Mom. What a nightmare. So much for the summer of paul...I just wanted to be like george costanza and decompress. 🙂
 
Originally posted by marq_bme
sitting on my arse in front of my new laptop. watching terrible daytime tv, playing video games, running, and occasionally going out. ..can't wait for my first research rotation in early july
Click to expand...

Wow, are we clones?
 
anyone know if our lecture halls have wireless networks?

i know jimmyg's is wireless, the galter library, and the first floor of levy hall too.

where are our lectures gonna be though? the morton building? is it wireless there?

also...anyone want to talk me out of getting a powerbook? are there any pc specific files or programs we'll be needing at nu?
 
also whats all this about not being able to install wireless networks at the dorms?

NU Policy on Wireless Networks

So if I have a laptop in my room it must be connected to the network via a cable? I can't use a wireless router?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Q
Northwestern Secondary Help? (Hobby)
Replies
3
Views
2K
sardinetoast
S
S
  • Locked
University of Maryland SOM Reputation??
Replies
5
Views
1K
chilly_md
chilly_md
W
Dual Enrolled CC classes + University?
Replies
2
Views
627
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
G
Rosalind Franklin University vs Des Moines University
Replies
1
Views
533
Toffifay
Toffifay
Q
A
Replies
10
Views
1K
Obnoxious Dad
Obnoxious Dad
Top