NSUCOM Class of 2013

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stanner said:
I got my pin by talking to Linda in the admin office. Once she was able to find my file she gave me the pin right away. The admin office has been less than stellar, but it is just due to the number of students they are dealing with. They are short staffed and got 3000+ applications, so you can imagine they are a bit overwhelmed.

As for looking at houses, I have heard plantation is a good area and is close to the school. I will be going down at the end of January to look at places as well. I am just excited to head south and out of this cold in Canada. Is there anyone else that will be going down around January/February?
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im going down in january to find some housing and talk to someone directly at the school about financial aid. I can't wait to get out of this cold in the north as well!!!! 12 inches of snow in the past two days in buffalo 😱
 
ben7ok said:
Have made my decision and plunked down my deposit today. NSU it is.

1. House shopping: What are "good" (subjective though the term is) neighborhoods in which to look for houses to buy within ~25 minutes commute….Looking for safe, undervalued, likely to recover when the economy straightens out..... Need about 1400 sq ft, 3-2-2…Not afraid of fixer-uppers, within limits set by med school schedule....

2. Anyone want to meet up at some point in March-April to start looking around, talk about school issues (eg going for the MPH) and/or quality of life issues...or just to raise our glasses and celebrate this wonderful chance we are about to get to learn to help the sick to heal.

Congrats to us all!

JK
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I was thinking of flying down sometime in March or early April as well, to look at apartments... it would be fun to meet people!😀
 
Ok, first Melv, yeah, I am going to aim for late March if anyone else wants to join me (or suggest a different date) you are more than welcome..As we get closer, I'll post some stuff on the facebook page....Spring Recess is April 3rd to 10th for NSU, and other schools will be about the same time...would like to avoid the peak season cost and as many drunk undergrads as possible...I'm looking to head down the week starting March 16th....thoughts?


Also I wanted to make a separate comment about Wellipoo's realestate question:
misery said:
"i'm looking to buy a house, u guys think thats enough to not move me out of davie when im an M3?" Wellipoo
"nope. don't buy" Misery
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Wellipoo, With respect to Misery, buying houses is more about what the buyer can handle emotionally and fiscally, than it is about where one does one's clinical rotations. If one can't sell it when one wants/has to leave for rotations one can rent it to someone else (someone in the class of 2015 for example) until the economy is favorable....There is, in realestate, a rule that if the property doesn't devalue (and Broward County is _probably_ close to bottom now, but we will know better by March) one begins to break even after closing costs and financing costs in about 3 years. After that it's usually profitable, versus an apartment where every month's rent lines someone else's pocket and one is operating at a loss from day one. One might think of that investment as the money that will pay for our first free clinic, my personal dream...Or, if you are more profit oriented, think of it as your student loan payoff....and it begins to be worthwhile to at least consider buying. But, if you are a worrier (I am) and will be wondering if your tenant is spitefully flushing cement down the toilet (I sometimes do) or if calling the plumber is going to eat your lunch or book money, and you can't repair things yourself or will spend ALL your time studying and working. The best dictum I ever heard was do that which won't make you loose sleep...
 
when does everyone plan on actually moving down to florida. A lot of renters I've realized want to start leases on June 1st. Anyone else planning on spending the summer down there?
 
schussboarder said:
when does everyone plan on actually moving down to florida. A lot of renters I've realized want to start leases on June 1st. Anyone else planning on spending the summer down there?
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I am planning on moving down late June-early July hopefully.. what about everyone else?
 
melv55 said:
I am planning on moving down late June-early July hopefully.. what about everyone else?
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I think I am going to move down in early to mid July. So I will probably have to find a place to rent as of July 1st.
 
stanner said:
I think I am going to move down in early to mid July. So I will probably have to find a place to rent as of July 1st.
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~March 13th-March looking around and begin house hunting.
Back about June 1st and staying until we find something to buy or lease....
:xf:Arrive with a truck July 15th.
 
I think that as far as buying or renting its all about what you want. If your planning to staying in South FL for M3 and M4 plus maybe residency then I would say buy if you are thinking about only staying through M4 then I would weigh your options heavily. The market will be much better come 4 years from now where you will be able to sell a property if you bought it in a good location that will be wanted. You will probably profit off of it but the question that then arises where you are going to do your residency if you plan to just rent where ever you go then it seems stupid to buy make some profit then go and blow that profit on rent. Those are just some thoughts that have been going through my head in regards to buying vs renting. If you want to talk more about it PM me and I can give you more opinion/answers from people I have asked.
 
I don't know if anyone saw this on the NSU site but they have a computer requirement for all students. You can either buy a Dell as part of your tuition or bring your own computer. The stats for the computer state that you need to have windows vista. I am planning on getting a new mac book for medical school bc they are much better then pcs but I am concerned that they wont pass NSUs requirement. Does anyone know anything about this?
 
GlobeMedder said:
I don't know if anyone saw this on the NSU site but they have a computer requirement for all students. You can either buy a Dell as part of your tuition or bring your own computer. The stats for the computer state that you need to have windows vista. I am planning on getting a new mac book for medical school bc they are much better then pcs but I am concerned that they wont pass NSUs requirement. Does anyone know anything about this?
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Part of the issue with NSU's laptop is that the school wants us to be able to take exams on standardized hardware. The students who bought the Dell this year are the guinea pigs for the testing process, and I haven't heard anything about whether testing on the Dells is going well or not. If it went great, then we're more likely to be required to get the Dell this coming year. I doubt it. I'm not giving up my tabletPC for a non-tablet Dell unless I'm required to.

Functionally, you will absolutely run into problems where your Mac can't read/support a file or presentation or software that you need for class. But I seriously doubt that this is sufficient reason for you to switch from Mac to PC for your personal hardware. Get a second opinion on this, but I think that if you plan on needing to spend time "learning" Vista, and occasionally needing to find an open computer in the campus labs, you'll probably be covered.

Just be responsible about meeting NSU's actual computing requirements for classwork. I recommend putting down the Mac vs. PC flag because that's not the point. NSU has 230 students per class to manage, and you will do well to respect that administrative burden and go with the flow.
 
I'll be going down for a few days sometime between March 17-29 for apartment hunting and such. If anyone wants to go down and look around together or grab dinner and a beer.

Does anyone know the apartment complexes that most students stay at?
 
linkDO said:
Does anyone know the apartment complexes that most students stay at?
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Sunforest apartments, Sundance condos, Cameron Cove apartments, Royal Grand Condos, and a whole bunch of cheap places down by Griffin. Also, rumor has it the the new grad student housing hasn't sucked.
 
Hey guys. I'm definitely in NSU class of 2013. Doesn't it seem a bit early to head down there in March to look for apartments? Would you be looking to sign leases? Would landlords even do that, that far ahead in advance? I was thinking of taking some time off from work in June to fly down there and find a place and then moving in mid July. What do you guys think? Oh and is gradstudent housing worthwhile? Thanks, look forward to meeting you all in August.👍
 
Hey, I just thought I would let yall know that my Fiance said that to get a computer that meets the specs online, you would probably be looking at spending 700 at the most...he thinks even as low as 500-600 by then. Oh, BTW he is a software engineer, not just a joe schmoe so he wanted yall to know that you didnt have to budget in as much for the Dell they recommend.

Creekfreek24: I emailed Ellen today to ask when people moved down, if there was an orientation before school starts in August. I will let you know what she says....As far as going down early...its helpful to look early and be in contact with the leasing office at bigger complexes and then, by then, hopefully a good unit will open up by the time you want to move down.
 
creekfreek24 said:
Hey guys. I'm definitely in NSU class of 2013. Doesn't it seem a bit early to head down there in March to look for apartments? Would you be looking to sign leases? Would landlords even do that, that far ahead in advance? I was thinking of taking some time off from work in June to fly down there and find a place and then moving in mid July. What do you guys think? Oh and is gradstudent housing worthwhile? Thanks, look forward to meeting you all in August.👍
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I dont know, maybe?? I go to a large university now and all of the decent apartments are gone by March and April (leases signed and deposits paid). Dont know a ton about Davie/Ft Lauderdale area and when they sign leases, but to sign in June/July where I'm from means you live far from campus and in a pretty crappy place.

It's also my spring break so I wanna go down for vacation.
 
davis749 said:
Does the PIN = Nova ID? If so, then it's the string of characters starting with an N on the first two pages of your admissions packet, far right side of paper towards the bottom. Hope this helps.
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PIN is sep from your Nova ID.

Your pin is a 6 digit number. If you have your Nova ID N######, you can get your WebStar ID easily.
 
linkDO said:
I dont know, maybe?? I go to a large university now and all of the decent apartments are gone by March and April (leases signed and deposits paid). Dont know a ton about Davie/Ft Lauderdale area and when they sign leases, but to sign in June/July where I'm from means you live far from campus and in a pretty crappy place.

It's also my spring break so I wanna go down for vacation.
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Most places will not let you sign a lease until April/May. It is best that you come down beforehand to look at potential places. Keep calling them for possible vacancies in properties. That's the best advice I can give you.
 
k that's good info to know. thanks guys. is anyone else on here considering grad housing? and hema, is it ON campus? seems like that might simplify things, at least for the first year, and then I could be looking for an off campus house while I was down there.
 
creekfreek24 said:
k that's good info to know. thanks guys. is anyone else on here considering grad housing? and hema, is it ON campus? seems like that might simplify things, at least for the first year, and then I could be looking for an off campus house while I was down there.
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There's at three different housing complexes. Two are by the gym, one is across University Drive (the newer one).
 
So for those of us needing to buy (or even rent) a larger house , what are the good neighborhoods (within~30 min of school during normal morning/evening traffic). I've been told to look around Plantation....Any more specific neighborhoods in planation or elsewhere are appreciated...The 3rd week in March I'm gonna fly down, rent a car and drive around recommended neighborhoos, in case anyone wants to look around with me...
 
Kind of a silly question, but the admissions office doesn't like to answer the phone. I paid my first deposit online, but did you guys fill out and send back all the papers in the acceptance package? Or is that something that can wait until later?
 
DrMidlife said:
Functionally, you will absolutely run into problems where your Mac can't read/support a file or presentation or software that you need for class. But I seriously doubt that this is sufficient reason for you to switch from Mac to PC for your personal hardware. Get a second opinion on this, but I think that if you plan on needing to spend time "learning" Vista, and occasionally needing to find an open computer in the campus labs, you'll probably be covered.
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A bit of a late reply on my part, but yea. I switched to Mac officially while I was in my information science program. That program is LOADED with software that is only supplied to us in Windows format, unless you wanted to shell out around 2,000 dollars for a solid Mac alternative. I thought it'd be a problem and it never ever was. Ever. It really is rare to ever encounter a compatibility issue now. Presentations will undoubtedly work in both just fine. (I have powerpoint and keynote). What little software they have can be handled as noted, by using a lab computer OR by installing windows with parallels or bootcamp. I did that with my mac, installed Microsoft project and some other stuff I needed and then quickly realized that it was a waste of space on my computer.

Once every couple of months you MIGHT have a little 5-10 minute inconvenience.

I really hope they don't force those laptops on us. Granted my field was into technology, we found that students largely did not want to have the same laptop. The alternative for the less tech savvy is to offer a discounted one with the manufacturer and then buy maybe 15-20 that you can check out in case yours goes down. It worked great for us that way.
 
MossPoh said:
What little software they have can be handled as noted...Once every couple of months you MIGHT have a little 5-10 minute inconvenience...I really hope they don't force those laptops on us. Granted my field was into technology, we found that students largely did not want to have the same laptop.
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Nova wants to eventually standardize on a laptop in order to do exams online. Med school exams. 230+ students a pop. Imagine:
1. Small number (maybe a half dozen?) of $15/hr to $25/hr IT professionals to support all 230+ students per exam, with mandates coming from some egghead PhD with a woody for tech.
2. Exam software has to block every other function on the laptop in order to disallow cheating. Can't allow access to internet or file system during an exam. Fingerprint credentialing aka "biometrics".
3. Total of over 1000 stressed out, sleep deprived, variously computer literate med students to support every term. Many have law degrees or lawyer parents.
4. Any laptop problem that arises during an exam, for any student, for any reason, is a lawsuit, not to mention a turnover-maximizing headache for the IT staff.

As an IT professional, would you want non-standardized hardware in this system? Didn't think so. I'm not arguing Mac vs. PC - I'm saying you'd better just pick one. I don't know of any school that has a stable solution to this problem in place, on any large scale, for any intensely competitive degree such as medicine, dentistry, law, etc. And honestly I don't think we should expect the exam system to be in place and required during our Nova tenure.

The exam software that Nova's considering is a known entity: http://www.softwaresecure.com/browser.htm. They do NOT look Mac-savvy to me.
 
Hey y'all....

So I keep seeing that people are considering going down in March to look for apartments...but I've still got grad school stuff going on then and I don't know if I would be able to spare the time to visit FL.

Would it be way too late if I went down in mid-May and just stayed until I found a place I could sign a lease for (for June or so, I'm guessing?).

I've never apartment hunted before so this is very new (and slightly scary) for me!
 
beachblonde said:
Hey y'all....

So I keep seeing that people are considering going down in March to look for apartments...but I've still got grad school stuff going on then and I don't know if I would be able to spare the time to visit FL.

Would it be way too late if I went down in mid-May and just stayed until I found a place I could sign a lease for (for June or so, I'm guessing?).

I've never apartment hunted before so this is very new (and slightly scary) for me!
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i'm with you beach...i'm going down in may to apt hunt. thinkin march is too early. anyone looking for a roommate?
 
I plan to live with a roommate, and also plan to go down at the end of May to look around at some places.
 
Howdy everyone! Congrats on your acceptance and decision to attend NSU. My Name is Bryan Peterson, I'm the current M1 Class President, and I look forward to meeting each of you next fall. For now, I will do what I can to dispel what I can of the computer rumors and keep you as up to date as possible on the administration's progress with the testing software and computer requirements. Prepare yourselves, this will be a rather lengthy post, my apologies, I’ll do my best to keep be brief.

My class was the first to be required to buy a laptop, and that was a rocky ordeal at best. That being said, I am working with Administration to re-access the requirements, and am doing everything I can to make sure that it is as smooth a process as possible for you. If you are looking to buy a computer, my advice would be to WAIT!!!!! We are going to be updating the requirement specs. If you can hold off for a few months, I would.

As to the Mac vs. Microsoft battle, many of my classmates have Mac Book's and Pro's and they have had little if any problem accessing Tegrity (the system lectures are taped on), and the various other systems we use on a daily basis for class. If you like Mac, go with Mac, there might be a few minor issues here and there as the testing software/programs develop, but nothing major that I have seen. If you do have problems, there will be plenty of M2's around with Mac's to help you out. There are even a few of our more tech savy classmates that use Unix/Linux.


I will tell you that our computers came out to $1,760 and we had several problems with them straight out of the box, about half the students that ordered them returned within a month. And yes there were those who found better deals online. Not that they weren’t decent computers, it was just a new model that had not been debugged yet. The specs at that time were a bit outrageous even by gaming standards- we’re working on that. I’ve had Alienware, MSI, and the Acer Ferrari in the past so the Dell was a disappointment to me. I turned it in and have gotten by on a little 2.0 Acer Aspire 5100 just fine. I doubt with the obstacles we had last semester, that NSU will require you to purchase a specific model of computer (I will fight to my last breath to make sure that doesn’t happen), but rather there will be a list of suggested/required specs. We’ll try to make them reasonable.

The main thing you will need to concern yourself with is battery life and a decent wireless card. Steele Auditorium (where you will have pretty much all your lectures first year) has very few outlets. I repeat, VERY few outlets, ideally you’re going to want 3 hours or more run time. The programs required for your school work/tests will not require insane graphics cards, 4 GB of RAM, or 2.4+ duo core processors.

The testing software has switched a couple times already, so who knows what we will actually be using. It is running behind, we were supposed to have Beta testing last semester, and it’s very possible we won’t even begin that until next fall. We might all get to be guinea pigs together! I do know that during the testing phases, paper exams will also be available.

Hopefully that answers some or most of your questions. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to PM or email me at [email protected]. We are all looking forward to meeting you, and doing our very best now to make sure that ya’ll have a great M1 year. Get excited you 7 ½ months of freedom left!! Enjoy it.

Bryan
 
Wow that was an awesome post and thanks for filling us in on all this info😀😀😀😀
 
Seneca20 said:
Howdy everyone! Congrats on your acceptance and decision to attend NSU. My Name is Bryan Peterson, I'm the current M1 Class President...
Bryan
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Thanks for the great information Bryan! Look forward to your posts and meeting you this fall.
 
GlobeMedder said:
Wow that was an awesome post and thanks for filling us in on all this info😀😀😀😀
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WOW I guess I am an idiot. Sorry I spelled your name wrong Bryan. Sorry my brain is still frozen from the negative temps we had here in the Chi :laugh:
 
Thanks for the kind words Ya'll. I'm happy to help. No prob on the spelling GlobeMedder, its an easy mistake. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help as you're starting to make preparations to get down here.
 
Thank you Bryan. That's a really awesome post.

I used to fix comps for a living, and still build them on the side. I just want to agree with what he said, in that you should always buy your comps looking at specs and reviews. I don't think that NSU has the right to tell you that you have to buy EXACTLY this model laptop...that's just down right foolish. We as students just have to be mindful of what laptop we get and the specs it has, so that it will properly allow us to utilize all of what NSU has to offer.

They say they wanted us to buy a 1700 dollar laptop. In 3 seconds of looking on New Egg, an amazing website you should consider using, I found one for 1200 that probably blows their 1700 dollar dell piece of crap out of the water.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117857

This is a seriously sweet machine for only 1200 dollars. Blu ray playback, HDMI video, 4GB ram, 320gig hard drive, etc.

So ya, moral of the story, buy what you want, just make sure it can handle what we need it to...and if you don't know what that is, it is pretty easy to find out.

Can't wait to start in August! 👍
 
oh and i forgot to mention that the 1200 dollar laptop i linked is complete overkill. you can get an acceptable one for 600-800 dollars if you look hard enough. it's all up to you.
 
did you all get the emails about orientation starting Aug 3rd this year!!!! (Can't wait)!!!

For any current students, what exactly do we do during orientation week since the schedule says that the actual M1 classes don't begin until Aug 10
 
schussboarder said:
did you all get the emails about orientation starting Aug 3rd this year!!!! (Can't wait)!!!

For any current students, what exactly do we do during orientation week since the schedule says that the actual M1 classes don't begin until Aug 10
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I got an email saying it started July 27, 2009 not August 3, 2009
 
Hello everyone! I'm definitely attending Nova next year and I'm so excited! I was just reading about these e-mails everyone is getting, and I'm not getting any! I'm sure they have my e-mail address bc I've gotten emails before, but I haven't gotten any about Orientation. The only thing I've seen is the Sharklink group update about how we start Aug. 3. Are the e-mails about orientation coming through sharklink e-mail, or your personal e-mail accounts?
Thanks!
 
I'm getting everything through sharklink lately.
 
Deposit #1 paid.......Definatly heading back to south florida (went to High school not to far from Nova)

I live in Ohio now but will also be heading down March/April to look for places. I know the area pretty well and am also putting out an open call for roommates and such.

When is everyone else planning on apt hunting?

IamAriDO
 
I am going down at the end of may, also need a roommate.
 
I'll probably head down for a weekend in a few weeks to kind of check out places. I'll try to remember and take pictures and upload them for people to check out. It is just a half day drive for me and I stay with my brother, so it isn't that big of a deal.
 
MossPoh said:
I'll probably head down for a weekend in a few weeks to kind of check out places. I'll try to remember and take pictures and upload them for people to check out. It is just a half day drive for me and I stay with my brother, so it isn't that big of a deal.
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That'd be great MossPoh. Not sure if you already saw this but the NSU site has some good info online:

http://www.nova.edu/reslife/offcampus/index.html
http://www.nova.edu/reslife/offcampus/forms/apartment_map.pdf
http://www.nova.edu/reslife/offcampus/forms/offcampus_guide.pdf

http://www.nova.edu/reslife/index.html
 
Congrats on the acceptance everyone. For anyone interested I am a M2 at NSUCOM. I have been renting my 1 bedroom apartment from my parents for the past 2 years (Now I am going to Tampa for Rotations) . It is in the absolute closest apartment complex building to Nova and the Medical Dental OT PT PA etc..... and to be honest if I could not walk to class I probably would not still be in school (eating lunch in a cafeteria vs my apt.... driving anywhere in S. Fl is terrible etc...Complex does allow pets and it is quiet with pool etc..... Rent is 975 and includes washerr dryer. My parents would prefer a med/dental/grad student to rent to so I am giving you all 1rst chance. I am available to show it and it will be available Aug 1rst. Here is a Clist ad describing it and photos. and my email is [email protected] if you have any questions or want to check it out. Thanks
 
Is anybody thinking about buying a place?

Normally, I don't think I would have considered it (ok, my parents wouldn't have considered it) but given housing prices right now, there are crazy deep discounts to be found. I'm just curious how it works for your fourth year (assuming you get third year rotations nearby to NSU). Any ideas or people to contact?
 
I think buying would definitely be a good idea considering the fact that hopefully by the time we are graduating the recession will be over and the house would have appreciated in value substantially, making the purchase a sound investment. Too bad I don't have the money because otherwise I definitely would have strongly considered it.
 
drwilson said:
I think buying would definitely be a good idea considering the fact that hopefully by the time we are graduating the recession will be over and the house would have appreciated in value substantially, making the purchase a sound investment. Too bad I don't have the money because otherwise I definitely would have strongly considered it.
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I was considering buying a place but I decided against it. Right now is a great time to buy but I wanted to live close to the school and get familiar with the Miami area before I decided to buy.
 
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