OFFICIAL: Columbia Class of 2007

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I thought the mandatory Fed Ex/UPS/DHL part of the housing application was a little lame. It takes them weeks to send me stuff (using labels I wrote out for them!), but I have to overnight my correspondence to them. 🙄

It's all good. I just want to know what room I got! :laugh:
 
Hey Classmates! Long time no see!! I though the application was lame too, and what was lamest was the time it took for it to get to me! But I used the whole space below to rank my choices of wanting room 29 all the way! If not 29, anything with a river view... And if not that, anything but room 28! Hehehehe.... :laugh: I was in New York last weekend and stopped by at P&S, the view off the roof of Bard is AWESOME! Really! And they have lounge chairs outside that you can just lie down and relax and maybe tan (I have never been more pasty in my life, I don't even look latin anymore)... I CANNOT WAIT!

I also browsed the web and found out what my email address is going to be... That gives us access to the passworded pages where you can get all sorts of goodies and details about classes and wireless internet... I am sooo bored at work I have nothing better to do than find these things out 🙂 In two weeks, though, I am going home to Brazil for a month :clap: :clap:

Let me know when you guys hear about the rooms! Should be soon!
 
Hi everyone,

Sounds like everyone is doing well getting prepared to start school. I wish I could say the same, because I'm sure having a hell of a time:
I was in NYC until last tuesday looking for apartments - finally got a decent place on 171st street. My wife and I were really hoping we could get couples housing in the towers, but we were put on the waitlist🙁
The only problem w/ our apartment is that we can't move in until July 1st..and my surgery rotation starts JUNE 30th. Plus we are trying to sell our car, which is difficult because its in the shop right now having a dent taken out - was supposed to be DONE today, but I called this morning and the bastards haven't even started working on it yet!! arrgh... +pissed+ +pissed+
I had my physical today, but I'll still need to get all those titers, etc., checked...plus buy a pager and set up service, get a pda, finish packing up our belongings to have them shipped, and find a place to stay for 3 days until our apartment opens up. Plus I haven't gotten my financial aid award yet, so I have no idea how much $$ I have to work with this year (although somehow I at least have to cough up $1350/month in rent).

Sorry to vent all my problems on everyone...I'm so excited to be going to columbia, but I AM freaking out just the tiniest bit..I wanted to be all settled and maybe have a couple days to do some reading..but apparently that's not happening. oh well, nothing like diving right in, right? 🙂

Ok, good luck to everyone, and I'll probably be seeing you around when you start up in august.
 
Good luck with everything Zpdoc!!! I was stressed just reading your post, so I can at least imagine how you are doing! I would offer a place to stay if I had one, but I don't! Did you try any hotels? I think there is a youth hostel in NYC like the ones they have in Europe where it is pretty cheap... It is good as a last resort if you don't find anything else. Again, good luck, things will calm down soon, when you are settled. Let me know what you find about selling your car, I need to sell mine too and haven't even started posting the info yet!
 
Thanks IntlMD. I have managed to find a decently priced hotel for sunday night on the upper west side. And we have a buyer lined up for our car, if it ever gets out of the shop. and btw, I am transferring from SUNY Upstate - I think a few people were curious a while back.
 
Hey Guys,

I was confused about the book scene at P&S and wrote to a friend who has been through it and got this great long email back that I found so helpful I thought I'd share with you... Basically the key is not to buy anything, especially stethoscope etc... which we will only need in the second year.

Here is a direct quote:

SBPM -- The syllabus is really all that you need, so get that.
Don't buy the big Costanzo physiology book because that is
actually where a lot of the syllabus comes from, so you are
wasting money. The Costanzo BRS review book is a good outline,
and has some good questions. I also got the physiology pretest
because I like questions, but it all depends on how you learn.
Get the syllabus first, and see how that works out for you.

HD -- Syllabus is it and never go to class. Don't buy the book.

CP -- Don't buy the books.

Histo -- I bought the Ross book and really liked it. I think that
it helped with the more academic concepts of the class. However,
the website is all that you need to pass.

Anatomy -- There are a bunch of books totally needed. You will
need the NMS review book written by April, and a copy of netter's
atlas. Also get a copy of April's anatomy pretest (out of print,
but you can get them off amazon used or at a book sale here) and
get a copy of April's CD, which has tons of practice questions.
Get Rohen's Color Atlas because it will save you lots of time in
the smelly lab, and it doesn't hurt to have a copy of grant's
dissector

Hope you find this helpful too,
IntlMD

PS: SK - Yay ENFP!!!!
 
Ooooooooooooooh! Thanks for the information Intl! I was just thinking about how many books and stuff that we would need to buy..

and ooooh yeah...ENFP 🙂 Hahahaha...we'll make the class fun! 🙂
 
Hi Everyone,

Are any of you planning on moving in early?
 
I would love to, but I think by early they only mean 2 to 3 days early, in which case for me it is useless... I wish I could move in a month before... By the way, has anyone received anything in the mail recently? Any housing assignments, other info?
 
Housing assignments go out tomorrow!!!!!!!!
 
HI!

just dropping by to say hi.. to med students. i'll be at SDOS this fall.
 
Hi back, from the med students!
We have pretty much all classes together first year, right?
 
How did you find out that housing assignments are going out tomorrow? Also, did everyone get a package with information about next year? I saw that someone had posted that a few weeks back, but I have not received anything.
 
I never received the orientation package either... I called student affairs and they sent another one but I never got that one either. Sooo, since I am leaving my apartment in two weeks and leaving the US for a month, I decided to call and ask about my housing assignment in case that got lost too. They told me it is going out tomorrow!
 
Yeah...I got the orientation/next year's information sometime in the middle of last month (around the time everyone else did...but it went to my home address). Call Columbia and tell them about it.

**Hi emporio!
 
i have a question... if you had MMR before sept. 1998, do you need to get MMR shots? two shots four weeks apart?


Hi sistaKaren!

IntlMD07, yea i think we have classes together. (but what do i know...🙄 )
 
Hi guys and congratulation to all of you.
I am an international student, and from what I know Columbia is very international friendly. I was wondering if anybody knew any international student who was accepted there because i am planning to apply this summer. If so, please let me know or pm me, i would love to talk to them
 
Emporio...I think that you do have to get the MMR if you got it before Sept '98....if I remember correctly, you have to have had one since then.

Do DDS students start orientation at the same time we do? (Around the 19th of August or so)
 
Welcome, emporio!

I had my MMR done before 1998, but instead of getting the shots again, my doctor just ordered a blood test for me. According to the blood test, I'm still immune, so I don't need the injections.

Thanks for the information on the textbooks, Intl! It's very helpful.

I'm officially on the lookout for my housing assignment. Once I find out which room I have, I'm going to call for information about moving in early. The sooner I can get all my junk out of the basement, the better! 😳
 
)I think I am moving in early too... I am probably going to be on a couple of trips back and forth from Philly that weekend, there is no way I can get it all so organized that I come in on Monday and booommm... room is set and ready to go! Ha-ha!

cad_15 - you can PM me with questions if you like, I am one of "them foreigners"...

MMR didn't work so well for me, I am immune to rubella but not to measles and mumps so I had to retake the shot... It was sooo painful!!!!! I don't think I am going in for the second round though, my doc didn't even prescribe it... Let Student Health do titers again and see, but I have a feeling that this one worked (I am still bruised :laugh: )
 
I never received the information about getting blood tests done. Was there a date by which these immunization records needed to be submitted??

I just got an email saying that health services put an administrative hold on my record which is weird. Does this have anything to do with the immunization records not being in yet?
 
Hey, emotis. I got the immunization form over a month ago. The mailing included information about the student health insurance and a physical and immunizations form to be filled out by a physician. These forms came separately from the big orientation packet that has been discussed in other posts. You should probably call health services if you haven't received these forms by now.

Looking at the papers now, I don't see a due date for the immunizations, but I thought I had read that they wanted the completed forms one month before the start of classes. ...I still haven't sent mine in. 😳

It seems like CU loses a lot of stuff in the mail. Makes me wonder if I'm missing something too!
 
congratulations on the transfer! from what I've heard, it's a very difficult thing to do. did you have some kind of "compelling" circumstances? what's your secret?
 
Regarding the hold on my student account - when I called to get the immunization forms sent to me it looks as if they put my account on hold until they receive proof of my MMR immunization. It says that I cannot register until they receive these records.

Hopefully I will get the original mailing soon.
 
Today was "Network Administration Day."

I finally completed my financial aid entrance interview today. MAN do I hate those! 🙄 (Sample question: Who is responsible for repaying your student loans? A. the government B. your parents C. your spouse D. YOU)

I *tried* to set up my CU email today, but something went amiss at the end. I've got an email address and an account, but I am unable to actually access anything. I'm hoping it just takes a while for me to "register" with the system. Anybody else try this yet?

I'm still waiting on pins and needles for the housing assignment. +pissed+ I'm right across the bridge, so all of my correspondence from P&S usually arrives very quickly, but I think the housing stuff must be sent to me by way of Alaska.

Has anyone started our homework assignment yet? I decided to read The Da Vinci Code first.
 
I did set up my CU email...you can access it using a link for the c/o 2006 page...that's what I did. But I didn't do it right away, I waited for a little bit.

Ugh...I have to do my entrance interview too...I guess I'll do that soon.

and no, I haven't started...or even bought...the book. sigh. Everyone is making fun of me for having summer reading!
 
I'll be the first to post that I received my housing information. I'm slightly neurotic so I sent my application in overnight and luckily I got a great room. I'm on the 10th floor and I got a sink and a riverview. I hope everybody's housing works out well.

Yet, I still haven't received the "orientation packet" that others got a month ago. I called up for a second time and they said they are going to send me out another copy. By the way, what is the reading assignment?

I completed the entrance interview and I'm still waiting on my bloodwork so I can send in my health forms. Looks like everything is coming together pretty well.

I also just had a question about Bard; can you bring your own bed?
 
From what I read on the housing website, you cannot remove any of the furniture that is already in the room, so I think that you can only bring your own bed if it fits with the already existing one. If you find a loophole in this, let me know, I want to bring my bed too.

No housing. No orientation package here. What is the summer reading? I heard the spirit catches you and you fall down (someone posted that before) but Da Vinci code too?? Let me know because otherwise I won't do it...

By the way bez2, 10th floor is great, you probably have the view I saw from the roof that other day, it is beautiful!
 
Ooops. We just have to read TSCYaYFD. I'm reading The Da Vinci Code because everyone has been telling me that it's a good book. 😀 It's got nothing to do with CU.

The email's working now too. And don't listen to the website. It says there that you can't use Outlook 2002, but you CAN. 😛

Congrats on the nice room, bez2! I overnighted my application too. They wouldn't even accept regular mail, so I used that as an excuse to be neurotic. 😳

It does say that we can't remove furniture from the room, but I'm looking for a loophole too. I'd like to use my nice desk chair and get rid of the crappy bookcase they give us. Can you put some stuff in storage over there? I thought someone was telling me about that...
 
I wanted to move in a bed and my comfortable desk chair (where I spend most of my time). This is a direct quote from the housing contract, "Furnishings, fixtures, appliances, and locks provided by the University may not be altered or removed by the resident, unless specified prior arrangements have been made with the Health Sciences Housing Office." So, I think I found the loophole right there. I remember students telling us that if you just move the old furniture into the hall they will take it away for you and you can move in your own stuff. Hope that helps.
 
Entei, if you figure it out let me know... I have all of this furniture in Philly that I don't know what to do with since I am moving into Bard. What sucks is that I am going to need it all next year when we move into the towers or off campus. I figured whatever, cut the loss, but if we find a way to store the CU stuff and share a storage space or something it would be nice! I saw one of the rooms though, I think it was #15, which is pretty representative of the row that overlooks the entrance courtyard, and the space is TINY. Cute and very efficient for one person, but nonetheless TINY...

I read TSCYaYFD... In the end I thought it was interesting and well written and for some reason it was a very fast read for me. I guess I like these doctor books, especially about international patients, he he... However, I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of any of Lia's pediatricians!!!
 
Bez2, your post beat mine, we sent it at the same time 🙂
Wow, if they really take it away for you it cannot be a better deal!! In college if we moved it we were responsible for it, and if it got lost a BIG bill came at the beggining of next year...
 
Whee! I got my housing assignment! I got a corner room. 😀

And I didn't exactly request it, but I'm in the sorority, aka all-female floor. Now I can host slumber parties and we can braid each other's hair! :laugh:
 
Which one is the all female floor? I got room 429, with a bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am psyched!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are invited over anytime, of course 🙂
 
Women's floors are 4th and 9th. The men are on the 7th floor.

Congratulations!:clap:

Now to see about furniture storage...
 
Are we on the same floor?
About the storage... Given the actual size of my room minus the bathroom... I have the smallest space on the floor... sooooo, I am thinking that I will have to pass on my queen size bed, at least for a while, hehe...
 
No, I'm on 9, just a short elevator hop away. Gee... Having an elevator in my residence hall is going to be such a luxury for me!

I just registered for the phone service. Be sure you go to campustechCOM.com, and not campustech.com, like I did at first. I spent a good deal of time looking for phone service on the wrong site. Oops. 😳
 
You got the good sorority floor then, with the good view!!! I decided not to have a phone, but I did set up the internet, it takes them 5 business days to register you on the wireless network, so it is a good thing to do before we go. There is a link on the library website for it. Now with the room number we can set up ethernet too.
 
Wow, this network set-up thing is a little confusing. I have a laptop with a wireless network adapter, but does Bard have wireless access? When I try to request a new IP, it seems like I have to choose between either a wired IP or a wireless IP. And I have to buy software? What? 😕
 
Hey Guys,
Are any of you contemplating getting an MD/MPH? If so, are you applying now or waiting a semester? I heard that we have to start taking classes in the Spring if we want to get the MPH in 4 years... I don' think I can afford 5 years of med school... Nor do I want to start taking these classes first semester.
 
I don't know if I'm going to go all out and do an MPH too. It sounds like a good idea, but I don't know if that's what I want yet.

I think I'd like to take one or two lightweight undergrad classes, though. Does anyone have any info on that? Like a course catalog, or something?
 
Hey Entei, the course catalog is online, if you go to www.columbia.edu there is a menu on the left hand side, if you click on courses it should take you to the online course bulletin. From what I saw on the P&S instructions you need the permission of a dean or your advisor to register.
 
Originally posted by IntlMD07
Hey Guys,
Are any of you contemplating getting an MD/MPH? If so, are you applying now or waiting a semester? I heard that we have to start taking classes in the Spring if we want to get the MPH in 4 years... I don' think I can afford 5 years of med school... Nor do I want to start taking these classes first semester.

Hey everyone. I am a current fourth year and looked into the MPH/MD program also.
As far it goes, you'll be pressed to do it in four if you don't start right away. This is mainly because you don't have any time during third year to do anything but the wards.
However, there is a great program available at P&S, called the Macys scholarship. It is only available for NYC medical students who are applying for Columbia's School of Public Health for a 5th year of study for the MPH. It is a full-tuition waive scholarship (no room and board) and I believe that there are 10 of them in total -- although that changed from year to year. Anyways, a good alternative if you want the MPH but don't want to shell out the money or cram it in your copious free time.

Enjoy the summer (typed from a hospital computer). When do you guys start showing up?

Hope you all enjoy the P/F of first year.
CycloneDub
 
That Macy Scholarship sounds great to me; I'm very interested in an MPH. Still no housing assignment down here in Florida, I hope I get it soon. For some reason I can't bring myself to start reading that book (TSCYaYFD). I can't wait to meet all of you next month. If anybody is interested in going to see the EBC (street basketball tourney at 155th) at Rucker Park during orientation week let me know...I think the finals are that week!!!!

Best Wishes.
Bones
 
I think i might take some undergrad classes like spanish or something interesting. Can we also take classes at the public health school? That would be interesting because you can get a fix for public health without getting the degree. I read TSCYaYFD its not a bad read and fairly interesting.
 
just got my housing assignment. riverview with a sink...I'm stoked!

-Bones
 
aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!! You got a bathroom, Intl?!? Lucky!

Hey Entei...I, too, am on the 9th floor! 🙂 Yay! I'm really shocked that I got the women's floor too, I didn't request it at all.

I'm definitely doing the MD/MPH. I think it would be best if I finished it in four years too....but I really like the sound of the Macy's program, so I've been thinking about the extra fifth year as well. But I may wait and talk to someone about that. I don't want to wait and then not get the scholarship....we'll see.
 
Hey Guys,

I know what you mean SK, I don't want to wait and then have to pay another year of medical school... If you figure out who we should talk to, let me know, I might even go ahead and start the classes first semester - the Macy program adds some credits to whatever is already required for the dual degree, which is why they give you an additional year to do it.

I am sad that I am not on the cool floor now 🙁 Everyone that I know (yeah, the TWO people) are on the 9th floor... Oh well...

Congrats on the assignment Bones!

Gotta go pack some more boxes, yay!
 
Woot! 9th floor, represent! :hardy: And don't worry, Intl. You're still part of the SDN Cool Kids Club. 😎 Congrats on the cool room, Bones!

Hey, a real, live Columbia med student! How's fourth year treating you, CycloneDub? Our first day of orientation is August 18. Do you have any good advice you can spare for us incoming students?

I would really like to take an undergrad class, but now I'm not sure how realistic that is. I've already taken lots of spanish, and it seems like that's the only intro language class that's offered late enough in the evenings. I was really interested in taking a PE class like fencing or karate. I guess I'll see what I'm eligible for when orientation starts.

BTW, I finished reading The Da Vinci Code in one day. I can't recommend that book highly enough! It was really great. Now instead of reading TSCYaYFD, I've decided to start the Harry Potter series. After all, I wouldn't want to finish my summer reading assignment TOO early and forget all about the book when I have to discuss it later, right? 😳

So, I've been reading to pass the time. What are you guys doing to keep busy until classes start?
 
Does anyone know what our weekly schedule is like? I have a wedding to go to in September and I'm wondering which classes we have on Fridays. Also when the first exam block is.

Anyone have any info? I want to make my plane reservations. (I think I quit my job too early - I have a lot of free time on my hands)
 
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