Official Weill Cornell Medical College 2012 Thread

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DrBreeze said:
1. How can one make living in the UES more affordable? Do you guys cook for dinner most nights? If so, are there cheap grocery stores around?

2. If I were to have family come and visit me from CA, what would be the best airport to have them travel to? I'm thinking JFK, then catch a cab? Do you guys know of any better/cheaper ways this can be done?
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Another current first year here to answer some questions. It's been about 8 months since I've been to SDN. Oh how I miss it...

1) Living on the UES is very affordable. Housing at Cornell is super cheap ($600-700 a month or so) first of all. So that helps. Groceries are not cheap, but you can get Trader Joes in Union Square and that's very cheap. Eating out ranges from dirt cheap $4 street meat to the most expensive 5-course dinner you've ever have. Most of us stick to street meat, student discounts and various other places within a few blocks that are very good and cheap. NYC can be a reasonable place to live provided your rent is cheap and you're smart about it.

2) I would suggest La Guardia (though that may not be as cheap of tickets from CA) because you can take a bus and the subway. It's easy to get from LGA to Cornell. But if you're taking a cab or the shuttle to Grand Central, any airport works and it's about the same price (I think like $50).

Feel free to keep the questions coming. And if you want to ask a more private question feel free to send me a private message. It goes straight to my email so I can respond quick.
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hope08 said:
Thanks to all the first years for answering questions! I have a quick question about revisit - is it all day Fri & Sat? I'm just trying to figure out travel plans and days off from work. Thanks.
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Revisit Weekend will start Fri at 1pm and run through Sunday. So if you want to make the most out of Revisit, I suggest travelling on Fri morning and leaving Sunday late afternoon. :) Hope that helps!!
 
DrBreeze said:
Thank you, first years, for answering our questions! I have a couple more questions that I'm hoping you can answer (they're really random!):

1. How can one make living in the UES more affordable? Do you guys cook for dinner most nights? If so, are there cheap grocery stores around?

2. If I were to have family come and visit me from CA, what would be the best airport to have them travel to? I'm thinking JFK, then catch a cab? Do you guys know of any better/cheaper ways this can be done?

Thanks so much!!! I'm really excited for second look!! :D
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Can't comment on the airfare question, but regarding living on a med school budget here:

1) TRADER JOES! If you are from CA you know all about this - there is one store in union square, and it saves me, literally, at least 25 dollars a week on food.

2) Often you can split cabs with friends even for errands like (#1), and the fare comes out the same as a subway ride - and more convenient!

3) Tons of free stuff. Lots of museums have free student or discounted student tickets; the MOMA (modern art) has free Fridays; Carnegie hall has $15 student tickets to many concerts.

4) Student affairs here is awesome! You'll come to stop by this office often to get discounted movie tickets (7.50, i think?), cheap orchestra seats to the Met Opera at Lincoln Center (30 dollars - a steal!), etc.

5) FREE FOOD! It's everywhere here - most nights of the week (and many afternoons) you can grab a free meal and see a good lecture as well.

6) After-exam-free-keg-parties at Pat O'Brien's, the local irish bar. Our class has won approximately 10 of these parties by raffle, and 2012 certainly can keep up that tradition.

In other words - there are plenty of ways to have fun and live cheaply here. The biggest expense in NYC is rent, and ours is subsidized, both in Olin and in Lasdon.
 
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thanks to all the med students for answering questions! Could someone explain how the 'triple jump' exam thing works? I don't remember them saying anything about it during the interview day, but some other people on sdn were trying to explain it and I still don't really understand how it works. Thanks! :)
 
wutwinb said:
thanks to all the med students for answering questions! Could someone explain how the 'triple jump' exam thing works?
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The Triple Jump is really great and I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone when i say that to you. It is a final exam but doesn't require you to memorize everything you've learned for the semester. In fact, most people say they learn something from taking it. There are three parts:

1) Each student is assigned a computer, with access only to Microsoft Word. You are handed a case:

i.e. "a patient comes into your office complaining of fatigue and dyspnea on exertion, and used to live in a third world country and had rheumatic fever, etc etc etc"

There are also questions, and you sit at the computer for two hours writing everything you know about the case, and everything you don't know, and everything you should know.

2) You are given take-home questions to research when you get home. Everyone has the same case so everyone hangs out together and researches the topic.

3) The next day you meet one-on-one with a faculty to member and discuss what you wrote correctly, what you wrote incorrectly, and answer any more questions on the topic that the faculty member has for you.

You are graded based on what you wrote, and how well you can defend or correct what you wrote the next day. It's definitely the best triple jump I've ever taken.
 
Thanks so much, you guys!

Ok one more question: what's the best resource for a person who wants to learn more about the "ins-and-outs" of NYC? For example, is there a "NYC for Dummies" book? haha...:rolleyes:

I feel like I don't know anything about how the city works, but want to get a head start before I actually move there.
 
I'd like to chime in on the pharmacology issue: Since there is no set course the lecturers usually incorporate relevant pharmacological material into their lectures. We also come across a lot of pharmacology in PBL. The pharm department is also active in teaching several modules of our courses. However we are never really tested on pharmacology. Therefore many people opt to not study it and thus might feel they need a little catch-up before the boards. I've been paying attention to the pharmacology as it comes our way and I feel like I am on the right track towards only needing a little refresher before the boards to fill in some gaps.

'NY for dummies': I'm from NY so I'll leave that question for one of my colleagues. However, I would like to say that part of your orientation materials when you get here is a little "Guide to NY" that is revamped every year by the students. It is totally helpful even for people who have lived here all their lives.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses! I look forward to second look!
 
can someone describe the dorm setup? I know I saw it on the tour but can't remember...

can you fit a bigger than twin bed? are there kitchens? etc.

thanks.
 
bbabul01 said:
The Triple Jump is really great and I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone when i say that to you. It is a final exam but doesn't require you to memorize everything you've learned for the semester. In fact, most people say they learn something from taking it. There are three parts:

1) Each student is assigned a computer, with access only to Microsoft Word. You are handed a case:

i.e. "a patient comes into your office complaining of fatigue and dyspnea on exertion, and used to live in a third world country and had rheumatic fever, etc etc etc"

There are also questions, and you sit at the computer for two hours writing everything you know about the case, and everything you don't know, and everything you should know.

2) You are given take-home questions to research when you get home. Everyone has the same case so everyone hangs out together and researches the topic.

3) The next day you meet one-on-one with a faculty to member and discuss what you wrote correctly, what you wrote incorrectly, and answer any more questions on the topic that the faculty member has for you.

You are graded based on what you wrote, and how well you can defend or correct what you wrote the next day. It's definitely the best triple jump I've ever taken.
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Thanks so much for the info! That definitely helped :) So are there regular paper/pencil exams/quizzes throughout the semester and then just the triple jump at the end? Or do the evaulations throughout the semester mirror pbl as well?
 
mollie said:
can someone describe the dorm setup? I know I saw it on the tour but can't remember...

can you fit a bigger than twin bed? are there kitchens? etc.
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Dorms for first year are really great for Manhattan. You get a regular sized dorm room to yourself, and then you share a bathroom with one other person. No common bathrooms or anything like that. There is one kitchen per floor, and everyone cooks and hangs out there.
You can absolutely fit a bigger bed if you want, a lot of people have a full, and I've seen a queen. I had a full size futon, which was great because I could fold it out of the way.
After 1st year you move into apartments around the corner, which are really nice with your own kitchen/bathroom and huge windows.

wutwinb said:
So are there regular paper/pencil exams/quizzes throughout the semester and then just the triple jump at the end? Or do the evaulations throughout the semester mirror pbl as well?
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We have a quiz every week or two. Typical pen-and-paper-multiple-guess, fill in the blank, cut-your-losses-because-there-will-be-another-chance type of quizzes. Some are hard. 1st years have one in an hour and a half, so I should probably go study for that. This might be one of those hard ones.
 
Bump!

Also, some more random questions:

-what's the weather like in NYC year-round? (more specifically, do you guys get a lot of sun?) I went to an undergrad where it literally was a privilege to see the sun! :cool:

-where can we learn more about the student interest groups?...and by student interest groups, i mean more along the lines of sports clubs, singing groups, etc.

Thanks so much, you guys! Sorry for all the questions! :rolleyes:
 
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Does anyone know if there are there many opportunities for students to go abroad, both after first year and during 4th year? Does the school make it easy for students to do that? Is there money available for those things? How easy is it (and do many students) take a year off and get funding for that?
 
DrBreeze said:
-what's the weather like in NYC year-round? (more specifically, do you guys get a lot of sun?) I went to an undergrad where it literally was a privilege to see the sun! :cool:

-where can we learn more about the student interest groups?...and by student interest groups, i mean more along the lines of sports clubs, singing groups, etc.
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The weather is like everywhere else in the northeast. Except there are giant buildings also blocking the sun. Yes there are days when it's sunny, but if it's not May-September, it's going to be cold.

Not sure where you can learn more about them, but we have them all. And if we don't have them, you can start them. And they all have great events with great free food.

grayray said:
Does anyone know if there are there many opportunities for students to go abroad, both after first year and during 4th year? Does the school make it easy for students to do that? Is there money available for those things? How easy is it (and do many students) take a year off and get funding for that?
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Going abroad is huge, and a lot of people do it, both after 1st and during 4th. Cornell makes it really easy to do that. There's work study money to pay you while you're there in the summer. And there's money to get you a flight wherever you're going both after 1st and during 4th. Quite a few people go abroad at some point and Cornell helps them out with it significantly. Taking a year off is also an option that is discussed with us as well, some people do that too.
 
Another question for current students...

How hard is it to be approved for couples housing if you are not married? My fiancee is moving with me wherever I decide to go, so this is very important. We have a joint lease dating back to last August, but none of the other documents on their "required" list... any ideas?

thanks so much!
 
engagement by itself is not enough for family housing. you should read and follow the guidelines for filing as domestic partners and try to qualify for family housing that way. and if you become domestic partners you'll have to count your partner's stuff in your financial aid applications as well.
 
edfig99 said:
engagement by itself is not enough for family housing. you should read and follow the guidelines for filing as domestic partners and try to qualify for family housing that way. and if you become domestic partners you'll have to count your partner's stuff in your financial aid applications as well.
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Thanks for the response. I have indeed read through all of the guidelines, and realize that engagement is not enough. I guess my question was how flexible is Cornell with regards to applying those guidelines -- when do they count the "one year" criteria as beginning, for example. That is, if we have a joint lease since last August and open a joint bank account NOW, would we count?

thanks again!
 
housing policies tend to be pretty strict, but you know you're not going to get a reliable answer on a student forum. You are much better off contacting the housing office directly and hearing your responses directly from the source.

good luck to ya.
 
Is the Honors designation based on a % of the class (e.g. top 10%) or a % of the material (e.g. 90% and above on exams).

Thanks - looking forward to revisit weekend!
 
Already thinking honors?! I like where this is headed ...
 
haha - no, I am more interested in thinking about how competitive folks will be with each other...It seems intuitive that a mastery-of-material climate (based on % of material known) would be best for working together, etc.

Just curious though - from the students I met while I was there I am not too worried about it either way!
 
It's based on % of the class. But it's not really something most of us worry about.

% material is good for pacing yourself/feeling satisfied you learned the material. honors is sort of random. You can't go in being competitive for it, because you'll kill the fun of learning, be the guy no one wants to hang out with and possibly not even get honors. Just learn the material and enjoy it.
 
What do you guys do for fun?? Where are the most popular hangout places/bars? Are the fun places far from Olin?

Do Weill students usually go out together, or do people seem to hang out with friends outside of the med school?
 
I haven't yet. I was under the impression that admission was not rolling. Perhaps positive replies go out first. Does anyone know?
 
how is housing determined? randomly? are all rooms the same?
 
Cescfab said:
how is housing determined? randomly? are all rooms the same?
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First years are automatically and randomly assigned to Olin Hall. If you have special circumstances, or have a family, you can either live off campus or be assigned to other locations.

All the rooms in Olin are the same, except (as is everywhere in New York) some rooms get more light and less noise than others depending on floor and side of the building. Each room has all the furniture you need, and you share a bathroom with one other first year med student. There is a communal kitchen on each floor.

Floor plans in case you're curious:
Olin Hall - http://www.med.cornell.edu/housing/pdf/bui_oli.pdf
Lasdon House (for 2-4 year, and family housing) - http://www.med.cornell.edu/housing/pdf/bui_las.pdf
 
Blossom196 said:
What do you guys do for fun?? Where are the most popular hangout places/bars? Are the fun places far from Olin?

Do Weill students usually go out together, or do people seem to hang out with friends outside of the med school?
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We're a pretty diverese group so we do almost everything. If you've got an interest, chances are there's someone who shares it in your class or the year above you. There places lots of us like hangout around here that are really convenient but it's fun to branch out every now and then too. Usually there's someone throwing a birthday party or some after quiz event that can be used as an excuse to get a good number of people out to some non upper east location. The class social chairs also arrange an event every months or so that get pretty good turnout. So how much time you spend out, and which part of the city you spend your time is very personality dependent.

As for who we hang out with - both. People have outside friends and we get together as a class a lot too. At some point some of the outside friends come to so many of our events/hang out with us so often that you being to wonder why they aren't coming to class...
 
this is my first time posting on this thread- but i've been reading it for a while and it's been very helpful!! i'm 99% sure i'm going to cornell next year and am very excited!

just wondering, is there a facebook group for our class? i was searching for it, but couldn't find one..
 
I couldn't find one yet either. mdacceptee do you want to create one? I'll join...:)

And I agree - thanks to all the current students for the advice. It's very helpful. I'm excited for revisit!
 
Anyone else trying to decide between Cornell and Penn? I'm leaning heavily toward Cornell, but it's going to be a tough one!
 
IcePanda said:
Anyone else trying to decide between Cornell and Penn? I'm leaning heavily toward Cornell, but it's going to be a tough one!
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I am! Can I ask why you are leaning more towards Cornell? I change my mind every 10 minutes or so; hopefully revisits + financial aid will help to make the decision easier.
 
scorponok31 said:
I'd go to Penn is a flash over cornell. I'm not biased b/c i haven't gotten into either school, but I'm pretty sure Penn wins in all categories except location. But then again, you're going to med school to become as great a doctor as possible and not for the superficial stuff of a nice neighborhood. Congrats on cornell, but if you have penn as a choice, go to penn.
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Excuse me, but you're going to have to be more comprehensive in your reasoning if you're going to blindly suggest that somehow Penn 'wins in all categories' when compared to Cornell. For me and my decision making in favor of Weill over other schools, i'm looking at a few things (in no particular order): Curriculum, Residency Placement, Research Opportunities, Respected Mentorship, Facilities, Fin Aid and location. Granted, there are differences amongst the schools, but when it comes to perhaps the most important considerations in my book, residency placement, fin aid, and mentorship, the differences are neglible. In fact, they probably vary based on the student-- whatever she/he wants to get out of their academic experience.

Without formal reasoning, we're left to assume that you're basing your interest in Penn on silly rankings. If i based my decision making on usnwr, I would not be likely headed to Weill in fall. Moreover, what we should base our preferences on are whatever we deem will best prepare us to save and take care of people's lives. Prestige, esteem, and recognition are meaningless when a person's life is at stake.

Ok, now i'm stepping off of my high horse. Essentially, what i'm asking for is why you believe Penn is a no brainer over Cornell. We need objective evidence to continue this conversation.

On another note, I can't wait for revisit weekend!!! I've been waiting since freaking december to get back up there. Why are they having it so late? Oh and what's good on the facebook group??? People are slacking here-- I don't want to take the intiative just yet, since there is a slim slim slim slim chance I won't be going to Weill, but I would like to see a group up! Go Big Red!!
 
I have a question for any current 3rd or 4th year students at Cornell: How do you like your rotations that take place at hospitals other than NYP? Were they run as well as the NYP rotations? Was the quality of clinical teaching comparable? How long of a commute is it to get to the various locations? How many of your rotations do you do outside of the UES?

Thanks, and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at second look!
 
IcePanda said:
Anyone else trying to decide between Cornell and Penn? I'm leaning heavily toward Cornell, but it's going to be a tough one!
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Penn was actually my first choice from the very beginning. I ended up waitlisted there and accepted to Cornell. I wrote letters and made phone calls and all that to try to get into Penn, but it didn't happen. And it wasn't like I was too stressed about it, going to Cornell.

My biggest reason was a strong preference for Philly over NYC. But that's obviously a personal choice. I also really liked the idea of having 1.5 class years and 2.5 hospital years. I liked the idea of getting out of class sooner. And while I still like that idea, I also really like the way Cornell has a slower first semester, that allows you to get adjusted to school and NYC and new friends, before throwing you head first into anatomy. Penn also has an associated campus, whereas Cornell's is way too far away. Most days that doesn't matter, but sometimes I want a dining hall, or a big library, or a big gym. And sometimes you just want to get away and lay on the grass in the middle of campus, which you can't do here in NYC.

If given the option, I probably would have gone to Penn. It was mostly a personal preference, and not based on some obvious thing Cornell was lacking. But I'm really happy here at Cornell. Our curriculum is great, the facilities our excellent, we're ranked about the same, and the financial aid is better than anything else I saw. As mentioned, many of these things put Cornell and Penn on the same level. It's really a win-win situation for you. I don't think you'll be disappointed either way.


uni8685 said:
On another note, I can't wait for revisit weekend!!! I've been waiting since freaking december to get back up there. Why are they having it so late?
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Sorry about that. Our final quizzes/triple jump falls toward the middle/end of April then we have week break then second look is the weekend after that. But I encourage everyone to still come as it's going to be a lot of fun!
 
I actually just want to respond to some of the posts above...

First of all, I think there can be no better location than NYC. That's actually a factor I am really excited about. Sure, it can be a personal preference thing when it comes down to say, NYC vs. Philly, but I feel like overall NYC is more diverse and exciting...and can you really beat a location like the upper east side of manhattan?! :D

Also, I feel the distance from the undergrad campus can actually be a benefit. At Weill you are basically in a large community of graduate/professional students...surely this a much more mature type of environment than one you might find at a school that's adjacent to the undergrad institution. (as an aside, I think it's neat that Cornell has such a multidimensional character--it has both the rural face from it's ithaca campus, an urban face from it's nyc campus, and an international face with it's Qatar campus) In my opinion, no other school can claim this sort of multidimensionality. Haha, and if you would like to relax at a park as someone mentioned above...isn't Central Park pretty close to the campus? ;) Guess it doesn't have the "campus feel"...but hey, it's a pretty awesome park!

Finally, the mix of PBL with the traditional curriculum exposes Cornell students to clinical problem solving in their first year. One does not need to physically be in a clinical setting in order to strengthen problem-solving skills associated with patient treatment/care. (i.e. so perhaps getting into the clinic half a year early--as they do at Penn--may actually not offer significant advantages)

That's just my ten cents :) I am excited to go to Cornell and would choose it over Penn in a heartbeat!
 
How is the third year set up at Cornell? Is there allowance for electives to test out a specialty you're interested in that happens not to be one of the core rotations?
 
Yeah ... I'm wondering about the hospital in Tanzania and the clinic in Haiti ... can we do rotations in these places? Like, 6 week rotations? That would be awesome.
 
IcePanda said:
Yeah ... I'm wondering about the hospital in Tanzania and the clinic in Haiti ... can we do rotations in these places? Like, 6 week rotations? That would be awesome.
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some students will spend the summer after first year working in one of these settings.

alternatively, electives do exist at both hospitals for 4th years.

required rotations are not completed at the international sites.
 
Someone talked about the gym at weill and I am wondering how does it really compare to a regular gym?
 
blaqueos said:
Someone talked about the gym at weill and I am wondering how does it really compare to a regular gym?
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We have gyms in both Olin Hall and Lasdon House. They all have treadmills, elipticals, weight machines, free weights, etc. Similar to a small gym you would find in a dorm or apartment building, but it suffices. Olin Hall also has a full size basketball court in the basement that is used for sports as well as school events. Lasdon House has 2 squash courts on the roof.
 
I need to see more accept-ees getting excited about Cornell! Where's our facebook group? Who's looking forward to the thrilling contrast of a small, tight community (101 students) in the humongously populated Manhattan? Does anyone have a problem with first-year dorms SANS communal bathrooms? C'mon, Cornell!!
 
Sorry to be demanding LOL, but, uh what about pool? Do we have access to a pool somewhere? I am a swimmer...

And yes, I am super excited about Cornell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
DrBreeze said:
Also, I feel the distance from the undergrad campus can actually be a benefit. At Weill you are basically in a large community of graduate/professional students...surely this a much more mature type of environment than one you might find at a school that's adjacent to the undergrad institution. (as an aside, I think it's neat that Cornell has such a multidimensional character--it has both the rural face from it's ithaca campus, an urban face from it's nyc campus, and an international face with it's Qatar campus) In my opinion, no other school can claim this sort of multidimensionality. Haha, and if you would like to relax at a park as someone mentioned above...isn't Central Park pretty close to the campus? ;) Guess it doesn't have the "campus feel"...but hey, it's a pretty awesome park!
Click to expand...

hahaha... just you wait!
 
WaltzingMatilda said:
Sorry to be demanding LOL, but, uh what about pool? Do we have access to a pool somewhere? I am a swimmer...
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There's not a Cornell pool, but you can find options around the city. There's a NYC Community Center Pool about 15 blocks away. Membership is $75 per year, so some students take advantage of that.

And of course there are the pay per month gyms, like Bally's, NYSC, Equinox, etc. But those tend to be a lot more expensive (upwards of $100 a month) so it really depends on how important swimming is to you.

We're also very close to the East River...
 
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