Read this.....then decide on your rank list...

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One of the reasons why I didn't even apply to any place in Cali or Seattle. Boston is similar, but since I grew up there it was slightly more palatable. I predict I will probably end up living in Fargo or Davenport or Tulsa or someplace where my $ is equivalent to $$$ elsewhere.
 
Interesting article. Resident salary goes much further in places where cost of living is reasonable.
 
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NOW do you see why I want to go to Iowa?
 
Fermata said:
And just think of all that corn on the cob.

That's good eatin'. :D
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I love corn on the cob! I can eat 4 at a time, even uncooked if it's right out of the field. Mmmm ... sweet corn on the cob!
 
Interestingly, though, ask the residents when you go (unless you already did) about cost of living in Iowa City. Some of them will probably complain about how expensive it is (they did to me). I think it's because relative to the rest of Iowa, Iowa City is more expensive. Still a relative bargain though. ALmost every place I went, residents told me it was expensive, then when I told them about housing around Boston, they tempered their complaining somewhat.
 
yaah said:
Interestingly, though, ask the residents when you go (unless you already did) about cost of living in Iowa City. Some of them will probably complain about how expensive it is (they did to me). I think it's because relative to the rest of Iowa, Iowa City is more expensive. Still a relative bargain though. ALmost every place I went, residents told me it was expensive, then when I told them about housing around Boston, they tempered their complaining somewhat.
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Yeah some residents c/o the cost of living in Iowa City. They where the ones from elsewhere in Iowa or North Dakota. It's all relative.
 
jeff2005 said:
I love corn on the cob! I can eat 4 at a time, even uncooked if it's right out of the field. Mmmm ... sweet corn on the cob!
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Oh yeah I totally see why you want to go to Iowa :D

I've never had roasted (pop?)corn the way they made it in the snack-pack. I could not figure out what they did with it. It was puffy, but still retained the shape of the... individual... urm... seeds? grains? I forget the proper name. The... these:

corn.jpg


Puffed-up to twice the size and dark brown (fried? roasted?) but still recognizable.

But all that aside...

A PGY-1 friend of mine in Iowa puts away close to 1k/month. (Granted, she is single.)

Resident salary doesn't vary all that much, certainly not as much as living costs. I think deep down we have always known this in some form or another. Personally I didn't apply to any Calif programs, and only a couple in NY after some heavy-duty egging-on. Which is not to say that they would necessarily have wanted me :D but it's the cost-principle of the thing that I am talking about.
 
Interesting article, and good point. The cost of living there is astonishing. It's doable, as long as you don't have debt and don't care about buying a house, or have a spouse with a great job. Several mid-30s to mid-40s professionals I know are still living student-style in crappy apartments with crappy furniture. Depressing.
 
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deschutes said:
Take my word for it - not your type!
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You just want Yaah all to yourself!
 
Just got into LA today and holy damn it's nice and warm!

Traffic's a bitch though. Took me about half an hour to go 8 miles on the 405.
 
Hey, I'm in LA too. Just went rollerblading on the beach while the sun was setting. Living near the beach: $$$$. Living in California: priceless.

I've lived in CA almost my entire life, and led a decent life in San Francisco (during the dot com boom, for that matter) for several years making less than a resident's salary. You just have to keep your priorities in order.
 
deschutes said:
It was puffy, but still retained the shape of the... individual... urm... seeds? grains? I forget the proper name.
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I think it's kernels.
 
Well the n in that survey was only about 2000. Also, they said the movement was primarily among young people.
 
People are clearly afraid of bad weather. Why else would people in CA put up with traffic, high cost of living, etc.

For those of you going to smaller towns, there are banks that have mortgage loan programs specifically designed for first year residents that finance 100 percent of the value of the house with no mortgage insurance. If you can swing it, with interest rates as low as they are and with the tax benefits, it is cheaper to buy than to rent. I pay less than 900/month for a three bedroom home on a cul-de-sac (next to a cornfield!) in Iowa City. Most of the residents at Iowa own homes. The housing costs here are more expensive than the rest of the state, but they are reasonable on a national scale.

And to top it all off, Iowa is an excellent place to train (and has a great national reputation).
 
I think my rank list will still include a good chunk of CA schools at the top. You just find a couple of roommates and don't live in a palace--that's the tradeoff for the good weather, beaches, people, etc.

Someone is buying those houses for $465,000. It takes two people to complete a transaction and people (sounds like it's probably "older" people) who have the money are willing to spend a good chunk of it to live or own property in CA. Having visited my friends who live there I can see why. If everyone thought it was too expensive too live there, people wouldn't purchase homes there. Some people think it's worth it. Some people don't and would rather go somewhere else and use their leftover money to attempt to entertain themselves.

I think CA is the perfect place to do a residency (if you are single and don't mind blowing all your money), because you can maximize the fun in your minimal free time and when it's over go get a job and think about buying a house. I plan to live residency like med school and college and rent a place, thereby living with a variety of people in a variety of places. Some people take a more mature route and intend to buy a house and start settling down.

On the other hand, I'm less sure whether I would want to practice there. It is probably more difficult to find a good pathology job, and you could do much better in terms of income somewhere else. You could go find a crap job in the Midwest, work for 15 years, never spend a penny, and come back with all that cash to retire in CA and drive young/poor people out ;) .
 
JulianDelphiki said:
I think my rank list will still include a good chunk of CA schools at the top. You just find a couple of roommates and don't live in a palace--that's the tradeoff for the good weather, beaches, people, etc.
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I'm thinking along those lines too. LA is awesome!
 
yaah said:
"Awesome" and "L.A." have never been combined in a sentence I have spoken or written!
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Well San Diego is awesome too! How about that?

Seriously, me and a buddy drove down to San Diego yesterday (after the horrific Michigan game) to meet an old friend from college and wow were we impressed. Great beaches. Beautiful scenery. Awesome scene. And the weather.... :D

too bad i didn't apply to UCSD...but it's only 2 hours from LA (with minimal traffic).
 
AndyMilonakis said:
Well San Diego is awesome too! How about that?
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I disagree. I spent a month there one week. The highlight of my trip was seeing Star Trek IV on spectravision on the hotel entertainment system (it was quite a few years ago). I did sort of like the zoo though.
 
yaah said:
I disagree. I spent a month there one week. The highlight of my trip was seeing Star Trek IV on spectravision on the hotel entertainment system (it was quite a few years ago). I did sort of like the zoo though.
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sorry to hear that. which part of SD did you see? I spent most of the evening in La Jolla. I didn't see the dumpy parts of downtown SD (if there were any...and I'm sure there are).
 
deschutes said:
Inspiring! If I end up Iowa I will pronounce you both honorary Iowans.

Or Taberians.
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Thanks for the offer, although I believe I may already qualify for honorary Iowan status seeing as I'm in my second year at Des Moines. So I guess I'm a statistic, because I moved out of California too.
 
San Francisco, born and raised.
 
good ****.

San Fran is a great city too. Been there several times for conferences and I've had some great times there (because the conference went on for 5 days, there were plenty of fun nights had by all)
 
Yeah, the Bay Area is a great place. I must say though, I have been surprisingly impressed by the midwest. Yes, even here in Iowa. I'm even tempted to stick around for a little longer.

I loved Team America, by the way.
 
The Midwest is very nice. I'm more afraid of going back to the East coast. I've been in Michigan for 6 years now (having been in Baltimore/DC before that) and I can definitely see how I've changed as a person during these years. Living in the Midwest grows on you in a good way.

And yes...Team America is the best movie of all time! I'm gonna watch it again before I hit the sacK.
 
Damn I love that song in the movie too:

America! &*#@ yeah!
Come again to save the mutha&*#@in day-yah!
America! &*#@ yeah!
Freedom is the only way-yah!
Terrorists, your game is through.
Cuz now you have to answer to...
America! &*#@ yeah!
Lick my butt and suck on mah balls...
America! &*#@ yeah!
 
One of my favorite song lines from that movie is: I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting class...blah blah blah, and Pearl Harbor sucked.

Hilarious!
 
see yaah, luckystar and I are jointly derailing this thread. I'm NOT talking to myself. I'm NOT going crazy!!!
 
I guess I am your partner in crime in thread derailment this time. But who can resist talking about one of the greatest soundtracks in movie history?
 
luckystar said:
I guess I am your partner in crime in thread derailment this time. But who can resist talking about one of the greatest soundtracks in movie history?
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Did you get it yet? I have yet to buy it but it is on my list of things to do and errands to run. Bah screw it! I'm gonna order it on the internet.
 
luckystar said:
One of my favorite song lines from that movie is: I need you like Ben Affleck needs acting class...blah blah blah, and Pearl Harbor sucked.
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I adore the piano. I suspect it will go down as one of the greatest love songs of all time ;)
 
Team America boasts one of the greatest love scenes in movie history.

Lisa: "If you promise me you'll live, I'll make love to you right now."
Gary: "I promise."
Cut scene to bedroom.
 
I haven't, but one of my friends did and he probably listens to it nightly.
 
AndyMilonakis said:
Team America boasts one of the greatest love scenes in movie history.

Lisa: "If you promise me you'll live, I'll make love to you right now."
Gary: "I promise."
Cut scene to bedroom.
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Did you hear what the original scene entailed? There was much, much more than what was allowed for the release, and I've read somewhere that Parker and Stone included some stuff intentionally just to see the reactions of the reviewers. It might be on the DVD....
 
luckystar said:
Did you hear what the original scene entailed? There was much, much more than what was allowed for the release, and I've read somewhere that Parker and Stone included some stuff intentionally just to see the reactions of the reviewers. It might be on the DVD....
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Yeah...although that love scene did go overboard I am aware that the original tape had much much more. This is consistent with Parker and Stone's philosophy of taking a concept, twisting it to make it wrong, and then make it more wrong. Then when you think it's over, it gets wronger and wronger and wronger! I'm looking forward to the unrated, un-cut version of the DVD.
 
AndyMilonakis said:
I'm looking forward to the unrated, un-cut version of the DVD.
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You and I both!

The puking scene made me laugh the hardest though. For whatever reason. :oops:
 
luckystar said:
You and I both!

The puking scene made me laugh the hardest though. For whatever reason. :oops:
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The puddle of barf was bigger than Gary's body itself!

Another example of how Parker/Stone takes things way too far :)

seriously, i was laughing my ass during most of the movie, i felt like i left the theater with a hernia.

Addendum: The best was the tirade about the three kinds of people: d1cks, pu$$ies, and a$$holes.
 
AndyMilonakis said:
The puddle of barf was bigger than Gary's body itself!

Another example of how Parker/Stone takes things way too far :)

seriously, i was laughing my ass during most of the movie, i felt like i left the theater with a hernia.

Addendum: The best was the tirade about the three kinds of people: d1cks, pu$$ies, and a$$holes.
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Yeah I don't think I have ever laughed so hard watching a movie. Definitely an eye-opening experience!
 
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