Housing: The official line from the school is that you can get a dorm room for 2 weeks, and during that time, they will help you find an apartment. This is true; however, this is a hellish process and if you have a chance to avoid it, I would advise doing so. It will be over 100 degrees out in August, and an orientation guide will take you around to see apartments in groups of about 20. If you like the apartment, chances are other people do too, and someone will have somehow called "dibs" on it before even getting there. If you can get to Tel Aviv earlier, contact the school and ask them for help finding an apartment. They will get someone to work with you one on one. If not, suck it up and go through the process. You will have a nice apartment in the end. Another option is to live with a 2nd or 3rd year. You can set this up over the internet, and when you move in, all of your utilities will be working, and you will have a friend to help you meet people in other years. Also, this might allow you to avoid two weeks in the dorms. Everyone in my class who chose this option was very happy.
Aliyah: Although Sackler swears up and down that "this is not an aliyah program", they will not do anything to stop you. There have been some posts on this board in the past suggesting that if you try to make aliyah the administration will plot your demise, but this is simply not true. Although I would not advise telling the school you are interested in aliyah during the admission process (the American program is not allowed to compete for students with the Israeli program), once you are here, the school will be supportive of your choice. Keep in mind that you will have to complete an extra year of internship before applying for residency in Israel. The main obstacle to aliyah for Sackler students in debt. If you are taking out American-sized student loans, don't expect to pay them back as a glorified government employee.
Other random pieces of advice, since I am on a roll:
- When you get your info packet, it will contain a health form for your physician to fill out. On this form, it asks for more titers than you have ever heard of, and some people will spend lots of money getting all of them done. This is unnecessary because all of your titers will be repeated when you get here, and you will also get any vaccinations you are missing. My advice would be to ask your doctor to simply list whichever tests you had in the past, and write "not done" or whatever for the others.
- Get a couple of large duffel bags, and bring as much stuff as you can with you on the flight, even if you have to pay extra. This is cheaper than any method of shipping. By the way, El Al luggage fees are negotiable, so smile and be nice.
- Go on the Vonage website, learn what Vonage is, and decide if you want it before you get here. The reason for this is that if you sign up, they will need to send you a "box" to a US address. If you want to bring electronics into Israel, you definitely need to bring them with you, because if you ship them, you may be subject to an exorbitant customs fee.
- Don't buy any textbooks in the US. They are cheaper here. Also, the list the school gives you is not particularly reflective of what you will actually want to buy.
- Relax and get excited! Most people love it here.
