hey guys, i got my first acceptance on wednesday to albany! i'm really happy and i was wondering who else is thinking of going there. if so, what are your impressions and expectations?
congrats! I think the first thing to do is celebrate. Any US medical school is considered good. When people start ranking and comparing, trying to tease a part why one school is better than the other it's so subjective. Most medical schools have more in common than not. Good luck
Congrats Sharsky! How does it feel? Huh? HUH? hehe... good luck with Albany or where ever you decide to go.
Albany seemed like a great place to study medicine without too many distractions. There is a low cost of living in Albany and you could have a car, a place to park, and a nice apartment in a safe neighborhood for very little money. (Compared to going to school in Philly or Boston where you can't park and can't afford the aparments!) A great place for students with families and children. I think they get lots of cold weather and snow so bring your Arctic coat and mittens. Albany med draws patients from a wide geographic area in New York State similar to the way Dartmouth draws patients from all over New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. And it is only a 2 1/2 hours from Boston if you decide to do your residency at Harvard!
Well, as of now, barring some waitlist movement, its the only school I'm accepted to. There are several people like this on here, just do a search for old Albany threads. I agree with some of your hesitations, I didn't get much of a feel for the school, good or bad, while I was there. Seems very spread out within the building and hospital, no real "center" to it. Did not see the anatomy labs or computer facilities. I know the do path and hist the old fashioned way, with microscopes and slides (good? bad? I'm not sure). The place is NOT wired for wireless, which I think is bad (wanna be able to use my new Palm in class to check e-mail while bored). Only the plus side, the students seem exceptionally happy, and the hospital really is world class. As the above poster mentioned, you get to deal with quite a large hospital population up there. But it gets really, really grey in the winter, and that gets depressing. So, some pluses, some minuses. We'll see. Congratulations! Feels good, doesn't it?
hey it definitely feels good! i turned in my resignation at work just yesterday too =). it's such a relief to get it over with. but yes, i definitely have a lot of hesitations with albany...i hate cold weather and i prefer big cities although the cost of living is higher. and you're right about how i did not get a good feel of the school but i did get a sense that all the students were really happy there. what did you mean by the histology and microscope? my top choice now is hawaii but it's a non-rolling school so i won't hear back til mid-may. i love the weather there and it is just so beautiful. i'm also waiting on temple (continuuing candidates list), med college of ohio (waitlist), and nymc (mid-may). asdasd12345, my numbers are 32P and 3.46 gpa.
We do Histo during MSI at Albany and you can use slides and microscopes, but virtually all of us use websites and the Albany Med CD, MSII we do use more microscopes, but that is the world of path.....so make your own call there. They are working on the wireless stuff, but if you get bored enough to check email in class, you should probably just just leave and study it on your own. Class can be very optional (true of most if not all med schools) Anyway just wanted to clear some of that up!
anybody else have any thoughts on albany? do you guys know when class starts? i know it's sometime in august. also i'm not sure i remember what the curriculum is like. is it organ-based?
