TUCOM Housing

[Leotigers]

I've gotten a few email asking for housing information. If I were an incoming MS I, I wouldn't live on-campus. There are simply too many nice areas in the Bay Area. I would live in either Walnut Creek or Benicia. Benicia would take you 10-15 minutes and Walnut Creek would take 30 minutes.

Here is an apartment that rents month-to-month in Benicia. It's not the nicest one but ideal in the sense that you don't have to sign a long term contract. Thus, you can try it our for awhile and then move somewhere else at any time. Anywhere in Benicia or Walnut Creek would be better than Vallejo. Some students even commute from San Francisco or Novato.

Cambridge Circle Apartments
900 Cambridge Dr.
Benicia, CA 94510
(707) 746-5751

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[arch]

Hi Leotigers,

Thanks for all of your posts concerning tucom. They are quite informative and insightful. I'm an incoming Tucom ms1 and I'm thinking about living in San Francisco. From your experiences, do you think it will be problematic? ?is it too far? Also, as a Ms3 and Ms4 where do students typically choose to live?

 

[Shania]

Leotigers, I have also found your TUCOM posts very helpful. Its hard to find so much info out there on TUCOM since its so new. I will be attending this fall and I was interested in living on campus. Do you know if campus housing is relatively available to students? I heard from one student that on-campus housing is difficult to come by and that there have been waiting lists before. Can you share your experience...

Thanks

 

[Leotigers]

Arch:

Hello, welcome to TUCOM. I think the first year may be a little tough to commute since you are adjusting to life as a medical student. However, if you have family or a significant other who needs to be there, it is certainly not unusual to commute from SF. You may be able to find other classmates who live in the city and you could carpool. MS III and MS IV could be all done in the city or closeby.

Shania:

I'm glad both of you found my posts useful. I'm not too sure about on-campus housing. I've always lived off-campus. I don't think it would be a problem if you wanted to live on-campus. You should try and contact one of the MS I or MS IIs. They are currently on Spring Break but I know there are a few on SDN.

Our MS III and MS IVs are really spread out. Some live in San Francisco, Vallejo, and Novato. Others are in NY, MI, and Las Vegas. We have many clinical sites.

We just finished taking Part II of the boards so I'm kind of beat. Did I miss something? Let me know if you have any other questions.

- leo

 

[liljewels]

Leotigers,

Thank you for all your posts. I also thought they were helpful. It's great to get other people's opinion. It gives me a little insight different things. I'm a medium alternate for TUCOM and would like to attend the school. Do you recommend I do anything to improve my chances of being accepted for this fall? Any suggestions would be helpful. It's nice of you to take the time to answer all these questions. I appreciate it!

 

[Leotigers]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by liljewels:
Leotigers,

Thank you for all your posts. I also thought they were helpful. It's great to get other people's opinion. It gives me a little insight different things. I'm a medium alternate for TUCOM and would like to attend the school. Do you recommend I do anything to improve my chances of being accepted for this fall? Any suggestions would be helpful. It's nice of you to take the time to answer all these questions. I appreciate it!•

Suggestions? Well.... I'm not really sure there is a whole lot for you to do now. If you got a DO letter, you might want to try having him/her call on your behalf. If it has been awhile since you wrote your thank you letters, you can try writing another letter or email. I think emailing actually works better at TUCOM. Most of the faculty check their emails daily while the mail and phone calls can pile up for a week. I think you have a good chance, especially since we were just approved to increase admissions to 125.

- leo

 

[liljewels]

thanks leotigers for the advice! Sorry to bug you with questions, but I have another one to ask of you. I heard that someone got accepted this week, and they were on the medium alternate list since the january interview. Do you know if TUCOM go down a list from High to Medium? Thank you for all your help! =)

 

[liljewels]

leotigers,

do you know the cost range of renting a one to bedroom place in Benecia, walnut creek, or anywhere around the school area? Where can I find information about this? I heard from people that living in the Bay area is expensive. Thanks

 

[Leotigers]

TUCOM does go from High to Medium. If students are already being taken off the Medium Waitlist, your chances are probably pretty good.

Cost of living really depends on what part of the Bay Area you live in. Rental prices are starting to come down a little bit. A one bedroom can range from $500-$3000 depending on location. Most students spend about $350-$800 on housing depending on whether they live alone or others. Unless you live in SF, the housing is actually pretty reasonable, similiar to San Diego. Even in SF, many of the students were able to find good places for $600-$800 a month (with rommmates). One of the fourth years is a manager for an aparment complex in Novato.

If you decide to come to TUCOM, I can provide you with names of people who you can get in contact with.

- leo

 

[liljewels]

Thank you Leotigers for all the information! Hopefully, when I get an acceptance letter from TUCOM, I will get in contact with you to get the contact number for housing. I appreciate you providing me with all these information. How would I get in contact with you later on about housing, med school, etc? It's okay if you don't want to be bug... not a problem. =) It can be nerve wrecking waiting for a response from a school or waiting to find out when you're off the waitlist. Are you happy with your experience at TUCOM thus far? Is there anything you would have done different if you had the chance? Thanks again...

 

[Leotigers]

You can contact me by email for housing information. I'm anxiously awaiting the results of the NRMP match so I know what you are going through. There's nothing you can do now but wait. Once you get in there will be other things to worry about as well. Just try to enjoy the moment and the fact that you've done your part and now you just have to wait for the results. Good luck.