Umich class of 2007... go BLUE!

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Originally posted by Street Philosopher
my guess is that they don't want people finding out that it snows during april/may. 😀
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:laugh: true, true. :laugh:

the ann arbor market is weird depending on which part of the city you wanna live in. condos run from $80K (in not so good parts of town or right on the ypsilanti border) to upwards of $300-400K. average is somewhere around $200K for a 2b/2ba in a decent area. the condos around the med school go for easily $200K.

downpayment and closing costs vary depending on what kind of loan you get. if you have the finances saved for a fixed APR mortgage (meaning you aren't relying on family gift for the DP) you can put as little as 3% down on some of those flex plans and pay another $500-$2K in closing costs (look up "buying points" in closing costs of a mortgage) and with interest rates now, still get a pretty decent price.

if you don't have the finances saved and/or are relying on family gift $ for the downpayment... an FHA loan is probably for you (for first-time homeowners with a decent credit history but not much in the way of a DP or not much credi history at all). if you have excellent credit history, you may qualify for some zero-down payment mortgages, but i'd be wary of those.

here is what i'm looking at in the $120-160K price range (there are some small houses and condos (2br) in decent parts of a2 for this price - they're just not right on top of the school cuz i'm coo' with the bus - but they are snatched up quickly so i've already started the search)...
1) i am going to have to go w/an FHA loan
2) i am putting about $6K down (w/a little help from the family)
3) i'm only buying about 0.75pts on the mortgage and so my closing costs are going to be in the neighborhood of $1K
4) i'm going a 30-yr FHA at 6.0% interest (FHA interest rates are a little higher than a fixed mortgage b/c they see you as a bigger "risk" for a loan)
5) i'm doing this based on my current salary, not on the fact that i'm going to med school
6) my monthly premium and insurance (P&I) payments are going to be around $800-900/mo. -- i plan on getting a roomie 😀
7) you have to include condo association fees, which can be anything from $50-200 extra a month

um. that's a lot of info. haha esp since you asked for a ballpark. sorry! mortgages 101. 😛 hope it was helpful. 🙂
 
Well, I just called the admissions office, and looks like I'm lower tier on the waitlist. The lady I talked to said they have sometimes pulled people off the lower tier, but very rarely. Guess that's it for me. G$ - you wouldn't have wanted to live with my meat-eatin' SUV-drivin' arse anyway. 😉

Later kids.

wavey.gif
 
very possible 🙂

okay, so since there is no second look weekend and i don't think going on my own would help me out very much, i will ask about my concerns here.

i'm coming from out of state, and the few friends that i have at umich have said some things that are nagging at me.

1. i've heard that the out of state kids feel really out of the loop, have a hard time fitting in. That if you don't make friends the first week you can forget about it.

2. i've heard that compared to some of the other schools, people are very competitive.

3. looking at the match list, it doesn't look like many people are doing residencies at the major east/west coast schools. is it just that no one wants to do residencies out of state, or do people basically have to stay in the mid west to get a good position?

Does anyone have any comments about these things? It could be that the people I have talked to represent a minority. Clearly there are some people that dislike every school. Alas, they don't have a second look week so I can't really find that out for myself.
 
Sorry, I'm a fellow out-of-stater so can't answer many of your questions.

I would like to know where you saw the match list? And have you gotten this years list?

As far as residencies are concerned, I have talked at length with the docs I work with at UCSF who pick residents and fellows for UCSF and each physician is very impressed with UM and looks very highly on candidates from that school (over many other top schools, all other things equal). We have had a fair number of UM residents and fellows pass through the department I work in so I know that they are here. I can't speak for other CA schools but I imagine if UCSF will take you then others must too.

On the other hand, I have spoken to many fellows here who say that it is easier to get a residency where you did med school than somewhere else, so pick a school where you might want to also do residency. Although I'm still trying to decide between a couple of schools, I think it would be easy to get back to the west coast coming from a school like Michigan.

Hope my $ .02 helps and good luck with your decision.
 
re: residency placement -- hm... given residency director rankings, umich is one of those on the top of the list. maybe i'm wrong here, but i think if you do well at umich, you won't have a problem getting a good residency placement. it's a high percentage of grads who get into one of their top 3 choices. (anyone know this number offhand?) soooo... maybe people just wanna stay in the midwest?

re: making friends
there is about a 50/50 split b/w out of staters and instaters. and there are 170 people in the class... sounds like a good chance to make friends with someone you have something in common with. why would an out of stater feel out of the loop? because they may have never seen snow? 🙂 just kidding...

moreover, umich is a big big school. big ugrad, lots of professional schools. i don't know about you, but i don't want my only friends to be med students. join things. play sports. branch out. i don't think making friends is going to be a problem, unless it is an inherent personality problem to begin with. 🙂

re: competitiveness -- as part of the new curriculum, the first two years are now pass/fail. maybe this will help to eliminate the perceived competitive environment? (this was something i was seriously checking into when choosing schools and i soooo don't want a hyper-gunner-competitive class... umich didn't strike me as such, but that was just my impression)

much much more than my $0.02. hope it was helpful. 🙂
 
Originally posted by Woots32
Well, I just called the admissions office, and looks like I'm lower tier on the waitlist. The lady I talked to said they have sometimes pulled people off the lower tier, but very rarely. Guess that's it for me. G$ - you wouldn't have wanted to live with my meat-eatin' SUV-drivin' arse anyway. 😉

Later kids.

wavey.gif
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🙁 sorry to hear about the lower tier. maybe you'll get pulled? or are you gonna withdraw from the list? bummah.

anyway, my plan was to slowly and subtly reform your meat-eatin' SUV-drivin' arse. 😉 (just picking) well maybe i'd at least make you take the bus once in a while 😛
 
Last years' match list was provided in one of the handouts they gave us at our interview, flip through the stuff, it's in the middle of a glossy guide.

It's quite impressive, I saw Penn's list at my interview and I'm pretty sure Michigan's was maybe even a little bit better.

There's quite a bit of diversity in where they place, there's quite a few who went to Harvard or California and New York for residency, more than I thought there would be.

Bummer Woots, but I bet I know what the problem is. Counting me, there's already 3 people from U of I going to Michigan next year, that's an awful lot for any school not in the Ivy League. If you want, I can send you their contact info if you wants to sic one of your dogs on them or something, but I think we've all already graduated and moved on. 🙁
 
what's up fellow wolverines!!!

WOOT WOOT!!! that sucks about the lower tier stuff, who knows though right?

hey crazy A-referring to your signature-- why is u of M med school the enemy of UIC med?? that reminds me, i have to hurry up and withdraw from uic. Way to have the state of Illinois represent at u of M! us out of staters have only half the # of seats to go for!

You NON MICHIGAN folks have nothing to worry about in feeling 'left out'. Trust me! I started as an undergrad as an out of stater too, and you always find your own group of friends that you tend to mesh with. Don't turn down a michigan education b/c of a fear that you can totally control!

now i have a silly question-
Has anyone ever tried sitting on or owning one of those Herman Miller Aeron chairs? I'm thinking about buying one of those... I expect we're going to spend alot of time studying at our desks-- so why not get a pretty good seat! Let me know if anyone is interested in buying this chair-- we can get a 10% group discount if we buy 3 or more. The only thing is I'd buy it and you guys would pay me for yours b/c they have to ship to the same address.

If there's enough interest-- perhaps I can get in touch with the folks at Herman Miller and ask for a 'student rate' for all the michigan med students. Seeing as we may one day see alot of patients with back aches-- we could easily refer patients to the benefits of a proper chair! win/win for everyone i'd say. msg me and let me know!
http://www.sit4less.com/aeronchair.html
don't freak out at the prices!

go blue!
 
I went to undergrad in Champaign laviddee.

From what I can gather from friends and colleagues who went to other Big 10 schools (Purdue, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Iowa), we're pretty much unanimous that Michigan is the most hated school in the Big 10. And no-one else even comes close.

I remember when the Wolverine football team came down to Champaign my Junior year, it was just insane. I've never seen the campus charged up for a sporting event, and that includes our basketball tournament pseudo-runs of 2001 and 2002. 'Muck Fichigan' and 'Ann Arbor is a wh*re' t-shirts were just everywhere.

And all my friends from undergrad who are into college athletics are a wee bit ticked off at me now. Oh well. I think everyone else in the Big 10 is just jealous of the Big House and OUR groovy fight song.
😉
 
Dude those chairs are 800 bucks!😱

I guess I'll know who to look for when I'm short on funds. 😎
 
hey hey hey!
if you come to me, i'll be sending you home with some ramen noodles and that's about it! maybe some extra maize and blue facepaint if you need it though sp.

you know what we really need to do-- we have to go hang out at those ritzy places where the girls in their north face jackets all daintly sip their chamomille teas and white chocolate coolatas while their jeep grand cherokees (limited editions) remain running and warm in the parking lot. i got no problems with having a sugar momma--do you?
 
female in seek of sugar daddy. 🙁 (or a sugar momma, he|l, i'm open to new things) 😛

house hunting sucks my arse.

🙁 dammit if i'll be renting!
 
Originally posted by laviddee
hey hey hey!
if you come to me, i'll be sending you home with some ramen noodles and that's about it! maybe some extra maize and blue facepaint if you need it though sp.

you know what we really need to do-- we have to go hang out at those ritzy places where the girls in their north face jackets all daintly sip their chamomille teas and white chocolate coolatas while their jeep grand cherokees (limited editions) remain running and warm in the parking lot. i got no problems with having a sugar momma--do you?
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Let me get this str8. What you're saying is that your frickin' chair is more important to you than the welfare and health of your future peers and colleagues. Do you know how much sodium is in those Ramen thingies? And I shudder to think what those preservatives are doing to my skin...

Clearly by your lack of consideration for the rest of us and your blatant shilling of Ramen you have proven yourself unfit to be a doctor. What kind of standards does this 'Michigan' place got anyway?
 
CRAZYA!
there's nothing like ramen noodles at 2am in the morning! The best is when you wake up in the morning with a parched mouth and bloatation going on from all the sodium. yum yum! pop a couple eggs in the mix there too and you get some added cholesterol and fat as well.

to the NW/Duke/Michigan debate-- -Is there a debate???
Michigan by far rocks and that's all you need to know.

but if you need more info-- i'll give my opinion. isn't it true that aT duke you HAVE to take a year off between your 2nd and 3rd year and do research right?? forget that S. At michigan, you can take a year off and do research if you want to, but it's not forced upon you. And what's there to do in Durham, NC? My sister went to Duke and the social scene is definitely lacking.
Regarding Northwestern, for some reason a NW med education is not very well respected by doctors in practice here in chicago--- don't ask me why but just check out some previous threads on northwestern. I also don't think the clinical training is that great b/c you learn at the very private and posh Northwestern hospital where the snooty patients typically only want 'real' doctors and students are left looking over their shoulders. Also i think 30% of the class is part of the Hpme program, so I've heard that it's quite clique there. But of course- I'm a BIT BIASED.

you know though, there are people out there that can be happy anywhere. just go where you feel comfortable. go to Michigan.
 
bump from a few pages back. i know bit waitlist movement hasn't started yet... but anyone else wanna join our future ann arborites convo?

i'm going to a2 next week for some showings on the paltry places i can afford. may have to rent due to stinkin' high cost of living! 😱 i may have found something, a little 2br by the river, a little older, but w/in decent walking distance to the school.... anyone looking for somewhere to live? 🙂
 
Hi Everyone,

I am a current M1, and want to welcome all of you who have decided to come (and maybe convince the undecideds!) to Michigan. If any of you have question, or are still deciding PM me as I was in your position just last year.

On another note, I am looking to find a roommate for the summer, from late May/Early June through August (when school starts and you'll have no problems finding a place to live). If you want a great place to live for the summer contact me!!! (if you like the place it may be possible to arrange for a whole year as well). The only requirements I have is that you keep the place clean -- though I would prefer a male and a nonsmoker.

Benefits:

1) A great 1 bedroom in a three bedroom house. Hardwood floors, a new, refinished kitchen, a full finished basement and a nice back yard in a great residential neighborhood. 1 1/2 baths. If you have a car, you'll have a spot in a carport and keep it protected from the weather.

2) Price: Asking for 415$ a month. I won't hassle you for a security deposit (if you got into medschool that's good enough for me), and you will get water included (all other utilities split up three ways). Trust me, for Ann Arbor and the amenities you will be getting this is cheap. The apartments closer by are at least 475-525$ a month, and you get much less space for yourself, and you have to stare at the hospital all day long (ugh)...


3) Location: Only a 7 minute shuttle ride, or a 15 minute bike (10 minutes downhill to the school, 15 uphill coming back). The shuttle runs for free with Umich ID about every 30 minutes between 6:30am-8:30am and again 3:30-5:30, and besides that there is a city bus that runs very regularly between 7:00am and 10:30pm on the weekends for a 1$. Both stops are literally steps away from the house on one end and the med school on the other end of the line. In my opinion whether you walk for 10 minutes to get to class (and even with the closest apartments in the medschool ghetto it will take you at least 10 minutes) or ride the bus for 8 minutes it figures to the same time. In the summer it's a nice bike ride and in winter you won't be freezing your ass walking. It is also a short drive (3 minutes) to nice restaurants, the gym and the groceries).

4) A clean, laid-back roommate, who may offer you some (hopefully not totally useless) advice and help you out with getting some used books, gets you oriented with Ann Arbor, etc.


If you think you're interested, e-mail me at: [email protected] and I can give you more details or we can talk on the phone. Congrats to all, and see you next year.

GregiG
 
i know it's not may 15th yet.... and i don't know if there's been any waitlist movement yet ....

but bump anyway. 😉

ps still seeking potential roommate! 😀
 
Fellow Sdners,

I am lucky enough to be deciding between two great schools, Umich and UTSW. I would be happier at Umich but I am getting very little money in grants, and the difference between me going to Umich over UTSW is around $100000. Is anyone in a similar situation? Is anyone in medical school already with a large debt.? Too all fellow Umich students, could you please offer your input? Do you know of other students who ahve !60000+ loans? Is Umich worth it if I want to go into a competive residency? Pleae help I am very confused.
 
Originally posted by longhorns back
Fellow Sdners,

I am lucky enough to be deciding between two great schools, Umich and UTSW. I would be happier at Umich but I am getting very little money in grants, and the difference between me going to Umich over UTSW is around $100000. Is anyone in a similar situation? Is anyone in medical school already with a large debt.? Too all fellow Umich students, could you please offer your input? Do you know of other students who ahve !60000+ loans? Is Umich worth it if I want to go into a competive residency? Pleae help I am very confused.
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ah yeah sucky decision time, indeed. i would have been in the same situation, but (fortunately?) yale rejected me, thus saving me about $80K. :laugh:

anyway, as much as i love umich and as much as i'm a big proponent of the "go where you're happy" ideology... i'd lean towards saying go to UTSW. $100K is a hella lotta money. only you can decide if it's worth it to you. i personally think that if you do very well at pretty much any school in the country, you have a shot at a competitive residency. umich may open a few more doors, but utsw is def nothing to snub your nose at (esp w/texas instate tuition!) and what's wrong with pounding down those doors yourself anyway? 🙂

oh yeah, and we get snow up here. in fact, it was snowing this morning when i left for work. 😉
 
Hi all,

So I'm going to head to ann arbor next week for a revisit and check out apartments and stuff. I am hoping all of you michigan natives might be able to give me some suggestions as to what I should do in ann arbor to get myself really excited about the area 🙂 I am completely unfamiliar with the area. I know where the state of Michigan is on the map of the US. I know detroit has a few professional sports teams that once and awhile travel to Boston 🙂 But other than that, as of a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between Michigan and Michigan State (okay, other than the fact that they are two different schools I still couldn't tell you anything about them) and I had never heard of ann arbor. So pretty much I am starting from scratch! I need lots of suggestions 🙂

On a side note, I was shopping the other day and I stopped by a cell phone store to ask the people there if my service would still be good in ann arbor. The lady said she would look on the computer. After a few minutes she returns to ask me what state ann arbor is in. She returns a second time to tell me that her computer found no matches for an ann arbor in Michigan. It turns out she was spelling it "ann harbor."
 
Hi Merlin17!
I'm not sure when you are going to Ann Harbor (j/k) but I'll be there to revisit too from May 2nd until the 6th. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you as far as Michigan knowledge goes.

I'll be meeting up with another future M1 that weekend. If you or anyone else who's in the area then want to get together just let me know.🙂
 
Originally posted by laviddee

now i have a silly question-
Has anyone ever tried sitting on or owning one of those Herman Miller Aeron chairs? I'm thinking about buying one of those... we can get a 10% group discount if we buy 3 or more. ..Seeing as we may one day see alot of patients with back aches-- we could easily refer patients to the benefits of a proper chair! win/win for everyone i'd say. msg me and let me know!
http://www.sit4less.com/aeronchair.html
don't freak out at the prices!

go blue!
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MMMMM, Ramen-n-n-n
MMMMM, Aeron-n-n-n

If only I could enjoy the two together. Actually, a friend of mine bought, not an aeron, but one of the less expensive chairs from that site. Its worth a look, and if you have the cash, worth the purchase. Taking care of one's back is not so silly.
😉
 
bumping up because
1) it's almost may 15th! :clap: where are you tier 1 folks??
2) no fewer than 5 people have PMed me asking for umich info and housing info and i think we've covered tons of that in this thread
3) no fewer than 5 people have PMed me about living alone and leaving my vibrator on the kitchen table.... oh wait, that doesn't really have much to do with this thread, does it.... hm. 😳
and 4) i move into my new place next weekend! 😀

haha ! BUMP
 
What's new fellow (future) Wolver-inos?

They're 'revamping' our connection at work, so I haven't been able to post for a while.

Sunny and I met in Ann Arbor a couple weeks ago...to everyone without a place, take a long look at Med Center Court on Maiden Lane (where we signed). Nice place, just a step further from the hospital than Island Drive, and best of all, it has a dishwasher!
 
I read some bad things about Med Center Court, so I'm really worried about the housing situation. Could you tell me more about it? (e.g. what kinds of amenities are available, like tennis court, fitness center, parking, etc) Were you allowed to sign now and move in during July/August? My family keeps telling me you have to move in as soon as you sign the lease. By the way, what's the dishwasher's name? 😉

ps: are you two going to be roommates?
 
Hey SP, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, so I'm going to answer you seriously.

We looked at like 8 apartments in 2 days, and med center court and island drive were the last two we saw, so it was all a dze by then. So all I remember was the important stuff that we'd both agreed up on (dishwasher)

believe they give at least one parking spot, and it might have been the place that gave two, without any extra charges as I recall.

Unfurnished.

Fairly big (based on everything else we saw) but a bit of a disparity in the bedrooms' sizes in the 2-bedrooms

Lease dates are VERY VERY flexible, I think Sunny wants to go for the last week of July, and they were fine with that

Yes, we're gonna be roommates.

What bad things did you hear? I heard bad things about Island Drive as well, but ultimately, it came down to the location and price for us.
 
the thing about med center court and island drive apts - their big amenity is the fact that they're a 5-10 minute walk to the hospital and med school. other than that..... not much. i think med center court may have a small fitness center and a "study/library" room... island drive has no amenities. they're not the biggest places, but they've got AC and a dishwasher and there's a community laundry room in each building (pay laundry). these are not high-end apts, in terms of luxury. like i said, the biggest thing they have going for them is the proximity to the school. they're decent, but nothing spectacular. rooms are averaged size (but like crazyA said, the 2brs have quite a diff b/w room sizes in the 2 bedrooms), walls are pretty thin, they're not the newest of buildings. but if you're looking for location - it's hard to turn down, especially if you're coming from somewhere out of state (or even out of town) and aren't familiar w/the area. many 1st year med and biomed phd students i know went w/either island drive or med center court for their first year - and then either decided to stay or move on for the subsequent years. i know people who did both.

ann arbor is a bike/pedestrian/bus commuter friendly city, but with a car it's a pain in the hiney. parking is scant and traffic is cloggy. island drive has 1 parking space assigned per bedroom in the apt (i.e. 2br = 2spots), from what i hear via my friends that live there. and there is limited visitor parking. i don't know specifics about med center court.

they're very flexible about lease start/end date, however, i think the closer you get to sept 1st, the more $ they charge. it's not a ton, but the earlier you sign, the more likely you are to get a couple bucks off the rent.

whew! 😀
 
CrazyA and my top priority was to be within walking distance (5-10 minutes) of the school. After looking at the complexes, it became clearly apparent that the farther away you are from campus, the nicer and the cheaper the aparments are (shoreview was really nice). After looking at all the nearby complexes, island drive and med center court were in the best condition and realitively closeby. The other complexes seemed to have a lot of undergrads from north campus (engineers) so the buildings are probably pretty quiet. Ann arbor seemed to be very commuter friendly though with the AATA and Michigan busses.
 
i see i have a pretty bad reputation these days... I wasn't being sarcastic! except for the dishwasher part 😉

i think i went to an apartment review site through umich's housing page. the people had really terrible things to say about island drive, esp. about thin walls, bugs, and towing. med ctr court's reviews weren't too great either 🙁

now i have a difficult decision. i will be bringing a car to ann arbor, and everyone says it's a pain in the ass. i'm sure it can't get any worse than LA parking though. anyway, if i have a car, is it worth it to buy parking at umich and commute? or... if the apartments are only about 15 minutes away, does the bus come in frequent enough intervals to make it convenient? parking seems pretty cheap at umich (it's $7 a day at ucla 😱 )

i wish i spent more time looking around during my interview. 🙁
 
lots of info.....
first see http://www.parking.umich.edu/parking/2003-2004_Students.html

1) yes the bus comes enough to be convenient. (check out www.aata.org for some info on around-town bussing)
2) i have a car but no way in hell would you convince me to drive it to school and deal with parking there.
3) parking passes for med lots are quite expensive and spaces are seriously limited.
4) there are some free parking options if you park at a bus (park-and-ride) lot and ride the bus in .... see http://www.parking.umich.edu/parking/2003-2004_Students.html for more info.
5) on the above website: the orange and yellow lots look like a good, inexpensive deal -- but check out the maps ( http://www.parking.umich.edu/parking/maps/ ) to see where these lots are located. while some are indeed well-situated, some are not too convenient and spaces are limited. (gotta get there EARLY for the ones across the tracks to school) the blue lots are not available to grad students - these are faculty/staff lots until 3pm when grad students can then use them if they already have an orange/yellow permit.
6) there are free shuttle busses that run from the yellow and orange lots (see the parking website and the parking maps) if you buy a pass in one of these and you have a Med ID.
7) some apt complexes a bit away offer shuttles to campus.
8) there are also Umich campus busses b/w north, med and central campuses.

that's all the info i can think of for now... but i'm one of those people who would rather find creative ways to get to school than to live in island drive/med center court. i'm obviously in the minority 😀
 
Hey guys,
I am going to be joining you in the Fall. I just have a few questions about transportation. I am from California. based on what I saw on previous posts, it appears that its not a good idea for me to bring my car with me. I was just wondering, how do you get to the grocery store or shopping centers then? are there grocery stores close to the med school? or do you have to take buses when you go grocery shopping? also, are the buses free for UM students?
 
good questions. i'm in the same position as you. i will probably bring a car because i think life will be easier with it than without. but i might be wrong. so in summary, i have no idea. maybe someone else can help us.
 
GAH!

no - by all means, bring your car. ann arbor is not a big city, and while the buses are good and biking/walking is convenient, you'll want the car for trips to the grocery store, the movies, gallup park, restaurants, etc.

all i'm saying is that driving the car to *school* is just not the best of ideas. parking on campus is scant and the roads around campus aren't meant to accomodate lots of traffic (as you will soon see).

i have a car. i will be using it. but you couldn't pay me to drive it to school and deal with parking there.

here is the bus website: www.aata.org (ann arbor transportation authority)
here is a website for buses in/around the med school and the commuter loops thru central campus: http://www.parking.umich.edu/transport/Bus_Routes/
here is an everything else parking/bus website for campus: http://www.parking.umich.edu/

campus buses are free to students. ann arbor buses are not, unless you're using the park-and-ride shuttle (http://www.theride.org/parkandride.asp) - which is free w/student id


better? 😎
 
Clearly I need to make friends with good monkey,

Thanks a bunch for all the good transportation links. Moving to new places always makes me a little nervous until I figure out how to get around and the like :clap:

Anyway, I went to ann arbor a few weeks ago and looked at all the apartment complexes on the list they mailed us. I settled on island drive since it wasn't THAT expensive and it is close by (important to me since I am completely unfamiliar with the area). I am hoping I will meet lots of nice people to move off campus with after first year but for now that's where I'm going to be.
 
Originally posted by merlin17
Clearly I need to make friends with good monkey,
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teehee party at the g$'s house 1st week of august! :clap:
byob and pr0n. :laugh:

😉
 
Originally posted by Street Philosopher
where is lavidee? i think goodmonkey is taking over the crown for more enthusiastic + helpful wolverine. better come back and show us who's boss... 🙂
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ah yes but lavidee has one thing that i most certainly do not: a giant enthusiasm for school sports. i'm not all crazed-school spirit-y either. :laugh: i just like ann arbor and umich and want everyone to be informed about parking/housing/driving/dominicks patio and sangrias/the arb/etc. 😉

but i am a fount of information!! bwwahahahahahaa! i am also bored at work, so doing searches for parking and housing options are what make my day less sucky.

😛
 
Speaking of sports, does anyone know how we can go about getting football tickets for the fall? Katie sent me an email in February saying it would be in the packet, but it wasn't, but then again I may have missed an email accidently.

And I probably have you all beat in terms of job boredom. I develop discrete event computer simulations. Last week I didn't have a computer (which would be obviously necessary) for 4 days, and then when I got one it had a defective motherboard. I got a working computer today, but besides sitting in my cube staring at the wall, I haven't done much. I did, however, read John Grisham's The Brethren at work last week. Good book that I highly suggest. I'm not sure if I enjoy benchtop research or this more......the jury is out.

GoodMonkey, now that you have given us all so much wisdom about the AA area, where are you planning on living?

Finally, for those of you who haven't seen it already, I highly suggest "Anger Management." I haven't laughed so hard since Austin Powers II. (Both times I almost got thrown out of the theater)
 
Originally posted by SunnyS81
GoodMonkey, now that you have given us all so much wisdom about the AA area, where are you planning on living?
Click to expand...

:laugh:
i'm living in a townhome/condo right off pontiac trail (i'm sure you're not familiar w/the area, so this may not mean much of anything....) but remember where med center court/island drive was? if you're on maiden lane (remember that one?) and walk for another half mile or so *away* from the med school (you'll cross a road called plymouth/broadway, where all the bridge construction is going on) .... i'm up in that little neighborhood. i bought a small place up there - apts that were remodeled and turned into condos. walking distance, easy biking distance, and right on the busline. ~0.8 of a mile from school. 😎 i am sooooo happy having found the place. 😀

yes i will still have a car. 😉
 
GM, how do you plan on riding your bike in the snow? or even in rain? I was thinking about getting a bike for a second, but then I thought about snow and rain. If biking is feasible then I can get a better apartment 😉
 
Originally posted by GoodMonkey
:laugh:
(i'm sure you're not familiar w/the area, so this may not mean much of anything....) but remember where med center court/island drive was? if you're on maiden lane (remember that one?) and walk for another half mile or so *away* from the med school (you'll cross a road called plymouth/broadway, where all the bridge construction is going on) ....
Click to expand...

I know where you are talking about. After broadway, there are some railroad tracks. That is a reasonable distance.

As for a car, I can't imagine living without a car after living in Atlanta for 14 years (2nd worst traffic behind LA). What I'm not looking forward to is the horrible Michigan roads.
 
Originally posted by Street Philosopher
GM, how do you plan on riding your bike in the snow? or even in rain? I was thinking about getting a bike for a second, but then I thought about snow and rain. If biking is feasible then I can get a better apartment 😉
Click to expand...

:laugh: you are SO from southern california.
you can indeed bike in the rain and snow. i've done it. 😀

however, did you miss the part of my post that said i'm within walking distance? and that i'm on the busline? how about the post where i said i had a car so i thus could drive to the grocery store in the rain or snow? 😉
 
hmmm yeah, must have slipped my mind :laugh: i'm still not convinced about riding the bike in the snow... i suspect you are trying to have some fun with a naive fair weather classmate. the only time i saw people biking in the snow were crazy bat**** extremists who rode down slopes. they all fell and busted their gonads pretty hard each time.
 
ah, see it is the rain and the snow that is exactly what pushed me over the edge in my decision to take a crappy/expensive apartment over a cheaper/nicer apartment. after a year of long outdoor commutes in Boston, I know i never want to have to do that again.

appropriate posting topic as I am sitting at my desk watching the rain fall as i make plans to grab my umbrella and start the lovely commute home!
 
Originally posted by Street Philosopher
hmmm yeah, must have slipped my mind :laugh: i'm still not convinced about riding the bike in the snow... i suspect you are trying to have some fun with a naive fair weather classmate. the only time i saw people biking in the snow were crazy bat**** extremists who rode down slopes. they all fell and busted their gonads pretty hard each time.
Click to expand...

well ... half-fun-with-fair-weather-classmates/half-serious.

i don't plan on making a habit of riding in the snow, but my bike is equipped for handling snowy conditions and i have ridden it in the snow. i get it winterized when it gets cold, too, in the event that i would like to still ride it. it doesn't happen often, but i have been known to do it. 😀 up here in northern nowhere we do some odd things. 😉 i wouldn't recommend biking in the snow to anyone who had other options (i.e. bus, walking). 🙂
 
ok fair enough. but what about rain? are bikes waterproof? and uhhh, wouldn't you get wet and stuff? i'm having a hard time comprehending all of this...
 
Originally posted by Street Philosopher
ok fair enough. but what about rain? are bikes waterproof? and uhhh, wouldn't you get wet and stuff? i'm having a hard time comprehending all of this...
Click to expand...

awww i know you're made of sugar and will melt in the rain.
 
Originally posted by Street Philosopher
no seriously, you don't mind getting wet while biking in the rain? or is there some sort of umbrella holder built into bikes?
Click to expand...

seriously? no, dude. you just get wet. you wear a waterproof coat and you can wear a hood, but other than that you just get wet. :laugh:
 
well that just... sucks. 🙁

i think i'm leaning towards living slightly further from campus though, despite all these subhuman conditions like rain and snow.

ps: i see many apartments have pools. what are they usually used for? kids' ice hockey? :laugh:
 
Biking in the rain is doable...but biking in the snow? That's just crazy talk...all that wind, and the possibility of slipping. Wow, you Michigan people really are weird.
 
Originally posted by crazyA
Biking in the rain is doable...but biking in the snow? That's just crazy talk...all that wind, and the possibility of slipping. Wow, you Michigan people really are weird.
Click to expand...

LORDY! :laugh:
above, i said that i don't make a habit of it. but i have done it. car dies, you need to go somewhere, no bus around, walking out of the question... it's doable.

sp - on a more serious note, i'm tellin' ya ... if you live further from the med campus, you have options. trust me. many people do it. buses go thru stops right in front of most major apt complexes. you. will. be. fine. 😉 😀
 
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