Vanderbilt 2012
Started by raf7m
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Hey guys. First off, congrats on being accepted to a great school. You will no doubt love your time at VUSM.
I am not a vandy med student, but I wanted to pass along some info about a great book that I really enjoyed (I am a multi-generational vandy alum and somewhat of a vu history buff) and think you all should read before you start school:
http://www.cliftonkmeador.com/medschool.htm
I am not a vandy med student, but I wanted to pass along some info about a great book that I really enjoyed (I am a multi-generational vandy alum and somewhat of a vu history buff) and think you all should read before you start school:
http://www.cliftonkmeador.com/medschool.htm
That's really good to hear. I was really freaking out there for a while. Thanks!
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This is a really good read -- I would caution against buying it though, because we received a free copy (autographed!) during first year.
Sorry to hear about some of the finaid packages guys -- I certainly felt the pain as well. I am with Sallie Mae's Medloans, which apparently are now no longer affiliated with AAMC. I haven't had many dealings with them, other than the website seems ok.
As of one week ago, Sallie Mae added a 1% origination fee. Yikes! I hope the other lenders don't change their terms.
all loans first two years. Much better after that.
I don't think it has...
Here's last year's schedule though: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/catalogs/medical/01_MED01.pdf#Calendar
Medical School Calendar 2007/2008
I'm assuming you can just move everything up a few days as our first day of classes is Monday August 4th.
FALL SEMESTER 2007
Registration and classes begin 4th years / Monday 9 July
First intersession 3rd years / Monday 9 July
Registration 1st year / Thursday 2 August to Friday 3 August
Registration 2nd year / Monday 13 August to Tuesday 14 August
Classes begin 1st year / Thursday 6 August
Classes begin 2nd year / Wednesday 15 August
Labor Day holidays all classes / Monday 3 September
Second intersession 3rd years / Monday 1 October to Friday 5 October
Mid-term fall exam 2nd year / Monday 15 October to Thursday 18 October
Fall break 1st year / Saturday 20 October to Tuesday 23 October
Fall break 2nd year / Saturday 20 October to Tuesday 23 October
Thanksgiving holidays all classes / Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 November
Exam period elective courses 1st and 2nd years / Monday 10 to Thursday 14 December
Exam period required courses 2nd years / Monday 17 December to Thursday 20 December
Fall semester ends 1st and 2nd years / Friday 21 December
Fall semester ends 3rd and 4th years / Friday 21 December
Holiday break 1st and 2nd and 3rd years / Saturday 22 December to Sunday 6 January
Holiday break 4th years / Saturday 22 December to Sunday 6 January
SPRING SEMESTER 2008
Spring semester begins 1st and 2nd and 4th year classes / Monday 7 January
Third intersession 3rd years / Monday 7 January to Friday 11 January
Spring holidays 1st and 2nd years / Saturday 15 March to Sunday 23 March
Spring holidays 3rd year / Saturday 29 March to Sunday 6 April
Spring holidays 4th year / TBA
Instruction ends 4th year / Friday 25 April
Fourth intersession / Monday 7 April to Friday 11 April
Exam period elective courses 1st and 2nd years / Monday 28 April to Friday 2 April
Instruction ends required courses 1st year / Friday 9 May
Instruction ends required courses 2nd year / Thursday 9 May
Exam period required courses 2nd year / Monday 12 to Thursday 15 May
Commencement / Friday 9 May
Emphasis Program / 12 May to 5 August
Instruction ends 3rd year / Friday 27 June
Here's next years calendar for VMSI: http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/medschool/registrar/first_second.php?class=I
White Coat (which was this way for us and I'm 99% sure for you) will be the final afternoon of the Foundations course (that 2 week thing you get to do before you start real school), so it should be Friday, August 15.
As for other weekends, you should be fine especially during August and September. MFM tests are always on Fridays (every other Friday for the 8 weeks of the course, but don't worry, MFM isn't too bad!) Your first SFD test won't be until the week of Thanksgiving and you'll have one right before winter break as well. Thus, you can easily schedule weekends to be school free if you so wish, especially during MFM.
I'm a VMSI, and I think a lot of people fall into the trap of expecting some aid or institutional loans from schools; I know I did. I don't come from a wealthy family or anything, but I also received the same finaid package (zilch) last year. The post from earlier is true about how Vandy (as well as other institutions) reserve finaid for upperclassmen with more debt or people who already have tons of other (undergrad) debt. This is typical. Don't let the loans overwhelm you, it won't be a problem to pay off. I know people (myself included) who gave up scholarships at other schools to attend Vandy and get a superior education. I know it sounds crazy, but try not to let the money be an issue. In terms of lenders, I suggest Chase. I had THE last year but they aren't accepting any new loan applications this year, so I'm going with Chase.
In terms of social activities, I'm one of the social chairs, as well as the social chair on the wellness committee, so I'm going to try to join your VMS2012 facebook group and contact you guys through that to let you know what's going on once you start to arrive in Nashville. Many of us had an opportunity to get to know eachother even before orientation, so I'd encourage all of you to come about a week early. We'll try to set some fun things up for you (pool party, etc.).
In terms of social activities, I'm one of the social chairs, as well as the social chair on the wellness committee, so I'm going to try to join your VMS2012 facebook group and contact you guys through that to let you know what's going on once you start to arrive in Nashville. Many of us had an opportunity to get to know eachother even before orientation, so I'd encourage all of you to come about a week early. We'll try to set some fun things up for you (pool party, etc.).
does anyone have any information about the waitlist? I know at candy there is typically little movement but any information would be appreciated.
From what I have heard, the number in our class off the waitlist is less than five. Now they may have accepted more than that and some didn't come, but there are definitely very few. Also, approximately 180 people were invited to second look for approximately 104 spots. Many people obviously won't come, but they seem to leave little room for error. Sorry for the bad news, but you never know what could happen either.
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Hey Guys!
I'm a VMS1 (er, VMS2 now I suppose) and I just figured I'd give this a shot....
The community I'm living in now - The Grove Whitworth - offers a deal where they'd pay me $500 to refer anyone new. So if anyone is thinking about moving to the Grove (I think about 6 of us live there this year), send me a message. I'd be happy to split the referral 50/50 and I'm happy to answer questions about the Grove (Whitworth or Richland). I''ll also answer any questions about Vandy or housing in general though it seems like a lot of my classmates have been covering that.
Thanks!
I'm a VMS1 (er, VMS2 now I suppose) and I just figured I'd give this a shot....
The community I'm living in now - The Grove Whitworth - offers a deal where they'd pay me $500 to refer anyone new. So if anyone is thinking about moving to the Grove (I think about 6 of us live there this year), send me a message. I'd be happy to split the referral 50/50 and I'm happy to answer questions about the Grove (Whitworth or Richland). I''ll also answer any questions about Vandy or housing in general though it seems like a lot of my classmates have been covering that.
Thanks!
Hey Vandy friends,
I just got off a waitlist some where else and I'm reluctantly giving up my spot and scholarship to Vandy. I hope this can help one of you out! It would be cool if someone from SDN got it.
It was great meeting you all at 2nd look and I love Vandy, but this other place was just a slightly better for me for personal reasons (I hope, haha, I loved Vandy). I really hope to see you guys during residency or something! You were all so nice!
If any of you current Vandy students (or anybody else "in the know") are still reading this thread, could you weigh in on the issue of living close/not as close to campus? I'm thinking about buying a condo and now that I've looked at some places I see that you can live even just 2 or 3 miles from campus and get more bang for your buck than if you live within walking distance -- but living within walking distance seems so convenient. Do enough people live in Hillsboro village that not living in that area is a disadvantage socially? Do you know of many people who live southeast of campus (e.g. south of Wedgewood between 12th and 8th), or near the riverfront/downtown, and who are happy to be there? I know that in the end it comes down to personal preference, whether or not I would mind having to drive every morning, etc., but any thoughts you have would be really helpful!
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As a current Vandy student, I'll give you my opinion. I am living further out right now (about a 10 minute drive), and I'm moving to Hillsboro Village for next year. There are several reasons for this, but here's one thing I have found as far as being social goes: getting home. Now if you don't drink, it won't apply to you. But I do like to have a few every once in awhile, and I always have to think of how I'm getting home. It only works a few ways; either I don't drink and can then drive, I drink and stay at a friend's, or I have to take a cab. While not a huge deal, I just find it to be annoying. I want to sleep in my own bed, and I don't want to pay for a cab there and back because it's a waste of money.
Other reasons include living with a friend of mine, not having to burn gas (got a new Jeep -- bad mpg), not having to pay for parking, etc. Plus I wanted to live there last year and it just didn't work out.
Money-wise though, you can definitely find the deals further out, so if that's most important on your list, take advantage of it. I don't think it is a huge deal unless you're talking about Bellevue or somewhere far out like that.
Other reasons include living with a friend of mine, not having to burn gas (got a new Jeep -- bad mpg), not having to pay for parking, etc. Plus I wanted to live there last year and it just didn't work out.
Money-wise though, you can definitely find the deals further out, so if that's most important on your list, take advantage of it. I don't think it is a huge deal unless you're talking about Bellevue or somewhere far out like that.
Do you have to read anything? That's the only thing I can think of off-hand. We read Mountains Beyond Mountains, and we have an assignment for this summer as well.
My first email is dated 8/2, so I'm assuming it won't be for awhile unless I deleted a bunch of them.
I'm not a medical student, but I do go Vandy. I can say that living out 6 miles (10-15 minutes drive) can be a hassle, but you can get some great deals. I know someone who bought a huge condo townhouse for only $125K for a 3bdrm 2.5 bath and it is breathtakingly beautiful.
As far as Hillsboro, I think if you live in that area, just learn how to take the inside roads or walking if you live north of 440. I know it can easily take 15 minutes just to drive through 21st Ave to get to vandy.
As for me, since Kindergarten, I have never lived more than 10 minutes walking to school, and so I currently live in a very convenient location (Mills Apartment, as seen on that old Paddle issue) and I must vouch for it. It is a great place. Pretty Spacious 1 bedroom apartments, and I see my neighbors who just set up spacers/screens in the living room and turn it into a bedroom, and have one person live in the living room, and the other in the bedroom. Its $600 for one person, and $700 for two, and the rent hasn't gone up for a while (I'm not sure about this year). The owner and manager are just great, and are always quick to return emails and phones and resolve any issues. On top of that, it is quiet and very close to everything (18th Ave S. And Edgehill). I will be moving out because I just bought a condo nearby for a steal but if I didn't, I would not be moving out and definitely recommend it. The only downside is that it doesn't have W/D hookups, so you will need to go out to do your laundry.
I visited a 1bdrm apartment across the street (18th Ave S. and Edgehill), and while it does have W/D hookups and cost only $620, it looks run down on the outside, and when I looked inside, was rather cramped. Still, it is convenient to everything.
Next door to my apartment is pretty good as well (1201 17th Ave S). Not as nice, but they are 2bdrm apartments for only $800. I'm not sure if they have availability, but it is very hard to find those rent amounts for anywhere in this area.
As far as what neighborhood to avoid, I would say west of 15th Ave, and between Wedgewood and a little north of Edghill. I lived there for a couple of days on 12th Ave S, and while the rent was extremely cheap, I just didn't feel safe with people walking outside the apartment at 3am and having a neighbor who was not a student. Another neighborhood would be north of Charlotte Pike and West of White Bridge. Actually, my friend's condo is located near there, and she told me last summer, there would be 3 cop cars driving by in one week. I think she said one of the houses was selling drugs.
What are some good areas? I think Sylvan Heights and Sylvan Park are not bad areas. West End and West Meade and around the Nashville West area. I've seen 1bdroom Condos on White Bridge selling for really really cheap, but I've not heard the greatest about them (bug problems, and not able to keep cold/heat in). I guess the best thing is to check out as many places as you can. Sometimes, it seems too good to be true, and it probably is. I would not recommend blindly signing a lease because you can't always determine how good a place is by its neighborhood nor its neighbors. You could have a really expensive condo next door, and the place you are looking at can be in really bad shape.
Good luck, and congrats.
I'm going to be heading to campus in a month or so and I was wondering if any current students or people familiar with Nashville had suggestions on what bank to open an account with. Naturally I want one with a lot of ATMs around campus and with minimal fees. Is there a particular one that a lot of med students use?
I know a lot of undergrads use SunTrust, but I'm not totally sure if there's one most med students use. I personally bank with Regions -- they have a completely free, interest-bearing checking account, and there are ATMs in the hospital. There are also a decent amount of branches around Nashville -- two within a mile of where I live and one across from the hospital on 21st.
not a student, but there is a bank of america atm in the hospital and a suntrust atm located in medical center north. both banks have branches very close to campus. i know a lot of students who use both.
Personal biases aside....
As far as computability, do any of you know of any problems with getting a Mac or a PC? I know that the computer lab is Dell, but the simulation centers seem to be Macs.
Also, for the current students, what is the breakdown between Mac and PC amongst your classmates?
Thanks, and see you all about 6 weeks (!)
As far as computability, do any of you know of any problems with getting a Mac or a PC? I know that the computer lab is Dell, but the simulation centers seem to be Macs.
Also, for the current students, what is the breakdown between Mac and PC amongst your classmates?
Thanks, and see you all about 6 weeks (!)
I have a Mac, and generally I haven't had many problems. Especially if you have VMWare or Parallels, there shouldn't be anything you can't do without a PC. That being said, a few of the issues that would have been more straight-forward with a PC:
--Outlook web access is made for IE; if you use Firefox or Safari, it will look like crap while still being mostly functional. I use Apple Mail anyway. If you need to use Exchange for some reason, it will probably be a bit of a hassle.
--Occassionally something on Knowledge Map will not work at first, but they have generally been fast at sorting anything like that out. For instance, there was some odd form submission problem that only occurred on Firefox for Macs that they corrected in like two days.
--As far as I know, you can't open Powerpoint files from Knowledge Map because of some stupid problem with Microsoft Office (even 2008). You will have to use the PDFs or open them in VMWare/Parallels. I thought the PDFs were fine for the most part, but certain slides with slide-in graphic effects will either be oddly formatted or unreadable.
--All of the podcasts are done with an application called MediaSite. I have only gotten that to work with VMWare, but I rarely used it anyway. The sound files are just mp3s that you can use with any computer, so the real benefit is the fact that the slides go along with the audio.
There was a good percentage of our class that had Macs, and the faculty weren't initally prepared for it. Response to problems has been good, however, and I don't think the issues would preclude me from buying one. Buying VMWare/Parallels or using BootCamp should drop your problems to near zero, just remember that that is an added expense. Find an OEM copy of XP, it will save you a lot of money over retail.
Full disclosure, I am a computer engineer and very tech savvy, so YMMV. Quantum Mechanic also has a Mac, so he may have some input as well. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask here or PM me.
PC or Mac, you really shouldn't use web access for email when you can use some software. Hell, gmail provides a very nice interface and you can get all school mail forwarded to it. Outlook web is pretty clunky (searching, organzing mail to find from a particular sender, etc). Not an issue.
Some people are very anal, and will print out every powerpoint slide that we are lectured on (what a waste of time and paper...). Some people will take notes on powerpoints and do all that. My advice: don't use the powerpoints at all, use the leture notes. They are complete and contain all the information you need to learn the stuff. Your goal should be to reduce the volume of things you have to sort through, not the opposite.
In any case, it is annoying to not be able to download the ppts for use on Office 2004/2008. I find it a good excuse to never set eyes on the slides outside of class. I think that my grades are better because of that.
This is another annoyance, I've gotten it to work on the OSX side of my MB, but not as well as it works on the XP side. However, I'm of the opinion that if you miss a lecture, that you should avoid the podcast because going through lectures this way is a slow way to learn. Our professors tend to be good, but going to lecture isn't like being handed the divine word.
Unless you are dead set on a tablet, the MB is better way to go. I think they might drop a new remake of the MB (rumor is that it will be made of aluminum like the MB pro), so I might wait until the next rendition if you have the option, check out macrumors.com if you want more technical info about that.
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hey all, thanks a lot for your input. One last question, is that computer lab in light hall 24/7? How are the computers there? fast? lots of loaded applications (photoshop? matlab)?
also, are there other computer labs on campus that provide good computing (and late into the night?)
I come from an engineering background, so I may have some high expectations for computers. But I want to know if my laptop needs to be a one-stop-shop, or just good enough to bring to class.
thanks again
also, are there other computer labs on campus that provide good computing (and late into the night?)
I come from an engineering background, so I may have some high expectations for computers. But I want to know if my laptop needs to be a one-stop-shop, or just good enough to bring to class.
thanks again
Everything in Light Hall is available 24/7. They lock the doors but your swipe card will get you inside. The computers at the lab are pretty fast and there's about an average amount of stuff on them. I usually depend on my laptop and use the computers for quick email checks.
Here's my blurb about where I live
I live in Twenty and Grand, which is a high-rise apartment directly across from the law school and 2 blocks from the medical center. It's consistently the highest rated apartment in Nashville and I think it's very, very nice. It's a little pricy but I've had no complaints whatsoever. The building is very secure, they provide coffee and cookies and parking is in an underground lot with reserved spaces, so you don't have to hunt on the street or worry about your car getting vandalized.
If you are interested in living there, send me a message and I can give you more info. I get $500 if you sign a lease here and I'll split it 50/50 with you, just like my friend who lives at the Grove said.
The Grove is a great option if you don't mind driving, but if you want a short walk it doesn't really get better than Twenty and Grand.
I live in Twenty and Grand, which is a high-rise apartment directly across from the law school and 2 blocks from the medical center. It's consistently the highest rated apartment in Nashville and I think it's very, very nice. It's a little pricy but I've had no complaints whatsoever. The building is very secure, they provide coffee and cookies and parking is in an underground lot with reserved spaces, so you don't have to hunt on the street or worry about your car getting vandalized.
If you are interested in living there, send me a message and I can give you more info. I get $500 if you sign a lease here and I'll split it 50/50 with you, just like my friend who lives at the Grove said.
The Grove is a great option if you don't mind driving, but if you want a short walk it doesn't really get better than Twenty and Grand.
Quick question about computers,
I'm buying a new comp and was going to get a traditional laptop...however, I noticed in the computer recommendations that the school suggests a tablet pc. Is a tablet necessary/will you use that function more than a couple times each year? Or will a traditional laptop suffice? Thanks.
I'm buying a new comp and was going to get a traditional laptop...however, I noticed in the computer recommendations that the school suggests a tablet pc. Is a tablet necessary/will you use that function more than a couple times each year? Or will a traditional laptop suffice? Thanks.
The people that I know who purchased tablets didn't use them that much. If you got one it wouldn't hurt though, just a bit more expensive. You certainly don't have to have one by any stretch. If, however, you feel like you are going to be one of those people who prints out every slide to annotate, then maybe you should consider it.
Btw, where does it say the school recommends that?
In an informational packet that we recently received regarding computer requirements, health info, etc. Thanks for the help.
oh god why did they suggest tablets?????
Honestly, they have some utility if you are very anal about taking notes and having them on your computer, but I don't see the need to spend more money on one if you weren't going to use it anyway, you are going to get complete course notes, you don't need to take notes during class, therefore tablet pcs are a luxure at best
I would suggest a macbook or a windows XP laptop. I saw countless classmates who had the chic tablets, which I might add only are compatible with Vista, give bluescreen crashes in the middle of class. Vista sucks and you should avoid it if you can.
