Wake Forest and things to do while in Winston-Salem

[salfrankador]

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So I got this interview at Wake Forest coming soon and was wondering what people in the know think about traveling there. Searching the forums, I found that there is no airport in the city itself, but one can fly to either greensboro or Raleigh (for cheaper) and then rent a car and drive. that seems like what most people did.

The thing is, I am coming from DC and am trying to do this in the cheapest way possible. I am thinking about driving down, but mapquest says it is a five hour, 45 minute trip. Is that fairly accurate? I can drive pretty efficiently, but still, long drives can be somewhat stressful, especially in lots of traffic. What do you guys think...I don't wanna be overly stressed out for this interview and I really really want this to go well. Wake looks like an awesome school and is my numba one so far in schools i am interviewing at.

Lastly and more importantly, I plan on going a day early since I have the day off before my interveiw. I want to check out the area and see what Winston-Salem is all about. What are some places/areas I should visiit to get a feel for what it might be like to spend 4+ years of my life there? What hotel should I stay at to be in a good area to visit such places?

I would also appreciate any advice or suggestions on the interview/visit/stay in Winston-Salem/Wake Forest.

👍 MUch thanks guys!!! 👍

 

[Ylime]

Hey, when is your interview at Wake?

 

[TheElephant]

So I got this interview at Wake Forest coming soon and was wondering what people in the know think about traveling there. Searching the forums, I found that there is no airport in the city itself, but one can fly to either greensboro or Raleigh (for cheaper) and then rent a car and drive. that seems like what most people did.

The thing is, I am coming from DC and am trying to do this in the cheapest way possible. I am thinking about driving down, but mapquest says it is a five hour, 45 minute trip. Is that fairly accurate? I can drive pretty efficiently, but still, long drives can be somewhat stressful, especially in lots of traffic. What do you guys think...I don't wanna be overly stressed out for this interview and I really really want this to go well. Wake looks like an awesome school and is my numba one so far in schools i am interviewing at.

Lastly and more importantly, I plan on going a day early since I have the day off before my interveiw. I want to check out the area and see what Winston-Salem is all about. What are some places/areas I should visiit to get a feel for what it might be like to spend 4+ years of my life there? What hotel should I stay at to be in a good area to visit such places?

I would also appreciate any advice or suggestions on the interview/visit/stay in Winston-Salem/Wake Forest.

👍 MUch thanks guys!!! 👍

First of all, congragulations on your interview.

The Greensboro Airport is only a 30 minute drive away from Wake Forest, on the other hand RDU (Raleigh) is almost 1 hour and 30-40 minutes away. You can stay in a hotel in Winston Salem for pretty cheap compared to DC, $55-70 per night.

Also, at WFU you are going to have 3 interviews. Each interview is going to last 15-20 minutes each and that is it. I would suggest that you go over the SDN interview feedback, which I believe would be sufficient. Good Luck.

 

[waterski232002]

I am currently a 4th year med student at wake. It is a great school! The faculty are super-friendly, love to teach, and always looking out for the students and residents. The highlight is definitely the Hospital and all it's luxuries. You will not be able to appreciate it until you become a 3rd year student, but it is one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the country (and nobody ever talks about it on interviews b/c we are all spoiled at wake, and don't realize what we have).

Anyway, enough about the program... here's some answers to some of your questions.

1) Transportation: If you are coming from DC and are looking for your "cheapest" option, then I would suggest just making the drive down to winston. You said you have the day before off, so you could leave early in the morning and easily arrive at wake by noon. It's an easy drive--I've done it many times and it should take ~5 hrs. Your only traffic will be in DC (unless you hit raleigh at 5pm). If you fly, the only real option is to fly into GSO, but honestly, it will take you just as much time as driving and then you'll have to deal with renting a car.

2) Hotels: Kind of scattered around winston. Holiday Inn off Hawthorne road, and it's pretty nice ($55/night), ask for a wake discount. It is right across from Forsyth Hospital... many people show up there for their interviews -- don't make that mistake! The Hawthorne Inn is downtown just off I-40 on S. Cherry st. It is owned and run by Wake Forest/Baptist Hospital and is pretty good ($80/night). The Best Western Salem Inn is a dirt cheap alternative 1 block from the Hawthorne Inn in downtown winston (~$50/night). A nicer place in downtown winston is The Wingate which is much more upscale than the others ($90/night). For cheaper alternatives a little farther from the hospital, there are a bunch of hotels by Hanes Mall which are cheap ($40-60/night)... such as Days Inn, Sleep Inn, Comfort Inn.

3) Things to do in Winston: Honestly, this is the pitfall of Wake! It's a small town with not a lot of things to do within the city itself. It's not a raging metropolis and most people in the area work for Baptist or RJR Tobacco. The rest are affiliated with Wake Undergrad. Downtown there are some historical sites and museums, but it's pretty dead at night. There is one street where people go out to downtown called Burke st. Most med students/residents hang out at the Bar on the corner of Baptist Hospital (1st Street Draught house). Besides that, Greensboro offers a much better nightlife with lots of clubs and bars. I suggest visiting the Undergrad campus which is 10 min. from the Hospital and looks like a country club. You could also visit "old salem" which is another historic site. Salem lake has a lot of outdoor trails and is about 10 min. away. Many people bike or walk their dogs there in the summer.

If you've got any other question... feel free to PM me

 

[oldman]

when i interviewed there, i stayed at the local motel 6. while there the night before i suddenly here, "put your hands up, drop your weapons, put your hands up." i peeked out the window and saw a car surrounded by people with guns, so i backed away. that memory is what i think about most when i think of wake.

 

[DeaconMD04]

Anyone else interviewing on tuesday?

 

[la gringa]

i'm a classmate of waterski's... agree w/ what he said but would add:

- hotel i stayed at is literally up the hill from the hospital -- the comfort inn on miller st. you turn left out of there, through a light, and take a left into the visitor parking deck. very very easy, and right by a shopping center with a panera, chinese place, grocery store.

- i would drive from DC unless you think your car might break down or something. it's easy once you get out of DC, and you won't hit raleigh at all if you stay on 85 to 40. i've driven that way many times, and 5-6 hrs sounds right.

- if you want an idea of where you'd live, just drive around the hospital area... housing is really affordable and most students live within about 1 mile of the hospital in any direction. others live out towards the wake undergrad campus - which would be a nice place to visit as waterski said. note that the med school and undergrad are on totally different campuses (4 mi apart), and no, wake forest univ is not in wake forest, nc!

- and there isn't a whole lot to winston otherwise... the med school is great, i have no complaints at all. you'll have to leave winston for most sorts of activities, it is no charlotte or even greensboro! but it's cheap, safe, and definitely a good environment in which to be a med student. the hospital is the best thought of in the area and people want to go to "the baptist".

let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[superdevil]

question for the wake med students: what is your honest impression about crime and walking around at night in winston-salem (safety, etc)? i stayed at the comfort inn on miller street during my interview, which was nice, but the area around the hosp. didn't look so hot (of course, it was dark when i was driving around 😀 ). i didn't really get to look around much, and i may return for a visit in april, but what do you guys think?

thanks,

sd

 

[waterski232002]

I used to live in an apartment within walking distance from the hospital, just up the hill on cloverdale (ardmore terrace apartments). It was DIRT CHEAP... I split a 2 bedroom apartment with my friend and it was $470/2 people which also included cable and water!!! It wasn't a palace, but it was cheap and lots of other med students live there.

As for the safety in the area, there has been incidences of some sketchiness... Cars have been broken into in the hospital parking lot, and there have been reports of a few muggings/robberies. These reports are few and far between... nothing like rough cities (phili, detroit, baltimore). I mean, it is definitely safe to walk around. Many students still walk to-and-from the hospital or bike. But you really need a car in winston anyways, so people who walk only do so for the exercise or b/c it's actually faster than driving.

 

[la gringa]

there are areas around the hospital that aren't gorgeous, but i have never felt unsafe walking around (and i'm a female). you don't have that people milling around factor like you would in a bigger city. i walked to the hosp as early as 4:30am and as late as after midnight w/ no real issues.

 

[dr1day]

Just adding my two cents. I'm from Maryland and now live in W-S, so I make that drive quite often. It's a very easy drive, especially since you can leave the day before your interview. There's rarely any traffic. I don't know if you're actually in DC or in the suburbs, but if in Maryland near Rte. 301, you can take that into Richmond. If not, you may have traffic in N. Virginia merging onto I-95. After that, it's smooth sailing.

What everyone has said about the nightlife is right. There's nothing to do here unless you're married with children. There's alot of family activities here. I spend alot of time in Greensboro.

 

[salfrankador]

Thanks for all the replys, guys!!

For whomever it was that asked, I'm headed down there to intervieww on the 18th of this month. Anyone other sdn-ers in the same boat?

It looks like from all the suggesttions I will probably be driving down there. The only thing I was worried about was the traffic outside of DC on 95 south. That is usually pretty rough. But, it is MLK day the day before, so it may not be as bad. I do actually live in MD, Bethesda to be more specific, so I am curious about that Rte 301. could you fill me in, dr1day?

I'll prbably stay at one of the hotels with a Wake dscount and just explore the town for a bit before my interview. how large is the "downtown" area exactly, and what can one do there? One more thing, I have heard of wireless campuses, but I read somewher that W-S has a wireless city street? is that for real? i've been wondering when that kinda thing was going to start happening...