Thanks for the cheery post.
Did you find any particular textbooks helpful during your first year? Are any of the "required" texts truly worth buying?
As a 4th year, I'll echo everything that cfdavid said. Although Wayne may not be the most efficient, many of the things people complain about happen at every medical school. Don't sweat the little stuff, they will let you know before you are going to mess something up. Hell, one of my good friends got away with not paying tuition until may of his first year somehow. Eventually one of the Fin Aid ladies actually stopped him and made him come sit down and fill out the paperwork with her. You have to try real hard to get kicked out of Wayne. They really do look out for you and walk you through everything and there is plenty of help there if you need it. They give you a long leash to be independent, which is nice.
As for some of the questions above:
1) Pocket PCs? Hold off, useless during your first 2 years.
2) Office supplies? Buy stuff as you need it, no need to waste money on stuff you won't use. Some people go through highlighters and packs of 50 different colored pens like they are going out of style. Others like me used only a black pen, so I say wait.
3) Books? The key books back in the day for me were, Netter Anatomy Atlas and BRS Physiology otherwise the notes were key. Now you probably need the anatomy and biochemistry texts since they use those now instead of notes. It is possible to honor every test at Wayne using just the notes.
4) Studying? Study like an absolute fiend for the first tests, then scale back as possible. You don't want to do poorly on the first tests because it can hurt you in the end. Med school tests are not like undergrad where it is important to know the concepts. Rather, it's important to literally know everything presented or in the notes.
5)Orientation week? Pretty much B.S. Just show up and chill, make new friends. Make sure to go to all the parties, it is a good way to meet new people.
Feel free to ask any questions.
