Who's in Philly already???

[PhillyGirl]

hey PCOMers. I wanted to see who's in town and who wants to get together this week. I am thinking thursday night. so, who's in??? either reply or email me....

(all of you taking the summer course, you need a break, so come out)

Michelle

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[Bubba]

Not in Phily yet, but I just wanted to check in. I move into Presidential City on July 27th so if there are any get-togethers after that, please let me know.

And has anyone gotten there financial aid stuff settled yet? I had to do a verification thing and just sent it in today. Also, what are you doing about microscopes, dissection kits, gowns, and all that kind of crap?

 

[Patrick O]

bubba presidential has a lot of mice in their apartments

 

[Smile]

Bubba,

Perhaps I can assist you with your questions. I was in your shoes last year and was quite in the dark about all that stuff. Microscopes can be rented out from the school bookstore or a place downtown (I don't remember the name though.) I would hold off on the dissection kits for now, because you will be sharing them with your lab partners. It may be better to wait until your group first meets and then decide who buys what. Gowns are an interesting story. On your first lab orientation day, you will be given the option to use old and used (and yes, dirty) gowns passed down from each class, or bring/buy your own. For some students it didn't matter to wear the old ones, but I simply could not bring myself to doing that. I needed to start out with something clean.

Also, something which was a surprise to all of us upon starting school... is class dues. For our class they were $300/year, which covers primarily the scribes and then class events. I'm not sure if this was made aware to your incoming class but it definitely stung a few people in our class in the butt, as nobody knew about this.

Feel free to email with any questions... [email protected]

 

[Bubba]

First, Pat, thanks for the heads up about the mice. However, since my parents don't live in Phily, I can't live with them. Also, my parents are not contributing any money to my med school education so I am on my own and taking out the entire $38,500 in loans to pay tuition, books, fees, rent, bills, insurance, and all that other happy horse crap. My point is: Presidential is $200 a month cheaper than Lincoln Green or Iroquois and the rent includes gas heat. To save $200 a month, I will have to deal with the mice.

Smile,
Thanks for the info about the fees. Does this money get taken out with tuition like the insurance does or do you have to fork it over out of your own pocket? Can you choose not to pay it if you agree not to go to any events? Just asking? And can you elaborate on the scribes?

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Smile]

Bubba,

This $300 fee is essentially mandatory. While many students tried to not pay it, it became an issue in that students who would not pay would still obtain copies of scribes regardless. So, basically you must pay it. It is not taken out of anything, you basically have to write out a check. However, you can pay $100 per semester so you don't have to pay it all at once. As for events, I don't really know how much of the money went into paying for them, but realize that we didn't really have any class events at all. All post-exam socials were covered by Student Government from what I understand.

About scribes, it is basically students signing up and getting paid to scribe each lecture. The assigned student takes home a tape of the lecture and then has 1.5 days to type up the lecture in a clear manner. These get distributed to the entire class (who all end up paying the dues.) They are a great study aid for most, a substitute for outside reading for others, and a waste of time for yet others. How you use them (if at all) is entirely up to you. But I can bet you that at least 95% of the class uses them in some way or another, and many of them rely on them consistently. Many students study straight out of scribes w/o ever opening a textbook and do fine.

 

[docorange04]

The $300 class fee ended up being a bigger issue than it should have. With the exception of a couple of people in the class (and I mean only 6-8 people), everyone paid it one way or another. Believe me, it's worth it. If you are strapped for cash, you can always choose to scribe. I believe they were getting $30 a lecture. You can also work the booth, which is basically setting up the tape recorder to record the lecture and helping the lecturer out with the slide machine when needed. Booth operators were getting $50 for five days of lectures per trimester. Another way of making some extra money was to distribute the scribe notes. This entailed picking up the scribe notes for the day after 2pm and placing them in each student's note file. You choose a partner and distribute for one week per semester. They were paid $50 for each trimester worked. Keep in mind that this was how OUR class chose to do it, and that payment and scheduling each activity is dependent on your own class. I chose to work the booth and distribute, and ended up making $100 per trimester, and $300 for the year. This essentially covered my class dues. It wouldn't be a wise choice to avoid the class fee. Saying that you wouldn't attend the activities would only hurt yourself. Post exam parties are a great way to get rid of all the tension and stress built up studying for your exam, and also are a great way to bond with your classmates. Just my opinion. Good Luck.