***Official VCOM Class of 2010***

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BayRunner said:
I received my award packet today, so expect yours shortly.


I got mine too....I'm more than a little confused about these private loans. I went to the websites last night and I just did not understand what they were talking about! Help!!

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I will be attending VCOM in the fall and was curious as to my new classmates background and hobbies. I am also looking to purchase a house in the blacksburg/christianburg area and want to know if anyone was interested in renting a room ($400-500). I do have a large (70lbs.) short hair dog that will be living with me. I look forward to seeing everyone at acceptance day in April.
 
We must have some shy individuals in the class of 2010 so I will go first. I am a male 24 years old just finishing up my masters. I am the type of person to be most voted likely to succeed as well as class clown. I don't plan on being the gunnerish type at VCOM, but I do plan on being involved in a majority of the colleges activities. I study best when I don't study at all, if that makes sense. I enjoy working out, snowboarding , hiking , biking, camping, and drinking. If you couldn't guess I am very extroverted, but I do enjoy my privacy. I enjoy cooking but my favorite meal is PB&J with a cold glass of milk. My screen name is from a local band that is no longer playing, but I feel that it fits my personality. I just recently got out of a two year relationship because she didn't want a husband for a doctor (her loss). if you want to know more check out http://www.myspace.com/medschoolmiracle.
 
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mtrose said:
I got mine too....I'm more than a little confused about these private loans. I went to the websites last night and I just did not understand what they were talking about! Help!!

It will be second nature to you to borrow money soon. :scared:
Basically the private loans will cover what the stanford loans dont. I borrowed $7500 in private loans as well as the stafford loans.

(Disclaimer..this is what worked for me)
I would HIGHLy recommend going through Northstar for your loans. here is the web page...
http://www.northstar.org/default.aspx
they have been great. I even took my undergrad loans and gave them to them so now my loans are all in the same place. They dont charge you fees like a lot of others do. They save you money so that of course is important.

Our VCOM financial aid officers will be great ones to help you all out. Accepted students day is just around the corner, so if you can, plan to come.

Congrats to all who have been accepted to the Class of 2010. :D
 
RobbingReality said:
I will be attending VCOM in the fall. I am also looking to purchase a house in the blacksburg/christianburg area and want to know if anyone was interested in renting a room ($400-500). I do have a large (70lbs.) short hair dog that will be living with me.

Hi. I'm in the 2008 class and currently trying to figure out my 3rd year rotations. The biggest problem that I'm running into is that I own my townhouse but 1/2 my rotations are far far away and the other 1/2 are about a 45 min drive. The 2008 class had a lot of problems with the 3rd rotations b/c it seems that we all have a house, a spouse, or kids (with several of my classmates having all 3) and we all wanted to be near VCOM. On the opposite side of the spectrum, almost everyone in the 2007 class got the rotations they wanted and did not have even 1/2 the problems we are having.

If I were to do it all over again, I would not buy, I would rent. So I am not saying DON'T BUY A HOUSE, but be informed about what could happen during your 3rd and 4th clinical years before you consider buying a house. Just like your financial situation, your living arrangements are a very personal choice.
 
RobbingReality said:
I will be attending VCOM in the fall and was curious as to my new classmates background and hobbies. I am also looking to purchase a house in the blacksburg/christianburg area and want to know if anyone was interested in renting a room ($400-500). I do have a large (70lbs.) short hair dog that will be living with me. I look forward to seeing everyone at acceptance day in April.

Ok, since someone broke the ice, I guess I will chime in. I am a 30+ non-trad with a wife and 2 small kids (5 and 2). I have a BS in Finance and finished my MBA in 1998. I have worked for different Fortune 100 companies as a senior financial analyst, but could never shake the desire of becoming a physician. In my "spare" time, I enjoy spending time at the lake with my family, riding along with EMS and watching all of trauma shows on Discovery Health, as my sister has been in several of them in Chicago. I will be in Blacksburg for ASD and look forward to meeting some of you there!
 
RobbingReality said:
I will be attending VCOM in the fall and was curious as to my new classmates background and hobbies. I am also looking to purchase a house in the blacksburg/christianburg area and want to know if anyone was interested in renting a room ($400-500). I do have a large (70lbs.) short hair dog that will be living with me. I look forward to seeing everyone at acceptance day in April.

I'll be a part of the class of 2010 as well. I'm 19, and I will be graduating in a few weeks from ETSU with a BS degree in Biology and History. I don't really have any hobbies except for cooking. I'll be at Accepted Student's Day too. I can't wait to meet all of my fellow classmates!!!! :)
 
LMG908, can you tell us more about the problems you are running into for your third year rotations. When I was down for my interview they made it sound as if it was rare that you would have problems being sent to a site you did not want to go to. It seems as if this isn't the case now. What else can you tell us about 3rd year clerkships, good and bad?
 
QCOM2006 said:
I'll be a part of the class of 2010 as well. I'm 19, and I will be graduating in a few weeks from ETSU with a BS degree in Biology and History. I don't really have any hobbies except for cooking. I'll be at Accepted Student's Day too. I can't wait to meet all of my fellow classmates!!!! :)


QCOM, did I read that right? You're 19? Are you one of those genius kids that already has a law school degree and is going to medical school just for the hell of it? How do you have a degree already? Amazing, and congrats.

J
 
I am going to be a first-year student in August, and I have a computer question for a current student:

I purchased a new Powerbook (Mac) last summer, and I am wondering if I NEED to buy a Windows-based laptop for VCOM. I can run all of my old Microsoft apps on the Mac, and I connect to a Windows server at work. The computer guide made available to new students says that a Windows laptop is "required", but I remember seeing some students with Macs when I visited. How strict is the school about having a Windows-based machine? I really like the Mac, and I would hate to shell out more money for a new machine.

Any insight from a current student would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
jsmittyund03 said:
QCOM, did I read that right? You're 19? Are you one of those genius kids that already has a law school degree and is going to medical school just for the hell of it? How do you have a degree already? Amazing, and congrats.

J

Thanks! Yes, I'm 19, but I'm far from being a genius kid. I just skipped my senior yr. of high school, and I'm doing my BS degree in 3 yrs.
 
mbuscherjr said:
I am going to be a first-year student in August, and I have a computer question for a current student:

I purchased a new Powerbook (Mac) last summer, and I am wondering if I NEED to buy a Windows-based laptop for VCOM. I can run all of my old Microsoft apps on the Mac, and I connect to a Windows server at work. The computer guide made available to new students says that a Windows laptop is "required", but I remember seeing some students with Macs when I visited. How strict is the school about having a Windows-based machine? I really like the Mac, and I would hate to shell out more money for a new machine.

Any insight from a current student would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

We have a few Mac users in our class. You will run into some problems in terms of some of the things you have to download. Nutrition cases gave some of teh Mac users fits and they had to do their cases at VCOM rather than downloading it and doing it at home for 4 hours. I do not know if this was the case with all the Mac users.

As to how strict they are... here's the thing...they tell you what is required, if you dont have the required computer you will be using it at your own risk, so if something doesnt work, you may end up in the library using those computers. They aren't gonna hit ya over the head or send Bill Gates to beat you up :p
 
We're one week away. Are people going to be staying in town on Saturday night, or are people heading home? It'd be pretty sweet for some of us to hit up downtown Blacksburg for a brew.
 
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I can not make it to the accepted students day and I am really bummed about it. I hope you guys have a lot of fun! I really need to find a roommate does anyone have any suggestions on how I can do that without being at accepted students day?
 
cyclegirl said:
I can not make it to the accepted students day and I am really bummed about it. I hope you guys have a lot of fun! I really need to find a roommate does anyone have any suggestions on how I can do that without being at accepted students day?


Go to www.vcomstudent.com and click on classifieds. There are some people on there that are VCOM students who are looking for roomates.
 
I actually already posted on vcomstudent.com. I rented an apartment at Cedarfield and I need a roommate and am not having any luck. Thank you though.
 
I am staying in town that night, I want to see what Blacksburg can offer me considering I will never be out again once schools starts. :laugh:
 
cyclegirl said:
I actually already posted on vcomstudent.com. I rented an apartment at Cedarfield and I need a roommate and am not having any luck. Thank you though.

You could try posting a listing on the off campus housing website that is run by Virginia Tech. It's actually how we found our last roommate. The link for it is
http://www.uusa.vt.edu/uusaServices/OCH/rentals/vtoch.htm

You might get either undergrads or graduates but as long as you specified quiet, etc you might be able to find someone that would work. Or you could specify graduate students only if you were worried about maturity issues or what not.
 
jsmittyund03 said:
We're one week away. Are people going to be staying in town on Saturday night, or are people heading home? It'd be pretty sweet for some of us to hit up downtown Blacksburg for a brew.
I will be in town Saturday night and up for something to do. I agree it would be nice to go out, since there wont be a lot of time to do so once school starts.
 
Current VCOM students:
I'm sure you get this question 'ad nauseum', but does the school website have a list of all the clinical rotation sites (I couldn't find one)? How many do you get to "choose" from? Will the school allow you to set up a rotation with a hospital they are not currently affiliated with?

Thank you for the insight~!
 
OhNoNotAgain said:
Current VCOM students:
I'm sure you get this question 'ad nauseum', but does the school website have a list of all the clinical rotation sites (I couldn't find one)? How many do you get to "choose" from? Will the school allow you to set up a rotation with a hospital they are not currently affiliated with?

Thank you for the insight~!

I've heard they are going to change the way 3rd year rotations work for your class. As of right now, my guesses for the answers to your questions are no, none, and probably not. 3rd year is assigned by the school--all primary care, no selectives or electives.

4th year, will probably change, but as of now, you have a set number of VCOM approved, AOA approved, and elective rotations and you are on your own to set up the non-vcom ones. So july/augest - december you want to set up rotations at the sights you are interested in for residency/internship
 
Amy or anyone else,

Any idea what the dress is like for student day? I don't want to show up in inappropriate attire on the first day down there.

PS - Thanks to the parental units that are joining and wanna leave Saturday night, I'm going to have to bow out of the "grabbing a beer" on Saturday. However, I hear Big Al's would be a fun place to go.
 
Hhhmmm, well let's see.. I wore, i guess you would call it, a "causal business outfit" 2 years ago. It was just slacks and a blouse. Last year people had slacks and polo shirts.. Not dressed up but not jeans and tank tops.

Does that help ya? :cool:
 
Sup guys,

So I just got back from student day yesterday, it was a good time. Nice to meet some of you guys. For those who didn't make it, just PM me, I'll answer any questions you guys have about it. It was pretty much exactly like their itinerary. Probably the best part about it (besides meeting some of our future classmates) was the financial aid presentation, which was very informative. It was also hugely depressing:). But those who weren't there are required to go to the same presentation when school starts, so you didn't miss anything important. Also, the class of 2010 was invited to a white water rafting trip along with classes 2009 and 2008 on memorial day weekend. It's in WV and costs 40 bones. I didn't get the guy's email address b/c I couldn't make it, but just call up the school and they'll get it for you. What a teaser, now we have to wait four more months before school starts.

Jonathan
 
Hey,
Did they say if they "preferred" students to do the Grad PLUS loan compared to a private?
 
Does anyone know if there is any material that we need to learn before school starts in Aug.? A friend of mine had read somewhere that classes in the past had to memorize all the bones, muscles, etc. before matriculation. Is this true of the class of 2010? Thanks!!!!!
 
Not to my knowledge, and I sure hope not. As of right now, I believe we only need to have a BLS certification.
 
QCOM2006 said:
Does anyone know if there is any material that we need to learn before school starts in Aug.? A friend of mine had read somewhere that classes in the past had to memorize all the bones, muscles, etc. before matriculation. Is this true of the class of 2010? Thanks!!!!!

I asked that question on Saturday and was told that Dr Anderson (Anatomy Chair) will be sending each MSI a recommended reading list and a list of terminology within the next month or so. Although not required, she strongly recommends a pretty thorough review as it was stated that it will be assumed that everyone will have been exposed to terminology and the different systems.

If you have had anatomy already, the review should be minimal.
 
jsmittyund03 said:
the class of 2010 was invited to a white water rafting trip along with classes 2009 and 2008 on memorial day weekend. It's in WV and costs 40 bones. I didn't get the guy's email address b/c I couldn't make it, but just call up the school and they'll get it for you.

Here are some rafting details:

• When: “Memorial Day”, Monday, May 29th
• Where: Hico, WV (1.5-2hr drive)
• Cost: $40+tax
• What’s included:
o 3 hrs of guided white water fun on the river
o The outfitter will provide paddles, helmets and lifejackets. Wet suits, water-jackets & aqua socks can be rented from the outfitter.
• The rafting outfitter we will use is ‘Adventures Mountain River’- www.raftmrt.com

Sign up & payment begins NOW thru May 25th.

If you have any questions contact Randy Martinez [email protected]
 
QCOM2006 said:
Does anyone know if there is any material that we need to learn before school starts in Aug.? A friend of mine had read somewhere that classes in the past had to memorize all the bones, muscles, etc. before matriculation. Is this true of the class of 2010? Thanks!!!!!

guys relax! enjoy what's left of your freedom and life. you can run off and learn bones, muscles, bio chem, and whatever else now, or you can not think about school. sure learning some stuff before hand would be nice, but you won't learn it to the level that you are expected to know it and your hard prework won't get you any more time off when school starts. So my vote is to enjoy your time off now. lay in the sun, read a good book, exercise, and spend time with your family and friends. school will be here soon enough.
 
Happy Monday everyone!

Glad to see several of you guys at the Accepted Students' Day last Saturday :) See you all in Virginia in August!

Jackie
 
You're welcome to check it out - more info about myself. You guys should join myspace!

www.myspace.com/dearjackie

See you all in Virginia (as I get my Florida tan for the next 3 months til school starts!) Hehehehehe. just kidding. :)
 
Congrats to you all!! I'm a 09'er at VCOM. If you have any question feel free to email me at any time. And for those that what to stay in Knollwood, the apartments across the street from the school, I advice you calling now. From what i understand the waiting list fills up quickly.
 
For those of you that already live in the Virginia area,
What should we expect for NTC prices (internet, cable, etc)? Their website apparently doesn't work too well and I can't find if they post their prices. I guess I could call them, but I think hearing a student opinion is more entertaining. :thumbup: Thanks for the help and info!
 
BayRunner said:
For those of you that already live in the Virginia area,
What should we expect for NTC prices (internet, cable, etc)? Their website apparently doesn't work too well and I can't find if they post their prices. I guess I could call them, but I think hearing a student opinion is more entertaining. :thumbup: Thanks for the help and info!


Avoid NTC at all costs if possible. If the place you are living at lets you choose, I would recommend Adelphia. Several of my friends have NTC and they are always having problems with it; it goes down for a couple days at a time, isn't consistent, and is expensive. It use to be $40 dollars a month per bedroom; not sure what it is now.

We have Adelphia and it rarely if ever goes down. It's cheaper for us too since we split 1 bill 4 ways($106 for cable/internet so about $26 a person) instead of having to pay $40 individually just for internet. I'm not sure if it would be as cheap or cheaper then NTC if you were living alone or with only 1 other person. However, you get what you pay for, so I think it would be worth the extra cost in my opinion. I've actually been choosing between apartments by looking at what internet service I'm allowed to get.
 
absolutely, avoid NTC if you can. i think NTC operates on a dedicated DSL line, so its slower than Adelphia for one. also they have FTP sites and other things firewalled/blocked out so you cant access them and slow their servers down. the system seems to go down for long periods of time due to anything minor weather related. years ago the place i had with NTC only had like 30 channels. kind of annoying.

adelphia seems to have issues in early september when they have thousands of new connections with people moving back into town and ordering new service. but it seems to work itself out. i pay about $120 with taxes, that includes high speed internet, regular cable (ch 1-70), digital cable (ch 70-160), then 10 HBO's and 10 Cinemax's. its a good deal compared to what ive seen in some cities.
 
I am having a hard time finding an apartment that will accept a 70 lbs dog, does anyone have any suggestions (besides getting rid of the dog)? If anyone knows of anyone that needs a roomate who wouldn't mind having a 70 lbs, shorthair female, weimaranner, give me a shout. I have checked out vcom's housing website with no luck.
 
you might not be able to find an apartment for a dog that big. i would try contacting some rental companies like Townside, Raines, etc. They also have rental houses available, in which you can have pretty much anything you want. Just tell them you will be a medical student, and the dog requirement, and they will look through all possible apartments/townhouses/houses etc to find a place that matches your criteria. They are pretty good when it comes to servicing the needs of professional people and graduate students.
 
I'm in the 2008 class and my wife and I are selling our 3BR 2.5BA Townhome.
www.macneal.org
 
VTbarrelracer said:
Avoid NTC at all costs if possible. If the place you are living at lets you choose, I would recommend Adelphia. Several of my friends have NTC and they are always having problems with it; it goes down for a couple days at a time, isn't consistent, and is expensive. It use to be $40 dollars a month per bedroom; not sure what it is now.

We have Adelphia and it rarely if ever goes down. It's cheaper for us too since we split 1 bill 4 ways($106 for cable/internet so about $26 a person) instead of having to pay $40 individually just for internet. I'm not sure if it would be as cheap or cheaper then NTC if you were living alone or with only 1 other person. However, you get what you pay for, so I think it would be worth the extra cost in my opinion. I've actually been choosing between apartments by looking at what internet service I'm allowed to get.

Thanks for the information - I'm supposed to call about my internet/cable, water, and electricity....

ANYONE HAVE THE ADELPHIA # so I can get started? Hmmm...$120 a month - do you med students really have the time to watch tv too? I really want to know these things!

Jackie
VCOM 2010
 
Jackie2010 said:
ANYONE HAVE THE ADELPHIA # so I can get started? Hmmm...$120 a month - do you med students really have the time to watch tv too? I really want to know these things!
to answer your question, how much TV you watch in med school depends on how much tv you watch now. My TV shows are my break time. Since I LOVE my break--non-study time, I watch them when they come on. However, I have several classmates that will NOT watch tv the night before a test and depend on their VCR and/or friends to record the shows for them.

With Adelphia, I pay $115ish for internet, digital cable and 1 movie channel. If you can live w/o the movie channel then I suggest dropping that and the digital cable (which you have to have inorder to get the movie channels)

However, most of you are going to be new customers so check out what specials adelphia has. And while adelphia is totally overpriced, they are 100x better than NTC. NTC not only charges insane amounts of money for what they offer, they also charge per a room. So if it's just you in a 2 bedroom apt or 2 ppl in a 3 bedroom, you will be charged for an extra person that isn't there.
 
Are over. Just survived the dreaded Biochem final last night and am done for the summer. For those with finals remaining.. best of luck and I will see you all in August when we offically become MS-I's!!!!
 
I am Al. I was accepted and like that everyone is so positive. I think we will have a great class.
 
I am in the class of 2008 and my wife and I are selling our townhome. We are going to lower the price on our townhome to $124,900 for VCOM students. If you're not working with a realtor we can discuss further discounts, which could get you into a townhome for around $800/mo!! That would be owning rather than renting, allowing you to turn a profit when you leave the area.

http://www.macneal.org
 
Greetings all you future VCOMer's. Welcome to the family! You'll be here very soon. :)

I am a second year student looking to sublease my apartment to one, two, or possibly three students (if you don't mind sharing a bathroom and living in the loft). I am located at Knollwood Apartments across the street and I have a 2 BR/2 BA w/a loft. It is a great place to live and very convenient to school. If you are interested don't hesitate to pm/email me for some details, pictures, etc.
 
If I remember the list correctly, Verizon provides the telephone service in the Blacksburg area. Someone told me that you can get internet services through them as well. Is this true? If yes, does anyone up there have any experiences with the Verizon internet service and about how much it cost per month? Thanks.
 
It's official. I was accepted off the waitlist yesterday. I am really excited. I look forward to seeing everyone in August.
 
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