Where are you UMDNJ-Robert Wood Class of 2009?

[sweetpeamd09]

Hi everyone...hope you're doing great! I will be attending RWJ this August. If you will be doing the same, I would love to hear from you! Maybe we could post little tidbits of info. we have learned about the school and surrounding area since we will be spending a significant portion of the next four years in the few miles surrounding Piscataway.

For example, I have learned from friends and family who went to Rutgers that if we live in New Brunswick we will be subjected to drunken frat partiers as neighbors. Not that it isn't fun to partake in the debauchery...I just don't wanna live there.

I started to look into apartments in the area...so if you have questions I would be happy to put up some websites I have looked at so far. Also, I started a Yahoo group for us... RWJMS_09.

Finally, if anyone already attending RWJ has any helpful advice, I would love to hear it. Can't wait to hear from you. to those who are still finishing up school (although I think most schools have finished). Take care!

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[Tiki]

Hey, Sweatpea!! Congrats on getting in, and welcome to the Wood.

I'm going to be a second year in the fall, and the only advice I can think to give you is to relax and enjoy your summer.

 

[cm2_1906]

Hey whassup class of 2009. I will be attending RWJMS this fall. I just registered for the sdn forums, so I'm here to represent for the RWJ class of 2009. Is there anyone from California going to RWJ?

 

[sweetpeamd09]

Wow...Cali?! What made you decide to trek all the way over to the Garden State?? So, right now, in this thread it's just you and me...representin'. Have you started to look for housing yet?

Hey whassup class of 2009. I will be attending RWJMS this fall. I just registered for the sdn forums, so I'm here to represent for the RWJ class of 2009. Is there anyone from California going to RWJ?

 

[cm2_1906]

Well I got into two schools in Cali, one was going through some troubling times and the other is a much longer story, but I really enjoyed my time went I interviewed at RWJ. The school has a lot of great community service programs available for students, the ability to pay in-state tuition was big, and I thought it was the overall best school I got into from my acceptance pool. Though I'm already knowing that I'll miss life in California. I looked at some apts. when I visted in january, but I'll be there for the summer prematriculation program, so hopefully I'll settle my housing issues then.

 

[sweetpeamd09]

Are there really that few sdners going to Robert Wood Johnson? Where is the rest of my class?? Oh, not on sdn all the time...they must have a life unlike me.

 

[sweetpeamd09]

What will our class schedules be like? I mean like time commitment and such!

Muchas gracias!

 

[sweetpeamd09]

 

[sgopal2]

I am a RWJMS graduate (class of 95). There will be a great orientation planned for all of you acceptees the week before classes start in August.

There is also a housing fair that occurs at the beginning of summer for students who want to share housing. There are lots of places to live in Piscataway/Somerset/New Brunswick area for students.

I lived all 4 years during RWJ at Blueberry Village Apartments in Edison.

Good luck - I loved RWJ. Welcome to Big Bob's Medical School!

 

[marimiyaz]

Hi everyone...hope you're doing great! I will be attending RWJ this August. If you will be doing the same, I would love to hear from you! Maybe we could post little tidbits of info. we have learned about the school and surrounding area since we will be spending a significant portion of the next four years in the few miles surrounding Piscataway.

For example, I have learned from friends and family who went to Rutgers that if we live in New Brunswick we will be subjected to drunken frat partiers as neighbors. Not that it isn't fun to partake in the debauchery...I just don't wanna live there.

I started to look into apartments in the area...so if you have questions I would be happy to put up some websites I have looked at so far. Also, I started a Yahoo group for us... RWJMS_09.

Finally, if anyone already attending RWJ has any helpful advice, I would love to hear it. Can't wait to hear from you. to those who are still finishing up school (although I think most schools have finished). Take care!

Hey Sweetpea not sure if you're still around but I'm going to RWJMS this year (applied via linkage)!

I already found a place in New Brunswick with my sig.other, a really nice building that's like a 10 minute walk from the train station and George St. While I'm sure there are many areas of New Brunswick that are indeed full of loud drunken students, I think we got pretty lucky with our place-i think there are more professionals and med students and residents living in our building than rutgers students. Also, it's so close to George St. which will be nice for just walking to restaurants and stuff. We already found a brew pub we liked with good hamburgers, fish and chips and beer.

I found www.apartmentguide.com to be the most helpful site, especially liked their virtual tours.

I'm super excited. I may try and hop over to the mixer on july 8th even though i've already got housing.

I will join your yahoo group as well!

 

[Tiki]

What will our class schedules be like? I mean like time commitment and such!

Muchas gracias!

They posted them online.

http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/education/educational_programs/course_schedule.htm

 

[marimiyaz]

Hey whassup class of 2009. I will be attending RWJMS this fall. I just registered for the sdn forums, so I'm here to represent for the RWJ class of 2009. Is there anyone from California going to RWJ?

I'm originally from Cali, but have been in nyc for last 6 years.

what part of cali are you from?

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

Tiki and others,

Is it absolutely neccessary that I get a laptop with all the requirements set forth by the school? I don't know if I could afford $2,000 laptop.

BTW, I'm super excited to start med school at RWJ.

 

[Tiki]

Tiki and others,

Is it absolutely neccessary that I get a laptop with all the requirements set forth by the school? I don't know if I could afford $2,000 laptop.

BTW, I'm super excited to start med school at RWJ.

You don't need a laptop. There are two computer labs on campus. It would probably be nice to have some kind of computer so you can listen to the online lectures at home, but I wouldn't bother with anything too expensive. I bought a laptop, and I think I've brought it to school maybe three times all of last year. There were only two other people out of 143 that I ever saw carrying one around.

BTW, Congrats on getting in and welcome to the Wood!!

 

[marimiyaz]

You don't need a laptop. There are two computer labs on campus. It would probably be nice to have some kind of computer so you can listen to the online lectures at home, but I wouldn't bother with anything too expensive. I bought a laptop, and I think I've brought it to school maybe three times all of last year. There were only two other people out of 143 that I ever saw carrying one around.

BTW, Congrats on getting in and welcome to the Wood!!

Interesting, I had also planned on getting a new laptop, but wasn't sure what kind to get. Thanks you for that information Tiki.

Regarding online lectures - do most people go to class or is it possible to get most information from the lectures online and from the texts? I ask this because I am one of those people who gets nothing out of attending lectures (i learn best from books/notes) and thus if attendance at class is not necessary and the information i would be able to glean from class could be obtained through the online lectures that would be fantastic for me.

 

[Tiki]

Interesting, I had also planned on getting a new laptop, but wasn't sure what kind to get. Thanks you for that information Tiki.

Regarding online lectures - do most people go to class or is it possible to get most information from the lectures online and from the texts? I ask this because I am one of those people who gets nothing out of attending lectures (i learn best from books/notes) and thus if attendance at class is not necessary and the information i would be able to glean from class could be obtained through the online lectures that would be fantastic for me.

Attendance is only necessary for certain things...labs, small group discussions, and the classes that meet only once every other week (Intro to the Patient and Case Based Learning). Whether or not you go to any other lectures is totally up to you.

I started off my first semester going to every class, but by the middle of the second semester I wasn't going to any classes. I think you can skip most of the lectures, but there are a few I would go to. The professors who teach Gross Anatomy are really good, so I'd go to those. A few of the Physio professors weren't so bad either.

 

[Tiki]

Oh, and the online lectures and notes are fine! You can definitely learn everything you need to know through them.

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

You don't need a laptop. There are two computer labs on campus. It would probably be nice to have some kind of computer so you can listen to the online lectures at home, but I wouldn't bother with anything too expensive. I bought a laptop, and I think I've brought it to school maybe three times all of last year. There were only two other people out of 143 that I ever saw carrying one around.

BTW, Congrats on getting in and welcome to the Wood!!

In that case, I'm going to forget about it. That's a relief! Thanks.

 

[almostdoc1]

Does anyone have any information on books we NEED. I would like to try to order them from the internet for cheaper. So knowing ahead of time would give me plenty of time to buy them for cheap. I know I heard that some of the books listed as required aren't really needed. I was hoping an upper classman can help out with this info.

 

[Tiki]

Does anyone have any information on books we NEED. I would like to try to order them from the internet for cheaper. So knowing ahead of time would give me plenty of time to buy them for cheap. I know I heard that some of the books listed as required aren't really needed. I was hoping an upper classman can help out with this info.

I know this is not what you want to hear, but I would seriously wait to purchase books. Your peer mentors will sit you down and go over what you need and what you don't need. I didn't purchase one book before school started, and I still recieved everything on time for class (I used barnesandnoble.com) You have a full week of orientation where you won't be using any books anyway, so if you order sometime during that week you should be fine.

Besides, alot of the second years will probably be selling some books, which you can get for extremely cheap!!

 

[almostdoc1]

I was thinking about using something like half.com. Its kind of like an ebay type website. That is where I bought all of my books for Rutgers. It takes a little longer to get them than barnes and nobles would. I was only going to buy something if I found it for REALLY cheap. Otherwise I was going to wait and see what older students are selling the books. I have been seeing on a couple of things I got from orientation to check out the online book listing, but it doesn't say where to find it. Do you know anything about that. I would like to be prepared to see how much I might be laying out on books. Thanks for any help you can give. I will definately wait until orientation to buy anything now.

 

[Tiki]

I was thinking about using something like half.com. Its kind of like an ebay type website. That is where I bought all of my books for Rutgers. It takes a little longer to get them than barnes and nobles would. I was only going to buy something if I found it for REALLY cheap. Otherwise I was going to wait and see what older students are selling the books. I have been seeing on a couple of things I got from orientation to check out the online book listing, but it doesn't say where to find it. Do you know anything about that. I would like to be prepared to see how much I might be laying out on books. Thanks for any help you can give. I will definately wait until orientation to buy anything now.

http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/education/educational_programs/booklst1styr_0506.htm

I definitely wouldn't go buy every book on that list though, because you don't need them all.

If you want to buy anything early, I'd look at the anatomy books. Don't buy a Netter's because you can get one free if you sign up for AMSA. You can get a free Stedman's if you join AMA. You might want to look for Baby Moore now, as well as Grant's Dissector. I personally would not buy Langman, I bought it last year and never opened it. I found BRS Embryology much easier to understand.

For Biochem, I wouldn't buy any book. Dr. Zehring's notes are wonderful. If you feel you need something extra, alot of people liked Champe and Harvey.

CGM doesn't start until the second block, but you will definitely need Gartner's atlas. I would not buy Kirzenbaum or the Genetics in Medicine book. Again, the notes are really good for this class, and the tests come from the notes. You can get a free copy of the Histology Image Review CD from second years, so do NOT buy it. I have a copy of it myself, if you can't find anyone else to make it for you, I'll do it once school starts.

Oh, and I really really really recommend that you wait on at least some books. The second years are going to want to unload their stuff, so you'll save alot of money if you wait.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

Tiki, thanks for all your helpful info!!!

I know RWJMS is not a pass/fail school, so does that mean NONE of our courses are pass/fail? Do you know if there is any movement toward the pass/fail system?

 

[sgopal2]

For all you gunners out there who want to get a head start:

I would avoid buying books early like Tiki said. If you have the time and motivation in your last month of freedom before school starts, here is what I would do:

1) Go to the library on campus at RWJMS and tell them you are an incoming RWJ-I.
2) Ask if you can photocopy some of the lecture notes from the previous year for the fall classes - I suggest starting with Gross anatomy since its the toughest class.
3) Read through as many of the lecture notes ahead of time as you can, and supplement your readings with the pictures from Netter.

Then if you still have time, get a copy of the old USMLE exam questions and practice - its never too early to start prepping for Step 1.

 

[Tiki]

Tiki, thanks for all your helpful info!!!

I know RWJMS is not a pass/fail school, so does that mean NONE of our courses are pass/fail? Do you know if there is any movement toward the pass/fail system?

Your welcome! You'll hear all of this again at orientation.

Actually, we did talk about the Pass/Fail last year. The administration came into one of our classes and asked for a quick vote. The overwhelming majority of us want pass/fail, whether or not it will happen, I don't know.

They did change one class (Environmental and Community Med) to pass/fail based on the complaints of last year. Ethics is pass/fail as well, but I think that's it. All of the hard sciences are based on the five scale grading system.

 

[almostdoc1]

Is the five scale grading system using letter grades, or is it one of those high pass/pass w/ honors type of systems. I couldn't remember which it was when I started thinking about it. Not that it makes a difference, they mean the same thing anyway.

Thank you for all you info on the books. I def. am not looking to start studying over the summer though. I figure I will be doing enough of that come Aug. I am just looking to drink and have a good time this summer.

 

[Tiki]

It's Honors, High Pass, Pass, Low Pass, Fail. But it's technically the same.

And your welcome.

 

[pdp2001]

Hi everyone...hope you're doing great! I will be attending RWJ this August. If you will be doing the same, I would love to hear from you! Maybe we could post little tidbits of info. we have learned about the school and surrounding area since we will be spending a significant portion of the next four years in the few miles surrounding Piscataway.

For example, I have learned from friends and family who went to Rutgers that if we live in New Brunswick we will be subjected to drunken frat partiers as neighbors. Not that it isn't fun to partake in the debauchery...I just don't wanna live there.

I started to look into apartments in the area...so if you have questions I would be happy to put up some websites I have looked at so far. Also, I started a Yahoo group for us... RWJMS_09.

Finally, if anyone already attending RWJ has any helpful advice, I would love to hear it. Can't wait to hear from you. to those who are still finishing up school (although I think most schools have finished). Take care!

i, too, will be schlepping around rwj this fall. i've got an apartment in society with 2 other girls in our class. and can i just say thank god we have no pre-assigned reading.

oh, i bought a laptop - it was a good price and i needed a new computer. if this helps anyone, i chose a laptop (i used to have a desktop that worked brilliantly for almost 4 years) b/c i got jealous of my suitemates being able to tote their computers home and to the library and outside. and having this laptop with wireless makes lying around in bed or on the sofa even better. not extolling the virtues of the laptop, just offering up my conclusions after thinking about it for a few months.

 

[almostdoc1]

Hey I just wanted to give everyone the heads up on some great deals you can get on laptops. If you are looking into DELL and you go online and just search "dell online coupons," pages of coupon codes available only through online will come up. I think edeals is the name of a page I got my coupon from. My roommate and I did this, and I saved $500 and she saved $600 on hers. The deal I used was 35% off, and I got a free printer with mine too. You can find desktop coupons this way too, if you don't want to buy a laptop. The deals change about every couple of weeks, so keep your ey out for a good one. I only bought the laptop because I got such a good deal on it.

 

[wunerd04]

DELL WARNING:

Hi guys... just wanted to let you know-- Dell makes horrible laptops. I had one the past 4 years and went through at least 3 hard drives. I purchased another one through work (~$3000) 6 months ago, and in the past month have had the speakers, motherboard, and video card replaced. Now I am having problems with the hard drive. It SUCKS!

They will not give you an exchange/refund your money if you get a lemon unless it is within 21 days. Please be careful!!

 

[almostdoc1]

We only have a couple of weeks until school starts!!! The break seemed so short. I was just wondering how much time people actually spend in the classroom? I hear so many different things.

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

We only have a couple of weeks until school starts!!! The break seemed so short. I was just wondering how much time people actually spend in the classroom? I hear so many different things.

I hear you. I spent all this summer trying to finish up my thesis research project so I can get my master's degree. I am still at it! I will come down to NJ for good at the end of this week, which means I only get to have about a week to relax before our mandatory orientation begins on Aug 5. It really hasn't hit me yet that I am starting med school considering how unprepared I am emotionally and physically. Hope I am not the only one...

 

[marimiyaz]

We only have a couple of weeks until school starts!!! The break seemed so short. I was just wondering how much time people actually spend in the classroom? I hear so many different things.

definitely feeling the same way here. I feel like summer is just flying by and i haven't even had any time to relax! I'm not even completely moved in yet.

anyways i was talking to my friend who's a RWJ 3rd year and he said that most people go to anatomy lab and stuff but that you can get away with skipping many of the lecture courses, and just read the notes, if you learn better that way (ie: me). however i think the anatomy lab is most of the days of the week, until 5pm....

Have you guys already registered for a WebCT id and stuff? I just registered today and am wondering how long it takes to get it. I called them at their office and they said it can take 1-2 weeks. I thought that was kind of long.

anyways i've been trying to relax and familiarize myself with the New Brunswick area. It's kind of cute, around George St there are quite a few restaurants and bars and stuff. I already discovered this monthly party at a bar near my house (hehe i'm still in denial that i won't have a life once med school starts).

 

[Dr. Chiquita]

Have you guys already registered for a WebCT id and stuff? I just registered today and am wondering how long it takes to get it. I called them at their office and they said it can take 1-2 weeks. I thought that was kind of long.

What is this WebCT id stuff? Did I miss some sort of mailing about this?

 

[Tiki]

What is this WebCT id stuff? Did I miss some sort of mailing about this?

You can do all that at orientation. WebCT lists your courses, and some of the classes have their syllabi and notes up on it. Your first year classes probably aren't even up yet, I know my second year classes are not.

 

[marimiyaz]

Quick question for upper classmen - how is the health insurance at RWJ? Do you know if prescription medications are paid for? is there coverage for prescription eye glasses/contacts?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Sureshot83]

What's up people, I'll also be a first year at RWJMS this August. I joined the yahoo group but it seems somewhat.....underpopulated. Oh well. It would be sweet to get to know some classmates before August 5th, so if any of you are up for it IM me at RHNHMM . OK, not much else to say right now, but peace and see you all in a week and a half!

 

[Tiki]

Quick question for upper classmen - how is the health insurance at RWJ? Do you know if prescription medications are paid for? is there coverage for prescription eye glasses/contacts?

Thanks for your help.

I didn't get sick at all last year, so to be honest I don't have alot of info about the insurance plan. I think you have copays for the office visit and prescriptions. There is no coverage for vision, but you are suppose to get a discount. I called for the discount for my contacts and it was pretty crappy.

It's getting closer, guys!

 

[marimiyaz]

They just posted the orientation week schedule.... looks like a busy week!

 

[Sureshot83]

Yeah, wow.....sure does sound busy. After my summer sleep schedule. I think there's a pretty good chance I might doze off during one of these endless lectures...

It starts tomorrow! Holy crap!

 

[Tiki]

Have fun tomorrow!!