Jagiellonian 4 Year Program Class of 2013

[bigndude]

Since no one has made one of these yet I figured I would make it for all of us accepted to and attending UJ for class of 2013. Hopefully we can get to know each other a little through this thread and maybe we can share some finds about the program, meet some potential roommates and get ready for what should be a hard, but awesome 4 years of med school.

So is anyone else out there going for class of 2013? I know you're out there so come on in.

To start things off maybe we should say where we are from?
I'm from CT, from a small town right outside of New Haven

[Wolfress]

Hey bigndude!

Welcome to UJ!

First off, Congrats on your acceptance! It seems that you may be one of, if not "the" first in your class to post. Anyway, if you have any questions, please, fire away. I'm a 3rd year in the 4 year program and would be more than happy to help, as would many other upperclassmen who read/post here.

Btw, where are you from in CT? I did my ugrad in New Haven and lived in Seymour and Waterbury for a while. Also, are you Polish? It's not necessary for UJ, but there are several strong Polish communities in your area in CT, so it's a fair question... :)

[bigndude]

Hey Wolfress, thanks for the offer I'm sure I as well as my classmates will come up with questions over time :)

I am from Woodbridge, so literally right next to New Haven, and Seymour. And yes, I am Polish and speak it, so I guess I'm part of that strong Polish community :D

I think my first question right now for you would be about the whole visa issue. Is it better to get the long term visa from the consulate while here in the U.S. or is it easier to just get the temporary stay card while in Poland?

[bigndude]

So anybody else get in? With so many thread views I would hope I'm not the only one.

[Rotten]

I know you didn't direct your question to be specifically, but I'll offer my $0.02 nonetheless. Forget the temporary stay card and simply apply for the student visa. As a rule of thumb, strive to get your business done stateside; Polish administrative red tape is something to be avoided at all costs.

[bigndude]

Thanks a lot Rotten, I'll get on doing that soon

[med etudiant]

If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats?

[bigndude]

You have a private message med

[bigndude]

I know you 4 year med program people probably have Monday off for Easter so your probably doing something more interesting now but I was wondering about textbooks. Do those of you who are in the 4 year program (or have completed it) have any recommendations as far as books for 1st year? Is it worth it to buy the recommended textbooks? Is it not? Are textbooks even necessary at all, or do the BRS books suffice? From what I have gathered from people it seems that for anatomy, baby Moore, Netters and Rohen are a good combination. Whereas for physio, Costanzo's textbooks and BRS book are good.

If any of you 4 years have any input, it would be really appreciated. Also do the students tend to buy the books in Poland or buy them in the states and send them over?

[bigndude]

I have created a facebook group for members of the class of 2013 in the 4 year program: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=72801638877 (http://www.facebook.com/groups.php#/group.php?gid=72801638877)
Hopefully some of you lurkers from our year will join up ;)
See you all in Krakow!

[FutureRuralMed1239]

I sent you a PM!

[meepmeep]

how soon after your second interview did you guys & gals receive information that you were accepted?

[bigndude]

I had my first interview in November (CA by phone) and my second interview in mid January in person in Krakow. I received my answer late March because apparently they have multiple rounds of decisions. You can call the office and ask them when the admissions committee will be meeting again to decide and that should tell you when you will find out. I found out the day after they met in March. The women in the office are also very nice and helpful so I'm sure you'll get an answer if you call.

[ginlolay]

I know you 4 year med program people probably have Monday off for Easter so your probably doing something more interesting now but I was wondering about textbooks. Do those of you who are in the 4 year program (or have completed it) have any recommendations as far as books for 1st year? Is it worth it to buy the recommended textbooks? Is it not? Are textbooks even necessary at all, or do the BRS books suffice? From what I have gathered from people it seems that for anatomy, baby Moore, Netters and Rohen are a good combination. Whereas for physio, Costanzo's textbooks and BRS book are good.

If any of you 4 years have any input, it would be really appreciated. Also do the students tend to buy the books in Poland or buy them in the states and send them over?

You do not even know which medical books "are good", yet you have the audacity to question my truthfulness and make other personal accusations?

[FOID]

folks, play nice. any violations will lead to infractions.

[KluverB]

Awesome, he's all over this forum.

[meepmeep]

I just got the good news - joined the facebook group. When are you all heading to Poland?

[bigndude]

Congrats, cool to finally know of one other person besides me who's in, hopefully some more people from our class start joining up the group soon.

I'm heading over to Poland sometime in July, but thats because I want some r&r before school starts and to visit some places and find an apartment of my own in Krakow.

[JesusLovesYou]

How do you pronounce that schools' name??

[bigndude]

Per wikipedia.... In all variations of that name, the letter J should be pronounced as in "Hallelujah" (or as Y in "yes"), and G – as in "get".
So basically Yag-ello-nian with the ello being like hello without the h. The i that is part of the name is pronounced but its hard to explain since its a sort of Polish thing, its kind of like a "je" like maybe pronouncing jet in a funny way with a smoother "j". But if you say it Yag-ello-nian thats pretty much right.

[JesusLovesYou]

Cool! Thanks! BTW, FOID, how do you moderate so many threads all at once? Must be quite a task!

[captarcher]

Hey MeepMeep, congrats on your acceptance! Just wondering when you had your second interview? I am still waiting to hear back from them.......fingers crossed eh?

[meepmeep]

Congrats, cool to finally know of one other person besides me who's in, hopefully some more people from our class start joining up the group soon.

I'm heading over to Poland sometime in July, but thats because I want some r&r before school starts and to visit some places and find an apartment of my own in Krakow.
Hah. Well from what I have researched it's a class of ~30 so it will be definitely interesting to know everyone in the whole year. I was told that the school will be integrating with the Polish section so that should also be awesome. I don't know when I'll be heading there, probably sometime in August. I already have an apartment lined up though.

Hey MeepMeep, congrats on your acceptance! Just wondering when you had your second interview? I am still waiting to hear back from them.......fingers crossed eh?
Thanks! I had it about a couple weeks ago. Keep them crossed mang!

[bigndude]

Yeah, the class is capped at 35 and its usually filled so it will be a change to know everyone in my class for once, instead of having thousands in my class only a few of whom I know.

I didn't hear that we were going to be integrating with the Polish section though, sounds interesting. You know anything else about that? Like if are we going to have classes together or clinical practice together?

[Rotten]

I was told that the school will be integrating with the Polish section so that should also be awesome. I don't know when I'll be heading there, probably sometime in August. I already have an apartment lined up though.



Interesting. I'm curious to hear exactly what you have heard. Without trying to be overly skeptical, it's difficult for me to imagine ways in which to integrate the English with the Polish program. They really do function as two distinctly separate entities; sometimes seemingly far, far apart from one another. This is even more true of the 4-year program, as it operates on a schedule completely non-analogous to both 6-year programs (English and Polish). The only time I've had any curricular contact with Polish students was during my summer clerkship ... and that was nursing students! :D

In any event, my curiosity is piqued; would you care to expound?

[meepmeep]

Interesting. I'm curious to hear exactly what you have heard. Without trying to be overly skeptical, it's difficult for me to imagine ways in which to integrate the English with the Polish program. They really do function as two distinctly separate entities; sometimes seemingly far, far apart from one another. This is even more true of the 4-year program, as it operates on a schedule completely non-analogous to both 6-year programs (English and Polish). The only time I've had any curricular contact with Polish students was during my summer clerkship ... and that was nursing students! :D

In any event, my curiosity is piqued; would you care to expound?
Hey Rotten! I wasn't told much. I've pretty much given all the information I know - that the English students will be working closer with the Polish students. I guess I'll be able to provide more info. when I actually go there...

[Paramedic]

I just got the good news this morning. I will be in Krakow for the August 31 orientation. I can't wait to get in touch with the rest of you from the class of 2013.

[bigndude]

Join up our Facebook group then :D Slowly but surely we are getting people who are signing up, the link is on the first page of the thread. Congratulations and see you there!

[imawesome]

I tried to look at your facebook group to see how many people have been "accepted" so far to UJ but it is blocked... My brother is sending in his application to UJ this week, he had to take the MCAT after graduating so he was unable to apply sooner. I was curious if the majority of students have been accepted yet?

[bigndude]

Well there already is a waitlist, and slowly but surely more members are trickling into the group on facebook, plus I am sure there are others not in the group that got in and are attending. But, I'm sure there is always a chance no matter when you apply, it all depends on grades and the rest of your app.

[Dave_MD]

I contacted Jag after I was placed on the waitlist to see what exactly that meant and the way it was explained to me was as follows:

A few applicants were accepted right away back in March, including some that had deferred acceptance for a year. the rest were put on the waitlist and are being held there until the rest of the interviews happen or something happens in their application to make them more competitive etc and they get accepted.

this means that they in fact did NOT fill the class yet, but are holding off the rest of their acceptances til all of the interviews are done.

hope this helps anyone who was as confused as i was...i got straight acceptances for all the other polish schools and a WL position at Jag caught me a bit by surprise so i had to see what was up

fingers crossed for UJ :yeah:

also did anyone else that interviewed at Riverside, CA get a Hi5 friend request from your interviewer? i sure did......

[bigndude]

Haha, yeah I got the Hi5 thing a while ago, but I didn't interview there in person, I did the phone interview with her.

Well now I understand why more people aren't speaking up about having gotten in. But I'm sure over the next month almost everyone will know because I think July 15 they go on break or something. Good luck!

[imawesome]

Thanks everyone who helped answer my question!

[imawesome]

....Also I know the deadline for apps is June 15, the deadline for MCAT scores is June 30, I can only assume it will be around July 15 everyone knows what the status is

[Dave_MD]

i was told via email that final decisions were being made prior to July 10th

[imawesome]

Wow Dave, that is really quick! But I think thats nice that my family will know in a reasonable amount of time... Thanks again for everyone's input! we were starting to get a little bit worried :)

[Wolfress]

Hey Class of 2013!

Congrats to everyone who got in and Good Luck to everyone still waiting to hear!

I'm a 3rd year in the 4-year program, so if you guys have any questions, fire away.

To address two things that every med student needs:

Books - There will be a "Book Exchange" in the beginning of the year where you can buy used books cheap. (They don't do it in the bookstore here like in many ugrad schools.) The book sale will be run by the 2nd year class rep. She'll advertise it through the School Office, so everyone will be kept in the loop. Also, there are always students selling books, so you can save by not buying brand new books as well as on shipping costs from N America.

Housing - You can find apartments through the School Office website. People constantly post stuff on the Message Board.

Finally, I have a sweet apartment which I am going to be subletting from August until February, if anyone needs a place. It's literally a 5 min walk from where most classes are for 1st and 2nd year. It's new, well-priced, and has everything you need. PM me and I'll be happy to provide you with details.
:D

[Dave_MD]

paid the deposit and just joined the facebook group :)

[MikeMak]

Hey, just got my acceptance this week! Looking forward to meeting everyone at the end of August.

[wizard17]

what grades and mcat scores do you need to be accepted here? I appreciate the help.

[Dave_MD]

there are no "strict cutoffs". they don't post any and all we know is hearsay. i have heard GPAs from as low as 2.7 all the way to 3.88. MCAT scores have a similar range, where I have heard of scores from the low-20s up to mid-30s. i think a solid MCAT performance makes up for a dismal GPA. they also take into account extracurriculars and research, all of which should (hopefully) help your application.

though as a note i would like to add that jagiellonian is not like other polish schools. jag doesn't accept students just to make money like some of the other schools, and they wont beg you to come there, also like some of the other schools (cough*cough* HMI). jag is more selective, because they can be.

good luck with the application process

[MedDoc2b]

I take personal offense to that! From what I hear, HMI helped med schools like Lublin gain CA approval, etc... thus, they will most likely want to charge a fee for themselves... Nothing's free in this world... And I personally believe that because JU is a prestigious school, everyone automativally thinks this also translates into the medical program which is in fact separate from the school... It's almost like a JU umbrella, with separate entities underneath... And, the med program does not have the same prestige as the JU Polish division/school/etc...

BUAHAHAHAHA!

just my two cents!

[Dave_MD]

Whatever HMI wants to do or charge is their prerogative. I don't go to either of their schools so I really could care less. My point is that schools like Lublin have to use agents like HMI in order to "solidify" their existence as a legit European med school (i.e getting Cali approval), whereas Jag does not.

This leads me to believe that the infrastructure at a school like Lublin is inferior to the one present at Jag. I heard from someone that you guys don't even get your own school email addresses? Listen, my school isn't perfect, but I have heard horror stories from students at other polish med schools, and overall I'm glad I came here.

And in regards to the prestige of the medical program, you are right. The overall prestige of the school does not necessarily translate into the prestige of the english MD program, but consider this.... the faculty that make the polish program so prestigious are the exact same ones who teach our classes in english....surely there must be some correlation.

glad you are enjoying your stay in Lublin meddoc, hope it works out for you!