gluconeogenesis/ wow!! You did a good job ^^ Thanks a lot!!

This rental site offers information about
{price in euros, general location, optional photos}
Pass your mouse over the "Rentals" link at the navigation
bar at the top of the page and click on "Apartments for Rent".
http://www.budapestrent.com/

Average cost
I took 33 samples from the site on August 24th, 2005 and observed
an average price of
506.76 Euros / 446.36 Euros less outlier
619.19 USD / 545.39 USD less outlier
at 1.221856 Euro / 1 USD
344.80 Pounds / 303.70 Pounds less outlier
at 0.680394 Euro / 1 Pound

With a mode of 450 Euros and a range of [250,2500] Euros
The standard deviation is 369.78 Euros which is significantly
affected for the sample size of 33. if you remove the outlier
of 2500 Euros, the average price is 446.36 Euros and the
standard deviation is 114.42 Euros.

Average Size
The data for area excludes the 2,500 Euro outlier data point.
Average square meters = 61.36 meters^2 with a range of [33,93]
Average square feet = 660.5 feet^2 with a range of [355.2,1001]

Read the FAQ at the above website
You should read the "Faq" at the web site mentioned above. There
is very useful information about what to expect when renting an
apartment in Budapest.
Maintenance costs (utilities plus maintenance)
Ask to see an actual copy of the electric, gas, and water bills
Security deposit (usually two months of rent)
Usual length of lease is 12 months
Meter is located inside of the apartment and you will pay the difference between the amount charged and the actual amount used.
Usually a clause in contract for termination of rent with a 60 day notice without a penalty.

Currency conversion link
http://www.ratesfx.com/rates/rate-converter.html

Rentals by the day
This site may be useful for finding temporary acommodation while
you are looking for a permanent place to live. It would be expensive
to pay these rates for too long. Ranges from 35,00 Euro/day to
90,00 Euro/day and up plus variable costs such as cleaning, energy,
and telephone. The descriptions have a link to a good map.
http://www.best-of-budapest.com/inde...ewlang=english

Caveat: You should note Miklos's earlier comment about energy costs
especially during the winter. A potential of 200 USD more per month. An
unusually low price may be offset by a higher charge for energy per month.

I found a Wifi / 802.11 hotspot map from one of the links that Miklos
posted. You are able to click on the dot that represents a Wifi spot to
get information such as the establishment (hotel, cafe) and a photograph.

http://www.hotspotter.hu/en/budapest/

I will need to spend more time finding good information on public
transportation in Budapest. For now I am posting these links.

http://www.budapesthotels.com/touristguide/bkv.asp
http://www.gotohungary.com/informati...ngaround.shtml
http://www.realadventures.com/listings/0001025.htm
http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/budape...ika/transp.htm

Thanks for the links guys!! Very useful. Can I ask something about the specialty or residency ? I 'm not a US resident but really want to do a specialty in the US, after hopefully graduating from Semmelweis (I'm starting in September...i hope ).
When they say the programme is recognised in California what exactly does that mean? What will the difference be if I choose to follow a specialty in a state other than California?
Thanks in advance guys! Sorry if i'm asking too much

Since you aren't a US citizen, I can't help much unfortunately; however, I'd imagine that without some US clinical experience, it'd be difficult to get a residency. It's difficult enough for American grads of foreign schools, let alone a foreign grad of a foreign school (I'm assuming you are not Hungarian, either).

Since the school is recognized by California, that means you can practice in California after you graduate. Many schools are not approved; for example, no graduates from any English language Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Croatian, etc school may ever be licensed as a physician in California. That's a huge market that will be totally closed to grads of those schools; this applies to lots of Carribean schools, too.

So in summary, it has nothing to do with any other states. If the school is licensed in California, there's a good chance you can practice medicine in any of the 50 states. I'm not sure what you mean by choosing a specialty in another state.

Hope that helps.

I agree with Zut on this. I did some research on foreign grads from Hungary--- they do not have as much scope in the US as American grads from the same place...

Plus, the process is more cubersome for non-US grads going to the US, even for some rotations before completion... the whole thing of doing the USMLE step-I first, then finding a place to get some rotations done with all the difficulties within Hungary itself etc etc etc is hard enough for the 'natives' let alone the outsiders in the US.

So scope and chance is limited and US rotations are important to be considered for residencies in the States.

... i think he means what if he decides to pick up a residency in some place other than California.....

Ciao

I'm not quite sure what you are talking about. Non-native English speakers are disadvantaged by language and culture when it comes to competing for residency positions, along with immigration requirements, but otherwise they have equal chances.

Here I have to agree with you. Hungarian schools are not set up for the USMLEs or US clinical rotations. Anyone considering them should be aware of the fact that they will need to figure both these issues out.

While US rotations are key, I'm not sure that 'scope' and 'chance' are limited. Plenty of my non-native speaking classmates landed good residencies in the US. However, they put in the effort to master the USMLE and get US clinicals on their own. Regarding visas, that's a whole different discussion.

Hi Miklos...
I do not mean non-native speakers of English-- I do not think 'native-speaker' matters much if you pass the USMLES (which is in english) and/or TOEFL, I was talking about the Non-US citizens-- and immigration is a key factor built up to discourage as such. They basically do look at you as person from country X and studied in Country Y.... with the world conditions now, they are not so easily giving places to foreign nationals any longer in general. I myself know of many who did go earlier... infact their recommendations partly helped me land here... but its not so nowadays.

Yes, definitely, graduates from country X studied within country X itself or better institutions elsewhere do have better chances for such oppurtinities. One needs to really shine in the USMLES otherwise-- it is not an automatic gaurantee as some of the agents here preach to unknowing students. Think of it... US citizen IMGs have a hard enough time as it is... so what about X from Y?


Ciao
MSH

I believe that you are mistaken. What counts far more is USMLE scores, US clinical experience and language skills. Plenty of Greeks and Middle Easterns who studied in Hungary got US residencies. While, they were in all likelihood asked why they studied in Hungary, their very competitive USMLE scores were more than enough to put that issue to rest.

Folllowing this, you then appear to agree with me.

Guess what? USMLE scores (especially Step 1) are the greatest determining factor of whether an IMG gets interviews or not, even in the 'least' competitive specialties.

I completely agree that nothing is assured and I have long advocated against agents.

Now, allow me to ask you a question.

How did you come to study in Hungary? It seems to me that your expectations are out of line with your experiences. Did you visit the school before deciding to enroll? Did you complete due diligence? I ask because it does not sound like it.