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When/ where would be a good time to start looking for apartments? Also, what material or study suggestions do you have before the didactic year starts?

Hey Seltzer,

 

So I started looking for apartments about 2 months ahead of the start of school.  I live in South Bethlehem, which so far the following has happened: my car has been vandalized b/c a drug dealer didn't like where I parked, a guy was beaten outside of my apartment for reasons unknown, and a dog was beaten to death in the street.  I live 12 minutes from campus and about 1000feet from Lehigh University.  It really depends because a mile down the road is family friend neighborhoods.  Also, parking in the City of Bethlehem is awful.  There are 2 hour parking limits without a permit and every part of the City is broken down into block sections that essentially keep you to parking in your own neck of the woods.  If you want somebody to come visit from out of town, you get 14 calendar days per year to give them a parking spot and then you're done.   So a lot of students wind up living in the Saucon Valley Apartments which is basically a bunch of condos.  It depends on you, I needed to live alone b/c the idea of having a roommate is terrible.  That being said, the financial aid package from the school is literally a joke.  If you do the math on what your "estimated living expenses" are you're going to be shocked at how completely unrealistic they are.  I strongly suggest saving in advance, having family money, or hopefully having some other source of money.  

 

What to study:

Everybody who says "just take a vacation and relax before PA school" is either coming right off of undergrad or somebody I would never listen to again.  ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

Without question, if you can do anything do this: 1. Know physiology STRONG, I mean go back and relearn regular physiology extremely well.  I'm not getting paid for this but I'd say that Lecturio.com is a subscription site that Medical School students use that will actually prepare you incredibly well (youtube and google reviews for them if you don't believe me).  Same goes for Anatomy.  The school relies, very, very heavily that you come in with a strong grasp of normative anatomy and physiology so if you took those courses a few years ago or you can't tell me right now which cranial nerves do what you'd do yourself a huge favor to start reading.  Also, you're going to take a medical terminology exam the first week.  If you haven't taken med term as a college course you can just buy a $2.00 copy of "The Language of Medicine by Davi-Ellen Chabner" on ebay or amazon.  Don't bother with a brand new copy you'll never use it again after the exam.  Problem is that the exam is worth a disproportionate amount of your grade for one of your core classes.  Another great resource is "Clinical Anatomy by Netter."  Don't buy it on Kindle but if you do buy the digital version buy it using a program that allows you to print out pages.  

 

If you've never seen an EKG before start getting familiar with them now.  If you want a more detailed list of mistakes I've made along the way send me a private message.  Good luck no matter what.

 

 

Hey guys also, be advised, the classes of 2018 and 2017 both have Facebook groups so message some current students for their opinions b/c everybody has their own ideas.  

 

This isn't me, but this Doctor is a great resource

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Hi heyitsthatguy! What was your first semester like? Was it harder than you expected? Would you mind sharing any study habits that worked for you? Also, how was the Friday morning rotations? Did you like it? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Hey Gio.  As for first semester, I would strongly advise asking another student from the current class their opinion on the semester.  Best habits I would say start studying from day 1 (of class, not orientation).  It's incredibly easy to fall behind, I mean it.  There were students who managed their time INCREDIBLY well (much better than me) so speak with them regarding their habits b/c I'd be lying through my teeth if I started giving advice.  Definitely make sure of the following:

 

1. Any problems in your personal/family/financial life are fixed PRIOR to the start of the program.  Seriously.  

2.  Get sleep.  Sleep deprivation is NOT necessary in this program and if you find yourself pulling all-nighters or not taking effective self-care you need to speak with a faculty member or staff member immediately.  If anybody tells you "you shouldn't be sleeping" then they're a fool.  

3. Go to the group facebook for the current year of students finishing their first semester and ask them questions, they're the best ones to talk to.

4.  Spaced repitition

 

B/c this is a public forum I'm going to answer your question diplomatically:

Friday morning rotations can be very interesting but it's more of a shadowing experience than a "rotation" per say, as per the University guidelines and PA handbook you have VERY specific limits as to how you should be interacting with the patients for safety/liability purposes.  You'll get WONDERFUL exposure to other members of the Allied healthcare team (PAs in various specialties, Physical therapists, Nurse Practitioners, MD/DOs, RNs, OTs, etc) which is really great b/c the opportunity to see how the continuity of care works on a global scale is super rewarding and if you have never heard of certain jobs then it's all the more valuable for you as a provider to get exposure to those fields that practice in the world of medicine. Case in point: I had the privelage to shadow a PA at a dialysis center and I had absolutely zero idea about how complex and challenging that field is.  Not to mention, seeing that PAs and NPs work together as part of a team and (at least from what I saw) treated each other as total equals despite what a lot of the hype you might read about would suggest.  I'd say that the best part of the friday morning rotations was speaking with recent grads of the program and/or getting back to seeing real patients and knowing that the reality of the job is a lot of fun and super rewarding.  Of all of the PAs I met on rotation not a single one said they regretted entering the profession and all of them were genuinely happy about being PAs.  

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Hey current p1 here, congratulations on the acceptances and interviews everyone! Feel free to ask me questions, I'd be happy to give some feedback about the program or the area etc! Also idk where the other person lives, but Bethlehem itself is huge and encompasses a lot of different towns. So most of it isn't bad. The area has a lot of farmland and deer more than anything. A lot of people live with their classmates, split apartments or townhouses, it cuts down on the costs and you can carpool. So win win. Anyways, back to studying. Best of luck all.

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Hey Seltzer,

 

So I started looking for apartments about 2 months ahead of the start of school.  I live in South Bethlehem, which so far the following has happened: my car has been vandalized b/c a drug dealer didn't like where I parked, a guy was beaten outside of my apartment for reasons unknown, and a dog was beaten to death in the street.  I live 12 minutes from campus and about 1000feet from Lehigh University.  It really depends because a mile down the road is family friend neighborhoods.  Also, parking in the City of Bethlehem is awful.  There are 2 hour parking limits without a permit and every part of the City is broken down into block sections that essentially keep you to parking in your own neck of the woods.  If you want somebody to come visit from out of town, you get 14 calendar days per year to give them a parking spot and then you're done.   So a lot of students wind up living in the Saucon Valley Apartments which is basically a bunch of condos.  It depends on you, I needed to live alone b/c the idea of having a roommate is terrible.  That being said, the financial aid package from the school is literally a joke.  If you do the math on what your "estimated living expenses" are you're going to be shocked at how completely unrealistic they are.  I strongly suggest saving in advance, having family money, or hopefully having some other source of money.  

 

 

I'm a wife of a current P1 student. In regards to your financial aid issue, I understand where you are coming from. The financial aid dept is basing their numbers off a single person probably having minimal bills and roommates to split rent. We have 4 kids! You can go to them and have your financial aid adjusted if you can show your monthly expenses. What we did was purchase everything with a card to show and put them into itemized categories.  It's hard to show a monthly expense for shampoo and such, but we just took an average month of spending for our family. It is up to the discretion of the financial aid director whether they will raise your cost of attendance to get more aid, whether it be federally or private loan. As a family of 6 and living essentially off student loans because I stay home with our kids while my husband goes to class, we make it work. We are pretty frugal in general. The financial aid dept raised his cost of attendance so we could get a private loan to cover what federal didn't cover.   

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When/ where would be a good time to start looking for apartments? Also, what material or study suggestions do you have before the didactic year starts?

 I'm a wife of a P1 student.(He is studying for finals as I write this). We moved from out of state and couldn't come to look at places before hand. We started like 2 months before and were hoping to do it all online, but struggled, due to the fact that we were going to be living off student loans and didn't have real income. We came out here with out a place. Luckily my brother in law lives an hour and half a way, so we could look at places and have our moving truck parked. We found an agent that helped us find a place within the week of being in PA. We live in Hellertown, which is about 6 miles from the school. It is a great family-friendly safe place. I would look into Hellertown, Coopersburg, and Quakertown. Some areas of Bethlehem are good, but sketchy around Lehigh University. I looked up crime statistics to help navigate us since we have 4 kids. 

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I'm a wife of a current P1 student. In regards to your financial aid issue, I understand where you are coming from. The financial aid dept is basing their numbers off a single person probably having minimal bills and roommates to split rent. We have 4 kids! You can go to them and have your financial aid adjusted if you can show your monthly expenses. What we did was purchase everything with a card to show and put them into itemized categories.  It's hard to show a monthly expense for shampoo and such, but we just took an average month of spending for our family. It is up to the discretion of the financial aid director whether they will raise your cost of attendance to get more aid, whether it be federally or private loan. As a family of 6 and living essentially off student loans because I stay home with our kids while my husband goes to class, we make it work. We are pretty frugal in general. The financial aid dept raised his cost of attendance so we could get a private loan to cover what federal didn't cover.   

Totally agreed, if your husband is who I think he is (great guy!!!) and we got to talking about the experience of Financial Aid I think it became clear that the school would really help the students out by realizing that not everybody is a traditionally aged student without a family or very many expenses.  I'd definitely suggest to incoming students that they begin assessing their financial plan as early as possible.  The amount of hidden expenses (gas for rotations, health insurance, the cost of childcare and/or losing a spouse's income are all factors that are very unique to the individual).  Is there anything you'd have done differently from a financial standpoint for other students in the same position?  I know my own experience was a challenge, my hat goes off to you for overcoming that kind of stress when family's involved! 

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Totally agreed, if your husband is who I think he is (great guy!!!) and we got to talking about the experience of Financial Aid I think it became clear that the school would really help the students out by realizing that not everybody is a traditionally aged student without a family or very many expenses.  I'd definitely suggest to incoming students that they begin assessing their financial plan as early as possible.  The amount of hidden expenses (gas for rotations, health insurance, the cost of childcare and/or losing a spouse's income are all factors that are very unique to the individual).  Is there anything you'd have done differently from a financial standpoint for other students in the same position?  I know my own experience was a challenge, my hat goes off to you for overcoming that kind of stress when family's involved! 

The one thing I can think of is try to get your financial numbers into the financial aid dept as quick as possible if you think you will need your cost of attendance adjusted. Unfortunately, we had to wait until we had a lease signed to show proof of that expense, along with other expenses like electric bill and what not.

 

I would say, just try to be as debt free as possible. We don't have any car payments or credit card debt going into school, that helps a ton. We had some money saved back to help us get by until our financial aid was set properly. 

 

And of course, never borrow more money than you have to!

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Does anyone accepted for class of 2019 know if there is a Facebook group yet? I've been accepted and I want to start looking for housing /roommates, but I can't find a resource to do this yet. When I came in to interview I believe the program director mentioned that they have a resource where future students find housing being vacated by graduating students, but I don't know where to find this either.

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I haven't seen a Facebook group yet. I have been checking as well! I've also been checking the myDSU page but nothing there either.

I have been checking as well and have not seen or received anything through the DSU page. I am glad I am not the only one because I was starting to get worried. My confirmation email regarding my deposit said we won't start hearing from Desales until late Feb-March. So I am sure we will be finding out soon!

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  • 2 weeks later...

One of my classmates made the fb group for our class (class of 2018), DeSales doesn't make the PA fb. We made our own and that's how most of us found roommates. Also if anyone is looking for housing, I highly recommend the Saucon View apartments in Bethlehem. I live there now and love it! There's a clubhouse with a pool, small gym, office and a furnished meeting room that I study in sometimes. The apartments are really nice, have washer and dryer in the apartments and they have a bunch of different floor plans. A lot of desales and lehigh graduate students live there, plus some young families/retired couples so it's pretty quiet and well maintained. It's less than 10 minutes from school and real close to a grocery store. Since I'm a resident if you use my name (Jen Umscheid) on your initial visit of the apartments and end up moving in, I get a resident referral incentive that I'd be happy to split with you! It's a few hundred dollars, so it's a win win! 

Congratulations to all who have been accepted! Please let me know if you have any questions that I can help with. 

-Jen 

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I'm disappointed with this program. I never received any type of feedback after submitting my applications. The least they could do is send a generic rejection letter instead of keeping us waiting. We took the time and effort to fill out and pay for their applications, they should at least have the decency to send an e-mail to close the cycle.... very unprofessional of the school.

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I'm disappointed with this program. I never received any type of feedback after submitting my applications. The least they could do is send a generic rejection letter instead of keeping us waiting. We took the time and effort to fill out and pay for their applications, they should at least have the decency to send an e-mail to close the cycle.... very unprofessional of the school.

Most schools I interviewed at didn't send a rejection letter to close out the cycle. I think it is pretty common, but I understand where you are coming from.

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Jen,

 

Do most of the current DeSales students live in the Saucon View apartments? Also what are other popular apartments?I remember on my interview day one first-yr student said most students live in "the village" but I forgot exactly what he said that was. 

 

Thank you!

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