Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Well I have not started school officially yet but I will start a thread anyways and you can follow my journey. The school is very receptive to non-trads and it has one of the smallest medical classes in the nation with 42 students per class. Their financial aid office is amazing and very very helpful. The allowances are more than adequate and the school has one of the lowest debt per medical student for most med students received either full rides or almost full rides.

So, efex101, it sounds like you have decided on Mayo! Wow, I was out of town for awhile, so I must have missed that, if you posted about it. Well, congratulations on deciding. And welcome in advance to Minnesota! As I’m sure you will discover, we are quite proud to have Mayo located here in our state…

I am really excited about my move to MN! I will be going up there with my mom in a week and house hunt once it is narrowed down to a handfull of homes my hubby will come up he he. Mayo is truly an amazing place and I cannot wait to start…hopefully we can plan an OPM meeting somewhere one of these days…

At some point, an OPM meeting here in Minnesota sounds like a great idea. And good luck with the move! If you ever have any questions about local stuff, just let me know–I’d be happy to try to help.

Wow, I just came back from MN and let me tell you to find a home there was such a roller coaster…the homes were selling so fast! we finally found a home and I am so relieved. Everyone at Mayo is nothing but helpful and it feels like we all have known each other forever. I am excited yet dreading the start of classes on July 26th it seems so far away yet it is close…

And before you know it, it will be 3 nights before you’re taking the boards…the time will go by very, very, fast. By the way, what part of town is the house in?

We will be in the NW side of town next to North Park…it is a really nice neighborhood but dang the yards are tiny compared to the ones here in TN! we have like 0.33 acres or something like that…see you soon mpp…

For those of you applying this year I would really suggest considering Mayo as a potential school for you. The class size is small at 42 which for some of us used to smaller schools is priceless. This also means that you get a lot of attention and of course being at Mayo means that you have tons of resources at your fingertips. Mayo has one of the lowest average debts if not the lowest for medical students. Mayo students have pretty awesome board scores well above the national average year after year. Although the academic year for MS1 is quite long you DO start patient contact early during your MS2 with clerkships. If you would like to see more about the life of an MS1 go to http://www.mayo.edu/mms/ and click on “A day in the life of…”

Well, we had all our 14,000 lbs of stuff packed and moved to MN. Thank God for the military for they took care of all that…it would have been a nightmare to do this on our own. Right now I am still in TN at a friend’s house and we leave this Friday to head to KCMO to spend a few days with the in-laws. Then it is off to Rochester and the fun of unpacking all that stuff. School at Mayo starts pretty early on July 26th so there will be no summer for me this year.

Okay guys I am starting to get butterflies in my stomach…OMG I am going to start medical school so soon! I am now in KCMO one step closer to Mayo and my dream of one day becoming a physician. I cannot believe I have finally arrived…it seems that yesterday we were still on the OPM e-mail list server with Mary Renard now Dr. Renard on the WL “never give up never surrender!” and me being a newbie pre-med wannabe holy cow. I am so very excited about starting the next step of my journey but I am also slightly overwhelmed and feel totally blessed by God.

Congrats on soon becoming an MS-1. Your enthusiasm about this school has prompted me to check it out. This kind of personal info about schools is invaluable to those of us looking into where we might be interested in applying. There is only so much good info you can get from reading web sites and the MSAR, so thank you. Please continue to post on your experiences at Mayo, it gives those of us in thick of undergrad work a palpable excitement to keep us going.
Best of luck to you,
Stephanie

Thanks Stephanie that is the whole point of having these threads and I am happy that someone will be looking at my school more closely.
I wanted to add that the one thing that is already setting Mayo apart from other schools for me, is how much it feels like a family. The Mayo folks really help you out no matter what question you ask and how silly you may think it is…They have been nothing but helpful in my move, where to pick neighborhoods, what schools are awesome, where to buy groceries ,etc. Even the post office folks were nice! they actually called me back in TN! that just does not happen everywhere. The medical students that I have met are great as well, they have offered support and they mean it. I just got a call this weekend to attend a barbecue but alas we are still not there. More later folks.

Congrats on the move! Medical school is really fun and you will enjoy it so much! Don’t get too scared - remember that the school really wants you to succeed at this point. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but you’ll do great.
Just remember to take some time to smell the roses during MSI. If you let it, the amount of information can be really overwhelming. I can see how people spend all day and night every day trying to learn it all. But you don’t have to know it ALL - remember that! I like to use the review books (BRS, etc) to focus myself so I make sure I’m learning the really important, high-yield stuff that will stick with me.
When is your first day? Congratulations!
Pam
P.S. Don’t let the 2nd years scare you either - they love to tell stories of people laminating their notes to study in the shower, etc.

School starts on July 26th that whole week is orientation and then the following Monday is when we start with classes…

Okay today is M-Day for my family and I! we are heading to Mayo and this is it folks! no more looking back we are opening a new chapter in our life…my kids are excited to meet new friends and start high school and middle school and my husband is really excited about the fishing/hunting opportunities for he is an avid outdoorsman. I am excited about our wonderful new home and getting started with my goals, it now seems so close. Our drive from KCMO to Rochester is about 6 hours and we will be staying at a hotel for about 9 days until we close. This will give me plenty of time to get the kiddies enrolled in their schools as well as the ligh/gas/cable/phone before we close. Next time I post it will be from Mayo Land.

I have arrived! I am now sitting in the student learning center typing away on this loud keyboard ahhhggg! well it is getting much closer…me scared

I’m so excited for you! Don’t worry, I bet pretty soon you’ll be too busy to be scared!

oh efex you are going to have SO MUCH FUN. It is a great ride, be sure to enjoy it!
Mary

How exciting! I have no doubt that you are going to be great! Enjoy that new, excited, scared feeling while it lasts, I imagine it will soon give way to a different host of feelings.
Stephanie

Okay guys we are now almost unpacked and settled…(can you hear the sigh of relief?) I love our new home it is gorgeous and the kids are loving this neighborhood! there are tons of kids here for them to play with wow. I am now finally letting things sink in (like OMG I am starting medical school soon ) so let the games begin!