The Happiest College on Earth

Hey there! Sorry for the delay - with travel and getting ready to move to a new apartment this summer has been super busy!

Hey!

It’s definitely harder, that’s for sure. They favor Bouve students for two reasons - first, Bouve sends out their kids’ resumes first (or at least, they did for me, but I know people complained about that so it may change) and second, Bouve kids really are more qualified. In order to go on co-op for Bouve you’re required to have taken a Clinical Skills class and other healthcare classes, so the Bouve kids have a stronger clinical background and of course employers prefer those skills. 

That said, you still have options if you want clinical jobs! I’m gonna bullet point this one for the sake of clarity. 

Clinical courses - last semester, for the first time, they FINALLY allowed non-Bouve kids to take the intro-level Clinical Skills course that a lot of co-ops require. It was unfortunately too late for me, but that will be SUPER helpful for any COS kids in the future

PT jobs - PT jobs move FAST, and there’s a lot of them. Every semester, the PT kids get their positions in the first, like, two weeks of applications. After that, PT (and nursing, though those are harder to get just because they really require a lot of nursing knowledge) jobs are opened to non-Bouve. You’ll have to go to a presentation about it and meet with a Bouve advisor, and then you’ll be all set to apply. There are some great PT jobs if you’re looking for patient interaction.

There actually are a decent amount of clinic jobs that aren’t aimed towards students with a Bouve background. They range from MA jobs to clinical research to front desk help to scribing like I did. Apply to EVERYTHING. That clinical courses class will make you competitive with the Bouve kids, and you never know what you’ll find. 

That’s a common dilemma! Really, you’re not deciding between what you want to major in; you’re deciding whether you want to be a doctor or a nurse or a PA or anything else in the healthcare field. 

For me, personally, I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. I chose doctor over nurse because I’d like to be the main point of care for patients, to be the one helping them make their healthcare decisions. Also, I don’t want to be a nurse because heck it’s hard! However hard being a doctor is, nursing is a million times harder, and I don’t think I could do it. I never really questioned that all too much, actually. 

I’ve been putting it off, but after a week and a half I suppose it’s time...

I’m officially a graduate of Northeastern! It’s hard to know where to begin with five years of amazing experiences to talk about. I never imagined I could find a college that fit me so perfectly, and that would give me such incredible opportunities to help me achieve my goal. I’ll be heading to University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the fall, and I feel fully prepared for it because of everything I did at Northeastern.

I put this post off so long because I knew it would signal the end of my blogging. I started blogging my second year, because I used the bloggers when I made my decision and knew how helpful it could be. For four years, I’ve had an incredible time answering all your questions and sharing my stories. I want to thank anywho who’s ever checked this blog out or asked any questions. I’ve truly loved doing this, and I thank you all for giving me the space for it!

This blog isn’t disappearing - it’ll stay active, in case anyone wants to check out old posts, and I’ll still be answering any questions that come in! I just won’t be focused on new posts, as I’ll soon have my hands full for med school.

Good luck to everyone making their decisions and considering Northeastern, now and in the future. You’ve got a great few years ahead of you, and I know you’ll do great

A quick recap of finals week happenings:

Easter Sunday, NU Stage put on their first concert performance of the Hunchback of Notre Dame to a sold-out audience. They let a few people go to the dress rehearsal, and I was lucky enough to be allowed in because WOW, was it a glorious show. The chorus was incredible, and I seriously cried during “Out There”. It was so, so good and I wish I could see their future concert performances!

hey anon, sorry for the delay over finals week! 

If the squad doesn’t roll up to your last ever final wearing onesies, what’s ever the point?

A while ago I posted about the weird sort of culture shock with came with taking a literature class after years of science classes. We’re reaching the end of the semester (I’m avoiding any discussion of the dreaded G-word) and I finished our last book of the semester, Pet Sematary, tonight.

Looking back on the books we’re read this semester, I am so glad I made room for this class. Horror Fiction has legitimately been my favorite class I’ve ever taken. I’ve loved being exposed to new writing, getting into discussions about books, and I’ve even enjoyed writing essays about my thoughts! I was pretty scared of this class because I’m a wimp when it comes to horror, but even if it led to a few sleepless nights (caused both by fear... and by procrastination) I’ve enjoyed every minute. You can tell by the fact that I’ve started to run out of sticky notes!

If you’re looking for some reading recommendations, I’ve got those! My favorite book of the semester was Hideaway by Dean Koontz - terrifying, but so, so good. We also read a lot of short stories, and Dread by Clive Barker was so incredible it’s become the standard to which my friend and I hold every other short story (”How were the readings for tomorrow?” “They were fine, but they’re no Dread”). 

Hey anon! I actually don’t think I’ve ever talked about the meal plan system before, great question. 

As a freshman, you’re required to have a meal plan. This meal plan has a couple components. First, you have meal swipes, which you can use to get into the dining hall or to get a quick meal at other campus locations (like West End or Rebecca’s). You can choose to have 10, 15, or 19 swipes per week. I started with 15 my first semester and dropped to 10 my second semester. When you use those swipes in the dining hall, it’s buffet style, so you can totally swipe in in the morning and stay all day (though it’s up to you to make healthy food choices!) 

These don’t roll over week to week, so you’ll want to plan carefully to make sure you use them all. 

Outside of meal swipes, you’ll also get dining dollars, which can be used at a lot of restaurants on and off campus. Those are meant to supplement the meal plan, so if you’re on the 10-swipe plan, you’ll get more dining dollars (about $200 for the semester, if I remember correctly) than with the 19-swipe plan (which is more like $100). Those are loaded onto your Husky card for your conveniences. You’ll get used to figuring out when to use a meal swipe vs dining dollars (for example, you wouldn’t want to use dining dollars to pay to go to the d-hall, because it’s expensive without a meal swipe, but you’d probably want to use your dollars for a $5 breakfast at Rebecca’s rather than use a whole swipe). 

A ton of places on and off campus accept dining dollars. On campus, that includes Becky’s, Popeye’s, Qdoba, and more... of campus, you could try something like Panara’s or even Whole Foods. My trick (and one I recommend!) is that, if you have dining dollars left over at the end of the semester, sink them all into a Whole Foods gift card. I’m still using those for groceries!

Hey anon, 

First off, congrats on your admittance! 

In terms of whether Northeastern is worth the cost, I’m wary of giving you a definitive answer, because it’s really a personal decision. For me, the answer is yes - the experience I’ve gotten on co-op and in class was definitely worth the cost (plus, I’ve truly loved Northeastern!). But that’s just my experience, with my family’s financial situation. Yours is going to be different, and as much as I’d love to give you an answer, I really can’t make that decision for you. There are definitely a lot of scholarship opportunities for you to look into both over this summer and before you get to campus so those may be able to help as well. 

Hey anon,

Hey anon, 

This is definitely a complicated question and not one with a clear answer. It’ll vary a lot based on what kind of major you’re interested in. On the Pre-Health website, there’s a list of the common courses required by med schools; it’ll vary school to school, so not every school with require all those classes, but it’s safe to assume you won’t need more than those listed. Overall, they suggest roughly ~16 classes. 

So, if you choose a major like business, with no overlap at all, that is going to be a lot of classes. I’m not positive how many classes are required in a double/combined major program, but I think it’s safe to say you may be close to completing the courseload equivalent of a combined major. (Of course, with all the classes you’d be taking, you may be able to wrangle a minor out of it!)

That being said, if you choose something like English or Sociology you will be completing some of the recommended pre-health classes for your major requirements. Plus, there’s a decent chance you’ll be able to fill some of the more general requirements of the major with the recommended classes. 

We took a bit of a break as midterms week hit, and hit hard. But we’re back, stronger than ever, and moving on to the application process! Today we’ll be going into something pretty fun - letters of recommendation!

The Long & Short of It:

Med schools require letters of evaluation - no surprise there. In particular, they prefer what’s called a Committee Letter. According to the official AMCAS site:

Committee Letter: A Committee Letter is a letter authored by a pre-health committee or pre-health advisor and intended to represent your institution's evaluation of you. A Committee Letter may or may not include additional letters written in support of your application.

Northeastern’s Pre-Health Department does provide committee letter packages, which include all of your individual letters of recommendation bundled with a letter from the Pre-Health department endorsing you as a student and tying the other letters together. Northeastern also has specific requirements for what the individual letters should be:

3 Internal letters from Northeastern faculty

2 should be from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, or Physics professors

1 can be from anywhere, though preferably a non-science professor

1 External Clinical letter from the field you’re applying to (MD if you’re interested in MD, DO if you’re interested in DO, etc.) representing a medical experience in the US in the last 18 months (like shadowing, clinical research, etc.)

Up to 2 additional, optional letters which could be from co-op, volunteering, research, or something similar. 

That probably sounds like a lot, and it is! But ultimately those are the kind of letters med schools want to see, so it’s you’ll need them one way or another. The deadlines that Northeastern sets to make sure you have everything ready on time makes the application process SIGNIFICANTLY easier.

The Action Items:

While you won’t need to ask for letters of recommendation until late in your college career, you should start thinking about it as early as possible. Make connections with professors - go to office hours, ask about their research, and keep visiting once you’re done with the class! Building these connections will not only help you in the class but also give you an excellent resource for any help in the future. 

For those optional letters of recommendation, there’s a ton of flexibility. A co-op supervisor is usually perfect, as is a research PI. Basically, if you’ve done experiential learning, you will likely have a great cache of mentors to ask for letters of recommendation. 

When it gets close to the time of application, make sure to ask your letter writers early! Give them plenty of time to write you a good letter. And keep them updated throughout the process - they love to hear about your successes!