hey..i'm attending the boston med program this july and i was wondering of someone could please clear up for me once and for all what to bring! what is acceptable for tops for professional? relaxed professional? how formal is the dinner dance thing in boston? and should i bring a hair straightener and/ or blow dryer? also anyone recommend a specific type of shoe to bring since we have t owalk around so much? thanks!

Great question! I am trying to decide which city to attend the med program in and I also need some information on what to pack. I have basically the same questions... how professional/formal are the day to day sessions? Is there a semi-formal or formal dance? Thanks!
~Vanna
P.S. I am also a competitive swimmer and it would be very disappointing to me (and my summer league coach) to give up my practices for ten whole days! Does the forum allow use of the hotel/campus pools?

I had the same questions as both of you when I was anticipating the forum last summer. Don't worry, you'll be fine.

First of all, a list of recommended items should be sent to you shortly after you are accepted. I should have my list from last year, though. Ah, yes:

Packing List:
An alarm clock, watch and umbrella
Spending money for lunches ($8-10 each) and souvenirs
Camera, film, a note pad and pens
Bathing suit, cover up, beach towel and sunscreen
Pre-paid phone card or cell phone
Extra towel set
A backpack or book bag
Your personal necessities
A photo ID

They're not that strict on dress code. A professional shirt would be any sort of blouse or sweater. Relaxed professional is the above shirts as well as T-shirts. For professional and relaxed professional, no halter/tank tops, spaghetti straps, midriff-bearing tops, low or see-through blouses.

I didn't go to Boston for my forum, but in Atlanta, the dinner dance apparel consisted of prom-type dresses, blouses and skirts, and semi-casual dresses. It's probably a good idea to bring a blow dryer and curling iron. The latter would be useful to prepare for the dinner dance.

As far as finding comfortable shoes, you can wear loafers or non-athletic sandals most of the time, as relaxed professional is the norm. For professional, I just slipped some insoles in a pair of black closed-toed shoes. I recommend Dr. Scholl's.

As far as what city, I'd recommend a city that you might want to attend college in, a city with excellent site seeing, and a city with numerous medical places to visit. My top 3 choices were Boston, Washington D.C., and Atlanta.

Day-to-day sessions are fairly relaxed. You'll receive an itinerary each evening on what to wear the next day. Usually you'll wear relaxed professional or causal. Professional is for guest speakers, hospital visits, other off-site tours, etc. Expect to wear professional clothes 6-8 times. Refer to the 5th paragraph for dance clothing information. It varies from city to city as to whether you can use hotel pools, so after you choose a city, ask the NYLF staff whether you can use the pool.

I'm half asleep right now, but one thing that comes to mind is..alot of girls needed bandaids because they wore bad shoes. My shoes were pretty comfortable, but it just depends. I always carry band-aids with me though, just because I'm clumsy.

Also, I was in Houston, and it was pretty hot. Just be sure to be able to layer up depending on where you're going and anticipate all kinds of weather. Generally meaning heat, cold, wind, and rain.

Broccoli girl was pretty specific, but if ya'll have anymore questions, we're here. =)

I'm off to sleep..

I went to Boston summer 2003 (can't believe it was that long ago). Anyway. The dinner dance thing, the dresses were generally a step below a dress you might wear for a semi formal. Most were spaghetti strap dresses, and fairly simple. Make sure to have a sweater; ours was on a boat out on Boston harbor and it sure got cold once the sun went down.
Professional wear: girls must wear skirts or dresses unless they are wearing a suit (with some sort of jacket). Then they may wear pants. I generally wore a black skirt with a shortsleeve sweater shirt on professional days. I did wear a couple of suits, and one other skirt/nice top combo. You CAN wear sleeveless shirts, even though it says no tank tops. I can't remember now what my advisor's distinction between the two was, but there's a difference.
Business casual: black pants and nice top work well. Khakis and nice top. I did khacki skirt and just plain blue short sleeve cotton shirt one day, and that was fine.
Casual days you can wear shorts or whatever, but you still have to look neat.
I'll try to post the website where I've got my pictures from NYLF shortly so you can see some of the outfits, and the dinner dance dresses. This was a couple years ago, but you can get an idea of what people wore. I found that Kohls was a great place to shop. Actually I got almost all of my outfits there.

And if you have additional questions feel free to IM me: monarchsfan16

Here are pictures
Also, to answer the blow dryer question. If you use a blow dryer/straightener/curling iron on a regular basis, bring them. I brought a blow dryer and never used it. I did use my roomates straightener at one point, because I needed my hair down at night after having it in a ponytail all day. Lots of people used blow dryers, but since it was so hot and humid I really preferred to just let my hair air dry (albeit very slowly), just so I wouldn't have additional hot air being blown on my head. It is personal preference though.

Does it matter what you wear when you arrive?

You can wear casual clothes when you arrive to the forum. The faculty advisors (fa's) and other people working with the forum, will tell you specifically when to dress professional, relaxed professional, or casual.

I wouldn't recommend a "prom dress" for the final dance.. just bring a sundress, or cute little dress.. def in houston bring bandaids.. If you straighten your hair alot, bring a straightener, but always keep in mind either your roommates or many of the other girls will have these too, so you can always borrow.

COMFORTABLE CLOSED-TOED dress shoes are a must! I was in pain because mine were high heeled. You do the most walking when you're visting places and have to be dressed professionally and they won't let you go if your shoes aren't closed toed.

CLOTHES yeah im not too sure bout that one either. I was thinking about the professions, the relaxed professional, the casual, the semi-formal and the restricted clothing and wasnt quite sure to make of it. It sure does sound like a lot of clothing to bring. For the most part im the type of girl that lives in jeans. I will probably bring 2 dresses for the dance-- one more casual than the other. I like to have choices just in case

Hey i know what you mean i don't dress up very much and coming from kansas i am more of the country "cowgirl" if you know what i mean so any ways help with CLOTHES

Go to "Questions for NYLF/Med Staff" section, and click on the third topic which is "forum information". This section gives specific information on what to wear to the med forum.

I went to San Fran 2003 and I found that I didn't need close toed shoes that often. Only for the hospitals, if I remember correctly. I wore cute sandals a lot of the time. For the dinner/dance I wore a black skirt outfit. Most girls just wore cute skirts or dresses (black).

for closed toe shoes...would ballet flats be ok? I don't really feel like ruining my feet with heels. Here's a link to what i was thinking of: http://www.coach.com/shop/product_nobefree.asp?product_no=7093&category_id=159&show_bc=1&easyask_id= in pink

Wow, those are expensive shoes. If you have a professional outfit to go with them, they might work, but I'd suggest ordinary closed-toe dress shoes.

quote:

Originally posted by MaGGi3sH3R3:
CLOTHES yeah im not too sure bout that one either. I was thinking about the professions, the relaxed professional, the casual, the semi-formal and the restricted clothing and wasnt quite sure to make of it. It sure does sound like a lot of clothing to bring. For the most part im the type of girl that lives in jeans. I will probably bring 2 dresses for the dance-- one more casual than the other. I like to have choices just in case

Believe me, it may seem overwhelming, but when you actually go to pack, it's not too bad. Remember to roll your clothes, though, to optimize the space you have in your suitcase. Bring shorts or jeans and tees for each day if you prefer casual wear. You can wear t-shirts for relaxed professional. Skirts double up in the relaxed and professional categories, so you end up bringing maybe 5 tee shirts, 5 dress shirts, khaki pants or skirts for relaxed professional, 4 or 5 skirts, some shorts or jeans, and your 2 dresses. You'll probably do some shopping while you're there, too, so don't worry if you lack a little for the dress code.

ahhh...so we do need to bring some suits for professional? then just some nice skirts and blouses for relaxed professional? and then just look neat for causual??

so nice black pants would be relaxed professional right? but could i get away with them for professional if i wore them with a blazer or a nice top? also...wat kind of shoes to you suggest? pictures would be helpful bc i don't really know wat to bring!

First off, I have to tell you guys that you will have so much fun! It was such a great experience and I'm so glad I went. I went to the Boston forum just last summer.

BroccoliGirl is right - it seems overwhelming but when you go to pack you realize you can do a lot with what you have! I borrowed a suit from my mom's friend and I only had to buy about two new outfits. I would suggest black pants because they can be worn with practically anything. For shoes - I'm short, so I got shoes with a small heel and it didn't bother me. It sounds stupid, but walk around in your shoes before you bring them so you can figure out where you are going to get blisters! Oh, and make sure you have shoes to match your outfits! Good luck shopping!