“Why Nu Sigma Nu?”

Perhaps the better question should be, “Why not Nu Sigma Nu?”

Between the house, the people and the activities there is really little not to like about living here.        But in case you need more convincing…

Location:

Nu Sigma Nu is only a scenic twelve minute walk, or a brief downhill bike ride, from the medical school. Though perhaps more importantly, the house is located a mere three blocks from campus and the bustling University Avenue. Instead of being stranded out in the “White Coat Ghetto”– a fair distance from central campus and any activity – you will only be a short walk from the action. University Ave is filled with shops, bars, and places to eat…all within walking distance (5-10 minutes). For the athletic types, the house is right across the street from Ann Arbor’s largest park, Nichols Arboretum, a highlight of Ann Arbor and a great place for a run. Down at the end of Geddes Avenue you’ll find central campus’s recreation building, free to all University of Michigan students and filled with all sorts of athletic facilities. Our house is also much closer to Michigan Stadium (for you football fans) and the athletic campus than the “White Coat Ghetto.” Take home point: You’ll be close to both the medical school and central campus!

Rooms:

Three words for you: Your own room! We’ve all been through having to share a dorm room as a freshman, and it’s an experience that none of us want to ever have to repeat. Here at Nu Sigma Nu you are given your own room, your own privacy, the ability to come and go as you please, not having to worry about disturbing (or being disturbed by) a roommate, in other words, a place to call your own. Having privacy and independence can be a huge factor in your overall quality of life here in medical school. As for the actual room, it is 15.5 ft by 9.5 ft, and includes a bed, a desk, 84 ft³ of closet space, high-speed internet and access to cable. Most of the rooms have balconies as well. Every room recently received brand-new doors and lights, and we plan on putting in new carpets and blinds during the summer of 2007.

Affordability:

We all know that as med students we’ll have student loans hanging over our heads and will be strapped for cash. Don’t worry though; Nu Sigma Nu is to the rescue. Monthly rent at Nu Sigma Nu is $475 for singles, $425 for shared corner rooms, and includes all utilities except phone. Yes, you read that correctly. For only $475/month you will get your own room, free utilities, free parking, free laundry, a kitchen loaded with gadgets, access to the house weight room and much, much more. Look out! Nowhere else in Ann Arbor will you be able to find such a deal!!  Plus, our the esteemed 4th Year International Rotation Scholarships of up to $3,500...just waiting for you!

Academics:

I cannot stress to you how valuable it was as an incoming first year, knowing so little about the medical school and Ann Arbor, to be able to talk and receive advise from the older guys in the house. They all were extremely friendly and went well out of their way to help us M1s. From giving advise on which books to buy, how to approach studying, and what medically school is really like, to actually giving us things like old books, notes, quizzes, and scrubs, the older guys in the house were an invaluable resource and made the transition into medical school much easier. Thanks to their advice and wisdom, I felt way ahead of the game during my first year and was able to avoid much unnecessary worrying.  Plus, their tips and advise for how to manage the clinical years was simply amazing. 

Additionally, the house library contains just about every book you’ll ever need during your medical school career. From required texts to reference books, board review books to clinical books, first year books to fourth year books, it’s all here right at your finger tips. The spacious library also contains large tables, comfy couches, a microscope and histology slides, medical posters for studying, as well as regular novels. You will save hundreds of dollars in books thanks to our library…I know I sure have.

In addition, our Nu Sigma Nu Scholarship fund offers scholarships of up to $3500 to help cover expenses for international rotations during the M4 year.  Global health and healing has always been important to the member of Nu Sigma Nu, and we encourage all of our members to seek out diverse, exciting, one-of-a-kind learning experiences.  You put in the desire and dedication, and we'll help cover you're expenses!

Social:

No one wants to spend their entire time at medical school doing nothing but studying. It’s not good for your overall psyche and has been known to cause student’s heads to implode. Luckily, here at Nu Sigma Nu, you’ll never be short on something non-academic to do for fun. You’ll never have a problem finding someone who wants to head out for a quiet beer, a movie or a big night on the town. Like sports, eh? Guys in the house are always forming intramural teams, going for runs, shooting hoops or playing pick-up football in the arboretum. Don’t want to leave the house? Try a game of pool, foosball or ping pong with a housemate. Or watch a movie/DVD on our giant 61’ surround-sound TV on our brand new leather couches.   Whatever you want to do, there’s a good chance someone else in the house will want to as well.

House Events:

Each semester the house holds several social events that are guaranteed to be a good time. The Nu Sig Halloween Party is legendary. Our Faculty Holiday Dinner is a great opportunity to get to know your professors outside of class as well as to meet many new MDs. House trips to Cedar Point and Canada give you a chance to take a break from Ann Arbor. Pre-game BBQs, House Bar Nights, Football Game Parties and Bowling Nights consistently rock! Oh, and did we mention our annual ski trip weekend up north at Boyne/Nubs Nob?  It's not to be missed.  And we’re always trying to come up with crazy, new ideas for house events, so who knows what will be next!

Food:

At Nu Sigma Nu you get to make whatever you want to eat, whenever you want to eat it. There is no specific meal time and you’ll have no reason to complain about the food since you get to make it just the way you want. Eat what you want, when you want. Because of this flexibility, there’s never any congestion in the kitchen. Our industrial-size kitchen has plenty of space for food storage and cooking, and everyone is given their own cupboard, fridge and freezer space. And of course, every Monday night there is a free house dinner during our house meeting!  Mmm, mmm good.

The House:

The house is just chocked full of goodies.

• A main room with our 61’, surround-sound monster and brand new leather couches that feel like your sitting in the clouds of heaven itself;
• An eating area with three long tables, a new gas BBQ grill (on the porch), and foosball and ping pong tables;
• The fully-loaded kitchen with enough gadgets to make both Emeril and George Foreman jealous;
• For the studious: our library filled with all the books you'll ned; a computer room with two new computers and a printer;
• And the rest: new hallway carpeting; large bathrooms (each with four sinks, two toilets, a urinal and two showers); a weight/exercise room; a basketball hoop; two laundry rooms (four machines each, all FREE!); huge re-paved parking lot; a tool room; a large storage room; a shed; plus, new carpets to be installed in 2007!

Your Housemates:

Whenever moving to somewhere new, it’s not so much the town, location or facilities that make the difference, but the people you meet and befriend. And here at Nu Sigma Nu you’ll be surround by a bunch of good-natured, fun-loving people. We have a great co-ed mix people living at the house with diverse backgrounds and accomplishments and coming from many different states around the US and several from other countries. Thus you’ll learn something new and interesting with every conversation you have. Another huge benefit is that you’ll be living with non-medical students. Day after day after day you’ll be in lecture and lab with medical students, you’ll eat with medical students, you’ll study with medical students, thus it is a great relief to be able to come home and hang out with some non-medical students every once and a while. Not to mention knowing people from other graduate schools mean you’ll know more about the other graduate school’s events and parties, and thus be able to go out and meet more people here at U of M. And believe us, that’s a good thing!