Factors when picking a school

[whyrightmeow]

So I am in my first year and there are a few things I wish I would have considered before I made my final decision. These are only my opinion, and I won't be offended if yours varies. I am only posting this because I wish I would have read something like it before I made my decision.

I am at The Ohio State University right now as an out of state student.

Positives:
Can apply for resident tuition next year
Great school, nice facilities
Curriculum includes Professional development - basically a 1 credit course on a variety of topics including stress, time managment, finances, etc
Parking is right outside the building
Parking pass is a hang tag, so carpoolers can share 1 tag between several cars
24 hr access to building
Nice recreational facility/wall climbing
Social worker available 24/7 (for when you finally have that meltdown)

Negatives:
Quarter system (not semesters) - this complicates everything. Plus you don't finish until June.
Can only leave for 3 weeks over the summer - so any externship must be in-state unless it is HIGHLY unusual.
Lockers are tiny; a normal bookbag will not fit into them. It is also very crowded when everyone is trying to get to their locker at the same time. (seems minor, I know, but its the little stresses that are the worst)

Things I wish I would have asked:
Is anatomy lab structured, or do you just get a dog and a book? (Our canine anatomy lab is, in my opinion, poorly structured)
Are tests returned to students, or is it against honor code to write down questions from the test? (At OSU vet school no tests are returned, EVER. This bothers me after every test, since I like to know what I got wrong and what the correct answer was - this may have been a deal-breaker for me)
How much (live) animal interaction is there for first year students?
Do you buy class notes or are they posted online so notes can be taken directly on a laptop? (I was amazed at needing to buy 80% of my notes, when I came from an undergrad school that I never once bought a course pack for)
Is the schedule set, or does it change from day to day? (Our schedule has a main theme, but basically changes a little each day)

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[deleted498041]

WesternU first year input:

Pros:

• PBL: I love getting involved in the cases. I personally feel that I retain more information this way and am way more motivated to study. Since starting PBL studying is never a chore. I almost never experienced this in undergrad where I had the traditional style of learning. I really like how the clinics are also integrated to supplement the PBL case at the time. If we have an optho case that week we are likely to have a clinic learning how to do eye exams. All our other additional information that week (histology, lecture, molecular and cellular biology class and anatomy obviously) will be focused on that subject so the book learning sticks and is actually interesting.
• Hands on experience: lots of it, both in clinics and in outside clubs. As @rwwilliams mentioned first years have the opportunity to go to S&N clinic if they want. There is always something going on every week.
• Professors: they are very supportive, available and helpful.
• Small class size
• Location: pro and con. You are close to Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and the mountains. Vegas if you really need to get out.

Cons:

• PBL: also a con. Finding things for yourself can be chore. Sometimes I want to be spoon fed information. Sometimes it can be frustrating because you're not sure if you're studying relevant information that you will need for the exams. When we do get lectures I appreciate them.
• Pomona: its not the prettiest place to go to school. I am nearby (10 mins) in Montclair which I like. I know other students are in Claremont, Chino or Rancho so there are places to reside that are perfectly fine but Pomona itself is not in the greatest location. We have security on campus all the time so its not so much an issue of safety but if I had a choice I would would put Western somewhere nicer and it would pretty much be perfect.
• IPE: this is an inter professional class that the whole school goes to to. I wish we didn't have to meet as often or at all. I understand the importance of communication between professions but the way that the cases are designed do not properly include veterinarians. When I go I feel like it wastes my time, its more of an annoyance than anything.

Wow! A first year on SDN? I was starting to think I was the only WesternU kiddie on here

If it makes any difference, I just wanted to add that I did my first spay yesterday and felt so 100% comfortable with the entire procedure. I knew the names of what I was touching, I knew how to tell if I had exteriorized the ovary enough or if I needed to break down the suspensory ligament, and I felt like I'd done a great job at the end of the procedure. I have friends at other schools that absolutely freak the first time they're scrubbed in and cutting. I think I felt so comfortable because I knew and had had practiced every little step on cadavers or models prior to this, several times.
Also, because of the S/N experience I got first and second year, I'm super comfortable doing castrations now, without any help or needing to be watched.

 

[battie]

So I finished the list and SDN is telling me it is too long. . It is 55 pages in Word.

 

[WildZoo]

 

[battie]

My bad. 53 pages in Word. 21,454 words total. It's even all formatted and condensed so there aren't repeats. It's so pretty.

Going through all of that stuff leads me to one question though: What are people's definitions of "small town". A lot of these college towns were described as "small towns" but had more than 50,000 people. That ain't a small town. lol. Maybe a small city. My undergrad was a town of 5,000 (with the students). That's a small town.

 

[WildZoo]

It's probably just relative to what people are used to. 50,000 seems smallish to me because I grew up in a city of about 840k

 

[battie]

I grew up in 300,000, so I can see that. I think my definition rides mainly on if a place has a mall or not. If you have a mall, you are not a small town. lol.

 

[k80rigs]

You can always attach the word document itself, rather than copying and pasting!

 

[NStarz]

Or put it on Google drive

 

[battie]

I totally didn't think about adding the document like this!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!

Now a few notes on how I did this. I condensed it, meaning that I either combined or took out doubled information. If I took out one, it was the less informative point. For an example, if someone said, "I like the VTH being next door!" and a different person said, "I like how the school and the VTH are connected by a bridge so I don't even have to go outside!", I used the second one. I also took out all the "I like"s. You would be amazed at how much that shortened everything. I was. I grammatically corrected as much as I could (what is with vet people and the over use of ellipsis?) and tried to keep everything in the same formatting style.

If you have any questions on how I did this, just ask! Also, if I missed anything, I am so sorry! I tried and am relatively sure I got everyone's opinions.

Have fun reading through this!

 

[ameropean_chelsea]

I totally didn't think about adding the document like this!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!

Now a few notes on how I did this. I condensed it, meaning that I either combined or took out doubled information. If I took out one, it was the less informative point. For an example, if someone said, "I like the VTH being next door!" and a different person said, "I like how the school and the VTH are connected by a bridge so I don't even have to go outside!", I used the second one. I also took out all the "I like"s. You would be amazed at how much that shortened everything. I was. I grammatically corrected as much as I could (what is with vet people and the over use of ellipsis?) and tried to keep everything in the same formatting style.

If you have any questions on how I did this, just ask! Also, if I missed anything, I am so sorry! I tried and am relatively sure I got everyone's opinions.

Have fun reading through this!

Omg. Someone needs to send you a cake or something.

 

[WillowRosenberg]

I totally didn't think about adding the document like this!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!

Now a few notes on how I did this. I condensed it, meaning that I either combined or took out doubled information. If I took out one, it was the less informative point. For an example, if someone said, "I like the VTH being next door!" and a different person said, "I like how the school and the VTH are connected by a bridge so I don't even have to go outside!", I used the second one. I also took out all the "I like"s. You would be amazed at how much that shortened everything. I was. I grammatically corrected as much as I could (what is with vet people and the over use of ellipsis?) and tried to keep everything in the same formatting style.

If you have any questions on how I did this, just ask! Also, if I missed anything, I am so sorry! I tried and am relatively sure I got everyone's opinions.

Have fun reading through this!

Thank you soo much!!

 

[WildZoo]

Looking through it, I'm laughing at someone saying $180 is expensive for a year of parking

 

[k80rigs]

Hello UC Davis...went there for undergrad, try 180 a quarter.

 

[KCgophervet]

Props to you on making that document. Of course I downloaded it (for curiosity) and found a lot of old out-of-date info for U of MN

I've updated it below (italics is the outdated, bold is updated)

Positives:
· Small class size (90 students) 102 students in c/o 2017
· Fabulous first year faculty- especially for anatomy (we definitely got way more than a dog and a book!)
· Regular contact with live animals from first year on
· Perform our first surgery (spay or neuter) during spring semester of second year New curriculum = this isn't until Fall semester 3rd year.
· Lots of opportunities for people who want to be involved in research, from summer programs to DVM/PhD or DVM/MPH dual degree
· We have one of the busiest small animal teaching hospitals in the country
· We have a brand new equine center and brand new 3 tesla MRI (the most powerful MRI at any veterinary hospital in the world)
· Other fun toys- linear accelerator, CT, digital radiology, underwater treadmills for canine and equine
· Notes available as online or paper versions (you can opt for one or the other) No longer printing notes for us
· We are associated with the Raptor Center (on campus) and Wildlife Rehab Center of Minnesota (near campus), and also serve the Como and Minnesota Zoos
· We are also near the U of MN med school, which means occasionally we get invited to watch fancy surgeries like open-heart surgery in sheep
· Lots of really active student clubs bring in great speakers and host fun wetlabs
· We're located in an urban center, but also less than half an hour away from rural MN (for those folks who keep or board horses), and less than a day's drive to wilderness areas like the BWCA
· International travel is encouraged for summers and externships- travel grants are also available
· In our anatomy lab, we had a pre-lab lecture where we talk about what structures we're looking for, what they do, etc. Then we headed down to lab and did the dissection. Each lab had a list of structures we needed to dissect out and ID that day. The first half of the semester is spent on cat/dog, and the second half is pony (well, most groups had a pony- one group had a cow, one group had a sheep). Anatomy is now a year long class with first semester on small animals/carnivores ie dogs/cats and second semesters on large animals/herbivores ie calves/ponies

Negatives:
· Professors can be kept on/let go based on how much research they're involved in- so we have some lousy professors who publish prolifically, and some great professors have been let go because they don't publish enough
· It's Minnesota- it does get cold here, and it snows too
· The ruminant caseload is not very high
· The teaching hospital does not see any companion exotics
· Aside from the new equine center and the building where the 3rd year classroom is, the facilities are fairly old and unattractive
· There are a lot of interns and residents here, which means a lot of people to learn from but also a lot of people that get to work on cases, do surgery, etc who aren't students
· If you get in a non-resident, plan on paying non-resident tuition all four years. You can apply for residency, but it's pretty arbitrary whether or not you'll get it. Rumor has it they are eventually going to take away the option to get residency during school altogether.
· Notes are about 100 dollars a semester No longer offering printed notes, online notes are freeeee
· New curriculum can be a positive or negative, right now lack of communication between the professors is making it difficult because they no longer know what we've already been taught or not, which is making it difficult for some to build upon previous classwork (because sometimes we haven't had it yet). That being said, kinks are being worked out and some parts of the new curriculum are pretty nice (like a full year of anatomy, etc).

 

[RoriGirl23]

First off...spiders scare the crap out of me ....had to scroll down to keep them out of my sight while typing this. But any-who I am committing to Minnesota, I loved it but the price tag scares me. I got waitlisted at Mizzou and Illinois and I know these are both much cheaper options. I loved Mizzou and I know if I get pulled from the waitlist Ill go there but I am still up in the air about Illinois. On my tour they mentioned they are currently going through curriculum changes and each year has a different curriculum. In addition, their pass rate for the board exams seems lower than other schools I saw. I was pretty disappointed because I don't think my tour guide particularly sold the school. She didn't answer questions thoroughly, specifically, the area with all of the animal dummies. She made it sound like even though we have early clinicals, they wouldn't involve real animals? Furthermore when asked several questions she said she didn't know because our curriculum would be different than hers is now. Some vets I spoke to said to stay away from schools going through curriculum changes. Any thoughts? I don't want to rule this school out if it was simply a matter of not having enough information. Is the extra cost to go to Minnesota worth it if I am pulled from the waitlist?

 

[MustangJumperPony]

First off...spiders scare the crap out of me ....had to scroll down to keep them out of my sight while typing this. But any-who I am committing to Minnesota, I loved it but the price tag scares me. I got waitlisted at Mizzou and Illinois and I know these are both much cheaper options. I loved Mizzou and I know if I get pulled from the waitlist Ill go there but I am still up in the air about Illinois. On my tour they mentioned they are currently going through curriculum changes and each year has a different curriculum. In addition, their pass rate for the board exams seems lower than other schools I saw. I was pretty disappointed because I don't think my tour guide particularly sold the school. She didn't answer questions thoroughly, specifically, the area with all of the animal dummies. She made it sound like even though we have early clinicals, they wouldn't involve real animals? Furthermore when asked several questions she said she didn't know because our curriculum would be different than hers is now. Some vets I spoke to said to stay away from schools going through curriculum changes. Any thoughts? I don't want to rule this school out if it was simply a matter of not having enough information. Is the extra cost to go to Minnesota worth it if I am pulled from the waitlist?

I have been accepted to all three of the schools you mentioned. I also really like Minnesota, but the price tag is scary. I understood that they are undergoing curriculum changes too. As for Illinois, my understanding was that they recently changed their curriculum. It has been in place for a few years now. The only thing they are changing between this year and next year is the time of clinics. The last few years, they have had 8 weeks of clinics starting day one of classes. They are changing this so that you have 8 weeks of class (time to learn something and get acclimated to vet school) before throwing you into clinics. The clinical skills labs (stuffed animals) are for you to practice. You would have labs there where you learn all of the skills mentioned. That is separate from your 8 weeks in clinics when you tag along with a 4th year in clinics.

Only you can decide if the extra cost of Minnesota is worth it to you. I don't think there's anything "bad" about any of those schools.

 

[RoriGirl23]

I have been accepted to all three of the schools you mentioned. I also really like Minnesota, but the price tag is scary. I understood that they are undergoing curriculum changes too. As for Illinois, my understanding was that they recently changed their curriculum. It has been in place for a few years now. The only thing they are changing between this year and next year is the time of clinics. The last few years, they have had 8 weeks of clinics starting day one of classes. They are changing this so that you have 8 weeks of class (time to learn something and get acclimated to vet school) before throwing you into clinics. The clinical skills labs (stuffed animals) are for you to practice. You would have labs there where you learn all of the skills mentioned. That is separate from your 8 weeks in clinics when you tag along with a 4th year in clinics.

Only you can decide if the extra cost of Minnesota is worth it to you. I don't think there's anything "bad" about any of those schools.

Thank you for the clarification! Have you made your decision yet?

 

[NStarz]

Reasons to come to OSU: it's the best. NStarz and Stb are here. The end.

 

[GretaBug3]

I totally didn't think about adding the document like this!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!

Now a few notes on how I did this. I condensed it, meaning that I either combined or took out doubled information. If I took out one, it was the less informative point. For an example, if someone said, "I like the VTH being next door!" and a different person said, "I like how the school and the VTH are connected by a bridge so I don't even have to go outside!", I used the second one. I also took out all the "I like"s. You would be amazed at how much that shortened everything. I was. I grammatically corrected as much as I could (what is with vet people and the over use of ellipsis?) and tried to keep everything in the same formatting style.

If you have any questions on how I did this, just ask! Also, if I missed anything, I am so sorry! I tried and am relatively sure I got everyone's opinions.

Have fun reading through this!

UGA just opened a brand new hospital !!!! Clinics are held there along with the third year classroom/lecture hall. First and second year students remain in the old building a couple of miles away for lectures.

 

[lasergoat]

... I am committing to Minnesota, I loved it but the price tag scares me.

Minnesota is starting to undertake tuition freezes for vet school (http://discover.umn.edu/news/vision...on-freeze-administrative-savings-and-academic).

...Still expensive though.

 

[battie]

Since people are coming up with updates to the list, could everyone list the school they are talking about in bold and then list the change/update under a pro or con? I will keep up the list for sure (especially since I have the original copy ) and repost it with the updates/changes. I will update every Sunday, we'll say. Like it's a little mini pros/cons blog for vet schools. lol.

 

[KCgophervet]

Since people are coming up with updates to the list, could everyone list the school they are talking about in bold and then list the change/update under a pro or con? I will keep up the list for sure (especially since I have the original copy ) and repost it with the updates/changes. I will update every Sunday, we'll say. Like it's a little mini pros/cons blog for vet schools. lol.

You could make it into a public Google Doc and then people can constantly see the updates (or assist with them).

 

[DVMDream]

You could make it into a public Google Doc and then people can constantly see the updates (or assist with them).

Except if you aren't careful and log in with your google account it shows personal information to others. Such as your full name. So unless you don't care about people knowing who you are in a very public forum, then I wouldn't recommend that route.

 

[KCgophervet]

Except if you aren't careful and log in with your google account it shows personal information to others. Such as your full name. So unless you don't care about people knowing who you are in a very public forum, then I wouldn't recommend that route.

Clearly I'm not someone who thinks about that kind of stuff (via my username being essentially my actual name).

 

[lasergoat]

Can we sticky this thread? I feel like the information here is something every pre-vet should look at at least once.

 

[Gwenevre]

@dyachei ?

 

[dyachei]

Stickying too many threads clutter up the forum so we try to avoid it.

 

[fractiousfeline]

Go you for making that document! Here are some updates for Wisconsin (in bold):

Wisconsin State University --> University of Wisconsin

Positives:
· Gym across the street
· Dairy medicine is HUGE
· Great SA case load
· Nice to have med school + school of public health on one campus->collaboration
· Uber friendly midwesterners
· Stylish red lockers
· Madison is an awesome town (best farmers market ever)
· less expensive OOS tuition More than likely no longer the case starting with the c/o 2019 won't know for sure until April
· lots of international programs
· Relatively small class size – 80 Class size increased to 87. Still very small though!
· Clinics right downstairs and they love having us come visit (and we are forced to)
· Generally great teaching staff - majority learn our names, keep in touch, want us to succeed, etc.
· Pay one fee to be a SCAVMA (student chapter of AVMA) member which includes membership in ALL clubs and lets you come to multiple school socials involving free alcohol and free food
· Good place for cows in general - see a fair number plus a teaching herd 10-15 mins away you can start practicing on 1st year
· Free bus pass included in tuition to get anywhere in Madison
· Madison is beautiful - natural area with trails like 5min walk from vet school by the lake and a gym right across a parking lot. Overall great place to live
· Excellent dual degrees programs - either a MPH or a stipend to get a masters through a 12-month mentored research program
· Touch a dog/cat/bird/reptile/horse/cow first year - do PEs. Very little exposure 2nd year though.
· We are for the most part super friendly, there is no competition within the class and we all share study aids, notes, etc.
· Best of both worlds: big city/huge university sophistication, but tons of green space on and nearby campus; it's a bike-friendly, runner/walker-friendly campus and there are two large lakes flanking the north & south sides of campus. Lake Mendota is about 300 yards from the front door of the vet school. The recreation possibilities are endless. Also, Devil's Lake is an hour's jaunt to the north--fantastic hiking, swimming, views, and camping there in an amazing setting.
· Amazing athletic facilities that are free for students & next door to vet school
· Huge veterinary teaching hospital; you will see large animals, zoo animals, and wildlife in addition to the usual (and unusual) pet species
· So much fun with the Big 10 football team at Camp Randall. So much to do and tons of university traditions to experience.
· Campus is huge but walkable.
· Art & music scene is really good.
· Craft breweries everywhere.
· State Street is so much fun!
· Lots of scholarships available for students – most people get one each year
· Business certificate program available through our VBMA chapter – both silver and gold levels
· Lecture Capture is great for when you miss class or to use as a study aid – professors wear a mic and the audio is uploaded with their PowerPoint for each lecture. Takes a couple days for them to put it up though.
· "Spay days" are a great opportunity for getting experience with spays and neuters. First years can neuter after attending 3+ full days as a volunteer and finishing the male repro portion of SA anatomy, which is just awesome!! Third years can spay after finishing their first formal spay in junior surgery class and volunteering for 3+ spay days.
· Clubs are great with lots of knowledgeable speakers. There are lunch meetings almost every day for something.
· Annual Wisconsin Exotic Animal Veterinary Conference is pretty cool and students can go for free if you volunteer. I was able to practice placing IO catheters on bird cadavers!
· They do a pretty good job of incorporating cases/clinically relevant information into most of our classes. In SA anatomy we have “clinical anatomy” once every 2 weeks where we watch surgery videos, discuss clinical relevance, etc. It’s interesting and a nice break from dissecting.
· “Selectives” week during the beginning and end of the first 2 summers – get to choose any area of vet med that you want more experience with and spend a week focusing solely on that one topic. Can be clinical experience with a vet practice, research, shadowing downstairs in the clinics.. basically anything you want. It’s a great opportunity to explore your interests and focus on the aspects of vet med that are most important to you, or to figure out what your interests even are.
· First 2 summers off to do whatever you want

Negatives:
· Outdated/outgrowing facility--no plans to build Plans for an addition across the street and slight updates to the current SVM are starting to be put into motion. No specifics known yet though.
· Cost of living isn't cheap (but not terrible)
· Long winters and they do not cancel class
· Anatomy lab is in the middle of the main area, so the fumes are kind of ever-present I've never particularly noticed any fumes in the hallways surrounding the lab. Personal experience may vary I guess?
· Parking isn't possible and is expensive
· Can't get IS tuition for non-residents.
· Madison is an annoying airport to fly in/out of
· Due to schools location, not necessarily the best place for clients to bring large animals. Still a fair number seen but not as many as could be possible.
· Wildlife/Exotics - just lost a fabulous prominent faculty member. Still some good ones left and 2 residents left but the program may suffer a little. But the school clubs do a pretty good job getting us experience.
· Faculties. A little cramped, tiny study room (but we have access to the beautiful med school library) and not much room for expansion.
· No hospital discount - but there are plenty of area vets who will give a you a discount as a vet student. We get discounts now! 40% off most services for our pets in the clinic, 50% off Hills food up to 120 lbs/month, 20-30% off Purina, 25% off Royal Canin, and 30% off Oxbow.
· Rents in Madison are too high. And gentrification of old buildings and old neighborhoods is pricing some people out of affording to live near campus. There are multiple luxury high-rises going up every year downtown/around campus. But if you are still okay with having a roommate or three, it's probably not as bad.

 

[fractiousfeline]

Also a couple of minor, random edits for UF (I didn't include all of the bullets from the list, only the ones that needed updating):

University of Florida

Positives:
· In-state tuition after one year of FL residency! No longer true. OOS tuition all 4 years
· Only 88 students in the class! Means more time for individual attention and you are more like one big mostly happy super stressed family. Class size has been increased to 112 – probably more of a con now.
· Unique certificate programs: Food Animal Med, Aquatic Animal Med, and International Medicine. Also have Shelter Medicine and Veterinary Business Management certificate programs.
· Brand new, state-of-the-art small animal hospital currently being built. It’s finished!

Negatives:
· Only 88 students in the class! Everyone knows everything about everyone! Lol Class size increased to 112

 

[battie]

Yeah, I think the privacy thing is kind of important to people. I know my gmail.com account is my full name because we needed it for our physics labs. It isn't a big deal for me to update the list until we figure out a different alternative.

 

[dyachei]

I sticky-ed this thread since we were asked. Please keep all comments professional and honest or I will remove the sticky status.

 

[CastinSilver]

I'm trying to get a good idea of the caseload difference between AVC (Prince Edward Island) and VMRCVM, specifically for large animals. Obviously VA-MD has a much higher caseload if you just look at the numbers, but some of the professors at AVC claimed that their caseload is high quality and quite sufficient for all of their vet students. However, I've also heard rumors that some older students at AVC say that they would occasionally get a bit bored with the low caseload, and I've also heard rumors that VA-MD is slowing down a bit and doesn't have as many clients as it used to. Gah, too many rumors, lol! Can any current students at either school share some insight on this factor?

 

[Coquette22]

I'm trying to get a good idea of the caseload difference between AVC (Prince Edward Island) and VMRCVM, specifically for large animals. Obviously VA-MD has a much higher caseload if you just look at the numbers, but some of the professors at AVC claimed that their caseload is high quality and quite sufficient for all of their vet students. However, I've also heard rumors that some older students at AVC say that they would occasionally get a bit bored with the low caseload, and I've also heard rumors that VA-MD is slowing down a bit and doesn't have as many clients as it used to. Gah, too many rumors, lol! Can any current students at either school share some insight on this factor?

By large animal, do you mean inpatient internal medicine/surgery stuff, or would you count farm calls as well? I'd describe the in-patient caseload at AVC as "slow but steady". Our large animal surgery service seems to have about half the cases that internal medicine does. We typically always had one patient each, which was enough to keep you busy, but you didn't have to be there until all hours of the night, and you could look in on your classmates cases too. There's also a fair amount of equine and bovine farm calls. I can't speak to VA-MD, but I'd imagine they'd have more cases just on the basis of being near more people. That said, I never felt that AVC's smaller caseload was detrimental to my education.

 

[PennObie20]

The most common advice I've heard is that if you have a choice, go with the cheaper option. But I get the feeling that doesn't apply if you're choosing between a Caribbean school and a U.S. school, am I right? St. George's tuition looks to be significantly less than the OOS tuition that I'm looking at (Illinois), but I'm guessing most people would choose the in-country school no matter the difference in tuition....Help, I need reassurance!

 

[CastinSilver]

By large animal, do you mean inpatient internal medicine/surgery stuff, or would you count farm calls as well? I'd describe the in-patient caseload at AVC as "slow but steady". Our large animal surgery service seems to have about half the cases that internal medicine does. We typically always had one patient each, which was enough to keep you busy, but you didn't have to be there until all hours of the night, and you could look in on your classmates cases too. There's also a fair amount of equine and bovine farm calls. I can't speak to VA-MD, but I'd imagine they'd have more cases just on the basis of being near more people. That said, I never felt that AVC's smaller caseload was detrimental to my education.

Thank you so much! That was very helpful. Do you mind if I message you if I have any future questions?

 

[Coquette22]

Thank you so much! That was very helpful. Do you mind if I message you if I have any future questions?

Sure, though my knowledge might rapidly become irrelevant, I'll be leaving AVC in May.

 

[agisarang42]

The most common advice I've heard is that if you have a choice, go with the cheaper option. But I get the feeling that doesn't apply if you're choosing between a Caribbean school and a U.S. school, am I right? St. George's tuition looks to be significantly less than the OOS tuition that I'm looking at (Illinois), but I'm guessing most people would choose the in-country school no matter the difference in tuition....Help, I need reassurance!

I have the same question!

 

[NStarz]

The most common advice I've heard is that if you have a choice, go with the cheaper option. But I get the feeling that doesn't apply if you're choosing between a Caribbean school and a U.S. school, am I right? St. George's tuition looks to be significantly less than the OOS tuition that I'm looking at (Illinois), but I'm guessing most people would choose the in-country school no matter the difference in tuition....Help, I need reassurance!

I would agree with this. Others may disagree.

 

[MustangJumperPony]

St. George's tuition looks to be significantly less than the OOS tuition that I'm looking at (Illinois)

Are you sure it's cheaper - including cost of living, travel, etc.? Everyone I know that has applied to St. George's has said that the Island schools tend to be much more expensive. This was posted in the veterinary forum yesterday, I don't know how accurate the living expenses are, but definitely look further into comparing cost. http://www.vinfoundation.org/AppUti...833&objecttypeid=10&redirectFromMiscDefault=1

 

[PennObie20]

Are you sure it's cheaper - including cost of living, travel, etc.? Everyone I know that has applied to St. George's has said that the Island schools tend to be much more expensive. This was posted in the veterinary forum yesterday, I don't know how accurate the living expenses are, but definitely look further into comparing cost. http://www.vinfoundation.org/AppUti...833&objecttypeid=10&redirectFromMiscDefault=1

I know living expenses are supposed to be very cheap on the island, and when I was interviewing at Tufts they said this cost of attendance calculator wasn't very accurate at all. However, like you said, travel (and the cost of making everything island compatible- phones etc.) would probably add up. I am also confused because St. George's website says $36k/year in tuition, but when I went to an info session, the speaker quoted something closer to $42k. I know everything would certainly be less of a hassle to stay in the states, which might make up for any difference in tuition anyway.

 

[battie]

Updated list of information on schools. Thank you to students for updating the information for their school!

 

[KCgophervet]

Sorry to be that person but some of the fixes were not fixed correctly (I was probably confusing earlier).
U of MN
Positives:
· Small class size (120 students for the c/o 2017) 102 not 120, I should've just said 100 to make it a more rounded number
· Perform our first surgery (spay or neuter) during fall of second year it's fall of THIRD year now, they pushed it back not forward

 

[battie]

Sorry to be that person but some of the fixes were not fixed correctly (I was probably confusing earlier).

No, thank you for pointing that out! I have no problem with people pointing out mistakes as long as they are polite about it. Looking at those mistakes, I know what happened. Here is the fixed-fixed version!

 

[lasergoat]

Dates of most recent updates

University of Minnesota - 3/8/15

University of Florida - 3/3/15

University of Wisconsin - 3/3/15

Western U -2/24/15

NCSU - 2/24/15

OKState - 1/29/15

Texas A&M - 1/24/15

Purdue - 1/3/15

UILUC - 3/17/14

Tennesee - 1/25/14



Small update requests:

Mississippi - 7/22/13

AVC - 1/26/13

Penn - 12/21/12

Missouri - 11/29/12

Michigan - 11/29/12

Ohio - 11/29/12


Need updates (before 11/29/12)

Auburn

Colorado

Cornell

Edinburgh

Georgia

Iowa State

Kansas

Massey

Oregon

Purdue

St. George

Tufts

Tuskegee

UCDavis

VMRCVM

Washington


Missing Info (never)

Dublin

Louisiana

Ross U

St. Matthews

Western

Lincoln

 

[cadisestrama]

Haven't been on SDN in almost forever and since we just finished an exam and no more exams before break. I'm definitely "studying"... ;P

Here are my updates for UC Davis:

University of California—Davis

Positives:
· Biking!!! No parking issues! Having a car is useful and $52 a month is expensive (was $50 a month last semester, so con?) But basically everything within Davis is within bike-able distance.
· PBLs, TBLs, CBLs – most people like them because they assign various cases relevant to the current course material and you discuss as a group. Could be a con because requires extra time and research outside of class when you could be studying, and sometimes ends up being redundant.
· Block System! Only have to concentrate on one class at a time. But at the same time, they're fast paced since they try to cram everything into 4-6 weeks.
· Healer’s Art class – an extra/optional course for a select few students that focuses on the human-animal bond.
· Great running routes (the green belt, Arboretum, and Russell Blvd)!
· Everyone is really nice! I haven't felt any sort of competition whatsoever.
· Podcasting of most lectures so you can replay bits that you miss when the professors talk too fast They are now also on “media-site” (in addition to podcasts), meaning, that they also video record lectures so you can see what slide the professor is on though you still can't see what they're pointing at.
· Faculty and staff are super-supportive, providing review sessions and tutoring sessions. You can also get student tutors. For the first year anatomy practical exams, they also held mock practical exams the day before. Most faculty are really fast in responding to emails/questions.
· There are course evaluations at the end of each block and the professors really do listen!
· The first-year professors are really good about telling us what to expect on exams (types of questions). I can’t comment on upperclassmen classes but I imagine they are the same.
· The student rec center rocks! It's got all kinds of gyms, courts, equipment, a climbing wall, and exercise classes, and it's a pretty new and clean facility. And it’s free!
· Free printing Only the first 1500 pages are free, but the tech guy says that if you go over, you probably won’t be charged. But no one I know has gone over 1500 pages, so unconfirmed. Though most of the printers are old and slow. And the one that's most easily accessible/used gets jammed often.
· Free pet food Not free anymore.
· Mentor program, but not everyone gets a mentor, you might have to wait until 2nd year.
· Tests returned for all classes Tests aren’t returned but you can go to the office to look at what you’ve gotten wrong but you can’t take it home or write down anything.
· Lots of opportunities to get more involved in clubs (lots of officer positions, always available).

Negatives:
· Davis is a small town with a rural feel and not-so-great restaurants (but it is reasonably close to SF and Sacramento) SF is about an hour drive away and Sac is about 30 min away. The closest Costco and Walmart are in Woodland. But there is a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and two Safeway's.
· Very few free lunch talks due to decreased club funding.
· It's hot and dry! We're in a drought. No snow (pro for some people, but I miss snow and having 4 seasons). Lots of bugs/mosquitoes!
· The food on the vet campus (at Scrubs) isn’t great and the hours are very limited.

 

[Coquette22]

Small update requests:

AVC - 1/26/13

Not sure what to add. @that redhead pretty much covered everything I would have covered. Though if there's specific AVC questions, I'm happy to answer messages (or to answer them on this thread if I'm tagged so I see it).

 

[that redhead]

I'm trying to get a good idea of the caseload difference between AVC (Prince Edward Island) and VMRCVM, specifically for large animals. Obviously VA-MD has a much higher caseload if you just look at the numbers, but some of the professors at AVC claimed that their caseload is high quality and quite sufficient for all of their vet students. However, I've also heard rumors that some older students at AVC say that they would occasionally get a bit bored with the low caseload, and I've also heard rumors that VA-MD is slowing down a bit and doesn't have as many clients as it used to. Gah, too many rumors, lol! Can any current students at either school share some insight on this factor?

I'll add to Coquette's comment: I only took large animal medicine, not surgery, but I felt as though we were steady to busy on my three weeks. However, there were blocks after mine where people were bored and other blocks where people were swamped. A lot of the cases come from off-island, so we're a bit isolated, but VA-MD is also kind out there (I'm an MD resident myself) and a lot of the equine stuff goes to Leesburg (which you'd hopefully be able to rotate at if that's your interest).

As for quality of caseload, I'm not really sure what that's supposed to mean. Boring stuff doesn't usually get referred in

Also happy to answer specific questions either on thread or through PM.

 

[battie]

Updated version with the additions for UC-Davis. It looks like I missed someone covering AVC back in 2013. Sorry! I will look for it this week and add it to the list for next weekend's update. I went out of town for a birthday party and then worked 7-6 on Sunday, and then I had the Walking Dead when I got home. lol.

 

[akyonder]

I know that rankings don't mean too terribly much to most people when choosing a school, but just thought this was interesting:

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...&sortdir=asc&program=top-veterinarian-schools

 

[Coquette22]

I know that rankings don't mean too terribly much to most people when choosing a school, but just thought this was interesting:

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankings...&sortdir=asc&program=top-veterinarian-schools

They shouldn't mean ANYTHING to ANYBODY and frankly, I wish US News would stop bothering with this.