Is it worth it to go to a more expensive school?

[renacuaja]

I am non-trad and need to fulfill pre-reqs for about 2.5 years. I took college-level bio and chem in high school but unfortunately opted out of receiving college credit to save money.

Currently, I’m working as a software engineer and have 2 years of industry experience.

In one school I am guaranteed to get research experience. It’s ~8k per year though. I can probably afford to attend without loans but it would be difficult.

I also have the option of going to community college and it would be ~4k a year. Pretty easy to pay off but no research opportunities.

I don’t really have a lot of extracurricular/research experience from college since I spent school years studying for interviews and summers working in internships.

Right now I am shadowing and volunteering at a local clinic. I plan on hopefully getting work experience as a vet assistant once I go back to school full time / leave my job. I’m not sure that would be enough by itself though to get admitted into vet school.

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[SkiOtter]

Absolutely not worth going to a more expensive school. Period.

Go the community college route and get as much experience in other areas as you can and keep your grades up. Get to know your professors and vets you work with so you can get good letters of rec. I had no research experience and still got in, so it is definitely possible if the rest of your application is good. Youre looking at 100-300k in loans from vet school so you definitely want to have as low of loans as possible going in and go to the cheapest option you get into for vet school as well so you have a bit more freedom for your future.

 

[BigCats]

Honestly I would go to the cheaper school for prereqs- I don't think research experience is a necessity to get into vet school unless you want to pursue a DVM-PhD. And I really don't think research experience is worth an extra $10k over the course of 2.5 years! There are always opportunities you can seek out where you can get involved with research, even if it takes a bit of legwork- summer research internships, even just reaching out to professors at other schools to see if you can help out. I think you'll be a lot better served both in your application and financially by continuing to volunteer/work at vet clinics and try to get vet experience in other areas (equine, large animal, shelter, etc.).

 

[renacuaja]

Thank you both for the insight! I know that human-med has a big emphasis on research and although I know only a few things are comparable between both paths I was worried that I would be missing something without it.

I can definitely see if summer research or other things are an opportunity. I just have to reach out.

 

[Ariel-Li]

Have you checked out tuition waiving options at the school with a research position? When I was doing my prereqs, I was hired as a part time researcher in a lab that belongs to that school, I was paid 25% FTE but basically worked 30-40h/wk, but all my tuition and fees were waived, saving me almost 20k (about 60 credits). I think most state schools do this. And the research experience was super helpful for my application, I received a few decent scholarships that I suspect has a lot to do with research experience.

 

[Lawpy]

Thank you both for the insight! I know that human-med has a big emphasis on research and although I know only a few things are comparable between both paths I was worried that I would be missing something without it.

I can definitely see if summer research or other things are an opportunity. I just have to reach out.

The emphasis for research is not that strong unless you're aiming for top tier schools (and even then, they care a lot more about volunteering/leadership). Volunteering is much much more important for MD/DO

 

[renacuaja]

I scheduled a meeting my in-state school which also happens to be a competitive and research heavy institution.

They told me while research experience is not mandatory, it is a way that many applicants are able to demonstrate skills/interests that they hope to see in their applicants as a research institution.

Likewise, they explained that it would be better for me to take my classes at a 4-year school. However, a more affordable option would be to take the basic biology and chemistry classes at the community college and then go to the 4-year school for my other classes.

I reached out to the mentor I did research under in high school and they will gladly take me into their lab even though I'm not an undergrad at their 4-year school. So, Ill think I'll go with the mix. A couple classes at the community college later a couple classes at the 4-year alongside research and all the other fun pre-vet stuff

 

[cdo96]

No.

 

[renacuaja]

No.

Yes.

(What are we talking about?)


Edit: Just realized you are talking about the "more expensive school" question. You are right with the "no" lol.