Hi there! I apologize in advance if my questions are stupid. I tried searching through the forums to see if I could find any answers and no such luck. Anyway here goes:
-If you're offered an interview, is it actually in person or do they offer alternative interviews via skype/phone?
-Do you have to live in campus housing (dorms) your first year? If I am accepted for fall 2017, I'll be turning 30 and while I can certainly handle dorm style living, I would prefer an apartment with 1 or 2 roommates.
-Do you need the standard security deposit, first and last months rent or do they cater more to the students and understand that many of them have to wait for their loans to come in?
-Is there a good amount of older/non traditional students?
-For back home, do you bother keeping a car? I ask because I have car payments and I am not sure if I would want to deal with car payments if I can't even drive the car for majority of the year and it would just be sitting around.
-During your 4th year when you go to one of the affiliate schools, are you able to get into the school you want? Or do you have to have a list of preferred schools? Also, once you know which school you'll be spending your 4th year rotations at, how do you go about securing housing, assuming you have enough time between the end of 3rd year and before you start rotations?
-Any particular airlines that are better than others as far as luggage fees, frequent flyer miles, etc? Being from Maine will make it pretty $$$ for me, so any discount or savings would be great!
-How are the dual degree programs, can you still finish in 4 years? I am interested in the dvm/master of science in wildlife conservation medicine.
-When you graduate, is the ceremony back on Grenada? Or do you partake in your affiliate school's ceremony?
Anyway, that is all I have for now. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
-they do both types of interviews. you should always try for in-person if possible, but sometimes there aren't interviewers near where you are and skype interviews are set up instead
-you dont have to live on campus, but its preferred for the 1st semester. at least when i was there, a vast majority of students lived on campus for term 1 and we were mostly in the same dorm. lots more opportunities to get to know your new family, hang out, go to the store, etc. the handful of classmates i had that lived off first semester felt isolated and left out, because a lot of things happened spontaneously (cry would go out in the halls and people would flock out and go). i understand not wanting to share and not wanting to live in a dorm, but its not all bad, and you may regret not being with your class. plus, finding housing form afar...yikes. many students are less traditional and have been out for at least a few years if not more.
-we had to pay a security deposit of 1 months rent at our apartment complex, and i assume thats probably similar for most places.
-yes, mid to late 20's as the median age for my class, but we had a range of 18-50 first semester
-some people kept their homes and cars back home, others sold them. if you were to stay for a masters during the summers, then its probably not worth holding onto things
-you apply to your top 3 choices for clinical year currently. some schools have minimum GPA requirements, some want cover letters and LORs, a couple actually require in person interviews. i found housing via internet for 4th year while i was in grenada. you will likely not have more than a month between ending 6th term and starting clinics, some people started the following monday
-there are only a couple of airlines that fly to and from grenada, with american airlines, delta, and caribbean airlines being the main ones. flights are expensive, there isnt much way around that. i bet coming out of maine is better than coming out of the midwest though. its an all day affair and flights are costly, you'll have to just get over that because it isn't going to change (though its better when you can book many months in advanced after 1st term)
-i wouldnt commit to a masters until you get to grenada, you can apply once you are there. you will have to spend summers in grenada to work on course work, and i dont believe any of the programs are actually finished in 4 years (i think you split a semester to fit graduate courses in). i dont know for sure though
-ceremony is in NYC in June every year. typically you dont partake in the affiliate school's ceremony (though one of my classmates was invited to graduate with her 4th year school)
it doesn't sound like you've done a lot of research yet. the sgu site has lots of good information about being a student as well. take some time to really get to know what you're getting into because vet school is a beast, and doing it as a guest in someone elses country is even more strenuous. its not for everyone, but those who are successful typically find it a wonderful experience.
