UCD or UFL for undergraduate???

[jennyhou]

Hi, I'm a high school senior now. Please help me choose UCD or UFL? My major will be animal science.
I want to go to UCD animal science major and I really really want to go to its DVM program, but living in California is expensive. I think going to UCD undergrad will raise the possibility to be accept by UCD DVM program because I can be CA residence after 4 years of undergrad.
I think UFL is also good because it's a lot cheaper, but applying to UCD DVM as a non-residence will be a lot harder.
Also, I felt there will be more job and vet experience opportunities in Davis than in Gainesville.
Please help! Should I follow my heart or save the money???

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[SkiOtter]

Go to your cheapest option. You don’t need an animal science degree. Major in something you enjoy and could use as a backup in case you either change your mind or end up leaving vet school for one reason or another. Vet school is expensive as hell and you want to have the lowest debt before and during vet school as possible.

 

[SkiOtter]

I can be CA residence after 4 years of undergrad.

Also this is not necessarily true. Lots of states don’t consider you a resident while you’re in school in that state.

 

[lemons24limes]

i am a davis undergrad right now and i will say they dont prefer students that go to their school for undergrad! but they do have a lot of opportunities in pretty much any veterinary specialty that will help you gain experience for your vet school application. But i would honestly save money I did go to davis for the same reason instead of going to the cheaper state school near my house, and although I do think that the opportunities available to me in davis helped me get accepted into a vet school i would of saved probably 10k if i went to my local state school and lived at home, and could really use that money right now!!
i didnt go to ufl or even apply to that school but since they have a vet school im assuming they have lots of opportunities for undergrads to also gain veterinary experience just like you would at davis

 

[BigCats]

I can say that there are plenty of opportunities to get vet experience in Gainesville! With so many pre-vet students, local clinics know the drill and I was able to get vet experience at five different places during undergrad. UC Davis relies heavily on academic factors in determining OOS vet students, so it doesn't matter where you go to school as long as you get the grades and letters of recommendation necessary to place you in the top 10% of OOS applicants. I don't believe that going to undergrad in California would qualify you as a resident for vet school admissions- usually moving somewhere for education makes you ineligible for residency- but I could be wrong in that state. I will say that I wasn't at a disadvantage in applying to OOS schools even though I went to UF- I applied to 5 OOS schools this year and was accepted to 3 of them, so you're not locked in one place just because you went to undergrad there! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions

 

[BigCats]

Also I wasn't an animal science major, but I had a lot of friends who were, and everyone raved about the community-like feel (since you would often take classes with many of the same people) and the excellent advising (very important since as a liberal arts bio major, my advising was garbage haha). I will say it's more focused towards production animals, which some of my friends weren't expecting when they chose that major and was the reason why I personally chose biology instead, but you can make great connections with your professors and really get involved in their research if it interests you. Staying in Florida was never my ~dream~ (for undergrad or for vet school!), but the cost alone is such a huge perk since it means I'll have more freedom to pursue my dream job after vet school. To me, staying in a state I don't want to live in for a few years is worth it when it means I'll have literal tens of thousands less in debt and can move wherever I want after school with much less stress.

 

[PetVet23]

I 100% agree with everything that's already been said. I know as a high school senior all of these "big name" schools sound really exciting, but the reality is that any vet school will give you the same basic education and the rest of your experience is what you make of it. Your future self will thank you for making the most financially sound decisions as possible, especially this early on. When I was deciding where to go for undergrad, I ultimately ended up picking the less expensive school because I knew that I wanted to go to vet school and would have that additional financial burden. I honestly haven't even taken out loans yet between what was left in my college fund and what I was able to save up from working for a couple years before getting into vet school (granted I lived at home, but still). So basically, major in something you would enjoy a career in as a backup plan (I know that's scary, but trust me you need one), and don't pick a school just because you think it will look good, because vet schools genuinely don't care where you get your degree from as long as you meet all of their requirements.

 

[Angellog]

Go to your local university and make sure you stay debt free for your undergrad (or try too). At the end of the day make sure you maintain a good GPA especially in the pre-reqs.
Apart from that, everyone here is giving solid advise !
I’ll be happy to help if you have any questions!

 

[SkiOtter]

because vet schools genuinely don't care where you get your degree from as long as you meet all of their requirements.

Exactly. Lots of people even go the community college route for prereqs and if certain schools require a couple to be at a 4 year university, they either take them there separately or transfer after 2 years of community college.