UGA vs UTK

[fancydragon4]

I’m OOS for both and will be using the rest of my post-9/11 GI bill (whatever it covers). Right now my husband and I are trying to figure out where we would like to live for the next four years between Athens or Knoxville. Knoxville’s cost of living seems a little cheaper, houses are slightly cheaper, and might have more job opportunities for my husband. It’s so hard to decide.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WildZoo]

Can't speak for UGA at all (though I have visited a couple times and Athens is nice!) but I'm a recent UTK grad and still live in Knoxville.

It is a great place to live. If you like outdoorsy things, there's a lot of that available both within Knoxville itself and not too far away in the Smokies. If you like food, there are many many options. Still discovering new places and I've been here for 5 and a half years. Lots of breweries and such too. It feels most like a college town when there are home football games, but outside of the area right around the school it doesn't tend to be a big deal. Otherwise it's definitely more of its own place outside of just being a college town.

If tuition would be similar at UGA and UTK (again, not sure what UGA's looks like) then looking at cost of living is reasonable for sure.

Let me know if you have any questions

 

[fancydragon4]

Can't speak for UGA at all (though I have visited a couple times and Athens is nice!) but I'm a recent UTK grad and still live in Knoxville.

It is a great place to live. If you like outdoorsy things, there's a lot of that available both within Knoxville itself and not too far away in the Smokies. If you like food, there are many many options. Still discovering new places and I've been here for 5 and a half years. Lots of breweries and such too. It feels most like a college town when there are home football games, but outside of the area right around the school it doesn't tend to be a big deal. Otherwise it's definitely more of its own place outside of just being a college town.

If tuition would be similar at UGA and UTK (again, not sure what UGA's looks like) then looking at cost of living is reasonable for sure.

Let me know if you have any questions

Thanks for replying! UTK’s tuition is about $20k more than UGA, so not insignificant but other factors might make up for that. You’re echoing what a lot of people have said about Knoxville, which is all good things! I haven’t found any major differences in the vet schools themselves, although to be honest I don’t know exactly what questions to ask. I am primarily interested in small companion animals, exotics (large animal zoo), and wildlife. Is the main vet school building and the teaching hospital in the same area? How did you feel that the curriculum set you up for success post-grad? Are there lots of clubs, and what is your advice about them?

 

[WildZoo]

Thanks for replying! UTK’s tuition is about $20k more than UGA, so not insignificant but other factors might make up for that. You’re echoing what a lot of people have said about Knoxville, which is all good things! I haven’t found any major differences in the vet schools themselves, although to be honest I don’t know exactly what questions to ask. I am primarily interested in small companion animals, exotics (large animal zoo), and wildlife. Is the main vet school building and the teaching hospital in the same area? How did you feel that the curriculum set you up for success post-grad? Are there lots of clubs, and what is your advice about them?

20k per year?
I'd strongly encourage you make that part your top priority, for multiple reasons. But I understand the potential difficulty in your husband finding a job in Athens, so that is for sure a complicating factor.


As far as your UTK specific questions - yes, the hospital and the school are in the same building, with the exception of the second year classroom, which is currently across the parking lot. That is likely changing though, they working on an addition to the building that I believe is supposed to have a classroom in it, so I think they'll likely make that the new second year classroom.

The curriculum has changed a bit since I went through, it was 6 semesters in the classroom and 3 in clinics. Now it's 5 and 4. So that necessitated cutting down on the didactic material a bit. I definitely felt that I was well-prepared for practice. The first class under the new curriculum graduates this year, and from everything I've heard the change has been largely positive. Some bumps along the way as with any curriculum change but they'll be more in the groove of the new model by the time you'd be going through.

There are a lot of clubs! My method was to join almost all of them first year and then I started cutting back to the ones I really cared about in subsequent years lol but you don't have to pay dues/be a member to go to meetings, so you can definitely scope things out first and then decide which clubs you want to invest in. Being a member generally just gets you food at meetings, allows you to run for officer positions, and gets you priority for signing up for wet labs.

 

[fancydragon4]

20k per year?
I'd strongly encourage you make that part your top priority, for multiple reasons. But I understand the potential difficulty in your husband finding a job in Athens, so that is for sure a complicating factor.


As far as your UTK specific questions - yes, the hospital and the school are in the same building, with the exception of the second year classroom, which is currently across the parking lot. That is likely changing though, they working on an addition to the building that I believe is supposed to have a classroom in it, so I think they'll likely make that the new second year classroom.

The curriculum has changed a bit since I went through, it was 6 semesters in the classroom and 3 in clinics. Now it's 5 and 4. So that necessitated cutting down on the didactic material a bit. I definitely felt that I was well-prepared for practice. The first class under the new curriculum graduates this year, and from everything I've heard the change has been largely positive. Some bumps along the way as with any curriculum change but they'll be more in the groove of the new model by the time you'd be going through.

There are a lot of clubs! My method was to join almost all of them first year and then I started cutting back to the ones I really cared about in subsequent years lol but you don't have to pay dues/be a member to go to meetings, so you can definitely scope things out first and then decide which clubs you want to invest in. Being a member generally just gets you food at meetings, allows you to run for officer positions, and gets you priority for signing up for wet labs.

Sorry I didn’t clarify! UTK is 20k more cumulative, not every year. I’m getting that information from VIN.
And thanks for the information! Any recommendations for areas in Knoxville to look at for buying a house? We will be visiting next month and spending a few days to get a feel for the town.

 

[WildZoo]

Sorry I didn’t clarify! UTK is 20k more cumulative, not every year. I’m getting that information from VIN.
And thanks for the information! Any recommendations for areas in Knoxville to look at for buying a house? We will be visiting next month and spending a few days to get a feel for the town.

Gotcha, that's much better.

Most people live in North, South, or West Knox. I'd avoid East Knox and the area around Fort Collins (not sure if there are even houses in that area though). West Knox tends to be the more expensive area. Generally you want to be within 20 minutes from the school for clinics when you're on call, not as vital during the didactic years but still nice to be relatively close.

 

[fancydragon4]

Gotcha, that's much better.

Most people live in North, South, or West Knox. I'd avoid East Knox and the area around Fort Collins (not sure if there are even houses in that area though). West Knox tends to be the more expensive area. Generally you want to be within 20 minutes from the school for clinics when you're on call, not as vital during the didactic years but still nice to be relatively close.

Thanks! We're excited. A few more questions: Are there any discounts for students at the hospital for our own pets? I know some schools do wellness days for students to have extra time for themselves - does UTK do anything like that?

 

[WildZoo]

Thanks! We're excited. A few more questions: Are there any discounts for students at the hospital for our own pets? I know some schools do wellness days for students to have extra time for themselves - does UTK do anything like that?

20% discount on services, and I believe they still waive the emergency fee for students.
We did have a few wellness days in the curriculum, I'm not sure if it is still something they do but I imagine it is.

 

[fancydragon4]

20% discount on services, and I believe they still waive the emergency fee for students.
We did have a few wellness days in the curriculum, I'm not sure if it is still something they do but I imagine it is.

That's great! Thank you so much for answering all of my questions Do you know of anyone that has done a virtual tour of the school or if there are any current YouTube videos of the school? I won't be able to attend any of the tour dates/times, and Kayela said they aren't able to give tours outside of those days.

 

[WildZoo]

That's great! Thank you so much for answering all of my questions Do you know of anyone that has done a virtual tour of the school or if there are any current YouTube videos of the school? I won't be able to attend any of the tour dates/times, and Kayela said they aren't able to give tours outside of those days.

I haven't heard of any virtual tours, unfortunately. If you bring it up with Kayela though, perhaps that might be something they can look into creating?