thanks so much everyone! actually, everyone's advice here has helped quite a bit!! im glad to know there are people coming next year to ISU who are so excited!
strangely, i am still leaning toward ISU after visiting LSU - but not for the reasons I imagined. What i loved about ISU was that everyone was friendly and willing to help you out, plus the students, staff, and faculty were so welcoming! Everything was so well organized when i went there, and everything is so close to campus - yet there seems to be enough to do onthe odd day out when you have time to relax. Not to mention, the school is expanding, they have alot of new equipment, and your right the laptops are sweet (even though i could buy my own its nice to have 90% of the notes of my computer for me where i cant misplace a paper).
I am orginally from NYC area so im used to the hustle and bustle of the city and thought that was what attracted me to Baton Rouge, LA...and that the school was very nice. The thing I was worried about was the living situation. When I went there, it actually seemed a rather safe place and in fact I bet I would love living there (although it is quite hot and humid even in April...which being from Russia and NY would take a bit of getting used to). The school has its reptuation made - but I felt like it was somewhat in a stalemate at the moment. I don't want to say anything negative about the school, but I really felt that the guy who gave me the tour wasn't well prepared (he wasnt a vet student or vet...) and he couldnt give me lots of answers about the classes/rotations/specific vet questions. He was however really nice, and I cant complain about everyones southern hospitality. Also, they had some new machines - but seemed to be lacking faculty to run certain rotaitons (oncology was down for 5 months because they couldnt find an attending). Or they are on limited accredation (still unsure what this is but am gonna look more into it tomorrow) because of a problem with the large animal isolation ward. The guy actually seemed happy about it saying that it would help the school get the funds from the government. I'm unsure if the lack of funds for their different projects (they also want to build a new wildlife area but lack funds for at least 7-8 years) is because of the LA economic situation after the hurricane, a slight decline in the school, a beaurocratic thing...or whatever. However, the area is really nice, New Orleans is about an hour away, the airport is larger, and in general it is more of the big city feel I am used to.
However, when comparing the two schools - I am still leaning to ISU (if not more so!) because they seem to be getting better and trying hard as a school to get students to excel, and get the best students who will try harder as opposed to just accepting that someone will take their place (giving me packets and packets of information vs. me having to find my own little booklet on LSU's vet school). Also, I enjoy southern hospitality - but I am from the North and used to "doing my own thing" and its sometimes hard for me to stop rushing. In Iowa I felt everyone was warm and friendly, but less intrusive in a sense and I really liked that. The only downside to ISU is that its a bit of a much smaller town, and that there is less of a Jewish population (and although everyone is very accepting there...itd be nice to find a place to at least spend the holidays nearby instead of flying to NY).
I will be looking more into the limited accredation as well as the different rotation both schools have to offer to make my final decision but I am about 65% sure that I will probably be going to ISU in the fall. I just loved the people, the school, and the enviornment there.
I'll update you guys with what I find and tell you my final decision. Thanks again for everyones input. And btw, all you guys are right, all the schools are pretty much the same - its just the concentrations differ somewhat from school to school...but you can always compensate with rotations and I dont mind doing an internship/residency.
The scariest part is that it was right on the outskirts of campus!!
