Accepted but Might Not Go

[EastCoast94]

Hi Everyone!

I was recently accepted to vet school outside the US. I am currently a licensed high school teacher and have full benefits, alright money every month, and if I stick with it, a pension at retirement in 28-30 years. Teaching was my backup.

And then I have just been accepted!! But the debt load is 250-300,000. That terrifies me, and I am paying off undergrad debt now. The only option I can see is military vet with that debt load.

For the past months, I have been making my own money and haven’t had to ask my parent for anything. If I accept the spot, I would be back asking my mom for money on top of $1,000 plane ticket multiple times a year and $80,000 tuiton.

I always wanted to be a large animal vet and have worked with cattle and horses for years, along with tons of ranch work. What I don’t want to happen is to go to school, internship, etc and have to end up in small animal practice (2nd thing besides money that is stopping me).

I know its my decision at the end, and I’ve been thinking about it much more in teacher department meetings (lol) but if there are any large animal vets out there who do like their job/ regret the schooling/ or any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

If you would like to PM me or just post below, please do!!

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[DVMoftheFuture]

Hi Everyone!

I was recently accepted to vet school outside the US. I am currently a licensed high school teacher and have full benefits, alright money every month, and if I stick with it, a pension at retirement in 28-30 years. Teaching was my backup.

And then I have just been accepted!! But the debt load is 250-300,000. That terrifies me, and I am paying off undergrad debt now. The only option I can see is military vet with that debt load.

For the past months, I have been making my own money and haven’t had to ask my parent for anything. If I accept the spot, I would be back asking my mom for money on top of $1,000 plane ticket multiple times a year and $80,000 tuiton.

I always wanted to be a large animal vet and have worked with cattle and horses for years, along with tons of ranch work. What I don’t want to happen is to go to school, internship, etc and have to end up in small animal practice (2nd thing besides money that is stopping me).

I know its my decision at the end, and I’ve been thinking about it much more in teacher department meetings (lol) but if there are any large animal vets out there who do like their job/ regret the schooling/ or any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

If you would like to PM me or just post below, please do!!

I am not a large animal vet and can't comment on that aspect of it. I did want to link you to the VIN Foundation student debt repayment simulator ( Student Debt Center - VIN ). This tool should help you conceptualize what paying that amount of debt long-term is going to look like.
On a more personal note, I was supposed to graduate with somewhere in the range of $250,000 in debt and I can tell you that you will be paying off that loan for 20-25 years for sure and you will be paying much more than $250,000 over the life of the loan. I say I was supposed to because I actually received the Army HPSP scholarship. I cannot describe to you the relief I felt to know that I would graduate with 1/4 of the debt. I don't think you can truly understand how much a debt load like that weighs on you or even how it effects your decision-making. Truly I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I'm exploring new interests in vet med that I wasn't looking at before because it was not financially feasible and I feel like I'm able to plan for the future again. This is not an endorsement of the HPSP - I'm not far enough along to tell you if it is or isn't worth it. It's more about trying to illustrate that (a) $250,000 is a crap ton of debt and (b) that level of debt will fundamentally change how you plan for the future.

 

[CalliopeDVM]

What I don’t want to happen is to go to school, internship, etc and have to end up in small animal practice

A lot will depend on whether or not you're willing to move to a place where large animal/farm animal vets are needed, and if you're willing to accept a lower income (LA/FA vets make less than SA vets, all else being equal). You won't need an internship or a specialization, and I highly doubt you'll "have to end up" in a SA practice unless the rest of your life requires you to live in an urban area.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Hi Everyone!

I was recently accepted to vet school outside the US. I am currently a licensed high school teacher and have full benefits, alright money every month, and if I stick with it, a pension at retirement in 28-30 years. Teaching was my backup.

And then I have just been accepted!! But the debt load is 250-300,000. That terrifies me, and I am paying off undergrad debt now. The only option I can see is military vet with that debt load.

For the past months, I have been making my own money and haven’t had to ask my parent for anything. If I accept the spot, I would be back asking my mom for money on top of $1,000 plane ticket multiple times a year and $80,000 tuiton.

I always wanted to be a large animal vet and have worked with cattle and horses for years, along with tons of ranch work. What I don’t want to happen is to go to school, internship, etc and have to end up in small animal practice (2nd thing besides money that is stopping me).

I know its my decision at the end, and I’ve been thinking about it much more in teacher department meetings (lol) but if there are any large animal vets out there who do like their job/ regret the schooling/ or any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!

If you would like to PM me or just post below, please do!!

I guess one question I pose to you is why did you apply to that school in the first place? You don't need to answer me, but thinking about it like that might help you with this decision (ie was it just to prove you could get in? Was it that you were truly going to go before you thought of all the financial implications? etc?) As far as the miliatary option-it's not guaranteed. Know that and don't count on it to slash your debt in the event you don't get it. Run the numbers on the VIN debt simulator-even with IBR IDK how anyone could save enough to pay the taxes on the forgiveness on that amount at the end especially with wanting to go large animal unfortunately future salary is going to be dismal compared to your debt load if you stay LA. I want to do rural mixed, I'll pry make ~80k maybe ~100-150k if I own a practice. I'll graduate somewhere with ~100k in debt, but I plan on (if the progam is still around) serving a high need area so the government will pay some of my loans. If I can make all of that work then I'll actually have a decent salary, but at 6.5-7,5% interest on my loans currently not looking foward to repayment over 10 years on 100K. It'll be doable, but I want to own a house, eventually get another car when mine dies and being able to breathe financially is a goal of mine.

I think maybe you should also talk with your mom if she's comfortable with helping you with that much financial wise. I will say I live a 3hr flight from home and only go home twice a year-christmas and part of summer and my plane tickets are 1/3 of what yours would be. You definately have a lot to think about. For me before I applied I set a limit for how much I was willing to take out in loans for school and applied accordingly. After being in it for 7ish months or so personally I don't think it's worth the amount that amount of money but it's a personal decision. There are plenty of other professions one could obtain for the same pay and far less schooling. Obviously I don't know your situation, but could you continue to improve your application or even move states to a school with a more favorable outcome? Lastly are you happy in your current job? Satisified? Maybe not your dream, but satisified in your work?

I hope my ramblings help. My pm box is always open if you ahve questions and I wish you the best in your decision.