Advice?

[bostonpet]

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Hey Everyone,

I’m 26, have a liberal arts degree from my state school, have been working for the past 4 years since graduation, and am planning on leaving my current career to pursue a career as a veterinarian. I’ve been researching vet schools feverishly ever since I made this decision, but I’m looking for advice….

I’m in MA, and UMass Amherst has an animal science program. I’m thinking of trying a somewhat traditional route and staying in MA, going back to UMass, and applying to Tufs afterwards. I know Tufts is a great school, but I also hear it’s one of the most expensive. I’m also considering moving home, applying for a job at my vet’s clinic and taking classes in the city………..

And then, I’m also thinking about moving to another state with a vet school, working part time, and trying to declare residency in that state (such as Florida, Georgia or North Carolina). Obviously, these are personal choices, but I’m curious what your experience has been applying to schools outside ‘your state’ (and how expensive those schools are). I’d hope that if I declared residency in one of these states, obviously worked extra hard, and tried to get into that school, it would be less expensive down the line (in comparison to remaining in MA and applying to Tufts).

Any advice on how to move forward would be most appreciated.

Thanks so much!

 

[Angelo84]

I am also a mass resident. For the most part the tuition at Tufts (in state) is the same as applying out of state at other schools. In state at any other school is almost definetly cheaper however so if you want to move to another state that could be worth it. I know at ohio you can get in-state tuition after a year if you jump through the hoops but you are paying 50,000 for tuition that first year. You get a 15% tuition break if you go to tufts which basically brings it down to out of state tuition elsewhere. I was deciding between Tufts and Cornell it was 50,000/yr for cost of education at Cornell and 54,000 at Tufts (the tuition break brought it down to 49,000) so it ended up being 1,000 cheaper at Tufts (which isn't that significant if your taking out loans anyway). I ended up chosing Tufts over Cornell, Penn, Ohio and Purdue--if you want to know the reasons or my credentials you can PM me.

Anna

 

[bakaduin]

Per UFs website (assuming Im looking at the right place =P)

It says

The fee schedule for students in the professional curriculum specifies a fee of $8,387.58 per semester for Florida residents and $18,875.18 for non-Florida residents. These fees are subject to change.

So its significantly cheaper if that is a route you wanted to pursue.

 

[pressmom]

Hey,

I actually worked with a 2nd year at NCSU that moved and established residency in NC from MA. Anyway, be sure you check the residency requirements before you move! In NC, you must live there for a year working without going to school at all in order to establish residency. So if you have pre-reqs left, be prepared to tack on an extra year in NC. And that year will give you a lot of hours that you may need (you didn't say how much experience you have). Also, look into the requirements, both class-wise and hours-wise, and see what is realistic in your timetable. And since I lived in NC for so long and you mentioned it, off the top of my head they have a really exhaustive list of pre-reqs including business courses, nutrition, and all the normal sciences plus they really favor a lot of hours and a good distribution in a lot of areas. (When I applied, the ideal candidate had 400+ small animal, 400+ research, 400+ large.) You don't want to go to all the trouble of moving and not get in to the state school!!