Any advice would be amazing!

[Pennminnpurdue]

Hello,
I have to decide between Upenn, Minnesota, and Purdue by tomorrow in order to get my deposit in on time. I was hoping someone could point out some criticisms or give any advice. I am from NY so I will not have residency. This means that upenn and minn would be about 42 a year and purdue would be like 37 but they offered me 9k scholarship so 28k a year. I think they are all really good, can someone weight a couple issues they have heard about any of these school, or any feedback would be amazing.
Thank you so much, I am getting really nervous,
-Eddie

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[catlover]

I interviewed at both Purdue and Minnesota and liked them both very much (didn't apply to Penn because I don't like the big city). If I were you I would seriously consider Purdue just because of the cost difference - tuition is going up every year, and I know my OOS friends stress about the huge loans they are racking up.

 

[banditalfi]

Eddie... they are all amazing schools and I would go where it is cheapest for you. All the vets I work with have said that all the educations are the same and one has told me over and over again that people who spend thousands of dollars more a year are ridiculous and misguided... and he's not even the vet that sent me a two page long email about how much debt he is in...

 

[lailanni]

I'm not an expert on those schools, but if it were my choice I'd go to the less expensive one. Debt is a real problem.

I've talked to several docs from a wide range of schools. I asked them about school choices -- almost all the docs that picked a more expensive school wish they had gone to their "cheaper" option. Example: a cornell vet at the clinic says she wished she went to georgia with her offered scholarship. She's 15 years into her practice and still has barely scratched the surface of her student loans. If she went to Georgia, she'd be near debt free by now.

Now, money aside, you may like one more than another. I'm not sure where your priorites are with location (family considerations, school specialty, living situation with animals, etc). So my opinion certainly isn't a complete one. But for me, money was certainly the deciding factor. I'd like to own a house sooner than later!

Congrats on getting into those schools! Good luck with your decision!

 

[Angelo84]

I believe the numbers you listed do not include cost of living. If you want to directly compare the cost to go to those schools look at the cost of education numbers. That said it is certainly cheaper to live at Purdue than Penn. Also take into account if you like living in cities. If you love cities and would be unhappy not being in one than Penn might be worth the extra money. Also what are you interested in? When I interviewed at Purdue they said that their weakness was exotics/wildlife if that is something your interested in it might not be a good choice. I know nothing about minnesota and can't help you there. I would have taken Purdue over Penn because I liked the fact that Purdue does some case based/problem based learning in your first few years which I think will help once in clinics. I also liked the small class size. Penn's curriculum is all lecture and the class size is significantly larger. I obviously went to Tufts instead the curriculums were very similar and Purdue was too far away.

 

[carrbear21]

I want to know what your final decision was, Eddie!

 

[twelvetigers]

I think I read in the vet forum that he picked Penn. It's also first in his name. Subconcious choice? I think so.