Choosing an Undergrad

[sally24]

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I'm a senior in high school that is interested in pre-vet, and am having trouble picking an undergrad school. I have been lurking on this site for quite a while, and know that the general consensus here is that the name of an undergraduate school does not carry much weight for most schools.

However, my in-state (Cornell) says this in their admissions section, ""Cornell tends to take its students from the most competitive colleges. We measure the competitiveness of a college by its admissions selectivity""

Does this mean that it would be wise to choose a college or university with lower admission rate/higher ranking? I'm a little confused. 😕

I'm currently deciding between Adelphi University (free ride with scholarships), Hunter College, and Fordham University. Thanks so much, guys. 🙂

 

[shortnsweet]

If you look in the big college books or on those school websites, you should see an admissions percentage or acceptance rate. The lower the number, the more competitive (usually).

You can also browse through US rankings, but try to do so with an open mind, as rankings don't always reflect what your experience will be like and a lot goes in to them. I personally went to a school in the top 50, but they decided to remove themselves from all ranking systems halfway through my college career. I still think it was a great move by our president. Whats more, I know people who have gotten into Cornell vet and many other vet and med schools who have said something similar to what you described. Undergrad is what you make of it!

Go where you think you fit and where you think you will excel. There is no sense going somewhere you hate and you run the risk of being unhappy or doing poorly in classes.

Sent from my SCH-I405 using SDN Mobile

 

[cowgirla]

I'm a senior in high school that is interested in pre-vet, and am having trouble picking an undergrad school. I have been lurking on this site for quite a while, and know that the general consensus here is that the name of an undergraduate school does not carry much weight for most schools.

However, my in-state (Cornell) says this in their admissions section, ""Cornell tends to take its students from the most competitive colleges. We measure the competitiveness of a college by its admissions selectivity""

Does this mean that it would be wise to choose a college or university with lower admission rate/higher ranking? I'm a little confused. 😕

I'm currently deciding between Adelphi University (free ride with scholarships), Hunter College, and Fordham University. Thanks so much, guys. 🙂

You'll get a good education at any of those. Adelphi/Fordham are much more well known than Hunter, which I'm not as familiar with (unless you want to do computer science- in that case, I'm related to a professor 😉 ). Fordham likely has a slightly better admissions rate, but NOT enough to make up the tuition difference, and honestly, it's probably not enough to matter to Cornell either. I think it works out to <5% of their academic decision. Go to Adelphi, kick butt, get good grades and you'll be fine. Save your money for vet school or do an awesome internship during your summer.

 

[Horses925]

First off - I wholeheartedly agree with what shortandsweet and cowgirla said. Some other things to consider - you may have your heart set on vet school now, but you may change your mind later - college is all about self-discovery too, not just classes or a stepping stone to graduate/professional school. If you haven't already, take the time to visit these places and think about where you would be happy as a person. Weather, location, the mix of people/personalities, whether you will have access to the things you have in your life that you enjoy, and so on. If you go somewhere that might look better on a resume, but are miserable, you won't get out of college what you should, not to mention your grades will suffer. And you may decide somewhere along the way that you want to pursue something else - maybe not, but at least if you go where you will be happy, at least when you finally choose whatever, vet school or otherwise, you will know it is for the right reasons and not to justify whatever college you picked.

I know for me, I went where I knew I would be happy. I found places nearby to ride horses, which I needed to keep my sanity. I had no plan to get involved in research at all, but I did, kind of by accident at first, and then once I caught the research bug, I kept at it. When I graduated, I was thinking Ph.D., not vet, but eventually (long story short) realized there was no way I could give up the vet school dream. I'm committed now, and so grateful I took the path I did. You will discover passions you never knew you had if you are in the right place and are happy and open to new things.

 

[felinelvr44]

I'm a senior in high school that is interested in pre-vet, and am having trouble picking an undergrad school. I have been lurking on this site for quite a while, and know that the general consensus here is that the name of an undergraduate school does not carry much weight for most schools.

However, my in-state (Cornell) says this in their admissions section, ""Cornell tends to take its students from the most competitive colleges. We measure the competitiveness of a college by its admissions selectivity""

Does this mean that it would be wise to choose a college or university with lower admission rate/higher ranking? I'm a little confused. 😕

I'm currently deciding between Adelphi University (free ride with scholarships), Hunter College, and Fordham University. Thanks so much, guys. 🙂

I go to CUNY Hunter and got into Cornell for the c/o 2017 🙂. I know I've seen other Hunter alumn's on Cornell's class stats list too. That being said, I still 100% think you should choose Aldephi - especially if you have a full ride there. Vet school is not cheap, and anything you can do to lessen your undergraduate debt is going to be a godsend in the future when you're paying back $150,000+ in vet school loans (even as an IS student). Hunter has cheap in-state tuition but living in the city is crazy expensive. I think competitiveness counts for something like 5% of Cornell's admissions formula so I wouldn't really consider it that much - I would focus WAY more on getting good grades, solid experience, and rocking the GRE's.

If you want to chat more about Hunter specifically I'd be more than happy to answer your questions - just PM me! 🙂

 

[BGoodl]

Keep in mind the cost of vet school as well. Choosing the cheaper choice now might really benefit you later on. Out of state tuition is approaching $50,000/year and that is not taking into account living expenses. Even if you decide to go to your in state, it still incurs a significant cost. Also, go where you think you will be happy and excel. Think of the opportunities near by. Can you walk somewhere to get animal experience, will you be able to bring a car? Are there people with similar interests for networking opportunities?

 

[bbeventer]

Take the free ride. Hands down.

 

[MysteryCat]

Take the free ride. Hands down.

This! You'll be so much better off spending as little as possible on tuition. Crippling debt is a huge problem for vet school grads (I'm sure you've considered that, though.) If you do well in your classes, I think that you'll be just fine!

 

[mas185]

I'm a senior in high school that is interested in pre-vet, and am having trouble picking an undergrad school. I have been lurking on this site for quite a while, and know that the general consensus here is that the name of an undergraduate school does not carry much weight for most schools.

However, my in-state (Cornell) says this in their admissions section, ""Cornell tends to take its students from the most competitive colleges. We measure the competitiveness of a college by its admissions selectivity""

Does this mean that it would be wise to choose a college or university with lower admission rate/higher ranking? I'm a little confused. 😕

I'm currently deciding between Adelphi University (free ride with scholarships), Hunter College, and Fordham University. Thanks so much, guys. 🙂

If you are serious about going to vet school choose the cheapest school and pick the easiest major!! Work hard, get excellent grades and go into as little debt as possible ... A least that's what I would have told myself 10 years ago if I had known better!! (I went to Tufts, majored in electrical engineering, had to live in Boston => while I did love it, it made it so much harder to get into vet school and I've always known that's what I wanted to do ... I should have taken my free ride at Rutgers and majored in English (I'm not knocking the English makes I swear!! I just would have been able to do much better in my pre-reqs if I wasn't taking so many other science/math/engineering classes as the same time) :-\

 

[cuitlamiztli]

If you are serious about going to vet school choose the cheapest school and pick the easiest major!!

Sorry, but I don't think this is good advice -- major in something because you're interested in it, or because you could see yourself in that field if you don't end up in vet med. Don't choose something just because it's "easy."

 

[pirateyoho]

Sorry, but I don't think this is good advice -- major in something because you're interested in it, or because you could see yourself in that field if you don't end up in vet med. Don't choose something just because it's "easy."

I think that's what she meant. She said so herself that she wasn't knocking the English majors for having an "easy" major; it's just that it would have been easy for her (I'm guessing because she enjoys the subject).

However, I will add that I think vet school admissions officials are impressed when you demonstrate your ability to handle several academically challenging courses at once, because it indicates that you're better prepared for the severe academic load you'll have in vet school. So picking a challenging major may actually make you look prepared, provided that you *can* actually handle it. 🙂

 

[Emiloo4]

So picking a challenging major may actually make you look prepared, provided that you *can* actually handle it. 🙂

Let's not forget, the point is to BE prepared, not just look prepared. Do something you love as your major, but add in your prereqs and have some heavy course loads to make sure YOU can handle vet school and to prove it to admissions. It's no joke here. And as mentioned above, a lot will change in undergrad, take the free ride, absolutely hands down and make the best of wherever you go. You are still a little young to completely understand this debt thing, but TRUST US, it takes over your life if you don't make smart decisions. Like taking your free ride 😉