Choosing my OOS schools

[fargeese]

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How do you find out which schools are strong in which areas? I have looked at lots of school websites and of course no school says "We're great at large animals but don't do anything with exotics" etc. I want to apply to 3 other schools besides my 1st choice state school, and while I have a list of schools that I (a) have the pre-reqs for and (b) will accept a reasonable number of OOS students, it is still a long (therefore expensive) list.

I specifically am looking for a program where I can get a good mixed program, but was hoping someone knew of a website or resource to find out which schools are best at what topics for anyone who is trying to narrow their choices.

PS: if there is already a thread on this topic, sorry, just post it and I will go there 🙂

 

[ShelterGirl]

Tufts doesn't track, so everyone gets mixed experience there.

UC Davis is supposed to have a good mixed/wildlife/zoo track, but it's darned near impossible to get in from out of state.

 

[wivet2011]

I think Kansas doesn't track either.

 

[soxbox]

CSU does track... however you can pick small, large, or general tracking here

 

[ri23]

OSU, in my completely unbiased opinion of course, has a really good program with a broad exposure to various fields and they don't track. They also accept a lot of OOS students.

 

[Angelo84]

It would depend on what you mean by mixed. Small animal and large animal? equine? food animal? exotics (or wildlife?)?

Assuming that you mean small animal and large animal and not anything more exotic I would recommend Tufts (not as strong for food animal), UPenn (esp. good for horses), Purdue, Cornell, Ohio has a decent mix as well. Illinois is known for having a good food animal program.

Any school will give you a good background in small animal so if you have a particular interest outside that I would check schools websites and try to get to their hospital page and click on the services offered link. That link will usually give you a good indication of what the school deals with.

Also you could try e-mailing professors at the schools your interested in and outright asking them what their school excels at and what its weaknesses are. I asked this at my interviews but I am sure professors would reply to an e-mail as well.

Hope that helps or at least gives you some new places to look!

 

[pressmom]

If you want to do mixed small animal/exotic (like I do), Tennessee is a great school! They have many exotics professors and a dedicated rotation fourth year.

 

[fargeese]

Thanks for the responses, I should have been more specific and said a large animal (food)/small animal track. Emailing the professors and checking their hospital services both seem like good ideas, thanks! It is just hard sometimes to figure out what is propaganda and what is substance in a program. Too bad that US News report is just overall ranking, and does not rank the schools' individual programs.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

MSU accepts 30 OOS applicants a year (out of a class of 108), does not track, and has a very good relationship with a very large dairy farm 30 min away. Every student does at least one clinical rotation through there... and has the option for more. We also have quite a high caseload of alpacas- and see our share of sheep as well.

 

[fargeese]

I don't have cell biology actually, I was interested in MSU, but not enough to take the class for just one school, so it is off the list 🙂 It does seem like a great program.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

I don't have cell biology actually, I was interested in MSU, but not enough to take the class for just one school, so it is off the list 🙂 It does seem like a great program.

You could just put it as a planned class, and if you get in then you can find it and take it the summer before matriculation. Lots of people do that. I personally took A LOT of classes that were "just for one school"... embryology (Davis), animal nutrition (Purdue), econ A&B (Tennessee), stats... and those are just the ones that I can think of- there were more. You just have to plan ahead, and you can get it all done and be sure that you increase your likelihood of getting the "thick envelope" come March.

 

[clawsbeatskin]

Does MSU allow you to take courses over the summer prior to matriculation? It's my understanding that most schools require all prereqs completed by the end of the spring semester.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

My little sib just finished her animal nutrition course 3 days before orientation. You can't have 5 classes missing, but the odd one here or there is ok, apparently!

Jenn

 

[Rebeki]

Be careful about taking pre-reqs too late...different schools have different requirements. I would check with each school individually.