YAYYYYYY!!!!! Either way it was a great decision, I'm so happy for you 🥳
thank you!! I'm finally letting myself get excited about it!!
it's totally surreal
I personally used class notes 99% of the time and text books rarely like case assignments which ebooks are great for. Ebooks are great for clinics too control F vs 2 volumes of 1000+page books of internal medicine. Imo I'd stick with ebooks for school. I never did leisurely or serious serious retention reading for classes. I do own the latest sx book and will pry buy the internal med book when I graduate and a hard copy of plumbs and that's probably it. Tagging @justpawfor more MI related advice.
I also vote the ebooks because they're likely to be free through your school. You can download hundreds of books for free and stick them on a hard drive. That's what I did.
I did not end up buying any books except the anatomy book which I never used. I did buy the anatomy flash cards from an upperclassman and have altered them based on what they had us know for anatomy. I will sell them to you if you want, pm me. Many of the books are available on the MSU library site or provided as pdfs or downloads in each class.
I definitely wouldn’t buy a bunch of books going in. Throughout the program I decided there were a few specific texts I wanted, which I purchased used from other people when they came available for super cheap. Those included:
I use one note and really like it because I have it on my iPad as well as my computer and iPhone and it auto syncs between all so I literally have all my notes wherever I am and whatever device I’m using! I’m sure other apps do this as well but one note is free and I haven’t had any issues with it!
I second this! I use a surface go and love using one note, it's great for keeping everything organized!
I started off first year using one note trying to hand write my notes. It sort of worked, but my handwriting is terrible. So I switched to writing in text boxes off to the side of slides on one note. Then school switched to online open note and ctrl+f is really bad in one note compared to PowerPoint.
I went with a MacBook Pro that met my school’s requirements and haven’t looked back. I also have an iPad that I thought I would use to handwrite notes on powerpoint or pdf lectures, which some of my classmates do … but I ended up not because handwritten stuff isn’t searchable. In first year alone we had several topics come up multiple times and it was super handy to be able to search thoroughly and quickly. But if handwriting things is how you’ve always done things and you know it works for you then go with the Surface Pro but definitely get the one that meets the requirements. You don’t need the added stress of something not working properly mid-semester
I bought a refurb surface that was a generation older than the most recent model when I started vet school. Still fit all the required specs and was a third of the price.
I think surface products are a good move. I have a surface books 2 which I really like, but because there’s no active cooling it can get a little hot sometimes. Still, definitely worth it to get more storage. With computers like that you can never add more internally, so you’re stuck with what you have forever. I keep all my notes on my computer and it’s slowly filling up. I could offload a lot of it to an external drive but I want to be able to access all of it whenever I want.
I got a refurbished acer a few months back after I drowned my third laptop. It has been well worth the 400 bucks I paid for it, until I started summer research and dealing with huge metadata files...now I have to play with my nails every time I need to copy paste or change data format or something
So IMO microsoft laptops are not that great. They are super expensive and they don't really last, not to mention all the accessories and adapters you have to buy on top of it (same can be said with apple). I really like ASUS laptops. A comparable ASUS 2 in 1 laptop with a surface is cheaper and more powerful, plus it comes with pens and adapters. Plus ASUS makes their own hardware and software, which more techy people tell me that computers like that tend to run better and longer. Microsoft and apple make their own software but use other manufacturer's hardware. Also if you have a costco membership or know someone who does they frequently have deals on laptops.
hey girl!!! I’m going to tOSU and if you ever want to chat just DM me! I have felt lonely even with my fiancé here and working so you are not alone
This is not stupid at all and you’re not alone in feeling this way. I just moved across the country to a state where I know literally zero people while I’m in the process of finalizing my divorce. I know how lonely it can feel to be physically isolated from people coupled with losing the idea of how this time in your life would play out. This is a tough time of year too, because I feel like during the summer lots of people get engaged or announce babies, which at least is hard for me to handle. I totally understand how you feel when other people talking about their relationships feels like a stab in the heart, no matter how small of a comment it is.
So far for tOSU everything is hybrid and orientation is still in person (we are going to the zoo! Which is pretty cool). I think if students aren’t comfortable they can go fully zoom but have to attend labs as of now? More updates to come I’m sure!
How fun!! I think we’re doing the same thing with in-person labs and optional lectures.
Sorry you’re feeling lonely, and you’re definitely not alone in it. Starting new somewhere is a lonely experience, it’s not just you. Once classes and extracurriculars start that will probably help along with making new friends. And it’s hard to find the time to date during vet school, but not impossible! You can focus on getting settled for now, but promise yourself that once you have an idea of your schedule you’ll make time for yourself to explore some ~rom ants~ options. Just have to be up front with people about what kind of relationship you’re looking for and how much time you’ll have to spend on dates. People have certainly gotten into long-term relationships during vet school before. Just a couple days ago I was told/threatened that “you’ll find someone nice and be stuck in Indiana forever”, lmao
I'm giggling
What’s the prep work? 😳
I definitely felt this a lot through vet school and somehow still was able to make it through the first three years. You got this!
I don’t start until next month, but I’m soo terrified of all the workload that’s to come. Any tips or learning curves you’ve experienced thus far?Okay, I'll be the first to openly procrastinate to check in...
How was orientation for everyone?? What about the first few days of classes?
I REEEEAAAALLY attempted to just relax and have as much fun as humanly possible during orientation and I'm glad I did! It was a blast, and was definitely a nice little rest before school. As for the first few days, I think I'm doing alright?? I don't know, it's really difficult to know where to start with veterinary school, tbh. You feel a sense of, "okay, this is review of stuff I have already learned, but I also feel like I don't remember this? Should I have studied over the summer? Why can't I remember that? Oh ****, no, I definitely recognize that... Ugh, my cell & molec professor would kill me if she knew I forgot about G proteins!" etc. etc. It's so difficult to describe, but I can tell it will be a wild ride!
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and living their best vet student lives. This has been a much-needed reprieve, but now it's back to the books!
I think that's just part of vet school, I felt the exact same way when I started! Don't feel bad, I guarantee a lot of your classmates are probably feeling this too. Hang in there, you've got this!
I love my surface pro
I had a 3 throughout school and recently upgraded to a 7.
I have a surface go and love it! I ended up choosing it because it's more tablet-size than the pro, but still fully functional as a laptop so it's a good all-in-one device
This is me too. Same models and everything.I love my surface pro
There's a thread around here somewhere with computer suggestions.
Okay, I'll be the first to openly procrastinate to check in...
How was orientation for everyone?? What about the first few days of classes?
I REEEEAAAALLY attempted to just relax and have as much fun as humanly possible during orientation and I'm glad I did! It was a blast, and was definitely a nice little rest before school. As for the first few days, I think I'm doing alright?? I don't know, it's really difficult to know where to start with veterinary school, tbh. You feel a sense of, "okay, this is review of stuff I have already learned, but I also feel like I don't remember this? Should I have studied over the summer? Why can't I remember that? Oh ****, no, I definitely recognize that... Ugh, my cell & molec professor would kill me if she knew I forgot about G proteins!" etc. etc. It's so difficult to describe, but I can tell it will be a wild ride!
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and living their best vet student lives. This has been a much-needed reprieve, but now it's back to the books!
I had to respond because yessss, I was sooo busy before school. Work, work, work, plus we went house-hunting in late June, attempted to buy a house, had it fall through, attempted to buy a condo, closed on said condo, moved from Denver, unpacked and then it was orientation. 🥵 It was miserable, and definitely not the relaxing summer everyone suggests prioritizing before vet school! 🤣 At least we know that we weren't alone in our suffering. Solidarity.
Definitely don't stress yet! (There will be plenty of time for that later) I definitely would make sure that you are READY TO GO on day one technologically speaking. If I could redo the start of vet school, I would have had a tablet, and I would have gone to campus sometime before classes started and gotten connected to wifi on all my devices. I downloaded all of my lecture slides and notes, but I didn't reupload to my note-taking app before classes started, which was a big mistake! Little things like that would have allowed me to sit down more ready-to-go. Obviously I caught up with all of that stuff, but later in the week when I was staying up a little bit later than I wanted to studying, I was regretting those hours spent fiddling with technology in the first few days.
So, I actually started with a laptop that I got for Christmas from my mom and I made it ONE DAY before I decided to go out and get a tablet. I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and I ABSOLUTELY love it. I lived in Korea, so I'm admittedly a Samsung fangirl, but I also just love the tablet in general. It has tons of memory (128 GB), which was really important to me since I want to be able to have access to all of my lecture notes, powerpoints, textbook pdfs, etc. I'm a complete convert to tablets, I can't believe I got through undergrad without one. Whatever brand, note-taking app, or whatever you wind up using, just being able to have the ability to handwrite notes onto slides will be so helpful!
How did you all do this??? I feel like if I take any personal time I'm getting behind. I want to make myself proud (and in a way I am, because I'm not even procrastinating at all compared to past me in undergrad) but I still feel like I'm behind my classmates in terms of knowledge and retention and its only week two
