Colorado Vet Prep Program (5 years) vs 4. Year (Western, Midwestern, Rowan, RVC)

[YareYare]

Hi, just wanted to get some advice. So I was recently accepted into Colorado’s Vet Prep program, which means that after finishing a non-thesis masters with at least a 3.0 at Colorado, I would gain automatic admission into Colorado’s vet school the following year. I would have to pay for the masters as an OOS student, but they also would give me a stipend to cover some of the cost. I would also then qualify for in-state tuition for Vet School. This would ultimately be a 5 year program, so including my masters program, I would have about $297,422 in loans.

While I am currently on the waitlist for the other schools in the title, I want to be able to make an informed decision if I do get pulled, especially if I am not given a lot of time to decide. My dilemma is that the other schools are much more expensive (Western: $411,713 , Midwestern: $453,452 , Rowan: $347,988). I am just unsure if that much extra debt is worth just holding off one year, though at the same time that would be an extra year in which I am earning money as a Vet. If I get an acceptance to Western, I would be closer to family and my SO as a CA native, but I’m not sure if that would be worth all that money, along with the fact that they don’t have a teaching hospital. I don’t love Arizona but they do offer a teaching hospital. Rowan seems very nice with the brand new campus + teaching hospital, but it’s a new school and very far from family + my SO.

TL;DR
Do 5 years and save ~$115,000 by graduation, or start school sooner but finish with much more debt.

Also if anyone has done the Vet Prep Program, please reach out to me, would love to hear other’s experiences.

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[pp9]

Hi, just wanted to get some advice. So I was recently accepted into Colorado’s Vet Prep program, which means that after finishing a non-thesis masters with at least a 3.0 at Colorado, I would gain automatic admission into Colorado’s vet school the following year. I would have to pay for the masters as an OOS student, but they also would give me a stipend to cover some of the cost. I would also then qualify for in-state tuition for Vet School. This would ultimately be a 5 year program, so including my masters program, I would have about $297,422 in loans.

While I am currently on the waitlist for the other schools in the title, I want to be able to make an informed decision if I do get pulled, especially if I am not given a lot of time to decide. My dilemma is that the other schools are much more expensive (Western: $411,713 , Midwestern: $453,452 , Rowan: $347,988). I am just unsure if that much extra debt is worth just holding off one year, though at the same time that would be an extra year in which I am earning money as a Vet. If I get an acceptance to Western, I would be closer to family and my SO as a CA native, but I’m not sure if that would be worth all that money, along with the fact that they don’t have a teaching hospital. I don’t love Arizona but they do offer a teaching hospital. Rowan seems very nice with the brand new campus + teaching hospital, but it’s a new school and very far from family + my SO.

TL;DR
Do 5 years and save ~$115,000 by graduation, or start school sooner but finish with much more debt.

Also if anyone has done the Vet Prep Program, please reach out to me, would love to hear other’s experiences.

Do you actually have anything in writing from CSU that says you'll qualify for IS tuition, or are you operating on assumption here? All available info points to you being wrong about that. Please read the following website extremely carefully: Residency Requirements for In-State Tuition | Office of Financial Aid | Colorado State University .

"“Domicile” is used to describe the place where an individual has demonstrated intent to make a permanent home and legal residence. Both physical presence (see below) and evidence of intent (see below) must be in place to begin the domicile year. A “qualified individual” must reside in Colorado with the intent to make Colorado their permanent home and legal residence.​

​

Colorado residency requires a domicile in Colorado for 12 continuous months on or prior to the first day of classes of each semester. Because domicile is defined as a permanent home and legal residence, being in Colorado solely for school purposes and/or temporarily for other purposes does not qualify as domicile for Colorado residency. Additionally, even if you do not qualify for residency in any other state, you are not guaranteed Colorado residency."​

So basically you would have had to be a bona fide Colorado resident for 12 months prior to starting the prep program.

I stumbled upon your reddit thread where you're being told the exact same thing there, so if I were you I would figure this out before you commit to anything. It's one thing if the school is telling you this and you have it in writing and you can also verify this with other sources, it's another if you think this would be the case because you would be making an expensive and silly mistake. I actually can't even find anything about this prep program online beyond reddit threads (which is weird) to see if there is some sort of residency agreement for students of the program.

If OOS CSU tuition is still cheaper (taking the cost of the prep program into account), it still might be the right choice though. Do you have an IS vet school, or is OOS your only option? If it's the latter, I'd be considering Ohio and Missouri - they allow you to obtain IS tuition for years 2-4 if you meet certain requirements. I believe there are 1-2 more schools that allow this as well, I just can never remember which ones. Certain schools used to allow this and no longer do, so make sure you check with the schools directly to get the most up-to-date info as well.

 

[vampyrica]

Do you actually have anything in writing from CSU that says you'll qualify for IS tuition, or are you operating on assumption here? All available info points to you being wrong about that. Please read the following website extremely carefully: Residency Requirements for In-State Tuition | Office of Financial Aid | Colorado State University .

Just to jump in on this: in my acceptance letter for the MPH/DVM program at CSU, it says I must establish residency/domicile one year before matriculating into the DVM program, not the MPH. I believe it is the same situation for those pursuing the MBA or the Vet-Prep masters as this topic has been previously discussed in the discord server.

This is a direct quote from my offer:

“I understand my tuition rate for year one of the program is set based on my domicile status and that if I am a resident of a state other than Colorado I may establish domicile during this year allowing me to pay in-state resident tuition for the DVM Program. This is my sole responsibility to be certain I meet the Colorado domicile requirements.”

 

[YareYare]

Do you actually have anything in writing from CSU that says you'll qualify for IS tuition, or are you operating on assumption here? All available info points to you being wrong about that. Please read the following website extremely carefully: Residency Requirements for In-State Tuition | Office of Financial Aid | Colorado State University .

"“Domicile” is used to describe the place where an individual has demonstrated intent to make a permanent home and legal residence. Both physical presence (see below) and evidence of intent (see below) must be in place to begin the domicile year. A “qualified individual” must reside in Colorado with the intent to make Colorado their permanent home and legal residence.​

​

Colorado residency requires a domicile in Colorado for 12 continuous months on or prior to the first day of classes of each semester. Because domicile is defined as a permanent home and legal residence, being in Colorado solely for school purposes and/or temporarily for other purposes does not qualify as domicile for Colorado residency. Additionally, even if you do not qualify for residency in any other state, you are not guaranteed Colorado residency."​

So basically you would have had to be a bona fide Colorado resident for 12 months prior to starting the prep program.

I stumbled upon your reddit thread where you're being told the exact same thing there, so if I were you I would figure this out before you commit to anything. It's one thing if the school is telling you this and you have it in writing and you can also verify this with other sources, it's another if you think this would be the case because you would be making an expensive and silly mistake. I actually can't even find anything about this prep program online beyond reddit threads (which is weird) to see if there is some sort of residency agreement for students of the program.

If OOS CSU tuition is still cheaper (taking the cost of the prep program into account), it still might be the right choice though. Do you have an IS vet school, or is OOS your only option? If it's the latter, I'd be considering Ohio and Missouri - they allow you to obtain IS tuition for years 2-4 if you meet certain requirements. I believe there are 1-2 more schools that allow this as well, I just can never remember which ones. Certain schools used to allow this and no longer do, so make sure you check with the schools directly to get the most up-to-date info as well.

Just to follow up, the wording is the same as Vampyrica’s , so I am pretty sure that I would qualify for in state come time for vet school.

 

[vampyrica]

I would say do CSU! It’s a guaranteed, you’re offered some money and will get IS tuition after your first year. You should however also take into consideration FoCo COL is not the cheapest.

 

[pp9]

Just to follow up, the wording is the same as Vampyrica’s , so I am pretty sure that I would qualify for in state come time for vet school.

If you are absolutely positive (pretty sure =/= positive) then it sounds like CSU is your answer, short of applying in another cycle and picking schools that allow you to change residency.

Also just make sure that you understand the nuances of domicile according to the state. This isn't typically a situation where a small mistake/misinterpretation will be forgiven 🙂

 

[battie]

Do 5 years and save ~$115,000 by graduation, or start school sooner but finish with much more debt.

You're saving more than 115k; don't forget the interest you'll saving since that accrues every year and also compounds over time. You'll save way more by doing the 5yr program than you could possibly make in a single year as a doctor to make up for it.

I don't think a DVM degree is worth 300k+. I love my job, I'm a good doctor, wouldn't change anything. Yadada. However, from a numbers perspective, the degree isn't worth that money in any other context. So take the CSU position.

 

[KK5820]

Jumping in to say that CSU also has an established teaching hospital, if that matters to you.

Depending on where you’re moving from, you may or may not be sticker shocked with COL. I know Vampyrica mentioned COL is high in FoCo, however, I did not find that to be the case as I am from Southern California. To be fair, FoCo is much higher in comparison to other parts of the state, but you’re in a college town so what can you expect 🤷‍♀️ To lower your COL, get roommates. You can typically find houses that are offering rooms for ~$650 per month. Utilities aren’t horrible (again, my personal perspective), and gas rarely gets above $3.00 per gal.

If you are doing Vet Prep, that also gives you the option to work for the first year, if you can balance it. I know people in similar dual programs that go to CSU who worked up to 20hrs a week during the masters portion. This would help to lower your COL, especially during the masters year.

 

[battie]

You can typically find houses that are offering rooms for ~$650 per month.

Just here to say that's what my room cost in Illinois from 2019-2021! I don't spend time in FoCo, like, ever. But that sounds very reasonable for housing

 

[YareYare]

Jumping in to say that CSU also has an established teaching hospital, if that matters to you.

Depending on where you’re moving from, you may or may not be sticker shocked with COL. I know Vampyrica mentioned COL is high in FoCo, however, I did not find that to be the case as I am from Southern California. To be fair, FoCo is much higher in comparison to other parts of the state, but you’re in a college town so what can you expect 🤷‍♀️ To lower your COL, get roommates. You can typically find houses that are offering rooms for ~$650 per month. Utilities aren’t horrible (again, my personal perspective), and gas rarely gets above $3.00 per gal.

If you are doing Vet Prep, that also gives you the option to work for the first year, if you can balance it. I know people in similar dual programs that go to CSU who worked up to 20hrs a week during the masters portion. This would help to lower your COL, especially during the masters year.

We are currently living in the Bay Area, so the housing costs in FoCo seems like a steal lol. Like I can have a yard without being rich, it is quite amazing.

 

[YareYare]

If you are absolutely positive (pretty sure =/= positive) then it sounds like CSU is your answer, short of applying in another cycle and picking schools that allow you to change residency.

Also just make sure that you understand the nuances of domicile according to the state. This isn't typically a situation where a small mistake/misinterpretation will be forgiven 🙂

So having talked to someone at the program, for the Vet Prep Program, you must establish residency in Colorado by July, one year before Vet School (12 months of continuous residency as a student is needed to qualify for CO residency) in order to get in-state tuition when starting Vet School. Though they made it very clear that if you don't establish a domicile by July you wont qualify for the in-state Vet School tuition.

 

[YareYare]

You're saving more than 115k; don't forget the interest you'll saving since that accrues every year and also compounds over time. You'll save way more by doing the 5yr program than you could possibly make in a single year as a doctor to make up for it.

I don't think a DVM degree is worth 300k+. I love my job, I'm a good doctor, wouldn't change anything. Yadada. However, from a numbers perspective, the degree isn't worth that money in any other context. So take the CSU position.

Appreciate the honesty and input, thank you!

 

[KK5820]

We are currently living in the Bay Area, so the housing costs in FoCo seems like a steal lol. Like I can have a yard without being rich, it is quite amazing.

Omg YES, it’s nothing compared to the bay! That’s partly why I declined UCD. I can’t justify the COL 😭