Cornell (OOS) vs. Penn (OOS)

[Yuxuan Xia]

I've been accepted by Cornell and got the interview invitation from Penn. However, I need to take two more Microbiology courses to meet the prerequisite for Penn. One of them is only provided this quarter and the workload is pretty high. I'm now hesitating whether I should wait for the decision from Penn or just drop the course.
I'm an international student so I am OOS tuition and farrrrrrrr away from home everywhere. I grew up in a big city and went to UCLA. I've never experienced life in a college town and I'm not sure whether I will like it. I studied computational biology in college so I might lack some animal science background. My goal is to work in small animal hospitals in the future and I'm interested in exotic companion animals. I'm also interested in wildlife but I might not choose a full-time career in that field.
Do you have any suggestions for me? Could you provide some pros/cons for these two schools? Thanks a lot!

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[lavenderearlgrey]

Jumping on this thread because I got an OOS acceptance to Penn this morning!! Super excited. My two acceptances are Cornell and Penn, so those are my options.
My career goals: I am a non-traditional student, have been working in public health (vector-borne and other infectious disease surveillance) for the last several years. About to graduate with my MPH! My interests are obviously anything infectious disease and disease prevention related, especially virology, parasitology, and zoonotic pathogens from wildlife. I think I would rather live in a larger city (my good friend is in Philly and living the car free / new urbanist dream and I love transit haha), but Penn is more expensive and the integrated learning curriculum at Cornell sounds really cool, plus from what I've heard they just received a big wildlife grant, so sounds like they're growing that program a lot. Just wondering if anyone has any advice!

 

[spayallday]

I'm not applying until c/o 2029 but I went to undergrad at Cornell and have a master's from Penn. I loved living in Ithaca; there was always plenty going on and lots of beautiful parks around if you're into hiking or other outdoor activities. I used to jog at night by myself past the vet school. The main cons location-wise for Cornell are the tiny Ithaca airport (if you can get a ride to Syracuse there's a lot more flight options) and the harsh winters. For Penn I commuted on the train from the suburbs, but even the days in the city were enough for me to figure out I'm not a city girl. If you're used to the noise and general rude vibe of cities then more power to you, but it wasn't for me. On the plus side there's a major airport.
I will be applying to both schools next year but if I didn't have family considerations then it would be Cornell for me (plus it's cheaper!)

 

[lavenderearlgrey]

I'm not applying until c/o 2029 but I went to undergrad at Cornell and have a master's from Penn. I loved living in Ithaca; there was always plenty going on and lots of beautiful parks around if you're into hiking or other outdoor activities. I used to jog at night by myself past the vet school. The main cons location-wise for Cornell are the tiny Ithaca airport (if you can get a ride to Syracuse there's a lot more flight options) and the harsh winters. For Penn I commuted on the train from the suburbs, but even the days in the city were enough for me to figure out I'm not a city girl. If you're used to the noise and general rude vibe of cities then more power to you, but it wasn't for me. On the plus side there's a major airport.
I will be applying to both schools next year but if I didn't have family considerations then it would be Cornell for me (plus it's cheaper!)

Thank you so much for this perspective! I am leaning towards Cornell for cost reasons and because it seems like there are more opportunities for what I want to do. I definitely understand the city vibes aren't for everyone, but I grew up in a really big city, so I am more worried about living in such a rural area for so long. Although I do love the outdoors and the area around Cornell looks so beautiful. If you don't mind me asking, I am curious how much you think Ithaca life / Cornell is focused on the undergraduates. I am a non-traditional student and while I'm sure I'll make friends with my classmates of all ages, would definitely like to make some other friends my age as well.

Best of luck with your application next year!

 

[spayallday]

Collegetown on the south border of campus is undergrad-focused; a lot of upperclassmen have apartments or share houses there and it's walking distance to tons of bars/restaurants. A lot of undergrads don't have cars so the downtown/Commons bars and restaurants have a more mature clientele: townies, faculty, grad students. The farmers market is popular and there are a few film houses/theatres downtown that also attract an older crowd. I didn't pay attention to any Cornell-sponsored grad student programming since I was undergrad at the time but I think there are events at the Big Red Barn. I think you should definitely make a visit to scope out the town. Granted it is surrounded by rural areas, but I was never bored.

 

[futurevetH02]

Jumping on to follow this! I am IS for Penn but still very torn deciding between mainly Penn and Cornell

 

[Halocat]

Jumping on this thread because I got an OOS acceptance to Penn this morning!! Super excited. My two acceptances are Cornell and Penn, so those are my options.
My career goals: I am a non-traditional student, have been working in public health (vector-borne and other infectious disease surveillance) for the last several years. About to graduate with my MPH! My interests are obviously anything infectious disease and disease prevention related, especially virology, parasitology, and zoonotic pathogens from wildlife. I think I would rather live in a larger city (my good friend is in Philly and living the car free / new urbanist dream and I love transit haha), but Penn is more expensive and the integrated learning curriculum at Cornell sounds really cool, plus from what I've heard they just received a big wildlife grant, so sounds like they're growing that program a lot. Just wondering if anyone has any advice!

My input also being from a bigger city is Ithaca can be boring if you don't like to drink or hike. There are occasional festivals and things though. But during first year I hardly had time to explore anyway bc block 1 is a lot. As someone who really likes wildlife also, there are a lot of cool opportunities here but they can be quite competitive to get. I have heard we have more wildlife/exotics opportunities' compared to UPenn but there might be more research opportunities there. There are also many students here without a car. Its doable with the bus system.

 

[Halocat]

But more importantly CONGRATS to you both!!! Feel free to ask me about Cornell!

 

[futurevetH02]

But more importantly CONGRATS to you both!!! Feel free to ask me about Cornell!

super long shot - but do you happen to know any fellow classmates interested in canine sports med/SA ortho surgery you could connect me with at cornell? No worries if not, I know its a pretty niche interest

 

[Halocat]

super long shot - but do you happen to know any fellow classmates interested in canine sports med/SA ortho surgery you could connect me with at cornell? No worries if not, I know its a pretty niche interest

I personally do not but we do have a whole sports med department and a club (I think). Both those departments hire student technicians. You could also request to join the FB page of upperclassmen (they typically accept) and ask on there.

 

[futurevetH02]

I personally do not but we do have a whole sports med department and a club (I think). Both those departments hire student technicians. You could also request to join the FB page of upperclassmen (they typically accept) and ask on there.

Are "student technicians" like the student jobs? I think they talked about those at our accepted students day, they're pretty lowkey some are like only a few hours a week or month commitment? Or am I way off LOL

 

[Halocat]

Are "student technicians" like the student jobs? I think they talked about those at our accepted students day, they're pretty lowkey some are like only a few hours a week or month commitment?

Yeah they are student jobs that only usually require 5-10 hours a week but it depends on which department you work for. For example ER requires you to stay all summer while some do not. You can get a job after your first semester.

 

[futurevetH02]

Yeah they are student jobs that only usually require 5-10 hours a week but it depends on which department you work for. For example ER requires you to stay all summer while some do not. You can get a job after your first semester.

Gotcha, I like that that sounds like a great way to get more hands on experience. Sorry I have another question for you if thats okay - do you feel pretty connected with your class? Like is everyone friendly or is it more separated and competitive atmosphere? Are there things vet students get together and do outside of class together?

 

[lavenderearlgrey]

My input also being from a bigger city is Ithaca can be boring if you don't like to drink or hike. There are occasional festivals and things though. But during first year I hardly had time to explore anyway bc block 1 is a lot. As someone who really likes wildlife also, there are a lot of cool opportunities here but they can be quite competitive to get. I have heard we have more wildlife/exotics opportunities' compared to UPenn but there might be more research opportunities there. There are also many students here without a car. Its doable with the bus system.

Thank you so much for all this information! I really appreciate it. I can't drink for health reasons, but I love to hike, so I'm really on board with all the nature stuff. It sounds beautiful, but I do love cities as well and really am hoping to be able to meet people outside of school, although keeping up with my hobbies and other things may not be super realistic with how much of a time commitment vet school is.

Very good to know about the wildlife opportunities as well! Do you feel like there aren't many research opportunities? Or just from what you've heard, there may be more at Penn? I'm also curious how you feel about the PBL!

 

[Halocat]

Thank you so much for all this information! I really appreciate it. I can't drink for health reasons, but I love to hike, so I'm really on board with all the nature stuff. It sounds beautiful, but I do love cities as well and really am hoping to be able to meet people outside of school, although keeping up with my hobbies and other things may not be super realistic with how much of a time commitment vet school is.

Very good to know about the wildlife opportunities as well! Do you feel like there aren't many research opportunities? Or just from what you've heard, there may be more at Penn? I'm also curious how you feel about the PBL!

I'm not super interested in research but there are several students in our class doing some and some doing the duel PhD degree. There definitely is research I've just heard UPENN has a lot (but I have never personally been there). I have a love hate relationship with PBL TBH. It sounded cool when I applied but it was a huge somewhat stressful adjustment at first. PL is used in weekly cases called tutor group. The PBL is nice to see what you are learning applied to real cases and really teaches you to find your own answers. At first it feels like you don't get confirmation on what the right answer is because they will tell you where to look and you have to go into the text book for it. But I think after the first block it is even more useful and makes sense. It also forces you to study as you go and practice important concepts. Lots of drawing lol and the learning questions you come up with in tutor group can be MANY and are basically ungraded self HW. Overall, its frustrating to adjust to PBL at first but good in the sense it structures your studying and application skills. I liked it after the first block. It is also only used in the first 2 years. Overall I think at first it makes learning the the material a little harder but the skills you get from it outside the content (finding info, teamwork, application skills) will help me to be a better doctor.

 

[Halocat]

Gotcha, I like that that sounds like a great way to get more hands on experience. Sorry I have another question for you if thats okay - do you feel pretty connected with your class? Like is everyone friendly or is it more separated and competitive atmosphere? Are there things vet students get together and do outside of class together?

I think everyone is pretty friendly. The most competitive things are usually for outside of class opportunities, but in class most people are willing to help each other. Although everyone is nice there are some friend groups they tend to stick together more outside of class (but I am also just pretty shy and don't actively try to insert my self into them. They would probably let me join events). We also though have class events and vet school community events. There is a veterinary fraternity that hold events like dinners, parties and philanthropy events too. There is also the grad student association that some times has events between all the grad school. Overall most class dynamics are good, also depends on each class year.


Ps: ask as many questions as you would like so you can be confident about the school you pick!