Cornell vs Colorado (dual program)

[willa0622]

This was certainly a problem I never expected to face. Somehow I got accepted to my two mega reach dream schools after getting rejected many other places. I'm OOS for both. But I have NO clue how to choose!!

The program at Colorado I got into is the MPH-DVM and is 5 years with IS tuition after 1st year. But tuition cost overall for 4 years at Cornell and 5 years in the dual program is comparable.

I have some nerves about going somewhere as far as CSU (I'm from NJ) as I don't know anyone out there. But in general I'd rather live in Fort Collins, CO than Ithaca, NY (though both are gorgeous). I've heard CSU has an incredible community that encourages having fun and being active, which I love. Cornell, I've heard, can have a competitive atmosphere. But both are incredible schools that I can see myself at.

Am I missing something? What other factors should I be considering? Thanks in advance!!

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[Ariel-Li]

This was certainly a problem I never expected to face. Somehow I got accepted to my two mega reach dream schools after getting rejected many other places. I'm OOS for both. But I have NO clue how to choose!!

The program at Colorado I got into is the MPH-DVM and is 5 years with IS tuition after 1st year. But tuition cost overall for 4 years at Cornell and 5 years in the dual program is comparable.

I have some nerves about going somewhere as far as CSU (I'm from NJ) as I don't know anyone out there. But in general I'd rather live in Fort Collins, CO than Ithaca, NY (though both are gorgeous). I've heard CSU has an incredible community that encourages having fun and being active, which I love. Cornell, I've heard, can have a competitive atmosphere. But both are incredible schools that I can see myself at.

Am I missing something? What other factors should I be considering? Thanks in advance!!

Same here, c/o 2025, though I only applied for and was admitted to DVM to both. I'm also waiting on a handful of other schools. Does CSU offer IS tuition since the second year? I was not aware of that!

The first two years of CSU curriculum is very heavily lecture based and opportunities for hands-on experience might be a bit lacking compared to some other DVM programs. It's not a problem for me, I'd rather have my foundation solid before applying it to clinical practice.

 

[Viscernable]

Since you’re looking at different programs, I think you need to start there. Do you want to do a DVM or a DVM/MPH? Will the MPH be important to achieving your professional goals? Do you think there other ways you could achieve them that would cost you less time than the MPH? Although it won’t cost you more in tuition overall, a year of your life studying instead of working as a vet is a pretty big cost.

 

[willa0622]

Same here, c/o 2025, though I only applied for and was admitted to DVM to both. I'm also waiting on a handful of other schools. Does CSU offer IS tuition since the second year? I was not aware of that!

The first two years of CSU curriculum is very heavily lecture based and opportunities for hands-on experience might be a bit lacking compared to some other DVM programs. It's not a problem for me, I'd rather have my foundation solid before applying it to clinical practice.

I’m not far from Cornell and will be heading there next weekend. All facilities are closed to visitors but I’m just planning to get a feel for the campus and local area. If I get any insight I’ll share w you! Trying to figure out a COVID safe way to get out to CSU before April

 

[willa0622]

Since you’re looking at different programs, I think you need to start there. Do you want to do a DVM or a DVM/MPH? Will the MPH be important to achieving your professional goals? Do you think there other ways you could achieve them that would cost you less time than the MPH? Although it won’t cost you more in tuition overall, a year of your life studying instead of working as a vet is a pretty big cost.

Thanks for this perspective!! This is a good point- I definitely wanted the DVM/MPH. Cornell has some options I could apply for during my time there but Colorado has a better public health program, from what I’ve heard. What appeals to me about Cornell is the proximity to home and the way the general public seems to respect the name, but I think I am leaning more toward CSU at this point.

 

[willa0622]

Same here, c/o 2025, though I only applied for and was admitted to DVM to both. I'm also waiting on a handful of other schools. Does CSU offer IS tuition since the second year? I was not aware of that!

The first two years of CSU curriculum is very heavily lecture based and opportunities for hands-on experience might be a bit lacking compared to some other DVM programs. It's not a problem for me, I'd rather have my foundation solid before applying it to clinical practice.

I’m not far from Cornell and will be heading there next weekend. All facilities are closed to visitors but I’m just planning to get a feel for the campus and local area. If I get any insight I’ll share w you! Trying to figure out a COVID safe way to get out to CSU before April

I was leaning CSU but visiting Ithaca made this decision a whole lot harder. Everything was closed and I mostly just drove around, but I was shocked by how colorful and charming the downtown area was. I had expected it all to be gray and sorta gloomy. I saw the vet facilities, which have a lot of space dedicated them considering how small the vet program is compared to all of Cornell. Campus architecture is also lovely. I did take a hike through the notorious waterfalls and was just blown away by how gorgeous and enchanting the nature is.

 

[reidb]

Same here, c/o 2025, though I only applied for and was admitted to DVM to both. I'm also waiting on a handful of other schools. Does CSU offer IS tuition since the second year? I was not aware of that!

The first two years of CSU curriculum is very heavily lecture based and opportunities for hands-on experience might be a bit lacking compared to some other DVM programs. It's not a problem for me, I'd rather have my foundation solid before applying it to clinical practice.

CSU only offers swapping to IS for the dual degree program, since you do the first year in the Colorado SPH.

 

[grassymeadows]

I can't offer any insight into either of the schools. However, I can speak on living far from family as most my school options are almost halfway across the country from my home. While moving far can be scary and stressful I feel like now is the time to do it, while youre young and still have time to explore. If you move for school then you have something keeping you occupied more than just moving for a job. Plus you will be with plenty of other people who are also far from hope. And if at the end of school you've found you want to move back closer to home then at least you know.

Speaking on the atmosphere of Fort Collins as someone who is originally from Colorado and has visited the area before, the town is absolutely beautiful. I thought the atmosphere was homey and welcoming and loved how nice everyone was.

Another factor to take in of course is cost, since you can get instate at CSU after your first year you will be saving a nice sum of money. The question you need to ask yourself is if the debt of Cornell is more worth it to you?

 

[stealthoscope]

Having spent time in both Fort Collins and Ithaca, the atmosphere is different but both are lovely places. I lived in Ithaca for 8 years and only spent a month in Fort Collins, though, so I can’t truly speak to what it’s like to live in Fort Collins long term.

Cornell does have a new MPH program that vet students can enroll in and complete concurrently with the DVM degree. I know a lot of the faculty who teach in the MPH courses and it sounds like the program is really taking off.

You’re already considering finances and location so my biggest recommendation would be to think about your learning style. Cornell is very unique in that the first two years of the curriculum are problem-based learning (PBL) and it really builds the problem-solving abilities that you’ll need as a clinician into your foundation as a student. If you are someone who likes puzzles and understanding the underlying mechanisms, and you like the diagnostic challenge of cases, Cornell really gives you the toolset to tackle any case systematically and not solely rely on that list of differentials you memorized somewhere. But it also comes at the expense of sometimes not knowing what depth or breadth of the material you should go to, and needing to seek out resources on your own to answer your own questions. You need to be adept at identifying gaps in your own knowledge. You have to be proactive and take initiative in your learning, otherwise you will struggle. (This doesn’t mean you don’t have support; if you ask for help, the faculty will help you; but if you don’t ask for help and don’t seek out answers to your questions, don’t expect the answers to materialize in a Powerpoint)

If you prefer to listen to a lecture and be told what to read, what to know, and have a defined set of material to study and memorize, PBL may not be for you and could be extremely frustrating.

At Cornell, in your second half of 2nd year up until you start clinics at the end of 3rd year, you will have tons of traditional lectures about clinical applications in each specialty and what they want you to know for each service on clinics. But for me, PBL built my ability to problem-solve. It also gave me the ability to say “I don’t know, but I know how to find out” with confidence.

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Edited to add - I think competitiveness may depend on the composition of your vet school class but I didn’t find there was much competition within my class when I was a student at Cornell. If you missed class, someone was always willing to send you their notes. We’d remind each other about deadlines. We studied in groups all the time. From the start, the PBL curriculum makes it difficult not to feel like you’re all in the same boat and anyone who comes in thinking they are a hot shot know-it-all gets a reality check pretty quickly. My class didn’t talk about grades much, to the point where most of us didn’t know for sure who the top students in our class were, until graduation. But amongst my friends we would talk about grades from a perspective of aiming for improvement or identifying gaps in knowledge.

 

[willa0622]

Having spent time in both Fort Collins and Ithaca, the atmosphere is different but both are lovely places. I lived in Ithaca for 8 years and only spent a month in Fort Collins, though, so I can’t truly speak to what it’s like to live in Fort Collins long term.

Cornell does have a new MPH program that vet students can enroll in and complete concurrently with the DVM degree. I know a lot of the faculty who teach in the MPH courses and it sounds like the program is really taking off.

You’re already considering finances and location so my biggest recommendation would be to think about your learning style. Cornell is very unique in that the first two years of the curriculum are problem-based learning (PBL) and it really builds the problem-solving abilities that you’ll need as a clinician into your foundation as a student. If you are someone who likes puzzles and understanding the underlying mechanisms, and you like the diagnostic challenge of cases, Cornell really gives you the toolset to tackle any case systematically and not solely rely on that list of differentials you memorized somewhere. But it also comes at the expense of sometimes not knowing what depth or breadth of the material you should go to, and needing to seek out resources on your own to answer your own questions. You need to be adept at identifying gaps in your own knowledge. You have to be proactive and take initiative in your learning, otherwise you will struggle. (This doesn’t mean you don’t have support; if you ask for help, the faculty will help you; but if you don’t ask for help and don’t seek out answers to your questions, don’t expect the answers to materialize in a Powerpoint)

If you prefer to listen to a lecture and be told what to read, what to know, and have a defined set of material to study and memorize, PBL may not be for you and could be extremely frustrating.

At Cornell, in your second half of 2nd year up until you start clinics at the end of 3rd year, you will have tons of traditional lectures about clinical applications in each specialty and what they want you to know for each service on clinics. But for me, PBL built my ability to problem-solve. It also gave me the ability to say “I don’t know, but I know how to find out” with confidence.

-

Edited to add - I think competitiveness may depend on the composition of your vet school class but I didn’t find there was much competition within my class when I was a student at Cornell. If you missed class, someone was always willing to send you their notes. We’d remind each other about deadlines. We studied in groups all the time. From the start, the PBL curriculum makes it difficult not to feel like you’re all in the same boat and anyone who comes in thinking they are a hot shot know-it-all gets a reality check pretty quickly. My class didn’t talk about grades much, to the point where most of us didn’t know for sure who the top students in our class were, until graduation. But amongst my friends we would talk about grades from a perspective of aiming for improvement or identifying gaps in knowledge.

Thank you so much for this thoughtful answer! Cornell’s manner of teaching is incredibly appealing to me- I went to their virtual info session and was super impressed. I do think PBL would be beneficial to my learning style.

I was told by a CSU admissions rep that they’re transitioning to case-based learning (but not PBL specifically). I’m not sure the extent of this or how similar it will be to Cornell (the CSU info session is tomorrow & that’s on my list to ask). But it is really great to know that Cornell isn’t a competitive environment! Thanks again for sharing your perspective, I appreciate it!

 

[stealthoscope]

Thank you so much for this thoughtful answer! Cornell’s manner of teaching is incredibly appealing to me- I went to their virtual info session and was super impressed. I do think PBL would be beneficial to my learning style.

I was told by a CSU admissions rep that they’re transitioning to case-based learning (but not PBL specifically). I’m not sure the extent of this or how similar it will be to Cornell (the CSU info session is tomorrow & that’s on my list to ask). But it is really great to know that Cornell isn’t a competitive environment! Thanks again for sharing your perspective, I appreciate it!

Make sure to ask more details about the transition process! It can be hard to be the first class going through a dramatic curriculum change. But if it’s something they’ve been implementing gradually it might not be as potentially difficult as if you are the “guinea pig”