Cornell vs CSU

[zoonosesman]

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I received admission to CSU and Cornell and I am having the hardest time deciding between these two schools! I will receive state tuition at CSU but at Cornell I will have to pay OOS tuition. Also I have visited Ithaca and Fort Collins and I can see myself loving both places. In the end, I hope to be involved with studying infectious diseases, esp zoonoses, so I am deciding which program would be stronger in this area. Further Cornell's #1 ranking and Ivy league status is also factoring into my final decision.

I would appreciate it if anyone can offer any advice to help me with my decision and list the pros and cons between the two programs. Thanks for your help!

 

[nyanko]

If you want my opinion, you should definitely go to CSU. Vet school rankings are stupid and even if you care about them for some reason, CSU is ranked right behind Cornell. You'll pay a whole lot less in tuition because of your in-state status.

The other thing about Cornell is that the curriculum has a strong PBL component, so you might also have to think about whether you'd like that system or not. Did you go to one of their informational sessions?

 

[chordy4]

i agree with everything nyanko had to say.

additionally, if your interest is in infectious/zoonotic diseases Fort Collins is home to USDA/APHIS National Wildlife Research Center, where they do a lot of work with exactly that sort of thing.

there might be some cool opportunities for work/internships at that facility

 

[jaytee09]

Well do you prefer gorges or mountains 😀?

Sorry, I don't have any real insight to offer to this thread. I've never been to CSU and have only been to Ithaca to look at Cornell for undergrad some 5+ years ago. But, I do know that both schools have phenomenal reputations. I would agree with the above posters--go to your IS, especially when the price differential is that large!

 

[Aivuq]

Congrats on your admission offers-you cannot go wrong with either choice, however I will share my thoughts with you. I am a first year PVM at CSU. Fort Collins is a mecca for infectious disease and epidemiology research-we have the CDC, NWRC, APHIS, USGS and a beautiful new veterinary diagnostics center. I am actually going to vet school to be an anatomic pathologist and am very familiar with the many talented people doing infectious disease work at CSU. We have the incredible "Chicken Lady"-Dr. Kristy Pabilonia. She was working on Avian Influenza before it became a concern. Furthermore, you have to consider the cost of out of state tuition-I have classmates at CSU who are paying out of state tuition and are really stressed out by the debt loads they are carrying and the fact that federal limits don't allow them to get much aid beyond tuition and fees. I also have a classmate who graduated from Cornell, got into Cornell's PVM program and was waitlisted to CSU-while she was in the process of driving from California to Ithaca, she got a phone call from CSU that they had a spot for her! This happened less than 2 weeks before school started. She headed north to Fort Collins and I don't think she has any regrets.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a private message.

Congrats again and hope this helps!