Cornell vs. NCSU vs. KSU vs. Illinois vs. Wisconsin (IS): Zoological/Wildlife Medicine Focus

[maddvet]

First of all, I want to acknowledge how blessed I am to have these options to choose from. With that being said, I want to make my decision sooner rather than later so that I can open up seats at the schools I do not choose to attend.

My primary career interest is zoological/wildlife medicine with a One Health focus. I am not interested in exotic pet animal medicine but rather working in zoological parks, at wildlife rehabilitation centers, or with free-ranging wildlife. I applied to these schools because of particular opportunities within my field of interest, but I would absolutely love any additional insight on them to aid my decision-making process!

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[JaynaAli]

Go to the cheapest school. Zoo med is a long road with underpaid positions and low overall salaries compared to other specialties. Set yourself up for long term success by minimizing your debt. According to the VIN cost map your IS is 228k, NCSU is actually probably your cheapest option at 204k, and Illinois, Kansas and Cornell are all about 300-305k. I promise you there are no experiences specific to one school that are worth 100k more (before interest!) than at Wisc or NCSU. So many zoo med opportunities are ones you’ll find and pursue yourself so go to the cheapest school. If you have family near Wisconsin and not near NCSU, 20k extra to stay near a support system may be worth it to some, but choose one of those two cheaper options. Your education will be fine at any.

 

[maddvet]

Go to the cheapest school. Zoo med is a long road with underpaid positions and low overall salaries compared to other specialties. Set yourself up for long term success by minimizing your debt. According to the VIN cost map your IS is 228k, NCSU is actually probably your cheapest option at 204k, and Illinois, Kansas and Cornell are all about 300-305k. I promise you there are no experiences specific to one school that are worth 100k more (before interest!) than at Wisc or NCSU. So many zoo med opportunities are ones you’ll find and pursue yourself so go to the cheapest school. If you have family near Wisconsin and not near NCSU, 20k extra to stay near a support system may be worth it to some, but choose one of those two cheaper options. Your education will be fine at any.

Thank you so much for your insight! Cost (and cost after interest for that matter) is definitely a factor I will consider.

 

[Halocat]

First of all, I want to acknowledge how blessed I am to have these options to choose from. With that being said, I want to make my decision sooner rather than later so that I can open up seats at the schools I do not choose to attend.

My primary career interest is zoological/wildlife medicine with a One Health focus. I am not interested in exotic pet animal medicine but rather working in zoological parks, at wildlife rehabilitation centers, or with free-ranging wildlife. I applied to these schools because of particular opportunities within my field of interest, but I would absolutely love any additional insight on them to aid my decision-making process!

We have a wildlife hospital at Cornell and you can do a zoo/wildlife track. You can work in the wildlife hospital or do a funded wildlife research project abroad but these opportunities can be quite competitive to be very honest.

 

[maddvet]

We have a wildlife hospital at Cornell and you can do a zoo/wildlife track. You can work in the wildlife hospital or do a funded wildlife research project abroad but these opportunities can be quite competitive to be very honest.

Amazing! If I attend Cornell, those are exactly the kinds of opportunities I'd love to take part in! The Wildlife Hospital and Expanding Horizons program really grabbed my attention when applying/visiting, and I would love to be involved with those for multiple years, if possible.

How competitive are both? I believe I recall that they only take 10 students as employees in the hospital, but is there shadowing still available if you do not get the job? Also, is every approved project fully funded or do some only get partially funded?

 

[Halocat]

Amazing! If I attend Cornell, those are exactly the kinds of opportunities I'd love to take part in! The Wildlife Hospital and Expanding Horizons program really grabbed my attention when applying/visiting, and I would love to be involved with those for multiple years, if possible.

How competitive are both? I believe I recall that they only take 10 students as employees in the hospital, but is there shadowing still available if you do not get the job? Also, is every approved project fully funded or do some only get partially funded?

I think expanding horizons is less competitive as they are a lot of work to set up and many people with hospital jobs can't do them. The wildlife hospital is harder they take like 10 people and its a match system (ugh). They sometimes have shadowing opps but you can definitely do up to 3 rotations there (6weeks) 4th year. I think there is a funding cap that usually pretty high but it also depends on how many people apply. There is a elective though to prepare you for applying first year. I know someone who did one in Costa Rica fully funded. And yes you can do more than one.

 

[battie]

Illinois has the Wildlife Medical Clinic, which takes literally any student who wants to volunteer. It's probably around a 20hr per week commitment because you've got inpatients, intake, and orphans to handle.

The Wildlife Epidemiology Lab does quite a bit, but I didn't join that lab. Others did research with the other wildlife/exotics faculty.

Electives and clubs are pretty extensive. Can use quite a bit of time during fourth year for off campus zoo rotations. I did two weeks at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and had scheduled 4 at San Antonio Zoo, but COVID canceled that.

However, I agree with Jayna. I loved my time at Illinois and I seriously considered zoo med for specialty. But in hindsight, I would have gone to my in state in a heartbeat. Illinois was just my only acceptance

 

[Halocat]

I think expanding horizons is less competitive as they are a lot of work to set up and many people with hospital jobs can't do them. The wildlife hospital is harder they take like 10 people and its a match system (ugh). They sometimes have shadowing opps but you can definitely do up to 3 rotations there (6weeks) 4th year. I think there is a funding cap that usually pretty high but it also depends on how many people apply. There is a elective though to prepare you for applying first year. I know someone who did one in Costa Rica fully funded. And yes you can do more than one.

We also have a few fun electives courses in wildlife and conservation med. I also don't think our wildlife clinic takes volunteers but there are like 2 wildlife rehab centers (one is for bats) that do I think.

 

[maddvet]

Thank you both so much for sharing information about your programs! I truly appreciate it!

 

[lavenderearlgrey]

We also have a few fun electives courses in wildlife and conservation med. I also don't think our wildlife clinic takes volunteers but there are like 2 wildlife rehab centers (one is for bats) that do I think.

Wait can you tell me more about the bats??

I am deciding between Cornell and Penn and this sounds really cool. (Background: non-traditional student, been working in public health infectious disease surveillance for a few years. About to get my MPH, very interested in anything zoonosis-related, especially with regard to wildlife and I love bats.)

 

[Halocat]

Wait can you tell me more about the bats??

I am deciding between Cornell and Penn and this sounds really cool. (Background: non-traditional student, been working in public health infectious disease surveillance for a few years. About to get my MPH, very interested in anything zoonosis-related, especially with regard to wildlife and I love bats.)

I unfortunately do not know much about the bat sanctuary, just that there is one that takes volunteers. Sorry