Cornell vs. Tufts

[Hewing]

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Hi Everyone! I was recently lucky enough to be accepted to both Tufts and Cornell for the class of 2030, and I am having a rough time trying to decide between the two. I'm not sure exactly what I want to specialize in, but I am very interested in either small animal surgery or conservation medicine.
I know Tufts has an extremely strong conservation medicine program, but when looking at the website I was not able to see exact specifics on what it looks like for an individual students, whereas when I visited Cornell for the accepted students day, I got a really good overview of all the programs they offer (classes, targets, expanding horizons, etc.)
I've also heard (and kinda gotten the vibe on my own already) that the tufts vet community is really close knit and friendly, whereas for Cornell I've heard conflicting things about how competitive and cliquey the student body can be (of course this is all completely anecdotal).
Thankfully I am in a position where cost will not be a large factor, so I can relatively safely discard that criteria (although Cornell would be cheaper for me).
I also had some trepidation about the PBL style of learning, but we did a mock session during the Cornell accepted students day and I really enjoyed it, although I know that is probably not completely representative of what it would actually be like when taking the courses
If anyone had any advice or knowledge about either (or both) of the programs I would really appreciate it!

 

[vetstudent9]

Hi! I'm at Cornell now and I can definitely speak for our programs and PBL. There are a ton of conservation programs here. I know a lot of people who have done Expanding Horizons trips and have absolutely loved their experiences. There are also conservation classes and other trips and opportunities within the conservation field. I know many people who work at our wildlife hospital and love their experience. You can start working after your first semester of vet school! In terms of the community, it is not competitive at all in my opinion. I truly feel like everyone wants to help each other succeed, especially since a lot of our curriculum is PBL based. We are constantly working in groups and I have found that people are so willing to share notes and resources, study together, and are encouraging. I feel like most classes are pretty close over all and between classes as well. PBL is definitely a different style of learning and was an adjustment for me. I really like learning through lectures and working in groups made me nervous. However, I feel like I really learned a lot and the information sticks with you! In my experience, the PBL mock session is pretty closely aligned to what the actual sessions will be like, aside from the learning objective part that you do after tutor group sessions.