cornell vs UF

[scienceGal]

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so i need some advice about residency.

I am currently a FL resident. But I got an offer to move and live in New York with my sister and am considering it.

If I move that would make me a NY resident, which would mean cornell.

here is my decision:

do i stay in FL with a 24% in-state admittance rate?
or move to new york with a 16% in-state admittance rate?

opinions on comparing the both schools would be helpful as well.
I must decide in the next week so that I can move in time to establish NY residency.

my stats:

tier 1 school
BS in Biology
GPA: 3.26
GRE: 790 quant, 540 verb, 5 writing
over 6500 hours animal experience
including: volunteering, internship at vet clinics, internship at a zoo, 3.5 years of animal behavior and cell imaging research. and the latest: full time emergency vet tech at an emergency animal clinic in miami, FL.

 

[Emio]

which one do you want to go to? or is that your question?

 

[scienceGal]

that is my question i guess.

I am going to be a vet no matter which school I go to. I am eventually wanting to go into research/public health.

both schools have great programs.
although i know that Cornell is ranked higher than UF is.

THe other thing i am considering is that. . .IF I do not get in this year. . .would it be better to have residency in NY since there are more schools in which to get a masters (MPH) in NY.
no matter what, the ultimate goal is vetschool.

basically, do i move to new york even though i have a smaller chance of admittance?

 

[cateyes]

Cornell is very competetive admittance wise as a NY resident from my p.o.v (I'm a NY resident). On this forum I've seen the OOS waitlist move alot, while the IS has moved little, if at all, so it seems as though you have a better attendance chance OOS.
Also, Florida's tuition is approximately $18,401 IS while Cornell's is $24,000 IS, so it's a difference of more than $5,000. (However, I'm not sure how cost of living compares..)
The environment is also completely different- Cornell gets very very very cold. This may or may not be a determining factor, but it is something to consider.
I wouldn't worry so much about the ranking of your school. They don't seem to mean much in the long run, and it's more important that you choose a school that will best fit you.
You're absolutely right- whichever school you choose, you will still be a vet. Good luck with the decision!

 

[scienceGal]

but i worry that by going to new york, i am taking a bigger risk on admittance next year.

i feel i am more competitive in the florida pool than in the cornell pool. am i correct in thinking this?

 

[chordy4]

also to bear in mind...cornell weights both your GPA and your GRE very heavily (each is 25%) when considering you're overall "applicant score".

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/prep.htm

i'm not sure if florida also computes a score for each student, or if it is a more holistic approach to admissions.

it looks like your GRE is just slightly above their average score, and your GPA is below their average score...so depending on how florida does admissions, you might have a better shot with them, based purely on the numbers.

your diversity and quantity of experience though, would also probably get you a long way with cornell (counts for 20% of overall score).

just some things for you to consider...

 

[pressmom]

Also remember, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, that Cornell requires some form of letter from each experience for it to count, so if you can't get a letter or whatever form of confirmation they require from your experiences, they won't count.

Just another thing to think about...

 

[scienceGal]

i can get a letter from all but one experience (that is because my supervisor passed away last year)

 

[bakaduin]

Just to add a few things onto what others have said:

UF does compute a score like Cornell, with a large amount of applications removed based on GPA/GRE alone.

UF tuition is now 21k.

The avg GPA for the last few classes has been in the 3.5 range and the average GRE around 1200.

 

[gemini55]

You should first check with Cornell to be certain that they will consider you an in-state student at the time of application. They may require that you establish residency for a certain length of time to qualify for an in-state seat.

 

[Nexx]

It would probably be a bad move to head up to NY to gain residency there. Cornell is going to be notoriously harder to get into than UF. Based on the stats you gave I am fairly sure that you'd be more competitive in FL than in NY.
Also you have that FL acceptance rate is greater than NY for in state. Which would seem to point in the direction of staying in FL

Also, you may need to consider that your wages are probably going to be less working in NY than in FL due to state income tax essentially--Although it seems you are working in Miami so cost of living might be the same depending on where you are down there.

Have you gone through an application cycle yet? If not I would definitely stay put.

 

[UpstateNY27]

Hi there scienceGal,

Well, it sounds like you are a pretty competitive applicant, no matter what state school you are applying to, NY of FL.

I happen to be a Floridian (Originally from Naples, and UF undergrad), and now I attend Cornell. Don't worry about the weather. Yes, Ithaca N.Y. can get very cold, but if I can survive it, I bet the vast majority of Floridians can survive it. Additionally, you may discover that the four seasons in the North East possess their own charm. By the way, winter is included in that last sentence, but it is a little harder to find its charm in particularly cold days.

Anyway, all I wanted to say is that you sound like you would have a very good chance at getting admitted into UF and Cornell's programs. So, like some people have already stated here, it comes down to where you want to go. It really just now depends on where you want to go.

I have no questions that UF is a phenomenal vet school, but I KNOW that Cornell's program is superb.

I wish you the best.

Julian

 

[scienceGal]

thanks for all the replies and advice.

i did go through the admissions cycle once already, but at the time i had NO state of residence and ONLY applied to dvm/phd programs.

this time around my situation is a lot different.

i had my file reviews at the schools i applied (tufts, CSU, penn) and all said that with my stats as an in-state student i most likely would have gotten an interview, but my gpa prevented me from even having a chance out of state.
my main concern with my application is my gpa. . .which i cannot change before this app cycle anyway. and there is no way to know which school puts more weight on it. . .
and i'm not too concerned about the weather (I am a native miami beach girl but survived 4 years of pittsburgh winters at carnegie mellon)

 

[gemini55]

science Gal, if I am reading your posts correctly, it appears that you only have one in-state option for this application cycle.....Florida. If you move to New York and declare residency there this summer would you not be giving up your in-state status with Florida? I think you might be. Most schools require that residency requirements be met at the time of application....not at the time of enrollment. I think that if you move to New York you will have to apply to Cornell as an OOS student for this upcoming cycle. You could move, sit out this application cycle, establish residency for the requisite amount of time and apply next year as an IS student. Is that what you are thinking?

 

[scienceGal]

i spoke to cornell and to UF.

the rule is that you have to have all your residency documents before the oritentation date of the year you would be admitted.

which means if i move to new york and get all my documents by aug 10 i will be a new york resident.
and yes, i would be giving up my florida residency.

 

[nyanko]

Most schools require that residency requirements be met at the time of application....not at the time of enrollment.

Can you cite this information please? I know for a fact that this is not true for UC Davis, for one.

 

[scienceGal]

i agree with nyanko.

all the schools that i have spoken to. . .you need to physically be in the state 12 months before the first days of classes and you must have your documents (drivers license, registration) be dated by the date you move as well.

so if classes start aug 13 2009, i need to move AND have my documents by aug 12 2008

 

[gemini55]

Thanks for asking about residency requirements, Nyanko. I can see where my post may have been confusing. Prior to granting a student IS status, some schools require documentation to show that your motivation for moving into their state is for permanent residence and not for easier or less costly access to their academic institutions. In fact, UC Davis is one of those schools. This quote is from their website:

"To establish your California residence, you must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen who has been physically present in the state for more than one year, and you must be able to provide convincing evidence that your intent for the entire year has been to establish a permanent residence in California."

Understandably, just living in a state for a year does not always qualify an applicant for in-state status.....so changing one's residency status immediately prior to application submission can carry some risk if you haven't done your homework. I was uncertain if Cornell had a similar policy to UC Davis. Since scienceGal had already indicated in her posts that one motivation in moving to NY was to establish residency for academic gain, I thought it would be prudent that she validate her pending in-state status with Cornell before giving up her existant in-state status with Florida. Different schools, different policies.....it is always best to call and ask about specifics before the application is submitted.

 

[nyanko]

Thanks for asking about residency requirements, Nyanko. I can see where my post may have been confusing. Prior to granting a student IS status, some schools require documentation to show that your motivation for moving into their state is for permanent residence and not for easier or less costly access to their academic institutions. In fact, UC Davis is one of those schools. This quote is from their website:

"To establish your California residence, you must be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen who has been physically present in the state for more than one year, and you must be able to provide convincing evidence that your intent for the entire year has been to establish a permanent residence in California."

That's all well and good, but "establishing intent" is nothing more than getting a CA license, registering to vote in CA, registering your vehicle in CA, staying here during breaks, paying income tax here, etc. The absence of these things in any other state also can serve as intent. If you have proof that you did all of these things before the determination date for the semester you're applying to begin, you should be good. I'm counted as a CA resident for Fall 2008. I moved here September 1 of last year, officially. Take that for what you will.

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Make SURE that you are financially independent and file taxes as such. If your parents are residents of another state and claim you on their taxes, you can get screwed that way.

 

[VAgirl]

That's all well and good, but "establishing intent" is nothing more than getting a CA license, registering to vote in CA, registering your vehicle in CA, staying here during breaks, paying income tax here, etc.

I think it's actually just that you can't have unexplained absences of greater than 6 weeks (for California). I read that on their residency paperwork, and am hoping that's all there is to it, since I'm really hoping to have a nice long visit with my family (who happen to live in the state where I'm currently a resident) around Christmas time, while simultaneously becoming a CA resident. I think that'll be fine, assuming the visit is less than 6 weeks, I'm still paying rent, taxes, etc. in CA, have a CA drivers license, voter registration, etc etc.

 

[runnerDC]

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Make SURE that you are financially independent and file taxes as such. If your parents are residents of another state and claim you on their taxes, you can get screwed that way.

Along similar lines, if you are on your parent's health insurance policy, that also probably won't fly well with proving independence and intent to truly become a resident of a new state.

 

[chordy4]

Along similar lines, if you are on your parent's health insurance policy, that also probably won't fly well with proving independence and intent to truly become a resident of a new state.

eh...it depends on the state, and on your parent's insurance plan (ie. if they have to claim you as a dependent on taxes in order to be eligible). i know that ohio will let you become a resident and remain on your parent's insurance...you would just have to pay your deductibles, copays, etc.