Cornell vs UPenn

[Dana_May_B]

I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to choose between two absolutely amazing programs! I am a Pennsylvania resident, and while VIN says that Cornell would be around $50,000 cheaper, my whole family lives right outside of Philly so I could definitely commute my first two years and not have to pay for groceries or rent or housing expenses, making the two schools about the same cost. I am really interested in poultry medicine, and while I know that's limited at both schools, does anyone know which one would be better for poultry? I'm definitely leaning towards Cornell, but I've also been looking at the VMD-MBA dual degree at Penn which sounds like a great program for a food animal person like me. If anyone has insight into this program and how challenging it is to be accepted, please let me know! I'd love to hear more about any general pros or cons for both of these schools.

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[Aprilthearab]

Unfortunately I can't help you with any of the academic details, but I think you should also consider how doable your commute time is when considered in with the rest of your schedule. I commuted 45 minutes one way to undergrad in east PA for one year of my education and I won't be putting myself through that again! I also am pretty sick of the suburbs and I can't even imagine trying to commute into the city every day, but that's just me, and you're probably used to it. Do you think you would be happier at an urban campus or a rural campus?

When you break down the cost of rent/groceries/gas etc, is the cost difference made up? When you say 50k less I'm assuming you mean overall for the whole four years, correct? Edited to add that the difference would primarily just be for the first two years since you'd still be having to pay rent/groceries/etc in Philly if you plan to live closer to the school for 3rd and 4th years, and Philly is more expensive than Ithaca for sure!

 

[Dana_May_B]

Unfortunately I can't help you with any of the academic details, but I think you should also consider how doable your commute time is when considered in with the rest of your schedule. I commuted 45 minutes one way to undergrad in east PA for one year of my education and I won't be putting myself through that again! I also am pretty sick of the suburbs and I can't even imagine trying to commute into the city every day, but that's just me, and you're probably used to it. Do you think you would be happier at an urban campus or a rural campus?

When you break down the cost of rent/groceries/gas etc, is the cost difference made up? When you say 50k less I'm assuming you mean overall for the whole four years, correct? Edited to add that the difference would primarily just be for the first two years since you'd still be having to pay rent/groceries/etc in Philly if you plan to live closer to the school for 3rd and 4th years, and Philly is more expensive than Ithaca for sure!

You bring up some really good points! My commute to Philly would be around 45 minutes driving, and probably well over an hour if I decided to take the train and save gas/car money. I really am not a city person, and when I visited the UPenn campus, I definitely didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling. On the other hand, I loved loved loved Ithaca when I visited Cornell. And yeah, the $50,000 is over four years- the Penn Vet budget said to allocate $14,500 to room and board for years one and two, so living at home would bring down the cost by nearly $30,000 for just those first two years, but it might not be worth the added stress of having to spend so much time commuting and not studying or taking a mental break after class. I definitely agree that its important to consider where I'll feel most comfortable/happy living, especially because vet school is so stressful already! Thank you so much for replying and giving me your advice

 

[Aprilthearab]

You bring up some really good points! My commute to Philly would be around 45 minutes driving, and probably well over an hour if I decided to take the train and save gas/car money. I really am not a city person, and when I visited the UPenn campus, I definitely didn't get a warm and fuzzy feeling. On the other hand, I loved loved loved Ithaca when I visited Cornell. And yeah, the $50,000 is over four years- the Penn Vet budget said to allocate $14,500 to room and board for years one and two, so living at home would bring down the cost by nearly $30,000 for just those first two years, but it might not be worth the added stress of having to spend so much time commuting and not studying or taking a mental break after class. I definitely agree that its important to consider where I'll feel most comfortable/happy living, especially because vet school is so stressful already! Thank you so much for replying and giving me your advice

Vet school is hard enough without the commute and I don't think you want to put yourself through that! Penn is the closest school to me, actually probably within commuting distance too, but I didn't even apply because I hate cities and I hate that their large animal hospital is quite far away from their small animal hospital. If you decide Cornell, I'll see you there!

 

[broadstreetkitty]

Anyone else have some insight on this? I was accepted to both programs as well (yay!) and am trying to decide which to go with. My acceptance from Cornell was a huge curveball - I never expected it! Penn has always been my #1 geographically (I've lived in Philly for 10+ years!) but Cornell was always a dream school, so I feel like I really need to give it some serious consideration.

Help! Pros/cons of each?

 

[stealthoscope]

I don’t have experience with Penn but another thing to consider is that if you do commute that far, you’ll have to move closer before clinics, because you will likely be on-call. At most schools you need to be able to get there in 15-20 min. Also, as someone who lived less than 5 minutes away from the vet school in Ithaca, it was really nice to be able to roll out of bed 20 min before early classes, roll my car down the street to the parking lot and go inside. But I am not a morning person!

Cornell has a poultry vet (Jarra Jagne) and there are some poultry medicine electives and some lectures incorporated into the core courses like pathology, exotics, production, etc. I think there are some student organizations as well.

You should also consider whether you would like a PBL curriculum like Cornell or whether you would prefer more traditional lectures for your first two years.

 

[Aprilthearab]

I don’t have experience with Penn but another thing to consider is that if you do commute that far, you’ll have to move closer before clinics, because you will likely be on-call. At most schools you need to be able to get there in 15-20 min. Also, as someone who lived less than 5 minutes away from the vet school in Ithaca, it was really nice to be able to roll out of bed 20 min before early classes, roll my car down the street to the parking lot and go inside. But I am not a morning person!

Cornell has a poultry vet (Jarra Jagne) and there are some poultry medicine electives and some lectures incorporated into the core courses like pathology, exotics, production, etc. I think there are some student organizations as well.

You should also consider whether you would like a PBL curriculum like Cornell or whether you would prefer more traditional lectures for your first two years.

Slightly unrelated - Do you have housing suggestions/recommended apartment complexes in Ithaca?

 

[stealthoscope]

Slightly unrelated - Do you have housing suggestions/recommended apartment complexes in Ithaca?

Most vet students live in Varna which is cheaper than living in Collegetown or downtown Ithaca where the undergrads live. It’s only like a 5 min drive to the vet school. I also had friends who rented houses on Warren Road. Personally I lived in rental houses when I was in undergrad at Cornell and was just over it, most of the houses in Ithaca are pretty old and so the rent might be cheaper than apartments but the appliances are older, the heat costs a lot because it escapes from the house, etc. It just wasn’t for me anymore once I got to vet school.

I lived at Pineridge Apartments for most of vet school and I loved it! They’re townhouse style apartments, we had a three bedroom, two bath with a kitchen, living room, dining room and breakfast area (which we used as office space) as well as washer/dryer. The landlord is really responsive, the apartments were affordable in my opinion and they responded to any maintenance inquiries within a day or two, often in an hour or so if it was urgent. I highly recommend them! Happy to discuss further via DM if you have specific questions.

I also lived at Lifestyle Properties (Eastgate) for a year and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the management. I didn’t have any major issues but the way they treated small issues made me feel like if I did have a major problem, it would have been a hassle.

I have friends who lived at Observatory Circle which has houses that are new developments, and I have heard good things but don’t have too many details.