CSU vs Western vs WSU?

[buddhagal]

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HI everyone, thanks in advance for the insight into this entire process.

So, I'm from CA, did not get in to UCD, but did get accepted to Western, CSU, and WSU.... At this point all the schools will require the same amount of student loans, the only highlight being WSU has a soph-year option to get in-state tuition.

$ aside, does anyone have thoughts on these schools? I've been to and been impressed by all 3, met great people at each school. I believe in the Western philosophy but can't deny the weight of CSU's rep.

Congrats to everyone who will be in class of 2011 and I hope everyone else hears back from their school of choice soon with an acceptance.

 

[Jusl89]

"I believe in the Western philosophy"

If that is what you believe, then you cannot deny it. My view on reputation is that the reputation of a school is earned by the individual, not bestowed by others. You and Western will have whatever reputation you make for it. I say follow what you believe in.

 

[cyrille104]

It depends on what you specifically want to go into, and what you want out of the school. So much of it is personal preference that I've found even making a list on this forum doesn't help that much. Maybe you really like Pomona, in which case you should consider location. If reputation matters to you, then by all means factor it in. Like we were discussing in another thread, you'll just have to go with your gut feeling, no matter how many pros and cons you have listed. Or you could be me and email a million people at each school with a ton of questions and then twist their answers to convince yourself that you belong at the school you wanted all along...😀

 

[wildfocus]

crazy that i am still up (since i have to be back at the hospital in a couple of hours), but csu still has me pumped, and i may be able to chime in about csu versus wsu (though western sounds fantastic too). your decision may come down to what you want to focus on, where you want to practice when you leave school, and what feels like "home" to you.

wsu has great faculty - i think they stand out amongst the rest. from my interactions, they bend over backwards to be accessible and help their students succeed. if you like a lot of one on one attention, this may be the right place for you. plus wash state is my fav state 🙂D). the small animal vets that come out of wsu are fantastic. i trust each one i work with to care for my own pets.

csu has lots of hands-on and research opportunities, and fort collins is a great town. there are tons of student clubs for any interest, and the comraderie (sp?) of the students really impressed me. of course, they are strong in both large and small animals. not sure how hard it is to find a job in the area in case you wanted to stay afterwards.

good luck making the decision. pm me if you have spec q's or want more details of my experience with either school.

 

[cyrille104]

crazy that i am still up

I know, right? At least you're on Pacific time...I'm on Central hahaha.

Now you all know why you wake up to my name all over the forum...

 

[JIKJen124]

I don't really know too much about WSU or Western, but after visiting 7 of the 9 vet schools I applied to meeting with faculty, students, and recent alumni, I can tell you that there was only one school that would have been a "no-brainer" if they offered: CSU. The program is absolutely fantastic - the profs. treat their students like collegues, they realize it's professional school and grades should be over (the just do class rank), the alumni really feel like the "know how to actually do stuff" when they graduate, the research opps and other summer ops are abundant and accessible, the program is very well rounded - equine, LA, and SA, and there seems to be good comroderie amongst the students. As for Fort Collins - I love food so having mountains + more resturants per capita than almost other place in the country + small but not too small town... umm yeah. I was definitely sold.

Like I said, they didn't offer so know I'm completely baffled amongst the choices I do have.

Good luck making your decision!! 🙂

 

[lilobug]

Personally I would choose between CSU and WSU, I am from Pomona CA and I go to Cal Poly Pomona University (which is 10min from western). Western uses our facilities and animals for a lot of their animal handeling stuff. I know vet school is what you make it, but I have met vets around the southern cal area who have been working with 3rd and 4th year weaster students and they were not impressed. I would hate to work so hard during vet school just to have my resume be discredited by my institution name. Also western does not have a teaching hospital which I'm sure you heard when you were there. I believe this to be a huge disadavatage.

Again this is just my personal opinion, but I didn't even apply to western. I feel that in a few years they will be a very good school. Good luck to you and your decision. I have one to make of my own WSU or MSU (waitlisted at KSU and ISU)

 

[Fairyblastt]

Personally I would choose between CSU and WSU, I am from Pomona CA and I go to Cal Poly Pomona University (which is 10min from western). Western uses our facilities and animals for a lot of their animal handeling stuff. I know vet school is what you make it, but I have met vets around the southern cal area who have been working with 3rd and 4th year weaster students and they were not impressed. I would hate to work so hard during vet school just to have my resume be discredited by my institution name. Also western does not have a teaching hospital which I'm sure you heard when you were there. I believe this to be a huge disadavatage.

Again this is just my personal opinion, but I didn't even apply to western. I feel that in a few years they will be a very good school. Good luck to you and your decision. I have one to make of my own WSU or MSU (waitlisted at KSU and ISU)

I too have heard the rumors going around about the 4th year students being sub par, but I think this should be taken with a grain of salt.

For one thing, how a couple ppl do during their 4th year is hardly a good indicator of how good the school is even currently, let alone how good it will be in three or four years from now.

Also, I would have to think that because we're talking about Western's first class, they've been at a disadvantage this whole time. The ah, guinea pigs, as they say, of western's brand new teaching program.

And, also if you're going to go off of what a couple vets have said about a couple students, I have heard (and I'm sure everyone else has) a lot of horrible things about Davis grads. The usuals for Davis seem to include: no real world experience (ie they want to ultrasound everything, though I find this one seriously hard to believe), no hands on experience during vet school, and the one I like best, they don't know anything that you can't memorize straight out of a book.

Vet school is what you make of it. Considering the caliber of students that all vet schools get the luxury of choosing from, I seriously doubt that western is going to be turning out horrible vets. (I bet there are certain med schools that are jealous of this particular part...)

Just my two cents.

 

[twosoakers]

we were told that 90% of the fourth year westerners passed the california licensing exam on the first try. doesn't sound sub-par to me, considering purdue lost 5 students after the first semester this year.

 

[turix]

Of course the 4th year students are awful at Western!! They don't have a 4th year class yet. 😛 The Third year students took the boards and did above average (slightly....but that shows what they are doing is working). I heard (please tell me if I am wrong) that because they don't have a teaching hospital that you can travel to any hospital and work there 4th year. I know that a lot of schools have that avaliable to them, I guess for Western people just don't have a choice whether to leave or not. Medical student do that all the time. My sister is a 2nd year med student at PCOM and she is doing her 3rd year rotations in West Palm Beach, not because PCOM doesn't have the facilities, but because it is program that is best suited to her life (it is made for newly engaged/married couples to do their rotations together instead of being spilt up).
Wow....for my first real post this was long!!!!!! Sorry all!
BTW I'm Joe from FL NICE TO MEET YOU ALL

 

[Fairyblastt]

I thought Western's first class was graduating this year...

 

[turix]

I thought at the interview the 3rd year students told us they were the first class. I might be wrong though. I can only be perfect in most cases 😛!

 

[Fairyblastt]

I thought at the interview the 3rd year students told us they were the first class. I might be wrong though. I can only be perfect in most cases 😛!

I looked it up. Says on the Western website that the entering class started in 2003. http://www.westernu.edu/xp/edu/veterinary/about.xml
So they ought to be finishing this year.
The third years must have meant something else. 😉

 

[chris03333]

Okay so I have to defend my classmates and myself about this "subpar" BS...My class has a 95% match rate for internships (some of the most competitive ones out there) and 100% match rate for residency. That is proof that this "subpar" crap is just that. Obviously there may be some people that think that because the rumor exists, but where it really counts (job, internship, residency placement) we are far from subpar😡 ...okay now will get off my soapbox, back to the original post...

 

[Fairyblastt]

Okay so I have to defend my classmates and myself about this "subpar" BS...My class has a 95% match rate for internships (some of the most competitive ones out there) and 100% match rate for residency. That is proof that this "subpar" crap is just that. Obviously there may be some people that think that because the rumor exists, but where it really counts (job, internship, residency placement) we are far from subpar😡 ...okay now will get off my soapbox, back to the original post...

... ... Ok I feel compelled to point out that you weren't actually disagreeing with what I said so I don't know why you quoted me. I merely said that you can't judge an entire school based off of what a few ppl vets said about a couple students....

And I also have to say that until students have actually graduated from Western and have been out practicing as vets for a couple years, nobody will really know how they stack up. So there's still a long while before anybody can offer any real proof either way.

 

[chris03333]

... ... Ok I feel compelled to point out that you weren't actually disagreeing with what I said so I don't know why you quoted me. I merely said that you can't judge an entire school based off of what a few ppl vets said about a couple students....

And I also have to say that until students have actually graduated from Western and have been out practicing as vets for a couple years, nobody will really know how they stack up. So there's still a long while before anybody can offer any real proof either way.

sorry did not mean to hit quote but reply... all fixed now!

 

[4theanimals]

I do have to say that this discussion is why I would put Western low on the list. That may partly be due to the fact that I'm older. Until there have been a few graduating classes you will have to deal with the rumors and work extra hard to prove yourself.

 

[Fairyblastt]

sorry did not mean to hit quote but reply... all fixed now!

No problem. I was just hoping that I wasn't being totally misunderstood by everybody. 🙂

 

[twosoakers]

i have to say that i like the challenge of proving myself. i've sat in class lectures for many years, taking in and regurgitating information, and i think this will be a different experience. i'm 'older,' as well, and i'm writing my dissertation. i like grabbing the bull by the horns and seeing where it throws me, rather than moving into a program that hasn't changed in the last 30 years. the only other reason i would have chosen purdue was to save myself 150k 🙂

I do have to say that this discussion is why I would put Western low on the list. That may partly be due to the fact that I'm older. Until there have been a few graduating classes you will have to deal with the rumors and work extra hard to prove yourself.

 

[m217anne]

I understand all the debate about which schools are better than others and I have reviewed some of the statistics from the boards from 12/06. Most schools did quite well, but the fact remains....Vet School is what you make of it! I understand the debate about PBL vs. traditional lectures and the lack of facilities at certain universities, but the fact remains; if you want to learn you find a way. In any case, unless you drop out or get DA BOOT, you will be a DVM. The instructors/professors are dedicated to helping you learn and be succesful so no matter which school you choose, utilize all the assistance offered and make the most out of your educational opportunities! Good Luck to everyone!

P.S. I am turning down my acceptance to Western, but that is simply a personal choice.

 

[lilobug]

Hey where did you find the info on the boards?