I had both the luxury and the disadvantage of coming from a different career path first. I was on the path to be a musician, likely getting my main income from business work in the industry, less performance. I worked my butt off and got every scholarship, every grant, every cent of my work study and ended up graduating with $37k of undergrad debt. The truth of the matter was I was miserable. I love music, but if you think vet med is toxic, spend some time around musicians. I was emotionally, verbally, and physically abused by instructors and conductors basically starting at 15.
I supported myself through undergrad, my parents couldn't contribute a single cent. I grew up poor, saved my pennies, and paid what I could out of pocket. When I decided to go to vet school, every frugal cell in my body exploded at the thought. I could hear my mom telling me to pick the cheapest college, no matter what, and keep loans low. I worked so hard to keep my debt down, I worked to keep my credit score up, and for what?
The for what, it turned out, was so I didn't have to worry quite as much about vet school. I recognize that while I did not come from a privileged background, I worked hard and got myself into a privileged financial situation. My undergrad debt was around $31k when I got into vet school, less than half of what my spouse left school with.
Nowadays, I can't imagine myself doing anything else. Even just being in my first year, I miss clinical work. I miss patients, clients, and practicing medicine. I never ever thought I would miss a job so much my heart hurt a little bit but I miss my old clinic more than anything. If things stay the same each semester, I'll be leaving Minnesota with about $340-$375k in debt. ($42k/semester with some cushion for the clinical summer, plus my $31k of undergrad, even though I've been working part time my whole first year). It's a daunting number, but I also have a spouse who (finally!) got a job and is willing to take on more of the household expenses.
I cannot imagine doing this on my own as a single person. A huge portion of my class, more than I thought would be, is partnered or married, with their SO taking on as many expenses as reasonable. If you are doing this one your own, get a roommate, go to your cheapest school (within reason, I've said my piece in other forums on deciding what your mental health and the comfort of your next four years are worth to you), and save up as much as you can beforehand. And I hate to say this, but if you don't have pets, go ahead and volunteer or foster, but don't get one in school. My cats have cost well over $3500 since we moved here, and we would have been drowning if we didn't have insurance.
At the end of the day, every vet I worked with could afford housing, cars, children, pets, and a vacation or two each year, and of the ones I knew their financial background, most were upper lower/lower middle income people. You are a human being with a life. Within reason, money means nothing if you're not happy. If this is the thing you see yourself doing, if you will regret not doing it for the rest of your life, if you're constantly going to play the what game, do it.
