Davis Pros and Cons

[k9 <3er]

It would be really helpful for current and future applicants if we talked about the pros and cons of UCDavis.

For current students, why did you choose to go to Davis and what insights or advice can you give to future students? What do you like/hate about your classes and how much hands on experience do you really get? Are the classes as competitive and non-cooperative as rumored?

For current applicants, what reasons factored into your decision to want go or not go to Davis? Thank you to everyone who adds to this! 😀

Pros:
- Brand new facilities
- Active alumni
- Great reputation
- Great networking opportunities for CA residents
- Weather

Cons:
- Expensive tuition


Neutral:
- Tracking
- Big class size (131)

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[Fairyblastt]

real quick, here's what I'd add to the list
Pros:
research
location (San Fran and Lake Tahoe)
decent rent for CA
great faculty

Cons:
Hard to get in even for in-staters and even worse for out-staters
no beach (lol)

 

[mom2jnc]

I'm one of the hopefuls for the Class of 2011, but I know several current vet students and faculty. I have never seen competitiveness between classmates. In fact, camaraderie is emphasized. Before the school year begins, the new class goes on a retreat (last year it was Tahoe) to bond with one another and go through a bunch of trust exercises. Everyone is encouraged to work together since it is expected that some people will be stronger in areas that others are not. The classes are not curved, so it's not as if your grade depends on other people doing badly. Once you've been accepted, the faculty invest a lot of time and energy into keeping you and doing whatever they can to help you succeed.

I work a lot in the anatomy lab and will see the current students working together as they study and prepare for exams. And at the interviewee orientation, it was a lot of fun to see how all the activities the students participate in out of class. Also, if you go to the SVM website and check out student clubs, you can go through the websites of each of the vet classes (http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/Student_Clubs.html). They post study notes and resources for one another.

UCD really emphasizes the fact that your classmates will be your family for the next four years, so it does not behoove anyone to compete. Hope this helps in your decisions!🙂

 

[kate_g]

Here's a compendium so far. I know I have both "cooperative" and "competitive" but we've had people suggest both (both second-hand) so I don't know which to believe.

Pros:
- Brand new facilities
- great faculty
- research
- has a dedicated zoo/wildlife track (you'd just be "other" at most other tracking schools)
- *lots* of neat-sounding electives available starting first year
- new-student retreat/emphasis on cooperation
- Great reputation/networking opportunities/active alumni
- Weather/location
- decent rent for CA
- excellent subsidized daycare

Cons:
- competitive and "hostile" learning environment (abstracted from other thread)
- Expensive tuition
- Hard to get in even for in-staters and even worse for out-staters
- no beach (lol)

Neutral:
- Tracking
- Big class size (131)
- the city of Davis itself (might be a pro or a con for different people)

 

[k9 <3er]

I added a couple of stuff. Does anybody know what the case load is? How does the large class size affect our clinical rotations, especially for small animal people? What will students learn during the "doctoring" and "clinical skills" portion of our classes? Is what we learn similar to other schools (learn to insert catheter, etc...)?

Pros:
- Brand new facilities
- great faculty
- research
- has a dedicated zoo/wildlife track (you'd just be "other" at most other tracking schools)
- *lots* of neat-sounding electives available starting first year
- new-student retreat/emphasis on cooperation
- Great reputation/networking opportunities/active alumni
- Weather/location
- decent rent for CA
- excellent subsidized daycare
- can ride bike to class and stay in shape!

Cons:
- competitive and "hostile" learning environment (abstracted from other thread)
- Expensive tuition even for in-staters
- Hard to get in even for in-staters and even worse for out-staters
- no beach (lol)
- rent is still more expensive compared to other schools' neighboring towns

Neutral:
- Tracking
- Big class size (131)
- the city of Davis itself (might be a pro or a con for different people)
- Quarter system

 

[Fairyblastt]

lol, here's something I was just noticing.... until we get our decision letters... the large class size is somewhat comforting...

 

[k9 <3er]

lol, here's something I was just noticing.... until we get our decision letters... the large class size is somewhat comforting...

haha, you're right! so if davis follows last years schedule, we might hear something as soon as SEVEN DAYS!

 

[Fairyblastt]

Speaking of that, anybody know when that fated email is coming? Think they'll throw it to us on the 22nd like last year? That's a week from today...😱

 

[k9 <3er]

hey fairyblastt, you and i were thinking the same thing! haha.

 

[Fairyblastt]

And I bet you keep on refreshing your email too... just in case they send them early. I'm almost afraid to count how many times a day I check the email, and then come here to see what other ppl have gotten. But, seriously a week. yikes.

 

[mtrl1]

Small animal caseload is 15,000 I think. For those of you who were there for the orientation day, it was pretty empty; and in the 5 quarters I've been interning there, that's the emptiest I've ever seen it. One reason was that it was Spay Day, and everyone was over in the VMLF helping with that. But on a weekday, the waiting rooms are always packed.

We'll supposedly hear no earlier than 3/26 and no later than 4/1 either way for emails.

 

[mom2jnc]

As far as a pro...

Earlier this week, I was looking for a quiet place to study while I enjoyed a cup of coffee, so I stopped by Scrubs (cafe in the Health Sciences district, right by Gladys Valley Hall) to work on Physics. Between 9:50 and 10am, when the vet students had a brief break, the cafe was bustling. For 10 minutes, I saw vet students I knew & admired and I also overheard conversations about exams, cases, and vet student studies.

This may sound silly, but being amongst the current vet students, seeing how happy they were and enthusiastic they were about their studies just really emphasized how much I wanted to join them next year. I just wanted to be them, to work with them, to know about their cases, and to be next year where they are now.

Maybe I should be working hard to discourage people from Davis, so that if someone is accepted in lieu of myself that they might decline. But I love this place and I want to be their advocate. If you're accepted, come to Davis!! For nothing else, you'll have a sappy classmate like me who is just so gushy about being there!!

As always, good luck to all and I look forward to enjoying a beer at The Grad after a difficult midterm next year as a 1st year vet student with y'all!!

 

[hmarie05]

so i was searching something for my roommate (who is applying this upcoming cycle) and i came across this thread and felt compelled to write something.

i am a first year student at davis, and i literally have NOTHING negative to say about my experiences here thus far. not only do i feel like i am getting an excellent education, but i really feel like i have a home and a family here.

131 may seem like a large class size, but labs are broken down into smaller groups, which aids in learning, and i feel like having 130 other classmates just provides me with a stronger support system to fall back on when i am stressed!

with regards to the whole "super competitive" thing, i can tell you first hand that these rumors are NOT TRUE!!! we actually joke about that in class and lab! seriously though, i feel like if i was having trouble with anything, any one of my classmates would help me out. there is definitely a sense of comraderie amongst my class, especially during these really stressful times (finals next week!!!)

So, onto the city of Davis itself. I grew up in San Diego, went to undergrad at UCLA, and lived for a year in Vegas before moving to Davis to start school. I thought it would be a big adjustment for me-going from big cities to a smaller town. I was wrong- Davis and I are a perfect match. Everyone in this town is SO friendly and nice, and the scenery is beautiful!! Plus, if you still crave big cities, Sacramento and San Francisco are just a car ride away!

I guess thats it for my first official UCDavis plug! Davis really is an AMAZING school with an excellent staff, friendly and supportive students, a VMTH with an excellent caseload, a great area, and did I mention the beautiful new facilities???? I truly feel I am at the best vet school in the world 🙂

 

[jeeney]

As far as a pro...

Earlier this week, I was looking for a quiet place to study while I enjoyed a cup of coffee, so I stopped by Scrubs (cafe in the Health Sciences district, right by Gladys Valley Hall) to work on Physics. Between 9:50 and 10am, when the vet students had a brief break, the cafe was bustling. For 10 minutes, I saw vet students I knew & admired and I also overheard conversations about exams, cases, and vet student studies.

This may sound silly, but being amongst the current vet students, seeing how happy they were and enthusiastic they were about their studies just really emphasized how much I wanted to join them next year. I just wanted to be them, to work with them, to know about their cases, and to be next year where they are now.

Maybe I should be working hard to discourage people from Davis, so that if someone is accepted in lieu of myself that they might decline. But I love this place and I want to be their advocate. If you're accepted, come to Davis!! For nothing else, you'll have a sappy classmate like me who is just so gushy about being there!!

As always, good luck to all and I look forward to enjoying a beer at The Grad after a difficult midterm next year as a 1st year vet student with y'all!!

I used to live 2 blocks from the Grad! 😛 *sigH* i remember they had line dancing thursdays and college nights...but too bad Davis rejected me 🙁 its ok! Reapplying for next year!😛

 

[k9 <3er]

so i was searching something for my roommate (who is applying this upcoming cycle) and i came across this thread and felt compelled to write something.

i am a first year student at davis, and i literally have NOTHING negative to say about my experiences here thus far. not only do i feel like i am getting an excellent education, but i really feel like i have a home and a family here.

131 may seem like a large class size, but labs are broken down into smaller groups, which aids in learning, and i feel like having 130 other classmates just provides me with a stronger support system to fall back on when i am stressed!

with regards to the whole "super competitive" thing, i can tell you first hand that these rumors are NOT TRUE!!! we actually joke about that in class and lab! seriously though, i feel like if i was having trouble with anything, any one of my classmates would help me out. there is definitely a sense of comraderie amongst my class, especially during these really stressful times (finals next week!!!)

So, onto the city of Davis itself. I grew up in San Diego, went to undergrad at UCLA, and lived for a year in Vegas before moving to Davis to start school. I thought it would be a big adjustment for me-going from big cities to a smaller town. I was wrong- Davis and I are a perfect match. Everyone in this town is SO friendly and nice, and the scenery is beautiful!! Plus, if you still crave big cities, Sacramento and San Francisco are just a car ride away!

I guess thats it for my first official UCDavis plug! Davis really is an AMAZING school with an excellent staff, friendly and supportive students, a VMTH with an excellent caseload, a great area, and did I mention the beautiful new facilities???? I truly feel I am at the best vet school in the world 🙂

Thanks everybody for your thoughts! I have been talking with recent Davis grads and they also have only great things to say. Hearing stories like the one posted by hmarie05 only makes me more excited about Davis! I am really pulling for everyone on this thread so we can be classmates.