Going to a UK School

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Hopeful_DVM

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So I tried searching for this before posting as I have seen some posts regarding this is the past. However, I didn't have much success finding the information I am looking for. For those of you who have went through the application process or are attending a UK school, how does it compare in terms of living expenses, tuition etc.? From the information that I have read over so far it is comparable to paying out of state tuition in the US. How about adjusting to life in a new country? Any other information you would like to add is certainly welcome!

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So I tried searching for this before posting as I have seen some posts regarding this is the past. However, I didn't have much success finding the information I am looking for. For those of you who have went through the application process or are attending a UK school, how does it compare in terms of living expenses, tuition etc.? From the information that I have read over so far it is comparable to paying out of state tuition in the US. How about adjusting to life in a new country? Any other information you would like to add is certainly welcome!

Tuition: you're right, for OOS tuition (and in some cases IS), in most cases, its comparable. I'm just finishing at RVC and the tuition has gone up in the last few years...but when I started it was one of my cheapest options (even with plane tickets). Tuition prices are readily available and you should definitely price out places you plan on applying/attending. A round trip plan ticket from the UK to the east coast can range from $600 - $1200.

Cost of living: living in London is pricey. In the grad accelerated program you only live in the city 1 year and living on campus isn't outrageous. The last 3 years are just north of London and its very reasonable on and off campus.

Life: I think moving to any new place holds its own culture shock. The UK is definitely a different place to live but I've never been able to put into words why. Lots of things are similar and obviously all the conveniences and things you can find in the US you can find here. But, it is a bit different. However, its been really nice to travel and I've overall enjoyed my time here. Given the right job opportunity, I'd come back.

For more info there are definitely a few threads out there (see above). But if you have anything specific you can't find feel free to PM me.
 
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Thank you for your replies. I have been browsing around on Edinburgh's and RVC's website, but I find their information somewhat difficult to interpret. I am going to try and call both schools this coming week to get some more information. Does anyone know off-hand how many US students they usually accept each year?
 
It changes every year for RVC. My year it was about 35 international students for the grad program and 15-ish in the 5 year program. But they reduced it after that. The AAVMC page used to have a chart with current tuition rates from all schools and class size (with numbers of in state/OOS/international spots).
 
Awesome! I'm going to call RVC and Edinburgh this week to get some more info. I'm pretty well sold on at least applying to both schools.
 
So I tried searching for this before posting as I have seen some posts regarding this is the past. However, I didn't have much success finding the information I am looking for. For those of you who have went through the application process or are attending a UK school, how does it compare in terms of living expenses, tuition etc.? From the information that I have read over so far it is comparable to paying out of state tuition in the US. How about adjusting to life in a new country? Any other information you would like to add is certainly welcome!

I think @DVMDream should chime in. She might be somewhat negatively biased, maybe, because she eventually came BACK from a UK school to finish up her last couple years here in the U.S.... but at the same time, she's one of the few people who has really seen both sides of the coin. I think she'd be a great person to ask about this.
 
Words, words, words.

I think I have posted about this before at least once, if not a few times. I'll post stuff tomorrow or Monday. Tag me again if you don't see something by Tuesday.
 
When I applied to veterinary school, I was in a state that had no in-state school. So, I was an out of state applicant everywhere. This made applying to a UK school somewhat comparable (depending upon which schools you compared it against).

I can state that I am now paying $10,000 less per year here in the US than I was in the UK. That doesn't include the scholarship and grant I was given this summer that basically eliminated my summer tuition. Currently for this year Edinburgh is at a tuition of 29,000 pounds which is equal to $46,000 per year for US residents. This doesn't include living expenses or travel expenses. Living expenses in places around RVC and Edinburgh may or may not be more expensive than in other places in the US with vet schools. It really depends on which schools and areas you are comparing it to. Overall, the UK schools are going to be similar or more expensive than attending out of state in the US, with a few exceptions here in the US that might be a tiny bit more expensive. Your travel expenses attending a UK school WILL be more expensive.

Something else about the UK schools that people don't know about or maybe don't learn until later:

EMS. Extra mural studies. A combination of absolutely brilliant and I would rather shoot myself in the foot. EMS are basically required experiences you have to obtain to graduate. Your first year (of a 4 year program) or first 2 years (of a 5 year program) are filled with animal husbandry EMS. You basically are free farm work for a few weeks. You need to obtain so many weeks with each animal species. Some of these experiences were awesome, others were not. It just really depends on where you end up. The main thing about this is that it costs you more $$$$.... yes, you have to travel to these places and that gets quite pricey. I had to take a train and a taxi to get to a small town in middle of nowhere Scotland to get access to the pig farm that I had to be at... cost to me: over 200 pounds, which is near $400. You can get these experiences anywhere so if you know of a good place near home in the US should you be home that summer then you can set something up there. However, some of these HAVE to be done in the UK and if you are lucky and plan a good 10 months to a year in advance you can get something close by (the pig farm was actually one of the closer ones), if you aren't lucky, you will be searching and travelling for these.

After the first year or two (depending on if you are in the 4 or 5 year program), you then have to obtain clinical EMS, which is fine. You get experience in veterinary clinics actually watching and maybe doing veterinary work. It really depends on the clinic. I have heard of some friends getting to do a ton of things and others that don't get to do anything more than stand and watch. Also, Edinburgh requires you to do a research project that you can count as part of your EMS. I don't remember if the other UK schools require you to do research projects or not but they might. If you are into research, that is great. For me, meh... I didn't care for it. However, I was able to find something that interested me, so you just have to keep an eye out for things that you might enjoy.

You have to complete EMS during your breaks from school, so summer, Easter and winter. You cannot complete them during the school year. Also you have to get a certain amount with each species... are you super interested in equines and want to get as much time with them during the summer? Too bad, you must also use some of that summer time for cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, etc.

EMS is kind of a good thing, you are going to gain some good experience. Which is great and I discovered that pigs really are kind of cool. However, it is a bit of an annoyance too because as much as you want to network with vets in your area of interest you have to break some of that up to gain experience with other species. That isn't a "bad" thing, the experience is good, it just interrupts you from focusing on your main interest.

Living in a different country:
It is kind of cool. You get to see a different way of life. Also, if you ever wanted to travel around the UK/Europe, this is then the time to do it because flights within the UK/Europe once you are over there are super cheap.

However, there is an adjustment period. The US and UK aren't super different. You won't be moving to a third world country, but there are differences. Some things that might bother you, some that just won't matter and some things that you will take home with you that make you a better person. It is an experience and there will be both good and not so good.

Just know that there are things with moving to a different country that people don't discuss:

1. How do I get around? For the UK, most of it is public transport. Now maybe you are from somewhere where public transport is all that you do, however, if you are used to driving, this might annoy you. It might not. This annoyed me. What could take me 20 minutes back at home would take me an hour to an hour and a half. It became an all weekend event to run errands over in Scotland.

2. How do I keep in touch with family and friends? This is going to depend. Skype is good. I also paid for a Skype subscription that allowed me to call any phone anywhere in the US/UK/Ireland for a decent price. I got a cell phone in the UK... then downloaded Viber and WhtsApp... WhtsApp allows you to text with people in other countries (you must have wifi or use data for it). Viber allows you to call other people without it being considered an international call (you must have wifi or use data for it). However, the people that you want to communicate with must also download these applications to their phones. A smart phone is required. Internet access or a good data plan is required. Also, I think one of these is now charging to use it, not a lot, last I looked it was $1/year, but prices could go up.

3. Going back home. My grandma passed away shortly after I came back from Christmas break one year. I missed her funeral. I could have gone back home. My family was going to try to pay for the flight which was horribly expensive at that time due to how close it was to when I would fly back home. I had to make the choice to miss it. Because I knew that my family couldn't really afford it and because vet school. I needed to prepare and study for a midterm. This is going to happen to you. Maybe not the exact same scenario, but you are going to miss things. This is true of vet school anywhere, however it is even more so when you are in another country. It isn't easy to jump and travel internationally. It isn't too bad to hop on a plane to go a few states away, but an international flight is a lot longer and takes up much more time. Travelling home during breaks might also be difficult, it just depends on how you set up your EMS and how much time and money you have. Just be sure you are ok with the possibility of not being able to go home every year. Shortly after this both my parents fell ill. My mom very ill and she is still having problems with sorting everything out now a year later. A mix of both parents getting ill and having my own health problems lead me to come back to the US. I felt it was best. It was not an easy decision. I had finally settled in, found a good group of friends but it was the appropriate decision at that time.

4. Comforts of "home". I don't care what anyone says. I have heard people say that they won't miss anything from "home" or that they are "sick" of the US, but you will miss things from home. Home is home. No matter where you are from. There will be foods that you miss, random cultural things that you didn't even realize were a part of your life, family, friends, driving a car, etc. You will miss things. You will have a list of things "to do" when you get back to the US that you never dreamed of as being "cool" things to do or things that you would miss. Target runs made my heart super happy every time I got back home. The friends I made from the US and I would have a list of all the food we were going to consume when we got back. Having said that, I now crave some things that I can only find in the UK and wish that I could get here. So you will find "new" things that are awesome and when you get back to the US you will miss them too. But there are certain comforts from home that you just can't get in the UK.

5. Health Care. You do qualify for the free health care over in the UK. It isn't all that it is cracked up to be. If you have an emergency, you will be well taken care of, but if you have a chronic condition or need to get in to see a specialist, enjoy the wait, it might be 6 months, it might be 8 months, it could be a year.

There are definitely some things that need to be thought about before going out of the country for vet school. It will be an amazing experience. It may be a difficult experience at times. It isn't for everyone. And it is great for some people. This applies whether you are going to the UK, Caribbean, Australia or Canada. It doesn't matter. The exact things you have to deal with for each place will be different but the same things apply. Expensive travel, keeping in touch with friends/family, moving away from comforts of home, health care, getting around your new home, the different culture, etc. If you attend a UK school, chances are you might be spending a little bit more money. However, it does depend on which school you are comparing to.

I can say this: vet school is vet school. If it is accredited you will get a good education. It is whether you can handle all the changes of being in a new country and away from family at the same time that you juggle vet school. And just know that if life falls apart around you, it will be difficult. It will be difficult no matter where you are in the world, but it is even more so when you are in a different country and can't be in quick and easy contact with family.



ETA: One more thing. Edinburgh keeps tuition locked in each year. So if it was 29,000 pounds when you enter, it will be that much each year for all 4 or 5 years depending on the program you are in. (I'm not sure if the other UK schools do this or not). However, the currency exchange rate is constantly changing, which can make your loans fluctuate from year to year depending upon that exchange rate. So you might only have to take out $60,000 one year, but need $62,000 or more another year, or maybe less another year. Just keep that in mind.
 
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Thanks for posting DVMDream. That was very informative. So just to be clear, you can still get loans to cover tuition and cost of living in the UK? I think I already about tuition loans being covered but wasn't sure about cost of living.
 
Just chiming in on the transport issues for the UK.

You're allowed to drive on your US drivers license for 1 year after entering the UK (the clock does not reset if you leave the UK for a bit and come back, so if you arrive in the UK in August and go home for Christmas, your 1 year still began in August and doesn't reset to January). After that year you are required to have a UK licence (they spell it that way) to drive. The test is known for being much more difficult then in America (only about 60% of people pass the practical test their first time), so it's highly advisable to take driving lessons before the test. Most people drive manual cars here and if you take your test in an automatic you will only be allowed to drive automatics.

So, you can drive when you're here, but you have to deal with getting a car and insurance (this can be difficult and expensive for foreigners), learning to drive on the left, learning UK signs and traffic laws, getting a UK licence (which often requires you taking lessons to learn how to pass the test). All of this can be a bit daunting in a country where you're not used to how things work. Public transport is often a lot easier, but will be a pain when you try to do your EMS. That's a large part of why I'm working on getting my UK licence and a car this summer. I've been living in London with my husband for over three years and we've never needed a car, but EMS for vet school has been that extra push I need to start driving over here.
 
So just to be clear, you can still get loans to cover tuition and cost of living in the UK? I think I already about tuition loans being covered but wasn't sure about cost of living.

You can get US Federal Student Loans to cover both tuition and cost of living in the UK. Here's the information RVC has on their website regarding Living Expenses and Direct Loans for US students (it's not organised super well, but the information is there): http://www.rvc.ac.uk/study/fees-and...el-living-expenses-for-international-students
 
Thanks for posting DVMDream. That was very informative. So just to be clear, you can still get loans to cover tuition and cost of living in the UK? I think I already about tuition loans being covered but wasn't sure about cost of living.

Yes you can get both covered. It works just the same as it does with the US schools, except you just find the UK school on FAFSA.
 
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