How did you determine which school to attend?

[Riscatto]

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I am on the fence about vet school and posting here and talking to others helps me get an idea of the process and the end product. First, I have attended tech school and I have worked and volunteered at hospitals and zoos, so i do know what the field is like I just took a break. I am no where near my pre-reqs and hope to volunteer with horses at some point.

On to my questions, how did you decide which school to attend? I currently live in AZ and of course my in state school is Midwestern and they cost nearly $60,000 a year and it continues to increase every year. I contemplated Midwestern because my family is here and so are my pets that I take care of. My only other choices were Colorado and Florida. I also plan on getting a second degree to get a job to pay for school out right if I go.

Second, how did you decide which field to pursue? I have always wanted to be a zoo vet, but I understand the competition and so my back up is Equine Sports Medicine and Rehab or Theriogenology as I do not like surgery or working in small animal practice.

Third and Final, would you do it all over again or would you pursue something else? I've have leaning towards and liking the idea of working with Equine Sports and show horses such as those from Arabian Horse Show, Derby, etc. Are there alternate routes other than vet school? I never grew up around horses so I dont know a whole lot about the industry.

 

[WildZoo]

I chose the schools I applied to based on cost (why I chose UF - my IS - and NCSU), my interests (exotics, so another reason for UF and NCSU, and why I added UTK to my list), and location (proximity to family, hence all the east cost schools, and the big reason why Penn was on my list...plus that whole "dream school" thing that I probably should have abandoned). These were also all schools that I could reasonably meet the requirements for as far as pre-reqs go, and for the most part I thought I had a decent shot based on comparing my application to what I knew of their accepted students. It gets a little hazy there, but for instance, if you have a 3.0 GPA as an out of state student, it's not worth your time to apply to NCSU, where the OOS GPA cutoff is a 3.4. In general the recommendation is to apply to schools that are going to cost you the least amount of money, because that is going to have the greatest long term effect on your career and life in general. I did not strictly adhere to that since Penn and UTK are two of the most expensive OOS schools. But...I do recommend that cost be the #1 factor, followed by closely comparing your application's strengths to whatever information you can find on what the individual schools are looking for.

As far as deciding which to attend, that was easy for me...I only got into one 😉

You don't have to know which field you want to pursue before you start school. You will get exposed to so, so much during your time, and a lot of people change their minds as they go through. My current interests are zoo/wildlife/exotics, but I also like emergency and shelter med, and I love cats a lot so if it came down to it, feline practice could even be a thing I could see myself doing. It's best to go in with an open mind. You say your backup is equine, have you worked in those areas?

I'm only going into my second year of school, so at this point I would say yes, I would do it all over again, but we'll see how I feel when I'm repaying loans.

 

[Ashgirl]

I am on the fence about vet school and posting here and talking to others helps me get an idea of the process and the end product. First, I have attended tech school and I have worked and volunteered at hospitals and zoos, so i do know what the field is like I just took a break. I am no where near my pre-reqs and hope to volunteer with horses at some point.

On to my questions, how did you decide which school to attend? I currently live in AZ and of course my in state school is Midwestern and they cost nearly $60,000 a year and it continues to increase every year. I contemplated Midwestern because my family is here and so are my pets that I take care of. My only other choices were Colorado and Florida. I also plan on getting a second degree to get a job to pay for school out right if I go.

Second, how did you decide which field to pursue? I have always wanted to be a zoo vet, but I understand the competition and so my back up is Equine Sports Medicine and Rehab or Theriogenology as I do not like surgery or working in small animal practice.

Third and Final, would you do it all over again or would you pursue something else?

Cost should be your number one consideration. If you don't have an in-state, I would suggest looking at schools that you can switch to in-state residency after one year, such as Mizzou, NSCU, Ohio State, WSU, UC Davis. If you want to get a job to pay for a school outright, that would be over 240,000 if you decide to go to Midwestern... that would take years and years to do. Unless you mean having a full time job during vet school? This is definitely not doable, especially during your clinical year.

I think it's common to change interest during vet school. Shadowing before school can help, but I found clinics to be the point where I am beginning to say "Oh heck no I would never do that," for something I always had interest in, or "Sure I could see myself doing this for the rest of my life." with a field I never considered before vet school.

I would personally go through vet school again at this point... but I know people who would say never again. It's important to know that vet school can be awfully soul sucking itself... not to mention the risk of compassion fatigue and other demons potentially waiting for you in practice. When someone asks me if they should go into this career, I still stand by the saying that you shouldn't enter this profession if you see yourself doing anything else.

 

[TrashPanda]

I currently live in AZ and of course my in state school is Midwestern and they cost nearly $60,000 a year and it continues to increase every year. I contemplated Midwestern because my family is here and so are my pets that I take care of. My only other choices were Colorado and Florida. I also plan on getting a second degree to get a job to pay for school out right if I go.

You've gotten great advice already, but why are those your only choices? While Midwestern is the only program in Arizona and it's private, AZ is actually one of the better states to be from because it's part of WICHE.

Oh and don't forget to include cost of living when you're looking at costs. The $60,000 figure for Midwestern is tuition only (!)

Ashgirl already addressed getting a job to pay for vet school, but I just wanted to add that while working to save money is a good thing, it's really unlikely that pursuing a second degree is going to increase your earning potential enough to make that worthwhile. Definitely do the math on that.

You might find this thread helpful: Would you do it over again?

 

[Awapi]

Cost was also my deciding factor. I comment to add a link - I made a list of schools that were most cost-effective using this tool (as discussed on this board elsewhere, these estimates are not perfect, but are at least representative of general cost): VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map - I Want to be a Veterinarian - VIN Foundation - VIN

The list ended up basically being the schools that @Ashgirl gave plus my in-state. I then looked at their pre-reqs to see which schools I qualified to apply to. I ultimately decided to only apply to my in-state the first year because it was the best fit school for me, the one I thought I had the best chance at, and the cheapest. If I had not gotten in I planned to only apply to the schools that had made that final cut based on cost and pre-reqs and resist the urge to apply to schools that were awesome, but not smart financially. Basically, I did not want to get in a position where I had an acceptance to a school with a price tag I shouldn't be paying because it would be hard to turn it down.

 

[cowgirla]

Cost. 10K a year cheaper than the next option, 40K a year cheaper than my most expensive option.

 

[battie]

Made my list based on pre-reqs first. Didn't have organic 2, so that cut everything down to 13 schools even possible. Then I did it based on what schools I felt I had a realistic chance of getting in at. Then I limited to what I was willing to pay.

Ended up with only one acceptance. But I'll repeat that cost should be a huge factor, including local cost of living.

Is there a reason those are the only schools you're applying to, particularly since you have the WICHE option?

 

[SocialStigma]

1. Cost - I only applied to 1 school (my in-province).
2. I've known since my last year of undergrad that I have a strong interest in surgery and vet school made it abundantly clear that I didn't really like any other specialty aside from surgery. Many of my classmates didn't know what they wanted to do in their 4th year though, and that's also ok. You have plenty of time to figure it out and change your mind.
3. Yes I would do it over again but only if I was still accepted to my in-province school.

 

[supershorty]

1. Research opportunities. I knew I wanted to do a DVM/PhD, and knew that I wanted to be on a campus that had a med school nearby for collaboration purposes. I was already working in a lab at my top choice - I was pretty adamant that if I got in here, it wouldn't matter where else I got in.
1b. I then only got in here (waitlisted at one other place I applied to), which made it easy.
2. I'm so far away from graduating that while I think I know what I want to do, specialty-wise, I recognize that it could change over the next 7 years.
3. I would do it again so far, but I'm only just finished with 1st year and still bright eyed/bushy tailed.

I didn't really consider cost solely because the school I was absolutely dying to go to was also my in-state school, although I was OOS originally (worked here for a few years before applying). However, it is something that should be considered, for sure.

 

[DVMDream]

You've gotten great advice already, but why are those your only choices? While Midwestern is the only program in Arizona and it's private, AZ is actually one of the better states to be from because it's part of WICHE

As an Arizonan, WICHE is BS unless you have a 3.9GPA.... you still have to be picked by the schools as accepted. You should apply to all 4 schools involved and you get ranked based on which schools want you and how many want you. It is ****ing crap.

If I could have a redo, I'd basically pick a state with a cheap IS vet school tuition, move to that state 1-2 years prior and gain residency. Better chance of saving money and being accepted that way.

 

[VetMedVetMed]

For me, cost was not my number one concern when deciding where to attend. I was accepted to several schools, but chose the one I felt most comfortable and at ease at. I chose the one I loved and I am very happy with my choice!

 

[finnickthedog]

To echo a ton of other people cost was my number one factor. During my first cycle applying I didn't even consider schools that were more expensive than my IS. During my second cycle applying I looked at a couple of schools that were a little more expensive. Then, if they made my list on cost, I looked at cut offs and prerequisites. Had to eliminate some schools there. In the end I ended up only applying to my IS both times.

I could have applied to another school or two if I'd taken some additional pre-reqs but I chose to save my money at the time and take my chances with eggs in one basket.

 

[variegata]

Cost was important to me. I wanted to try living in another state as well, and conveniently, I was able to attend UW for essentially the same tuition as my in-state would have been, but with a lower cost of living. I visited for the open house, and the school and town felt like a good fit for me. I am glad I got out when I did, though, before UW started increasing their OOS tuition to come equal to most other schools.

 

[TrashPanda]

As an Arizonan, WICHE is BS unless you have a 3.9GPA.... you still have to be picked by the schools as accepted. You should apply to all 4 schools involved and you get ranked based on which schools want you and how many want you. It is ****ing crap.

If I could have a redo, I'd basically pick a state with a cheap IS vet school tuition, move to that state 1-2 years prior and gain residency. Better chance of saving money and being accepted that way.

Oh, right. I think that at least at some schools, it puts you in a smaller pool with a better chance of being accepted. But yeah, funding not being guaranteed is a really good point.

I moved from a state without a vet school to one with a public one. If I were to do it over I'd move to a different state with cheaper tuition (it's gone up a lot since I've moved), but it still worked out pretty well.

 

[VetMed812]

I am on the fence about vet school and posting here and talking to others helps me get an idea of the process and the end product. First, I have attended tech school and I have worked and volunteered at hospitals and zoos, so i do know what the field is like I just took a break. I am no where near my pre-reqs and hope to volunteer with horses at some point.

On to my questions, how did you decide which school to attend? I currently live in AZ and of course my in state school is Midwestern and they cost nearly $60,000 a year and it continues to increase every year. I contemplated Midwestern because my family is here and so are my pets that I take care of. My only other choices were Colorado and Florida. I also plan on getting a second degree to get a job to pay for school out right if I go.

Second, how did you decide which field to pursue? I have always wanted to be a zoo vet, but I understand the competition and so my back up is Equine Sports Medicine and Rehab or Theriogenology as I do not like surgery or working in small animal practice.

Third and Final, would you do it all over again or would you pursue something else? I've have leaning towards and liking the idea of working with Equine Sports and show horses such as those from Arabian Horse Show, Derby, etc. Are there alternate routes other than vet school? I never grew up around horses so I dont know a whole lot about the industry.

I'm going to mention the horse thing... if you're interested in them, you better get out there and see what they're about. They're very expensive to keep and are very work intensive. Additionally they're very hard on the body too. Horses are not a backup plan, many fresh out of school vets fail to make a living in the equine field and end up practicing in other fields. Thats not to say you wouldn't be good at it but you need to take the time to learn and develop your eye. We're a very welcoming bunch so get to a farm and start with whatever they'll let you do.

 

[hazelmoo]

Unpopular opinion! But here's my two cents...

Cost should definitely be considered, however, I don't think that should be your ONLY deciding factor. I only got in to one school, Midwestern, and I definitely considered reapplying to try to get in to a cheaper school... but I'm so glad I didn't. I honestly don't think I could make it in any other program, knowing what I know now and knowing how much I love where I am. I'm lucky though, I'll have help from my SO when it comes to paying off my loans, and maybe it would be different if I'd be paying them on my own? I don't know. But first thing's first! Getting accepted! 😉

On how to decide what vet to be, shadow shadow shadow. It sounds like you have lots of experience already, but don't stop trying new places to get a feel for each. I used to want to be a zoo vet before I shadowed a zoo vet, and then I changed my mind. THEN I shadowed at another zoo and really loved it... so not only does it depend on the type of vet med, but also the place. Everywhere is different!

Good luck!!

 

[Cephal0pod]

Cost was a huge factor for me - I applied to my IS and two OOS schools where I knew I could get instate tuition after 1st year. Like many, I am paying for vet school on my own via loans, so I wanted to minimize loan debt as much as possible. I ended up getting into my IS, so I went there.

It's worth noting that even with going to my IS, I will still have probably ~160k in loans when I graduate before interest. That's a pretty sobering number.

Prioritizing cost in the decision-making process over the idea of a "dream school" is definitely less romantic and warm fuzzy, but as others have noted, it's very important.

Certainly there are some people who have financial situations or assistance from others that may make that less of a concern, though, and their decision-making process will likely look different. No shame in that either. Make decisions that make sense for both your current and your likely future situations, whatever they make look like. 👍

At this point, heading into 2nd year, I would do it all again. Vet school is a heck of a ride and not always a pleasant one, it's true. I've been reminded this summer why I went into this field, though, and feel refreshed and ready to press on.

 

[Florida_Future_DVM]

I looked heavily at schools that fit my application the best THEN cost. No use in spending money applying to cheap schools that don't fit your application. For example my GPA was very high but my GRE was average and my experience was low. So I applied to UF (IS), LSU, Auburn, and UGA.