how long to prepare for first day of school after acceptance?

[gracietiger]

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Hi all! I am wondering how long it took you guys to prepare to enter vet school from the time you were accepted to the first day of class? And by prepare, I am mostly concerned with time needed for filling out loan applications, acquiring the loan money, taking care of any medical requirements/vaccines, purchasing required equipment/computers/clothes, etc etc... the logistical stuff.

In regards to loan applications, does anyone remember when the applications are available, how long they took to fill out, and when they are due?


Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[scb44f]

Hi all! I am wondering how long it took you guys to prepare to enter vet school from the time you were accepted to the first day of class? And by prepare, I am mostly concerned with time needed for filling out loan applications, acquiring the loan money, taking care of any medical requirements/vaccines, purchasing required equipment/computers/clothes, etc etc... the logistical stuff.

In regards to loan applications, does anyone remember when the applications are available, how long they took to fill out, and when they are due?


Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not long for me. The most time consuming part was finding housing and getting that all set up properly! Other than that, I really didn't need to buy much except for a few books (which I'll admit, I did some research on what books vet students tended to like compared to what was suggested by my school). I didn't get any new vaccinations prior to starting school, nor did I need a new computer or clothes. Really, a lot of stuff fell into place after classes started (like buying supplies for anatomy lab). As for the loan application, I haven't worked in years, so the vast majority of FAFSA was on my mom, so she does it for me (I'm so lucky - one less thing for me to worry about). Maybe my situation wasn't normal, but it just seemed to fall in place.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Penn sent out a notice in mid-summer with a list of stuff to take care of. I remember a bunch of us were on SDN complaining that we wanted to know what to buy etc, and "Ben and Me" kept on saying to be patient.

So short answer to your question is..... not that much time.

Financial aid stuff is done earlier though. But once you fill out forms not much else to do until classes are about to start (sign notes etc).

 

[gracietiger]

Can financial aid forms be filled out from abroad? Can they be done online?

 

[rubygirl]

pay attention to financial aid deadlines though, mine were all around february 1st and thus before i had heard most of my responses yet. once i heard i was in the hardest thing was getting my stupid tax transcripts and getting the information for health services from my doctor.

 

[scb44f]

Yes, you can do all that online, including signing promissory notes if you are still abroad when you have to do that.

 

[LetItSnow]

Can financial aid forms be filled out from abroad? Can they be done online?

All of ours at UMN are able to be done online. I would guess it's like that at most/all vet schools (but that's just a guess).

It will require far less time to get ready than you'll actually put into it. 🙂

Our school did a really great job of guiding us through the whole process. Most of the paperwork was done online (in fact, other than faxing in vaccination information - which most people were able to do online, I just had some special circumstances - I can't think of anything that wasn't electronic). Our bookstore had a great list of things we'd need; even if you didn't want to buy from them it still provided you with a list.

And in the end, you could get by doing almost nothing. We had someone join us about a week after school started, so she had negative time to prepare. She's doing just fine. Just show up with some way to take notes and you're likely good to go. 🙂

 

[Minnerbelle]

Your school may have deadlines for scholarships and the limited funds loans like the health professions loans and stuff, but there's never a deadline for FAFSA to get federal loans up to the cost of attendance. I'd personally wait to hear from the school after you've gotten accepted, because they will send info specific for the school (which can be as late as June or something). I was lazy and didn't start doing anything for my loans until like a few weeks into school and lived off of my savings for a while (CSU's fall tuition bill wasn't due until end of september or something like that). As long as you have your budget figured out, and know how much loans you WANT to take out, then it really only takes like a couple hours to get all that taken care of. Unless of course, some random roadblock pops up that you didn't anticipate.

Get on the rabies stuff ASAP though, because sometimes it can be a huge pain in the rear. If you need it done before school starts, and the school expects you to figure it out on your own, your best bet is probably through your PCP (though some travel clinics do offer it). Half the time, you end up doing phone tag over and over and over because the receptionist/nurse knows nothing about rabies vaccines, and it ends up being a huge process to even set up an appointment and have the vaccine actually be there. If you don't have a PCP, it can be hard so I'd get on that right away. Sometimes it takes months to be able to schedule a first visit with a PCP, depending on where you are. If you're in school, the school infirmary/clinic should be able to help you out. With the right situation, it's easy peasy, but it can be hellish if the stars don't align for you.

 

[SocialStigma]

For OVC, we get our rabies series (or titre if we've already had it) in September after school starts because the school provides it for free to vet students.

Same with merch (coveralls, lab coats, steth, steel toed boots, penlight etc) because we order it as a class and get a bulk discount, plus our clothing has to have our names and year embroidered on it.

As for loans, I already had a student loan for undergrad and just reapplied to it in June following my acceptance (updated it with my school change). I had to wait until school started to submit my financial aid form to my school though because they only accept them from Sept 1-mid October.

 

[deleted387118]

If you are looking for housing that allows dogs, especially big dogs, the sooner the better!

 

[gracietiger]

Thank you all, that is very helpful!