Iowa vs CSU

[ks1034]

I would love to hear from anyone who has had experience at either Iowa or CSU!

CSU was my top choice school, but I’m considering Iowa due to low cost of living and slightly cheaper tuition. I know everyone says go to the cheapest school but my fiancée currently has a great job opportunity in Denver. If that works out, I will definitely be going there. I also have family in Colorado, whereas I know no one in Iowa.

I am not overly concerned about cost of living as I will not be taking out loans for living expenses. The tuition difference is minimal as Iowa had said to expect a modest increase from last years tuition which was 59k.

I have heard some negative things about Iowa that make me a bit nervous. This includes the strict academic policy and them being in the news recently for overworking fourth years. I also worry about Iowa being quite a boring place to live

Opinions and experiences are welcome!!

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[JaynaAli]

All schools overwork students, that’s not unique to Iowa.

It sounds like you really just want to go to CSU, so just go there if your costs will be similar.

 

[dogtord823]

Firstly, congratulations!!!
I have some friends at Iowa with mixed feelings. They’ve noted that they lose/fail out 20-30 people per year and sometimes per semester depending on the class. Iowa fills the class back up with transfer students. Some of my friends really enjoy the education, while others think it is subpar and needs to be modernized. On the other hand, my friends at CSU rave about their program all the time. I do not go to either school so I cannot personally speak to this, but based on what my friends have said - if the financial difference is marginal, especially with your fiance having a great job opportunity in Denver and having family in CO - go to CSU.

 

[ks1034]

Firstly, congratulations!!!
I have some friends at Iowa with mixed feelings. They’ve noted that they lose/fail out 20-30 people per year and sometimes per semester depending on the class. Iowa fills the class back up with transfer students. Some of my friends really enjoy the education, while others think it is subpar and needs to be modernized. On the other hand, my friends at CSU rave about their program all the time. I do not go to either school so I cannot personally speak to this, but based on what my friends have said - if the financial difference is marginal, especially with your fiance having a great job opportunity in Denver and having family in CO - go to CSU.

Thank you! I have heard similar things from people at Iowa but haven’t heard much from students at CSU, so that is really helpful to hear!

 

[JaxysWindow]

Hi! I am a current second year at CSU. I can vouch that I really love it here. Of course, every school seems to be what you make of it, but I feel so lucky to be a student here! What aspect of veterinary medicine are you hoping to go into?
Also, keep in mind that CSU and Denver are an hour away from each other, maybe more depending on where your fiance is working. Loveland would be a pretty good compromise for driving distance to both, but I-25 is always under construction and kind of a bear to navigate.

 

[ks1034]

Hi! I am a current second year at CSU. I can vouch that I really love it here. Of course, every school seems to be what you make of it, but I feel so lucky to be a student here! What aspect of veterinary medicine are you hoping to go into?
Also, keep in mind that CSU and Denver are an hour away from each other, maybe more depending on where your fiance is working. Loveland would be a pretty good compromise for driving distance to both, but I-25 is always under construction and kind of a bear to navigate.

Thanks so much for your response! I am so glad to hear you love CSU. I have a few areas of vet med I’m interested in. I am considering lab animal medicine, wildlife/zoo animal, or small animal medicine but I would want to specialize. I know Denver is quite far from CSU so my fiancée is now pursuing a job in Loveland. I would really like him to have something locked down before I accept my seat but I’m not sure that will happen. Either way, it is tempting to consider Iowa due to the lower cost of living but I just can’t see myself declining my seat at CSU…it’s such a beautiful area and great program.

Do you recommend living in Fort Collins the first year? We are considering Loveland as it is a little cheaper but I want to do everything I can to set myself up for success especially the first year..

 

[JaynaAli]

It only takes 15-20 mins to drive from Loveland to the CSU vet school, especially if you’re on the north side of Loveland. So I think you’ll be fine. It could take you 20 minutes to get across Fort Collins depending on where you lived there, too. I didn’t go to school at CSU but I did my rotating internship in Loveland. It’s a nice little town. Housing costs in that whole area have definitely gone up significantly since I was there 8 years ago.

 

[battie]

Hi, Colorado native that didn't get into CSU, so no info on the school. But just some info on life in general.

Denver to FoCo is an hour to hour and a half in good traffic. With weather or bad traffic, double that time. And while horrible weather is not super frequent, even if you live within half an hour of the school, you could absolutely be in a situation where you won't be able to get there if you don't live in FoCo; so keep that in mind for clinical year where you'll likely need to be within 15-20 minutes of the school for on-call duties. We just had 1.5ft of snow in Denver a week ago, though it was significantly better 20 miles north of here; not 100% sure what FoCo looked like however.

COL is going to be much more significant that Iowa, even comparing FoCo and the surrounding area to Ames. Just the nature of living in a highly popular college town in comparison (mountain west vs midwest).

There is absolutely zero publish data on attrition rates from any of the vet schools (a pet peeve and soapbox of mine). So while I sympathize with those that fail out (I failed out my first year and head to repeat the year), I am heavily skeptical of a US school failing 20-30 students *per year*. That is comparable to the numbers anecdotally reported by the island schools. That's an astronomical number, particularly since students who fail out of Iowa cannot simply just go back and repeat the year they failed; it's a quite extensive process that includes retaking the classes individually outside of the vet med curriculum and reapplying. Again, I do sympathize with those students; but this is an example of anecdotes are not true data. Unfortunately, *none* of the schools publish their attrition rates.

Clinical year sucks everywhere and Iowa is not the only school that has had public issues with their clinical year set-up. Purdue was also recently in the news. I went to Illinois and there has been significant complaints by recent classes (and even some faculty) on how clinical year is run. I do not recommend choosing your school based on clinical year perceptions.

Finally, I would have absolutely gone to CSU in a heart beat due to in state tuition. But that's the only reason. Quite honestly, no specific vet school is any better than any other on a practical level. From a financial perspective, CSU would have to be within 5-7% comparable financially for me to recommend choosing it over Iowa just based on the vibes. It has had a lot of upgrades recently because it's gotten a ton of donations recently. According to the VIN cost comparison map, assuming you're OOS for both schools, Iowa is your 47th cheapest school at 266,899 vs CSU at 50th cheapest at 288,632 (tuition only and accrued interest). 22k is a lot of money to not have to pay back at 7% interest after you graduate. Granted, that 22k is at 8.1% of your Iowa cost and 7.5% of your CSU cost. So really at the edge of my recommendation of whether or not the money is worth it.

 

[Chqu22]

Current VM1 at ISU and I love it here! I am an OOS student and this ended up being the least costly choice of schools I was accepted to with a scholarship. With our class, we maybe lost only 4-5 people - most of which did not fail out but left for personal reasons. I have found the professors here to be incredibly supportive and have enjoyed the curriculum so far! Let me know if you have specific questions about ISU

 

[ks1034]

Current VM1 at ISU and I love it here! I am an OOS student and this ended up being the least costly choice of schools I was accepted to with a scholarship. With our class, we maybe lost only 4-5 people - most of which did not fail out but left for personal reasons. I have found the professors here to be incredibly supportive and have enjoyed the curriculum so far! Let me know if you have specific questions about ISU

Thank you! Did you find out you got a scholarship before committing to ISU? If I knew I was getting a scholarship I would definitely choose ISU but they haven’t released any financial aid or scholarship info yet

 

[ks1034]

Hi, Colorado native that didn't get into CSU, so no info on the school. But just some info on life in general.

Denver to FoCo is an hour to hour and a half in good traffic. With weather or bad traffic, double that time. And while horrible weather is not super frequent, even if you live within half an hour of the school, you could absolutely be in a situation where you won't be able to get there if you don't live in FoCo; so keep that in mind for clinical year where you'll likely need to be within 15-20 minutes of the school for on-call duties. We just had 1.5ft of snow in Denver a week ago, though it was significantly better 20 miles north of here; not 100% sure what FoCo looked like however.

COL is going to be much more significant that Iowa, even comparing FoCo and the surrounding area to Ames. Just the nature of living in a highly popular college town in comparison (mountain west vs midwest).

There is absolutely zero publish data on attrition rates from any of the vet schools (a pet peeve and soapbox of mine). So while I sympathize with those that fail out (I failed out my first year and head to repeat the year), I am heavily skeptical of a US school failing 20-30 students *per year*. That is comparable to the numbers anecdotally reported by the island schools. That's an astronomical number, particularly since students who fail out of Iowa cannot simply just go back and repeat the year they failed; it's a quite extensive process that includes retaking the classes individually outside of the vet med curriculum and reapplying. Again, I do sympathize with those students; but this is an example of anecdotes are not true data. Unfortunately, *none* of the schools publish their attrition rates.

Clinical year sucks everywhere and Iowa is not the only school that has had public issues with their clinical year set-up. Purdue was also recently in the news. I went to Illinois and there has been significant complaints by recent classes (and even some faculty) on how clinical year is run. I do not recommend choosing your school based on clinical year perceptions.

Finally, I would have absolutely gone to CSU in a heart beat due to in state tuition. But that's the only reason. Quite honestly, no specific vet school is any better than any other on a practical level. From a financial perspective, CSU would have to be within 5-7% comparable financially for me to recommend choosing it over Iowa just based on the vibes. It has had a lot of upgrades recently because it's gotten a ton of donations recently. According to the VIN cost comparison map, assuming you're OOS for both schools, Iowa is your 47th cheapest school at 266,899 vs CSU at 50th cheapest at 288,632 (tuition only and accrued interest). 22k is a lot of money to not have to pay back at 7% interest after you graduate. Granted, that 22k is at 8.1% of your Iowa cost and 7.5% of your CSU cost. So really at the edge of my recommendation of whether or not the money is worth it.

Thank you for all this info! I appreciate you taking the time to write this and you made some good points.

There seems to be better job opportunities for my fiancée in Colorado which is another reason we are leaning towards CSU. I know Fort Collins area has gotten quite expensive but we currently live in Boston so anywhere really will feel cheaper! I won’t be taking out loans for my living expenses (as long as my fiancée secures a job) so while it would be nice to keep it as cheap as possible it isn’t a huge issue.

Iowa’s COL is the biggest thing that draws me there but I worry my fiancée will get bored in Iowa. I’m going to be so busy I want to ensure he has things to keep him busy while I am studying and at class. Colorado has so much to do and that really draws me to CSU. I don’t know…CSU has always been my top choice based purely on location but I never expected to get in. Maybe I am not giving Iowa a fair chance because of this….

 

[Chqu22]

Thank you! Did you find out you got a scholarship before committing to ISU? If I knew I was getting a scholarship I would definitely choose ISU but they haven’t released any financial aid or scholarship info yet

Yes! I was accepted off of the waitlist in April, and then about a week later before I committed I received a scholarship! I know year to year the financial aid changes very minimally, so you can use this past year's info as a guide for sure.