Is it possible to change your mind if you've already accepted a seat at one school and accept at another school before April 15?

[deleted989551]

If I've already accepted a seat at my IS school and paid the deposit, can I decline it and accept at another school? Since it's not April 15 yet. I know I'll lose my deposit.

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[WildZoo]

Yes, you are allowed to do this. You can even do this after the April 15th deadline, say if you were to get pulled off a waitlist at another school that was more favorable for some reason.

 

[alleycat03]

Dubz is correct. You will just forfeit that deposit.

Just out of curiousity, is there a reason why you picked another school over your in-state school? The less debt you have after graduation, the better.

 

[deleted989551]

Dubz is correct. You will just forfeit that deposit.

Just out of curiousity, is there a reason why you picked another school over your in-state school? The less debt you have after graduation, the better.

I really want to go to LSU because of their exotic/zoo/wildlife department and concentration during 4th yr (and Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Tully, and Dr. Nevarez). My IS school (Auburn) has no boarded EA vet and I'm VERY concerned about my ability to get an internship and residency.

It took me 42 years to get here and I don't want to miss out. It's easy for me to tell others to go to the cheapest school (and I have on this forum), but it's much harder when it's yourself.

 

[britzen]

Does your IS school not offer external rotations your 4th year? You could spend those at LSU with those specific instructors if that's important to you.

My IS does not have any exotics program to speak of, and everyone I know who wants to do that has either landed a small animal Rotating Internship at a hospital that has an exotics case load or is going straight into practice with a majority exotics case load.

I'm not even looking for an exotics job and I've been offered interviews with multiple clinics that see exotics.

 

[deleted989551]

Does your IS school not offer external rotations your 4th year? You could spend those at LSU with those specific instructors if that's important to you.

My IS does not have any exotics program to speak of, and everyone I know who wants to do that has either landed a small animal Rotating Internship at a hospital that has an exotics case load or is going straight into practice with a majority exotics case load.

I'm not even looking for an exotics job and I've been offered interviews with multiple clinics that see exotics.

Auburn does offer two 2 wk externships + one 8 wk preceptorship. I don't know if LSU offers spots for those to mainland students (I think just to island students).

Edit: I appreciate your advice. I will talk to my mentor more about this. Y'all are very busy students/vets and know much more than I do right now.

Thank you.

 

[britzen]

I would reach out to your IS too and ask how they handle students that want to do exotics! I'm sure they will have the best idea of what paths people follow and how they make that happen. You'll also have 2 summers off (~24 weeks total) where you could focus on getting lots of exotics experience to bolster your applications for internships / residency.

You could also reach out to LSU about whether they take students from other schools for rotations. I know people at my school have done rotations at other vet schools so it's not outside the realm of possibility, but you may need to arrange it a year or more in advance if it's competitive.

ETA: I like regulatory medicine and epidemiology. Those aren't really things any vet school focuses on heavily in the classroom. I racked up over 1,000 hours of regulatory time (1 summer before vet school + 2 summers in vet school + part time work one semester). I also managed to finagle 18 weeks of epidemiology focused rotations my 4th year.

Another friend of mine loves path - she's done 9-12 weeks of path rotations during 4th year, clubs, leadership, weekend necropsy shadowing, published a case report, hangs out with the path folks every chance she gets. She's doing a MS next year with the path department, and will applying to path residencies. This is despite our pathology offerings being pretty standard and only having 1.5 weeks required for path on rotations

My school is more flexible than most for rotations, but if you are interested in something you can figure out how to maximize it to get what you want.

 

[deleted989551]

Thank you. This is extremely helpful and inspiring.

 

[battie]

I really want to go to LSU because of their exotic/zoo/wildlife department and concentration during 4th yr (and Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Tully, and Dr. Nevarez). My IS school (Auburn) has no boarded EA vet and I'm VERY concerned about my ability to get an internship and residency.

It took me 42 years to get here and I don't want to miss out. It's easy for me to tell others to go to the cheapest school (and I have on this forum), but it's much harder when it's yourself.

Going to a school with exotics definitely doesn't guarantee you a spot either. Half of first years going to my school start out wanting zoo med and only 2 people have achieved an exotics/zoo med residency in the last 5 years. We have quite an extensive exotics/zoo med program. Networking and adequately using your time during clinics and breaks can make far more of a difference.

Meanwhile going to the cheaper school can set you up for success whether or not you get to a residency. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst; unfortunately cynical, but not bad advice now that I'm making monthly loan payments.

 

[twelvetigers]

Class of 2015 here, echoing the constant - the less loans you have to take the better, no matter what no matter what. One school lets you ride unicorns, the other routinely beats you with an old welly but costs $20k less - go with the welly. The unicorn school is probably lying anyway, they beat you with boots same as any other.

This is why I don't post much in here anymore - I can't be weird and also be reassured that you all will understand because there's too many new kids in here lol

 

[Viscernable]

One school lets you ride unicorns, the other routinely beats you with an old welly but costs $20k less - go with the welly. The unicorn school is probably lying anyway, they beat you with boots same as any other.

I want this like… on a bumper sticker? It would have to be a big sticker.