local college vs. well-known university

[mrcomp92]

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Hi all,

I'm new to sdn and in need of some advice. Some background...I'm 19 and after my first yr of school at a state college in PA as an elementary/special education I realized I want to pursue pre-vet. So now, I'm about to start my second semester at a local community college to get some pre-reqs while applying to universities to start in fall 2012 as a pre-vet/or animal science major. I haven't heard back yet from most universities (U of Delaware, Rutgers, Penn State) but I have received an AMAZING scholarship from a local private college (Delaware Valley College) that does offer good pre-vet and animal science programs. However, it isn't as well-known as the other universities and I'm not sure if it is as rigorous. But I will save a boatload of money by attending this college, as well as having time to able to work at vet office part-time and volunteer by living at home and commuting. I just don't want to be in tons of debt after vet school...especially since I already wasted a year and 15 grand! But I also don't wanna make another mistake and not be able to get into vet school!

Apologies if this is too much info all at once! 🙂

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Go where it's cheaper, definitely. Plus, having a good prevet program and opportunities to shadow will GREATLY help your app. The name of your undergraduate school doesn't matter as much as you think 🙂 Congrats!

 

[jemappellejane]

Welcome! I know plenty of vets who went to state schools for undergrad. In fact, I WISH I went to a state school. I went to a somewhat prestigious private school that had a med school as well. ALL of the students in my classes were VERY smart and were premed majors. I struggled big time because the curve was set so HIGH. I know I would have had more success at a school that wasn't so competitive. However, some schools take that into account as well when considering you for admission. I'll be interested to hear other's opinions on this, but right now, I thinking going with the school you got a scholarship to is the way to go. Not only will you be in less debt (that is, until you graduate vet school), but scholarships are a nice thing to add to your resume/application. Best of luck!

 

[Bismarck]

I have heard of Delaware Valley as they have been present for Livestock Judging/ other animal science competitions where I go to school. I'm not familiar with their academics, but the general rule is most vet schools give slight weighting to the quality of your academic program when they consider your application (i.e. a B+ at Tough University is better than an A at Easy Academy) but in general as long as you do well at any accredited 4 year program and satisfy the pre-req courses (get As in everything you can) as well as bring good animal and veterinary experience (read: diverse experience) you will be a successful applicant.

Do a search for "successful applicant thread" at the top of the forum and you will be able to see what stats people had (including where they did their undergrad in some cases) before they were admitted.

Another thought: before you make your decision, call several vet schools (the ones you'd be keen on attending) and ask them what their impressions of the programs you're deciding between. They'll probably tell you they're all fine, but you'll hear it straight from the source.

 

[Chebanse]

When I was making the decision to go back to school to take my prerequisites I had several schools in mind. The school that I wanted to go to and ultimately ended up attending was a very small private school that had a very good local reputation and an excellent pre-med program, but was virtually unknown outside the state. I called several veterinary schools because I had the same concern as you. I told them that I was considering schools x, y, and z and asked if any one of those schools better for completing my prerequisites. The answer that I got from every vet school was to pick the school that was right for me and do well. They said that the only thing to be careful about is making sure that the classes I take do in fact fulfill the vet school requirements. Once attending said small school, my advisor told me to make sure that I do well on my GREs to show that my good grades at the small school were not due to an easy program, but that I was competitive with students from larger, better known universities. I think all of this must have been good advice as I just got accepted this cycle and I attended a small, virtually unknown school 🙂

By the way, congrats on the scholarship!!!

 

[kaydubs]

Hey OP: I'm a fellow PA res. My $0.01: I'm a local yokel supporter. I often wonder if I should have gone an alternative route and had lower loans (gone OOS at a small institution or went public) . But, that being said, I would not trade my undergrad experience for anything. I chose my school based on the "get into professional school" statistic and decided to go the vet school route during my freshman year. State schools are fine and dandy, much more cost friendly for some etc. But, I went the private route. Liberal arts blahblahblah. And I strongly believe that I am better because of it.

As far as Del Val, I met several people who were there when I interned at the Philly Zoo in 2010. They were pre-vets etc etc but I honestly don't know how excellent the program is versus other schools. My cousin went to Penn State. I almost went there but opted to go to my undergrad in Scrantz (UoS 2011!).

In the end, do what's best for you. I'm currently paying on loans and I'm choosing to go OOS for vet school (2016 - better late than never!). In my year off, I've been paying on my loans as best as I can so I feel less upset going to school this fall and accruing that heap of debt.

Best of luck!

 

[mrcomp92]

Thanks so much for the advice!! I have contacted UPENN and Tufts, since those are two schools I know I'm interested in, and they both said they've accepted students from Del Val, but not as many as the other schools I've applied to. It's still a tough decision, but I know I'll work it out eventually 🙂

 

[pooter]

I went the local route and have been very happy about it. Many of my classmates did the same. In fact, I'm pretty sure we have students from Delaware Valley in my class now. Of course, there are also benefits to the large university experience--my classmates from Rutgers and UMass are just down the hall. Choice of university doesn't seem to matter as much as how you perform in that setting, so pick the school that you think works best for you.

 

[goldnretrivrgrl]

Thanks so much for the advice!! I have contacted UPENN and Tufts, since those are two schools I know I'm interested in, and they both said they've accepted students from Del Val, but not as many as the other schools I've applied to. It's still a tough decision, but I know I'll work it out eventually 🙂

Penn State alum here! I loved PSU's veterinary and biomedical science major and I have several friends who went to Del Val . There are a few Del Val people at here at Penn, VMRCVM, and at least one that I know of at UTK for vet school. I think it would be a great choice, especially if it saves you $.

 

[Sheepdogpsu]

I was in a similar situation. I got a scholarship to a small school near Philly but decided to go to Penn State and I don't regret it at all. I don't know about other state schools but our curriculum is really good and i feel it will give me a head start in vet school. I've taken full courses in nutritional and regular pathology, immunology, medical micro, anatomy, and many others that small schools probably don't have.

Also there are a lot of experienced faculty that know vet med. My one professor is world renown for llama and alpaca nutrition and is about to publish a book on the subject! They have helped me a lot in seeing how vet school is actually going to be.

Plus there is supposedly a small tie in between PSU and UPenn, even though that hasn't helped me yet

 

[goldnretrivrgrl]

Plus there is supposedly a small tie in between PSU and UPenn, even though that hasn't helped me yet

There are quite a few Penn Staters here but it's mostly because there are many Penn State students in the IS applicant pool. I met a pre-vet student several weeks ago who thought this "tie" gave her an advantage over students from other colleges and that is not true at all. As Pooter said, there are many Penn students who come from other state schools and smaller schools from around the country. (Not saying this is what you were referring to but I want to clarify for the OP)
I'm the first one to say "yay penn state!" but what really matters is that the school has a good academic standard, you'll be happy there, and that you're not going to be burying yourself in debt!

 

[bunnity]

A lot of people from Del Val end up at Penn. Since Penn is one of the only schools that gets a little snooty about where you took your classes, you should be fine there. Plus you need to be thinking about how much vet school debt you'll be getting into, and therefore minimizing undergrad debt.

If you are wanting to go to Penn (I say this since you're instate) you should check with them about the community college thing; I'm not sure they'll accept CC courses as pre-req's.

 

[squirrelsrule]

I went to a small private college close to home because I was a post secondary student for my first 2 years and completed 3 years of college credits in those two years. I finished my last year there as well and graduated in 2005. Just decided a year and a half ago that I wanted to be a vet and went back to school to finish prerequisites. My 4 year school was super expensive ($2400 for 4 credit hour class) and I had to take Microbiology, Biochemistry, and 2 semesters of O. Chem. It was gonna cost over $10,000 for all the classes 😱 and I didn't qualify for any aid since I was taking them 1 to two classes at a time and already had a degree. So, I called the schools I was applying to to verify that the classes offered at the community college ($550 for a 5 credit hour class!) would cover the requirement. Ended up being able to take Micro. and O. Chem at the community college and just take Biochem at the private 4 year college. So, instead of $10,000 I ended up finishing the prerequisites for $4,000 👍. I am sooooooooooooooooo glad I took O. Chem at the CC too, because I had the awesomest professor in the world and LOVED the class. That class was my all time favorite class!

Even though several of my prerequisites were taken at a community college and the rest of my classes were taken at a school that probably no one has ever heard of, even in other parts of Ohio , I still was accepted into Ohio State my first try 🙂. I did well in school, showed my abilities by completing the 4 year degree in 3 and did well on the GRE.

So, I say go with the scholarship! I wouldn't even give it a second thought. 👍