Michigan State vs WesternU

[bingbong123]

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Hello,

I am struggling to decide between WesternU and Michigan State. Any advice would help 😭

Pros and cons of each for me:

Western
-close to home/support system (I’m from socal)
-4th year distributive model can be beneficial to me for networking
-more expensive by ~70k for tuition alone
-majority of curriculum is PBL which can be a hit or miss and I’m not sure how compatible I am with this model
-no animals on campus
-i’ve heard they keep changing the curriculum and a lot of professors are leaving

MSU
-far from home and I’ve never experienced real seasons (worried that this might add stress on top of already stressful vet school)
-cheaper tuition!!
-my partner will be joining me so I won’t be completely alone
-teaching hospital and lots of opportunities for hands on learning
-I like the mixed style of teaching that includes didactic/flipped/pbl
-I visited this past weekend and I’m worried about work/life balance with the amount of things to do around campus compared to LA

Both schools navle scores dipped in 2024, and I’m not sure if anyone has any updates on that

 

[JaynaAli]

Which MSU? That’s important when multiple schools can have that acronym.

But go to the cheapest school.

 

[bingbong123]

Oops sorry Michigan state!

 

[supershorty]

Go to the cheapest option.

I also personally feel that the benefits of a teaching hospital are too numerous to ever warrant picking a university lacking one over one with a hospital. That is solely my own opinion and take that as you will.

 

[pp9]

Hello,

I am struggling to decide between WesternU and Michigan State. Any advice would help 😭

Pros and cons of each for me:

Western
-close to home/support system (I’m from socal)
-4th year distributive model can be beneficial to me for networking
-more expensive by ~70k for tuition alone
-majority of curriculum is PBL which can be a hit or miss and I’m not sure how compatible I am with this model
-no animals on campus
-i’ve heard they keep changing the curriculum and a lot of professors are leaving

MSU
-far from home and I’ve never experienced real seasons (worried that this might add stress on top of already stressful vet school)
-cheaper tuition!!
-my partner will be joining me so I won’t be completely alone
-teaching hospital and lots of opportunities for hands on learning
-I like the mixed style of teaching that includes didactic/flipped/pbl
-I visited this past weekend and I’m worried about work/life balance with the amount of things to do around campus compared to LA

Both schools navle scores dipped in 2024, and I’m not sure if anyone has any updates on that

I am not sure why people worry so much about experiencing seasons during school. I guess being a midwesterner has me thinking 'what's the big deal?' But really, what's the big deal? Get winter gear at Salvation Army (or buy new, whatever floats your boat) and plow through the short four years that is vet school. Driving in snow can be intimidating for those that have never done it before, but after your first or second winter you'll get the hang of it.

Michigan State is probably one of the most beautiful campuses in the country and there is a lot to do in EL. It's also fairly close to Chicago, and about 1.5-2 hours to both Grand Rapids and Detroit, which will make for great day/weekend trips for things to do.

 

[honeypot999]

Michigan state! Work life balance is easy to maintain you just have to find it

 

[leopardgecko]

As someone from SoCal I'd say choose Michigan. I worked with a dvm from there and she is fabulous! Plus everyone else has super valid points!