Midwestern vs. Oregon

[saraprevet]

So far I have been accepted to both oregon state and midwestern university and I am so excited! I am OOS for both. I am still waiting on my IS (Florida) but if I don't get in to Florida I believe these two will be what it comes down to. I was super impressed with Midwestern's facilities and new simulators on the tour, as well as the enormous number of surgeries their students conduct before they graduate, the kindness of the people, and atmosphere of being immersed in a professional health setting. Midwestern won me over on the tour and these feelings were reaffirmed when I interviewed and toured at a few other schools that just did not impress me as much (don't get me wrong, I know there aren't any bad accredited schools out there). I haven't visited Oregon because they don't interview, so I guess I am looking for some help knowing what they are like. Is their teaching hospital new? Do they have lots of up-to-date technology? Do students spend a ton of time in the hospital? Are the students there happy? Is it a cooperative or competitive atmosphere? What is Corvallis like? Anything else important about OSU that I should know to sway my decision one way or the other? Anyone who has visited or attends there please help me out! Thank you so much!

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[MixedAnimals77]

So far I have been accepted to both oregon state and midwestern university and I am so excited! I am OOS for both. I am still waiting on my IS (Florida) but if I don't get in to Florida I believe these two will be what it comes down to. I was super impressed with Midwestern's facilities and new simulators on the tour, as well as the enormous number of surgeries their students conduct before they graduate, the kindness of the people, and atmosphere of being immersed in a professional health setting. Midwestern won me over on the tour and these feelings were reaffirmed when I interviewed and toured at a few other schools that just did not impress me as much (don't get me wrong, I know there aren't any bad accredited schools out there). I haven't visited Oregon because they don't interview, so I guess I am looking for some help knowing what they are like. Is their teaching hospital new? Do they have lots of up-to-date technology? Do students spend a ton of time in the hospital? Are the students there happy? Is it a cooperative or competitive atmosphere? What is Corvallis like? Anything else important about OSU that I should know to sway my decision one way or the other? Anyone who has visited or attends there please help me out! Thank you so much!

paging @ziggyandjazzy and @johnsmith123 just so they can answer your questions.
Paging @FrostySparrow just so they can weigh in on anything as a midwestern student

I caution you not to get all caught up in the awe of new, fancy, and curricular set up (forgive me if I'm wrong, but that's how your post is reading to me) -Midwestern is by far your most expensive option. Oregon would be way cheaper. The veterinary education you'd get at Midwestern is not worth over $100,000 more in debt than the one you would receive from Oregon. If you don't get into UF, which if you do please go there. Debt is a huge factor in mental happiness which contributes to our profession's suicide rate. It's an unfortunate reality, so I urge you to go to your cheapest option unless you have a real good reason not to (ie parent with cancer so you want to stay closer to them). I do wish you nothing but luck in whichever you choose.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

paging @ziggyandjazzy and @johnsmith123 just so they can answer your questions.
Paging @FrostySparrow just so they can weigh in on anything as a midwestern student

I caution you not to get all caught up in the awe of new, fancy, and curricular set up (forgive me if I'm wrong, but that's how your post is reading to me) -Midwestern is by far your most expensive option. Oregon would be way cheaper. The veterinary education you'd get at Midwestern is not worth over $100,000 more in debt than the one you would receive from Oregon. If you don't get into UF, which if you do please go there. Debt is a huge factor in mental happiness which contributes to our profession's suicide rate. It's an unfortunate reality, so I urge you to go to your cheapest option unless you have a real good reason not to (ie parent with cancer so you want to stay closer to them). I do wish you nothing but luck in whichever you choose.

Thanks for the tag! I will answer this when I am back at my computer

 

[FrostySparrow]

paging @ziggyandjazzy and @johnsmith123 just so they can answer your questions.
Paging @FrostySparrow just so they can weigh in on anything as a midwestern student

I caution you not to get all caught up in the awe of new, fancy, and curricular set up (forgive me if I'm wrong, but that's how your post is reading to me) -Midwestern is by far your most expensive option. Oregon would be way cheaper. The veterinary education you'd get at Midwestern is not worth over $100,000 more in debt than the one you would receive from Oregon. If you don't get into UF, which if you do please go there. Debt is a huge factor in mental happiness which contributes to our profession's suicide rate. It's an unfortunate reality, so I urge you to go to your cheapest option unless you have a real good reason not to (ie parent with cancer so you want to stay closer to them). I do wish you nothing but luck in whichever you choose.

Seconding this. I would highly encourage you to go to the cheaper school. If you take out max student loans (for living and tuition) you take out almost $100k/year. Some graduates I’ve spoken to are close to $450-500k in debt.

 

[johnsmith123]

Agreed that cost alone should be reason to go to Oregon instead of Midwestern unless you or your parents are independently wealthy. We are one of the newest vet schools, with the LA hospital being built in the early 1980s and SA hospital being finished in 2005. We just completed an expansion project costing millions that added on a new lecture hall, cafe, linear accelerator (for radiation therapy), and new building for cardiology/oncology/internal med. We have all technology you'll ever need and some you'll hardly even use (nuclear scintigraphy, CT scan, endoscopy, chemo, radiation, surgery suites for large and small animals, fluoroscopy, etc) so don't worry too much about that.

There are opportunities to get involved with the hospital as early as 1st year and we have almost every specialty there (few exceptions like Neuro, derm, maybe one other). I'm very happy to be there and would 100% apply again if I could. I'd imagine most of my classmates feel the same way. Competition is highly taboo and people only share grades with each other if we know the other person is comfortable hearing about it. Corvallis is a nice, little town with a cheap cost of living (people will tell you it's expensive, but I see apartments within 1-2 miles of campus for under $500/mo all the time). Lots of hiking/skiing/an hour from the beach if you like any of that.

As much as I love it here, go to wherever is cheapest to attend. You'll thank yourself later

 

[angie_76]

Agreed that cost alone should be reason to go to Oregon instead of Midwestern unless you or your parents are independently wealthy. We are one of the newest vet schools, with the LA hospital being built in the early 1980s and SA hospital being finished in 2005. We just completed an expansion project costing millions that added on a new lecture hall, cafe, linear accelerator (for radiation therapy), and new building for cardiology/oncology/internal med. We have all technology you'll ever need and some you'll hardly even use (nuclear scintigraphy, CT scan, endoscopy, chemo, radiation, surgery suites for large and small animals, fluoroscopy, etc) so don't worry too much about that.

There are opportunities to get involved with the hospital as early as 1st year and we have almost every specialty there (few exceptions like Neuro, derm, maybe one other). I'm very happy to be there and would 100% apply again if I could. I'd imagine most of my classmates feel the same way. Competition is highly taboo and people only share grades with each other if we know the other person is comfortable hearing about it. Corvallis is a nice, little town with a cheap cost of living (people will tell you it's expensive, but I see apartments within 1-2 miles of campus for under $500/mo all the time). Lots of hiking/skiing/an hour from the beach if you like any of that.

As much as I love it here, go to wherever is cheapest to attend. You'll thank yourself later

How’s the social life like at OSU are there a lot of fun parties and events we can attend ? Thank you !

 

[johnsmith123]

How’s the social life like at OSU are there a lot of fun parties and events we can attend ? Thank you !

The second years usually host a party/get together for the first years and vice versa. This varies from a calm BBQ to a crazy party that gets shut down by the cops depending on what the class prefers lol. Besides that, it's really just a matter of doing stuff with your friend group. The class only has 72 spots so you get to become great friends with a lot of your classmates and get to make the social life what you want essentially.

 

[angie_76]

The second years usually host a party/get together for the first years and vice versa. This varies from a calm BBQ to a crazy party that gets shut down by the cops depending on what the class prefers lol. Besides that, it's really just a matter of doing stuff with your friend group. The class only has 72 spots so you get to become great friends with a lot of your classmates and get to make the social life what you want essentially.

Thank you so much ! Do you know where I can look up specialties offered and not offered at Oregon state? And whether you guys track or not? Thanks again!

 

[johnsmith123]

Thank you so much ! Do you know where I can look up specialties offered and not offered at Oregon state? And whether you guys track or not? Thanks again!

I bet @katashark could speak more to these as a 4th year. There aren't many specialties we don't have, I just know Neuro and derm off the top of my head though I'm sure there are one or two more. We recently added on a criticalist. You can track SA, LA, or non-traditional (basically core rotations then design your own curriculum to fit what you want to do). You can start taking electives towards your track starting third year.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

So far I have been accepted to both oregon state and midwestern university and I am so excited! I am OOS for both. I am still waiting on my IS (Florida) but if I don't get in to Florida I believe these two will be what it comes down to. I was super impressed with Midwestern's facilities and new simulators on the tour, as well as the enormous number of surgeries their students conduct before they graduate, the kindness of the people, and atmosphere of being immersed in a professional health setting. Midwestern won me over on the tour and these feelings were reaffirmed when I interviewed and toured at a few other schools that just did not impress me as much (don't get me wrong, I know there aren't any bad accredited schools out there). I haven't visited Oregon because they don't interview, so I guess I am looking for some help knowing what they are like.
Is their teaching hospital new?

This was already mostly covered above but our facilities are some of the newest in the country. We just had a new building open this fall, as well as a large addition to the small animal hospital. You will not lack for surgery experience coming out of OSU and again I think our program here is top notch. You spend a minimum of a 3 week rotation at Oregon Humane Society and do 50+ surgery during your time there.
Does midwestern even have a teaching hospital? I always confuse it and Western in my head and can't keep track if either of them have a hospital.

Do they have lots of up-to-date technology?

Yes, see above

Do students spend a ton of time in the hospital?

It depends. Years 1-3 there's a number of ways to get involved. You can go to necropsies or path rounds, and surgeries are often viewable through glass windows. There are lots of job opportunities in the hospital, particularly on the large animal side
Year 4 you will spend all of your time in the hospital or on rotations at other hospitals.

Are the students there happy? Is it a cooperative or competitive atmosphere?

This is going to change by class and who you talk to. I do not like a lot of vet school, but that really has nothing to do with OSU. Vet school is extremely difficult and soul sucking.
I find our classes atmosphere to be a lot more competitive than I was expecting, especially since I went to a very small and collaborative undergrad. I have heard ~rumors~ of people intentionally sabotaging others but dont know if any of it is true. The cooperative or competitiveness will vary by class. I will say the school would absolutely like us to be collaborative and has a share drive so that you can access notes and things from previous classes as well as post things from your own class. Many many people want everyone in the class to succeed, but there are small groups of people who I don't think are overwhelmingly collaborative.

What is Corvallis like?

I will copy this from what I sent someone else.
I actually really like Corvallis. It depends where you're from/ what you like though. It's just over an hour from portland so you do have all large city amenities fairly close by. There's tons of outdoor things in the area (an hour from the mountains, an hour from the coast). Lots of good food and bars. I've never lived in a college town before but it is pretty fun. Corvallis was voted the best college town in the Pac-12, and I think it is considered one of the best college towns in the country.
Cost: will definitely be much more expensive than places in the Midwest but cheaper than say UC Davis. Expect to pay probably $500-600 a month for a room in a house or apartment with roommates and $800+ for your own place (could be wrong about the last one as I live with others). You can possibly get cheaper, but it won't be nice or you'll have an excessive amount of roommates.
Safety: overall very safe. Things like petty bike theft happen occasionally but I have frequently left my house unlocked without issue lol.
Outdoor: talked about this somewhat earlier but tons of hiking in the area as well as several good mountains for skiing nearby
Weather: in the winter it’s often 40-50 degrees and raining. Doesn’t snow frequently at all. Summer is generally great. Temperature range 70-90+ not humid and no rain. Most places do not have AC.

Anything else important about OSU that I should know to sway my decision one way or the other? Anyone who has visited or attends there please help me out! Thank you so much!

As others have mentioned, cost. I see absolutely no reason to choose midwestern over OSU due to this one sole factor.

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Using this map, OSU will be 150k cheaper than midwestern with accrued interest over the course of 4 years. OSU would be 80k more expensive than UF. So I would even recommend UF over OSU if you get in. I do know someone who is from Florida and didn't get in there but got into OSU.
Let me know if you have more questions!

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

How’s the social life like at OSU are there a lot of fun parties and events we can attend ? Thank you !

I would say this is all what you make of it. There are the parties as mentioned above. And like I said, Corvallis is a true college town. There will always be things to do on the weekend whether going to football games is your deal, bar hopping, chill hangouts with friends, etc.

Thank you so much ! Do you know where I can look up specialties offered and not offered at Oregon state? And whether you guys track or not? Thanks again!

You can check the website. We are missing quite a number of specialists. Off the top of my head we don't have neurology, nutrition, dentistry, dermatology, behavior, or ophthalmology. There are connections in these fields though if one is of huge interest (for me I really wish we had a neurologist).
Tracking can be seen here: Year 4 Curriculum
There is small animal, large animal, mixed (general), or non-traditional (say if you're interested in pathology, lab animal med, zoo med, public health, etc). I think around 2/3 of people end up tracking small animal.

 

[FrostySparrow]

Does midwestern even have a teaching hospital?

Midwestern does. We start surgeries our second year, with opportunities given to first years as well (minor ones like cat neuters for first years). When rotations start we help out with those surgery labs (depending on the rotation you’re on) and we have required time at our hospital.

Does Western not have a teaching hospital? I thought they did, but I don’t know much about them.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Midwestern does. We start surgeries our second year, with opportunities given to first years as well (minor ones like cat neuters for first years). When rotations start we help out with those surgery labs (depending on the rotation you’re on) and we have required time at our hospital.

Does Western not have a teaching hospital? I thought they did, but I don’t know much about them.

It must be western that doesn't! I always confuse them lol. I don't think LMU does either.

 

[angie_76]

Thank you everyone! I really like oregon state since I went to UC Davis for my undergraduate degree! I am just a little worried about not having enough sunny days and my interest in neurology!

 

[angie_76]

Last question I promise
1. Does anyone work part time on campus while attending vet school?
2. Where do you all get extra neurology, dermatology etc. info since specialists in these areas are missing?

Thank you!

 

[johnsmith123]

Thank you everyone! I really like oregon state since I went to UC Davis for my undergraduate degree! I am just a little worried about not having enough sunny days and my interest in neurology!

Yeah, you won't see the sun much during the winter. The rest of the year will be fine but I know some people have trouble handling it. If you really like the school, I think it's worth suffering through it for four years. In all honesty, some people get depressed because of the lack of sun. There are ways to deal with that but I think it's important to know

1) yep! Lots of part time jobs available. I'm a tour guide (maybe 1-2 hours per month, pays insanely well) and on large animal treatment crew (won't start till next quarter but maybe get a shift or two per month administering treatments to hospitalized patients). There's also the coveted library position where you essentially get paid to study maybe up to 20 hours per week. There might be some more but none off the top of my head.
Some people work part time off campus too. It's definitely doable, but I think a lot of people would recommend not working the first quarter so you can get a feel for how much you can handle.
2) you have plenty of externship opportunities to go out and fill the spots we're lacking in. E.g. I want to do emergency medicine and we have a criticalist, but don't actively accept many true emergencies. There are plenty of large hospitals up there where you can get the extra experience. I don't know if there is a neurologist in Corvallis but there are a few specialty hospitals so maybe?

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Thank you everyone! I really like oregon state since I went to UC Davis for my undergraduate degree! I am just a little worried about not having enough sunny days and my interest in neurology!

I just wanted to say as far as your neuro interest goes-youll take classes on them. I also know many schools in 4th year you can do rotations at other schools that have the specialty its lacking so you could come to WSU (~6hr drive) for a neuro rotation or I'm sure theres a neuro specialist in portland. In the end if you end up wanting to specialize at the end of it all you'll still need a rotating internship then residency. At that point a rotating internship that has a neuro specialist would be most beneficial. Networking is a huge part of getting into many residencies so dont let a school lacking in one speciality or another detour you from going there as not all schools have all specialties.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Last question I promise
1. Does anyone work part time on campus while attending vet school?
2. Where do you all get extra neurology, dermatology etc. info since specialists in these areas are missing?

Thank you!

I am also very interested in neurology. You take neuro your second quarter first year and then there will be neuro later on, which is taught by a neurologist (I am sure @katashark can explain this better).
Basically it's important to make the most of summers and externships for you to get a feel for neuro. And what mixy said about an internship is also 100% correct.
It's also good to note virtually every vet school is missing some specialties or will be stronger in certain areas vs others.

I just wanted to say as far as your neuro interest goes-youll take classes on them. I also know many schools in 4th year you can do rotations at other schools that have the specialty its lacking so you could come to WSU (~6hr drive) for a neuro rotation or I'm sure theres a neuro specialist in portland. In the end if you end up wanting to specialize at the end of it all you'll still need a rotating internship then residency. At that point a rotating internship that has a neuro specialist would be most beneficial. Networking is a huge part of getting into many residencies so dont let a school lacking in one speciality or another detour you from going there as not all schools have all specialties.

There are definitely neurologists in Portland. my parent's dog used to see one who recently retired, so he sees an IM doc now. So yeah, just over an hour away there are specialists to be shadowed lol. There are multiple large specialty hospitals in Portland.

 

[angie_76]

Thank you for the information! I'm super excited and about to turn down interviews because I think oregon state seems like the optimal fit for me will drive up and visit in February!