minnesota vs. davis

[alisonr]

i got accepted to both these schools, as well as illinois and glasgow, and am having a hard time choosing one. i really loved minnesota when i went for my interview, but i am a california resident and tuition would be loads cheaper for me to go to davis. my interests are in wildlife/zoo and public health so the mph/dvm combined degree at minnesota sounds awesome but the cheaper tuition and the quarter system at davis is also great. i'm not considering illinois because i liked minnesota better and am going to glasgow next week to check it out before i make my final decision. part of me is just having a hard time sending in a "thanks for accepting me but i dont want to go there" to a vet school after all the years of schoolwork i've gone through to get to this point. it seems surreal.

i have heard from plenty of doctors that i work with in california that a lot of the davis vets come out very book smart, but not as practical when it comes to actually working with an animal. is this just a false stigma or is it something to seriously consider? i havent met a vet that went to minnesota so i'm really left guessing.

hello over analyzing. any suggestions or input from anyone about how they chose the school they are attending would be awesome! thanks guys.

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[k9 <3er]

Hey alisonr,

Congrats on your acceptances. I was in a similar dilemna as you and after speaking with a lot of Davis grads, I realized that all those rumors were untrue and usually spread by disgrunteled applicants. I have worked with many Davis grads and they are all amazing! I ultimately chose Davis over MN. PM if you wanna chat!

 

[wildfocus]

i got accepted to both these schools, as well as illinois and glasgow, and am having a hard time choosing one. i really loved minnesota when i went for my interview, but i am a california resident and tuition would be loads cheaper for me to go to davis. my interests are in wildlife/zoo and public health so the mph/dvm combined degree at minnesota sounds awesome but the cheaper tuition and the quarter system at davis is also great. i'm not considering illinois because i liked minnesota better and am going to glasgow next week to check it out before i make my final decision. part of me is just having a hard time sending in a "thanks for accepting me but i dont want to go there" to a vet school after all the years of schoolwork i've gone through to get to this point. it seems surreal.

i have heard from plenty of doctors that i work with in california that a lot of the davis vets come out very book smart, but not as practical when it comes to actually working with an animal. is this just a false stigma or is it something to seriously consider? i havent met a vet that went to minnesota so i'm really left guessing.

hello over analyzing. any suggestions or input from anyone about how they chose the school they are attending would be awesome! thanks guys.

imo - if it is wildlife/zoo med you want to do, there really is no choice - davis is the best!! you will want to do a residency anyway, which will give you the experience you want. being at davis, you will have many opportunities in wildlife and can take more electives than any of the other schools i've researched. ultimately, though, it has to be what feels right for you. i, too, had to make this heartwretching decision, and decided against davis only because i got into a dvm/phd program at csu. good luck!

 

[alisonr]

i didnt realize that davis had such a big pull with the wildlife aspect. that is definitely a plus. im pretty sure that i'll end up there as its closest to family and the tons of friends i have in sf from living there in the past. i need to realize that, though minnesota is an amazing school, when i went there for my interview i had friends in the city who completely worked their awesome publicity skills to get me to fall in love with the twin cities. i think that i've come to terms with my decision just in the past 24 hours and will choose davis but i'll still wait until im back from glasgow to send in the decline and accept invitations. i'll really be messed up if i fall in love with glasgow as well.

thanks again for your input!

 

[kate_g]

Two thoughts: First, you can do the MPH at Minnesota even if you're a vet student at another school, since the courses are online and in the summer. Of course it's extra $, and I don't know whether there's a cost difference for students at MN vs. other schools. (And I believe that Davis has at least some electives in public health, if not a full DVM/MPH program.)

i have heard from plenty of doctors that i work with in california that a lot of the davis vets come out very book smart, but not as practical when it comes to actually working with an animal.

The thing to ask - since you're hearing this from practicing vets in CA - is how much experience they have with new grads from *other* schools. I'm really getting the feeling that people stay pretty regional, which means that most of the new grads coming into practices in CA were Davis students. The truth may be that *all* new grads need more on-the-job practical training than most practicing vets are happy with. And if all your colleagues' experience is with Davis grads, then it's not exactly *false* that Davis grads need a lot of practical training. But it's not actually a comparison versus grads of other schools, either. See what I mean?

 

[peco]

i have heard from plenty of doctors that i work with in california that a lot of the davis vets come out very book smart, but not as practical when it comes to actually working with an animal.

I worked in CA for an internship in the past. The vets there I worked with are grads from Davis and other schools. Some of them are obviously just book smart, they are indeed not very good in animal handling. However, those who are book smart actually graduated from other schools, even though they worked under Davis as "staff veterinarians". So imo - the animal handling skill really depends on the experience that you have. and it does not only apply to davis' grads, but all grads from other schools, too.