Minnesota vs Oklahoma

[gpc0731]

I just got offered and OOS acceptance for Oklahoma State and am invited to do an OOS interview for Minnesota (didn’t get into my IS school).

I know that unless I get offered scholarship money, UMN would be about 9k per year more, not including the higher cost of living. It looks like UMN also requires its students to take more credit hours per semester, but offers more classes in areas like professional development and finance. I also think it would be really cool to have access to the raptor center. Even though I am fairly set on small animal, I have done some work with birds and have thought about wildlife rehab in the past. It also seems like UMN might give students a better foundation in clinical skills, whereas OkState has only 2 semesters on clinical skills between years 1-3. It seems like UMN also has a much higher case load in its teaching hospital. I also like how UMN doesn’t require a dress code, but I’m not sure about OkState.

Mainly I’m wondering if the greater depth that UMN offers in its coursework and clinical experience would make it worth considering Despite being more expensive. Im also wondering about what kind of clubs there are To join and how much hands on experience that gets you, and also how much free time students actually have to participate in clubs outside of class.

For context, I plan on going into small animal after graduating, possibly at a feline only clinic, or potentially specializing and doing an internship and residency after vet school depending on if anything really sparks my interest.

If anyone has experience at either of these schools or knows people at either of these schools, any and all advice would be much appreciated!

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[supershorty]

In general, going to your least expensive option is going to be the best decision as loans will follow you much longer than anything else.

I am in my 7th year at UMN (did a PhD in the middle of my DVM, not taking 7 years for the DVM itself ) and am happy to answer any questions you have about the program.

 

[supershorty]

Im also wondering about what kind of clubs there are To join and how much hands on experience that gets you, and also how much free time students actually have to participate in clubs outside of class.

Sorry, I didn't see this when I was writing my response earlier, but we have tons of clubs. Some of them have really awesome hands-on opportunities - I wasn't super involved in clubs because I was heavily involved in student government, but there were numerous opportunities for surgical experiences in small animal/exotics (there's a fish surgery lab that's standing out in my mind that the zoo/avian/exotics/wildlife club had) and in just about every area of vet med you can imagine. Heck, we even have a sled dog medicine club where they work the vet checks at races and make connections for post-vet-school; one of my friends and classmates, who has now graduated, was one of the vets for the Iditarod last year after networking through SDMC.

 

[gpc0731]

Sorry, I didn't see this when I was writing my response earlier, but we have tons of clubs. Some of them have really awesome hands-on opportunities - I wasn't super involved in clubs because I was heavily involved in student government, but there were numerous opportunities for surgical experiences in small animal/exotics (there's a fish surgery lab that's standing out in my mind that the zoo/avian/exotics/wildlife club had) and in just about every area of vet med you can imagine. Heck, we even have a sled dog medicine club where they work the vet checks at races and make connections for post-vet-school; one of my friends and classmates, who has now graduated, was one of the vets for the Iditarod last year after networking through SDMC.

Thanks so much for all the great insight!

Were you OOS for Minnesota? I'm wondering if they have a tendency to offer OOS students any scholarships if they're accepted.

 

[supershorty]

Thanks so much for all the great insight!

Were you OOS for Minnesota? I'm wondering if they have a tendency to offer OOS students any scholarships if they're accepted.

I am IS, sorry.

I don't know that there's a lot in the way of recruitment scholarships, if that's what you're thinking of, but the office of academic and student affairs sends a lot of emails throughout the year with scholarships that we are eligible to apply for, and the CVM has a big internal scholarships program. Applying for those (and external) can help, although it'll be incremental for each scholarship (in that there are lots of small amount scholarships but you can make them accumulate if you apply smart).

 

[stressy.depressy]

Sorry, I didn't see this when I was writing my response earlier, but we have tons of clubs. Some of them have really awesome hands-on opportunities - I wasn't super involved in clubs because I was heavily involved in student government, but there were numerous opportunities for surgical experiences in small animal/exotics (there's a fish surgery lab that's standing out in my mind that the zoo/avian/exotics/wildlife club had) and in just about every area of vet med you can imagine. Heck, we even have a sled dog medicine club where they work the vet checks at races and make connections for post-vet-school; one of my friends and classmates, who has now graduated, was one of the vets for the Iditarod last year after networking through SDMC.

Gonna add onto this as a first year at UMN who's fairly involved with clubs - in addition to the awesome more exotic/special interest clubs shorty listed above, we also have two small animal community medicine clubs (VeTouch and SIRVS) that are fantastic opportunities for students to get extremely hands on with real patients and clients. I've also been able to participate in a splenectomy wet lab (on cadavers) through our surgery club, and the ER club offers cool wet labs as well although I haven't been able to attend yet.

With the hybrid model that we have for classes I've found that it's been decently easy to make time for clubs so far. I had a bit of a rough adjustment period time management-wise but once I figured out how to study appropriately, I've had tons of time open up for extracurriculars as well as just hanging out with friends talking about stuff unrelated to vet med.

 

[gpc0731]

Gonna add onto this as a first year at UMN who's fairly involved with clubs - in addition to the awesome more exotic/special interest clubs shorty listed above, we also have two small animal community medicine clubs (VeTouch and SIRVS) that are fantastic opportunities for students to get extremely hands on with real patients and clients. I've also been able to participate in a splenectomy wet lab (on cadavers) through our surgery club, and the ER club offers cool wet labs as well although I haven't been able to attend yet.

With the hybrid model that we have for classes I've found that it's been decently easy to make time for clubs so far. I had a bit of a rough adjustment period time management-wise but once I figured out how to study appropriately, I've had tons of time open up for extracurriculars as well as just hanging out with friends talking about stuff unrelated to vet med.

Thanks so much for the input! Just wondering, what does the hybrid model for classes entail?

 

[stressy.depressy]

Thanks so much for the input! Just wondering, what does the hybrid model for classes entail?

No worries! The majority of our didactic lectures are broadcast over Zoom and recorded as well as being in person, so you can choose whether you want to go in person, watch the Zoom live, or just watch the recording. We still have required in person stuff like labs, group activities, etc several days per week but for just standard lectures it's really nice.

 

[gpc0731]

No worries! The majority of our didactic lectures are broadcast over Zoom and recorded as well as being in person, so you can choose whether you want to go in person, watch the Zoom live, or just watch the recording. We still have required in person stuff like labs, group activities, etc several days per week but for just standard lectures it's really nice.

Oh that makes sense, thanks so much!