It was unbelievably cold. Like a million daggers hitting my skin. The whole time the CVM staff were trying to assure us that it's not usually that cold. I wasn't convinced =) You can move around the entire CVM without having to step outside though so thats nice.
The facilities were nice, people were nice, interview was easy-peasy. Their major selling point is their large case load (35,000 cases/yr). The major drawback I saw, for me, is that residency is quite difficult to get, so most folks simply have no choice but to pay out of state tuition for 4 yrs.
Parking on campus is $150/semester for a parking lot waaaay far away (walking in snow/ice for 4 months out of the year), or you can enter a lottery to win a $350/semester parking permit for a covered parking lot right next to the building. Buses are seen as the way to go.
They have a cat scan and are getting a MRI for the small animal clinic. They have hydra therapy for small and lg animal but my guide said they don't use it much. Small animal surgery has 6 operating tables, or small in other words. Dairy is off campus. Equine facilities were nice, roomy, and seemed to have plenty of available activities to sign up for whereas small animal seemed like you'd have to sleep with someone in order to get your hands dirty. My guide said they also see a lot of llamas.
My guide also said they coddle you during the 1st year then kind of have a "sink or swim" attitude the 2nd year. Since he was a 2nd year I didn't take that tooo seriously. 1st and 2nd years share a tiny lounge and mailbox area. Locker rooms are separated by gender, complete with a shower, but the shower is used as storage at the moment. Anatomy is in the basement and is small and not well lit, but there is a camel skeleton on the wall, and every anatomy lab should have that =) Histology lab is niiiice, you get your own cubby, theres 4 monitors on the walls, and 3 profs circulate a classroom of 90 students per class time.
The first year auditorium was very comfy, very nice, not like a movie theater but more like a conference room.
They do have a mentoring program, but you have to sign up for it and seems like no one really uses it.
You can make up to two "D"s and they won't fail you. Mn has an exceptionally high student retention rate. You start doing surgeries the 2nd semester of the 2nd year. Terminals in 3rd year. Not many students go on to do internships as there are many many clinics in the large city area that snatch up new grads.
Rent for 1BR apt should cost about $700/month. Average 3BR house relatively near campus $250-300k
The anatomy prof designed his own anatomy website, for anyone to use. It's fantastic.
http://vanat.cvm.umn.edu