Mississippi State

[jnt179]

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For the ones that have applied, been accepted, and/or interviewed here what did you think about Mississippi?

 

[alonepear]

I'll be attending this fall! Check my early posts on this forum for some details I posted, as well as Tsuki and seaturtlegirl.

I'm not sure how well links work to other posts, but I'll try to refer you to some:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=369642

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=4730675#post4730675

In general, the applications process was very informative, and early compared to most of the other schools. The people were amazingly friendly, the classes seem very close and supportive, and the teaching hospital looks like a nice facility. They explained their program well, and I like that it is a 2-years in the classroom, 2-years clinical experience program.

I am kind of a city girl, so Starkville, MS is not exactly my kind of place. Although, for being in the middle of nowhere, it was a quaint and lovely little town that I believe I'll be fine living in for four years (since I plan to be consumed by studying anyways).

I had no idea I'd be interested in the school, until I went to visit and interview, and they sold me. I chose Mississippi over U of Illinois, and every day people ask me why I'd chose to live in the middle of nowhere versus close to a major city, and why I'd chose an "unranked" school versus a "ranked," well-known school. All I can say is, Mississippi State really impressed me in person, and it felt like the right school for me.

hope this helps! 😀

 

[jnt179]

I talked to somebody that mentioned that the Mississippi Grads are having a problem passing the boards. She also said that they are in the process of restructuring. I am somewhat concerned with this. But thanks for the links. I must have missed that first link because I searched before I posted this. I did not want to get jumped for opening another thread. Thanks for this info.

 

[alonepear]

No worries, I don't mind new threads being started when some become old and outdated... and the search function can sometimes be difficult to navigate to find exactly what you want.

As for Mississippi, I don't know anything about the students success on the boards, but I will try to ask and find out for certain. I know that they do indeed have a new Dean, someone who I believe was trying to become Dean of Georgia (?) and was instead attracted to MS, and so some changes are inevitable. Also they've recently phased out their PBL (problem based learning) system because it did not seem to be helping students. I didn't hear about any other major changes taking place at this point, but then again, I only attended one day's worth of recruiting/interviewing, so I'm sure I'll learn more down the road.

Even so, they were extremely organized and on the ball, and the students seemed a little less frustrated in general than students I've met at other vet schools.

 

[Tsuki]

I talked to somebody that mentioned that the Mississippi Grads are having a problem passing the boards. She also said that they are in the process of restructuring. I am somewhat concerned with this. But thanks for the links. I must have missed that first link because I searched before I posted this. I did not want to get jumped for opening another thread. Thanks for this info.

During the info session they held on my interview day, one of the speakers mentioned how PBL was phased out of their curriculum because their passing rate on the boards was declining. Now they've returned to a more traditional didactic curriculum. Supposedly their curriculum started out this way when the program first began, so they expect the passing rate to go up over the next few years.

I got a really good vibe while I was down there. That's not something I can say about all the schools I visited. Right now there is a 1st year student there that graduated from my undergrad (in NY). She's loves it.
Sadly, their website doesn't offer much information, so maybe you can arrange to visit the school and/or contact Barbara Coats from the admissions office.

Here's another thread with some random facts..

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=264222

Good luck!

 

[jnt179]

Thanks everybody...y'all have been very helpful. Now I just need somebody to make up my mind for me on what to do!! I am so undecided on which prereqs to get out of the way first. MSS or TN. Only a couple of weeks to make up my mind!😕

 

[seaturtlegirl]

Hi jnt179!
The pre-reqs for different schools can often be a pain! See if you can take 1 or 2 classes for each school in the fall! With MS, you should know about your interview status before the end of December. I'm sure you'll get offered an interview - 🙂 - but, if not, you won't have taken more classes than you need to! Actually, if you don't have many left for MS, you could even save them all for the spring. (I am taking immunology and Nutrition for MS right now!) Also, as I'm sure you've seen on this site, if Nutrition is a class you still need, there are many online options that give you a year to complete the course - so you could even start that now!

Tsuki would know better than I, but I think that TN notifies about interview status pretty late in the cycle - sometime in march, so that's just a waiting game!

Good luck! 👍

 

[jnt179]

Seaturtle,
I really wish I could do it that way. I was one of those students that was going to graduate this summer with a degree in Animal Science, but then decided "what the heck, lets apply to vet school." Vet school has always been something that has been sitting in the back of my mind and I just now decided to do something about it. Anyways,my degree lacked THE MAJORITY of the prereqs. To achieve the prereqs, I have to choose one or the other. What I am thinking is that I am going to get prereqs out of the way for MSS and apply for 08. If I don't get in, I am going to stay at MTSU and get the prereqs done for UT and then apply for 09. What do you guys think? I have been told that I would have a better chance at getting in at MSS than TN. (Despite it being out of state.)

 

[seaturtlegirl]

Hi Jnt! I think I'm a little confused...are you applying this year? Otherwise, if you're not applying until next year, I wouldn't worry about the specific school too much yet. If you still need to take basic science classes, these are pretty much the same for most schools. I don't really see why you would have to choose one school or another. Honestly, I didn't apply to TN, so I don't know what exactly they require, but again, the core science requirements for most schools are the same.

My other advice would be - don't limit yourself! Many of us here at SDN have found out that often times the application process almost seems arbitrary. Depending on what each school is looking for during a particular application cycle, this may impact your odds of getting in. Since this is something that as applicants we can only speculate about, just do your best! Keep the grades up, gain as much diverse experience as you can, and nail the GRE!

So, I guess I will curtail more advice until I know if you are applying this cycle or next. (I just wasn't sure if you meant applying in the 07-08 cycle...or 08-09!)

🙂

 

[jnt179]

I am wanting to apply for the 07-08 cycle. I only have time to work on one school's prereq. Granted, there are classes that are required for both, but then there are other classes that are specific to the school. These are the prereqs that I lack for each school.
MSS- Zoology, Chem 1 and 2 (I took the intro to chem 1 and 2), Microbio, Physics 1, Math 1730, Organic Chem 1, Biochemistry 1, nutrition
TN- Chem 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, Organic 1 and 2, Biochem, Cellular Bio?,

I could probably get all of them out of the way over this summer, fall, and spring. I just don't want to overload myself. The classes are going to be hard enough as it is.

 

[Sassygirl]

jnt179, I suggest you go to the AAVMC website and check out the college requirements (http://www.aavmc.org/vmcas/college_requirement.htm). You may be able to find more than one school with the same requirements. It won't help you decide to go with MSS or TN but it might help you find some other schools that you might want to apply to. There's a lot of conflicting opinions about this but some say that only applying to one school hurts your chances of getting in because they figure that they can wait on you because you will reapply next year.

 

[jnt179]

So...now that everybody has helped with these questions, I have one more. 🙂 Has anybody tried to gain residency in Mississippi? How hard is it?

 

[Tsuki]

So...now that everybody has helped with these questions, I have one more. 🙂 Has anybody tried to gain residency in Mississippi? How hard is it?

If your talking about gaining residency for tuition purposes assuming you were to attend the vet school, then it's impossible. The vet school makes you sign a contract that states that once you start school, you can't change residency. Once a resident or non-resident, always a resident or non-resident. 🙂

 

[jnt179]

My SO is from west TN right on the Mississippi border. He has been looking at some land to build a house on after we get married (this was before I seriously started thinking about vet school). We are both from TN, but we both would love to live in Mississippi. Do they take any of this into consideration? He would also be working in Mississippi.

 

[PdxYOSHI]

Some schools seem to be more willing to make an acception on their residency policy if you're married with a spouse working full time in the state and you own land. I would check with the admissions department and the college of vet. med. I don't know specifically about Miss. but Missouri was willing to make some exceptions to this rule while Colorado was not, you signed a contract and that was it - no exceptions.

 

[Tsuki]

Some schools seem to be more willing to make an acception on their residency policy if you're married with a spouse working full time in the state and you own land. I would check with the admissions department and the college of vet. med. I don't know specifically about Miss. but Missouri was willing to make some exceptions to this rule while Colorado was not, you signed a contract and that was it - no exceptions.

I'd follow Yoshi's advice. Contact the admissions dept at Mississippi and explain your situation. I've found them to be helpful with questions.

 

[jnt179]

Thanks guys. I think we are going to try and go down there Friday to visit. I have a friend that is in their vet tech program and we are going to stay with her. If UTK was not so far, I would not be having this dilema. geesh. Thanks guys for your help!

 

[jnt179]

Yay for me...I got to go to the vet school this past weekend. I LOVED it!!! Now I just have to apply and hope I get in one of these days. It was one of those where it just felt right, regardless of it being out of state.

 

[alonepear]

Yay for me...I got to go to the vet school this past weekend. I LOVED it!!! Now I just have to apply and hope I get in one of these days. It was one of those where it just felt right, regardless of it being out of state.

Are you talking about Mississippi State? I felt the same way when I visited... beforehand, I was like, "Mississippi? I doubt I'll ever want to move there...," but after visiting two other vet schools (ranked "higher"), and being accepted to one of them, I defintely felt like Mississippi was the right school for me.

 

[jnt179]

Yeah, I really loved Mississippi State. It felt like home for me. Everybody was so nice. It just so happened that I was there during the "open house." It was more like a "mad house. There was so many kids!! My SO and I got to talk to admissions and they were SOOO helpful. We got to see most of the school and other points of interest. I also loved Starkesville. It is such a nice town!