Moving Early for OOS

[beevet313]

Hi everyone!

I was recently accepted into one of my top vet schools (Illinois!) and I’m beginning the process of looking at housing out there. I was considering moving to the area a little bit early (like mid-late July) to get adjusted to the area and what not. I’m definitely nervous about the move and starting my new life out there. Does anyone have any tips and tricks/advice/recommendations for first year moving? Thank you in advance!

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[IvyMoose]

Congrats on getting into vet school!

Although I am not going OOS, I went OOS of both undergrad and grad school, and was making plans for OOS vet school, so I am limited in my knowledge. I think getting there early is a wise idea: get used to the area, surroundings, roads (traffic especially!). This may cost more than what you are currently doing, but for me it definitely helped me settle. Honestly, mid–late July is pretty early IMO: I got to my place for grad school in late July and felt bored (even though I went to the AVMA convention and visited my NYC friends for a week). In other words, move early if you feel like you will be anxious and overwhelmed moving and going to orientation back-to-back, but also don't sacrifice time with family/friends just to sit around your new place (do you have roommates? Schedule move-in with them for a move-in party!)

I would highly recommend thinking about your plan for bedroom furniture, especially a mattress. I did not pre-order it to arrive the day I got there, and ended up spending $1000+ for a bed frame and mattress at a local MattressFirm because that is all that they had available (and was able to fit in my car). You may be able to ship-to-store or deliver straight to address. The "[INSERT VET SCHOOL NAME] Free & For Sale" facebook groups are immensely helpful and can be quite a bargain, so I recommend looking there for furniture, appliances, and random goodies (if you are moving from the MA area, let me know, because I have a mattress and bed frame that I have no way to get back to my IS).

Get involved in the community: go to local stores and events. You will be living there for four years, might as well have fun! And since you won't be burdened with classes yet, it is easy to go out (maybe schedule with roommates/classmates that may be in the area already?).

Also, from what people have said in other threads re: summer plans, do not try and "prep" for vet school: have fun! You got in, there is nothing else you should be doing other than relaxing before the fire hose starts (or making money if that is a priority).

Speaking of jobs, if you are considering traveling home for breaks, I would highly recommend an on-campus job. I think typically university student 'job boards' get posted in September, but doing research with uni professors could be started before than with a cold email. The benefits of an on-campus job allow you to take the school breaks without trouble when you have to call out or plan your breaks around work. I had to turn down a few jobs because they were not willing to work with me on my breaks (nor should they... they are a corporation separate from my school, they don't care lmao).

Don't worry too much: you will likely not remember moving in once classes start. You want enough time to get your bedroom furnished/decorated (neither me nor my roommates decorated when we moved in, and our walls are still bare), but not so much where you will regret coming so early. I hope this helped! Feel free to reply if you need clarification

 

[MMLJT3]

Hi everyone!

I was recently accepted into one of my top vet schools (Illinois!) and I’m beginning the process of looking at housing out there. I was considering moving to the area a little bit early (like mid-late July) to get adjusted to the area and what not. I’m definitely nervous about the move and starting my new life out there. Does anyone have any tips and tricks/advice/recommendations for first year moving? Thank you in advance!

Hello! Not a current Illinois student, but I do work a few mins alway from the campus and am pretty familiar with the area ( I commute and live quite a distance away from Champaign- Urbana). I don’t think it will be difficult to adjust to this area, it is pretty similar to any of your smaller cities with your typical stores and accessible highways. There are a lot of places to eat/ stores accessible to walk to on campus. The college is pretty much it’s own town and it can be difficult to drive through as so many people walk and bike. I don’t think I would worry too much about getting here early to adapt if I were you. There are a lot of different buildings on campus, but you most likely won’t be venturing too far for classes at the vet school. Good luck with school!

 

[battie]

Illinois alumna here I am originally from Denver, CO, and agree with @MMLJT3 that the area is pretty accessible and well organized. The vet school is on the southern most part of campus and I would say most vet students live close-ish to that end of campus. I personally lived at The Place (do not recommend at all), a farmhouse in Tolono, and Hessel at the Park townhomes (would recommend). @SportPonies lived at the Village the whole time and @SkiOtter lived in a nice apartment complex as well a bit further away. I had multiple friends rent houses together and there are multiple landlords that specifically rent to veterinary students. There is a vet med free and for sale page where you can connect with people on finding roommates if you don't want to live with people in your year.

 

[JaynaAli]

My advice would be to really think about how you might handle being alone in a new city, especially if you don’t have any acquaintances there or a significant other. As I went through internship and residency into a “real” job I have moved to several cities where I didn’t know a soul and had to “start over” three times. It can be incredibly isolating if you’re an introvert in a city where you know no one. And your main social group in vet school (other vet students) won’t be in town yet either, for the most part. I’d maybe move a week or two early and I think you’d be able to get adjusted just as well as if you moved several weeks ahead of time. Campus and a college town and traffic and stuff will be totally different when students are back anyway. It would be isolating and depressing for me to be alone for several weeks personally. Maybe you’re more outgoing or less prone to loneliness than I am, but just giving my opinions and offering a different perspective. I think I’d recommend compromising a little and staying where your support system is a little longer while moving just a little early to maximize acclimating and minimize the chance of feeling isolated and lonely.

 

[SkiOtter]

@SkiOtter lived in a nice apartment complex as well a bit further away.

I lived in Windsor West and loved it there! Management was great and responsive and they also held a couple different resident events throughout the year, which was nice.

Also, don’t quote me, but I feel like I recall a lot of on campus jobs specifically wanting people who would be able to work during breaks. I don’t know if it was *all* of break for every break or if it was just that you needed to be able to work some of the time/a good portion of the longer ones (winter and summer breaks), but definitely something to look into before accepting an on campus job

 

[bellsandwhistles72]

Welcome to Illinois! Chambana really isn't THAT big with THAT much to do, so if you're just moving with your stuff and quickly getting settled (not sure how far you're moving), you probably don't have to be here before August 1 (which is good, because that's when a lot of leases start, I think). I'm a little bit different in that I purchased a house that was an absolute 💩 hole when I moved here and I worked as long as possible at home to save money before I moved. In my case, I needed MORE time - I still don't have kitchen cabinet doors 😂

There's a Class of 2027 page on Facebook if you haven't joined it yet! You can connect with your new classmates and see when they're moving out, and a few of us from Class of 2026 are on there to help you guys. I know some folks from our class moved early and had a get together (picnic/games) at the park before iVLE so it wasn't as overwhelming for them meeting everyone at once!