1) I know the food animal caseload is pretty low at NCSU, but do students feel there is enough room in their schedules to do externships and rotations elsewhere to get experience?
our LA vets and clubs do a lot. We have cowabunga to study beef/dairy across different regions of the country. I spent days at a goat dairy sampling and vaccinating. Went to an alpaca farm for herd health assessment a few weeks ago. Have palpation labs. We do have a working farm on site (self supporting) on site, and my understanding is that is pretty unique.
2) My friend mentioned some personality conflicts among professors (anatomy came up often in this respect). Is there any indication that this will be different next year?
There was a lot of feedback on this through the admin and class/professor evaluations. I sincerly hope it is resolved. It was not a problem in first semester anatomy, but a huge problem in the second semester. My hope is that the feedback will remedy this situation I do admit, it was bad, but having said that, the class pulled together and made it through. And, I was one of the students in danger in that class, and had at least 3 students step up and help me with 1 on 1 reviews.
3) The scheduling of exams to give time for "selectives" at the end of the semester was pretty neat. Does anyone feel that this makes them rushed during the year to cram all of the info into a shorter timeframe?
One of my top complaints is that we do have a heavier course load than some other schools. Having said that, I have heard clinicians at other residencies compliment the general knowledge base of NCSU studnts that are now residents. My other complaint is that our classes aren't integrated and the professors don't work together (ie immunology is taught distinctly seperate from virology and microbiology and the profs don't always line up exactly in what answer they want regurgitated.) Having said that, we cover a lot of ground, and it is survivable. Getting done two weeks earlier is nice...by that point, we all want to be done. The selectives are great. I am in primate med right now. I learned about epidemiology with wildlife populations/domstic populations in enviro med last week. I honestly think the selectives is one of the greatest things and I wouldn't trade a longer semester or more time for it (I also seriously doubt our professors wouldn't just increase material rather than thinning it out over an additional two weeks.)
4) Just how hot are the summers down there? 🙄
That is what AC is for! Seriously, you won't want to be outside in the sunshine midday, but mornings and evenings are comfortable enough for walks, biking, etc. Humidity is more of a problem than heat, but it isn't suffucating like Thailand or Louisiana.
5) What is the overall "feel" of the classes and school? More competitive, more family-like, etc? Unfortunately, I couldn't spend time there when a lot of faculty and students were present.
There are gunners and drama-monarchs in every class, but in general the classes tend to be fairly relaxed. We have pretty diverse classes (diversity is selected for) in terms of socio-economic background, culture, race, experience, age, etc. I can't imagine that there isn't a group of friends for every individual. There seem to be a fair number of friendships between classes, particularly with the big sib program and the clubs. Each class has a personality, though. Our class is known for the vast majority attending evey class, creativity, and being heavily involved in activities. The class above us has a strong core group of leaders, with folks very into their club/interest activitis. The class above that has a 'teacher-leader' model with less participation.