Ohio State for zoo/wildlife?

[thelarson]

I am in-state for Ohio State, and I have interests in zoo/wildlife and equine medicine (although leaning more towards zoo/wildlife). Does anyone know if OSU has a decent program for this? I see that they have a lot of externships in the area with Columbus Zoo, The Wilds, etc.... but what about the curriculum? Even if I go there, are externships more important than coursework anyways? I also would like to do international work. At this point, Tufts is looking to be my top choice (they have all of the above), but if I can be happy at OSU, the money saved would be a wonderful thing.

Just FYI, on the equine side, I am interested in either sports medicine or therio. I currently do research at Michigan State's McPhail Equine Performance Center, which makes MSU great for equine, but we don't have a lot of opportunities in zoo/wildlife that I am aware of.

Thanks!

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[Max Power]

I asked them this on the tour when I went, and they were like, "uh, well we have one class for exotics" or some bs like that. She added that they do necropsies on some of the dead animals from the zoo. I got the impression that this wasn't their thing but they didnt want to tell me that. Good luck..by the way, how much is it in state? With out of state being 50K, I imagine it's still a lot. You can go to a school like UF for 20-something. It might be worth the extra cash.

 

[thelarson]

In-state is about $21,500 a year at OSU... at first I was floored when I saw how much out-of-state there is, since it's so much higher than out-of-state anywhere else, but maybe they do that because they know people can establish residency after the first year.

UF out-of-state is a little over $37,000, while Tufts is about about $33,000.

Here's a SPECTACULAR chart that I just found out about with the tuition for every school:

http://aavmc.org/vmcas/documents/AAVMCMemberSchoolChartupdated2007_000.pdf

 

[ri23]

I specifically asked about this in my interview with Dr. Sanders. She said with the veterinary field expanding like it is it is impossible for each school to be excellent in each area. This means that the schools collaborate more and establish relationships with various organizations and other schools for those wishing to pursue those interests. As for zoo vet med, the majority of your experience will come from internships/residencies, not the school. Dr. Sanders made it clear that OSU does everything they can to help students to get into whatever area they wish to pursue. I want to do zoo vet med, and I am attending Ohio State. Another thing that people have brought up in previous threads is that schools are hesitant to accept those graduating from their school for a residency, so going to a school with fabulous residencies in your field may actually hurt your chances of getting that residency.

 

[2quick]

Hey, I'm a second year at OSU, just thought I'd mention something about the tuition. The first year as an out-of-state you pay around 37,000 as previously mentioned, but you become in-state after this year! So you end up saving a good bit vs. other schools out-of-state (one of the reasons I came here vs. other places). Even once you are in-state, it's possible to receive scholarships which help.

I'm not an exotics person, and I wouldn't say that area is one of OSU's strong points. If you come here, you'll have to put in a good bit of personal effort to excel in that field prior to graduation- The Wilds, Columbus Zoo, etc... We have 2 Zoo courses, a Non-Mammalian course (I'm in now) and at least one Companion Bird course 3rd year. An avian private-practitioner who used to be a Prof at OSU is flown in to teach the avian courses each year. I wish we had a full-time exotics clinician, but this is not the case unfortunately. If you have any other questions, let me know.
Andrew