Hey there! Current first year here!
We are in our first year of a brand new curriculum, so there are some things that may or may not stay the same, but overall (save for some hiccups in the amount of work being assigned) I absolutely feel like I have the ability to have a good work-life balance. Our classes do change a bit each week, as we alternate things like labs and communication class sessions, but I would say we're typically in class 8am to 2 or 3pm about 3 days a week, with Mondays reserved for exams & short afternoon classes and Fridays for Clinical Skills lab sessions throughout the day. The caveat to us having such limited in-class time is that we do have quite a bit of asynchronous work, as we work on somewhat of a hybrid model. But I honestly feel like this allows people a lot more flexibility in when/how they study - you can either get all your work done before 6pm most days & have evenings free, or you can nap/relax/whatever in your afternoons & then work in the evenings. I also have a part-time job (about 10-15 hours weekly) and am balancing a lot of medical appointments for health issues, and although I'm busy, I still feel like I have generally enough time to study pretty well. It's also REALLY nice that we don't have exams or major projects every single week - we have 4 block exams and a final for our main Healthy Animals class, a midterm and a final for our Integrated Clinical Problems class, and that's about it other than some smaller projects/quizzes! The previous curriculum had us having exams almost every week, which was less stressful than it sounds, but still a nightmare for long-term learning.
As for opportunities outside of class, it all depends on what your interests & initiative level are. The Anesthesia, Dental, Equine, and Surgery clubs do a TON of great wet labs, including surgery/procedures on cadavers, and the other groups all bring in great lecturers too. The Equine and Exotics clubs are also great about setting up trips to visit relevant facilities for tours/demos. Clinical Skills class also has us doing more than you might think, although they are mostly on cadavers or models. But if you're looking for things like spay/neuter clinics or trips, those are a little fewer & farther between, although they're definitely out there!
Happy to answer questions by DM if you'd prefer!
