Oregon, Iowa, or Colorado?

[Iuliana1730]

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Hi Everyone!
I am hoping to get some help on deciding where to go to vet school. I have been accepted into Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, and am waiting to hear back from Iowa. Now I just can't decide where I should go. I want to do small animal, would love somewhere fun and outdoorsy, but don't want to move to a really expensive part of the country. Any thought?

 

[cowgirla]

Hi Everyone!
I am hoping to get some help on deciding where to go to vet school. I have been accepted into Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, and am waiting to hear back from Iowa. Now I just can't decide where I should go. I want to do small animal, would love somewhere fun and outdoorsy, but don't want to move to a really expensive part of the country. Any thought?

Oregon sent out acceptances already? Or are you IS for them?

 

[Iuliana1730]

I am from ND. I don't think they sent me one early, so they must have sent them all out. I got an e-mail from them a while back saying they were having technical difficulties getting them all sent out on time.

 

[GSDgirl]

So are you a WICHE student then? (That could be why you heard from Oregon and Washington already... most WICHE schools do not interview WICHE students.)

And ND is a WICHE state...

 

[Iuliana1730]

Yes, I am Wiche. You might be right about hearing early, although Colorado notified the Wiche students after everyone else. I'm guessing everyone else is still waiting to hear from OSU?

 

[pitbull lover]

I am CSU Class of 2014 and going to do small animal. Come here! The town that CSU is located in is called Fort Collins and is definitely outdoorsy. Lots of trees, space, and clean air (except for occasional cow smell from the farms). This place is a college town--has a small town feeling but it's not small. Lots of outdoor activities to do here--hiking, biking, skiing, rafting, etc. People here seem very health concsious and active. I also see a mixture of progressive people as well as conservative farm people.

But in all seriousness, I would definitely visit all the places before deciding. It would be worth the money. Then you can decide if you see yourself living there or not.

Good luck. Let me know if you visit Fort Collins.🙂

 

[3Ms]

I would for sure go to Oregon if I were you. It is the most BEAUTIFUL place! So jealous that you have such great choices!

 

[lailanni]

Congrats on all the options!

I thought about going to Oregon but decided on WA, my state school, for the $$$. If the $ was the same I would have liked to go to Oregon. But now that I'm here I'm pretty happy. Cheap to live out here too.

I'd visit each one before deciding, if possible. One man's bowl of cherries is another man's bowl of anaphylactic shock.

 

[rugbychick16]

I would visit and tour if possible! It made a ton of difference for me. Sometimes its not so much the schools (all great!), its the area/town they are located in. For small animal I'd say you'd get a great education at any of the schools, so that doesn't make much of a difference.

Can't help with Oregon, don't know much about it.

Washington is in a pretty area, and I loved the vet school. However, I wasn't a big fan at all of the town of Pullman, and how you had to drive to Spokane for alot of stuff. It is nice that Amtrak heads out there straight across Montana, so you have another option to travel there during school thats not driving/flying. Lots of outdoor opportunities too.

Colorado has an amazing top vet school, and is in a beautiful area. Its between that and MN for being the closest vet school to ND depending on what part of the state you live in. Tons of outdoor stuff to do, and I loved the town of Fort Collins. However-you mentioned cost of living-I think CO would have the highest of all the places you listed. Had I had your choice, I probably would have went with Colorado.

Iowa agin-I love the vet school, and the people are sooo nice, but I didn't like the town of Ames at all. Also, too many pig farms....(I know, I'm a large animal person, but I still can't stand the smell). Anyway totally different geographic area/region from the other three if that makes a difference.

 

[lailanni]

Washington is in a pretty area, and I loved the vet school. However, I wasn't a big fan at all of the town of Pullman, and how you had to drive to Spokane for alot of stuff. It is nice that Amtrak heads out there straight across Montana, so you have another option to travel there during school thats not driving/flying. Lots of outdoor opportunities too.

You got that pegged. I grew up in a smaller town so I don't mind the Pullman/Moscow area. It's not tiny, but it's a far cry from metropolitan. We do have a WalMart and 2-3 Starbucks. After I did my undergrad in a large city it was kind of nice to be in a safe homey area, though I do miss city life and decent restaurants.

If you need large malls, many dining options, a diverse population, and a costco within arms reach you're not going to be thrilled. If you like wide open spaces, places to hike/bike and hunt/fish (though you have to go a little further to fish), and don't need everything open 24/7 you'll be ok.

 

[ORvetgirl]

Come to Oregon! I've been to all three towns...can't say I loved Pullman, though the vet school is nice. While Fort Collins is beautiful, and I wouldn't mind living there, I'm a native Oregonian, and love it. Cost of living isn't too high, the coast is only an hour away, Portland's about 1.5 hours, and you can go snowboarding on Mt. Hood. There's also lots of outdoorsy stuff to do around Corvallis, and all the normal college-town amenities.

We have the smallest class size (56 this year) of all the schools, and what is probably the nicest anatomy lab of all the schools (something to consider when you spend so much time there). For the most part, all of the professors are really nice, and seem to really care about us and put lots of effort into their teaching.

Obviously I'm biased, and you really should try to visit all of them, but my votes for Oregon.

 

[Iuliana1730]

I have visited Colorado and Iowa, and both are wonderful schools! I think Colorado is a little more oriented to what I want to do (small animal) but Iowa just seems so much more inexpensive! Plus they are building a new small animal wing of the hospital. I haven't been accepted there yet though. Of the ones I am in now, I am leaning towards Colorado, because of the awesome hospital and fun town.