Oregon State vs Tufts vs Penn (OS for all three)

[CatCrowDogRaccoon]

Hi guys, I have been really fortunate to get accepted by 3 great schools: Oregon State, Tufts, and Penn. My inclination is to go the one with the lowest tuition and cost of living (Oregon) but I’m having difficulty doing that because Tufts has such a good reputation for being great both academically and in terms of quality of life. Penn might be the most rigorous academically of all three but it is also the most expensive (I did receive a scholarship that makes it about the same price as Tufts). I also get the impression that the students at Penn are a bit overworked at times.

Can any of you please shed some light on this dilemma as the deadline rapidly approaches?

 

[batsenecal]

@ziggyandjazzy for oregon @ajs513 for penn

 

[ajs513]

I love Penn personally. In my opinion, the Penn students that really hate it are the most vocal. I think our first semester is one of the most rigorous of all schools, but after that it’s mostly the same. We also have an extremely low attrition rate. Only one or two people a year typically fail out. Our NAVLE pass rate is incredibly high, I think like 98.5% averages across all available years. Some years it’s 98, some it’s 100. I can’t speak to the curriculum at all because it’s being completely overhauled as of 2021. So you’ll have 2 clinical years and much more hands on experience earlier on hopefully. I think Penn is a great school and MOST of the faculty are great. I love the clinicians too. But it’s very expensive if you have a far cheaper option.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Hi guys, I have been really fortunate to get accepted by 3 great schools: Oregon State, Tufts, and Penn. My inclination is to go the one with the lowest tuition and cost of living (Oregon) but I’m having difficulty doing that because Tufts has such a good reputation for being great both academically and in terms of quality of life. Penn might be the most rigorous academically of all three but it is also the most expensive (I did receive a scholarship that makes it about the same price as Tufts). I also get the impression that the students at Penn are a bit overworked at times.

Can any of you please shed some light on this dilemma as the deadline rapidly approaches?

I think your inclination is correct. You should choose OSU because it is significantly less expensive than your other options. Honestly I think the amount that Penn charges (maybe tufts also? I haven’t looked at their tuition rates recently) is highway robbery. And I’m not being bias here, if you got into a cheaper school I would say to go there over OSU.

I think it’s a bit inaccurate to say a vet school is more rigorous than another. Every vet school is challenging. Every vet school requires you to master the same topics and pass the NAVLE. OSU’s pass rate is generally 100%, or very close.

As for Oregon State specifically, there are a lot of advantages. We have the second smallest class size, meaning you will get substantially more one on one time with professors and get to know your classmates better. Some schools have more than double the amount of students we do which sounds like a nightmare to me personally. We recently had a new building built and a new wing to the SA hospital utilizing a 50 million dollar donation. You will likely get more surgeries than most if not all vet schools due to our partnership this OHS (40-60+ surgeries there 4th yr.) Additionally, Corvallis is an amazing place to live. It was voted the best college town in the pac-12 and is consistently rated one of the best college towns in the US. There’s lots of cool brew pubs and restaurants. You’re an hour from the coast, an hour or two from the mountains, a bit over an hour from Portland, and surrounded by great hiking places.
Let me know if you have any questions!