Oregon State vs. Washington State, looking for advice/input.

[TypicalChazz]

Oregon State vs. Washington State, looking for advice/input on each school. From applicants, current students, past students, anyone.

I have had extensive visits to each program and I loved them both. I am torn between the two and I am looking for any guidance from other's personal experiences.

I have been accepted with WICHE sponsor offers to CSU, OSU, and WSU. I am not considering CSU and am choosing between Oregon and Washington.

For Oregon: I love their opportunities for 4th year like the 50+ solo surgeries and unique externship and preceptorships. The 100% board exam pass rate helps too. Their VTH was beautiful and had all the most cutting-edge technology, and the anatomy lab kicked ass. I am not sure if the small class size is awesome or could be an issue, though I did appreciate the very supportive community feel. Lastly, Corvallis and the surrounding area are just amazing, I could absolutely see myself living there for many years if possible.

For Washington: I was floored by their VTH. It was massive and had every bit of diagnostic and cutting-edge technology you could ask for. Althought they are a bigger class size, it was clear that the community of faculty and students were tightly-knit and supportive. They have great aspects like full access to the VTH and all cases at year 1, and the COLE orientation program. I did not really enjoy the area of Pullman at all, but Spokane was pretty nice.

As far as financials they are approximately the same for me with WICHE and a $16,000 scholarship to each OSU and WSU.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

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[MustangJumperPony]

I don't know much about either program. But since you said they're pretty much the same cost, go where you felt more comfortable and where you could better see yourself living for the next 4 years.

 

[Mysterymare]

Go check out the WSU forum for this year's applicants. I've posted some stuff there (I'm a current first year). Really love the school! Ask me any specific questions that you have.

 

[sew11]

Go check out the WSU forum for this year's applicants. I've posted some stuff there (I'm a current first year). Really love the school! Ask me any specific questions that you have.

Where do you find the WSU forum?
I just joined this site because I am in a similar predicament. I LOVE Pullman and the school was beautiful (although I only saw it from the outside), however a friend of mine who is currently attending vet school worked with many vet students from other schools this summer and he told me that many were unprepared and poorly educated on some concerning and rather basic things. WSU was not among the schools he mentioned, but now I am freaking out about choosing a school that may be lacking in how it educates its students. Its hard to find testaments that really say how prepared its students are, and I read one scathing review about WSU and can't find any solid positive arguments in its favor. My other option is CSU, however, I hate the idea of living in a large city like Fort Collins and I have heard their program heavily leans towards research regardless of your interests.

 

[Beagleholly]

Where do you find the WSU forum?
I just joined this site because I am in a similar predicament. I LOVE Pullman and the school was beautiful (although I only saw it from the outside), however a friend of mine who is currently attending vet school worked with many vet students from other schools this summer and he told me that many were unprepared and poorly educated on some concerning and rather basic things. WSU was not among the schools he mentioned, but now I am freaking out about choosing a school that may be lacking in how it educates its students. Its hard to find testaments that really say how prepared its students are, and I read one scathing review about WSU and can't find any solid positive arguments in its favor. My other option is CSU, however, I hate the idea of living in a large city like Fort Collins and I have heard their program heavily leans towards research regardless of your interests.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/wsu-cvm-2019.1101664/

 

[Mysterymare]

@sew11 I've heard similar things about some schools one in regard to recent CSU graduates but that is something that I heard from multiple friends and is not my personal experience with those students. I have also heard the thing about research. You should flip through the other pages of the WSU forum and find my old posts. I addressed the one terrible on there (it is an old review and from one person who doesn't seen to have a good grasp of what they were supposed to expect out of vet school in general). Spend an hour picking through for my and @lilliani posts on there. We have addressed the question of "why WSU" feel free to private message me as well if you have more questions.

 

[lailanni]

For Oregon: I love their opportunities for 4th year like the 50+ solo surgeries and unique externship and preceptorships. The 100% board exam pass rate helps too. Their VTH was beautiful and had all the most cutting-edge technology, and the anatomy lab kicked ass. I am not sure if the small class size is awesome or could be an issue, though I did appreciate the very supportive community feel. Lastly, Corvallis and the surrounding area are just amazing, I could absolutely see myself living there for many years if possible.

For Washington: I was floored by their VTH. It was massive and had every bit of diagnostic and cutting-edge technology you could ask for. Althought they are a bigger class size, it was clear that the community of faculty and students were tightly-knit and supportive. They have great aspects like full access to the VTH and all cases at year 1, and the COLE orientation program. I did not really enjoy the area of Pullman at all, but Spokane was pretty nice.

FWIW, Oregon was my top choice but WSU was my in-state which made more financial sense, so I went there. I think WSU and OSU are equally good schools. I just really, really liked Corvallis. Moscow is like a smaller, slightly less hip Corvallis. You might enjoy living there if you pick WSU.

I can tell you it's very unlikely that you'll get 50+ solo surgeries at WSU. If you take a bunch of surgical electives you could get a good handful, but definitely not near 50+. You'd need to get some externships and preceptorships that let you really get hands on (there are some good humane societies for that). You'll certainly get to scrub in on many surgeries, but they won't be solo. You'll do your own spays and neuters but for anything more complex the residents will be doing that. And the class size has increased too, so that's not going to boost your surgical experience. You'll have to rely on yourself to seek those out. I'm curious if OSU does the solo surgeries at their VTH, or if they do it via preceptor type experiences.

WSU's board pass exam was 98% when I was there. It's probably the same if not better. So I wouldn't really use that as a deciding factor.

OSU's small class size could be a pro or con, just like WSU. The classes are basically like families and, like most families, there's a normal amount of dysfunction. The pro of having a larger class is if you don't like someone there's plenty of other people to interact with. The con is you may not get to know everyone very well and there are lots of interesting people in vet school. I think at either school though you'll get a good feeling of camaraderie.

COLE is a good program, I will say that. It was a great way for me to start vet school and I appreciated it. But since OSU's class size is so small I think that also would really facilitate a group bond.

I will be honest with you, you're probably not going to get to Spokane very often. So I wouldn't count on that being much of a plus. I think each school year I'd get out to Spokane/Coeur d'Alene maybe 3-4 times. And that was mostly to access the airport for flights out. It's a bit of a hassle to go 1.5 hours each way. Not too many of my classmates spent a whole lot of time there. But I'm sure you'd be able to log a bunch of time there if you made if more of a priority than I did. You do have the option to take a couple rotations in town during 4th year.

Since I didn't get to live in Corvallis I can't give feedback on that, but I can tell you that Pullman can get very cold and snowy. There was usually a week or so each winter where we'd be near 0 degrees. When I was headed home for christmas break first year it was -14. Sometimes it can really dump snow. At some point you'll probably have to dig your way out of a driveway and invest in snow tires. I actually really liked the snow, but that might be a deal breaker for some people.

 

[lailanni]

however a friend of mine who is currently attending vet school worked with many vet students from other schools this summer and he told me that many were unprepared and poorly educated on some concerning and rather basic things. WSU was not among the schools he mentioned, but now I am freaking out about choosing a school that may be lacking in how it educates its students. Its hard to find testaments that really say how prepared its students are

I think you can easily make a blanket statement about vet students being unprepared and poorly educated about "basic" things.

That doesn't reflect on the school, rather it reflects on how hard it is to become fluid and competent in practice.

By and large, much of vet school is book learning. You may have the entire coagulation cascade memorized perfectly but have a hard time doing a blood draw on a squirming pug. From the outside, fumbling at a blood draw can make you look fairly incompetent - even though you know everything there is to know about blood and its diagnostics. Marrying book knowledge and clinic skills - that's a hard task you really don't get good at until you're out of school for a while.

Also it's unfair to say someone is unprepared when you stick a LA person in a SA clinic, or vice versa. They're coming in with two very different skill sets and mentalities. A LA person might look pretty confused and out of place in the SA section. Just like I stuck out like a sore thumb in the barns.

Also within SA people are coming from different backgrounds. Some people got vet experience from large, multi doctor practices with specialists and an ER. Others have been techs at a one doctor practice with no "fancy" diagnostic tools and maybe not even an in-house x-ray.

Then you can also break it down to luck of the draw in rotations. When I was in the SA hospital guess how many times I got to do a female urinary catheter? Zero. I had zero patients that needed one. So I never got to do one. (I did at other places, but not in school) So can you blame me for being a little shaky at first when I had to do one? No. And it was hardly my fault, it was just the way it worked out.

So I never take it seriously when someone says "students from this place aren't prepared". Learning and practicing medicine is hard. I wouldn't judge them on their lack of knowledge or experience while still in school, it's more about making an effort.

And if you ask any new grad how prepared they feel, you're probably not going to get an overwhelmingly confident response. It's tough being green 😉 I'd be more worried about a new grad who assumes they know everything - there's a lot to learn.

 

[clinicalscience808]

Oregon State vs. Washington State, looking for advice/input on each school. From applicants, current students, past students, anyone.

I have had extensive visits to each program and I loved them both. I am torn between the two and I am looking for any guidance from other's personal experiences.

I have been accepted with WICHE sponsor offers to CSU, OSU, and WSU. I am not considering CSU and am choosing between Oregon and Washington.

For Oregon: I love their opportunities for 4th year like the 50+ solo surgeries and unique externship and preceptorships. The 100% board exam pass rate helps too. Their VTH was beautiful and had all the most cutting-edge technology, and the anatomy lab kicked ass. I am not sure if the small class size is awesome or could be an issue, though I did appreciate the very supportive community feel. Lastly, Corvallis and the surrounding area are just amazing, I could absolutely see myself living there for many years if possible.

For Washington: I was floored by their VTH. It was massive and had every bit of diagnostic and cutting-edge technology you could ask for. Althought they are a bigger class size, it was clear that the community of faculty and students were tightly-knit and supportive. They have great aspects like full access to the VTH and all cases at year 1, and the COLE orientation program. I did not really enjoy the area of Pullman at all, but Spokane was pretty nice.

As far as financials they are approximately the same for me with WICHE and a $16,000 scholarship to each OSU and WSU.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hello! I'm having a similar debate and was wondering which school you ended up choosing since this post seems a bit old. I really like the benefits of living in Corvallis and not being in the middle of nowhere. However, I am worried about OSU's small hospital size and fewer board certified vets in specific areas. I loved WSU's hospital but I really didn't like Pullman. Beyond that, I am from a very warm climate so the cold of WSU really scares me. I know OSU is cold as well, but not as bad as Pullman. I read through the WSU page and saw some comments on Pullman that didn't help my decision process much. Any thoughts would help!

 

[SkiOtter]

Hello! I'm having a similar debate and was wondering which school you ended up choosing since this post seems a bit old. I really like the benefits of living in Corvallis and not being in the middle of nowhere. However, I am worried about OSU's small hospital size and fewer board certified vets in specific areas. I loved WSU's hospital but I really didn't like Pullman. Beyond that, I am from a very warm climate so the cold of WSU really scares me. I know OSU is cold as well, but not as bad as Pullman. I read through the WSU page and saw some comments on Pullman that didn't help my decision process much. Any thoughts would help!

FYI that user hasn’t been on sdn since March of 2015 according to their profile. So unfortunately they specifically won’t be answering your question 🙁

 

[ChoopLoops]

Hey there, I'm a first year WICHE student at WSU. Oregon and WSU were two of the schools I was deciding between, so feel free to message me if I can answer any questions for you! I had some similar concerns about the schools when deciding.

I would love to hear how you ended up making your decision!

 

[clinicalscience808]

Hey there, I'm a first year WICHE student at WSU. Oregon and WSU were two of the schools I was deciding between, so feel free to message me if I can answer any questions for you! I had some similar concerns about the schools when deciding.

Hi! It would be great to get your insight. I love OSU for the location since there's more to do in the surrounding area and in Corvallis itself as compared to Pullman. The only thing is OSU's school seems really small comparatively. Looking at the stats, it seems like you get more self-surgery time with OSU's curriculum, but there are fewer/no specialists in fields I might be interested. If you're thinking of specializing, what were your major pros/cons for both schools?