Question About Vet School

[DairyGirl]

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.Hey Everyone!.

.So this is my first time posting but I have been lurking on here for awhile. This forum is great and I have learned a lot but I thought it was finally time to post a question of my own 😉. So here is a little background on me. I was home schooled till I was 16 years old and then I started at a community college part time. The following year when I was 17 (a junior in high school) I continued going to the community college but I joined a dual enrollment program (dual enrolled in high school and college) so that I could get my first two years of college completely paid for by the State through the high school and also get my high school diploma at the end. I have been going to community college full time since then and now at the age of 18 I am a senior in high school with a college sophomore status (when I “graduate” from H.S. I will have over 90 college credits). I am an Oregon resident and I will be transferring to a 4-year college in fall 2012, I have applied to Oregon State and the University of Oregon. I currently live right in-between the two colleges and I am within driving distance to both but my family is looking at maybe moving closer to the U of O so if they do that would be the better school choice for me so I can live at home.
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.So here is the question, I was wondering, when schools look at IS applicants for vet school do they first consider students that have attended their college or do they give all IS applicants the same consideration? My goal is to apply to Oregon State in the fall of my senior year and I realize that getting into vet school requires many things but I was curious if attending OSU would improve my chances at all or if it really doesn’t matter..

.So that was way longer then I meant it to be but I thought I should give some info about myself. I know it is a little confusing but hopefully I outlined everything okay..

.Thank you!.

 

[nyanko]

So here is the question, I was wondering, when schools look at IS applicants for vet school do they first consider students that have attended their college or do they give all IS applicants the same consideration? My goal is to apply to Oregon State in the fall of my senior year and I realize that getting into vet school requires many things but I was curious if attending OSU would improve my chances at all or if it really doesn’t matter.

Vet schools do not give special consideration to students who attended their school for undergrad.

 

[psilovethomas]

Go go to which ever school is the best fit for you- cost of attendance, location, distance from family, etc. Most schools do not care where you go to undergrad. (Some schools will add a point or two to your file if you go to a prestigious university, but who cares?) Both OSU and U of O are great schools, and OSU vet school not will give you any special preference over another applicant if you go to OSU instead of U of O. Just make good grades, get experience, and network with faculty and staff wherever you go so you can build an awesome vet school application. Good luck!👍

 

[moosenanny]

I was accepted to my in-state school after attending undergrad in a completely different state half-way across the country. As long as you maintain your residency (which you totally will by remaining in Oregon), you will be considered equally amongst all IS students.

 

[Fireflysushi]

I agree with everybody else that you should go wherever you decide you want to be. you won't get a leg up just for attending the one with the vet school. I do have to say though that going to CSU gave me a better idea of what I needed to do to apply. The pre-vet club and counselor and all of the info that these organizations gave me were really helpful in filling out the app, expanding my experiences and taking the GRE. You sound pretty resourceful on you own, so these probably aren't necessary, but they made the process easier for me.

 

[flyhi]

just wondering, though, if there isn't an advantage to go to a university that also has a vet school? I'm thinking in terms of the networking opportunities, taking classes that a vet school faculty member may teach (and getting subsequent LOR), volunteering at events/getting involved in clubs that are open both to vet students/vet school faculty and undergrads, doing research with a prof from the vet school, doing work-study at the vet school, etc etc. There is something to be said for 'knowing people'.

They may say there is no preference given to students from said school, but having LOR's from professors that the vet school knows, could amount to an interview invite over another candidate with similar stats from another school. No?

Not to mention, you wouldn't have to move 😀

 

[Trilt]

With that said, you're also competing with a crapton of other pre-vet students for jobs, research, etc in the area. I think there's benefits and downsides. With that said I'm an undergrad at the same school as the vet school and I like it quite a bit.

 

[PetPony]

I'm an undergrad at UGA and really like having the vet school here. I might get involved in research and one of my professors works with people at the vet school. Yes, I'm having trouble finding a job at a vet clinic, or even just shadowing, but there's other things to make up for it. (I might actually get to shadow finally! 😀)

We have a mentoring program here where you get a vet student that can answer all your questions. Mine is awesome! I get to sit in lectures and come to meetings at night. I think it's nice to get to sit in the lectures to see what vet SCHOOL is like, not just being a vet. Of course, you still probably won't be ready for vet school 😉 but it's nice to know a bit more.

 

[libster06]

just wondering, though, if there isn't an advantage to go to a university that also has a vet school?

I think, to me, the advantage (depending on the school) would be that you would be on their degree program the whole time so you wouldn't necessarily have to take extra classes like you might have to if you attended another undergrad but still wanted to go to that school. For example, my undergrad degree plan did not include a handful of off the wall classes that Texas A&M requires for vet school... had I gone there, I wouldn't have had to necessarily take a bunch of other classes on top of the ones required for my degree.

 

[PetPony]

I have to take classes outside of my major plan of study. But to get the major, we need electives anyways, so I guess it goes into that..

I also like the comment about networking. I'm not expecting any LORs or anything, but if you get to know someone, they may be able to help you find a shadowing position or the like in their field of interest..

 

[nyanko]

flyhi and Trilt both have very valid points. "Knowing people" is actually pretty important, but on the flipside, near a vet school there is always a lot of competition for vet-related jobs and such whereas if you go to an undergrad school in an area that doesn't have a vet school, it's often a little easier to get opportunities for experience.

 

[flyhi]

Nyan, i was actually thinking of you with the research comment. How much, if any, impact do you think your contacts/research at Davis helped with you getting at least an interview invite?

 

[DairyGirl]

Thank you everyone for your great replies! I still don't know which school I will transfer too but now I will feel better about making a decision. I think there is going to be trade offs for either of the colleges no matter what. Once I get information back from the colleges about my financial package I think it will probably help me make my decision, I am sure all of us would like to come out of school with as little debt as possible!

Thanks!

 

[New Foundland]

for future reference, in this forum a "question about vet school" is referred to as a "question" 😉