RVC vs. Ohio State—Advice?

[animallover4ever]

Hey everyone,

I’m deciding between RVC and Ohio State for vet school and would love some input! I’m currently leaning toward RVC because it’s ranked #1, and I really want to experience living in another country, traveling, and becoming more culturally aware. At the same time, I really like Ohio State’s strong clinical training. In the end, I feel like both programs are excellent, and I know I’ll grow as a veterinarian at either. But at RVC, I also see myself growing as a person by learning from different people and perspectives.

Career-wise, I’m interested in pursuing a residency in surgery or emergency medicine (leaning toward small animal) in the U.S. Long-term, I want to practice primarily in the U.S. for about 9 months of the year but also spend 3 months abroad doing relief work—things like volunteering for conservation efforts, such as dehorning rhinos in South Africa. That’s another reason RVC appeals to me, as it seems to offer more international opportunities, whereas Ohio might be better for building connections in the U.S.

Tuition isn’t a major deciding factor for me since I’ll be taking out loans either way. I just want to focus on which school will be the best fit for me for the next four years academically and personally, and how it will shape my future.

Does anyone have advice, input, or experiences at these schools that could help me decide? I’d really appreciate it!

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[MixedAnimals77]

Hey everyone,

I’m deciding between RVC and Ohio State for vet school and would love some input! I’m currently leaning toward RVC because it’s ranked #1, and I really want to experience living in another country, traveling, and becoming more culturally aware. At the same time, I really like Ohio State’s strong clinical training. In the end, I feel like both programs are excellent, and I know I’ll grow as a veterinarian at either. But at RVC, I also see myself growing as a person by learning from different people and perspectives.

Career-wise, I’m interested in pursuing a residency in surgery or emergency medicine (leaning toward small animal) in the U.S. Long-term, I want to practice primarily in the U.S. for about 9 months of the year but also spend 3 months abroad doing relief work—things like volunteering for conservation efforts, such as dehorning rhinos in South Africa. That’s another reason RVC appeals to me, as it seems to offer more international opportunities, whereas Ohio might be better for building connections in the U.S.

Tuition isn’t a major deciding factor for me since I’ll be taking out loans either way. I just want to focus on which school will be the best fit for me for the next four years academically and personally, and how it will shape my future.

Does anyone have advice, input, or experiences at these schools that could help me decide? I’d really appreciate it!

Oofh. So I'm going to burst the bubble here. RVC is ranked #1 according to who? according to what criteria? In vetmed rankings don't matter. So throw that opinion out the window as a factor. If you're looking to practice in the states I'd encourage you to look more into NAVLE pass rates, while RVC is accredited there's a special formula used for AVMA accreditation for international schools regarding their NAVLE compared to states schools.
Please do not stick your head in the sand regarding loans. With all the turmoil regarding loans alot of people are flipping out for lack of a better term. Sure it's "just loans" however, consider worst case scenario is you have to end up paying back every single penny. The amount you owe when you are done is going to make a difference in your life especially with your goals of possibly doing a residency and wanting to do volunteer efforts. The difference in what you owe may make it so you can/cannot pursue those opportunities. Purely speaking from your future goals-go to your cheapest option.

As far as opportunities you can make your opportunities what they are no matter what school you go to. I went to WSU and if it wasn't for COVID could've gone to India for a rotation 4th year and then there are many other international opportunities available through various clubs.

As someone who loves to travel and thinks alot of people would benefit from it, I'd encourage you to maybe save the becoming more culturally aware/travel the world for after school, but that's just me. Knowing several students who've gone to UK schools you may not have as much time as you think you might and isn't quite going to be the cultural experience that I suspect you're going to desire because you're in school and it's going to take up alot of your time.

I recommend reframing your thinking- you are in control of shaping your next 4 years and it's not based on what institution you decide to attend. Both schools will have ample opportunities to accomplish what you want to accomplish. It's all about what you pursue in school no matter where you go.

Now if you are wanting to leave the US for political reasons I can't fault anyone there, but it sounds like that's not your reasoning and plan to live in the US long term. If that is truly the case I'm going to echo the mantra of go to your cheapest option. If that's RVC-great. If that's Ohio-great. Good luck!

 

[pp9]

Agree on throwing out the supposed #1 ranking because vet school rankings don't mean anything.

I would also consider the fact that RVC is currently on probationary accreditation for low NAVLE pass rates. Sure, that's really only an issue for North American/US students, but you fall under that umbrella. I am not sure if foreign schools are able to fall to terminal accreditation (which basically buys currently enrolled students more time to graduate) like US schools are - @MixedAnimals77?

Separate section, because this is beyond the scope of 'which school' and venturing into life/career discussion:

I agree that RVC probably won't net you more international opportunities. A lot of international courses and trips people go on (and I mean a LOT, maybe most) are voluntourism. Which means you just cut a check and buy your way into these trips and don't need to go to RVC to be able to do these things. You just need money.

If you are hoping to do these types of trips long term, it would behoove you to minimize your student debt and pursue a lucrative field within vet med, particularly one that would allow you to take considerable time off of work. ER relief is a good one for that because you don't have to do a residency and people who relief aggressively make big money, but I would keep very close tabs on what is happening in the ER field over the next 2-4 years. Many privately owned ERs did not survive the post-COVID slump, many urgent cares are closing. Some areas are supposedly starting to lay off DVMs (there are already clinics cutting hours/laying off support staff), and as someone who is in relief as a side hustle, it's getting harder to find shifts for a decent rate. Surgery is also a lucrative field, but you will spend 6+ years after vet school just training while your loans collect interest. Anecdotally, travelling/relief surgeons don't seem to be as much of a 'thing' as ER relief, and getting 3 months off every year might not doable in private practice. Academic clinicians sometimes get sabbaticals, but you won't get the paycheck of private practice.

Just some things to think about.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

I would also consider the fact that RVC is currently on probationary accreditation for low NAVLE pass rates. Sure, that's really only an issue for North American/US students, but you fall under that umbrella. I am not sure if foreign schools are able to fall to terminal accreditation (which basically buys currently enrolled students more time to graduate) like US schools are - @MixedAnimals77?

Great question, it's all uncharted territory if they end up on terminal accreditation just like Tuskegee, would have to see how it all shakes out. I would say perhaps not the same since international and they have a different primary accrediting agency but yeah who knows at this point

 

[animallover4ever]

Thank you all for your input! I appreciate it.

 

[5Hs5Ts]

I attend rvc currently and would not recommend attending this school for many reasons, but most prominently the risk of loss of accreditation and getting stuck here, unable to qualify to write the navle.

The schools ranking is absolutely not based on student experience or educational excellence in my opinion. I have been giving feedback to the school for years about the insufficiency of lecture content and DL sessions. Examinations are not robust at all, in my years we got one exam per year and it was 60-100 multiple choice questions plus some short or long answer questions... Supposedly to assess you on an entire years worth of learning. I was examined more in undergrad than at vet school.

The lecturers are generally very nice and world experts but they teach you overly simplified material and it doesn't actually feel like there are any opportunities to really refine your understanding. The school does not hold you accountable to advance your understanding or learn correct information but you are expected to work outside of lecture to do so and then perform accordingly on exams as well. It's actually really difficult to push yourself as a professional at this school. I think you'd get a better experience elsewhere. Clinical rotations were just spent revising the fundamentals because clinicians see that students do not usually have them down yet. It's quite underwhelming actually.