RVC vs UF?

[edammers]

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Hi everyone!

Im a Florida resident and have been accepted to UF and currently waiting on RVC to get back to me post interview.

I have family ties in the UK since it is where both my parents are from. I am very torn right down the middle about going to both. I was born and raised in Fl so been there done that and went to UF as an undergrad and love the idea of an international adventure. Although I have some questions regarding things like if I come back to practice in the US is DVM more respected than the degree from RVC? and if there are just any opinions either way I would love to hear them! Thanks everyone so much!!!🙂

 

[bigkittinteef]

My teacher went to RVC and loved it. He has been very successful and felt confident enough to go straight into practice immediately following graduation. This is encouraging seeing as many feel that they are not completely prepared to dive into a practice straight out of vet school. This varies between schools and individuals of course but he felt that the high level of clinical experience and large case loads more than prepared him for day 1 skills. He was running a hospital just a few years out of school and a few years later, was a teacher at my undergrad university running his own department. He is extremely happy and urged me to apply as well. He went to Cornell and UC Davis during rotations to see what he "missed out on" and was horribly disappointed in the differences. He felt the RVC had a much more modern approach to vet med and it cemented his confidence that he made the right choice.

He loved traveling and London is the best place to travel from. He managed to book round trip flights for weekends in Barcelona, Spain, road trips to Paris, you name it. If traveling and an international experience is important to you, there couldn't be a better opportunity.
Also, he says he has never com across any stigma for not being a DVM. He was telling me that when he passed a NAVLE the AVMA registered him as a DVM, even though he told them he wasn't one. Once you're certified, it's all the same really. The RVC degree allows you to work in more countries without further testing btw. Australia, New Zealand, the US, and all of the EU recognize your status as a veterinary surgeon. That's perfect if you ever thought about living and working in another country.

I might go to RVC but I'm leaning a bit towards Edinburgh (a Scottish school). They're both such good schools that it will be hard to decide. I turned down a UC Davis interview invite (my IS) to go to the UK and I couldn't be any happier. It's up to you to decide what matters to you. Congrats regardless! 🙂

Here is a great blog of an American student at RVC. It's a great resource if you want to know what to expect. She's also an SDN member if you'd like to ask her questions (she's so sweet and helpful). lei325
http://ellieintheuk.blogspot.com/

 

[edammers]

Thank you so much! I got accepted to Edinburgh too! It hard to decide between the two of them. They are both so good. My mom is a born and raised Londoner, maybe why I'm leaning towards London, lol as she says "come on, it's London". The international recognition was of huge appeal to me. As I come from adventurous parents and have all my family overseas, so I could really see myself practicing there or possibly somewhere outside the US. Out of curiosity though why Edinburgh vs London for you? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[bigkittinteef]

Edinburgh from what I can tell, is more respected and has a higher school/research ranking. For example, it is where the cloning of Dolly was done (she is now stuffed and rotates forevermore in a glass box on display at Edinburgh). Edinburgh just received a insane sum of money and built all new teaching facilities. The teaching hospital looks phenomenal and the admissions staff is so much more personable. I talk to admissions on a first name basis. Victoria Doggett is the sweetest woman ever and she has been so helpful through the whole process; she has bent over backwards to help me make things work out (my dad has terminal cancer) so she waived certain classes and conditions so I could go home to be with my dad. Her response was immediate. RVC was not as helpful about it until I talked to the staff in person a month later at a reception (they too waived the classes). These specific staff members were very helpful and apologized for the lack of communication by the other person I originally contacted. I realize that this is an unusual situation but it was not comforting to know that it wasn't important for them to get back to me more quickly. Definitely made me much more happy with Edinburgh. I attended both receptions and the Edinburgh reception blew RVC's reception out of the water. Overall, RVC is around $10,000 cheaper for tuition but is more expensive as far as living costs. Edinburgh has brand new facilities, more personable staff if you ask me, and cheaper living costs. I also prefer greenery, not big cities, Edinburgh is beautiful, surrounded by amazing Scottish countryside, castles, and lochs. It think I'd fit in with Scottish people better too (I'm a bit of a goofball) and like their sense of humor.
Regardless, both schools are amazing. I think I'd be happy at either (certainly more than if I was at any US school) but I think I'd like Edinburgh more as a place to live and as a culture to be immersed in. I'd trust the education quality at either place and think you are very lucky to get to choose between either! You should check out the Dick vet and RVC threads for more info. Current students constantly answer our questions which is very helpful. Did you get into Edinburgh's 4 or 5 year program?

 

[thalamus52]

I think UF and RVC are both great schools. If you have a strong desire to travel, I think you will enjoy being at RVC more because of its proximity to Europe. Also, I think RVC's 4 year program is a bit cheaper than Edinburgh's, but as someone above mentioned it may balance out with living costs. Also keep in mind that RVC's class size is much larger than Edinburgh or UF- I think they have about 220 in each class? So you may want to think about how you feel about that as well.

Also, I just wanted to say that a degree from RVC does let you practice in North America, Europe, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, probably Hong Kong too- but the AVMA and RCVS have reciprocity (i.e. an AVMA accredited school is recognized by the RCVS) and a degree from UF would let you practice these places too as long as you got a work visa for the specific country. However, doing your actual degree abroad gives you the opportunity to make contacts and do externships abroad more easily. So I think it really depends on where you see yourself working in the future. If your desire to possibly work in the US after graduation outweighs the desire to travel/live abroad for 4 years, then I would go with UF.

Edinburgh is great- but I'm a big city person and if RVC had the 4 year option when I applied I would have picked them for sure I think! London is amazing!

 

[edammers]

Thalamus52- Thank you so much. Yeah I do enjoy the big city and with having spent many vacations there visiting family I'm very comfortable with the city itself and navigating around it. I do appreciate all the advice though. I know in the end it is a decision I have to make myself but hearing from all sides really helps.

Bigkittinteef- Im so sorry to hear about your father. Yes that does make a huge difference, are the people nice and easily approachable. I was accepted into the 4 year program and having been to both cities makes it a very hard decision as both are so different and give you unique opportunities.

 

[lei325]

Personally, I'm super glad I chose to go to school in the UK over the US. I mean, yeah, it would have been really convenient to stay home and go to Tufts like I originally had planned to do, but being at the RVC gives you so many options for travel, EMS (I know people who are going to Africa for clinical EMS!), and just perspective in general. Don't know much about the US side of things, but we get the global run-down on things all the time. A few weeks ago we had a clinical scenario regarding cattle herd health in Kenya and how to control disease outbreaks, funding and staffing issues, etc. I thought it was great, even though I'm not sure if I'm going into global veterinary health.

So really, it comes down to what you want out of your veterinary education. UF is a fantastic school; a friend of mine left RVC to go there (mostly for personal reasons, but also because she preferred UF). You will get a good education at EITHER school. In the end, you will get a DVM from EITHER school (BVetMed=DVM). Do you want to travel and see more of the world before you settle into a career? If you say yes, then...well, there's your answer!

(PS bigkittenteef: I'm so sorry about your father! I wish RVC had been better sports about contacting you, that upsets me that they weren't very communicative with you about things. But I'm glad you're happy with Edinburgh!!)

 

[edammers]

Thank you! Yes my thinking is RVC offers me that unique opportunity to travel and live abroad. Plus I have also had a yearning to live in a big city but wanting to be a large animal vet does not equal big city living lol. So I like that also about London! But Thank you again so much.