To All Accepted Vet Students!!!

[kitty613]

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I am curious as to why your ultimately chose the vet school that you are going to. Like maybe you chose your school because it is non-traditional student friendly, has willed-body donations, great exotics or wildlife programs, problem-based curriculum, research based, etc. These are just some examples.

I know vet school is incredibly hard to get into and I've heard that old saying when asked, "Why did you chose your vet school?" and the answer is "I chose the one that accepted me!"
However, for those of you that had a little wiggle room in deciding on a school, I am curious to know!

Thanks!!

P.S.:I looked (and looked) through this forum for this particular thread, but I couldn't find one that gave me the answers I was looking for. Just a little musing... 🙄

 

[GellaBella]

I am curious as to why your ultimately chose the vet school that you are going to. Like maybe you chose your school because it is non-traditional student friendly, has willed-body donations, great exotics or wildlife programs, problem-based curriculum, research based, etc. These are just some examples.

I know vet school is incredibly hard to get into and I've heard that old saying when asked, "Why did you chose your vet school?" and the answer is "I chose the one that accepted me!"
However, for those of you that had a little wiggle room in deciding on a school, I am curious to know!

Thanks!!

P.S.:I looked (and looked) through this forum for this particular thread, but I couldn't find one that gave me the answers I was looking for. Just a little musing... 🙄

I was accepted to Tufts (IS) and Penn (OOS) and chose to go to Penn 😍.

It was actually a really difficult decision for me and I waited up until the very last day possible to send in my acceptance to Penn. I really liked both schools. Tufts had a more personal "welcome to the family!" vibe when I interviewed and my interviewer went out of the way to introduce me to different professors throughout the interview day and even to meet up with me after the day was over and take me over to the laboratories to see their facilities. I felt really comfortable and happy at Tufts. Plus my family lives only an hour away so....that was all really nice and part of me really REALLY wanted to go to Tufts.

At the end of the day though, I chose Penn for several reasons (in no particular order of importance). First, I loved Penn when I visited for my interview. THe people here were also really nice although it's a bigger class size so I knew it wouldn't be as "family" like as Tufts (although I do love our class and feel like I am part of a V14 family here). Second, I wanted to try living in a city for a little while. I never would have come to Philly and I really love it! Third, I had to think about where my fiance could work. He is a scientist so most of the time he needs to be in a city...Boston would have been great but it would have been an hour commute for him (not including traffic) whereas if we were both in Philly, it would be no problem....he now has a post-doc position at the Penn Medical school and works one block down the road from the vet school. Fourth, it's Penn! I know, elitist, but my interest is laboratory animal medicine and research and I liked the fact that at Penn the Vet School, Med School, Undergrad, theey are all right there on the same campus, so I would have plenty of close-by opportunities to do research and get involved in lab animal medicine. Tufts Vet School is out in North Grafton and I would have had to travel into Boston to gain the abundance of opportunities that Penn has in a few block radius.

So, in the end, after much anguish, I chose Penn and god, I could not be happier. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I had chosen Tufts and sometimes I'm a LITTLE sad I'm not in MA, but overall I love Philly, I love my classmates, I love (most of) our professors, I love the school, the campus, the style.

Guess I'm just a PennWe now through and through 😀
😍

 

[frozen_canadian]

Unless you are independently wealthy, always, always choose the cheaper school. Period.

 

[psilovethomas]

Unless you are independently wealthy, always, always choose the cheaper school. Period.

Why?
I chose to only apply (and was accepted) to Michigan State (MSU), even though VMRCVM is my IS. I could have applied to VMRCVM this cycle as well, but decided not to because I really couldn't see myself at VA tech. I chose MSU of VA tech for undergrad for personal reasons and I have never looked back. I hope I will feel the same about my decision for vet school! MSU has a great school and so does VMRCVM (don't pay attention to rankings). I am really not a fan of tracking and wanted to be in clinicals for more than a year, so I only applied to MSU. I didn't want to apply to a school I couldn't see myself attending because I didn't want to take a spot away from someone else.
Tuition at MSU is twice that of VMRCVM, but MSU is where I will be happy and most comfortable. My parents have decided to pay half of vet school, so I would be in the same boat as if I applied, was accepted, and attended VMRCVM. So, no, you don't have to be "independently wealthy" to attend an OOS school.🙄

 

[bunnity]

They didn't say you HAD to be independently wealthy to go OOS.
Simply that they felt that attending the cheapest school was the best option, if you have options. I tend to agree.

Anyway, there is a giant thread called "factors when choosing a school" floating around and since this type of thread requires long responses it would be better to bump that than try to redo everything.

You can also PM people that go to individual schools and talk to them. And take a look at the "Class of 20xx... how ya doing" threads. There are some additional viewpoints on Penn in the 2014 thread.

 

[psilovethomas]

Nevermind, read your post wrong, Bunnity.

 

[parietal]

Unless you are independently wealthy, always, always choose the cheaper school. Period.

Almost always. Don't choose the cheaper school if you know it will make you miserable for four years. But otherwise, I agree wholeheartedly.

I had a rough time choosing between Iowa State (OOS) and Minnesota (IS). My acceptance to Iowa State came first, and I could really see myself going there. I liked the school a lot, was impressed with the new large animal hospital (I'm tracking mixed) and loved what a friendly, supportive community Ames is. I'm also doing a DVM/MPH and Iowa State's MPH program is cheaper if done during the school year.

I loved Minnesota, too. They have an awesome faculty, student body and curriculum, plus the largest vet school small-animal hospital in the nation and a great new equine center. Their DVM/MPH program was slightly more expensive, but well established and I could complete the MPH by taking summer classes only. I wasn't as crazy about the long commute from my home to campus (I could have lived much closer to school if I had moved to Iowa) and that they didn't do as great of a job of selling the school to in-staters (although that should be changing), so I was quite torn.

Ultimately, I made my decision on the basis of price. I felt the schools' curricula and friendliness were very comparable and it seemed silly to spend $10k more per year for Iowa State when they were so similar.

And I'm REALLY happy I made the decision I did. I'm sure Iowa State would have been great, too, but I love Minnesota: my class , the amazing faculty and the responsive administration all would be hard to beat. 🙂

As a side note, I was waitlisted at Wisconsin (OOS), and had I been called off of that, it would have been a very hard choice. Wisconsin out-of-state tuition is slightly cheaper than Minnesota's in-state tuition. 🙁 However, the difference is so small that the cost of moving, etc., would probably have resulted in me choosing Minnesota...

 

[Cautionary Tail]

They didn't say you HAD to be independently wealthy to go OOS.
Simply that they felt that attending the cheapest school was the best option, if you have options. I tend to agree.

If I were to get multiple offers (at this point, I'd be thrilled to get a single bite), cost would be a major factor. I'm older, and want my loans paid off as soon as possible so I can get settled and start thinking about the possibility of owning my own practice someday.

Unless I found that I really didn't care for the cheaper option upon visiting, I'd probably decide to go there. I'm an OOS-er across the board, though, so it's going to be costly wherever I end up.

 

[frozen_canadian]

🙄

My parents have decided to pay half of vet school, so I would be in the same boat as if I applied, was accepted, and attended VMRCVM..🙄

🙄 You are a classic case. Your parents are paying $25000/yr - they are giving you $100,000. That is a ton of money. Most vet students have to do it all with loans, and believe me, $100,000 is a small fortune to me. I'm a graduated veterinarian and I know what the job market is like right now. Anyone who takes on an extra $100,000 to get a DVM just because they think x school is a better 'fit' is being irresponsible.

 

[Dsmoody23]

🙄

🙄 You are a classic case. Your parents are paying $25000/yr - they are giving you $100,000. That is a ton of money. Most vet students have to do it all with loans, and believe me, $100,000 is a small fortune to me. I'm a graduated veterinarian and I know what the job market is like right now. Anyone who takes on an extra $100,000 to get a DVM just because they think x school is a better 'fit' is being irresponsible.

QFT.

100K is approximately how much money I've made in the last 4 years.

Being able to casually write off huge sums of money for minor personal preference is a luxury I'd like to have.

 

[turnbackhelly]

Anyone who takes on an extra $100,000 to get a DVM just because they think x school is a better 'fit' is being irresponsible.

Thank you for this! Hearing it from someone who is out there in the real world really comforts me and helps me to justify my own decision.

I had a very difficult time choosing which vet school to attend. I was accepted to Cornell (IS), Penn, Ohio State, Tufts, and Michigan State (all OOS), and turned down an interview at Minnesota after being accepted to Ohio, Penn, and Cornell because MN did not rank higher on my personal list than any of those 3.

In reality, I was deciding between Penn and Cornell, with Penn being my top choice aside from the minor fact that it was almost twice as much as Cornell (after some scholarships from Cornell). I didn't like Tufts when I interviewed there because I just didn't feel comfortable there, so that one was easy to knock out. I knocked MSU out because it was just as expensive as Penn, and I reasoned that if I were to commit to the extra debt, it would be at Penn. Ohio was a little harder to rule out, because I did LOVE it when I interviewed there, and even though the first year of OOS tuition is ridiculous, you can get IS tuition for the remaining 3 years if you switch your residency. I ultimately decided against Ohio because of location - I wanted to stay closer to my family and friends on the east coast, and thinking about moving my horse all the way out there from NY was cause for a minor panic attack.

When it came down to Penn and Cornell, I chose Cornell based on cost alone. I had been living in Philly for 3 years at the time and had been a Penn grad student previously, so naturally Penn felt like home to me. I also had a well paying flexible job that I would have been able to keep (as my schedule permitted) during vet school, not to mention lots of great supportive friends. In addition, my primary interest is small animal ECC, and Penn's caseload is definitely greater than Cornell's, so I was concerned about getting the experience I wanted at Cornell. I was also worried that Cornell's PBL curriculum would drive me insane (a fear that was not unfounded, but I'm still alive!). Penn felt like a much better "fit" in pretty much every respect, but going into vet school I already had 6 figures of student loan debt. It's hard to reason with a number like that when you know you're just going to be adding $200K+ to that figure. Had I been entering vet school with zero previous student loan debt, I really might have chosen Penn, but in my situation I couldn't justify it. It was really difficult for me to choose Cornell and consciously give up the comfortable life I had in Philly, and I really wasn't happy about my decision for a LONG time. (It was ridiculous, who pouts over Cornell for 3 months?! This girl right here.)

With that being said... I'm TOTALLY happy at Cornell! I don't love everything about it, but I don't think anyone loves every single thing about their school. I miss Philly and Penn terribly and often wish I were down there, but overall I don't regret my decision at all (I just go down to visit a lot 😉). I guess the moral of my story is that choosing a school based on money alone might feel like a horrible and shallow thing at the time, but in the end you'll survive, you'll have the same degree, and your quality of life post-graduation will probably be better. Vet schools is only 4 years; an extra $100K plus interest will hang over your head for many years beyond that.

So count me as one more vote for "go with your cheapest option" - especially if you have preexisting and significant student loan debt.

 

[PeanutGallery]

I'm curious as to how this advice would run for students interested in wildlife and things like public health and international medicine who aren't necessarily looking at just a small animal practice. A lot of schools place relatively little emphasis on anything that's not dogs, cats, horses, cattle, and small ruminants - what would you recommend in that case?

 

[turnbackhelly]

I'm curious as to how this advice would run for students interested in wildlife and things like public health and international medicine who aren't necessarily looking at just a small animal practice. A lot of schools place relatively little emphasis on anything that's not dogs, cats, horses, cattle, and small ruminants - what would you recommend in that case?

Personally, I would probably advise only applying to those schools that have the types of programs that will give you what you're looking for. And then among those that accept you, choose the cheapest one. 😛

 

[frozen_canadian]

I'm curious as to how this advice would run for students interested in wildlife and things like public health and international medicine who aren't necessarily looking at just a small animal practice. A lot of schools place relatively little emphasis on anything that's not dogs, cats, horses, cattle, and small ruminants - what would you recommend in that case?

I think it is even more important that you choose the cheap school in this case. Fields like wildlife usually have very low pay, so minimizing debt is key. Look, I've said it in other threads but it is worth repeating. A DVM is a DVM (or a VMD 😉. What you do with your summers, externships, internships etc is far more important than where you learned what a histologic cross section of the duodenum looks like. So go to the cheapest school and take advantage of time away from school to get experience, make connections etc etc. The less debt you have, the more likely you will be able to take advantage or opportunities to follow you dream career. If you don't believe me, find someone with a VIN account and search the following word: student loans. The links and advice therein will be enlightening. Good luck out there.

 

[Shadow23]

Unless you are independently wealthy, always, always choose the cheaper school. Period.

This is the advice I get from the majority of the vets at the clinic I work at. As I have no IS school, it gets a little harder to follow this advice, since a difference of 3-5K per year per school seems like small potatoes compared to the overall cost of attending almost any vet school OOS. I only have one acceptance so far so this may not end up being an issue, but what I have started to do is research the cost of living associated with each school's location and will most likely make my decision based on cost of living along with unemployment rate (my fiance must find a job in the city I go to school in). It may seem petty, but I agree that you should definitely choose the school with the lowest tuition and cost of living, ESPECIALLY if you have an IS option. I REALLY wish I had thought about cost before I applied - I don't think more than one or two of the schools I applied to allow you to gain IS residency during school. In the end, you will get a great education at any school you choose.

 

[cuitlamiztli]

I am curious as to why your ultimately chose the vet school that you are going to.

I only applied to Iowa State so my decision only took as long as it took me to read "Congratulations!". However, I did a lot of research before deciding to put all of my eggs into one basket; in the end, cost (I'm IS), distance from family, and familiarity with the school/area (went to undergrad here) were the biggest reasons I chose to do so. At this point (1.5 years in) I know that it was definitely the right decision for me.

If I had applied to more schools and had multiple acceptances, I likely would have chosen the cheapest option unless it was obviously not a good fit.

A DVM is a DVM (or a VMD 😉. What you do with your summers, externships, internships etc is far more important than where you learned what a histologic cross section of the duodenum looks like. So go to the cheapest school and take advantage of time away from school to get experience, make connections etc etc.

I agree 100%. I'm a zoo/wildlife person and I've managed to get some awesome experiences and connections by actively seeking them out and occasionally through persistence. It's entirely doable even if you aren't in a program that has a bazillion opportunities built into the curriculum 🙂.

 

[Shadow23]

I agree 100%. I'm a zoo/wildlife person and I've managed to get some awesome experiences and connections by actively seeking them out and occasionally through persistence. It's entirely doable even if you aren't in a program that has a bazillion opportunities built into the curriculum 🙂.

It is really awesome to hear this because I will be in the same boat!

 

[psilovethomas]

Irresponsible? Pfft...
I'm living out my dream at my dream school. To me, the extra money is it worth it, especially due to personal issues and circumstances which I do not wish to divulge on the forum. I may be eligible for in state tuition when I start the program.

 

[goldnretrivrgrl]

Irresponsible? Pfft...
I'm living out my dream at my dream school. To me, the extra money is it worth it, especially due to personal issues and circumstances which I do not wish to divulge on the forum. I may be eligible for in state tuition when I start the program.

I don't think anyone meant to offend. It would be great to be able to choose a school regardless of cost but I would say the majority of us are going to be paying with loans, which can add up very quickly. Dream school or no, tuition/cost of living will have to factor into my decision.

 

[frozen_canadian]

Irresponsible? Pfft...
I'm living out my dream at my dream school. To me, the extra money is it worth it, especially due to personal issues and circumstances which I do not wish to divulge on the forum. I may be eligible for in state tuition when I start the program.

But thats my point. Its not your money. Its your parents' money, which I assume you do not have to pay back. So by all means go for it. But do not encourage others to take out loan money to 'live the dream.' It isn't worth it.

 

[Goatherd]

Tuition aside, which I certainly agree should be the major factor considering meager veterinary salaries, does where you go to veterinary school matter at all for getting competitive internship/residency spots?

 

[twelvetigers]

Not that I can speak from experience, but I think that internships and residencies have a lot more to do with your grades and connections you make. If you spend your summers seeking experience in the area you're interested and make some good connections (and impressions) I think that does a lot more for you than going to a specific school.

 

[Goatherd]

Twelvtigers-thanks! You're probably right. Given the small amount of vet schools it would be sort of silly for where you went to school to really matter! And let's face it--I would be so happy to be accepted anywhere

 

[PeanutGallery]

I think it is even more important that you choose the cheap school in this case. Fields like wildlife usually have very low pay, so minimizing debt is key. Look, I've said it in other threads but it is worth repeating. A DVM is a DVM (or a VMD 😉. What you do with your summers, externships, internships etc is far more important than where you learned what a histologic cross section of the duodenum looks like. So go to the cheapest school and take advantage of time away from school to get experience, make connections etc etc. The less debt you have, the more likely you will be able to take advantage or opportunities to follow you dream career. If you don't believe me, find someone with a VIN account and search the following word: student loans. The links and advice therein will be enlightening. Good luck out there.

Thanks! What would you - or anyone else here - have to say about the best way to make connections and get externships in another area, though? I would still want to begin making affiliations northeast.

On a side note, I'm also looking at research-related fields in lab animal medicine and academia. They seem to be a more practical consideration as I don't have any illusions about being able to make a living in a private wildlife rehab clinic. What's enlightening that I've seen here is that most research positions, at long as you don't get stuck with the FDA, are actually pretty decently paying and fall within what other sources say are the top 10% of veterinary income.

 

[gilch]

I waited until the 2nd week of April, I think, to make my decision. I was accepted to VMRCVM (IS) and Missouri. I really loved both schools but I think my main hesitancy to accept IS was because I live locally, went to VT for undergrad and sort of felt that this was my big chance to get out of the area for a while. In the end, I made a decision matrix (a pro/con list on steroids 😀) which effectively made my decision. I made a list of the factors that were most important to me and gave them different weights and gave each school a +1, -1, or 0.

For me, factors included distance from family, the different programs (tracking for VMRCVM and 2+2 for Missouri), attrition rate, facilties, opportunities to pursue my interests, and, of course, tuition. Missouri is unusual in that OOSers (with mid range oos tuition to start with) can get in state after a year with relatively few hoops to jump through and IS tuition is a bit less than it is here. I'm lucky enough that when it was all out on paper, it seemed like an obvious choice and tuition was not the deciding factor.

I'll agree with most of the people here; I think you need a really good reason to turn down a cheaper school. Saddling down with extra debt can put you years behind in personal goals--buying into a practice, getting married, having kids, owning a home, etc. And should something terrible happen and you are unable to continue with vet school or have to take some time off, you'll still be responsible for the debt.

 

[kentuckyboy]

Positions in research medicine can be very lucrative if you are a good scientist and are able to write fairly well. I did research for the USDA during undergrad and the scientist I studied under was making close to 6 figures and he had only been graduated from Cornell for 2 years. (its a pretty cushiony lifestyle as well)

 

[Willowhand]

I loved the friendly vibe at K-state when I visited, the tuition and cost of living were lower than they would have been for my other options, and the curriculum left plenty of wiggle room and exploratory opportunities for people (like myself) who are initially unsure what they want to focus on. I am happy with the decision I made 🙂

 

[NittanyKitty]

I'll agree with everyone who said that cost is an extremely important factor in choosing a school. For me, it was the deciding factor in which schools to apply to and which to attend. While, yeah, you don't want to be "miserable" in a location for four years, you're going somewhere for school. For an education. And your schedule is going to be so packed and busy, that is a city versus rural atmosphere really THAT important? How often do you plan to go out clubbing in your first semester? During your clinics and blocks?

Penn was my IS school, and it is definitely on the high range for IS tuition and cost-of-living. I used that estimated COA and selected four additional schools that would cost about the same or less to attend as an OOS student the first year - Mississippi, Missouri, NC State, and Wisconsin. I pulled out of Mississippi's selection process and got acceptances at the others.

NC State was always my first choice for a few reasons...

1) Cost: Lowest COA of my acceptances once I get IS tuition this year (fingers crossed!).

2) Quality of program: Pretty large, varied caseload, not too large of a class, several friends there who love it, my reading on schools, etc.

3) Location: Good local airport for quick travel home to PA and only an 8-10 hour drive there for the holidays. Plus, not a huge city (Philly was too scary for me) but also not in the middle of nowhere with decent cost-of-living, safety, etc.

4) Grad school for the boy: Out of all of my schools, NC State gave us the best chance of living together come 2012 when he applies for his MBA (Duke and UNC). UVA is only three hours away as a third choice.

But, I can't say it enough - MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. Be smart about this. Unless you have HUGE family or relationship restrictions, don't underestimate the importance of cost in this decision. It'll be with you for the rest of your life.

 

[lei325]

But thats my point. Its not your money. Its your parents' money, which I assume you do not have to pay back. So by all means go for it. But do not encourage others to take out loan money to 'live the dream.' It isn't worth it.

No offense, but it may not be worth it to you. But considering that the only thing I've ever wanted (and the only thing I can see myself doing and being happy while I do it) is to be a veterinarian, it's MORE than worth it to me. I'm another one of those students that has no IS school (go New England...6 states and only one vet school that is private and very expensive). I wasn't able to pick up and move to a state with a vet school to gain IS status. So call me ignorant or naive, but I gladly walked into this with my eyes wide open to the reality of debt. I got into RVC and wait-listed at Tufts. The rest rejected me flat out (because I was OOS and there were better OOS candidates than me, I'm sure). So either I was going to pay a **** ton of money going to either school, or screw myself over by not getting off the wait-list at Tufts and have to apply again without knowing what would happen. So...I took the safer option (in my case) and went for 'my dream'.

In my opinion, it's all about what you're willing to do. Some of us go to our IS to minimize debt. Some of us go to a relatively cheaper OOS school. Some of us don't really have a choice and decide to saddle the debt in order to do what we love. It's all relative.

 

[nitheninny]

While I agree that money is a huge factor, it was definitely not the deciding factor for me. Of all the schools I interviewed at, Ohio State was the only one that felt "right" to me. I was accepted to Ohio State and VMRCVM, and honestly, I didn't even think about money when I made my decision. I knew that VMRCVM was not right for me and that Ohio State is, and that was the end of it. I am taking the debt onto my own shoulders and won't be getting any money from family. Maybe my decision would have been different if Ohio State didn't have the option for OOS students to get IS tuition after the first year. But I knew where I would be happy and where I would be miserable, so it was an easy decision made independent from COA.

 

[LivestockDoc]

If you are an older applicant, in addition to looking at tuition rates, I would advise you to look, not only at the cost of living in the school's location, but also at the cost of attendance AS SET BY THE SCHOOL. You can only borrow up to what the school says you need, NOT what YOU determine you need. And most schools, if not all, base their COA on the assumption that you are a young person who will be living with at least 1, if not several, other young people.

Your IS tuition may be relatively inexpensive but the COA set by the school could be so low that realistically you could not survive on it, especially if the school is located in a high cost of living area.

And since you are not permitted to borrow above what the school says you need (even if you go to a private bank), you need to figure out how you will survive. If you own property, obviously you can borrow against that without the school butting in. Otherwise (assuming you don't have a working spouse), you may be in for some trouble that you didn't anticipate.

An OOS school, while it may have higher tuition rates, may also have a COA that is much higher, as well as being located where the general cost of living is lower.

Bottom line: if you are lucky enough to get to choose between IS vs one or more OOS schools, make sure you choose a school that will give you a sufficient allowance. You can always turn down extra aid if you don't need it, but if you do need some extra and it isn't there, what will you do?

 

[Dsmoody23]

If I have to live with at least 1, if not several, young people... I will put a gun in my mouth.

Any non-traditional students who have dealt with this issue?

Were you able to live like a grownup without selling organs?

 

[lei325]

If I have to live with at least 1, if not several, young people... I will put a gun in my mouth.

Any non-traditional students who have dealt with this issue?

Were you able to live like a grownup without selling organs?

It's not ALL that bad...but then again, I live in a flat with 6 other people and only 3 of them are younger than me. And they're relatively well behaved aside from the kitchen being a complete disaster 99.9% of the time.

Lucky? You betcha. But I'm also not technically a non-trad by US standards (but definitely one by UK standards; most Brit veterinary students are 18). Next year, I'm going to attempt living by myself.

 

[turnbackhelly]

Any non-traditional students who have dealt with this issue?

Were you able to live like a grownup without selling organs?

I'm slightly non-trad (25 years old as a first year) and I like to think that I live like a grownup, or at least close to it. I live alone in a 1 BR condo (own, not renting). I have cable, I don't eat ramen or easy mac, and I even turn the heat on when it's cold out. 😉 Honestly, this was part of the deal I made with myself - choose the irrational expensive school (Penn) and it's gonna be rice and beans with 5 roommates; save a ton of money by going IS and live comfortably without feeling guilty about it. I've found that Cornell's cost of living estimate is plenty (of course as long as you budget correctly), and I'm not even borrowing the maximum allowed presently. Cornell also seems to be very good about helping you get extra loan money in emergency situations (ie, you need to buy a new computer, your car needs $1000 of work unexpectedly, pretty much anything vital and within reason EXCEPT veterinary care... which blows, especially since my horse was sutured up tonight after being kicked!).

 

[Dsmoody23]

I'm slightly non-trad (25 years old as a first year) and I like to think that I live like a grownup, or at least close to it. I live alone in a 1 BR condo (own, not renting). I have cable, I don't eat ramen or easy mac, and I even turn the heat on when it's cold out. 😉 Honestly, this was part of the deal I made with myself - choose the irrational expensive school (Penn) and it's gonna be rice and beans with 5 roommates; save a ton of money by going IS and live comfortably without feeling guilty about it. I've found that Cornell's cost of living estimate is plenty (of course as long as you budget correctly), and I'm not even borrowing the maximum allowed presently. Cornell also seems to be very good about helping you get extra loan money in emergency situations (ie, you need to buy a new computer, your car needs $1000 of work unexpectedly, pretty much anything vital and within reason EXCEPT veterinary care... which blows, especially since my horse was sutured up tonight after being kicked!).

That's honestly the part that keeps me up nights. Not the curriculum, the tests or the stress...

I'm 32 and living in my own home. I've done the "7 roommates, top ramen and chicken wings" thing before and it was unendurable.

I'm pretty impressed you found your own affordable place near Cornell. Are you actually in Ithaca? I spent a lot of time there and I remember it being wall to wall 5-bedroom college tenements.

Thanks for the anti-horror stories, guys. Good to know that I won't have to get into a time machine back to my 21st birthday in order to get this done.

 

[turnbackhelly]

I'm pretty impressed you found your own affordable place near Cornell. Are you actually in Ithaca? I spent a lot of time there and I remember it being wall to wall 5-bedroom college tenements.

I'm in the town of Ithaca, but not downtown/the city of Ithaca. Actually I'm technically in Cayuga Heights if you're familiar with that area (near the mall), but my address is still Ithaca. There really aren't many undergrads around here (added bonus!), mostly grad students and real people. I'm about 2.5 miles from the vet school. It's a small condo but it gets the job done!