Truthiness about post-DVM intentions

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I wont be dealing with this anytime soon but its something I wonder about.... after I complete vet school (and possibly a residency) I would likely want to come back to NYC to practice. Its where I've lived for the majority of my life, its where I'm familiar with the pet/vet scene. I would consider living in the suburbs but I'm really very much a city child and while I like to go to the middle of nowhere for vacation I have a feeling that i would always gravitate toward major cities, NY in particular. (obviously I have an interest in small animal medicine)

My question is does adcom need to know that? Would they prefer to hear that I intend to stay local to the school or the area? Would I be at a disadvantage if I honestly told them that as soon as i get a DVM, theoretically, I'm packing up and going back home?

I'm not saying I would outright lie, but I may or may not want to put so much emphasis on returning to the city after graduating. I know that some rural schools offer perks for vet students who want to go into food animals and intend to stay in the area for a while (tuition help, was it?). But I'm sorta the exact opposite of that. Thoughts? Discussion? Relevant interview experience? Lets hear it, I know I'm not the only one with this mindset 🙂
 
I do not have a valid comment on this, but a vet I worked with in NJ who graduated from NCSU said that there was an overabundance of SA vets in the regions around NCSU because so many people do tend to stay in the region, as many of thier professional contacts are there, and they meet their spouses, etc.

The second part of what you wrote, involving LA, goes into being honest about what you want to pursue field wise. If schools find it a high priority to keep people in certain regions, they could probably set up a conditional system for tuition assistance.
 
Definitely do not lie to adcoms. I consider this a 100% rule.

That being said, there are ways to phrase things so that you are not saying "I plan to be a small animal vet in NYC." I think it's very important to have an open mind. I plan on going into small animal medicine, but when I'm asked about it, I say something like "right now my interest lies mainly in small animal medicine, but the more I learn about other fields of vetmed, the more I love it, so I definitely would not rule out going into food animal medicine or research."

I haven't been asked about my geographic plans in an interview. I'm really not sure that they care enough to ask. Remember, they only get a half hour/hour/whatever worth of information out of you, so it's your job to make sure they hear what you need them to hear. If you're shaky on something and you're not directly asked about it, don't bring it up. A good interview skill to have/acquire is the ability to steer the conversation in the direction(s) that you want, all the while keeping yourself in the best light possible.

I'm not sure if that had anything to do with what you were asking, but I hope it helps a little at least.
 
I guess essentially the questions stems from something i heard about med schools. In particular I can think of two - one has a contract for graduates to stay in the state for several years and another openly heavily selects for students planning to stay rural. So I was wondering if it there was anything similar with vet school.
 
There are programs that do help with this for med students. There is some talk about doing this in vet med, but as far as I know, it is an unfunded plan. I have several friends who are finishing out their medical education/training and serving several years in areas in need for tuition reimbursement. Their programs are all either loan forgiveness or tuition reimbursement. If they fail to complete thier contracts, they won't get the funds.

The only similar option that I am currently aware of in vet med is with the Army.
 
With the relatively low number of vet schools (as compared to med schools) I would think it would be ridiculous for any adcoms to think that a majority of their students are going to stay in the area, let alone to help choose the student body based on that fact.

Technically speaking for med schools (although I realise there was that thread on here that debated the stats of how hard it is to get into med school versus vet school) you have the option of choosing a med school where you live basically. Vet school doesn't really offer that luxury... which is why people apply to both in-state and out-of-state schools... you go where you can get in by usually playing the numbers game.

With that said, international schools might be a different story. I was never asked, nor did I write it in my application essay for Murdoch that I would be interested in staying in Australia and I don't think that hindered my app (obviously) or helped it in any way. I have heard second-hand talks that some students have had with higher-ups in the administration which reflect something to the effect of "Why should we do [x] for [the international students] who are just going to go back home once they graduate." So it plays a role in what the school will consider doing for the student body, or part of it anyhow with regards to their policy and procedures over here.
 
keep in mind, getting a veterinary job in NYC is highly competitive. I live here too, and I've heard that from more than one vet here. If you wanted to do an internship at AMC, that's even more competitive- and I imagine you'd probably need a connection to even get one. Almost any job in NYC is competitive, vets included- you're not the only one who wants to live here. It's not a well kept secret that NYC is an awesome place to live!😉
 
hopefulvet21 said:
It's not a well kept secret that NYC is an awesome place to live!😉
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To each their own! I cannot imagine living in NYC. Paying $2000 month/rent, constantly surrounded by people, dealing with traffic, never seeing a farm. I think you have to grow up in a big city to appreciate what it has to offer. Maybe the same is true for someone who grew up on a farm. Anyway, back to the discussion....
 
yes very true Canadian. I grew up in a fairly rural setting, but after going to college here I don't want to leave!

But if you ever change your mind about the big apple, you don't usually pay $2000/month. Most of my friends with apartments in Manhattan pay about 1300/month. Highly depends on the area/street.
 
frozen_canadian said:
I think you have to grow up in a big city to appreciate what it has to offer. Maybe the same is true for someone who grew up on a farm. Anyway, back to the discussion....
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As someone who grew up in the big city and has since moved to a more rural area (Mississippi), I have to say one thing. Most people living far away from the city, are not living in a rural area. They are in smaller cities or suburbs.

Man, give me a nice house in the middle of the woods with a lot of land

or

Give me a loft in SoHo

But I hope to god I can stay out of the suburbs - worst of both worlds, with none of the benefits
 
No Imagination said:
As someone who grew up in the big city and has since moved to a more rural area (Mississippi), I have to say one thing. Most people living far away from the city, are not living in a rural area. They are in smaller cities or suburbs.

Man, give me a nice house in the middle of the woods with a lot of land

or

Give me a loft in SoHo

But I hope to god I can stay out of the suburbs - worst of both worlds, with none of the benefits
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Amen to that!

I have lived in extremly rural settings (40 acre law = per structure on the property including houses, barns, garages, etc there must be a minimum of 40 acres....so if you have a house with a garage for the equpment and a barn for the stock, you muts own at least 120 acres of lovely black soiled land) and in the heart of NYC. I loved both and both had thier challenges, but please don't ever put me in a house on a postage stamp surrounded by other houses on postage stamps. Woods, beaches, fields, mountains, cities, farms, etc are all great, just not suburbs!
 
Some of you guys are forgetting that NYC does not = Manhattan. There's also Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx that are all part of NYC. I go to school in Manhattan but I don't live there and while I would love to give working there a try I can't imagine spending my career there.

Generally I've always been scared of suburbian society from stereotypical portrayals. But at the same time I could imagine living in NJ and traveling to the city (NYC) to work. I just want to get a bighuge yard so that my dogs can run happily while I'm not entirely being cut off from civilization 😉
 
define 'big huge yard'.... I refused to move anywhere with less than 5 acres when we departed NYC. While in NYC I walked my dogs 4 times a day and frequented dog parks. I actually got a lot more exercise then!

I also lived across the river in NJ near Newark, and not many places had big yards (well, unless you had quite a bit ot spend.) Just so you know, the commute across the GW routinely took us 30-45 min in the off hours (stressful driving at that.) When hubby went in for work, he took public transportation. We drove in for dog related events that I needed to work due to MTA restrictions.
 
hopefulvet21 said:
keep in mind, getting a veterinary job in NYC is highly competitive. If you wanted to do an internship at AMC, that's even more competitive- and I imagine you'd probably need a connection to even get one.
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Hmm, I have to disagree with that. I worked at the AMC for a couple of years. None of the interns I spoke with even ranked the AMC as their first choice, and they all ended up there. That was before they changed CEO's though, when they still had a 28 person intern class instead of the current 14. And I do know several interns who found jobs in Manhattan right out of their internship. I hope it's not too rough to find a job there since that's where I plan to end up! I want to work in Manhattan and live in Park slope 🙄.

And re: the rest of this convo, the suburbs aren't soooooooooooo bad. I guess Long Island is considered 1 big suburb (with the exception of the very east end), and I loved it there 🙂. Easy access to the city, a nice yard to let my pets run in, good people and less expensive shopping haha, it's not all bad. Outlet malls anyone??? 😀 I lived in Queens when we were in NYC, and I liked that a lot too. But we also had a very small yard there. Now we're in Center City, Philadelphia, and I'm not loving it. I think if we lived on a side street it'd be great, but we're on Walnut (busy busy), and I'm SICK of the comments every single gosh dern time my dogs poop. People either get grossed out and let you know it, think it's funny and let you know it, or think your dog is just so so so so so cute even when they're pooping, that they have to come up and ask you a million questions mid poop when you can't just walk away. But I dont think any of that applies to NYC, at least not Manhattan, because we know how to leave people the heck alone there 😛. Other people say NYers are rude, I say we respect each others privacy!! 😀 My two cents 😀
 
Shanomong said:
And re: the rest of this convo, the suburbs aren't soooooooooooo bad. I guess Long Island is considered 1 big suburb (with the exception of the very east end), and I loved it there 🙂.
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Leave it to New Yorkers to act like Long Island compares in any way to suburban places in, oh, say, Ohio or some such desolate place. 😉
 
I doubt adcoms put much emphasis on what candidates say they are going to do. They know that there is a high probability that's going to change by the time you graduate anyway.

So don't get your brain all twisted up trying to figure out what they want to hear, just tell the truth. Now if you plan to use your veterinary skills to spay and neuter people you don't like so they can't reproduce I would probably keep that to yourself, but overall honesty is the way to go.
 
Bill59 said:
I doubt adcoms put much emphasis on what candidates say they are going to do. They know that there is a high probability that's going to change by the time you graduate anyway.

So don't get your brain all twisted up trying to figure out what they want to hear, just tell the truth. Now if you plan to use your veterinary skills to spay and neuter people you don't like so they can't reproduce I would probably keep that to yourself, but overall honesty is the way to go.
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A. re: first paragraph, I agree. I think the emphasis they put on an applicants claims are more from a 'does their experience back this claim up?' and not in thinking the applicant will end up where they express interest in.

B. re: second paragraph, my computer screen would like to thank you for that spittake I just did.
 
Bill59 said:
Now if you plan to use your veterinary skills to spay and neuter people you don't like so they can't reproduce I would probably keep that to yourself, but overall honesty is the way to go.
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Wait, we can do that?

This is the first time i've seen Bill say something funny, thought he was all just serious business. That said, he's got about 500 posts I've yet to read.
 
No Imagination said:
This is the first time i've seen Bill say something funny, thought he was all just serious business. That said, he's got about 500 posts I've yet to read.
Click to expand...

I picture Bill as hilariously deadpan in real life.
 
hopefulvet21 said:
But if you ever change your mind about the big apple, you don't usually pay $2000/month. Most of my friends with apartments in Manhattan pay about 1300/month. Highly depends on the area/street.
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And the two people I know who live in Manhattan pay $5,000+ per month for a 1,000 square foot place and $2,000+ for a bedroom in a shared place, respectively. Nice places, which of course makes a difference. Sure there are exceptions, but for the most part people think Manhattan is expensive because it is.
 
According to the NY observer:

In June 2008, the average rent for a Manhattan two-bedroom apartment in a non-doorman building was $3950.

That is down from 2007, but likely to go up with the housing issues.

And that average includes apartments under rent control.
 
sumstorm said:
According to the NY observer:

In June 2008, the average rent for a Manhattan two-bedroom apartment in a non-doorman building was $3950.

That is down from 2007, but likely to go up with the housing issues.

And that average includes apartments under rent control.
Click to expand...

D:

That would pay for over 6 months here...heck, that's more than a semester of tuition!

Again I say: D:
 
It's all relative. I lived in Manhattan for 3 years, had a nice studio on the upper east side, third floor walk up, for $1100/month. The salaries tend to be higher, off-setting the other costs of living. Besides, Manhattan people aren't there for the living spaces - they are there for what's available outside their apartment.
 
averages for Manhattan rent mean nothing. There are tons of rich people here who have penthouses costing millions, which can bring that average way up. If you get a two bedroom apartment on the upper east side, yeah, you'll pay way upwards for 2 grand a month. But if you live below 14th st around NYU, you can find plenty of places for 1300/month. And VAGirl: This isn't like anecdotal, "i have two friends that pay this a month," evidence--it's what any of the 25,000 NYU undergraduates living here would attest to. If you know how to search for an apartment, you will get a decent living situation for a good price in Manhattan. It is expensive here sometimes sure, but it's so easy to find cheap everything everywhere once you figure out how. I'll agree Manhattan is expensive relative to some places, but I am just disputing that you will HAVE to pay 2,000/month in rent like somone above was implying.
 
LOL. When I lived in NYC 3 years ago, expensive penthouses had doormen.

Trying to imagine hubby's associates without thier doormen.

Average is just that...average. That indicates there is a range....and that range includes rent controlled apartments... but I doubt it includes extremly expensive penthouses used by rich people...those tend to be the buildings with doormen.
 
hopefulvet21 said:
averages for Manhattan rent mean nothing. There are tons of rich people here who have penthouses costing millions, which can bring that average way up. If you get a two bedroom apartment on the upper east side, yeah, you'll pay way upwards for 2 grand a month. But if you live below 14th st around NYU, you can find plenty of places for 1300/month. And VAGirl: This isn't like anecdotal, "i have two friends that pay this a month," evidence--it's what any of the 25,000 NYU undergraduates living here would attest to. If you know how to search for an apartment, you will get a decent living situation for a good price in Manhattan. It is expensive here sometimes sure, but it's so easy to find cheap everything everywhere once you figure out how. I'll agree Manhattan is expensive relative to some places, but I am just disputing that you will HAVE to pay 2,000/month in rent like somone above was implying.
Click to expand...

Eh, I just thought you made it sound like no one really pays that much. So I posted my info. That's all.
 
hmm, maybe its skewed because it excludes many cheaper apartments that do have doormen. I lived in a one-bedroom apt. with a doorman for $1000/month. Who knows. I never trust arithmetic averages, I'm more of a fan of the mode.

And the point about salaries generally being higher here are good. You may pay more in rent, but its easier to do if you're getting paid more. My average waitress job here pays almost $20/hour.
 
No Imagination said:
Wait, we can do that?

This is the first time i've seen Bill say something funny, thought he was all just serious business. That said, he's got about 500 posts I've yet to read.
Click to expand...

Hey I am neutered, and I made the doctor let me watch my own vasectomy! Of course I am a "little strange". I am a repro (therio) guy afterall. I may well be responsible for a lot of dogs getting preggers, but I am all about human population control -- plus I am far from breeding quality -- I have to look at my reflection in the mirror too! Besides, from most of the humans I have met, I like the dogs better anyhow.

Kai
 
True, but I have done my part for population control. :idea:

Kai
 
nyanko said:
Leave it to New Yorkers to act like Long Island compares in any way to suburban places in, oh, say, Ohio or some such desolate place. 😉
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LOL, good point.... 😀

Leave it to New Yorkers to exclude the other 97% of US land mass from all thought processes...
 
Bill59 said:
Now if you plan to use your veterinary skills to spay and neuter people you don't like so they can't reproduce I would probably keep that to yourself, but overall honesty is the way to go.
Click to expand...


Damn! If I was on the Adcom, and you said that was your goal...your interview would be OVER.

You'd get an automatic acceptance AND a full scholarship!
 
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