UC Davis CO 2014

[incendium04]

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So I heard that you start choosing electives for the first year based on what track you declare. Have we declared what track yet? On the Accept/Decline page, I picked "Research" for my focus area, but I don't think that's one of the main tracks of Small Animal, Large, Mixed, Equine, or Zoo. Is there a different time we pick?
Anyone know how this works?
And then, does it matter what track you are? For instance, if you declare zoo, would you be unable to find careers in small animal? And finally, can you switch what track you're on throughout vet school?
😕

You don't really 'declare' your track until the... end of 2nd? Beginning of 3rd? Something like that. You can wait to decide until then but the school will want to know your general idea. I'm not sure whether you can switch your track after that point in time. Someone who knows better correct me if I'm wrong, but we all come out with a DVM. I can track zoo throughout vet school but after 1-2 years, decide I really want to do SA and there is nothing in my degree that is stopping me besides my own lack of experience in a SA clinic. So get an internship or find a job in a SA clinic. I think it definitely helps if you track the career you will end up in but it's not the end of the world if you switch.

For UC Davis, cased on your track (or what you think you will track), there is a spreadsheet of proposed/recommended electives to take first year, second year, etc. It is by no means concrete. I am small animal track and took Comparative Anatomy last quarter and have signed up for Foal Neonatology next quarter. The only elective they really recommended I take as SA was SA Radiology and since it's only 1 unit (they recommend 4 units of electives in your first year) you obviously have to take other classes or repeat SA Radiology.

 

[ShelterGirl]

So I heard that you start choosing electives for the first year based on what track you declare. Have we declared what track yet? On the Accept/Decline page, I picked "Research" for my focus area, but I don't think that's one of the main tracks of Small Animal, Large, Mixed, Equine, or Zoo. Is there a different time we pick?
Anyone know how this works?
And then, does it matter what track you are? For instance, if you declare zoo, would you be unable to find careers in small animal? And finally, can you switch what track you're on throughout vet school?
😕

You don't have to pick your track until end of 2nd year/beginning of 3rd year. The electives you can take during 1st year aren't super-specific, unless you're really into zoo or wildlife & then there are some exotic-specific electives available ... but you can always take those 2nd or 3rd year as well. You should have *some* idea of large vs. small going into winter quarter 2nd year because the core radiology classes split at that time.

It matters a little what track you are - apparently that is how we're sorted in the senior directory that gets published to prospective employers.

There's a ton of flexibility to take classes/clinic rotations that aren't in your track. I'm planning to track small animal, but am taking a lot of equine and exotic electives too.

 

[GeeQued]

Baby horse, right?! 😉

Oh god yes. Although my mare and I are having similar feelings of the idea of being pregnant.

As far as finding out about the colony dog thing, I honestly don't remember how I heard about it, I think they mentioned it in our original handling class and I emailed them about it following the class.

 

[MonkeyLove]

I am going with the tablet (i'm a pc person) and am really excited to be able to write directly on the powerpoint slides! (yes, that kind of thing is exciting to me, I'm nerdy...🙄) I am worried though about lugging around a big laptop all day, does anyone know how much the tablet pc weighs and if the tablet portion adds on a lot of extra mass?

 

[GeeQued]

I dont think they weigh any different than a normal computer, to me the computers seem pretty light.

 

[shelterURIgirl]

ShelterURIgirl: if you dont like the bamboo tablet for MACs, which one do you use?

Sorry for the delay. It was spring break and I was super busy doing absolutely nothing...

Here is a cut/paste from a private message I sent someone regarding the tablet I use. Its super awesome, but I'm a little unhappy with CURIO so I dont use it as much. I'm debating on whether to bite the bullet and purchase the adobe software...

Here it is:
Its called "VisTablet 12-Inch Tablet" and if you search on amazon or google, it pops right up.

The Vistablet is 12 inches wide, so its more applicable to writing as you would on a piece of paper. Keep in mind your tablet is mapped to your screen, so if you have a 6 inch tablet, it gets mapped it to your 12 inch screen so on the tablet it will be really hard to write small... The bamboo is very narrow, so when you write the word "cat" you end up having the size blown up to match your large screen. Its kind of hard to explain.

And yes, your drawings/scribbles show up on your screen in real time. Thats why its so easy to use. When you annotate a piece of paper, you think you are watching your hand but youre not. You think you are, because its in your visual field, but actually you are watching the product of your writing (the scribbles and stuff). If you start to write crooked or outside the lines, you immediately correct that. So using the tablet is the same except that your hand is outside your visual field. However, you really dont notice this at all. Again, its really hard to explain so let me know if this makes no sense.

The tablet plug in is about $100 and the small bamboo pad is also $100 I think. I had a really hard time using the bamboo pad because it was so small. I went to Fry's store to buy the bigger bamboo but the area was also small for the $$$. The Vistablet is missing some functions that the bamboo is known for, but I didn't even notice so I'm glad I took the risk and bought it.

If money was no option, I would have bought the complete adobe software package ($299-399) and the big ass bamboo tablet (wacom intuos med or large size, ranging from $399-499)

But overall the Vistablet runs about $100-$120 and its awesome, so I'm glad I went the cheaper route.

 

[moosenanny]

"VisTablet 12-Inch Tablet"

I have owned mac laptops for the past 6 years and wouldn't dream of switching to a PC. However, I do think I'll be slightly jealous of the tablet functionality.

Thanks for posting this external tablet info. I have a few questions you can hopefully answer (at your convenience). . . Is this the sort of thing I could hold off buying until I get used to taking notes on a computer and evaluate if I'd actually use it (i.e., a week into classes or something?) Or, do you recommend I get one over the summer and start practicing with it? If you think I can hold off, is there any way you'd let me see yours after first-year orientation so that I can see exactly how it works? Obviously meeting up would be way in the future, but I'm just trying to "feel out" the situation . . . How would you recommend buying this tablet? Via amazon.com, at a Best Buy, etc.? Where did you get yours? And finally, I'm a bit confused about the softwear needed. You mentioned something about a rather expensive adobe package. What is this program used for/what would I be missing if I weren't to buy anything other than the $100-or-so tablet by itself?

Thanks so much for responding to these questions. I'm sorry to have so many - please feel free to take your time in responding since I know the first week or so of the new quarter will probably be hectic for you vet students 😉

 

[eventualeventer]

I am going with the tablet (i'm a pc person) and am really excited to be able to write directly on the powerpoint slides! (yes, that kind of thing is exciting to me, I'm nerdy...🙄) I am worried though about lugging around a big laptop all day, does anyone know how much the tablet pc weighs and if the tablet portion adds on a lot of extra mass?

It sounds like the tablet pc is at the low end of laptop weights.
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7602_7-1016082-2.html#tablet

I, too, am excited about being able to write on everything. I'm a huge nerd, though. 😀

 

[quantized]

I never even contemplated the Mac. I'm too much of an old fogey with my personal computers to do anything besides windows or linux....although I guess I could always put solaris on a mac, but whatever. I was amazed at how many people at the U of I info session thought that the iPad was a feasible alternative for a tablet. Talk about a disappointing product that I don't understand why people are buying and that people don't seem to understand....but I digress.

For this weeklong retreat, we spend the night in our own homes correct? ie I don't need to find a petsitter for the cats?

 

[nyanko]

I never even contemplated the Mac. I'm too much of an old fogey with my personal computers to do anything besides windows or linux....although I guess I could always put solaris on a mac, but whatever.

If you are familiar with UNIX operating systems the Mac OS is a breeze to get used to. And you saying you're an old fogey made me think back to the last time I had a Macintosh computer - the first computer my family owned that I learned how to use a computer on was an Apple iie.

For this weeklong retreat, we spend the night in our own homes correct? ie I don't need to find a petsitter for the cats?

7:30 am 🙂() to 8 pm every day according to the 400A link on the welcome website.

 

[quantized]

If you are familiar with UNIX operating systems the Mac OS is a breeze to get used to. And you saying you're an old fogey made me think back to the last time I had a Macintosh computer - the first computer my family owned that I learned how to use a computer on was an Apple iie.

Yeah we had an apple IIgs and then I think a performa 626cd? Something terrible that I sold for $25 via a telnet based interschool forum (which dates that haha). I actually use windows and linux as well cause some of my dork programs will only run in those cause no self respecting person in my field would have a mac 😛

7:30 am to 8 pm every day according to the 400A link on the welcome website.

Ok yay, no paying a petsitter.

 

[nyanko]

Yeah we had an apple IIgs and then I think a performa 626cd? Something terrible that I sold for $25 via a telnet based interschool forum (which dates that haha). I actually use windows and linux as well cause some of my dork programs will only run in those cause no self respecting person in my field would have a mac 😛

Haha telnet based BBSes, awesome. I still remember the transition from those to newsgroups and thinking that newsgroups were like, cutting edge stuff. Now where's my cane; I need to get these goddamn kids off my lawn.

I personally go out of my way to attempt to avoid programs that only run in Windows for my research. My lab PC runs Debian lenny and I built it myself instead of buying from Dell. Bioinformatics is in the stone age though - it's actually criminal how much developers charge for programs that do things that could probably be handled with a collection of scripts. And people actually pay for it! Yikes!

 

[quantized]

Yeah a lot of the proprietary software and peripherals are only windows based. Not much can be done about that cause it's proprietary and all. Only time I've ever seen people with macs in my field is java programmers, who I guess like running solaris through macs.

 

[JustCats]

radssslp--

Did you call admissions today and find out what's going on?

 

[quantized]

On a side note, I've been stalking craigslist and came up with this place: http://www.ellington-apts.com/EllingtonCA/Index.aspx which has a clause in their "pet friendly" page I've never seen before. They had the usual dog breed restrictions and then:

All cats must be de-clawed, unless legally outlawed, male cats neutered and female cats spayed.

I've never seen a place that required declawing before. Insanity!

 

[JustCats]

Shocking, huh? According to a recent email we received from our CVMA student rep: While we do not have the language yet, we’ve been told that Mr. Nava is considering legislation to prohibit housing/condominium type complexes from requiring that pet owners can own only declawed cats or devocalized dogs as a condition of living in the complex.

On a side note, I've been stalking craigslist and came up with this place: http://www.ellington-apts.com/EllingtonCA/Index.aspx which has a clause in their "pet friendly" page I've never seen before. They had the usual dog breed restrictions and then:
I've never seen a place that required declawing before. Insanity!

 

[radssslp]

Thanks for asking Just Cats! I called admissions and they resent the email...all I read was "congratulations"! I really couldn't believe it, I thought there was some mistake that let me log in because I hadn't received the email! My partner and I were both accepted so we will see you all in September!

 

[moosenanny]

Congrats! I know I had to wait a while to hear the news, but certainly not as long as you! Worth the wait, huh? 😀 Can't wait to meet you both in September!

 

[eventualeventer]

Awesome! That's such good news! Congrats!

 

[MonkeyLove]

Congratulations radssslp!!!! 😀

eventualeventer, that website you mentioned says that the tablet is only 4lbs, I like this laptop even more now!

 

[critterologist]

Congrats class of 2014!
For those of you who are looking for housing, I will be looking for a house-mate for next year. I am in the class of 2013, and live in West Davis (15 min bike ride from school). The house is a 3/2, and will be shared with me and my fiancee who is only in town 3 days a week. Rent is $600. You can see some pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48890126@N08/sets/72157623731349300/


You can PM me with any question.
Looking forward to meeting all of you!

 

[nyanko]

This doesn't have much to do with our class but just in case you guys aren't sure..

Class of 2013ers - if you took swabs today in class to swab your cats, after you do it if you can write your name and your cat's name and color on the envelopes that would be appreciated. And print out the form from CERE and fill it out too. Thanks! 🙂

I have a feeling I'll be running all the PCR for those.

 

[shelterURIgirl]

Is this the sort of thing I could hold off buying until I get used to taking notes on a computer and evaluate if I'd actually use it (i.e., a week into classes or something?) Or, do you recommend I get one over the summer and start practicing with it?

Yeah you can definitely hold off and wait. There is no need to practice, everything with the mac and the plug in tablet is super easy and intuitive to use. Also, the first week of classes is very low key, so there is lots of time to adjust to your learning style.

If you think I can hold off, is there any way you'd let me see yours after first-year orientation so that I can see exactly how it works? Obviously meeting up would be way in the future, but I'm just trying to "feel out" the situation . . . How would you recommend buying this tablet? Via amazon.com, at a Best Buy, etc.? Where did you get yours?

Yeah for sure we can meet up. In fact, I will be at the orientation so I will see about perhaps participating in the mac computer class or holding a demo session for anyone who needs help. As far as purchasing, I found that Bestbuy didn't carry the vistablet, and amazon and Fry's were the same price.

And finally, I'm a bit confused about the softwear needed. You mentioned something about a rather expensive adobe package. What is this program used for/what would I be missing if I weren't to buy anything other than the $100-or-so tablet by itself?

I sit next to JustCats and after watching her use the adobe software I could no longer resist--I just bit the bullet today and bought it. If you buy the adobe acrobat software with education pricing (by itself, not with the creative suite package) its only $159 which is totally worth it. Its much better than the free edition "skim". Wait and make sure you purchase the software with the education discount. You can also sign up for a free trial at the beginning of the quarter to see if you like it.

Hope this helps!

 

[moosenanny]

Thanks so much, shelterURIgirl! Your answers were very thorough and extremely helpful! Can't wait to meet during orientation 🙂

 

[rileyroo]

i'm pretty excited about this: SAVMA Symposium 2011

 

[wolfpack87]

Same here rileyroo!

 

[jesiah]

hello guys,

for my interview i had dr. ina, dr. le febvre, and dr. white (?) i'm not exactly sure what the last guy's name was. does he kinda look like a middle aged (perhaps 40s or early 50s?) balding groucho marx? can someone help me out here?

i wanted to write them a thank you note. i know admissions says its unnecessary, but i feel like it's the least i could do for giving me the chance to attend a wonderful school.

i also owe everyone on here a thank you card as well lol, but i'll just buy you guys a drink when i go up there =)

 

[StartingoverVet]

Hmm, I'd totally do bribes - LOLcats, brownies, Dirty Jobs on DVD, anyone?

👍 I approve of this message.

 

[moosenanny]

hello guys,

for my interview i had dr. ina, dr. le febvre, and dr. white (?) i'm not exactly sure what the last guy's name was. does he kinda look like a middle aged (perhaps 40s or early 50s?) balding groucho marx? can someone help me out here?

i wanted to write them a thank you note. i know admissions says its unnecessary, but i feel like it's the least i could do for giving me the chance to attend a wonderful school.

i also owe everyone on here a thank you card as well lol, but i'll just buy you guys a drink when i go up there =)

Hey - this website may or may not help:

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/Faculty.cfm

Some of the faculty have pictures when you click on their link. If Dr. White doesn't have a picture, you can at least read his area of vet med and the classes he teaches, which may prompt your memory . . . I sent thank-you emails right after my interview and used this webpage to look up addresses and double check I spelled everyone's name correctly.

 

[jesiah]

thanks. but could i get the website? =p


edit: nm i think i found it what you were talking about moosenannny

 

[moosenanny]

Haha, yeah there was a second when I actually failed to include the link in my post, but then instantly edited it 🙄

 

[nyanko]

After missing that question in my interview, I, um, put a note in Dr. White's department mailbox with the words 'THAILAND! NOT TURKEY!' and "Thanks for the chat yesterday" on it.

I don't suggest doing something like that, in retrospect.

 

[jesiah]

After missing that question in my interview, I, um, put a note in Dr. White's department mailbox with the words 'THAILAND! NOT TURKEY!' and "Thanks for the chat yesterday" on it.

I don't suggest doing something like that, in retrospect.

lol what question? 😕

what does dr. white look like nyanko? 😕

also, i know i didn't have rowe or leconteur. anyone know who the last interviewer was? 👍

 

[moosenanny]

I had Rowe. Her picture is in this link:

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/jdrowe/

Hope this helps!

 

[badcats]

Jesiah was it Dr. Ima who was your last interviewer?

Also no pic, but I think I found Dr. White's website if you want to take a look.

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/sdwhite/

 

[nyanko]

lol what question? 😕

I mentioned it earlier in the thread but I got asked about the origin of a cat breed and got the study details mixed around in my head and said the breed was from Turkey when it's from Thailand. It wouldn't have been so bad except I literally had talked a whole bunch in my interview about how I've learned to admit when I don't know something and seek help etc. So I have no self control.....

I'm not good at paying enough attention to what people look like to describe people. If I ever had to talk to a sketch artist about a crime they'd never catch the person. He's uhh, sort of short-ish, and like, I think he has dark facial hair?

 

[ekchad]

Hi all,

I'm currently in Davis for a few days. Is anyone interested in getting together? PM me! I'd love to meet fellow SDNers. 🙂

-Ekchad

 

[badcats]

He's uhh, sort of short-ish, and like, I think he has dark facial hair?

I remember that too, and I think he had glasses. His hair was kind of going gray too if that helps.

Honestly, he was probably my most intimidating interviewer all year. I know they say they don't do it on purpose so maybe it is just him, but it made me super nervous during the time we had to wait.

 

[jesiah]

nyanko: o yea i rememeber that now haha.

badcats: i had ina, lefebvre , and i think white. i was just naming the other interviewrs because i remember reading there were 6 people total, so if no one knew what white looked like i could maybe figure out by process of elimination lol

yea i think i had him then...did he look like an aged groucho marx perhaps? but a bit balding?

 

[shelterURIgirl]

I think you are referring to Dr. Mohr. Chuck/Charles Mohr, to be exact. I'm not motivated enough to find a link and post it, but hey hopefully it helps...🙂

 

[nyanko]

Dr. Mohr wasn't on the adcom though. I'm pretty sure it's Dr. White that jesiah is talking about - the other men on the adcom were Dr. Galuppo and Dr. Lecouteur and they don't fit that description at all.

 

[Soyjoy]

Have you guys joined facebook - Davis 2014? The link didn't work for me...

 

[nyanko]

That's odd. Try this link I guess?

 

[Soyjoy]

that works. thanks nyanko..

 

[ekchad]

Anyone looking for a roommate for next year? I am 25 female and have a cat.

Now that I've made my decision, I am super excited. Don't tell me everyone has left this thread!

 

[jesiah]

Dr. Mohr wasn't on the adcom though. I'm pretty sure it's Dr. White that jesiah is talking about - the other men on the adcom were Dr. Galuppo and Dr. Lecouteur and they don't fit that description at all.

yea that's what i needed to know...i didn't have those two, so it's gotta be white. thanks nyanko and everybody else for their helpfulness 😀 TGIT yall!

 

[ColoGirl]

I am 95% sure I am going to be turning down my spot at Davis 🙁 I loved, loved, loved it there... but even with a scholarship the cost was just more than I could stomach. I am hoping that I can do my post-doc there after I finish vet school at CSU. Congrats to everyone that got in and good luck to those on the wait list. I'm sure you are going to have an amazing class!!

I am going to wait to turn in my decision until after tomorrow night. I am buying 10 powerball tickets (which I never do). I figure if I win big then it is meant to be 😀

 

[minikitte]

So how many of us on this thread are waitlisted.....I know me and at least two others right? I can hardly wait for April 15thish to come around!!! I am trying not to think about it too much, but I can't help it. =)

I think that I have counted three people through SDN, from various links that have given up a spot.....so.....let's hope! We need at least 11 (well 8 people now!!) people to give up their spots in order for the waitlist to start moving.

Hears to hoping that Friday brings some good news!!!!!

 

[ZebraFinch]

I'm a waitlister too, and good luck minikitte and Coonie! I want to study at Davis so badly, I was doing really well by channeling my anxiety into studying but now that the week of the 15th is upon us that same old anticipation feeling is creeping back. I went on a tour of Davis last weekend (just like the interviewee workshop) and was reminded of how awesome it is to be a student there, and was also visualizing myself there. Thoughts into reality, right?

And to add more love to the Davis boat (as if we needed any convincing) Picnic Day is on Saturday! I'm ditching my UC's open house to go to Picnic day as it is so fun. I'm going to try to make it to the Doxie derby and the police dog demos, and will probably find a few other events to go to. Does anyone know if the VERT is doing a demo this year? Any SDNers that will be there? I'd love to meet you all and Picnic day would be a great opportunity to do so.

Also, do any former waitlisters know how the alternate process works? Will Davis call if a spot for you opens, or will it be by email? How soon will they start notifying if spots become available? Would it be appropriate for me to call and ask about the waitlist on Friday? Thank you. 🙂

 

[nyanko]

I will most likely be around for picnic day in the afternoon. I had a friend visiting from out of town who was going to come with but he had to have an emergency appendectomy yesterday morning so he might not be able to fly this week.

So I might go play in a hockey tournament I was invited to this weekend instead but I'm not sure...