UF (IS) vs UPenn (OOS)

[PBoleman]

Hello, everyone! I feel like I am facing one of the hardest decisions of my life right now. I got into both UPenn and UF. UPenn has been my dream school for so many years, and turning them down will be so difficult. On the other side of that, UF will be nearly half of the cost. My goal in vet med is to pursue clinical research, specifically bacteriophage therapy. I know both schools are top 10 with a lot of research and OneHealth opportunities, but I know Penn is very research focused. I am leaning very heavily towards UF due to cost and also the ability to stay close to my support systems, but I don,t want to regret my decision. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have!

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[Georgethecat]

Feel good about being accepted to your dream school, but I'd choose UF for all of the reasons you've already listed. At the end of the day, the lower debt load you are carrying will give you more freedom to choose the career options you want and a better quality of life with less stress on how you'll be paying the debt off.

 

[pp9]

Agreed with UF for cost alone. I'd also wonder if a DVM/PhD would be in your best interest given your career goals.

Any vet school with permanent faculty and a teaching hospital is doing research, and personally I don't think there is one school that is above the rest when it comes to research. There is no guarantee that you'll get to participate in research whilst in school, either, so I wouldn't suggest anyone choose a school based on that.

Edit: The research may not be as niche as phage therapy, of course, but all established vet schools do research of some sort.