Undergraduate help!

[mcmk]

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I'm currently a freshmen at University of Oregon and have decided I want to be a vet...i've always wanted to do it but have recently just decided to really go for it. My first choice for vet school is UC Davis. I know how competitive getting into vet school is and i'm concerned that staying at Oregon and majoring in biology may hinder my chances of getting into Davis...I don't think Oregon is as strong in science as other colleges. At this point i'm so confused about which route to take...should I:

1) Stay at Oregon and major in Biology (will it affect my chances?)

2) Stay at Oregon and transfer to Davis junior year to finish my undergrad work

3) Go to a community college in California (where i'm from) and transfer to Davis junior year to finish my undergrad work

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dsmoody23]

I'm currently a freshmen at University of Oregon and have decided I want to be a vet...i've always wanted to do it but have recently just decided to really go for it. My first choice for vet school is UC Davis. I know how competitive getting into vet school is and i'm concerned that staying at Oregon and majoring in biology may hinder my chances of getting into Davis...I don't think Oregon is as strong in science as other colleges. At this point i'm so confused about which route to take...should I:

1) Stay at Oregon and major in Biology (will it affect my chances?)

2) Stay at Oregon and transfer to Davis junior year to finish my undergrad work

3) Go to a community college in California (where i'm from) and transfer to Davis junior year to finish my undergrad work

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Worry about your grades, your experience, your veterinary contacts and your GRE.

Unless you're coming from the Ivy League, I haven't seen much evidence on this board to indicate that school choice impacts much of anything in the admissions process.

If you can get your pre-reqs done at a nice, cheap, middle of the road school, do that.

Totally my opinion, but if you cruise the 'accepted stats' thread you'll see where I'm coming from.

 

[Cypress]

Contact UC Davis and ask them - most admissions offices are very helpful to potential applicants and are willing to set up a meeting to discuss your options and your application.

 

[2CatMatt]

If you're from California, your residency likely won't change based on where you go to undergrad. UC Davis will still be your in-state school, so you should do your undergrad where you would be the most happy, where it's the cheapest and/or the easiest option for you. If that is Oregon, it won't affect your chances.

I agree with DS Moody, where you do your pre-reqs don't really matter as long as the upper division classes are at a 4-year institution...and some schools might not even care about that. You should call each school to confirm. I had an admissions person explicitly tell me to go to the cheapest place I could, for what it's worth.

 

[moosenanny]

Just make sure you don't accidentally lose your CA residency. I am a CA resident but attended undergrad in Missouri. I had a heck of a time proving that I was still a CA resident when it came to in state tuition at Davis. My only real "hit" was that I had registered to vote in Missouri, but otherwise I had never paid taxes, hadn't changed my driver's license, hadn't paid utilities or rent in Missouri, etc. I had to send in a bunch of forms to prove my residency (tax returns, copy of my driver's license, a voucher letter from my undergrad stating my permanent address had been CA all along, etc.). Just something to keep in the back of your mind . . .

 

[twelvetigers]

Would it have been easier if you had voted absentee? That's a thought. Knowing in advance what do do (or not to do) would make it easier.

 

[moosenanny]

Would it have been easier if you had voted absentee? That's a thought. Knowing in advance what do do (or not to do) would make it easier.

Yes, that probably would have helped. Honestly I never thought it would have been a problem since CA has always been my permanent address, and I didn't really change anything other than registering to vote for the first time in Missouri (as you well see from my above post).

I think it comes down to California wanting to squeeze out every last penny they can from people . . . plus the "Residency Lady" must have been in a bad mood when we communicated back and forth on the phone because once I was approved for IS tutition she acted like that was going to be the outcome all along - meanwhile she had given my parents and me a heart attack over potentially shelling out an additional $10K

 

[Minnerbelle]

For Davis though, as long as the OP is still under 24, it's parental residency that counts right?

 

[moosenanny]

For Davis though, as long as the OP is still under 24, it's parental residency that counts right?

?? I was barely 22 when I started vet school.

Obviously it worked out for me (being IS) - not sure how much my parents had to do with the determination. I had to send in a lot of documents, including some of their information too.

 

[Minnerbelle]

?? I was barely 22 when I started vet school.

Interesting. I def had long talks with the residency officer at Davis about my weird convoluted CA/international/MA/Domestic but no state residency issues. And that's one of the few things that was made clear to me at the time... Perhaps I was talking to a dud.