University of Florida vs. University of Minnesota

[ratgirl345]

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Hey guys, I am just looking for some peoples opinions as I am sort of at a loss. Last week I found out that I got into UF after being placed on the waitlist, and I was totally ecstatic. Now, today, I found out that I have also been taken off the waitlist at UMN. I am now sort of lost between the two. I am interested in primarily equine medicine, but I also have some interest in wildlife and conservation medicine which I know is great in Florida, but I know Minnesota has a great equine sports medicine program.

I am just writing this to see whether anyone had any insight, or opinions or pros/cons for both schools. I only have until Friday to decide! I am also from NY so tuition does not really vary much between the two for me.

Thanks for you time!

 

[KCgophervet]

First thought for biggest difference between the two?

The weather. It's cold here most of the time (though if you're from NY you're more used to it I assume).

Otherwise I know nothing about UF.

I think UMN has a pretty decent equine program (not being equine-interested in the slightest it's hard for me to really judge that, but I personally think we spend far too much time on horses 😛). UMN's SCAAEP is pretty active, there's the equine center, and a lot of the large animal stuff we do is very equine-heavy. Otherwise, if you have specific questions about UMN feel free to ask, it's hard to know what you're looking for.

 

[ADM1220]

OOS Florida tuition is $182k. OOS Minnesota tuition is $220k. Check out the "Estimated Costs of Vet School" thread and the spreadsheet that was recently posted. The VIN cost of education map link is also there. While it may not seem like a lot of money now, the interest from 10-20 years of repayment is substantial. Go with the cheaper option!

 

[Cyndia]

I'm biased, but I love UF! I actually grew up in Minnesota, and while I did love it there, I got tired of the snow after I did my undergrad in NY and wanted to move to warmer weather. I'm not personally an equine person, but our program here is pretty strong. There's a big horse community nearby in Ocala, so you get some pretty good opportunities, and SCAEEP is really active. We've also got a colic team you can participate in, and decent facilities. Also I don't know how the UMN curriculum is set up, but at UF we have two years in the classroom, go into clinics from May of our second year until January of our third year, return to the classroom for the second half of third year/first half of fourth year (which is when you take the NAVLE, so it's nice that we have a light schedule to focus on studying versus being in clinics), then return to clinics for your last semester. That was a big draw for me since I liked that we could return to the classroom after completing some of our rotations, I've heard it makes some of the information just click so much better.

Aside from that, I mainly just agree with ADM. The money is SO important, and if you can pay less while still being satisfied by attending a school, go for that option.

Also there is a pros/cons thread about schools floating around somewhere, I would check that out to see some of the things that were previously listed about UF and UMN. Otherwise if you have some more specific UF questions, feel free to post or PM me and I can try my best to answer them.

 

[nziqigog]

you have some more specific UF questions, feel free to post or PM me and I can try my best to answer them.