University of Illinois c/o 2020 Applicants

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Yes, they have Hill's, Purina, and Oxbow if you have exotics. I don't know how to get on the food list though or how much the discount is.
Food list for which company? We also have Lafeber if you're a bird person!

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I have 2 dogs and 1 cat. The cat is on a prescription urinary formula. Any sort of discount would help!!
 
I have 2 dogs and 1 cat. The cat is on a prescription urinary formula. Any sort of discount would help!!
You would just need a written rx from the DVM in order to get the prescription food. Other than that, Hill's is super easy to order. You do it online and it either ships to the school for free or home. Purina I believe is free shipping to your home. I've only done Hill's and Oxbow so that's all I know well haha.

Since you have 3 pets...have you found a place to live yet? We're still struggling to find a 3+ pet friendly home. Maybe you've found something we've missed.
 
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You would just need a written rx from the DVM in order to get the prescription food. Other than that, Hill's is super easy to order. You do it online and it either ships to the school for free or home. Purina I believe is free shipping to your home. I've only done Hill's and Oxbow so that's all I know well haha.

Since you have 3 pets...have you found a place to live yet? We're still struggling to find a 3+ pet friendly home. Maybe you've found something we've missed.
Thanks for the info!! :). I am actually just renting a little one bedroom house with a small fenced in yard. The owner is very pet friendly, so I got really lucky!!
 
So, since registration is open, Ive been looking at the first year courses. I'm still a bit confused as to how the quarter system will work. Do we have an elective for each quarter so it would be 3 a year? Or do we not have an elective during clinicals? Do you know if first years can register for any elective. I know I am probably jumping the gun as we have received no registration instructions yet, but I am so excited to see what we will be doing!!
 
So, since registration is open, Ive been looking at the first year courses. I'm still a bit confused as to how the quarter system will work. Do we have an elective for each quarter so it would be 3 a year? Or do we not have an elective during clinicals? Do you know if first years can register for any elective. I know I am probably jumping the gun as we have received no registration instructions yet, but I am so excited to see what we will be doing!!

By the time you reach your clinical year, you have to have 8 elective credits which is usually equivalent to 8 elective classes. So you don't have to have one every quarter but the sooner you get your electives done, the less worry you have about finishing them in your 3rd year. They should be sending out a list at some point of the electives that you can choose. The only time during the year that you can't take electives are during your clinic quarter.
 
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By the time you reach your clinical year, you have to have 8 elective credits which is usually equivalent to 8 elective classes. So you don't have to have one every quarter but the sooner you get your electives done, the less worry you have about finishing them in your 3rd year. They should be sending out a list at some point of the electives that you can choose. The only time during the year that you can't take electives are during your clinic quarter.
Thanks! That makes sense. I was wondering how they would work during the clinic quarter!
 
By the time you reach your clinical year, you have to have 8 elective credits which is usually equivalent to 8 elective classes. So you don't have to have one every quarter but the sooner you get your electives done, the less worry you have about finishing them in your 3rd year. They should be sending out a list at some point of the electives that you can choose. The only time during the year that you can't take electives are during your clinic quarter.
Do you register for your year's worth of electives at once, or do the spring electives come up at a different time?
 
Do you register for your year's worth of electives at once, or do the spring electives come up at a different time?
You register for an entire semester at a time, even though it's broken up into two quarters. So we just registered for this Fall, all 16 weeks. We will register for next Spring towards the end of this upcoming Fall semester.
 
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Who's the landlord? Maybe we'll look into them
My new landlord is pretty lenient on pets as long as they're not destructive. He has a few other rentals I think coming up if you want his info. I have 3 cats and a big dog if that helps.
 
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My new landlord is pretty lenient on pets as long as they're not destructive. He has a few other rentals I think coming up if you want his info. I have 3 cats and a big dog if that helps.
Yes, please send the info my way! Much appreciated!
 
I have 2 dogs and 1 cat. The cat is on a prescription urinary formula. Any sort of discount would help!!
I work at A&E Animal Hospital and we give discounts to vet students (the clinic owner works at Vet Med as well). I'm not sure how this will compare to what is offered through the school itself, but we're only a few minutes down Windsor road and would love to meet your pets

Edit: we carry Hill's, Royal Canin, and some Purina foods. We have a couple different urinary health foods so there's a good chance we carry yours!
 
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I work at A&E Animal Hospital and we give discounts to vet students (the clinic owner works at Vet Med as well). I'm not sure how this will compare to what is offered through the school itself, but we're only a few minutes down Windsor road and would love to meet your pets

Edit: we carry Hill's, Royal Canin, and some Purina foods. We have a couple different urinary health foods so there's a good chance we carry yours!
Hill's is 50% off, that's the only one I buy from though besides Oxbow.
 
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I work at A&E Animal Hospital and we give discounts to vet students (the clinic owner works at Vet Med as well). I'm not sure how this will compare to what is offered through the school itself, but we're only a few minutes down Windsor road and would love to meet your pets

Edit: we carry Hill's, Royal Canin, and some Purina foods. We have a couple different urinary health foods so there's a good chance we carry yours!

My cat is on the Royal Canin SO Urinary Health food. She eats dry and a small portion of wet every day. I tried to get her on the Hill's, but she wasn't a fan of the wet food. Maybe I will see if she likes the dry and still get her the Royal Canin wet food... That 50% off is great, so whatever I can get them to switch to I will def try! :)
 
My cat is on the Royal Canin SO Urinary Health food. She eats dry and a small portion of wet every day. I tried to get her on the Hill's, but she wasn't a fan of the wet food. Maybe I will see if she likes the dry and still get her the Royal Canin wet food... That 50% off is great, so whatever I can get them to switch to I will def try! :)
We do get Royal Canin discounts! I just don't know how much.
 
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Question for you "seasoned" students... We have the choice to take 2 electives the first half of the first semester (zoomed and contemporary issues are our two options).. What are your thoughts on taking 2 your first semester in vet school? Is it taking on too much too fast? I am signed up for both but having second thoughts...
 
Question for you "seasoned" students... We have the choice to take 2 electives the first half of the first semester (zoomed and contemporary issues are our two options).. What are your thoughts on taking 2 your first semester in vet school? Is it taking on too much too fast? I am signed up for both but having second thoughts...
I took zoo med and there's absolutely no work involved. You guys will have a different professor teaching it but I can't imagine it'll change much. I believe contemporary issues might have had some assignments, but I didn't take it.
 
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I personally am not taking an elective my first semester. I am going to just take it slow to start and get into the swing of things.
 
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I'm taking 3 this Fall, so I should be well on my way to being done before third year unless I decide to take more.

Who plans on being in the Wildlife Clinic!?!
 
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OK, I've thought of a few more questions!! So glad to have you veterans on here to help out!! I was wondering about scrubs for clinicals. Do we have to buy from the school? Also, what are the coveralls we need like? Are they the standard dark blue short sleeved ones that I have seen? Can we buy those on our own? Did you guys buy all your stuff through the ISCAVMA? I see they have a form for us to fill out that has a lot of stuff for clinical on it.

Also, which books did you actually use on the first year list? There are only two required but a bunch recommended...
 
OK, I've thought of a few more questions!! So glad to have you veterans on here to help out!! I was wondering about scrubs for clinicals. Do we have to buy from the school? Also, what are the coveralls we need like? Are they the standard dark blue short sleeved ones that I have seen? Can we buy those on our own? Did you guys buy all your stuff through the ISCAVMA? I see they have a form for us to fill out that has a lot of stuff for clinical on it.

Also, which books did you actually use on the first year list? There are only two required but a bunch recommended...
You can get your scrubs anywhere! Just avoid sets with the names of other hospitals on them (although those would be fine for anatomy lab). The coveralls are these bad boys: http://www.pellavet.com/show_product/?product_id=210 . They definitely don't have to be this bib though, so if you have your own or whatever that's perfectly fine. You can get any and all of the stuff listed on ISCAVMA's form elsewhere, but I found that ISCAVMA usually had better pricing. The surgical pack is probably best purchased through ISCAVMA. I'd also recommend getting a penlight elsewhere, the ones we all got last year sucked.

Edit: Books. I bought all of them because I was an eager beaver. I've only used the two required anatomy ones. I'm going to open up my physio book for renal, but other than that, you can survive without them. I know plenty of people that use them religiously, though. It depends on the kind of learner you are and what you find helpful. There is also an online drive with some of the books on it if you become a little sib.

Edit #2: ISCAVMA recommends two pairs of coveralls. I agree with that, but only for when you're on clinics (you'll get covered in cow **** in one pair, and you can't wear that around another animal so you'd need to change right away). When you're palpating horses, you won't need that second pair. I only bought one, but I did have a day where I needed to change on clinics. Others had no problems with only one pair, so decide what you think is best for you and your wallet.
 
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I've been in the semester system this whole time, so I'm kinda nervous about this quarter system switch how is the quarter system like compared to semester? Do we have different classes each quarter?
 
I've been in the semester system this whole time, so I'm kinda nervous about this quarter system switch how is the quarter system like compared to semester? Do we have different classes each quarter?
It's not a big change, really. Each quarter is 8 weeks. You will probably have a new elective(s) each quarter as a first year. The only difference is that you have a midterm and final in every 8 week period (except the clinics quarter). As a first year, you have anatomy, histo, physio, neuro, imaging all year. Then you have some behavior and nutrition thrown in.
 
OK, I've thought of a few more questions!! So glad to have you veterans on here to help out!! I was wondering about scrubs for clinicals. Do we have to buy from the school? Also, what are the coveralls we need like? Are they the standard dark blue short sleeved ones that I have seen? Can we buy those on our own? Did you guys buy all your stuff through the ISCAVMA? I see they have a form for us to fill out that has a lot of stuff for clinical on it.

Also, which books did you actually use on the first year list? There are only two required but a bunch recommended...
I would use ISCAVMA honestly. You get discounts for being a member on a lot of stuff that goes on during the year and they have everything in one place for you instead of going to track it down. I did buy a second pair of coveralls from Rural King that are insulated. I absolutely love them during the winter, which is when first and second year clinics will be happening. As long as the coveralls don't have another clinic's name on it, they really don't care what kind you have. As far as books, I really only used the anatomy books but a lot of my classmates used the physio and histo books. I took histo in undergrad so I still had the textbook and used it a couple times. Then scrubs, exactly what Pinkpuppy said.
 
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You would just need a written rx from the DVM in order to get the prescription food. Other than that, Hill's is super easy to order. You do it online and it either ships to the school for free or home. Purina I believe is free shipping to your home. I've only done Hill's and Oxbow so that's all I know well haha.

Since you have 3 pets...have you found a place to live yet? We're still struggling to find a 3+ pet friendly home. Maybe you've found something we've missed.
Hi. I am leasing a 4 bedroom 2 bath house with a fenced backyard. The house is super pet friendly. I am bringing 2 dogs and a cat and the landlord said he is fine with more animals living there. I am still looking for 3 more people to live with me. Let me know if you are possibly interested.
 
I'm taking 3 this Fall, so I should be well on my way to being done before third year unless I decide to take more.

Who plans on being in the Wildlife Clinic!?!

I am really interested in volunteering at the Wildlife Clinic. Is that something we have to start applying for right now in terms of completing the online application, getting letters of recommendations, and getting the rabies vaccinations?
 
I'm taking 3 this Fall, so I should be well on my way to being done before third year unless I decide to take more.

Who plans on being in the Wildlife Clinic!?!
How do we do that? I would LOVE to work there!

EDIT: Never mind, I found the website with instructions! Looks like there is plenty of time to apply.
 
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How do we do that? I would LOVE to work there!

EDIT: Never mind, I found the website with instructions! Looks like there is plenty of time to apply.
Those instructions are for undergraduates/graduate students to apply. For veterinary students, you don't have to submit the application on their webpage. They'll have rounds in the first or second week of school where they'll tell you more about the clinic and then you can sign up there.
 
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I am really interested in volunteering at the Wildlife Clinic. Is that something we have to start applying for right now in terms of completing the online application, getting letters of recommendations, and getting the rabies vaccinations?
No, everyone and anyone can do it! You will need to have your rabies series completed to handle any mammals, but you can certainly be on a team and handle birds until that's done. No letters of rec or anything of the sort, at least for veterinary students. You guys will hear a lot about it the first few weeks of school!
 
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No, everyone and anyone can do it! You will need to have your rabies series completed to handle any mammals, but you can certainly be on a team and handle birds until that's done. No letters of rec or anything of the sort, at least for veterinary students. You guys will hear a lot about it the first few weeks of school!
So its not competitive to volunteer there? Anyone who wants to can get in?
 
To all who are interested in WMC: I am the treasurer of the clinic. If you have any specific questions or concerns, you are welcome to ask me. As far as joining, the others who have commented are completely correct. As long as you are a vet student, you don't need to fill out any kind of application. The teams range from 7-9 depending on how many people sign up during that very first rounds. Generally try to have about 20 people in each team so that all shifts can be covered by at least 2 people. YOU MUST COME TO ROUNDS TO SIGN UP! If you don't show, you can't join. We will not let people mid-semester or even quarter sign up. You will have to wait until next year. Rounds are MANDATORY. They are every Tuesday except during finals weeks. You can miss two per SEMESTER. There's make-up rounds every Thursday evening. This is a major time commitment, and it's ok if you find you can't handle the extra work. It can get pretty crazy, but you have to let your team leaders know if you start to get overwhelmed. Most the time they will try to work with you and help you make it more manageable. During the winter, it's pretty mellow but right now my team is spending 2-2.5 hours per treatment taking care of all of our patients. That's on top of our pager and orphan feeding shifts that alternate every week. I literally spent 12 hours on pager (i.e. on call) this weekend because most people left for various reasons and I had the free time to do it. Our team is currently on orphan feedings which means we are responsible for feeding all the babies in the clinic at set times, not just the babies our team has. In general, you can spend anywhere from 8-20 hours a week in the clinic depending on what's going on. This is a lot of work, but teaches you a lot of extremely useful skills. You get very good at drug doses, restraint, fluid calculations, tube feeding, anesthesia, reading radiographs, bandaging, cleaning wounds, and sometimes you can perform surgeries depending on what's going on. I don't want to scare anyone away by showcasing how much work it is, but please be realistic about it. I don't want anyone getting stressed out over being in clinic because of false expectations.
 
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To all who are interested in WMC: I am the treasurer of the clinic. If you have any specific questions or concerns, you are welcome to ask me. As far as joining, the others who have commented are completely correct. As long as you are a vet student, you don't need to fill out any kind of application. The teams range from 7-9 depending on how many people sign up during that very first rounds. Generally try to have about 20 people in each team so that all shifts can be covered by at least 2 people. YOU MUST COME TO ROUNDS TO SIGN UP! If you don't show, you can't join. We will not let people mid-semester or even quarter sign up. You will have to wait until next year. Rounds are MANDATORY. They are every Tuesday except during finals weeks. You can miss two per SEMESTER. There's make-up rounds every Thursday evening. This is a major time commitment, and it's ok if you find you can't handle the extra work. It can get pretty crazy, but you have to let your team leaders know if you start to get overwhelmed. Most the time they will try to work with you and help you make it more manageable. During the winter, it's pretty mellow but right now my team is spending 2-2.5 hours per treatment taking care of all of our patients. That's on top of our pager and orphan feeding shifts that alternate every week. I literally spent 12 hours on pager (i.e. on call) this weekend because most people left for various reasons and I had the free time to do it. Our team is currently on orphan feedings which means we are responsible for feeding all the babies in the clinic at set times, not just the babies our team has. In general, you can spend anywhere from 8-20 hours a week in the clinic depending on what's going on. This is a lot of work, but teaches you a lot of extremely useful skills. You get very good at drug doses, restraint, fluid calculations, tube feeding, anesthesia, reading radiographs, bandaging, cleaning wounds, and sometimes you can perform surgeries depending on what's going on. I don't want to scare anyone away by showcasing how much work it is, but please be realistic about it. I don't want anyone getting stressed out over being in clinic because of false expectations.
Agree with everything. Probably from August-February, my team had minimal work (most of our patients ended up dying/being euthanized within a day or two). Once baby season starts, the clinic has at least several groups of babies. Right now we have well over 30 neonates That need to be fed multiple times a day. For my last pager shift of 2 hours, I ended up being in the clinic for three because we had 10 cases come in within 30 minutes. That was the day before my midterm. The one thing about the clinic is that "I can't, I have a test tomorrow" isn't going to work. You might be able to get your teammates to switch with you, but you have to keep your commitment or you can't participate, and we're very strict about that.

I also want to emphasize that it's not just for people interested in exotics/zoo/wildlife. Out of my team leaders this year, we had a future dairy vet, an equine person, and someone who wants GP. The skills you develop at the clinic are widely applicable. I also have benefited from the knowledge I've gained in my classes, especially neuro. Your team leaders can teach you quite a lot. It can be overwhelming at first, even if you have wildlife experience (I came in with quite a bit, but had never made my own medical decisions before), but you'll get more comfortable in time.

Last note: If you choose to participate, be open. Don't come in with "Well at my old rehab place..." or "Look at how many things I've done!" kind of attitude. Sharing ideas is wonderful, but being obnoxious isn't!
 
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Hi Everyone! Congrats to everyone starting vet school this year! I will be an incoming intern at UIUC this June. I have a 3 bedroom/1.5 bedroom house that I am looking to fill 2 bedrooms. Rent will be $400 per month (not including utilities). I have two lovable dogs that will be coming with me. Two rescues (45 lb) that are well-trained and love people. They are pretty much the only two pets allowed on the lease so I can't have any other dogs or cats. The house is 4 miles from the vet school in Champaign. It's pretty much a straight shot down one main road. If you are interested in more information or pictures please message me, find me on FB, or email me at [email protected] . I am moving from California in June, since my internship starts June 16th. I have never lived anywhere, but California so I am a bit nervous about real weather. Also, I am always open to questions from anyone about vet school or anything else. I enjoy mentoring students and helping with pre-veterinary clubs.
 
So... not trying to start any rumors... but my friend who is currently a vet student here told me today that the incoming class of 2020 has been confirmed to be about 180 students... not sure if I believe this but was wondering if anyone could find out if this is true.. that seems like a lot
 
So... not trying to start any rumors... but my friend who is currently a vet student here told me today that the incoming class of 2020 has been confirmed to be about 180 students... not sure if I believe this but was wondering if anyone could find out if this is true.. that seems like a lot

I heard the same. I'm hoping the school will come up with a good solution to this and contact the c/o 2020 students asap.
 
I personally haven't heard anything about your class size but I also know that the ISCAVMA peeps are going to personally talk to the dean about it and report back to the classes.
 
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I heard the same. I'm hoping the school will come up with a good solution to this and contact the c/o 2020 students asap.
I've heard that some vet schools in the past have offered In State tuition to OOS kids in exchange for a year of deferment. Does anybody know if UIUC would do this or have in the past?
 
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So... not trying to start any rumors... but my friend who is currently a vet student here told me today that the incoming class of 2020 has been confirmed to be about 180 students... not sure if I believe this but was wondering if anyone could find out if this is true.. that seems like a lot
I personally haven't heard anything about your class size but I also know that the ISCAVMA peeps are going to personally talk to the dean about it and report back to the classes.
It is confirmed at 182 by the dean and other faculty. The school is undergoing tons and tons of meeting as we speak to figure out how to handle this, as they don't want to ask anyone to defer unless they have to I imagine. There is one classroom that can fit that number at this time, so that's not the issue. However, BOTH new classrooms are "guaranteed" to be completed this summer (for a while, it was only certain that one would be done). They will still only fit 150, so I don't think 180 is going to be the new class size forever. You guys will just be in LAC100 all three years unless you guys drop down to 150 by August.

Also, if your friend is who I think it is, several of us made a point to her that she shouldn't spread this because the school really needs to be the source of this news for the incoming class ;) Rumors at this stage will only cause harm and panic, as this is a new situation and we're about to have the biggest veterinary class in history by accident (I think the next biggest is 160 at Ohio?). This class size brings up a lot of concerns with the anatomy lab, teaching hospital room capacities, etc. From what I know, grant proposals are being written as we speak and people are trying to figure this all out. I do think that the school overaccepted more than usual, and it may have been due to fear that we'd end up with a too-small class due to the budget crisis and faculty leaving. That's 100% theory.

Your class size was intended to be 130, although I heard rumors of 150 months ago before you guys even interviewed. Frankly, if you want to attend this school, don't be pressured to drop/accept a waitlist offer if you don't want to. Some current students are thinking that you guys will start abandoning ship if they spread the 180 number, and I think that's absolutely not their place to do this. Let the school communicate with you when the proper people have reached some sort of plan. If potentially being 1 of 182 is not something you're okay with, then by all means pursue any other options you have.
I've heard that some vet schools in the past have offered In State tuition to OOS kids in exchange for a year of deferment. Does anybody know if UIUC would do this or have in the past?
Too early to say. With the financial situation of the school/state, I imagine they're going to try their best to keep as many OOS students with OOS tuition as they can. I'm sure this option will be discussed, though. I probably would have taken it with minimal to no thought.
 
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180... Thats crazy!

Too early to say. With the financial situation of the school/state, I imagine they're going to try their best to keep as many OOS students with OOS tuition as they can. I'm sure this option will be discussed, though. I probably would have taken it with minimal to no thought.

I know you mentioned that you were thinking that school over accepted to avoid having a smaller class due to budget cuts. In general, that's not scaring students away at all it seems. LSU has a completely full class without over accepting, and they're actually considering expanding future classes to 120 and making all new seats OOS. They for sure want to draw in that higher tuition. Just remember it keeps them from hiking it for everyone :D
 
180... Thats crazy!



I know you mentioned that you were thinking that school over accepted to avoid having a smaller class due to budget cuts. In general, that's not scaring students away at all it seems. LSU has a completely full class without over accepting, and they're actually considering expanding future classes to 120 and making all new seats OOS. They for sure want to draw in that higher tuition. Just remember it keeps them from hiking it for everyone :D
No, I think the school over-accepted because they were concerned the fact that we have NO budget would end up driving people away and we'd have less than 130 people accept. LSU also wasn't forced into having lectures in the anatomy or path labs, and you guys didn't have chains on doors because the classrooms were deserted halfway through construction. You also didn't have hospital services lose their space because of the budget halt. Luckily for that service they found a room. It was a legit concern that people may avoid the school. We STILL don't have a budget. The dean has now estimated November. This isn't just budget 'cuts,' that's the thing. No public school in the entire state has any sort of state budget. I can 't emphasize this enough. It's not "Oh, we'll have to be a little cheap here or there." It's "How long can we continue to pay our staff? If we run out of cash reserves, how long can we function on donations/tuition funds?"

One university is predicting they will close within the next few weeks. They cancelled spring break so they could complete their semester a week earlier because they're down to that little of money. U of I is big enough to function on donations and endowments for a while. The next concern is that this sh*tshow of a budget crisis will drop enrollment for all the schools in the coming years, further screwing with finances. Students didn't receive their grants, and some people won't enroll for classes if they don't have those grants. The veterinary school itself has to foot the bill for however many hundreds of thousands of dollars it will cost to finish our two classrooms, possibly our CSLC, possibly our zoo med service's space. Will the state ever repay us? Maybe. But they'd need a budget for that so....
 
Do you guys still have the unofficial FB page you created for the c/o 2020? I can't find it on FB.
 
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