University of Minnesota c/o 2025

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bellaj11 said:
Wanted to offer some encouragement to those waitlisted. I was waitlisted at #12 IS last year and got my call of acceptance very close to the start of the school year. Never give up hope to those on the waitlist-you never know how things will turn out! Congrats to everyone who was accepted today🐾
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@bellaj11 is awesome and literally one of my favorite classmates, good luck to those on the wait list - SN

vetsquared said:
Many questions forthcoming for current students!

-Where do most students live? I’m all excited now and have been scouring the internet looking at apartments, but since I’m OOS I don’t really know the neighborhoods/good areas. Do people live in Minneapolis? In St. Paul? In the burbs in between them near the school? Would it be insane of me to want to live downtown? Google tells me it takes about 10 minutes to drive from downtown Minneapolis to the St. Paul campus, which for me is like nothing! But as we know, Google isn’t always the most reliable lol

-What is the car + snow situation? I have a Prius which is two wheel drive, so I’m a bit worried it won’t cut it in such a snowy place. However, my reference for this is living in Seattle, which is terribly prepared for snow and has like one snow plow per city. If we get 1/2 inch of snow, the whole metro area shuts down and people literally die driving in those conditions! I assume that you guys have enough snow plows to actually plow the streets and you don’t need a 4WD car to make it safely down the block?

-Can anyone shed light on the grading policy? Is it standard A/B/C/D/F, pass/fail, or...? Also obviously nobody wants to be in the position of failing a class, but what is the cutoff for failing a class and what happens if you do? Do you have to repeat the class, or the term, or the year? Do you get dismissed from the school if you get a certain grade? I know this varies sooo widely across schools, but I’ve seen horror stories on here so I’d like to know what I’m getting into and I haven’t been able to find this information online
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As mentioned by others, pass/fail has been utilized, especially in first year, they continued with the first semester being almost entirely pass/fail. Second semester is currently a mix, but they're extremely fair considering the circumstances of 2020/2021 (outside factors/non-school-related).

SnowJ said:
There will be an official Facebook set up by upperclassmen student reps, but that might not happen until closer to the required acceptance date
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This was true for my class (2024), though we are a bit different than the other years (2023,2022,2021), as we do not use facebook as our primary social platform for school (though it is still quite useful in its own right). Our Discord server is easily 100x more active. This is primarily because Discord allows for us to have channels (see picture) for more organized online communication (since we started vet school with many classes being entirely online). We'd love for c/o 2025 members to join the Discord server too! Please direct message me here and I'll send you an invite 🙂
 

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Can anyone tell me if Minnesota does terminal surgeries and if so, are the optional for vet students?
 
Kickboxer158 said:
Can anyone tell me if Minnesota does terminal surgeries and if so, are the optional for vet students?
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I do remember them mentioning it during 1st year, but I don't know about optional or not. COVID has messed with a lot, so while I personally never had to do (or even opt-in to) a terminal surgery I don't know if that is always the case.
It's also possible that it's part of the large animal track, which I am not part of.

I think if its still in the curriculum there is only one terminal surgery, and it is for cattle so it may be LA only.
 
SnowJ said:
I do remember them mentioning it during 1st year, but I don't know about optional or not. COVID has messed with a lot, so while I personally never had to do (or even opt-in to) a terminal surgery I don't know if that is always the case.
It's also possible that it's part of the large animal track, which I am not part of.

I think if its still in the curriculum there is only one terminal surgery, and it is for cattle so it may be LA only.
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It's optional and only for one specific large animal rotation. The cattle are then used for the anatomy cadavers, I believe. Otherwise there aren't any. @Kickboxer158 If you email [email protected], they'll be able to give you more info!

All of the core surgery labs are either cadavers or the spay/neuter surgeries on the shelter animals, which are very much not terminal! I'm still regretting not adopting my group's first spay cat, tbh. I think like 60% of my class adopted either their spay or neuter cat :laugh:
 
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supershorty said:
It's optional and only for one specific rotation. The cattle are then used for the anatomy cadavers, I believe. Otherwise there aren't any. @Kickboxer158 If you email [email protected], they'll be able to give you more info!

All of the core surgery labs are either cadavers or the spay/neuter surgeries on the shelter animals, which are very much not terminal! I'm still regretting not adopting my group's first spay cat, tbh. I think like 60% of my class adopted either their spay or neuter cat :laugh:
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I really wanted to adopt my big dingus neuter, but my husband (and my apartment) said no 🙁
He got adopted super fast though so I know he's got a good home.

A lot of our spay/neuters got adopted! I know of at least 2 in our little pod
 
SnowJ said:
I really wanted to adopt my big dingus neuter, but my husband (and my apartment) said no 🙁
He got adopted super fast though so I know he's got a good home.

A lot of our spay/neuters got adopted! I know of at least 2 in our little pod
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My group had 2 neuters and one group member adopted one, the other got adopted by someone else in the hospital I think. Not sure if either of our spay cats got adopted right away, but I think so. Our first one was just so sweet.
 
I'm kidding, I assume they'd work it out in a civilized manner.
We did have contract grading in one class where there was a customized rubric according to how your group said you would work out conflict, and my group DID put that we would fight to the death, and received a rubric that accounted for that. I'll have to see if I can find the picture I took of it. We had to grade each other a few times during the semester, I think.

1614049998351.png
 
sbrider12 said:
What happens if two people from a group want to adopt the same cat?
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There are so many good cats that are in the spay/neuter labs that if you and your partner both love your cat then I am certain that there will be another group trying to get someone to adopt their cat because they cant

Though I love the idea of students fighting to death over it, that's a great suggestion
 
supershorty said:
It's optional and only for one specific large animal rotation. The cattle are then used for the anatomy cadavers, I believe. Otherwise there aren't any. @Kickboxer158 If you email [email protected], they'll be able to give you more info!

All of the core surgery labs are either cadavers or the spay/neuter surgeries on the shelter animals, which are very much not terminal! I'm still regretting not adopting my group's first spay cat, tbh. I think like 60% of my class adopted either their spay or neuter cat :laugh:
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Thank you!! Great info. I am not entirely sure how i feel about terminal surgery but I just wanted to make sure that I have a choice (was accepted to Minnesota, and i love thier program!!)
 
SnowJ said:
I do remember them mentioning it during 1st year, but I don't know about optional or not. COVID has messed with a lot, so while I personally never had to do (or even opt-in to) a terminal surgery I don't know if that is always the case.
It's also possible that it's part of the large animal track, which I am not part of.

I think if its still in the curriculum there is only one terminal surgery, and it is for cattle so it may be LA only.
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Thank you!!
 
Kickboxer158 said:
Thank you!! Great info. I am not entirely sure how i feel about terminal surgery but I just wanted to make sure that I have a choice (was accepted to Minnesota, and i love thier program!!)
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I’m happy to talk more over PM if you want. 🙂
 
Hey everyone! So, I was accepted to the SDSU and Minnesota 2+2 program and am having a hard time deciding between this and attending Midwestern in AZ. Can anyone offer information or advice? What do you like and not like about UMN? What’s the housing like? I’ve never lived in a big city before, so that idea does make me a bit nervous when I end up at UMN.
 
mmm032 said:
Hey everyone! So, I was accepted to the SDSU and Minnesota 2+2 program and am having a hard time deciding between this and attending Midwestern in AZ. Can anyone offer information or advice? What do you like and not like about UMN? What’s the housing like? I’ve never lived in a big city before, so that idea does make me a bit nervous when I end up at UMN.
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Depending on where you live, you can really choose whether to get that city feeling or not. If you live by the St Paul campus, it really doesn't feel like a city at all. But if you WANT that city vibe, Minneapolis and St Paul are both commutable. There are a lot of apartments and houses available for rent in the immediate vicinity of the vet school.

I've been super happy during my time here and am glad that I chose to come here. I love the program and the people within it. With that said, I'd urge you to consider the financial aspect - which school will be less expensive for you to attend?
 
supershorty said:
Depending on where you live, you can really choose whether to get that city feeling or not. If you live by the St Paul campus, it really doesn't feel like a city at all. But if you WANT that city vibe, Minneapolis and St Paul are both commutable. There are a lot of apartments and houses available for rent in the immediate vicinity of the vet school.

I've been super happy during my time here and am glad that I chose to come here. I love the program and the people within it. With that said, I'd urge you to consider the financial aspect - which school will be less expensive for you to attend?
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Haha, unfortunately they’ll both average out to nearly the same. Midwestern at first appears to be about $20000 cheaper, but the cost of housing for SDSU evens it out to being only a max of 5000 difference. So really my concern is deciding between a campus that is super small and quiet, or a huge campus in a city🤷‍♀️
 
mmm032 said:
Haha, unfortunately they’ll both average out to nearly the same. Midwestern at first appears to be about $20000 cheaper, but the cost of housing for SDSU evens it out to being only a max of 5000 difference. So really my concern is deciding between a campus that is super small and quiet, or a huge campus in a city🤷‍♀️
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The vet school at MN really doesn't feel like this, IMO, but hopefully the other current students will chime in too with their thoughts.
 
supershorty said:
The vet school at MN really doesn't feel like this, IMO, but hopefully the other current students will chime in too with their thoughts.
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Agreed. The vet school is on the St. Paul campus, which is much smaller than the Minneapolis campus. And considering you basically live in what, 3 buildings on the campus for the 4 years of vet school it feels even smaller 🙂

Having lived in the Cities as well as Chicago, I can confidently say that the Twin Cities are much less "city-feeling" than true big cities. Everything is still pretty spaced out, there's lots of green spaces, and commuting is not nearly as bad as it was in Chicago (though might be worse if you rely on public transit...).
 
KCgophervet said:
Agreed. The vet school is on the St. Paul campus, which is much smaller than the Minneapolis campus. And considering you basically live in what, 3 buildings on the campus for the 4 years of vet school it feels even smaller 🙂

Having lived in the Cities as well as Chicago, I can confidently say that the Twin Cities are much less "city-feeling" than true big cities. Everything is still pretty spaced out, there's lots of green spaces, and commuting is not nearly as bad as it was in Chicago (though might be worse if you rely on public transit...).
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Okay! That does make me feel a lot better! How’s parking like? And is there any on campus housing available? Just trying to get an idea of how those two years will be as well
 
mmm032 said:
Okay! That does make me feel a lot better! How’s parking like? And is there any on campus housing available? Just trying to get an idea of how those two years will be as well
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Parking depends on how much $ you want to spend vs. how far you're willing to walk. There is some free street parking that's a bit of a hike, then some lots that are on the cheaper side and just a shortish walk, and then there's the parking ramp that is the priciest option but super close (and covered). Personally I biked when the weather was good, occasionally took a bus and walked, parked on the street when I woke up early enough, and parked in the lots when I was running later. 4th year for clinics I bought a parking pass in the ramp and "rented it out" to other students for the weeks I was off-campus which worked fairly well.

I think most people rent apartments in the area. I'm not really sure what on campus options are available for grad students - I think there's a family housing complex just south of the campus but I didn't really look into it. I rented with a roommate for the first two years in a place right next to the Como zoo - ~1.5 miles from campus. It was a decent apartment and worked well. The last two years I moved in with my boyfriend/fiancé/(now husband) in the suburbs and had to commute in. I had to get up earlier but it was doable (and obviously a life choice I don't regret).
 
Anyone have experience using a Macbook in vet school? Is it confusing switching back and forth from word or does it work well with assignments ? Leaning towards apple but some people have differing opinions on it.
 
mmm032 said:
Okay! That does make me feel a lot better! How’s parking like? And is there any on campus housing available? Just trying to get an idea of how those two years will be as well
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Most of the on-campus housing that would be relevant for grad students is on the other campus, or that family housing complex (which I also havent looked into much). Most people rent houses or apartments in the area together to save costs.
KCgopher summarized parking pretty well. Ill add that getting into the parking ramp right next to campus isnt technically guaranteed because contracts are determined by lottery, but I have gotten it every time I've tried. The parking lot a little cheaper and further always has open spots, so if you want a parking contract you'll be able to get one on the St Paul campus no problem

Edit to add: St Paul campus absolutely does not feel like a big city space. Minneapolis campus can, but you will pretty much never be over there.
 
I will say that I’ve sprung for the ramp parking most semesters even though it’s more expensive because I am a big huge baby about cleaning snow and ice off my car when it’s gross out, and between that and the shorter walk, it’s been worth the extra money for me. Your mileage may vary if you’re not a wimp like I am 😂
 
supershorty said:
I will say that I’ve sprung for the ramp parking most semesters even though it’s more expensive because I am a big huge baby about cleaning snow and ice off my car when it’s gross out, and between that and the shorter walk, it’s been worth the extra money for me. Your mileage may vary if you’re not a wimp like I am 😂
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I went for the ramp 2nd year and never looked back. It's just so much nicer
 
Have any IS applicants who were offered an acceptance, declined their seat? I am sure many are waiting til later in March to make a decision but the wait til April 15th is too far away....
 
officially accepted my offer today! I hadn’t committed yet because I was still deciding between schools. Also I wanted to know more about the financials but literally no one is going to be sending anything out until after the decision deadline so 🤷‍♀️

any recommendations on apartments (studio/1BR) or at least neighborhoods near school that are in safer area for a female living alone?

@csartain7 I used a Mac for my whole undergrad and post-bacc and never had any issues in terms of compatibility.
 
csartain7 said:
Anyone have experience using a Macbook in vet school? Is it confusing switching back and forth from word or does it work well with assignments ? Leaning towards apple but some people have differing opinions on it.
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I have classmates using primarily a Macbook, and I have classmates primarily using PC laptops. Personally, I would choose between Mac OS and Windows operating system based on which you're most familiar because you will likely need to troubleshoot your own device eventually.

mmm032 said:
Haha, unfortunately they’ll both average out to nearly the same. Midwestern at first appears to be about $20000 cheaper, but the cost of housing for SDSU evens it out to being only a max of 5000 difference. So really my concern is deciding between a campus that is super small and quiet, or a huge campus in a city🤷‍♀️
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I was lucky to tour both UMN (as an OOS applicant) and Midwestern last cycle during my interviews at each, and Midwestern does have a very nice and new facility. For me UMN hit more of my priorities, but the faculty and facility of Midwestern as a newer program were attractive, and it's possible they've adapted the newer, more pliable, program to fit the current public health aspects of education during COVID in beneficial ways for their program. As a UMN student, I couldn't begin to comment further on Midwestern and it would likely be worthwhile to ask current students there your questions as well.

When I applied last cycle, Midwestern (a private school) was the most expensive option out of many, did they radically change their tuition costs in response to COVID?

Sorry to thread hijack, I am only wondering because my direct experience, one year removed, differs from this statement (that Midwestern was cheaper than UMN or SDSU/UMN 2+2 option). In reviewing both programs sites and Veterinary Information Network, I still see Midwestern as the more expensive option, both in looking at tuition only and cost of attendance.

Am I missing something (did Midwestern offer you a scholarship)? Of course, I am a biased investigator (as a UMN student), but this seems like objective information.
 
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sbrider12 said:
I have classmates using primarily a Macbook, and I have classmates primarily using PC laptops. Personally, I would choose between Mac OS and Windows operating system based on which you're most familiar because you will likely need to troubleshoot your own device eventually.



I was lucky to tour both UMN (as an OOS applicant) and Midwestern last cycle during my interviews at each, and Midwestern does have a very nice and new facility. For me UMN hit more of my priorities, but the faculty and facility of Midwestern as a newer program were attractive, and it's possible they've adapted the newer, more pliable, program to fit the current public health aspects of education during COVID in beneficial ways for their program. As a UMN student, I couldn't begin to comment further on Midwestern and it would likely be worthwhile to ask current students there your questions as well.

When I applied last cycle, Midwestern (a private school) was the most expensive option out of many, did they radically change their tuition costs in response to COVID?

Sorry to thread hijack, I am only wondering because my direct experience, one year removed, differs from this statement (that Midwestern was cheaper than UMN or SDSU/UMN 2+2 option). In reviewing both programs sites and Veterinary Information Network, I still see Midwestern as the more expensive option, both in looking at tuition only and cost of attendance.

Am I missing something (did Midwestern offer you a scholarship)? Of course, I am a biased investigator (as a UMN student), but this seems like objective information.
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Hmm, I will check again about the tuition! I will be on campus at Midwestern, which really reduces cost (especially for housing). I am also out of state for both schools.
 
Yea it looks like the difference is going to be fairly small. About $330k for SDSU/UMN and $350k for Midwestern. So, being that it’s not a huge difference (not that 20k isn’t a lot of money still) I don’t want to let that determine where I go. Now, if we were talking a 100k difference then I would do that no matter what
 
mmm032 said:
Yea it looks like the difference is going to be fairly small. About $330k for SDSU/UMN and $350k for Midwestern. So, being that it’s not a huge difference (not that 20k isn’t a lot of money still) I don’t want to let that determine where I go. Now, if we were talking a 100k difference then I would do that no matter what
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I do also have a fair chunk of money set aside so that I can pay the interest (at least) on my loans each month while I’m in school, so I don’t have to worry about that part. And I have at least $30,000 in scholarships. So yea, the money is still a lot, but I worry if I make that my deciding factor here I may regret it.
 
mmm032 said:
...Midwestern at first appears to be about $20000 cheaper, but the cost of housing for SDSU evens it out to being only a max of 5000 difference...
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mmm032 said:
Yea it looks like the difference is going to be fairly small. About $330k for SDSU/UMN and $350k for Midwestern. So, being that it’s not a huge difference (not that 20k isn’t a lot of money still) I don’t want to let that determine where I go. Now, if we were talking a 100k difference then I would do that no matter what
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I was only commenting because initially you had mentioned Midwestern being the cheaper option, and that was surprising to me.

Financials are just one factor in a large decision, you'll need to consider what are your ranked/weighted priorities. 👍
 
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If anyone can recommend cheap, nice, and very close to the vet school apartments, please message me! Trying to get an idea of cost and location.
 
mmm032 said:
If anyone can recommend cheap, nice, and very close to the vet school apartments, please message me! Trying to get an idea of cost and location.
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I lived at City Gables on Larpenteur Ave for a few years and really liked it there. I think rent was around $1000 for a nice 1 BR, but it's been a few years.

City Gables Apartments - Quality Apartments Rentals in Minneapolis/Saint Paul

Explore City Gables Apartments, ideally situated between Minneapolis and Saint Paul for convenient urban living. Our quality apartments feature top-notch amenities and superb customer service. Start your new lifestyle in the heart of Twin Cities today!
www.zpg.com

The best renting experience I've had out here.
 
Hey everyone! I was accepted OOS and struggling on making a decision on whether or not to go to Minnesota. I just visited a few days ago and really liked campus, but wasn’t able to get into any of the buildings. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to any current students so I’d love to get in touch with a few people if there are any current UMN students floating around here! Thanks in advance 🙂
 
passionvet said:
Hey everyone! I was accepted OOS and struggling on making a decision on whether or not to go to Minnesota. I just visited a few days ago and really liked campus, but wasn’t able to get into any of the buildings. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to any current students so I’d love to get in touch with a few people if there are any current UMN students floating around here! Thanks in advance 🙂
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You're welcome to PM me!
 
passionvet said:
Hey everyone! I was accepted OOS and struggling on making a decision on whether or not to go to Minnesota. I just visited a few days ago and really liked campus, but wasn’t able to get into any of the buildings. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to any current students so I’d love to get in touch with a few people if there are any current UMN students floating around here! Thanks in advance 🙂
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You can PM me as well! I might be a little slow at response sometimes but I'm happy to chat!
 
Declined my OOS seat just now. I'm legitimately in tears. But happy for everyone accepting the offer and waitlisted fellow applicants moving up the list! It's an amazing school, best luck with you all!
 
I just booked my flight and Airbnb to visit the Twin Cities for the first time next month! I’m so excited to finally visit the place where I’ll be spending the next four years! I’ve felt a little crazy having made my decision site-unseen, so I’m looking forward to getting a sense of the area and starting the apartment hunt. And I know that even though I can’t tour inside any of the buildings, it’ll still be fun to walk around the campus 🙂
 
vetsquared said:
I just booked my flight and Airbnb to visit the Twin Cities for the first time next month! I’m so excited to finally visit the place where I’ll be spending the next four years! I’ve felt a little crazy having made my decision site-unseen, so I’m looking forward to getting a sense of the area and starting the apartment hunt. And I know that even though I can’t tour inside any of the buildings, it’ll still be fun to walk around the campus 🙂
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I can probably show you around a little if you want (or at least walk around campus with you and answer questions if you have any) 🙂
 
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