Thank you so much!
How is the therio program and faculty there? And how is the clinical research?? (Im interested in zoonotic diseases or equine research : lameness/MD/therio.)
Also, does anyone know what the deposit is and if there's like an open house or anything?
Can anyone compare pros/cons of UT's program vs Auburn's? I am so lost and I liked UT's atmosphere a bit better, but it is much more expensive and i need to really see what the give and take is btwn both programs. If anyone can shed some light on that let me know please!!!! THANK YOU!!
And are scholarships hard or rare to get from OOS?
- I know that there is no deposit for UTK. I asked point blank and was informed of such directly from their administrators.
- I cannot speak on the absolutes of pro/con between Auburn/UTK but I actually looked at Auburn and chose not to apply at all because I overwhelmingly felt like UTK was "home." That said, if Auburn is in-state for you, that's a huge detractor for leaving your home residence behind! You do have to remember that in-state vs out-of-state could mean as much as $80K difference, or more in debt, at graduation. Also you should make your pro/con list specific to what you're looking for in the schools and whether or not they provide what you need in order to accomplish your goals. I'm including a bunch of links to UTK pages that should help with making a list for yourself. I believe Auburn also has pretty extensive information on their site as well.
- I'm pretty sure UTK has an open house in the spring (April-ish??), but send an email to their admissions office, Ms. D.S. (you can find her full name here:
http://www.vet.utk.edu/admissions/contact.php), and I'm positive she can inform you about the date of this year's open house. She's extremely nice!! Here's an old link to a previous year's open house:
http://www.vet.utk.edu/openhouse/
- During the day I spent on campus for the interview, I met and spoke with a large number of faculty and students and it seems as though there's a very relaxed relationship between the two. I would find it hard to believe that there are doctors/professors that intimidate or make any students feel they are unapproachable. As for research, I know that there is a program where if what you personally would like to study is not being studied by faculty, you can still do it and select a doctor to oversee everything. I believe it's one of the programs listed at this link, but I'm not positive on the specifics.
https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/vmc/Pages/sro.aspx
- One HUGE thing for me was how direct, open, and honest everyone at UTK has been throughout this entire process. I have tremendous respect for the fact that they do emphasize that their DVM Professors are TEACHERS who are taught how to teach! Another school I got into emphasized that their courses were taught by "the expert" in each of the fields...well that amounted to having 5 different teachers for one class - one taught felines, one canines, one equines, etc. - then the tests had questions from all of them. The students noted that this confused them and often left them unable to do as well as they believe they should have; especially (key piece here) when most of the "teachers" were DVM/PhD Researchers who were poor instructors and the students could tell they didn't want to teach in a classroom. That's why I love UTK all the way!!!
- I am unaware of the competitiveness of scholarships regarding OOS versus IS status and whether or not it's even a factor. Another great question to ask Ms. D.S.
I hope this helps somewhat, if at all! I know you must feel overwhelmed with the decision, but I'm sure you'll figure out which is the best fit!