UNLV vs. CalPoly SLO/Pomona?

[lullabies]

I'm interested in becoming a vet and right now I am planning on attending UNLV because I'll only have to pay roughly $5k a year! However, I don't believe that UNLV is strong for animal studies/sciences. So right now I'm debating on whether or not I should attend CalPoly (SLO/Pomona I have not decided yet) despite the extra costs?

PS, if it helps, I plan to go to CA anyway for vet school (probably Davis) anyway since Nevada doesn't have one and it is close, but the downside is that I'd have to pay an $10-12k difference 🙁

I'm not sure if it'll be worth it or not. Do you guys have any advice?

PPS, I'm a senior in high school currently P: so I will be an incoming freshman.

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[FutureDVM2016]

I'm interested in becoming a vet and right now I am planning on attending UNLV because I'll only have to pay roughly $5k a year! However, I don't believe that UNLV is strong for animal studies/sciences. So right now I'm debating on whether or not I should attend CalPoly (SLO/Pomona I have not decided yet) despite the extra costs?

PS, if it helps, I plan to go to CA anyway for vet school (probably Davis) anyway since Nevada doesn't have one and it is close, but the downside is that I'd have to pay an $10-12k difference 🙁

I'm not sure if it'll be worth it or not. Do you guys have any advice?

PPS, I'm a senior in high school currently P: so I will be an incoming freshman.

You are probably going to get a slew of information thrown at you very soon from all different types of personalities... but heres my two cents...

I go to Cal Poly Pomona right now, and while we have a pre-vet program (that was very good in the past), the program is dwindling. I'm all for school spirit, but they have drastically had to cut back on everything due to budget cuts. I started school almost 10 years ago, when I was 17 at Cal Poly SLO and it was amazing!! I wish I could have stuck it out when I got sick and stayed up there, but my mind and heart werent in the right place, so I went home. I am not sure what types of cuts they have had to make at SLO in the past couple of years (if any), but honestly, I would go back to SLO in a heart beat.

That being said, it is a wonderful thing to be confident in your ambitions, but make sure you are aware of the competitiveness of this educational field. I am not sure of your stats when it comes to grades or SAT scores, but it is extremely difficult to get into any vet school because so many people are applying to so few schools all at the same time. I would definitely consider keeping my options open when it comes to location.

It is also good that you are taking tuition into account. I am not sure what schooling you are talking about when you say it is a 10-12k difference... is that for vet school or your undergrad? If you are talking about vet school, 10-12k in the grand scheme of things won't mean too much since, depending on where you go to school, if you use loans, you will be in debt $150-200K or more.

 

[CurrySpice]

I'm interested in becoming a vet and right now I am planning on attending UNLV because I'll only have to pay roughly $5k a year! However, I don't believe that UNLV is strong for animal studies/sciences. So right now I'm debating on whether or not I should attend CalPoly (SLO/Pomona I have not decided yet) despite the extra costs?

PS, if it helps, I plan to go to CA anyway for vet school (probably Davis) anyway since Nevada doesn't have one and it is close, but the downside is that I'd have to pay an $10-12k difference 🙁

I'm not sure if it'll be worth it or not. Do you guys have any advice?

PPS, I'm a senior in high school currently P: so I will be an incoming freshman.

I don't live in Nevada, so I don't know anything about that school. Is it one of the most respected state schools in Nevada? Most people will tell you to choose the cheapest school you can find, but I chose a more expensive option because I like liberal art colleges.

Fyi, you will probably have to take a year off after undergrad in order to establish residency in Cali, so that shouldn't affect your choice of colleges.

 

[goldielocks137]

I just graduated from Cal Poly SLO and I loved it. I thought that the education, the professors, and the town were great. The school has been going through renovations recently and there should be all new science facilities coming soon. I was a biochem major not animal science, but I still took quite a few animal science electives and I am really glad that I was able to do that. The animal science electives almost exclusively deal with farm animals. We have dairy and beef cattle, horse, sheep, and poultry units all on campus. I think a few other advantages that Cal Poly offers are that undergrads can be actively involved in research and you get the opportunity to get close to professors because many of the classes are very small. There have been changes to the curriculum that I am not familiar with, but I don't think it will take away from the value of the school.

I think Cal Poly Pomona is more of a commuter school and may not be as highly regarded within the California university system (not meaning to possibly step on any toes there)

I have only known one person who went to UNLV and she transfered to Cal Poly. I met her in a GE class and don't think she was a science major but she told me that the classes at UNLV were incredibly easy and she didn't learn anything during her time there. Because of that she transfered to Cal Poly.

My opinions are obviously biased, but I think Cal Poly is a good choice if you are serious about going to vet school, or simply about pursuing a career with animals. I don't know how attending would affect your residency status, but Davis is nearly impossible to get in to for out of state applicants as they only have a handful of seats. Also, Cal Poly continues to become harder and harder to get into, so you should probably apply and then wait on trying to decide where to go until you get accepted.

 

[FutureDVM2016]

I think Cal Poly Pomona is more of a commuter school and may not be as highly regarded within the California university system (not meaning to possibly step on any toes there)

If that was partly in reference to me, no offense taken 😉

My opinions are obviously biased, but I think Cal Poly is a good choice if you are serious about going to vet school, or simply about pursuing a career with animals. I don't know how attending would affect your residency status, but Davis is nearly impossible to get in to for out of state applicants as they only have a handful of seats. Also, Cal Poly continues to become harder and harder to get into, so you should probably apply and then wait on trying to decide where to go until you get accepted.

I completely agree with all of this... and btw Goldielocks... I'm totally envious of the fact that you went, and finished school there 🙂 Consider yourself fortunate 👍

 

[lullabies]

I just graduated from Cal Poly SLO and I loved it. I thought that the education, the professors, and the town were great. The school has been going through renovations recently and there should be all new science facilities coming soon. I was a biochem major not animal science, but I still took quite a few animal science electives and I am really glad that I was able to do that. The animal science electives almost exclusively deal with farm animals. We have dairy and beef cattle, horse, sheep, and poultry units all on campus. I think a few other advantages that Cal Poly offers are that undergrads can be actively involved in research and you get the opportunity to get close to professors because many of the classes are very small. There have been changes to the curriculum that I am not familiar with, but I don't think it will take away from the value of the school.

I think Cal Poly Pomona is more of a commuter school and may not be as highly regarded within the California university system (not meaning to possibly step on any toes there)

I have only known one person who went to UNLV and she transfered to Cal Poly. I met her in a GE class and don't think she was a science major but she told me that the classes at UNLV were incredibly easy and she didn't learn anything during her time there. Because of that she transfered to Cal Poly.

My opinions are obviously biased, but I think Cal Poly is a good choice if you are serious about going to vet school, or simply about pursuing a career with animals. I don't know how attending would affect your residency status, but Davis is nearly impossible to get in to for out of state applicants as they only have a handful of seats. Also, Cal Poly continues to become harder and harder to get into, so you should probably apply and then wait on trying to decide where to go until you get accepted.

You mentioned mainly about big animals, but is there a specific studies on household pets? Alsooooooooo, does transferring after my first year damage my chances or affect it in any way? And one more thing... is there a website that shows statistics of acceptance rates on all vet schools? I knew that Vet schools were hard to get in... but I didn't know it was THAT hard (being nearly impossible, I mean, for OOS kids).

That being said, it is a wonderful thing to be confident in your ambitions, but make sure you are aware of the competitiveness of this educational field. I am not sure of your stats when it comes to grades or SAT scores, but it is extremely difficult to get into any vet school because so many people are applying to so few schools all at the same time. I would definitely consider keeping my options open when it comes to location.

@FutureDVM2016: When you said this, does this only apply as I am applying to an undergraduate, graduate, or both? I mean, does your HS GPA & SAT scores come into play after college?

My GPA right now is around 3.5 UW, 3.7W, and about 3.8~3.9 using the UC GPA system. My SATs were 1700 on the dot both times I took it :/ and I'm not planning on re-taking it unless I find out it's really THAT important for later on.

THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE BY THE WAY 😀DDD I really appreciate it because I feel like I want to go to Cal Poly more now ^___^

 

[goldielocks137]

Unfortunately there are not classes based on small animals. There is a vet clinic on campus that students can work in. I think they do mainly vaccinations? Not really sure, to be honest. It is difficult because Cal Poly has a very large number of pre-vet students so there is competition to become involved. That's why I majored in biochemistry 🙂 Although that has it's goods and bads as well.

You cannot transfer to Cal Poly after one year. You have to have completed a certain number of credits that equates to two years of lower division work. I am not sure how hard it is to transfer into animal science specifically, but I do know that for some majors it is extremely difficult. And each year it seems to be getting harder. Transferring in general does not hurt your chances of getting into vet school. From my understanding, a lot of applicants spend their first two years at a community college then transfer to a 4 year.

If you go to each individual school's website there should be a link under admissions or prospective students titled applicant profile/statistics. That will give you a breakdown on the number of applicants from in-state and out and how many were enrolled. One thing to keep in mind is some websites tell you how many were accepted and some tell you how many decided to come. For OOS this can be misleading if the number is low but because a lot of people chose not a different school. For example, if a school only enrolls 20 out of state students; they usually accept more than that because they know some students will decline. So the odds of getting accepted are not always accurately given. There is also a book that has the information conveniently in one place. It's called the VMSAR and is printed annually. I don't know if you would be interesting in getting that book so many years before you plan to apply.

Oh and my comment about OOS being nearly impossible, that was referring explicitly to UC Davis. Each school has its own policy on how many OOS students they will enroll. Davis only enrolls a handful.

 

[ckgilabert]

hey, just wanted to tell you my advice. i LOVED cal poly pomona....they gave me a lot of animal experience and externship opportunities that i desperately needed.

that being said, i agree with the above poster....i would've told you a few yrs ago GO TO CAL POLY, but now, knowing that they're getting rid of animals ad not having classes available....i wouldn't go there.

AND...after saying that...it honestly doesnt matter what school you go to. there's a whole bunch of people from so many different schools that are in my class. i'd say, go to UNLV and get great grades, get lots of hours doing vet and animal stuff, and just do your best. 🙂

 

[chii chan]

I graduated from Cal Poly, SLO in 2009. I was an animal science major and loved it! I was also accepted to Cal Poly Pomona (and no offense taken), I didn't like the school or the atmosphere. You should definitely take a trip to see both if you haven't already to get a feel for the town as well since it's an important factor in your decision. I couldn't have seen myself going anywhere but SLO.

I saw you asked something about household pets on there? There really aren't too many opportunities since you can get that kind of stuff by working in a vet clinic. However, they did introduce a companion animal class with the 2007-2009 catalog (when the changed the classes required to graduate by a lot). However, I didn't hear great reviews about it, and it would be wiser to take the equine class instead and get experience in a vet hospital. However, there are plenty of opportunities to hone your large animal husbandry skills as well as poultry, and tortoises. Since spring of 2008, we got 19 leopard tortoises (Geochelone pardalis) from the national zoo as surplus to use in research. That's what I did my senior project on! 🙂

Keep in mind that if you want to do large animal, Davis just closed their facilities last summer. Also keep in mind that Davis tracks, so if you feel like you might switch or try something new, you can't (from my understanding of it).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

[FutureDVM2016]

@FutureDVM2016: When you said this, does this only apply as I am applying to an undergraduate, graduate, or both? I mean, does your HS GPA & SAT scores come into play after college?

My GPA right now is around 3.5 UW, 3.7W, and about 3.8~3.9 using the UC GPA system. My SATs were 1700 on the dot both times I took it :/ and I'm not planning on re-taking it unless I find out it's really THAT important for later on.

THANKS FOR ALL THE ADVICE BY THE WAY 😀DDD I really appreciate it because I feel like I want to go to Cal Poly more now ^___^

I was more or less referring to your study habits 🙂 Your HS grades and SAT scores don't mean much after you start college. If you wanted to start at a university right out of high school, those things would matter a lot, but if you were to start at a JC or a state college, those won't matter, and your college GPA and GRE score will take the place of those.

 

[moosenanny]

Since you seem interested in Davis in particular, here are the stats for my entering class:

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/studentprograms/class_2014/pdfs/app_stats_2014.pdf

If you'd like more info on the school, you can use SDN's search function in the upper right corner to read other threads concerning the school and admissions.

 

[moosenanny]

Keep in mind that if you want to do large animal, Davis just closed their facilities last summer. Also keep in mind that Davis tracks, so if you feel like you might switch or try something new, you can't (from my understanding of it).

I myself am a very new student (we haven't even started real classes yet), so I am certainly no expert. However, I'd be careful about making statements like this when you're not sure. From what I can tell, tracking isn't a daunting commitment since we have plenty of time to pick our tracks (I think we do so at the end of second year), and we all take the same core subjects that prepare us for licensing board exams. No matter what a student tracks in, I think he or she can become any type of vet. Also, I haven't heard anything about the LA facilities being totally shut down, but again, I'm not the most well versed in my own school, lol . . .

 

[nyanko]

Keep in mind that if you want to do large animal, Davis just closed their facilities last summer. Also keep in mind that Davis tracks, so if you feel like you might switch or try something new, you can't (from my understanding of it).

Closed what facilities?

 

[chii chan]

I heard from someone in my class (who went to Davis for undergrad) that the LA facilities closed this past summer. I also heard it months ago from a girl at the Glasgow interviews that they were going to close. She wanted to go into LA so it was a big deal for her.

And yes, I shouldn't assume, which is why I put from my understanding since I'm not totally sure. However, Davis never gave me a chance, so I don't really know. I've only heard that if you do a SA track that you never have to touch a horse/cow/etc. Plus I'm really happy Davis never gave me the option. I'm having a blast and opportunity of a lifetime. Though it does suck leaving home to a foreign country 5 weeks after your father passes away... but life must go on and I still need to make him proud.

 

[nyanko]

No LA facilities closed. This is still open, and the VMTH can still accommodate large animal cases as well.

And if you do SA track you still have to do rotations in cardiology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, and pathology, which are not specific to LA or SA, and I can tell you that there are equine cases at the very least in most of these areas pretty routinely. Also, there's a core clinical skills class that covers a large number of species. So it's a bit disingenuous of whoever you know to say that.

And you know, I was rooting for you this past year too, and I'm glad you're happy at Edinburgh, but you don't really need to go spreading untrue things about other schools based on stuff you might have heard.

 

[nyanko]

Oh yeah, and to help the OP some, if you're a NV resident you might want to look into applying under WICHE when the time comes. Even if you're going to school full time as an undergraduate in CA, you're still not going to be considered a CA resident unless you remain in CA for a year after you graduate from undergrad. So I'm not sure going to Cal Poly SLO would help you enough for admissions at UCDavis to make the price difference worth it.

If you want to go for the educational experience though, and think that it justifies the difference, you should definitely go for it! Just cautioning you about the admissions/residency thing.

 

[lullabies]

Oh yeah, and to help the OP some, if you're a NV resident you might want to look into applying under WICHE when the time comes. Even if you're going to school full time as an undergraduate in CA, you're still not going to be considered a CA resident unless you remain in CA for a year after you graduate from undergrad. So I'm not sure going to Cal Poly SLO would help you enough for admissions at UCDavis to make the price difference worth it.

If you want to go for the educational experience though, and think that it justifies the difference, you should definitely go for it! Just cautioning you about the admissions/residency thing.

Thanks so much for the info about WICHE. My only source of research about becoming a vet is only the internet as my counselors & family know nada, so I never crossed WICHE.

As for establishing residency, I thought for CSU's if you are living there after a year you can apply to become a CA resident. Well, that was the case with CSULA when I asked, but I suppose it may be different for Cal Poly SLO. In any case, I'll do a lot more research on that.

@moosenanny: Oh my goodness thanks SO much for that. Ahhhhh, the stats are so scary lol. I think I might want to look into establishing state residency even more now because looking at the WICHE & even the OOS stats, I feel like I'd have to be a genius to stand out!

Thanks so much~!! And I'm glad to hear, nyanko, that the facilities are still open. When I read that they closed I was beginning to change my mind!

 

[moosenanny]

Remember that those stats are averages. Some people have less than 1000 hours working with animals, while others have been full-time vet techs for ten years and have accumulated 10,000 hours. Same can be said about GPA's. Just always do your best and know that while it does take a lot to get into vet school, we are all humans who have made mistakes and regret certain aspects of our applications.

 

[chii chan]

No LA facilities closed. This is still open, and the VMTH can still accommodate large animal cases as well.

And if you do SA track you still have to do rotations in cardiology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, and pathology, which are not specific to LA or SA, and I can tell you that there are equine cases at the very least in most of these areas pretty routinely. Also, there's a core clinical skills class that covers a large number of species. So it's a bit disingenuous of whoever you know to say that.

And you know, I was rooting for you this past year too, and I'm glad you're happy at Edinburgh, but you don't really need to go spreading untrue things about other schools based on stuff you might have heard.

My apologies for my misunderstanding and laziness for not thoroughly checking my sources. It was brought up at dinner just a few nights ago and I haven't really had the time to research it between studying and moving. Today's the first day in weeks that I've gotten out of class before 5pm!