Hi all,
First of all, I'm super grateful to be posting here. A year ago, I was thinking that I would be happy to be accepted to any school, and here I am with multiple options! I've been reading both UC Davis and PennVet threads closely. I've also studied the Factors When Picking A Vet School document, but I'm still quite unsure as to which one would suit me better. Maybe it's because these two schools seem so similar to me? I noticed that no one has inquired about comparing these schools yet. I'm hoping to get some input from current students or grads in terms of what I may be missing.
Similarities:
Both schools seem to have great teaching hospitals with a large caseload and many specialties to possibly shadow, great faculty, lots of clubs, and more importantly a diverse student body! Both have an amazing reputation, and I have no doubt that I will get a great education wherever I go.
UC Davis:
First of all, I'm super grateful to be posting here. A year ago, I was thinking that I would be happy to be accepted to any school, and here I am with multiple options! I've been reading both UC Davis and PennVet threads closely. I've also studied the Factors When Picking A Vet School document, but I'm still quite unsure as to which one would suit me better. Maybe it's because these two schools seem so similar to me? I noticed that no one has inquired about comparing these schools yet. I'm hoping to get some input from current students or grads in terms of what I may be missing.
Similarities:
Both schools seem to have great teaching hospitals with a large caseload and many specialties to possibly shadow, great faculty, lots of clubs, and more importantly a diverse student body! Both have an amazing reputation, and I have no doubt that I will get a great education wherever I go.
UC Davis:
- Easy move: I'm a non-traditional applicant who will be moving with a SO. We live in NorCal right now, so moving to an area near Davis will be a relatively easy move.
- Diverse student body: UC Davis offers lots of information on their student body on their website. The average age seems low, but their ethnicity seems very diverse, which I appreciate.
- Cheaper tuition: I'm a CA resident, so going to UC Davis will save me about $100,000 in total. Money is not that big of an issue as I have saved enough from working, but still that doesn't mean I want to splurge!
- Possible long commute: if my SO keeps his current job, we may need to live in Benicia, which will be an hour drive for me to school. Not sure how much impact this will have on me. We are still talking about this though; we are considering moving to Davis and him getting a new job near Berkeley.
- Lacking hands-on experience in the first two years: not sure if this is true, or even if it's true, if it matters so much. I'm sure I'll end up getting enough experience in my rotations and from clubs, but this was mentioned in several places. It seemed like UPenn students can shadow places they like whenever they can/want.
- City life: this is the seller for me. Lots of great housing options so close to the campus. I know we won't have time to cook, so being surrounded by many great restaurants seems awesome. I'll probably live in the walking/biking distance of the school. My SO will have the same commute (1 hour) as living in Davis if he decides to get a job in NY, but if he gets a job in Philly, it will be much easier for him as well.
- Shadowing opportunities: one of the student ambassadors really sold me on this. I want to continue honing my clinical skills, and it sounded like you can do this by going to the hospital whenever you can/want. Please correct me if I'm wrong!
- Higher tuition: I keep asking myself if the convenient city lifestyle is worth that extra $100,000. Maybe... or maybe not.
- More difficult transition: since both my SO and I have never lived in the East Coast, I'm guessing moving & getting a new job for SO in a completely new area will be a more difficult transition for both of us.