Vet School Roulette

[CalliopeDVM]

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There will be a much greater impact on your life by saving money and going to the cheapest school than by any small variances in case loads or other program differences. Seriously. Save more money, have less debt, and get out of debt sooner.....the rest of your life (and the people in it) will thank you for it. You'll get the opportunity for an equally good education in all of them.

 

[LetItSnow]

There will be a much greater impact on your life by saving money and going to the cheapest school than by any small variances in case loads or other program differences. Seriously. Save more money, have less debt, and get out of debt sooner.....the rest of your life (and the people in it) will thank you for it. You'll get the opportunity for an equally good education in all of them.

Some of us keep saying this, and pre-vets just keep saying "yeah, well, I <REALLY> like this school" or "yeah, well, I <REALLY> don't like that school" and then they list reasons that are pretty darn trivial considering it's 4 years versus a decade or two of extra debt. And then they say things like "well, I have to enjoy where I go to school!"

The caseload thing is a great example. It is such an incredibly minor factor.... whether you go to UMN (which has a higher caseload than either Tufts or UPenn, btw) or somewhere with considerably less caseload.... you can still be competitive for an internship/residency/job. The caseload just isn't an important factor. But that's the kind of thing people focus on.

Ah well. Everyone gets to pick the things that are important to them, I guess.

 

[MainER]

Tufts is much more expensive than Wisconsin even if you're in state at Tufts.... If you're OOS at both, that's a $68,500 difference without interest..

It really ends up being closer to $40,000 because UW-Madison is increasing tuition, and thankfully housing costs will be covered by my SO, but I do agree that finances are a large part of the decision!

 

[Posey]

Here's another financial dilemma. One school costs less than the other based strictly on tuition and fees. The difference is roughly $40k to $50k over four years. However, my husband has a job lined up near the more expensive school, and his long term career prospects appear better. If he is unable to find gainful employment near the less expensive school, we could end up paying enough in duplicate living expenses to surpass the savings (i.e. less expensive school becomes more expensive option).
Do I go with the less costly school and keep my fingers crossed that he finds work there? Or, do I go with the higher tuition school where he has known job prospects (both short and long-term).


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[CalliopeDVM]

Go with your husband's job.

 

[Kam325]

[QUOTE="Posey, post: 17542757, m=

 

[Minnerbelle]

Yep, the small animal hospital's case load is +28,000/yr, which I believe is the 2nd highest in the country (after Penn, I think).

Actually, I think wisconsin's small animal hospital is 24,000/yr which isn't a significant difference so doesn't really matter.





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[Minnerbelle]

Ah well. Everyone gets to pick the things that are important to them, I guess.

A lightbulb went off a few weeks ago, and this is my new way of thinking.

No matter what anyone says, these questions from prevets who are fixated on "what is better" between school choices will never cease. Relative importance of these things for what SHOULD impact your decision is usually very very low. As in how much of a difference it would make on you as a future doctor.

Whatevs, the vet world post graduation is only going to become more and more cutthroat. Anyone who wants to do themselves in to be at the bottom of the competition by financial suicide (for whatever perceived benefits they falsely think might elevate their chance) is free to do so. Hordes of young'un inexperienced vets with higher and higher debt competing with more experienced vets with lower debt. Bring it on I say. My interest is in being able to survive. If some naive prevet wants to commit financial suicide despite being advised over and over otherwise, more power to them. They can weep 4 years later when they realize that going to a school renown for their raptor medicine for $50k more didn't help them out after all.

That being said though, I don't agree that caseload doesn't matter at all. If the number of students are the same, I would personally much prefer a school with 30k small animal caseload vs a school with 12k caseload. You're likely to see more cases and you're likely to have more specialties in the hospital to rotate through. Is it worth going into extra debt though? No. By and large, any accredited vet school is going to make you a competent vet esp in small animal.





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[VetMedVetMed]

It really ends up being closer to $40,000 because UW-Madison is increasing tuition, and thankfully housing costs will be covered by my SO, but I do agree that finances are a large part of the decision!

I totally get where you are coming from, however $40,000 is not just $40,000. It is that plus interest. Are you from MA, or have you/do you live(d) there? It is very expensive to live in Boston or even outside of Boston. I guarantee you (since my friend is from WI), that rent and cost of living expenses will be cheaper if you live there. So you may be looking at way more debt than just $40,000 which saves your SO lots of money if they're paying for rent all four years. If they can get a job in either location, it will not matter 4 years from now. You will be happy going to the cheaper school. Having lots of friends that are vets and chose the expensive school b/c they had to, they're not happy with their debt.