wisconsin vs. cornell

[nypre vet]

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Hi, I am new to this forum, though I have been reading avidly for a year. I have been accepted to Wisconsin vet and Cornell for the coming year, and am having a hard time with the decision. Any thoughts? I am interested in small animal, possibly going on to specialize after vet school. Any information on either schools relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of small animal medicine/ surgery would be great
Thanks, and congratulations to all accepted students!

 

[Mark G]

My first question would be can you get in-state tuition? I assume from your chosen forum ID that you are a New Yorker, but maybe not. If so it'll be hard to beat Cornell when it's 50% less for tuition than Wisconsin ( I assume Wisc. OOS tuition is 34-36k but maybe I'm way off). Perhaps you can become a resident after a year in Wisconsin, but so far I've only heard about one vet school that allows that.

I can't speak to Wisconsin but Cornell has a great small animal program. Also, the school's reputation is fantastic and Cornell grads do very well in matching for internships and residencies, so if you want to specialize Cornell would be a great choice. The only down sides I have seen in terms of Cornell are weather, which probably is comparable to Wisconsin and parking, which can be a bear at Cornell.

Congrats on your acceptances and good luck with your decision.

 

[wivet2011]

First, don't know what the weather is like at Cornell, but to give you an idea about WI, we started the week with an ice/snow storm followed by below zero temps for a few days. Now it's supposed to be in the 30's and more ice/snow tomorrow before cold temps again! Oh, and we've already well surpassed the record snowfall totals (it's been an odd year)

Anyways, OOS tuition is around $24k/year (with room, board, books, etc around $36k) And no, I don't believe you can become a resident for tuition purposes after 1 year.

 

[Rebeki]

Regarding tuition...they are actually THE SAME.

Cornell IS tuition - $24,000
Wisconsin OOS tuition - $24,000

Also, don't forget to consider the teaching styles - PBL vs traditional.

Cornell definitely has a tremendous reputation, however if you are not going to do well with the PBL then it may hurt your chances at a internship/residency.

 

[wi girl]

Another SDN-er that got accepted to WI!!! Yay! I actually can very accurately weigh in on this issue -- I go to cornell for undergrad, and am from WI originally. BOTH are amazing for small animal -- pretty much everyone is. I know in WI the case-load in the hospital is pretty high; At Cornell it might be slightly lower, because a lot of the community view it as cost prohibitive. You might look to see which has more boarded surgeons, but that might not be the best way to go. In terms of weather, they are about the same. WI might be about 5 degrees colder on a given day, and they get more wind, but not that noticeable of a difference.

To be honest, if you want to go into SA, you really can't go wrong with either school -- is there anything else that might help make your decision?

 

[CalpardNY]

I have never been to Madison (and im sure others can weigh in) but from what i hear its a pretty decent city with lots to do. Ithaca is more a college town and not as much culture and whatnot. Now not that you will have oodles of free time when you are in vet school, but depending on what kind of environment you like that might make a difference. I am from right outside of NYC and spent 4 years in the middle of bumblef*ck pa for UG. While i LOVED it then, i was like - maybe i don't want to be back in that kind of environment for vet school (not that there are many other options). So maybe if you've visited both places think about the town and area and which feels more like someplace youd want to call home.

Just something outside of the schools themselves to consider!

 

[BobDog]

I think the only way to settle this is a cage match MMA-style no-holds barred jello-wrestling match between the deans of both schools.

 

[wi girl]

Ummm ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH 😀 I know the deans from both schools. I would pay a year of OOS tuition to watch that.

 

[camboo]

I was in a similar boat, but OOS for both schools. Just sent in my acceptance to Wisconsin (and not just because of the giraffe or the tuition difference).

Honestly, I think you get out what you put into school, regardless of the "PBL" or "traditonal" approaches to the curriculum. Red scrubs either way, right? Both schools are great, turn out some truly impressive research, and take good care of their students. Personally, I just felt more at home with the Wisconsin faculty and the kinds of research they are foucsing on at this point in time.

More importantly: I'd still really like to see that cage match. Maybe we can arrange something for next year's SAVMA Symposium?

 

[hoodle]

If I hadn't gotten into Davis, my partner and I would be making this very same decision! I think that I'd probably wind up at WI due to their incredible strength in my partner's graduate school interests (microbiology), but I'd probably want to go to Cornell in a vacuum. While I think both schools are great, I think I'd feel most immediately at home at Cornell.

I very much like their curriculum - coming from a liberal arts school, I love the intellectual intensity and engagement of small group learning as opposed to pure lecture, and I also had the impression, while at their admitted students' weekend, that their curriculum is extremely well thought out. It seemed really cohesive, logical, and intentional - I really liked the effort they put into constantly reviewing and revising their curriculum to make it the most comprehensive and effective mix of PBL and traditional lecture. While Cornell's facilities for student learning were perfectly acceptable, though not brilliant, their clinics were gorgeous. I also really liked how much funding was available, whether it was for student travel, student research, or less transparent but equally important issues like faculty hires, renovations, etc. I also liked Ithaca quite a bit - neither Madison nor Ithaca are metropolis-es, but they are both great (if frigid) places to live!

 

[wi girl]

Just a sidenote; having lived in both places, Ithaca is no where near a metropolis. If you want to buy anything besides groceries at somewhere else besides target, its a 1 hr drive to syracuse. Not terrible, but not great either. I used online shopping for a lot of things. This also includes furniture and such.

Nice place to live, but I didn't want to do another 4 years there. Its pretty tiny.

Obviously I love the school though.

 

[nypre vet]

So after much ado, I decided to go with Cornell. I never even went to WI to see what it was like. I had visited Cornell twice, once at a prevet info seminar and then for the weekend welcome they had in February. I was pretty much blown away by the clinics, and after the mock PBL session, I thought it would fit my learning style well. It was a much more structured experience than I had imagined it to be, and I was calmed by that. I am an older student (non trad) so maybe I am just more used to figuring things out on my own. In any event the decision is done, and I feel really happy about that. I also felt that of the schools I visited and had options to go to, ( WI, MICH, Tufts, Cornell) Cornell was far and away superior in terms of available funding, opportunities, etc. though I didnt go to WI to visit, so I can't speak to them.
I hope I made the right choice, I feel good about it, and not sure why so many people feel so negatively towards cornell on this forum.

 

[wi girl]

not sure why so many people feel so negatively towards cornell on this forum.

Do you mean this forum in general, or this particular thread? I've never really seen anti-cornell, just some people feel strongly that PBL isn't for them, or that Ithaca is small (it is. I like it, just its small). Just wondering ....

Regardless, congrats on your decision! It IS a great school, and I know you'll do well there. Good luck!