But what if Western or some other OOS is the only school you get into? Do you decline it and wait another year just so you can get into your instate or move to be instate somewhere. A lot of people don't have the luxury of choosing which school to attend and I'm at the point where I will go wherever they accept me. I know finances are important but I'm not going to let that stop me from achieving my dream.
...and this is why it is starting to be such a scam.
I know--I'm with you--it took me four tries over seven years to get into vet school. And I'm going out of state because it's where I finally got in.
This is where the schools really have you over a barrel: the demand (applicants) will always far, far exceed the supply (number of seats). There are ALWAYS going to be people who "want to be a vet no matter what, I won't give up on my dream for something as stupid as money, etc etc." ALWAYS. So, there's no real pressure on them to solve these problems.
(As an aside, I don't necessarily blame the schools for raising tuition--they're under a lot of financial pressure from many different places and their state funding is being cut or is nonexistent to start with. However, I think there are many, many things they can be doing to maximize their new graduates' productivity from the very beginning--instead of leaving a great deal of their training to their first employer(s) and waiting 1+ years before new grads are able to turn a profit for their boss/make any kind of money towards starting to repay loans. Moving away from the research model would be a start; limited licensure is one extreme option. But I digress.)
Simple cause and effect means that, as this absolutely CRIPPLING (Jochebed is right on target) financial SUICIDE starts to really affect people--the smartest people are those who will turn away from veterinary medicine. We are already losing very bbright and capable applicants to other fields simply because they do a simple cost:benefit analysis and sadly have to turn away from vet med. I know everyone here is of the mindset of, "good, that makes me a more competitive applicant," but that's really very shortsighted. We will be losing the best and the brightest to other professions. How many physicians, attorneys and dentists do you know who have to drive 20-year old cars and live in studio apartments when they're 40 and still working 60-hour weeks? I see veterinary medicine as eventually becoming a career choice only for the wealthy elite--and that would be so terrible for the profession in so many ways.
The other thing is that veterinary medicine is increasingly a second career for many people. There are more and more non-traditionals in our classes every year, whether by choice or because it took so damn long to get in.
I'm not one to talk, because I was bound and determined to get in no matter what because this is my lifelong passion, etc etc--but I will tell you that when you're 30 years old and in your third year of vet school and you're taking out $60K a year and seeing your potential retirement dwindle away at the end of your life--it really makes you wonder if you should have made this decision.
Again, it's difficult to appreciate from the perspective of a pre-vet student--but these are very real issues.
). I'm still trying to decide if my education there was worth the price tag... I had a wonderful experience and it was definitely the best 4 years of my life, and I'm also inclined to believe that it helped me get into vet school on my first try. The year I spent in that master's program was, however, at an Ivy (Penn)... not so sure that year was worth the money spent there, even if I had finished the degree in the end. Oh well, like I said... live and learn. 
