Awesome update about vet school!

[brahmakid13]

Cornell university?! congrats! My goal is to go there. How much does it cost?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Thanks again, guys!

Capvin, mostly I haven't made my decision yet because there still is a possibility I may change my mind if I get accepted elsewhere. Also, I just found out two days ago, so it is all still setting in! Tufts would also be a wonderful choice, and I would like to hear back from Teenessee because their out of state tuition is almost half of what Cornell's is. Even though Cornell is my dream school, I do have to sit down with my dad and look at finances. If I were to get accepted to these other schools, I would be able to keep my options open to make the most informed decision (Hopefully, somewhere between what my heart desires, and what is smart).

Brahmakid13, Out of state tuition for the vet program is about $44,000, give or take a few hundred. Most vet schools are fairly similar in cost but there are a few out there that are definitely less when it comes to tuition. Also, in-state tuition is significantly less at a majority of schools than out of state. Unfortunately, I come from a state that has no in-state vet programs. There are also a lot of scholarship available which I will apply to as well.

 

[duckluck]

It is definitely important to look at tuition costs and you also have to consider and try to project what your out-of-school employment prospects will be. It does no good to go to an expensive college and not be able to get a job right out of school because your loans WILL come due whether you have a job or not, and federally guaranteed loans cannot be defaulted upon, they'll stick and you do have to pay them. These are important factors to weigh...being accepted by a great school isn't the end of the choice making process and I'm glad you realize that.

That said, I wish you the best of luck! Hopefully it will all work out...just be a serious student and stick to your studies. The social life can wait, especially if you're like I was and need to work at the same time to keep things going. If I were to throw in my .02 worth as a college grad myself, I would recommend off-campus housing if the school allows it...some don't at various points in a program, especially during residency...it can be a lot less expensive and keep you away from people who are only interested in "escaping" home and not getting serious about their future.

I was a "commuter student" myself and was very glad I was.

 

[Glenmar]

Oh WOW. Good Luck. You deserve it.

If you do become a bird vet, let everyone know where. I have had a hard time with vets lately. They just don't know much about birds.

 

[sourland]

Lauren, that is great news. I am so happy for you. Hard work and dedication does pay off.

Girl, you made my night!!!

 

[Capvin]

I can not just say that the tuition is not a consideration, BUT, in this case it should not be a consideration and let me tell you why. If you want to be a lawyer and you get accepted to Harvard you go to Harvard and worry about the tuition later. If a Harvard law school graduate can not get a top job right out of law school then he or she died before graduation. You do not pass up Harvard to go to Rutgers even though Rutgers has a good law school and would be much cheaper. When you want to be a Vet and you get accepted to Cornell, the number one school for Vets, then you dont wait to hear from Tennessee no matter what the difference is in costs. Vets coming out of Cornell do not look for jobs. They are recruited. Vets coming out of Tennessee need to look for jobs. Get a loan or rob a bank, but if you got accepted to Cornell Vet school just do it!!

 

[Imp]

Way to go Lauren, and congrats again.

Imp

 

[duckluck]

I can not just say that the tuition is not a consideration, BUT, in this case it should not be a consideration and let me tell you why. If you want to be a lawyer and you get accepted to Harvard you go to Harvard and worry about the tuition later. If a Harvard law school graduate can not get a top job right out of law school then he or she died before graduation. You do not pass up Harvard to go to Rutgers even though Rutgers has a good law school and would be much cheaper. When you want to be a Vet and you get accepted to Cornell, the number one school for Vets, then you dont wait to hear from Tennessee no matter what the difference is in costs. Vets coming out of Cornell do not look for jobs. They are recruited. Vets coming out of Tennessee need to look for jobs. Get a loan or rob a bank, but if you got accepted to Cornell Vet school just do it!!

This is true, but it is also true that people go into school with one specialization in mind and oftentimes change that focus, whether intentionally or because they decide it isn't for them. There is nowhere near the demand for dog/cat vets as there is for large animal, food animal and exotic vets, and there's a reason for that: those focuses are much more demanding and require more specialized learning, and in some cases are more physicially dangerous as well.

It sounds like the OP has the support of her family, which will help carry a lot of water in sorting her decision out. I did not...no financial, moral, emotional or decision-making support. Nothing. So even if I had applied to Harvard and been accepted (theoretical; my major wasn't there anyway) it wouldn't have been a consideration for me. The upshot was, I get to claim all my own successes. I once wanted to go to vet school and still could, but no longer desire it...too much going on in other directions for me and I am at a time in my life where I need to stay with my current commitments. To do otherwise would be pursuing an old dream without real rewards over what I already have.

I am simply saying, look at the decision from all angles. I am sure she has a period of time to think about it. I guess an intelligent question would be, how much experience the OP has working with or owning the animals she wants to focus on? I knew someone who went to undergrad school for several years and worked as a vet tech with the idea she wanted to be a large animal vet...trouble was, she was not working with those animals on a daily basis even though she owned three horses. She was a vet tech at a dog and cat animal hospital. The deal-breaker came when it was time to foal out her mare...long story there...point being, I wound up foaling the mare out and straightening a minor malposition while she and her family stood outside the stall and watched. They wouldn't even hold the mare's lead rope. She was fortunate that I had already foaled out mares for myself and helped othes as well. Luckily she had not signed on with any schools! She changed her ideas about her major that night...no idea what she thought she was getting into, but you get the drift.

Most vet schools these days are shifting to requiring animal experience, luckily, and hopefully in the fields of choice!

I do wish the OP the best of luck, and if the exotics are truly her passion and she knows it from experience, then Cornell would be the best way to go, the consequences be ******. It IS one of those things that you generally only get one crack at. Were I sitting in her shoes and freshly ready to attack vet school out of undergrad, I would be going for a crack at large animal vet myself. I also say that though having not only a Bachelor of Science degree, some master's coursework and a diploma from a farrier school and knowing just exactly how deep I'd be getting in.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Thanks again everyone!

Capvin, it sounds like you share the same view as my parents! LOL They are supportive of any decision, but basically they think Cornell would be worth the loans. I will probably agree up until I have to pay them! In the end, I will most likely end up going to Cornell. I am good with my bills and have paid my undergrad loans religiously (I didn't have many loans at all because I went mostly on scholarship. I just had to pay for housing) and I've already looked at some loan calculators and it would be do-able to pay off. I would just have to work hard and maybe more than one job for a bit. Over the next few weeks, I will start on the acceptance process. I haven't yet been accepted to any other schools, but I am still interested in seeing what Upenn is all about during the info session/interview. They say they give us until April 15th to make a decision, but the way the system is, we really have a much shorter time period to decide.

Duckluck, you are definitely right about demand in the different fields. I think the way the programs work, I have a bit of time to decide where I want to ultimately end up. Birds have always been my passion and I absolutely love working with parrots, but I wouldn't mind ending up with a specialization in poultry. I'm interested to see where my schooling will lead me! Even in undergrad, I didn't end up where I originally intended. I started as a criminal justice major and shortly thereafter, I switched to biology with specialization in microbiology. Had you asked me if I wanted to work with microbes in highschool, I probably would have said no way! Getting that experience also showed me how much I enjoyed working with bacteria, which is something I didn't expect when I started.

The support from my parents has been phenomenal. I am very, very lucky and I know they will help me as much as they can until I get on my feet with a career.

I am very excited about this next aventure in my life!

 

[duckluck]

Thanks again everyone!

Capvin, it sounds like you share the same view as my parents! LOL They are supportive of any decision, but basically they think Cornell would be worth the loans. I will probably agree up until I have to pay them! In the end, I will most likely end up going to Cornell. I am good with my bills and have paid my undergrad loans religiously (I didn't have many loans at all because I went mostly on scholarship. I just had to pay for housing) and I've already looked at some loan calculators and it would be do-able to pay off. I would just have to work hard and maybe more than one job for a bit. Over the next few weeks, I will start on the acceptance process. I haven't yet been accepted to any other schools, but I am still interested in seeing what Upenn is all about during the info session/interview. They say they give us until April 15th to make a decision, but the way the system is, we really have a much shorter time period to decide.

Duckluck, you are definitely right about demand in the different fields. I think the way the programs work, I have a bit of time to decide where I want to ultimately end up. Birds have always been my passion and I absolutely love working with parrots, but I wouldn't mind ending up with a specialization in poultry. I'm interested to see where my schooling will lead me! Even in undergrad, I didn't end up where I originally intended. I started as a criminal justice major and shortly thereafter, I switched to biology with specialization in microbiology. Had you asked me if I wanted to work with microbes in highschool, I probably would have said no way! Getting that experience also showed me how much I enjoyed working with bacteria, which is something I didn't expect when I started.

The support from my parents has been phenomenal. I am very, very lucky and I know they will help me as much as they can until I get on my feet with a career.

I am very excited about this next aventure in my life!

Sounds like you are in a very good place with things then! Great! Hate to say it, but people do tend to pay a lot more for treating parrots than chickens/ducks...just sayin', as I own both...if you can find a way to work with both, I am sure you will make a LOT of people happy! Exotic animal vets command a good price because a lot of people have them, some of them cost a lot and there is a shortage of those vets. We certainly don't have any duck or chicken hospitals. (The racehorse industry is still driving veterinary research for horses, so the vets are still getting good wages when they can find the work with the horse market being in freefall.) It is good to hear you like working with parrots, because as long as you're comfortable working around those big beaks, you've probably got half the battle in hand already as long as snakes don't bother you. And if you like working with bacteria, I am betting you can get a better paying job than many college people because you should be able to work in a testing lab. I have a neighbor who became a large animal vet not long ago and she worked in a lab processing Coggins/EIA tests and fecals for horses.