<p>I have been accepted to animal science for both schools and I’m wondering which one will be better off in preparing me for vet grad school. I’m more interested in working with home pets in the future (such as dogs and cats) rather than big animals like horses. I have heard some people say that Cal Poly focuses more on horses… which I don’t know if that’s true. So the few factors I want to consider:
Internships, opportunities for future vet student
Campus (I can’t visit the campuses because I live overseas and air tickets are quite pricey
Time to graduate (quite a few ppl told me its normal to study 5 years before graduating…)</p>
<p>If you guys have any other factors that you decided on, please tell me. Thank you (:</p>
<p>Well at UCD you will definitely get the experience to do research in your field, which is critical to grad school. Also UCD totally outranks Cal Poly in the field of vet science. I don’t think Cal Poly does any research, but it has a good rate of students that go off grad school. I don’t know anything about whether Cal Poly or UCD concentrates on a certain type of animal though. UCD will focus on getting you into a good med or grad school after graduation, while cal poly will focus more on having you employed right after you’re done with your undergrad studies. So, UCD overall looks like a better choice for you.</p>
<p>My son is about to turn down UCD for Cal Poly but he is in a totally different field. We went to Davis yesterday and it is a wonderful place which made the decision even harder.
I can’t imagine anyone who wants to go into Veterinary Science turning down UCD for almost any other school in the world. Go to UCD.</p>
<p>I can easily see turning down UCD for Cal Poly pre-vet. It all depends on what pre-vet experience you want and the strength of the pre-vet program. Cal Poly’s pre-vet is very highly regarded. </p>
<p>My daughter is pre-vet at Cal Poly. We are not from CA. We toured many Veterinary programs and pre-vet programs in the Western US before deciding. Across all these states, from CA to MT, Cal Poly came up over and over again as one of the best pre-vet programs. The hands-on learning perspective at Cal Poly is a huge advantage in a pre-vet program. Our assessment was the Cornell had the best pre-vet in the East and Cal Poly had the best in the West. </p>
<p>Also, don’t assume the schools like Davis, OSU and WSU that have good Vet schools are better for pre-vet. Many don’t have a hands-on approach and many don’t put as much effort into their undergrad programs. Vet schools look for lots of job and academic experiences with animals. That’s one of the reasons Cal Poly is so highly regarded in and out of CA.</p>
<p>The following info posted on UCD’s site might be helpful for some folks. [UC</a> Davis School of Veterinary Medicine - Student Programs - Admissions Information](<a href=“http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/studentprograms/subpages/admissions.html]UC”>http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/studentprograms/subpages/admissions.html)
What’s hard to know is what goes behind the stats when it comes to undergraduate colleges of admitted students. UCD has the largest number of accepted students, but they also have the largest number of applicants and one of the lower percentages of accept rates. Of the CSUs, the most number of students come from SLO - but the highest percent accept rate is actually Northridge (this year anyway). Overall, a little less than 15% of applicants were admitted.</p>
<p>I think what it comes down to is how do your personal stats compare to the average stats of admitted students with regard to GPA, science grades, GRE and vet-related experience. Wherever you go, you’ll want to keep your stats above the average for the best chance of getting admitted. Just from the stats, I would also say if you attend a CSU - be sure you are significantly above the line. Of course, 50% of the accepted students are by definition below average when it comes to those things :)…</p>
<p>I must agree with Mariner116 for the pre-vet program as a student at Cal Poly. But the keyword there is PRE. For a grad program, UCD is much more highly regarded. My friend started as a pre-vet at Davis and found that her experience compared to her’s friend’s (pre-vet at Cal Poly) wasn’t as great. However, they now both attend UCD’s grad program for veterinary science.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider (and this became important for my daughter) is whether you want to spend 8 years going to the same college. We are from Washington state. Originally my daughter’s plan was to go to pre-vet at Washington State University and then go to vet school there. After touring other colleges she started to realize how different they all were and began to favor the idea of doing undergrad in one college and vet school at WSU. </p>
<p>As Synhyborex noted, you can get to the Davis vet school through both Cal Poly or Davis undergrad. Make sure you consider all the other factors that go into deciding on a college.</p>
