Liberal Arts School for Pre-Vet Student?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi everyone. :)</p>

<p>So I am intending to pursue a degree in biology or zoology with a pre-vet concentration, obviously with hopes of getting into veterinary school. My question is, is a liberal arts school that offers biology/pre-vet a good choice for my undergrad education? The admissions director of the school told me I was a highly eligible candidate for their full-ride scholarship, and its location is convenient. However, will the academics be up to par? Will getting a science degree at a liberal arts college really be the best for somebody getting ready for the super competitive process of getting into vet school? Or will their academics be less impressive?</p>

<p>My other choice is getting my undergraduate degree at a school that does have a veterinary college. The thing is, while this school has a great curriculum, its location offers little to no opportunities for vet experience before vet school, and it's tuition is pricier with limited scholarships. </p>

<p>Would it be wise to "settle" for the liberal arts college, or am I more likely to get the pre-vet education I need at the more expensive school?</p>

2

<p>Sounds like money is an issue. Since you’ll be going to vet school, you’ll want to minimize any loans.</p>

<p>What are your stats?</p>

<p>how much will your parents pay?</p>

<p>LACs aren’t usually cheap unless you’re considering an instate public LAC.</p>

<p>it’s not an issue of “settling”. You can do pre-vet almost at many colleges. You need one that is affordable. </p>

<p>What state are you in?</p>

3

<p>A third choice, Kansas State University.</p>

<p>I copied the following from a CC thread 2 years ago and emailed it to a friend whose daughter was thinking about becoming a vet. I don’t remember the thread, but here’s the post from it:</p>

<p>My daughter, a non-resident, attends K-State, where she is in the University Honors Program and an early admit scholar in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Her honors class this semester has 10 – that’s right – 10 students. Her largest class has about 75 students and most of her classes have less than 30 students. She works as a paid research assistant for a professor of pathobiology at the vet school. At the end of this semester, she’s studying abroad in Ireland/Scotland/UK as part of a summer program sponsored by K-State, the cost of which K-State subsidized with a partial scholarship. After she gets home, she’s flying to New Mexico and spending some time doing research at New Mexico State University, all paid for by K-State. As for academic opportunities, here’s how this “state school” stacks up against the elites in at least one respect (from K-State’s admissions website): </p>

<p>K-STATE’S STELLAR COMPANY</p>

<p>K-State ranks first nationally among state universities in its total of Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholars since 1986. Our students have won more than $2 million in those five competitions and have earned K-State a place among the nation’s elite universities. </p>

<p>Rank among the 500 state universities

  1. K-State: #1 in all-time Truman and Goldwater scholars; #2 in Rhodes scholars since 1986; #2 in Marshall scholars since 1986 (tied); #3 in all-time Udall scholars (tied)
  2. Penn State
  3. University of North Carolina
  4. University of Kansas
  5. Arizona State University
  6. University of Virginia
  7. University of Michigan
  8. University of Illinois
  9. Montana State University
  10. University of Washington at Seattle </p>

<p>Rank among all 2,400 public and private universities

  1. Harvard
  2. Yale
  3. Stanford
  4. Princeton
  5. Duke
  6. K-State
  7. Brown
  8. Chicago
  9. Cornell
  10. MIT </p>

<p>In addition to all of this, K-State gave her a great financial aid package (all merit money) that pays for about 1/2 her cost of attendance and is renewable for all four years. D had the stats to get into some top private universities, was solicited by several, and passed on them to go to K-State. She couldn’t be happier and I’m convinced that she’s receiving a fine education. I should add that I went to Duke for my undergraduate work, so I’m in no way biased against top private institutions. While I believe that I received an exceptional education at Duke, I also speak from experience when I say that private institutions are just as susceptible to some of the same criticisms that are so often levied against public universities. At Duke, for example, many of my introductory classes (chemistry, psychology, etc.) were huge. That hasn’t changed. I have a good friend with a daughter at Cornell and she complains about the same thing, only now it comes with a $45,000 annual pricetag. I am not saying, of course, that K-State rivals a top twenty institution in every respect. What I am saying, however, is that most public universities afford motivated, hard working students the opportunities to receive an outstanding undergraduate education, and usually for a very reasonable cost.</p>

4

<p>“My other choice is getting my undergraduate degree at a school that does have a veterinary college. The thing is, while this school has a great curriculum, its location offers little to no opportunities for vet experience before vet school, and it’s tuition is pricier with limited scholarships.”</p>

<p>How certain are you that you can dominate your competition at the larger school? </p>

<p>I’m being somewhat facetious, but vet schools are very serious about GPA. They are also serious about a prospective student’s practical experience working with animals. Some students can excel at a large university and get the requisite experience. Some are better off taking the road less traveled. </p>

<p>As you perhaps know, your chances of being admitted to vet school are enhanced if you are applying to the school in your home state. Going to an undergraduate school in the same state as the vet school you want to attend may also give you a leg up, but perhaps someone else better advise on this one. </p>

<p>I would think that a Massachusetts resident with a 3.8 GPA at Bowdoin, great test scores and 7 years experience working for a vet would have a better chance at admission to Tufts than a New Jersey resident with a 3.6 GPA at Tufts, great test scores and 3 years experience working for a vet but that’s just part of the equation.</p>

5

<p>^^ MarinMom, I second your recommendations.</p>

<p>If the OP decides, however, to go the LAC route, here’s a program worth checking out:
<a href=“http://www.augustana.edu/x2585.xml[/url]”>http://www.augustana.edu/x2585.xml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Thanks everyone for the responses. :)</p>

<p>"Sounds like money is an issue. Since you’ll be going to vet school, you’ll want to minimize any loans.</p>

<p>What are your stats?</p>

<p>how much will your parents pay?"</p>

<p>Yes, money is an issue, but I have to go on merit-based alone. My family’s income is too high for need-based, but other financial issues in my family that won’t show on a FAFSA report are preventing them from helping me pay. My stats are pretty good, with a 33 ACT and 4.0 unweighted GPA.</p>

<p>“LACs aren’t usually cheap unless you’re considering an instate public LAC.”</p>

<p>Yes, this is an in-state public institution that I’m considering. It’s also nearly half the cost of the larger public school I’m considering.</p>

<p>“it’s not an issue of “settling”. You can do pre-vet almost at many colleges. You need one that is affordable.”</p>

<p>Thanks! This was the kind of answer I was looking for. I had assumed it was so, especially since the vet admissions director told me that they had students in their current class from the LAC college I’m considering. I only started doubting when a teacher of mine recommended against it, saying that their academics wouldn’t be good enough for a pre-vet major.</p>

<p>“A third choice, Kansas State University.”</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m not looking to apply to additional schools (I’ve applied to 5 already), especially ones out-of-state. It ends up affecting my chances of getting into my in-state vet school. :stuck_out_tongue: Complicated and annoying, yes…</p>

<p>“How certain are you that you can dominate your competition at the larger school?”</p>

<p>Not certain. When I talked to a current vet school student, she described the opportunities for a pre-vet student to get experience on campus as “obtainable.” She said that I’d likely end up working hours nobody wanted, like holidays. Not that I’m avoiding hard work like that, but the LAC is closer to a big city with more opportunities to shadow/work for/volunteer for a vet, and the city has a zoo that offers internships, which is very tempting since I want to be a zoo vet eventually.</p>

<p>So location- and price-wise, the LAC is my top choice. My only worry was that academically it would be weaker.</p>

7

<p>but I’m not looking to apply to additional schools (I’ve applied to 5 already), especially ones out-of-state. It ends up affecting my chances of getting into my in-state vet school. :stuck_out_tongue: Complicated and annoying, yes…</p>

<p>Huh???</p>

<p>How does applying to some OOS schools have a negative affect on applying to your in-state schools? Are you saying that if you go out of state for undergrad, that you won’t likely get accepted to your in-state vet school?</p>

<p>Which vet school is that?</p>

8

<p>*Yes, money is an issue, but I have to go on merit-based alone. My family’s income is too high for need-based, but other financial issues in my family that won’t show on a FAFSA report are preventing them from helping me pay. My stats are pretty good, with a 33 ACT and 4.0 unweighted GPA.
*</p>

<p>What’s your merit situation at your instate schools? How much of the Cost of Attendance (tuition, room, board, books) will they cover with merit aid?</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>If you aren’t careful about maintaining your state residency status, then yes. If you spend several years out-of-state as an undergraduate, you could change your official residency by doing something like registering to vote out-of-state, or by obtaining an out-of-state driver’s license. </p>

<p>And if you officially become an out-of-state resident, then it may become much more difficult to get into the vet school of your home state, because of the strong preferences for state residents. As stated by [Wikipedia](<a href=“Veterinary education - Wikipedia”>Veterinary education - Wikipedia):</a> </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>The opportunities for out-of-staters are so limited that some states actually provide public funding to out-of-state vet schools, so that their residents have a better chance to enroll at such schools. For example, the State of [url=<a href=“http://ag.montana.edu/prevetclub/highschooloutreach.htm]Montana[/url”>http://ag.montana.edu/prevetclub/highschooloutreach.htm]Montana[/url</a>], which has no vet school of its own, helps to fund the vet schools at Washington State, Oregon State, Colorado State, and Cal-Davis, to ensure that these schools will accept a limited number of Montana residents.</p>

10

<p>*If you aren’t careful about maintaining your state residency status, then yes. If you spend several years out-of-state as an undergraduate, you could change your official residency by doing something like registering to vote out-of-state, or by obtaining an out-of-state driver’s license. *</p>

<p>Well, it’s not that hard to keep your residency in your home state while enrolled in school in another state. </p>

<p>As long as you’re aware of what might hurt residency (which is typically more complicated than the things you’ve mentioned), a student is fine. Typically, residency is where your parents live if you’re under age 24. If changing residency was as easy as getting a DL or voting, no one would be paying OOS fees.</p>

11

<p>“What’s your merit situation at your instate schools? How much of the Cost of Attendance (tuition, room, board, books) will they cover with merit aid?”</p>

<p>Well, as I mentioned earlier, the LAC has an opportunity for me to get a full ride. I say “opportunity” because there are only 20 awards, and an interview is required. The minimum requirements to even be considered are 30 ACT and 3.5 GPA. The admissions director hinted to me at a reception that I was a strong candidate, but then again he may have just been recruiting.</p>

<p>The other school I’m considering has already given me a scholarship that covers tuition, fees, a study abroad stipend, and something called a “technology allowance” that you’re supposed to spend on a laptop, but you are allowed to spend on something else school-related. However, subtracting what my scholarship gives me from their estimated cost of attendance, I still need to scrape up $14,000. Now, there are general and departmental scholarships that I applied for, but I don’t know what I get from those until April. As for need-based aid, my parents’ income is very high, but they want me to pay for college myself because they had to pay for it themselves (and, surprisingly, I agree with their position. I’d like to be as financially independent from my parents as possible when I move out. I guess it’s just how I was raised).</p>

<p>At the other in-state schools I applied to, the merit aid my stats get me varies. Sometimes it covers nearly everything, and other times it covers barely anything (such as the private school I applied to that mostly gives need-based aid).</p>

12

<p>"If you aren’t careful about maintaining your state residency status, then yes. If you spend several years out-of-state as an undergraduate, you could change your official residency by doing something like registering to vote out-of-state, or by obtaining an out-of-state driver’s license. </p>

<p>Well, it’s not that hard to keep your residency in your home state while enrolled in school in another state.
As long as you’re aware of what might hurt residency (which is typically more complicated than the things you’ve mentioned), a student is fine. Typically, residency is where your parents live if you’re under age 24. If changing residency was as easy as getting a DL or voting, no one would be paying OOS fees."</p>

<p>Very true; if I was careful, it wouldn’t be a problem. But with deadlines so quickly approaching and my hands full of scholarship applications and resumes and letters of recommendations that are required by the schools I already applied to, I’d like to not suddenly apply to more schools, especially out-of-state. I’ve already been given a lot of good opportunities from in-state schools, and I was really just trying to see if a LAC would be an acceptable fit for a pre-vet student, which you all have answered it is. :)</p>