How accurate is the AAVMC cost comparison tool?

[Spoot]

One of my options just offered me a sizable scholarship to attend. Although I feel very honored and appreciative, this is unfortunate because I do not want to attend the school. It was originally a “fall back,” but after going there for my interview I felt very uncomfortable with the program.

Compared to an option I actually want to attend, the scholarship brings the “total cost” of attendance down to match. But the difference in cost of tuition between the two options is sizable, especially with the scholarship. When everything is said and done, the school I have the scholarship for is 37k less in tuition, but with estimated fees and cost of living the total costs of the two schools match.

So I guess in the end...is the tool accurate? Is there some sort of financial advisor I should speak to?

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[JaynaAli]

Living expenses is the most difficult part to predict so it's difficult to say. What kind of housing do you need? Are you under 26 and still on your parent's healthcare or do you need to pay for your coverage? Do you own your car or can you bike/walk? In many cases, they may be overestimating what you can live on, particularly if you live with several roommates or have a significant other who makes enough money to pay the bills. Other schools (Iowa State comes to mind from what I've read on here?) cut it really close. You may have to talk to people at each school to see what they actually pay...the applicant threads for your options would probably a good place for this.

 

[Spoot]

Living expenses is the most difficult part to predict so it's difficult to say. What kind of housing do you need? Are you under 26 and still on your parent's healthcare or do you need to pay for your coverage? Do you own your car or can you bike/walk? In many cases, they may be overestimating what you can live on, particularly if you live with several roommates or have a significant other who makes enough money to pay the bills. Other schools (Iowa State comes to mind from what I've read on here?) cut it really close. You may have to talk to people at each school to see what they actually pay...the applicant threads for your options would probably a good place for this.

I’d be living with my GF, on my parents insurance, and I have a car. However, I’d be living entirely on loans

 

[K9CRZY]

One of my options just offered me a sizable scholarship to attend. Although I feel very honored and appreciative, this is unfortunate because I do not want to attend the school. It was originally a “fall back,” but after going there for my interview I felt very uncomfortable with the program.

Compared to an option I actually want to attend, the scholarship brings the “total cost” of attendance down to match. But the difference in cost of tuition between the two options is sizable, especially with the scholarship. When everything is said and done, the school I have the scholarship for is 37k less in tuition, but with estimated fees and cost of living the total costs of the two schools match.

So I guess in the end...is the tool accurate? Is there some sort of financial advisor I should speak to?

I don't know which programs you applied to but it may help to reach out to current students/graduates of the program to see what they're dealing with as far as loans (I've never used this tool so I don't know what it's based on).

Now...I know everyone on SDN has said that you should base your decision on cost, but don't go to a program that made you feel this uncomfortable. I work with someone who chose the cheaper option, did 2 years of vet school and dropped out because they hated the school. She was doing well in her classes but all of the fears she had at her interview came true. It's not worth any kind of debt if you can't see yourself succeeding at that school.

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[Spoot]

I don't know which programs you applied to but it may help to reach out to current students/graduates of the program to see what they're dealing with as far as loans (I've never used this tool so I don't know what it's based on).

Now...I know everyone on SDN has said that you should base your decision on cost, but don't go to a program that made you feel this uncomfortable. I work with someone who chose the cheaper option, did 2 years of vet school and dropped out because they hated the school. She was doing well in her classes but all of the fears she had at her interview came true. It's not worth any kind of debt if you can't see yourself succeeding at that school.

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I feel like that’s prudent advice. The feelings I got from my interview combined with the opinions I’ve heard on the school make me extremely hesitant. The other two schools I interview at seemed wonderful, and I could see myself at either place.

 

[K9CRZY]

I feel like that’s prudent advice. The feelings I got from my interview combined with the opinions I’ve heard on the school make me extremely hesitant. The other two schools I interview at seemed wonderful, and I could see myself at either place.

That feeling will not go away. You have to ask yourself if the extra debt is worth your sanity. Even though it sounds like the cost may be about the same anyways.

Also, you shouldn't rely on this but there are other scholarships outside of the school you can apply for. Most schools have a scholarship database, may be worth looking through.

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[britzen]

you may try asking if the school has a go to person for financial stuff. VMCVM has a specific person who goes over the breakdown of every cost during admitted students day and is the person who handles all of the loans for students at our school - I'm sure she has the best idea of anyone what the average student costs are inclusive of everything

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[Spoot]

you may try asking if the school has a go to person for financial stuff. VMCVM has a specific person who goes over the breakdown of every cost during admitted students day and is the person who handles all of the loans for students at our school - I'm sure she has the best idea of anyone what the average student costs are inclusive of everything

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VMRCVM is actually the school I’m primarily interested in. Won’t know about the status of my acceptance/waitlist until February, but I loved the school. Who do you recommend speaking with?

 

[Spoot]

That feeling will not go away. You have to ask yourself if the extra debt is worth your sanity. Even though it sounds like the cost may be about the same anyways.

Also, you shouldn't rely on this but there are other scholarships outside of the school you can apply for. Most schools have a scholarship database, may be worth looking through.

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That seems like wise advice. I suppose I’ve just been kind of trained to “go to the cheapest school”

 

[Lupin21]

As others have stated, since you only get one vet school experience, and even that depends on the personality of the class, it is very difficult to judge if you actually would have been happier somewhere else. Vet school for most people is not enjoyable per se. You have an overwhelming stream of info always coming at you and you are surrounded by people who are all stressed perpetuating that stress cycle in others. I still think the experience is what you make of it, but so many have not developed the necessary tools for how to deal with this kind of environment, that is why you hear about it affecting some to the point of dropping out or worse.

But honestly, if you feel that you psychologically know beforehand that you will not enjoy a place, you probably won't because the precedent was already set, and it is up to you if you are able to take the positive feelings from somewhere else to use to build yourself up during the bad times at the school you chose. The human brain is hard wired sometimes, so you just have to do you. The time does honestly go by super fast, so that is why those of us finished or on our way out tout that finances should always be number one. Because that debt is a lifetime rather than four years. Either way, I wish you good mental health and success.

 

[battie]

That seems like wise advice. I suppose I’ve just been kind of trained to “go to the cheapest school”

A lot of vets give this advice because it's disliking how your life is for 4 years vs 25 years while you pay your loans/save up for the big tax burden you pay when you can't pay off the loans. I feel like there is wiggle room, especially depending on the person. I personally would have paid an extra 5k-ish/year to have lived closer to home or to live where it doesn't snow.

There's also the perspective of how I love my school, particularly my class and specific opportunities I have, but I hate school itself. I legit don't like being in classes for the first time in my life while being in vet school. Part of that is due to extenuating circumstances that, even if I was going to my number one choice school, I would still hate school. I have to actively work at improving my mentality about school. I do that with a combination of therapy and improving the aspects of my life that I do have control over. Moral of this rambling is that, even being in the "perceived" best environment, vet school is partly a mind game where you make vet school worth it to you with whatever tools you have available to you.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I'm all for going to the cheapest school, but there are some schools I would never go to (and thus wouldn't apply to) regardless of the cost. So if the total cost was just "matched" and it was just a matter of how stingy I could be with living expenses, I think you could totally justify it.

I mean, what you're saying is that you would be choosing a school that needs to give you a quite sizeable scholarship to make you think about going, AND, you will still have to live extra stingy to make it worth your while. That sounds kind of miserable. It would be one thing if cost of attendance was for sure going to be $40k less total, and you could make it even better by limiting your cost of living.

 

[Spoot]

As others have stated, since you only get one vet school experience, and even that depends on the personality of the class, it is very difficult to judge if you actually would have been happier somewhere else. Vet school for most people is not enjoyable per se. You have an overwhelming stream of info always coming at you and you are surrounded by people who are all stressed perpetuating that stress cycle in others. I still think the experience is what you make of it, but so many have not developed the necessary tools for how to deal with this kind of environment, that is why you hear about it affecting some to the point of dropping out or worse.

But honestly, if you feel that you psychologically know beforehand that you will not enjoy a place, you probably won't because the precedent was already set, and it is up to you if you are able to take the positive feelings from somewhere else to use to build yourself up during the bad times at the school you chose. The human brain is hard wired sometimes, so you just have to do you. The time does honestly go by super fast, so that is why those of us finished or on our way out tout that finances should always be number one. Because that debt is a lifetime rather than four years. Either way, I wish you good mental health and success.

You're absolutely right in that wherever I go, there will be definite negatives and things i don't like. That being said, the school I received the scholarship to just strikes me as an all-around bad choice for me; the locale, the curriculum, the way the program operates on a daily basis, the funding the school has, the seemingly indifferent or negative student populace. I feel guilty turning down a cheaper option because of my fears about the program, but in all honesty you're right on the money about the hard wired human brain. It's not something I'm proud of, but I can very easily get in my own head and convince myself I hate something, which sends me into a downward spiral. And the opposite can occur as well, in that something I tell myself I love I'll be more successful at. So knowing myself, I should just make the choice I feel more comfortable with. But regardless, I'll feel extremely guilty passing up a cheaper school because of my own immaturity.

A lot of vets give this advice because it's disliking how your life is for 4 years vs 25 years while you pay your loans/save up for the big tax burden you pay when you can't pay off the loans. I feel like there is wiggle room, especially depending on the person. I personally would have paid an extra 5k-ish/year to have lived closer to home or to live where it doesn't snow.

There's also the perspective of how I love my school, particularly my class and specific opportunities I have, but I hate school itself. I legit don't like being in classes for the first time in my life while being in vet school. Part of that is due to extenuating circumstances that, even if I was going to my number one choice school, I would still hate school. I have to actively work at improving my mentality about school. I do that with a combination of therapy and improving the aspects of my life that I do have control over. Moral of this rambling is that, even being in the "perceived" best environment, vet school is partly a mind game where you make vet school worth it to you with whatever tools you have available to you.

I've thought a lot about the debt load I'm going to accrue, especially with the debt load I already have from undergrad, but to be honest, where I go to school feels to me as if it will factor into the rest of my career. While I'm certain both programs would supply me with the tools to be a successful veterinarian if I truly put my mind to it, I'm afraid that I would lack confidence if I attended the cheaper option. Not because it is cheaper, but from what I've seen about the program.

I'm with you on the mind games thing. I fear that if I attend the school I dislike, I will be unable to convince myself otherwise or will have some nagging doubts about my own abilities. I'm in this predicament because of my own insecurities and mental shortcomings.

I'm all for going to the cheapest school, but there are some schools I would never go to (and thus wouldn't apply to) regardless of the cost. So if the total cost was just "matched" and it was just a matter of how stingy I could be with living expenses, I think you could totally justify it.

I mean, what you're saying is that you would be choosing a school that needs to give you a quite sizeable scholarship to make you think about going, AND, you will still have to live extra stingy to make it worth your while. That sounds kind of miserable. It would be one thing if cost of attendance was for sure going to be $40k less total, and you could make it even better by limiting your cost of living.

I suppose I really need to talk with financial advisers at both schools to see. Also I wish I could go back in time and not apply to this school and choose a different "fall back." I didn't know too much about the program and I hadn't visited because it's far from my home. If I knew then what I knew now, I doubt I'd have this choice to begin with! But now I almost feel like passing up this opportunity could be a regret I hold onto.

 

[Cobyology]

I've thought a lot about the debt load I'm going to accrue, especially with the debt load I already have from undergrad, but to be honest, where I go to school feels to me as if it will factor into the rest of my career. While I'm certain both programs would supply me with the tools to be a successful veterinarian if I truly put my mind to it, I'm afraid that I would lack confidence if I attended the cheaper option. Not because it is cheaper, but from what I've seen about the program.

I'm with you on the mind games thing. I fear that if I attend the school I dislike, I will be unable to convince myself otherwise or will have some nagging doubts about my own abilities. I'm in this predicament because of my own insecurities and mental shortcomings.

That's the predicament I'm in, as well. Well, it's only interviews so far, but I'm concerned about the school I pick (assuming I get in to all, which more than likely isn't the case, but I'm trying to prepare myself). I can o to a school that I don't think I'll enjoy, but will save me over $40,000 from my top OOS choice. I understand the whole 4 vs. 25 year thing, and I have no concerns regarding the program, I'm just not certain that I will like the town and will become bored. But this school is the closest OOS to home (which would be nice in order to see friends, family, and to have my significant other come and live with me). My top OOS school will cost about $40,000 extra, is further away (only by 2 hours, but still), and my girlfriend says she probably wouldn't move there because she doesn't like the city or the distance to home.

Like I said, I still haven't heard back from any of the interviews yet, but I'm hoping that I either get in to my IS, or I only get in to one OOS so that I don't have to make the difficult decision.

 

[TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo]

That's the predicament I'm in, as well. Well, it's only interviews so far, but I'm concerned about the school I pick (assuming I get in to all, which more than likely isn't the case, but I'm trying to prepare myself). I can o to a school that I don't think I'll enjoy, but will save me over $40,000 from my top OOS choice. I understand the whole 4 vs. 25 year thing, and I have no concerns regarding the program, I'm just not certain that I will like the town and will become bored. But this school is the closest OOS to home (which would be nice in order to see friends, family, and to have my significant other come and live with me). My top OOS school will cost about $40,000 extra, is further away (only by 2 hours, but still), and my girlfriend says she probably wouldn't move there because she doesn't like the city or the distance to home.

Like I said, I still haven't heard back from any of the interviews yet, but I'm hoping that I either get in to my IS, or I only get in to one OOS so that I don't have to make the difficult decision.

I promise you vet school will keep you busy enough to not be bored; and if you do get bored just pick up more extra-curriculars.

 

[battie]

I promise you vet school will keep you busy enough to not be bored; and if you do get bored just pick up more extra-curriculars.

For serious though. What's the population of the smallest city with a vet school? ~50k? When I interviewed at K state and people were calling it a small town, it made me laugh cause my undergrad town is 3 square miles. The majority of these schools are in areas that support 60k+ populations and are within driving distance of metropolitan areas. Most schools are in areas where there are things to do if you go find those things.

 

[JaynaAli]

Yeah the place I'm doing my residency is sometimes called a 'small town' and I just laugh because there are over 130,000 people here. I went to vet school in a place with a population around 50,000 but my hometown has 800 people. (799 when I left? haha) The town I went to high school in had 7,000. The place my sister lives now has 200 people. It's seemed like every vet school I've visited has been in a town with decent amount of things to do and within easy driving distance of a larger city with an airport, just like bats said.

 

[Caiter92]

For serious though. What's the population of the smallest city with a vet school? ~50k? When I interviewed at K state and people were calling it a small town, it made me laugh cause my undergrad town is 3 square miles. The majority of these schools are in areas that support 60k+ populations and are within driving distance of metropolitan areas. Most schools are in areas where there are things to do if you go find those things.

Pullman is just over 30k with school in session and 2 hours from the nearest city, and 5 hours from the next. But I agree, it’s not like I would have time to go out in the city if I lived in a more metropolitan area. It’s very much a college town, so if sports and bars are your thing, there’s plenty to do. I more just miss living so far from family than I do actually living in a bigger area.

I’d put way more stock into the school culture than I would where a school is located. That makes way more of a difference.

 

[battie]

Pullman is just over 30k with school in session and 2 hours from the nearest city, and 5 hours from the next.

I’d put way more stock into the school culture than I would where a school is located. That makes way more of a difference.

Oooooooh. That is much smaller than I was expecting!

But yeah, agreed on the school culture thing. Our vet school is on the southern tip of campus and town. I never go much farther North than this, to be honest.

 

[Georgethecat]

One of my options just offered me a sizable scholarship to attend. Although I feel very honored and appreciative, this is unfortunate because I do not want to attend the school. It was originally a “fall back,” but after going there for my interview I felt very uncomfortable with the program.

Compared to an option I actually want to attend, the scholarship brings the “total cost” of attendance down to match. But the difference in cost of tuition between the two options is sizable, especially with the scholarship. When everything is said and done, the school I have the scholarship for is 37k less in tuition, but with estimated fees and cost of living the total costs of the two schools match.

So I guess in the end...is the tool accurate? Is there some sort of financial advisor I should speak to?

Have you looked at the VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map? I compared a couple of random schools between VIN and AAVMC sites and got different numbers. Your best bet is to get concrete numbers for tuition and fees directly from the schools themselves and ask what the expected yearly increase will be. As others have mentioned living expenses can vary hugely depending on the location of the school and your particular needs. A first step in trying to figure out living expenses would be to ask SDN buddies at each school for estimates on rent etc.. The schools tend to have a generic number for cost of living on their websites, but not sure how accurate that is.

If I am interpreting what you're saying correctly (lol please forgive my slow brain today), the cost of attendance for the 2 schools in question is the same??? If so, I'd be inclined to automatically say to attend the school you prefer. At the end of the day if the cost differential is a number you are comfortable with, then I'd still say go to your school of choice. But if you're talking about the difference between an affordable instate option versus the most expensive OOS option, that would be a tougher decision.

At the end of the day, don't beat yourself up for applying to this school. There wasn't any way for you to find out these things before your interview. Even a visit probably wouldn't have exposed you to the things that are making you hesitant to attend now. This is a totally different situation than is usually posted when an applicant decides after applying that the cost of school X is not doable etc.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

For serious though. What's the population of the smallest city with a vet school? ~50k? When I interviewed at K state and people were calling it a small town, it made me laugh cause my undergrad town is 3 square miles. The majority of these schools are in areas that support 60k+ populations and are within driving distance of metropolitan areas. Most schools are in areas where there are things to do if you go find those things.

I was going to say, Pullman is much smaller than this. Also, while 50k might feel large to you, things are all relative. The US census doesn't even consider places urban areas unless they are over 50k people.

I grew up in Portland where the metro population is over 2 million. Corvallis is under 60k. Though I love Corvallis, it does not and cannot have all of the things a city can. It is within an hour and a half of Portland though. Someone who grew up in a large city may feel more comfortable at places like UC Davis or NCSU (or other schools in/next to large cities) and I don't find that weird.

When going to undergrad, I moved to the midwest in a town less than 35k. It was a culture shock for sure. And I could see folks looking to find places to move to that they may be more comfortable with.

 

[battie]

Also, while 50k might feel large to you, things are all relative.

Yeah, I get that. I grew up in Denver, so I've lived the spread of places as far as population goes (5,000 in my undergrad town to 2.5 million) . I just think there should be some common sense when comparing city/town size, is all. Like you said, perspective.