Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine January 2016

[SoonToBeVet]

I just got accepted into Ross Vet School for Spring 2016! (Wait-listed for September 2015.) I'm so excited and overwhelmed. I already live on an island but moving to a whole new one without knowing anyone really shocks me. I'm looking to make friends during these next few months and maybe find a dorm roommate who likes to stay on track but has a mellow personality!

If you're interested in talking more, feel free to reach me here or ask for my facebook!

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[anjabryn]

Ross is an amazing school! I went there and personally loved the island. If you have any questions about the island feel free to ask.

 

[i love dogs]

Ross is an amazing school! I went there and personally loved the island. If you have any questions about the island feel free to ask.

I know a lot of people are hesitant to share their loan amount but overall, can you give some insight on how you're doing with paying it off? Is it do-able? I am applying this fall and honestly kind of love ROSS. I have been really considering it because of my lower GPA. However, as I've been talking to more vets, they continue to tell me that although I am thinking in the "I need to chase my dreams" mentality, that I also need to look at my future and how much island life is going to cost. I haven't been able to find the average cost of living there and how much students realistically spend on book, food, etc. I would greatly appreciate any feedback Thanks!

 

[ukrainiandude]

I know a lot of people are hesitant to share their loan amount but overall, can you give some insight on how you're doing with paying it off? Is it do-able? I am applying this fall and honestly kind of love ROSS. I have been really considering it because of my lower GPA. However, as I've been talking to more vets, they continue to tell me that although I am thinking in the "I need to chase my dreams" mentality, that I also need to look at my future and how much island life is going to cost. I haven't been able to find the average cost of living there and how much students realistically spend on book, food, etc. I would greatly appreciate any feedback Thanks!

Here is an article from 2013 about students debts at Ross University.
Oops, sorry ; Cannot post links on this forum, just search with Bing " Ross University new York times"
Article called:"
High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Vets"
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She also has $312,000 in student loans, courtesy of Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. Or rather, $312,000 was what she owed the last time she could bring herself to log into the Sallie Maeaccount that tracks the ever-growing balance.
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Article also mentioned that there are fewer dogs cats and horses in the USA.
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Ross is like a puppy mill. No summer breaks constantly producing more and more students.

 

[Vannandy]

Utilize VIN's tuition repayment calculator/tool for loan repayment options. If you browse the forums almost everyone will tell you to attend the cheapest school you're accepted to (A statement to which I agree.)

On a side note, Ukraniandude seems to have a personal vendetta against Ross University. True the debt load is significant, but there are schools like UPenn and Michigan State with comparable costs of attendance for out of state students (increasing tuition costs is true for schools across the board.) I have yet to see such a condescending post made on other school threads by this individual. In the end, if you still want to attend veterinary school knowing there is a massive educational debt load, don't let that stop you. If graduates before you are making it why can't you.

 

[allieh8607]

I know a lot of people are hesitant to share their loan amount but overall, can you give some insight on how you're doing with paying it off? Is it do-able? I am applying this fall and honestly kind of love ROSS. I have been really considering it because of my lower GPA. However, as I've been talking to more vets, they continue to tell me that although I am thinking in the "I need to chase my dreams" mentality, that I also need to look at my future and how much island life is going to cost. I haven't been able to find the average cost of living there and how much students realistically spend on book, food, etc. I would greatly appreciate any feedback Thanks!

I graduated from Ross this past May. Feel free to PM me and we can chat specifics. Because my income was $0 the year before, my loan payment this year is $0 since I'm on an income based repayment plan. With that being said, I'm still saving the appropriate amount for the tax at the end of loan forgiveness and saving up literally everything I can to have an emergency cushion for once I do start having actual payments. So I can't really attest to how life is in the real trenches of loan repayment quite yet, but I definitely did not go into this with rose colored glasses and knew exactly what I was getting into with a plan to deal with it.

Ross is like a puppy mill. No summer breaks constantly producing more and more students.

Lol. Thanks for the laugh. I guess we're all just a bunch of inbred mutts with crappy genetics. Although I'm sure I would have appreciated a summer break, I personally hated vet school with every fiber of my being and was glad to get it over with sooner.

Utilize VIN's tuition repayment calculator/tool for loan repayment options. If you browse the forums almost everyone will tell you to attend the cheapest school you're accepted to (A statement to which I agree.)

On a side note, Ukraniandude seems to have a personal vendetta against Ross University. True the debt load is significant, but there are schools like UPenn and Michigan State with comparable costs of attendance for out of state students (increasing tuition costs is true for schools across the board.) I have yet to see such a condescending post made on other school threads by this individual. In the end, if you still want to attend veterinary school knowing there is a massive educational debt load, don't let that stop you. If graduates before you are making it why can't you.

Very good advice to use the VIN repayment calculator as well as their debt management section of the message boards. You can post you "debt signalment" as they call it and the experts will give you tailored advice to what they suggest as far as repayment plans, consolidations, tax filing, etc. I haven't used them personally as I am happy with my current financial planner but I've read several threads on that message board and like the advice they give.

 

[anjabryn]

I know a lot of people are hesitant to share their loan amount but overall, can you give some insight on how you're doing with paying it off? Is it do-able? I am applying this fall and honestly kind of love ROSS. I have been really considering it because of my lower GPA. However, as I've been talking to more vets, they continue to tell me that although I am thinking in the "I need to chase my dreams" mentality, that I also need to look at my future and how much island life is going to cost. I haven't been able to find the average cost of living there and how much students realistically spend on book, food, etc. I would greatly appreciate any feedback Thanks!

Hi there,

The loan amount after graduating from Ross is not that much more than many of the stateside schools. If you can go to one of the lesser expensive schools then yes, you might graduate with 50k-100k less than Ross. After graduation, from any vet school, you will have to just make your monthly paymeto the the student loan provider, live below your means, and try not to get too stressed out about the loans. If you can get into Ross, you will usually start right away, as opposed to getting into a stateside school where you start the next year. And Ross goes through the summer, which will allow you to graduate sooner, and therefore start to pay back those loans quicker than if you had gotten into a stateside school.

Food is a little bit more expensive on the island, and if you don't want to spend money on books Ross has an amazing library where you can check out any books related to your classes. Once you get to the island you will come across all of the upper students sellng their old books. So you can easily find ANY book you want for a very cheap price.

 

[DVMDream]

Hi there,

The loan amount after graduating from Ross is not that much more than many of the stateside schools. If you can go to one of the lease expensive schools then yes, you might graduate with 50k-100k less than Ross. After graduation, from any vet school, you will have to just make your monthly payments to the student loan provider, live below your means, and try not to get too stressed out about the loans. If you can get into Ross, you will usually start right away, as opposed to getting into a stateside school where you start the next year. And Ross goes through the summer, which will allow you to graduate sooner, and therefore start to pay back those loans quicker than if you had gotten into a stateside school.

Food is a little bit more expensive on the island, and if you don't want to spend money on books Ross has an amazing library where you can check out any books related to your classes. Once you get to the island you will come across all of the upper students sellng their old books. So you can easily find ANY book you want for a very cheap price.

There are those that graduate with 150K or more less than Ross. If you can go in-state to a very cheap school, you should do it. No ifs, ands or buts. No "but I want to travel". Nada. Go to the cheap school 100%. Also, the "graduating faster" is kind of misleading. The schooling might go faster but there is most definitely an impact on mental health to do that. Not to mention that depending on when you get accepted, NAVLE can be oddly timed and I have seen Ross students struggle with it and trying to quickly pick up studying it. A lot of them wait until the April timing simply because of when they start into clinics the November one is just too soon. Which means they are past graduation taking a second attempt if they don't pass the first. Not to mention that if internship or residency is what you want to do... you aren't starting them until July just like everyone else. Even if you graduated much earlier. So if you are done in December, you have that 6 months that you "saved time" not really doing anything (or attempting to find a temporary job) while waiting for internship application results and start of internship. So, yes, you do get through the DVM program faster, but the exams and internship start times don't change just because of when you started vet school. So that 6 months "saving" may not mean all that much in the end. Heck look at the UK schools who go through until early/middle of June. Those students are still just fine getting internships and residencies. So getting done earlier really doesn't make a giant difference unless you are heading into GP.

This isn't to say that Ross is a bad school or anything. Ross is a great school and I know many a great veterinarians who went to school there. But the things the school boasts as being "cool/great", aren't necessarily so once you realize that the timing of things can be a bit odd/prickly based on when you are admitted.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Hi there,

The loan amount after graduating from Ross is not that much more than many of the stateside schools. If you can go to one of the lease expensive schools then yes, you might graduate with 50k-100k less than Ross. After graduation, from any vet school, you will have to just make your monthly payments to the student loan provider, live below your means, and try not to get too stressed out about the loans. If you can get into Ross, you will usually start right away, as opposed to getting into a stateside school where you start the next year. And Ross goes through the summer, which will allow you to graduate sooner, and therefore start to pay back those loans quicker than if you had gotten into a stateside school.

Food is a little bit more expensive on the island, and if you don't want to spend money on books Ross has an amazing library where you can check out any books related to your classes. Once you get to the island you will come across all of the upper students sellng their old books. So you can easily find ANY book you want for a very cheap price.

DVMD touched on the other stuff...but my experience with an island veterinary school is that island groceries are more than "a little bit more expensive." Like, things were 2-4x the cost of stateside groceries. I spent my time at SMU (not Ross), so perhaps it's an island to island difference, but I know a lot of students there underestimated the price difference just to have food in their apartments. It's not just the tuition that people need to be thinking about. The rent for SMU students was pretty insane if I remember correctly too.

 

[allieh8607]

DVMD touched on the other stuff...but my experience with an island veterinary school is that island groceries are more than "a little bit more expensive." Like, things were 2-4x the cost of stateside groceries. I spent my time at SMU (not Ross), so perhaps it's an island to island difference, but I know a lot of students there underestimated the price difference just to have food in their apartments. It's not just the tuition that people need to be thinking about. The rent for SMU students was pretty insane if I remember correctly too.

Is that taking into account the almost 3:1 exchange rate too? I mean yeah, a package of Oreos or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s was pretty pricey. Brand names that obviously had to be imported made me go “do I really need to be eating this?” But I feel like if you eat like a responsible adult with a lot of locally sourced produce and protein, it’s only slightly more than groceries are in the US. Every Wednesday there would be a farmers market on campus and I would highly recommend hitting that up for cheaper produce too.

Rent is definitely more the closer to campus you are and whether or not you live with a roommate. I lived about 12 minutes away from campus and split a house with 2 other girls. I think my rent was around $650. Electricity is where they will get you. A single bedroom apartment directly across from campus within walking distance could easily run you $1200. But then you might not need a car, so.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Is that taking into account the almost 3:1 exchange rate too? I mean yeah, a package of Oreos or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s was pretty pricey. Brand names that obviously had to be imported made me go “do I really need to be eating this?” But I feel like if you eat like a responsible adult with a lot of locally sourced produce and protein, it’s only slightly more than groceries are in the US. Every Wednesday there would be a farmers market on campus and I would highly recommend hitting that up for cheaper produce too.

Rent is definitely more the closer to campus you are and whether or not you live with a roommate. I lived about 12 minutes away from campus and split a house with 2 other girls. I think my rent was around $650. Electricity is where they will get you. A single bedroom apartment directly across from campus within walking distance could easily run you $1200. But then you might not need a car, so.

When I was there, the exchange rate between $ and the Cayman dollar was nearly 1:1 and things were still insanely expensive. But then again, as far as I was aware, pretty much everything was imported (milk, eggs, etc.). Must be an island to island difference, but I've heard Ross students bring up the same complaints-they didn't realize the difference in COL beyond rent.