UMN vs. UGA

[stovebird]

Hi everyone! I am super honored to have been accepted to a few different schools this cycle, and it has really come down to UMN and UGA. UGA is my IS school, but I am not really "from" Georgia - it is just where my parents live. I have lived there a few times (military kid), but I don't really have a true "home" state. That being said, I have gone to undergrad OOS at UMN, so Minnesota has definitely become a home to me. I have a life established here, and I really love the area. In terms of cost, UGA is significantly less expensive, but I am eligible for IS tuition at UMN. I found out that if I use the GI bill my first year (which I already planned on doing) they will add an IS waiver to my account that will last all 4 years. Even so, the IS tuition at UGA is still almost 1/2 that of UMN. I am established at clinic in the Twin Cities area that I LOVE and is exactly what I want to go into - small animal and exotics ECC. We see a lot of avian cases, and I am super passionate about birds. My job is definitely a big reason why I would want to stay at UMN; my clinic is super hands-on, and learning is emphasized a lot. Other vet students work with me there, and they say that they love how they are able to apply what they are learning in school at work. I also have a great setup where I work only Saturdays, giving me a ton of flexibility with my school schedule during the week. My vet student coworkers have told me that they find the Saturday-only schedule really manageable with school. I also have connections with the wildlife rehab here, which is another path I am super interested in pursuing.

I am just super split and conflicted and stressing A TON about this decision. I have so many great professional connections here in Minnesota, but cost keeps stopping me from being 100% about a decision to stay here. I am attending UMN's admitted students day, but in order to attend UGA's I will have to buy plane tickets and miss work, so I need to be seriously considering UGA to justify that.

On another note, as a military kid I am SUPER jaded from moving, and the idea of staying in one place for more than a few years and NOT having to reset my life AGAIN is VERY appealing - but I don't want to let that factor take full control of my decision.

I am also a little concerned with how UGA is so IS-focused with seats. I am worried that I will be entering a class full of students who already know each other from undergrad. It is really appealing to me that UMN is more 50/50 with IS/OOS seats. UGA also has a larger class size at about 150 seats, while UMN has about 105.

I would love to get some input on what current students and alumni of these schools love about them! Opportunities outside of the classroom are extremely important to me. If I leave UMN, I will be leaving a ton of opportunities I have worked very hard to establish myself in. I am beyond honored to even have the privilege to make this difficult decision, but it is still exactly that, very very difficult.

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[lav]

Hi- first year at UGA here!

I'm IS for UGA, but spent the entirety of my undergrad in Tennessee and other states so I didn't know anyone coming in. I will say that there are a lot of UGA undergrad kids that come to the CVM, but I wouldn't say that that has created barriers for me socially- nor have I heard anyone else make remarks about it hurting their experience. A lot of the UGA undergrad people did know each other, yes, but most were not close friends- more so just familiar with one another from various undergrad classes. People are so open to making new friends coming into the school year because everyone is starting a whole new chapter together. When you spend so much time together, it's hard not to bond so I wouldn't worry too much about the IS/OOS dynamic as far as UGA goes. I've never felt a divide of any sort on a IS/OOS basis.

As far as opportunities outside of the classroom, you can work at the veterinary teaching hospital (VTH) starting in your first year here. The VTH is an insanely nice facility as it was built fairly recently and has just about everything you could ever want within a hospital. We have three main treatment crews- large animal, small animal, and wildlife. These get you fantastic hands on experience within the clinic assisting with patients and general hospital care. I know some other first years who have gotten positions in non-treatment crew aspects of the hospital as well (like ClinPath). If you're a research type of person, there are also research projects that we get invited to, like the Georgia Veterinary Scholars Program, as well as individual professors conducting research that you could potentially get involved with. Outside of those, clubs will offer wetlabs, volunteer opportunities, etc within various fields to get further exposure past classroom material. I'm not sure what your focus/interests may be within vetmed so I can provide more details of any of those opportunities if need be!

I know moving is daunting, but I think that given the price difference you owe it to yourself to at least come visit. It can give you so much closure one way or another. You could love it and decide to come here, or you could decide that UMN is the place for you and avoid the nagging thought in the back of your head wondering if UGA would've been the better decision. Everyone on SDN preaches about going to your cheapest school for a reason, so I think it should stay within consideration.

If you have more questions about UGA, I'm more than willing to answer them!

 

[SnowJ]

UMN 2022 grad (and exotics vet in the cities) happy to answer questions!

Personally I found a lot of out of class opportunities at UMN, both because of the large number of clinics in the area and because of club activities. For the interests you've mentioned there's both a Zoo/Exotics club and ECC club, both of which were very active. WRC and the Raptor center both have opportunities for students to get involved in wildlife, though WRC has more space in that regard. There's also VeTouch and SIRVS which provide low/no cost services to reservations in the cities, allowing a lot of hands-on experience.

I certainly don't envy your position. I was IS at UMN and OOS elsewhere so cost between schools was much more comparable. It does suck that UMN's cost is so high even with IS tuition. I absolutely understand your personal reasons for wanting to stay in MN. Having that Saturday position is very nice, as well as having your foot in the door with exotics and wildlife where networking is important.
With the cost difference though, I think it's at least worth visiting UGA and seeing what they have to offer. They may have opportunities to work in the teaching hospital, which would provide hands-on experience and work in your schedule. Realistically, great vets for all kinds of specialties come from every school. If you seek out experiences that interest you, you will find things that work for your situation.

Last note to remember to factor in cost of living. I'm not sure if your parents are close enough to live with during school at UGA (or if you would even want to for mental health reasons) but that can make a huge difference as well. Since I lived with my now-husband and we split the cost of living, I was able to limit my loans to tuition/fees for the first 2-3 years of school using summer job savings. I was also fortunate enough to not have undergrad loans to contend with, so overall my loan burden has been fairly manageable even with IS tuition being high.

 

[stovebird]

Hi- first year at UGA here!

UMN 2022 grad (and exotics vet in the cities) happy to answer questions!

Thank you both for this input! This is really helpful information. I know that the resounding consensus on SDN is "go to your cheapest school", but I feel like with my unique situation, that isn't as applicable? I am getting a year free with the GI bill anyway. I have debt from undergrad, but thankfully I have been able to keep it at a minimum with scholarships. I don't take getting into debt lightly, but I don't want that to be the only deciding factor. I am definitely leaning towards UMN, but it helps that the resounding consensus on this thread is that I should go to UGA's admitted students day regardless.

 

[SnowJ]

Thank you both for this input! This is really helpful information. I know that the resounding consensus on SDN is "go to your cheapest school", but I feel like with my unique situation, that isn't as applicable? I am getting a year free with the GI bill anyway. I have debt from undergrad, but thankfully I have been able to keep it at a minimum with scholarships. I don't take getting into debt lightly, but I don't want that to be the only deciding factor. I am definitely leaning towards UMN, but it helps that the resounding consensus on this thread is that I should go to UGA's admitted students day regardless.

I'd say it's still going to be beneficial to have a lower debt burden regardless, especially if one school is double the other in cost. However your more expensive choice may end up less than my cheaper one, so it's a bit less dramatic in your case. It's still a large enough gap to at least seriously consider both options.

I will say that if you do end up going into wildlife, the pay is not great so that debt difference will be more important.

 

[WildZoo]

Thank you both for this input! This is really helpful information. I know that the resounding consensus on SDN is "go to your cheapest school", but I feel like with my unique situation, that isn't as applicable? I am getting a year free with the GI bill anyway. I have debt from undergrad, but thankfully I have been able to keep it at a minimum with scholarships. I don't take getting into debt lightly, but I don't want that to be the only deciding factor. I am definitely leaning towards UMN, but it helps that the resounding consensus on this thread is that I should go to UGA's admitted students day regardless.

Your situation is a bit unique but still not one where I would think the usual recommendation doesn't apply, since there's still a decent gap in cost of attendance. If the remainder of your expenses will be through taking out loans, I would put together an estimate of what your total cost of attendance will be at each school, plus your undergrad loans, and run that through the VIN loan repayment simulator. That way you'll have an idea of real impacts of the extra cost in terms of monthly payments, overall cost of the loan over time, how much you'll need to save for the taxes on forgiveness if you go that route, etc. It helps put things in a more realistic perspective than just looking at the straight numbers! I think whichever decision you make, seeing how much you'll actually be paying per month for x number of years, and how much you'll need to be saving for taxes in addition, is going to be useful and will probably help you feel more secure in your decision either way

And just as a note, that consensus isn't just on SDN. The vast majority of vets who had to take out loans will tell you the same thing. Nothing about your vet school experience truly impacts your life for years and years afterwards as much as the finances. It's an unfortunate reality of the situation.

 

[stovebird]

Your situation is a bit unique but still not one where I would think the usual recommendation doesn't apply, since there's still a decent gap in cost of attendance. If the remainder of your expenses will be through taking out loans, I would put together an estimate of what your total cost of attendance will be at each school, plus your undergrad loans, and run that through the VIN loan repayment simulator. That way you'll have an idea of real impacts of the extra cost in terms of monthly payments, overall cost of the loan over time, how much you'll need to save for the taxes on forgiveness if you go that route, etc. It helps put things in a more realistic perspective than just looking at the straight numbers! I think whichever decision you make, seeing how much you'll actually be paying per month for x number of years, and how much you'll need to be saving for taxes in addition, is going to be useful and will probably help you feel more secure in your decision either way

And just as a note, that consensus isn't just on SDN. The vast majority of vets who had to take out loans will tell you the same thing. Nothing about your vet school experience truly impacts your life for years and years afterwards as much as the finances. It's an unfortunate reality of the situation.

Thank you for pointing me towards the VIN repayment simulator. I did not know that resource existed, and it definitely helped me realize that I am SUPER uninformed about the financial aspect. I really had barely considered the finances of vet school until recently. Previously, I had been working towards a wildlife biology and management career, so I was actually switching to a much more financially secure career field (The amount of unpaid/underpaid work in the wildlife field is INSANE). I am going to be consulting financial advisors and my mentors about this situation further. Hopefully I will understand more after the financial segment of UMN's admitted students day as well. It is so discouraging that the financial reality of this career field is so bleak. I love vetmed, and it is undeniably my passion, but the financial restraints are truly devastating. I want to stay in MN SO BADLY, and the fact that being eligible for IS tuition isn't enough is honestly heartbreaking. This decision process has not been fun to say the least.

 

[Georgethecat]

It's good that you are reaching out to financial advisors and your mentors. Just remember at the end of the day it's your responsibility to look at the cold hard numbers. I've been amazed at some of the advice that has been given in regards to what the long term consequences of debt are. It's not the same, but realtors and banks will just about always encourage you to go for a higher priced house/mortgage. They are NOT looking at your full financial picture and the fact that while technically according to their "formula" you can afford XYZ, you might also like to afford groceries, utilities and a yearly vacation.

I can't recall all of your specifics, but would going to UGA allow you to make even more contacts/relationships in the field that you are hoping to go into? You've built good relationships with people in MN and those won't disappear while you are in vet school. You could continue to look for summer and externship opportunities in MN as well. Would it be a plus to be a lot closer to your family that now lives in GA for the next 4 years?

UGA is a great school and Athens is nice college town. I wouldn't be concerned about not knowing anyone. Maybe it's year dependent, but did not see that as an issue at all.

Best of luck in making this tough decision!