Why LSU?

Hi there; Birdie here!

I'm finally getting around to the Blog Topic of the Week based off my suggestion: How did you choose which school to attend? What things do you like and dislike about your school's location?I know some class of 2018ers are still making their decisions so I thought it would be a helpful topic for them. :)

The way I went about taking my pre-reqs was to take everything that was required for my IS (in-state = LSU), plus some random interesting classes that counted for my biology major: immunology, comparative vertebrate physiology, bacterial pathogenesis. Mostly, I figured if I had the prereqs for LSU, I would be able to apply to most if not all vet schools. Turns out, that's not exactly the case. I did not take genetics in undergrad, which narrowed down the schools I was eligible for application to 9. With just a little more narrowing, I picked 5 schools to apply to: LSU (of course), UPenn, Cornell, VMRCVM, and Missouri.

VMRCVM was easy to decide not to go to, since they rejected me outright without even an interview. I decided I would rather not stay so far up north where I would have to drive in snow--especially when my accepted candidates day at Cornell was the weekend of that big winter storm last January/February (I don't remember which). That left the two I was really deciding between: Mizzou and LSU.

LSU, of course, was one of my top choices purely because it's my in-state. That means in-state tuition, which is tens of thousands of dollars less expensive than, say, Cornell. There was also a little bit of the fact that I'd be close to my family, but that wasn't a huge concern for me--I'd spent 4 years in upstate New York far from my parents in Louisiana without really being homesick, which supported my hypothesis from undergrad applications that being at a school I like and really want to be at is more important than being able to go home for a weekend. Oh, also my dad pointed out that if I was going to practice in Louisiana (which I'm not sure whether I will), people might not want to go to a vet who wasn't an LSU vet. I don't know how many people that applies to or how true that is, but it was a factor.

If I was picking my vet school like I picked undergrad, I would have chosen Mizzou. The environment at that school seemed super positive: faculty super helpful, students really supportive of each other...there were even pictures of students and faculty with their pets all over the halls of the vet school! Plus a couple of other SDNers that I had become friendly with during applications had picked Mizzou, and I thought it would be nice to know a couple of other students going in. That school also has a 2+2 program--2 years in the classroom followed by 2 years in clinics, rather than the usual 3+1. That means 1) more experience with clinical skills, aka what I will likely be doing as a private practitioner, and 2) likely more opportunities for externships: rotations at practices/institutions outside of the vet school, which could lead to potential jobs. Given the poor climate for job availability, that was really appealing to me. Mizzou also has a canine blood donor program (somewhat similar to the one I learned about at Penn) that I would have loved to get involved in. In fact, I would have liked to adopt one of their blood donor greyhounds (my favorite dog breed) after its 2-year donation period was up. As for tuition, yes, it would be out of state and more expensive--but only for the first year. Mizzou lets students change residency status after matriculation, which translates to in-state tuition after the first year. It does require things like making a certain amount of money in the state and not leaving the state for more than...something like two to four weeks out of the year. The job was almost a positive for me: I could get a job in the clin path lab or with summer research, which would be great experience. The restriction on leaving the state was the biggest drawback for me.

In the end, that drawback was big enough. Particularly for reasons that I don't need to get into right now (and that are now actually completely irrelevant), I chose the school where I could spend the summer wherever I wanted. In all honesty, I probably knew from the time I applied that if I got into LSU, that was where Iwould go. But with all the positives about Mizzou and the fact that I had specifically not wanted to go to LSU for undergrad (I picked a small liberal arts school for a reason), I had a hard time making that decision. Towards the end I actually had an email conversation with an LSU professor who happened to have graduated from my undergrad, and that was what made me okay with my decision.

Now, even though the real reason I made the decision is no longer relevant, I'm glad I chose LSU over Mizzou. For one thing, I've seen the postings from Mizzou students: 2+2 programs mean far too much 3-exams-in-one-week. For another, I was terrified enough of driving on icy roads when we had our 3 snow days: I can't really imagine actually needing to drive it if everything didn't shut down. Being able to go see my parents (and little brother!) in Covington has been a bigger plus than I expected, plus I can easily get to New Orleans for conventions or shows (like the live Welcome to Night Vale show I saw last night), and visit my sister at her undergrad while I'm there. Despite what my next paragraph might indicate, I'm really not miserable here. It's clearly worse than undergrad, but undergrad was awesome. And at this point I don't know what it would be like to be anywhere but here. Having some friends and things to do with people besides sit in class, I'm almost at the point where I don't regret anything because I'm too happy where I am. Being able to stay in touch with my undergrad friends helps, too, even if I still miss them. Overall, I'm not sure I made the right decision, but it's definitely one I'm having less than trouble living with. I can definitely say it was a good decision.

This last paragraph is directed at those making a decision, but it's going to sound a little bitter, starry-eyed new acceptances might not want to read it:
My honest advice for anyone making a decision about vet school is, yes, go where it's cheapest. But not just because crushing debt is terrible (don't get me wrong, it totally is, even if I haven't started to experience the reality of paying it back yet). In the bluntest of terms: vet school sucks wherever you go. Maybe warm weather will make you a little less miserable, but no one likes the constant stressful studying wherever you are (and idk about other schools, but mine doesn't even have windows in the first-year classroom, so weather hardly matters to me). If you can get PBL at your school, great, and I would definitely advise getting involved with clubs or other experiential activities to remind you why you're really in vet school. But you'll get a great education regardless at any accredited school. And if there's one thing I've learned in vet school (besides, you know, anatomy, physiology, immunology, neuroscience, diagnostic imaging, and a billion other things) it's that unlike undergrad (which I was in, in large part, for the experience) vet school is pretty much just a means to an end. It's not there so you can enjoy it (if it was, it should be another year so we might have multiple weeks a semester without an exam)--it's there so when you get out you can have a career you can enjoy and find fullfilling, in whatever aspect of vet med you choose/can find a job in.