This post is a continuation of my earlier blogpost "Expensive Begins with the Application", which can be viewed here: http://apachegirl.weebly.com/blog/expensive-begins-with-an-application Offers have come in and the final pennies added up. Excluding interview costs, my total cost of applications came to $990. Recall I only applied to four schools- here are the results: |
I interviewed and was accepted to UC Davis SVM; accepted (without an interview) to Oregon State University CVM; offered but declined my interview at Washington State University WIMU Veterinary Program; and was denied by Colorado State University CVMBS.
Luckily, I already live in Davis (I am a senior undergraduate here) so it did not cost me anything for travel, food, or lodging for the UCD interview.
Oregon State does not interview its non-residents, which means I was admitted without interview. I feel incredibly fortunate and thankful to have been accepted there-- OSU has the smallest class size (~55) and only ~16 seats are open to non-residents. And since there is not an interview, OSU spared me the related expenses. Be aware of schools that have interview policies like this- it may help you decide which schools to apply to if money is a major concern for you. Also, be aware that some schools will do Skype or telephone interviews to help their applicants avoid the time and financial costs of travel.
I ended up hearing the good news from UC Davis about 2 weeks before my Washington interview, so I decided to decline my interview offer to WSU. If I had pursued it, it would have cost me over $300, plus 2 days of missed classes and 1 missed workday. Luckily, I was almost fully refunded from my AirBnB hosts ($115 for 2 nights) except for an $11 service fee, but unfortunately, Alaska Airlines did not refund me, so I lost $149.20 to them. Also to consider is the money I saved that I would spent in Washington for food and ground transportation. However, several of my friends had interviews at Kansas, Michigan, Ohio before hearing back from Davis, so they had to shoulder these costs before hearing back from Davis.
I highly recommend using AirBnB to find lodging for your interview travels. It was very easy for me to find a student budget-friendly room close to the WSU campus-- in fact, the people offering this particular room were a couple of WSU graduate students! Which would have been awesome because I would have been able to learn so much more about the WSU lifestyle than if I had lodged somewhere else.
All in all, I would say I saved much more money than my counterparts. My applications to 4 veterinary schools cost me about $1,140 altogether, and I got in to my dream school: UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Some other things to note related to money and applications: OSU requires a monetary deposit after you accept your offer to hold your place. I think they do this to deter people from accepting and then declining to accept somewhere else. Non-residents, take note that Colorado State doesn't let you establish residency during veterinary school, meaning you will pay out-of-state tuition all four years (yikes! as a result I was not terribly sad that I didn't receive an admission offer from them). These are all things you should research in-depth before choosing which veterinary schools to apply to.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any more tips, please leave me a comment below.
Luckily, I already live in Davis (I am a senior undergraduate here) so it did not cost me anything for travel, food, or lodging for the UCD interview.
Oregon State does not interview its non-residents, which means I was admitted without interview. I feel incredibly fortunate and thankful to have been accepted there-- OSU has the smallest class size (~55) and only ~16 seats are open to non-residents. And since there is not an interview, OSU spared me the related expenses. Be aware of schools that have interview policies like this- it may help you decide which schools to apply to if money is a major concern for you. Also, be aware that some schools will do Skype or telephone interviews to help their applicants avoid the time and financial costs of travel.
I ended up hearing the good news from UC Davis about 2 weeks before my Washington interview, so I decided to decline my interview offer to WSU. If I had pursued it, it would have cost me over $300, plus 2 days of missed classes and 1 missed workday. Luckily, I was almost fully refunded from my AirBnB hosts ($115 for 2 nights) except for an $11 service fee, but unfortunately, Alaska Airlines did not refund me, so I lost $149.20 to them. Also to consider is the money I saved that I would spent in Washington for food and ground transportation. However, several of my friends had interviews at Kansas, Michigan, Ohio before hearing back from Davis, so they had to shoulder these costs before hearing back from Davis.
I highly recommend using AirBnB to find lodging for your interview travels. It was very easy for me to find a student budget-friendly room close to the WSU campus-- in fact, the people offering this particular room were a couple of WSU graduate students! Which would have been awesome because I would have been able to learn so much more about the WSU lifestyle than if I had lodged somewhere else.
All in all, I would say I saved much more money than my counterparts. My applications to 4 veterinary schools cost me about $1,140 altogether, and I got in to my dream school: UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Some other things to note related to money and applications: OSU requires a monetary deposit after you accept your offer to hold your place. I think they do this to deter people from accepting and then declining to accept somewhere else. Non-residents, take note that Colorado State doesn't let you establish residency during veterinary school, meaning you will pay out-of-state tuition all four years (yikes! as a result I was not terribly sad that I didn't receive an admission offer from them). These are all things you should research in-depth before choosing which veterinary schools to apply to.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any more tips, please leave me a comment below.