Hello, I need some help deciding between two schools for the fall of 2016. I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 32 on the ACT. I have a dream of joining the U.S. Army Veterinarian Corps after vet school and need some help choosing the right school for my undergraduate studies. The two schools that I have the most interest in for my undergrad studies are the University of Dayton and the University of Findlay. UD has their own AROTC program, but not an official pre-vet program. However, they are UD grads who have gone on to vet school and one of them is in the US Army Vet Corps. UD has a state-of-art science center and facilities. UF has a AROTC partnership with Bowling Green State University, so I would have to drive to BGSU for my AROTC classes and labs. However, UF is really well known for pre-vet. Please lend me some insight !
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but not an official pre-vet program.
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Most schools don’t. Not needed. UD is actually unique that it has a “premed” and a “predental” degree…which are also very not needed.
Do you need an AROTC scholarship in order to be able to afford to go to either of these schools? Are you willing to have school paid for by an AROTC scholarship, even if it means you are not granted an educational delay and must go on active duty and serve your obligation as a basic Army officer rather than going to vet school? Can you afford to pay for your own Vet School? If you do AROTC at Findlay, would you have to drive there for PT, classes and labs? That can be 2 trips 3 or 4 days a week. Each trip is about 30 minutes each way, so that could be 2 hours of driving everyday, in addition to trying to get your class schedule at Findlay to work around that, not to mention the cost for gas for all of that commuting. What is your back up plan if you don’t get an AROTC scholarship?
I do need an AROTC scholarship in order to afford to go to UD and UF. If I am not awarded an AROTC Scholarship, then I would attend BGSU and still do AROTC and get ready for vet school there. Yes, I am willing to serve my obligation right out of Undergraduate. I want to serve my country and would prefer to do it as a veterinarian. However, if that doesn’t work out, then serving asan officer would be fine. I might be able to afford vet school without the HSPS scholarship with other outside scholarships. If I do AROTC at Findlay, then I would be at BGSU every Thursday from 2:30-6 pm for labs and classes and an occasional saturday. There are 5 UF AROTC students that take their AROTC classes at BGSU, so we could carpool and split the cost. Thanks!
Oh and PT for the UF?BGSU AROTC would be on UF’s campus.
BGSU, I think.
It’s the simplest option. Also, I reckon you’ll find a social component to the ROTC unit. Granted I didn’t do Army, but a couple times a year we had things like presidential reviews that required some after hours work. Also, it was very useful to be handy to the det/unit in order to do some of the admin work (setting up the next week’s plan for drill, making sure the unit was ready for an IG inspection, etc.). Not everybody enjoys it, but I really did.
Probably way too late, but Miami has NROTC and AFROTC plus decent med school acceptance rates which ought to translate well to vet school, but I don’t know what need the Navy or Air Force have for veterinarians. Does the OH Guard have some veterinarian program?
Anyway, I think your existing plan will work really well.
Also I think your priorities are good. Officer first, job second is a healthy attitude. There motto among the active duty should be “where there’s a will, there’s a waiver,” meaning that if it doesn’t happen right out of college, keep trying.
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I do need an AROTC scholarship in order to afford to go to UD and UF. I
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Apply to Mississippi State. You’ll get generous merit (at LEAST full tuition), plus they have an excellent Vet school there.
MS State has an early vet scholars program - if you make that cut for application/UG, you can continue into their vet program as long as UG coursework is good. Check it out.
50N40W: Thanks for your insight, I’ll keep that in mind. The U.S. Army Veterinarian Corps works with the Navy and Air Force when needed, but the Army is the only one with its own corps.
SOS & mom: I will look into their programs, but I am pretty set on Ohio State’s vet school
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but I am pretty set on Ohio State’s vet school
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No one can be “set” on any particular vet school, just like someone can’t be “set” on any particular med school. Admissions are fiercely competitive and there are far many more applicants than seats.
Did you really think you’d be applying to only one vet school???
Based on my experience with AROTC (I had an AROTC scholarship and, my DH taught AROTC for 4 years), I would recommend that you choose UD. You may not think that it is a hassle dealing with a cross town ROTC program, but it really can be. You’ll miss out on much of the camaraderie within the unit that is built during many of the ROTC extracurricular things and I don’t see any academic advantage of UF over UD, at all. Have you chosen these colleges just so you can stay close to home in Ohio? Have you considered any other undergrad schools that have AROTC and strong records for Vet-school admission, even if it is in another state?
I know the 40 students or so that get into that MS State program enjoy the fact that by performing well in UG, they can proceed onto vet school. I know a student that has completed, and another that is going into UG sophomore year.
Agree with @mom2collegekids you can not be ‘set’ on one school…don’t know how many apply for each vet school slot at Ohio State, but I know with AU it is really a small percentage of applicants who ‘win’ a slot.
@mom2collegekids : I do not plan on applying to one vet school… I plan on applying to multiple with OSU as one of them. I am originally from Ohio (now live in SW Michigan) and I bleed scarlet and grey. I know I shouldn’t go to a school because I am a fan of them, but it is not like OSU’s vet school is under par on any means. If I go to an Ohio college for my undergraduate, then I have a better chance of getting into OSU because more in-state college students are accepted vs. out-of state.
@MidwesternHeart : Thanks for those points. I was thinking about how partnership students would fit in with students on the main campus. I have considered other schools in Ohio and other states (none in Michigan appeal to me), but in the end I always seem to come back to UF/BGSU and UD. I want a smaller school with a strong science emphasis and strong vet-school admission, so if you have any recommendations, I’m open. I want to be in a reasonable travel distance from MIchigan (less than 10 hours or so). I am visiting BGSU this upcoming saturday and UF and UD within the next month and a half, so these visits will be important.
@SOSConcern : I looked into MSU’s program as well as OK State, Missouri, Colorado State, Purdue, Cornell, Wash. St, and Kansas States. The thing that deters me from these programs is that they are all huge schools and they are all far away from Michigan (Purdue is the exception). They all have AROTC programs, but the room and board incentives are not as generous as UD and UF. UD gives four year ROTC scholarship students free R & B and UF allows merit scholarships to be used towards expenses not covered by the ROTC scholarship. The early programs seem amazing, I just have the ^ concerns and the fact that OSU would be out of mind.
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I go to an Ohio college for my undergraduate, then I have a better chance of getting into OSU because more in-state college students are accepted vs. out-of state.
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You’d be OOS for OSU’s vet school, even if you went to an Ohio undergrad. Preference is for instate students. You wouldn’t be an Ohio resident. You’d be an OOS student attending an Ohio undergrad.
Even if I move to ohio and live there year round during my undergraduate studies?
One may ‘count on’ ROTC, but one may not get into the program, or get cut before field training. There are years where one can glide right in, and other years not. 2014 was not a good year for a lot of kids in AF-ROTC; the federal cuts were pretty deep, so kids expecting to get into field training summer before junior year got cut.
OP you can ‘bleed’ whatever colors you want, and a particular school or particular program may or may not work out for you.
I just thought I would point out a program which you might have a chance at. I know the two kids that are in the program at MS State are glad they have vet school in their horizon (and one having been in and completed). I am not sure if in vet school they are considered as MS residents (their scholarships had their tuition as UG covered).
One does have to keep the ‘big picture’ in mind and not necessarily have some details or niceties get in the way. Is it more important to go to a particular school or to become a vet?
A lot of ROTC now is paying 3 years UG and not 4 (although one would be in ROTC as a freshman too). The gov’t has realized that many getting ROTC scholarship as freshman do not follow through - either academically or with the service.
OP, what is your home state? From post #14 there are a lot of ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ you are not aware of.
It’s virtually impossible to attain state residency while attending college (except for some few states which don’t mind losing OOS tuition).
Don’t forget that with ROTC, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to be a vet in the Army. It all depends on the Army’s needs. If you’re contracted with ROTC (which sounds like will be your plan since you’re wanting to do it undergrad), and you’re not able to branch into the vet corps, then you’ll have to put up vet school into after your Army stint. So just keep that in mind.
@ErinsDad : Okay thanks for letting me know! I was not aware of that.
@CE527M : Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. The Army recruiter and the ROTC recruiters I have talked to say that there currently is a big need for vets in the Army, so hopefully that stays the same. If I don’t go to vet school and join the army right out of college, then I would be in a branch related to my major (which i plan on either being biology or animal sciences) and the opportunities in that branch still interest me. I want to serve, so I’m fine with serving as a vet or an officer. Like you said, I could always do vet school after my service (if I still have the desire to be a vet).
@SOSConcern : I am aware of those possibilities, but those are out of my hands. According to everything I’ve read, the only way to get cut from ROTC is legal problems or poor performance. The cuts for AFROTC led to graduates not starting on active duty and instead with the reserves out of graduation. The cuts also led to more competition for the scholarships and less available ones. But once you get a 4 year scholarship, they can’t revoke it during your 3rd year. UD has 15 scholarships for my class (9 four year and 6 three year) and the recruiter said that I have a very high chance of getting one of theirs. I am a current resident of Michigan and lived in Ohio for the first 8 years of my life. My mom lived 48 years in Ohio and my dad lived 15 years.
OP just to let you know there are no guarantees with ROTC - the possibilities of getting cut is very low some years; the big budget cut year made a difference to students that were cut. Also what if something happens to you medically? You may say unlikely, but a car accident or something else could happen.
That is why having big student loans is very unwise for UG. For professional degrees, often is needed, but there is a risk of not completing.
Yes they can’t revoke the ROTC scholarship during your junior year - but they can cut you before going into field training before junior year. Also some may still be on scholarship but are no longer with the military - depending on their meeting of the contractual obligation.
Just want to give you the 411 of ‘devil’s advocate’.
So you have a family HS in Ohio - you may be risking a lot by not having the door open for more realistic opportunities. However maybe you go UG all the way ROTC. The higher your stats UG, and your standardized testing capabilities, the better your chances at what you are seeking.