Is UIUC, UMass Amherst, or Penn State better for animal/veterinary science on a pre-vet track? I need help choosing.
For reference, they’re all out of state for me and I got a $12k/year scholarship to UMass-- however I don’t love the campus or lack of racial diversity.
Virginia Tech is my top choice but I’m waitlisted 
What are your cost for each ?
What type of diversity ?
As for % white - if you mean race
Umass = 59% white.
PSU = 63% white.
UIUC = 37% white (third party sourced)
Va Tech = 58% white
So all are similar with Va Tech and Umass the same - if looking racially.
Pre vet = more school. All of these are pricey. Do you have $$ for vet school too?
Have you been to all ?
UIUC seems most diverse but it’s very different than the others.
To me, if you like Va Tech, PSU is similar in feel.
As for Va Tech and top ranked food and food is important - you need fuel - UMASS is top rated, along with Va Tech.
If Umass is cheaper, unless money is no concern, I’d be there. It’s as racially diverse as Va Tech. And food - yum ! My co worker says it’s better than any restaurant in Phoenix, where sue now lives.
Then PSU which is beautiful and feels like Va Tech.
I happen not to like UIUC but I’m not you. Have you been ?
Good luck.
Hi thank you for the reply. I’m visiting UIUC in a few weeks. Penn State would actually be the most expensive option since I’d have to start in the summer (summer session). So UIUC would fall in the middle for price (it’s the only school I have to fly to though…).
And to clear up the diversity thing, I’m Asian so I’d like a school with a good amount of Asian people, which UMass kinda has with 15% Asians. Yes PSU is 63% White but 14% is “international” and I think only about 6% are Asian. UIUC is by far the best for diversity which makes me feel safe.
UMass just kind of gives me a bad vibe since I don’t think the campus is very pretty and the weather seems to be always cloudy and/or rainy. If you live in Massachusetts, what’s the weather like?
It’s also worth mentioning UIUC is consistently ranked higher for academics than UMass and PSU. PSU is the closest to my home which is nice, but I’d rather not start school in the summer🤷. Choices, choices.
Only you can decide.
In regards to Asian, I’m typecasting I know but many be confined mainly to certain parts of school…STEM majors.
International is that - could be Asian, Canadian, European - who knows.
What is your major ?
I would worry about rank. You are going to vet school. These are all solid schools.
I’d worry about budget and comfort. Access - ie transport - does impact budget. If you’re not comfortable with Umass campus, then I’m not sure you will be with UIUC. But go check it out.
Good luck.
My major is Animal Science (for PSU it’s called Veterinary and Biological Sciences)! Also from what I see in pictures, UIUC looks like a really beautiful campus with a quad that kids hangout on. Kinda UVA-esque. I don’t get that vibe from UMass. UMass would be like an all-day drive from my location.
I might just spin a wheel at this point.
Can you visit ?
Can you afford ?
I don’t get that vibe from UIUC but go visit so you can see.
Ultimately only you can choose but PSU is definitely most similar to Va Tech (imho).
I’ve given you a lot of points but ultimately you need to choose, not me.
Good luck.
If you want Asian, got to come to CA. Many UCs with majority Asian. 
Just kidding. I would suggest to keep open mind. If you go to UMass, you will pocket $48K and can use it toward your vet school after graduation. How often you plan to come home? My son goes to college one hour from home, so far only come home twice. With the money you save, you can fly home easily. Good Luck.
In terms of academics, they are all very good. Any of these schools can prepare you academically to apply to DVM programs and do well.
Our older daughter is in her fourth and last year of a DVM program (which makes it her eighth year of university). She is solidly on track to be called “doctor” in May. Regarding the process to get there, three things stand out in my mind.
One is that eight years of university can be expensive. My daughter has reported a few times that most of the students in her program are taking on way too much debt and don’t want to talk about it. In you want to keep open a realistic option to get to veterinary school and complete your DVM, then you need to budget for 8 years of university, and need to be very careful about taking on debt or even spending down the college fund. It is sometimes easier to save $$$$ for your bachelor’s rather than for the DVM.
The second thing that comes to mind is that this is a long and difficult path. Of the many skills that are needed to get there (and that my daughter has needed), I think that determination may be the most important.
Also, if you look at the students who are in any very good DVM program, they have come from a very, very wide range of undergraduate universities. Roughly 3 1/2 years ago I got to listen to the opening reception for my daughter’s DVM program, and they said where each incoming student had gotten their bachelor’s. It was rare to hear the same university mentioned twice. They had come from “all over the place”. Many, if not most, had come from schools that are ranked about the same or maybe slightly lower than the schools that you are considering, and the ranking really does not matter.
Experience in veterinary situations will be important when you get to applying to DVM programs. You can get this experience part time while you are studying as an undergraduate, or over the summer, or after graduating with your bachelor’s degree and before applying to DVM programs. My daughter went with all three of these. When she was an undergraduate student most (but not all) of this experience was off campus.
The required pre-vet classes are the same as the required premed classes. Your classes will be academically demanding and will be full of very strong premed students. However, you will of course be looking for very different clinical opportunities.
Do you also have in-state options? Will you need to take on any debt at all for any of the three schools that you are considering? Will any of them allow you to save $$$$ in a college fund to help with the cost of a DVM program?
I have visited the U.Mass campus multiple times and quite like it. I also like the nearby town of Amherst. In terms of racial diversity at U.Mass, I did not actually notice when I was on campus, but I know quite a few coworkers who graduated from U.Mass Amherst and most of them are Asian. There definitely will be many Asian students on-campus there. Admittedly they will not all be pre-vet students, but that would be true anywhere (and many Asian students will be premed and will be in the same classes with you).
There is an old saying that if you do not like the weather in New England, then wait a minute. The weather tends to change quite a bit. If it was snowing last night and raining today it might be sunny tomorrow. There are definitely quite a few nice days in Amherst, and a full four seasons, and some rain, and some snow.
If you can get as far as getting your DVM, and do it without taking on much debt, and pass the licensing exam, and if you are drawn to it, then being a DVM can be a great way to earn a living. However, these are a lot of “if’s”.
Good eye! The UIUC quad design was based on the quad at UVA, which was partially designed by Thomas Jefferson. Lots on Asian internationals and Asian-Americans on campus, and if you look up the types of restaurants on Green Street, you’ll finds lots of diverse cuisines. But you’ll see all that for yourself when you visit.
The Vet Med buildings are on the southeast edge of campus. I’m not sure how many classes you’d take there as an undergrad student, but something to think about if and when you’re choosing housing there. There are a few dorms close by, but it’s a little far from the quad and Green Street areas. There is a beautiful Arboretum and Japanese cultural facility across the street, though.
You definitely should visit your top choices if at all possible.
Good luck with your decision!
You’re right! I plan on coming home during every break and probably here and there for my boyfriend.
Thank you!
As for in-state options, I was really hoping on Virginia Tech but I’m waitlisted with little hope of being accepted. I got into JMU, which I don’t really want to go to since it doesn’t have the Animal Science major. I also didn’t get a scholarship.
I’m going to have to take out loans for any college I go to.
Thank you! I’ve visited Penn State and UMass, and I’m visiting UIUC in mid-March.
You can only take out $5500 the first year and $27k altogether.
So again it comes back to affordability.
How will you afford any of these ? And how will you pay for grad school ?
Loans have fees so you don’t receive what you borrow. And you have to pay interest. And then more fur grad school. Rates are high. Your salary likely to be low.
What are your stats ? Perhaps you need to apply to further, but more inexpensive programs ?
Having debt and then grad school, is a HUGE issue.
Ps - JMU has a pre vet minor so you can major in anything. It’s tuition room and board is $45k. That’s much less than UIUC and PSU.
The OP is instate for JMU. COA would be much less than $45k, probably ~30k for tuition, fees, room, and board.
Curious why you’re saying this. Vets make a pretty good salary. Even right out of school. And that job market isn’t going south like many others.
Sorry - I missed that - I thought they said out of state for all four.
Then yes, JMU is a no brainer - it’s not even close. And there’s other VA schools that may still be taking apps.
Because the average debt of a Va Tech Vet School grad, as an example, is $165K. The median $176K.
So at $176K, the student probably has to borrow $185K.
And over ten years, that’s $2250 a month - and that’s on top of undergraduate debt.
So well over $3K a month.
Now you have rent, car, insurance, etc.
On average, a vet makes $136K salary (higher with other perks like insurance).
How will they pay back the loan?
37% of Va Tech Vet School grads, btw, make less than $100K. 20% less than $80K.
So - the salary is likely to be low - especially relative to the salary being taken, when starting.
For OP, they need to go to JMU (or another Va school or Community College and transfer) and then to an in state med school.
That’s why I say that.
The student, like many, doesn’t understand the cost of college, of life, etc. and that’s sad and a lesson they need to learn quickly.
There’s a student who posted the other day at AU - who realized, working and everything else, they need out and quick. They took on more than they can chew.
That’s the same case here.
JMU is $27.3K for tuition, room and board at published prices. Go for the win!!
As we know for med schools and as @DadTwoGirls shows, the where you go undergrad will have little impact on the where for vet school - short of a guaranteed entry which OP doesn’t seem to have.
Thanks
Is there such a thing as a vet pre-med program, or do students who want to become vets take biology as undergrads? Of the schools on your list, which have DVM schools? Those schools might have a program where you track from your BS right into the DVM school. This would be worth exploring since you might be able to take a semester or two out of your total education, and you might get preferential treatment in your DVM application.
I attended UIUC for grad school and visited the campus with my son for Science Olympiad a few years ago. Here is my take…
From outside, the main quad is beautiful. Go inside some of the buildings, however, and it is evident that the facilities have not been renovated or well maintained. The physical plant at Purdue - with buildings of roughly the same age - was far better.
UIUC is a very diverse campus because the school draws many students from Chicago, and because of its high ranking in engineering and comp sci, it has many international students. There is a large cohort of Asian students, both US citizens and from abroad.
Urbana/Champaign is an island in a sea of corn. Outside of the university, the economy appears to be based on warehousing/logistics and light manufacturing. It is not a town known for it’s culture or pastoral beauty.
Of the schools on your list, UIUC is the strongest academically. It is ranked #33 overall, #15 for DVM, #32 for Biology, #5 for Engineering, # 5 in Comp Sci, #14 in Business… you get the idea.
It is probably too late in the process for you, but if you applied to Penn State and UIUC why did you not apply to other Big 10 schools with strong DVM programs like THE Ohio State (#3), UW Madison (#7), Purdue (#11) and UM Twin Cities (#11). Ohio State has a reputation for enticing strong students with healthy merit packages and Purdue would have been less expensive for our son than our in-state flagship, UofM. If it is not too late, you may want to look at Ohio State and Purdue.
Good luck to you.
Thanks for the information. I’m surprised that the salary numbers are that low. A few recent vet grads I know are making well over 100k. But location obviously matters.
I’m from Urbana originally, and my DS is considering UIUC now, so I have a few thoughts: I agree that the UIUC campus is beautiful, but I also like the U MA Amh campus (where my DS is also considering). MA and IL both have solid concentrations of Asian populations in academic settings in general, in my experience. Both also have Jewish populations which we’re following, for similar reasons, and those often go together.
UIUC is very well known and well respected for pre-vet. Also, UIUC has not yet come out with their merit aid. I know that it is typically not much for OOS, but it might not be zero, before you compare prices with your other schools.
It is hard to get to Urbana compared to some other locations, but perhaps not compared to Amherst. (We’re in eastern MA so we could drive to Amherst but it was harder to send DS to CU to visit.)
I don’t think you can really go wrong.