When I first was picking out vet schools I thought I wanted to go to, the list was difficult to narrow down. It seemed like everyone I talked to had an opinion about which school was best, and where I should apply. Naturally a majority of people I talked to were vets, and many many of them felt I should apply to their school! It had worked for them, so it was probably going to work for me too! Invariably these schools all took on "a lot of out of state students, more than the rest of the schools", and also were "cheaper and have better financial aid" then the next. In reality this is not true for the most part. Yes, some of the schools did have a higher acceptance rate than others of out of state students-- but it was never that high, or that different. And yes, some of the schools offered tuition that was cheaper than others, but never by much (I mean really, when you're talking 50,000 plus a semester whats an extra three of four thousand bucks?!)
When all was said and done I applied to eight schools total, including Ross of course. Ross was always different from the rest of them. Right away a few things were clear about this school that made it stand out from the others. Obviously location has a lot to do with it being so different, but it is not the only tropical island vet school-- it IS the only accredited one however (more on this shortly.) As soon as I started mentioning interest in Ross to vets and people I knew, tones changed. There was (and is) definitely some negative perceptions of the newly accredited program, but I want to use this time to point out some of the inaccuracies.
Inaccuracy number 1: "Ross is a place where people who couldn't get into other vet schools go, thus lowering the caliber of the program." False. At least in some regards. Yes, Ross is a program that takes on a lot of applicants not otherwise looked at by the American vet schools. It does however still have requirements about grades, GRE scores, and previous academic achievements. It is also not a program for the faint of heart- traditional schools in the states go 4 years- with summers off. Ross goes 7 semesters, with no summers off making the program fast paced and with little breathing time. If you can't handle the pace, you won't make the cut. The reason Ross adjusts its qualifications for applicants and accepts other types of students is that they feel there is more to being a vet than just being intelligent/book smart. If it weren't for their feeling on this, I might not be able to pursue my dream!
Inaccuracy number 2: "Well class sizes are HUGE! No way can a person possibly get prepared hands on for clinicals and real life" False. Though the class size might be larger than some of the standard schools in the states initially, it quickly diminishes. Some people can't handle the homesickness, others the stress of school, and still others just plain fail out. It is said within the first few weeks of the program the class will lose about 15-20 students. It's a high mortality rate for the program and some people may disagree with my assessment on this, but I feel as if it is more practical in ways than traditional American Vet schools with lower acceptance rates. It is also FALSE that Ross takes on more students than they can place in the clinical year of study. Their admission fluctuates in correspondence to the number of open US slots at a given time.
Inaccuracy number 3: "Isn't the program ungodly expensive!?" Well yes, sort of. In the grand scheme of things ANY out of state veterinary college in my opinion is ungodly expensive. For instance, tuition at Cornell for out of state is around 65,000 PER YEAR. You may pick your jaw up off the floor now. Tuition to Ross per semester is around 15,000. Mind you these include living expenses such as rent/books/groceries etc. Ross as 7 semesters totaling 105,000$, plus your clinical year which costs about 19,000... so lets say your cost is $125,000. This does not include your airfare which can be pricey- but in reality you don't have much time to fly home, and I don't intend to but MAYBE 2x a year... more likely once. If you do the math for Cornell it comes out to: $260,000! Thats a huge difference. **Addendum- the amount listed for Ross is the amount if you do NOT borrow full amounts of financial aid. Estimated full loan amounts push that total to 29,000 or so per semester... a little more for your clinic, for a total of somewhere around 230,000 available as a full loan. This is STILL a good 30,000 different from Cornell.**
Inaccuracy number 4: "Don't you have to pass some huge test before you can pass the National Exam?" Nope, not any more. Since Ross became accredited recently it is now recognized by the AVMA. This means that students need only pass the NAVLE (or the boards for the states) as opposed to an international exam, and then the national exam. And while on the topic of accreditation I'd like to point out that it isn't just a fleeting thing to get accredited. It is a long process which all the other schools in the states had to go through before they were considered adequate education. To me, if the school is accredited, it is on par with the schools in the states. Period, end of sentence.
Inaccuracy number 5: "Isn't the island really unsafe? Filled with murder, rape, robbery etc.!?" While some sources would like you to believe that at every turn there is a crime waiting to happen on the island it is actually not quite true. Yes, this is a third world country with their own set of issues stemming from the poverty. Yes, there are crimes- most commonly burglaries... however there is hardly a vet school in the states that is not in a major city of some kind. And in all of these cities all these crimes occur frequently. I believe you can't live your life in fear of what might possible happen somewhere, someday. Instead, I opt to use common sense- I won't walk at night alone in unfamiliar territory. I won't venture into areas that are known to be less safe. The school has students live on campus the first semester to familiarize themselves with the island and the natives. Security there is excellent. Once you move to an apartment, the school helps you select approved apartments in safe areas. Can you always be sure you won't be at risk for a crime? No, but I can't even say that in my tiny hometown (sad as that is.)
So you see there are many falsehoods believed about this school. Ross isn't paying me to write this (quite the contrary, I've been paying them!" I have spoken with recent students and read up on the school from outside sources. If you always believe the hype and negative imagery you will never move beyond what lies in plain sight. If I happen to be dead wrong about these things, I have the ability to call it done with school there... and I have the ability to try and transfer to a state side school also... but for now I'm just taking it all in!
Image courtesy of st-kittsnevis.com photo gallery, showing South Friars Bay
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