Iowa vs PEI (both OOS), small animal, slight exotic focus.

[CalypsoDreaming]

Hello, I’ve been waitlisted at both Iowa and PEI. I’m definitely going to accept whichever I get pulled off of first, but I’m conflicted on what I would do if I were offered both. I like PEI’s smaller class size and their student to faculty ratio. I was also impressed with the interview process. Iowa, however, would be a lot easier in terms of relocation since I have a lot of anxiety surrounding getting a student visa for Canada, as well as a visa for my long term partner. However, Iowa’s OOS tuition is also seemingly more expensive than PEI from what I have been trying to gather. Overall, I will go wherever I’m offered, but hoping for some opinions on these schools from others! Thank you

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[Chqu22]

Current 1st year at Iowa and I love it here! I was in a similar situation as I got into Iowa and then a week later was pulled off of Mizzou's waitlist. I was lucky enough to visit both schools prior to and liked that Iowa had a more established program. However, Iowa did end up being the cheaper school for me. If you have specific questions about Iowa, just let me know! Do you know your rank on the waitlist for IA?

 

[CalypsoDreaming]

Current 1st year at Iowa and I love it here! I was in a similar situation as I got into Iowa and then a week later was pulled off of Mizzou's waitlist. I was lucky enough to visit both schools prior to and liked that Iowa had a more established program. However, Iowa did end up being the cheaper school for me. If you have specific questions about Iowa, just let me know! Do you know your rank on the waitlist for IA?

Thank you so much! I think overall I’ve been overwhelmed with some personal life stuff that’s made it hard for me to begin having questions haha but I will definitely start thinking and shoot them your way! I’m 51/268 on the waitlist for Iowa. It’s a shame that PEI doesn’t tell their applicants where they are on the list or id have a little better idea of which is more likely for me to be pulled off of

 

[Chqu22]

Thank you so much! I think overall I’ve been overwhelmed with some personal life stuff that’s made it hard for me to begin having questions haha but I will definitely start thinking and shoot them your way! I’m 51/268 on the waitlist for Iowa. It’s a shame that PEI doesn’t tell their applicants where they are on the list or id have a little better idea of which is more likely for me to be pulled off of

I totally understand that - I am definitely not the best at thinking of questions but if you do just reach out! I would say you are in a great spot on the waitlist - most years they get past the 100s. It's really just the waiting game as to when they start pulling people off. Mizzou did the same thing for me and didn't release rankings, so I totally understand where you are at.

 

[Chqu22]

I totally understand that - I am definitely not the best at thinking of questions but if you do just reach out! I would say you are in a great spot on the waitlist - most years they get past the 100s. It's really just the waiting game as to when they start pulling people off. Mizzou did the same thing for me and didn't release rankings, so I totally understand where you are at.

Also wanted to add if you are looking for housing options - a lot of students (myself included) live at the Old Orchard Trailer Park! It is right by the vet school and you can walk there in about 5 minutes. It is very nice on days we have longer breaks to head home or on less busy days to head home to eat lunch

 

[CalypsoDreaming]

Also wanted to add if you are looking for housing options - a lot of students (myself included) live at the Old Orchard Trailer Park! It is right by the vet school and you can walk there in about 5 minutes. It is very nice on days we have longer breaks to head home or on less busy days to head home to eat lunch

I was looking into them! I noticed that a lot of it was posted as options to purchase the trailers outright. Is that how the majority of them work or is there any rental availabilities? I would be moving with my boyfriend, two cats, and a dog!

 

[_rae_]

I was accepted to PEI and went to visit back in February. If possible, I would highly recommend going up there before accepting a seat. We actually really liked the area, but it's very very different from the US. There's only two ways on and off the island, by bridge year round and by ferry from May to October. Canada also recently changed the immigration rules for spouses of undergraduate international students (which, vet school is undergrad still up there); your spouse/common law partner/long term partner will no longer automatically qualify with your student visa alone. Despite the cost difference, I chose to stay in the US. I really liked the school and the island and my fiance's cousin actually is a vet student there, but I felt the difficulties with visas and moving were not worth it to me. Also, while PEI is cheaper, they don't have a locked in exchange rate like some of the schools in the UK, your cost will vary based on exchange each year.

 

[Chqu22]

I was looking into them! I noticed that a lot of it was posted as options to purchase the trailers outright. Is that how the majority of them work or is there any rental availabilities? I would be moving with my boyfriend, two cats, and a dog!

It depends - for renting out there would usually be someone else who bought the trailer and then they rent out their extra room. Most people did take out a loan to outright to buy the trailer (and with the extra room look for a roommate or choose to live alone). What is great though is that they are pretty much guaranteed to sell when you are done here as there are always vet students wanting to live here! So you get your money back and then some. I think ISU should have sent out a spreadsheet for their 'parade of homes' where people could put down if they are looking for a roommate for their trailer or if they are selling theirs. I live at the Old Orchard one - there is one trailer park right next to us called Creekside and they may have opportunities for rent. They would also be within walking distance to the school too! Another great place to check is the ISU CVM Buy/Sell/Trade facebook group.

 

[Chqu22]

It depends - for renting out there would usually be someone else who bought the trailer and then they rent out their extra room. Most people did take out a loan to outright to buy the trailer (and with the extra room look for a roommate or choose to live alone). What is great though is that they are pretty much guaranteed to sell when you are done here as there are always vet students wanting to live here! So you get your money back and then some. I think ISU should have sent out a spreadsheet for their 'parade of homes' where people could put down if they are looking for a roommate for their trailer or if they are selling theirs. I live at the Old Orchard one - there is one trailer park right next to us called Creekside and they may have opportunities for rent. They would also be within walking distance to the school too! Another great place to check is the ISU CVM Buy/Sell/Trade facebook group.

I also have a few friends who live at the Wessex apartments here in Ames too and like it! It is a little bit more expensive than the monthly lot rent, but it is a nice setup (esp for professional students it is very quiet) over there and about a 7 minute drive from the school.

 

[Ardently.cowenby]

I am a current 1st year at UPEI from the states! I enjoy it a lot specifically a smaller class size. Depending on what exotics you want to focus on there are a lot of opportunities and we get a significantly higher amount of aquatics in our curriculum. Currently, our wildlife center on campus is not open due to HPAI though. Overall though my class is super close and I really appreciate that I'm friends with almost my entire class.

Also, I was freaking out about the student visa process and it was fine! Hardest part was finding an approved physician but once I got that sorted it was a breeze! I freak out about things like that but really you need a bank account and that's it! feel free to ask me any questions. Good luck!

ETA: I picked UPEI out of 6 acceptances because I felt that strongly about the program- I think there's some stigma in the states that going internationally is always a last choice but that is not the case!

 

[CalypsoDreaming]

I am a current 1st year at UPEI from the states! I enjoy it a lot specifically a smaller class size. Depending on what exotics you want to focus on there are a lot of opportunities and we get a significantly higher amount of aquatics in our curriculum. Currently, our wildlife center on campus is not open due to HPAI though. Overall though my class is super close and I really appreciate that I'm friends with almost my entire class.

Also, I was freaking out about the student visa process and it was fine! Hardest part was finding an approved physician but once I got that sorted it was a breeze! I freak out about things like that but really you need a bank account and that's it! feel free to ask me any questions. Good luck!

ETA: I picked UPEI out of 6 acceptances because I felt that strongly about the program- I think there's some stigma in the states that going internationally is always a last choice but that is not the case!

Ah thank you so much for your input! I know that there has been some changes to immigration laws for students, as was mentioned by someone else in this thread. Thats where my concerns arise mostly. Do you know of anyone that could be a good contact, either in the school or otherwise, that I could ask about the immigration changes?