# Which is considered the best Vet/Dent school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376 "2006-03-07T14:31:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/1 "2006-03-07T14:31:20Z")
I think John Hopkins or Colombia are considered the best med school. Which is the Best Vet school? Which is the Best Dental school? ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/2 "2006-03-07T15:13:54Z")
When I went to Colorado State years ago it was considered one of the best vet schools. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/3 "2006-03-07T16:17:45Z")
“The best” always carries a hefty amount of disagreement with it. “One of the best” is easier, though. In addition to Colorado State, Iowa State has one of the top vet schools. But then, what else would you expect from a state that probably has more pigs than people? ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/4 "2006-03-07T16:19:15Z")
“The best” carries a hefty amount of disagreement with it. “One of the best” is a little easier to pin down. In addition to Colorado State, Iowa State has one of the top vet schools. But then, that should be no surprise in a state that probably has more pigs than people. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/5 "2006-03-07T16:29:08Z")
I know UC Davis is reputed among the best, but I imagine it’s hard to tack down without explicit criteria - does Peterson’s or any of the other guides give rankings for vet schools? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/6 "2006-03-07T16:54:19Z")
I think there’s under 10 vet schools in the US (let’s … Colorado, Iowa, UCDavis, Cornell, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Purdue… ok I’m dry but I think there are 2 or 3 more). It is extremely hard to get into vet schools for this reason (much harder, they say, than medical school). Basically, they’re all “the best.” I always heard UCDavis was the tip of the top though. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/7 "2006-03-07T17:09:18Z")
I think there are more than 10 vet schools, unless some of these no longer exist: Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine Univ. of California-Davis College of Veterinary Medicine Colorado State University College of Veterinary Med & Biomed Sciences Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine North Carolina St. University College of Veterinary Medicine Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine Oregon State University College of Veterinary Medicine University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine Texas A & M University College of Veterinary Medicine Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/8 "2006-03-07T18:13:32Z")
There are about 29 vet schools. The “best” depends on what area you want to focus in. If you want to be a large animal vet, your school of choice will differ from someone who wants to go into exotics or small animal. Competition for vet school is pretty fierce all around, so to me “best” would be almost equivalent to “whatever school wants me”. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/9 "2006-03-07T18:32:05Z")
U.S. News and World Report does rankings on all kinds of U.S. schools. They say the [best vet schools](http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/hea/brief/vet_brief.php) are: 1. Cornell University 2. Colorado State University 3. University of Pennsylvania Here is the [methodology](http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/about/06method_brief.php) they use. Oddly, I couldn’t find any rankings for dental schools. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/10 "2006-03-07T22:15:31Z")
[http://www.aavmc.org/](http://www.aavmc.org/) - This is where you do online applications for nearly all the vet schools in the country. I used to write software for them. In general, the schools with the earliest application dates had the most applicants, but I’m not sure if that implies they were more competitive. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/11 "2006-03-08T00:51:07Z")
I always heard good things about UC David and Colorado State, but that could do with the fact that I lived in Colorado and currently live in CA. I always heard USC was an awesome dental school, but that may be changing. From what I understand, they changed the curriculum a bit and it’s less practical than it used to be. Still carries a heap of prestige, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/12 "2006-03-08T01:18:38Z")
I have visited the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine a few times. I believe they are pretty well regarded and they have huge resources. Even though it is a huge university mainly in Baton Rouge proper, they have working farms and things spread in corners of the campus. LSU serves as an agricultural university as well so they have lots of faculty in the animal sciences other that just the vet school. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/13 "2006-03-08T01:47:04Z")
Of course I mean “Davis” and really, I know more phrases than “I always heard”. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/14 "2006-03-08T03:12:26Z")
There are either 27 or 29 vet schools in the US - I forget which. The newest is in Southern California. Speaking from an insider’s standpoint - There aren’t any vet schools considered “bad” in that all give their students good preparation for being a mixed animal practitioner. Some schools are stronger at things such as exotics or herd health. From a student’s view the best vet school might be the one with the most flexible curriculum which allows for the most elective credits. From a research dollars brought in, size of faculty perspective, however, there are some large differences between the institutions. From a veterinarian’s perspecitve, I’d say U Pennsylvania and UC Davis are considered the cream of the crop. In the next group a small step down- Cornell, Colorado State, Georgia, Texas A and M, and Ohio State ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-considered-the-best-vet-dent-school/347376/15 "2006-03-08T03:13:18Z")
I got to University of Missouri (although not vet school) and I know a lot of people from home (2 hrs away) that have brought their pets here for surgery. My grandmother included - her dashund slipped a disk in his back or something years back and they did the surgery here. I don’t know much about the school though, no friends are vet majors.