Hi! I am a student at Univet. In my experience most international students go to Univet because they were not able to gain acceptance to the veterinary university in their home country. In other words, most people are not attending Univet at their first choice.

The student body I have found to be very friendly, diverse, and accepting. That said, aside from a handful events during the year, organized student life is not a major aspect of the university. With that said, you don’t really have time for much activity outside of studying anyway.

I have found most professors to be quite nice and passionate about teaching, however there certainly are professors who has admitted themselves they are burnt out. A large portion of professors speak English with an extremely heavy Hungarian accent, which can be difficult to understand even for a native English speaker.

The course load is overwhelming, and I say that as someone who studied a biology degree for 4 years previously at a university. Be prepared for many lectures on chalkboard with drawings that are nearly impossible to decipher, or if they do use PowerPoints the professor reads word for word from the slides. There are also “firewalls” after years 2,4,5 which means you have to have passed all the previous classes to move on to the next year. I never imagined this would be a problem, but the amount of information to consume and the sometimes subjective nature of the examinations means that a significant number of students every year are forced to go “inactive”.

In order to succeed you have to take responsibility yourself, expect minimal support from the school. I have been most disappointed in the administration, the rector has aligned himself with the Prime Minister (do with that what you will). The communication during the pandemic/lockdown was absolutely abysmal. In my opinion, a lot of resources were put into making the website sleek and modern, and this doesn’t necessarily reflect the experience of attending the uni.

The way I see it, I have wanted to be a veterinarian as long as I can remember, so I am willing to go through a few years at a university that was not my first choice to reach that goal. I would say that is the case with many of the international students. In one way, I have found that this makes the student body even more helpful to eachother and supportive. On the other hand, I feel the administration knows this and takes advantage of the fact that the students are willing to jump through whatever hoops they decide on a whim to place just to acheive their career goals.

I hope I didn’t crush your hopes and dreams about this uni, but I wrote what I wish I had heard before enrolling. Like I said, the student body and the friends I have made at uni are amazing, and the only reason I have come this far and can find motivation to finish the education. If you really truly want to be a veterinarian and you have no other alternatives, sure, enroll in Univet. But if you have other options, I would seriously consider those first.