Help required - Vet school in the US or overseas

[peppermintgal]

Hi,

I am an overseas applicant from Singapore. Am really keen to study DVM in the US but am not sure which schools are better. I do know of the US News rating. Is that the only rating available? Singapore is really far from the states so I would really like to go to a school which has good facilities and teaching staff. I am considering:

1. Cornell
2. U of Penn
3. Washington State Uni
4. Wisconsin

Any advice on these unis? If there are people studying there, can you please tell me about your experiences. Thanks very much!

Currently, I have already been accepted to an Australian University but would still prefer to go to the States if I get a chance.

Know that competition is really stiff. I do not have much varied animal experience besides about 200 hours of small animal clinic volunteer experience. There are limited volunteer opportunites in Singapore as there are no large animal clinics here at all. My grades are just about average.. Do i stand a chance at all?

Any advice is very very much appreciated

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[Anggel]

Not all U.S. vet schools accept applications from international applicants, so my first piece of advice would be to peruse each school's website to make certain they do. You may have already done this but I thought it important to mention it in any event. All vet schools in the US are heavily regulated by the AVMA so I really don't believe there are any schools of poor quality. I think the US News rankings are more of a reflection of the amount of research a school conducts, etc. Don't quote me on that though.

I think it's far more important to choose a school based on the area of veterinary medicine you might want to pursue in the future, than to rely heavily on rankings. For example if you are interested in equine medicine you might consider applying to Kansas State's vet school.

I wouldn't say that it is completely impossible for you to gain admission to vet school in the US. However, if you have mediocre grades and minimal experience you will really have to make any admissions committee stand up and take notice of you. Statistically, I believe only 35% of US applicants are accepted every year and I am certain that average is a lot lower for international applicants.

You might consider getting involved in research (if you haven't already) or volunteering at a zoo or aquarium perhaps. I'm not aware of what opportunities you have available to you, but those are common experiences for US students. Try to diversify your animal and veterinary experiences as much as possible and if possible, try to improve your grades. Vet schools look for breadth of experience over depth.

I'll be a first year vet student this autumn so I'm sorry I can't speak from personal experience just yet. Hope my advice helped a little. Good luck!

-A

 

[peppermintgal]

Thanks Anggel for the reply!

I am actually interested in small animal medicine at the moment especially in dermatology but I am not sure if i will be keen on large animals as I have not had any contact with them.

Singapore is a city so there is not much opportunity to work with large animals. The Singapore Zoo is quite good though but have not tried there yet as I am working and it's really hard to go and volunteer sometimes.

Anyway, any recommendations for which unis are good for small animal medicine. Please advise if anyone has any recommendations. Thanks loads!

 

[Klynde]

hi,

any of the schools you mentioned will be fabulous to go to. if you don't get in this year and are keen to come to the states, try western university for next year. we are the newest school in southern california. expensive, but there are many very progressive derm clinics out here. good luck. i got in with average (gpa 3.1) grades.

kathy

Thanks Anggel for the reply!

I am actually interested in small animal medicine at the moment especially in dermatology but I am not sure if i will be keen on large animals as I have not had any contact with them.

Singapore is a city so there is not much opportunity to work with large animals. The Singapore Zoo is quite good though but have not tried there yet as I am working and it's really hard to go and volunteer sometimes.

Anyway, any recommendations for which unis are good for small animal medicine. Please advise if anyone has any recommendations. Thanks loads!

 

[peppermintgal]

Hi Klynde,

Thanks for the reply. Did not consider Western as it seems to have many pre-requisities. Even more than the usual universities. If I remember correctly, there was one pre-requisite which I could not meet.sigh!

I really hope to go to the states and am currently applying now.

Thanks for the help once again!

 

[JIKJen124]

Since you are applying to schools now, and you seem very interested in studying in the US, you may want to try and apply to as many schools as you can afford to. Because you have no instate advantage anywhere, you may try and improve your odds that way.

Jen