Waitlisted at In-State Vet School, Accepted at Another School: What do you do in this situation?

[KathleenHadds31245]

So I was waitlisted at Auburn, where I would get in-state tuition as a Kentucky resident, but I was accepted at one other school (Illinois). If I were to accept my position at Illinois (and send them the 500 dollar deposit), and subsequently a position opened up at Auburn, would I later be able to change my mind and turn down Illinois? How binding is the deposit and Acceptance Confirmation Form? Do you think it's unlikely that Auburn would know if a position opens up before April 15th? If they would let me know before then, I could just wait to send the deposit to Illinois.

Auburn also requires the animal nutrition course, which my school doesn't offer and I would have to take as a correspondence course. I am not sure whether or not to go ahead and enroll in this course, since it is not a prerequisite for Illinois and if I ended up going there I would not have had to take it. For Auburn, you cannot even remain on the waitlist if they don't get confirmation that you took it by June 15th.

Sorry I'm just a little confused and stressed right now haha. What's the best way to go about this situation?

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[pinkpuppy9]

So I was waitlisted at Auburn, where I would get in-state tuition, but I was accepted at one other school (Illinois). If I were to accept my position at Illinois (and send them the 500 dollar deposit), and subsequently a position opened up at Auburn, would I later be able to change my mind and turn down Illinois? How binding is the deposit and Acceptance Confirmation Form? Do you think it's unlikely that Auburn would know if a position opens up before April 15th? If they would let me know before then, I could just wait to send the deposit to Illinois.

Auburn also requires the animal nutrition course, which my school doesn't offer and I would have to take as a correspondence course. I am not sure whether or not to go ahead and enroll in this course, since it is not a prerequisite for Illinois and if I ended up going there I would not have had to take it. For Auburn, you cannot even remain on the waitlist if they don't get confirmation that you took it by June 15th.

Sorry I'm just a little confused and stressed right now haha. What's the best way to go about this situation?

Yes, you can change your mind about Illinois. You just won't be refunded your deposit (which is worth it in exchange for IS tuition).

It's my understanding that the majority of waitlists see movement after April 15th. April 15th is when the schools can cross off any accepted students that ignored their offers. Will Auburn tell you where you are on the waitlist?

 

[KathleenHadds31245]

No, in the e-mail it said, "Rankings of alternate candidates are not divulged by telephone, email, or in person." At the interview, though, I think they mentioned something about how there are generally only a few KY residents placed on the alternate list. And I think they already have out of state acceptances/rejections sent out, and the in-state/KY decisions will all be sent out by this Friday at the latest. So maybe someone could turn down their offer a little early, and a spot could potentially open before April 15th?

 

[ameropean_chelsea]

Kaye disclosed at the interviews that she can sometimes give you a hint if it's very likely or very unlikely that they will pull you off (i.e. if you're near the top or the bottom). So it might be worth a quick phone call.

If it were me... I'd probably send the deposit to IL and enroll in the course (it's not a horrible course and it's good info to be knowledgeable about in any case.... I'm taking it through my school for A&M's requirements). If you do get the call from Auburn, then those are small fees to walk away from compared to accepting OOS tuition for 4 years. Maybe wait as long as you can before sending the deposit and enrolling in the course (I'm not sure if those are both April 15th dates, but you get what I mean). It would just be hard for me to walk away completely from offer if I wasn't 100% sure about my waitlist status. That said, everybody has a different situation/perspective on these dilemmas.

But at the very least I would give Kaye a call and see if she can give a vague idea of your chance. If not, fine, no worries, re-evaluate. Good luck!

*edit: She's a nice lady albeit a little brusk. I don't think she'd be peeved at you by any means for asking though!

 

[KathleenHadds31245]

Thank you! I shot her an e-mail today asking if she thought I might know before that April 15th date, but I'll definitely give her a call as well. Do you think if I waited to enroll in Animal Nutrition, I would have enough time to complete it? I would have to have it done by June 15th, so is 1 or 2 months enough time to get it done? I was thinking of taking the correspondence course that Oklahoma offers.

 

[ameropean_chelsea]

Thank you! I shot her an e-mail today asking if she thought I might know before that April 15th date, but I'll definitely give her a call as well. Do you think if I waited to enroll in Animal Nutrition, I would have enough time to complete it? I would have to have it done by June 15th, so is 1 or 2 months enough time to get it done? I was thinking of taking the correspondence course that Oklahoma offers.

I've taken an online 3 credit class in three weeks. You basically have to do stuff every day, but it's definitely doable.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

I would definitely recommend taking the nutrition course. From what I've been told, many vet schools have a poor nutrition curriculum and it's beneficial for students to have studied animal nutrition at some point during undergrad. I've heard this repeated many times at my undergrad university, but I don't have any first hand knowledge to back it up.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I would definitely recommend taking the nutrition course. From what I've been told, many vet schools have a poor nutrition curriculum and it's beneficial for students to have studied animal nutrition at some point during undergrad. I've heard this repeated many times at my undergrad university, but I don't have any first hand knowledge to back it up.

I think it helps if you're going to do large animal medicine, where feed analysis is important. Whatever nutrition course you take in undergrad likely won't make much difference in small animal. UG courses won't help much with clinical nutrition, and for normal healthy pet nutrition It's not so much a lack of understanding of nutrition that makes it hard for the small animal practitioner. It's the lack of useful information available about each commercial diet by the manufacturer that makes it hard.

 

[Felixor90]

Thank you! I shot her an e-mail today asking if she thought I might know before that April 15th date, but I'll definitely give her a call as well. Do you think if I waited to enroll in Animal Nutrition, I would have enough time to complete it? I would have to have it done by June 15th, so is 1 or 2 months enough time to get it done? I was thinking of taking the correspondence course that Oklahoma offers.

You can always talk with the admissions office and ask for an extension on the deadline in this specific scenario. MSU gave me an extension on my nutrition course because I was originally gonna take a non-self-paced course that ended in late July (their due date is also June 15th) so maybe Auburn will give you an extension seeing as how you're in a much tougher situation. I ended up cancelling that class and going with Oklahoma's self-paced course so I'll finish it much sooner than the June 15th date. The girl I spoke to on the phone told me there are lots of people that finish it in less than 6 weeks. After you take the first exam, you can ask for the 2nd and 3rd to be sent together and then the 4th and 5th. Also, the material for the 1st exam takes about an hour to read over so you can get started fast.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

I think it helps if you're going to do large animal medicine, where feed analysis is important. Whatever nutrition course you take in undergrad likely won't make much difference in small animal. UG courses won't help much with clinical nutrition, and for normal healthy pet nutrition It's not so much a lack of understanding of nutrition that makes it hard for the small animal practitioner. It's the lack of useful information available about each commercial diet by the manufacturer that makes it hard.

Ah. That makes sense. I wasn't expecting undergrad nutrition to be all that helpful clinically, but I think the foundation is important. It's amazing how many people don't know what actually happens in the stomach.

We're required to do a year of nutrition here. First semester is basic intro, and second semester is all ration formulation. They give us these packets in "lab" and it's all math, and no one ever finishes during the actual lab time. And then all the grad students talk about how we'll never do rations by hand, ever again, because there are all sorts of computer programs now. Dose everyone have to learn ration formulation, or is it sort of old fashioned now? It sounds liked your nutrition class is just one semester?

 

[Minnerbelle]

Ah. That makes sense. I wasn't expecting undergrad nutrition to be all that helpful clinically, but I think the foundation is important. It's amazing how many people don't know what actually happens in the stomach.

We're required to do a year of nutrition here. First semester is basic intro, and second semester is all ration formulation. They give us these packets in "lab" and it's all math, and no one ever finishes during the actual lab time. And then all the grad students talk about how we'll never do rations by hand, ever again, because there are all sorts of computer programs now. Dose everyone have to learn ration formulation, or is it sort of old fashioned now? It sounds liked your nutrition class is just one semester?

I'm sure you'll learn what happens in the stomach in vet school...

I had a semester course for nutrition, but there was a lot of nutrition content in the later years as an adjunct to medicine.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

I don't doubt vet students learn digestion, etc. in vet school. It's more that I'm amazed how few of my fellow undergrads understand the basics at our level.

I don't know, maybe nutrition isn't all that important as an undergrad. We had a first year vet student spending the summer at our clinic, and she told us all that A&P is basically useless before vet school. They teach you everything you need to know there, and having taken anatomy or physiology before wasn't an advantage. Maybe nutrition is the same way.

 

[KathleenHadds31245]

Update: I asked Kaye if she could tell me where I stand on the waitlist and she told me there are 7 Kentucky residents who have not yet responded to their offer. Therefore, it's hard for her to tell me my chances for an offer at this time, but I "still have time to make decisions because April 15th is not until Wednesday." Do you think it is safe to wait until April 15th to send the $500 deposit to Illinois or should I just send it now? It just makes me a little nervous not sending it in until the last minute haha.

 

[KathleenHadds31245]

I really want to just go ahead and send my $500 deposit to hold my spot at Illinois, but I am also still on the alternate list at my in-state school. They may or may not let me know before April 15th if a spot opens for me, and I feel a little nervous about not having sent the deposit yet to the one school I did get into. Would it be ok to send the deposit on April 15th exactly? For Illinois, this all has to be done by snail mail, so what if it gets lost in the mail or doesn't reach them in time or something?


Edit: WildZoo, I believe it just has to be postmarked by April 15th. Still makes me nervous though haha

 

[WildZoo]

I would contact Illinois and ask them if they need to receive the deposit by April 15th or if it just needs to be post-marked by then

 

[Gemgrrrl]

You seriously have to mail a deposit in? Yuck.

 

[that redhead]

In my mind, $500 is not that much when you consider the chance that something gets messed up and you lose your spot at Illinois. I'd send in the $500.

 

[WildZoo]

Edit: WildZoo, I believe it just has to be postmarked by April 15th. Still makes me nervous though haha

If it just has to be postmarked by April 15th then I suppose you can wait, but like redhead said, in the grand scheme of things it is probably in your best interest to secure your spot.

 

[Caia]

Eh. If it were me, I would just send it certified mail on the 14th or 15th. Probably because procrastinating doesn't bother me. Chances are you won't get a call before you send it though, so might as well send it earlier if waiting causes you anxiety.

 

[jmo1012]

as someone who consistently has things go wrong or awry at the last second, i'd recommend you just bite the bullet and send it sooner, but no, waiting until the last second isn't going to kill you.

you didnt really need to start a new thread for this, particularly when you went and revived your old thread asking the same thing (and the original topic centered upon the same issue).

edit: props to the mod who combined the threads to delete the redundancy!