Western University c/o 2018 applicants!

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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Just got an e-mail placing me on hold. I know I shouldn't be excited about that but I'm super pumped that my on the edge GPA didn't get me kicked out of the running yet!
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I got my notification of being "on hold" on 11/11, and just got my interview invite today. It'll be Dec. 8th or 9th. Still waiting for confirmation. Anybody have insights on their past interview questions?
 
I just got an interview invite last night!! Super excited :D I'm also debating calling them to see if there are any additional interview dates...the only available ones fall either during finals week or the weekend before. Does anyone else have this same problem? Obviously I don't want to seem like I'm complaining seeing as I just got some of the happiest news ever, but I am curious...
 
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Congratulations, scorpi0o and dragoncat! :highfive: Good luck on interview day! Everyone at the school seemed so nice, and other applicants said the interview was much more relaxed and less intimidating than other vet school interviews.

I'm not sure that they would provide an extra interview day to reschedule... They didn't offer me any options when I told them that I would probably not be able to get the day off work with one weeks' notice (it turned out I did get the time off, but only because coworkers were being awesome). Of course it doesn't hurt to ask though. Does your school allow you to reschedule exams and take them early in a testing center?
 
Does anyone know how Western calculates repeated courses into an applicant's GPA?
 
valew323 said:
Does anyone know how Western calculates repeated courses into an applicant's GPA?
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Western is the one and only school I plan on applying to once I finish my pre-reqs (non-trad) and I had emailed them about how they calculate GPAs and such (this was in August). I specifically asked about retaking courses that had expired since they have a time limit on some. Here was their response:

Dear EngrSC:

Thank you for your interest in Western University of Health Sciences' DVM program. Our GPA requirements have recently changed in that we no longer have a minimum science or prerequisite GPA. However, the GPAs will be considered in the review of your application file for interview consideration. At this time our minimum GPA requirement is 2.75 overall/cumulative. Courses that have been repeated will have the previous instance excluded from the calculation. Only the most recent instance of the course will be included in the GPA calculation. In addition, we will only calculate those courses completed through Summer 2013 for the 2014 entering class.

Please email your admissions counselor or myself with any further questions.
 
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EngrSC said:
Western is the one and only school I plan on applying to once I finish my pre-reqs (non-trad) and I had emailed them about how they calculate GPAs and such (this was in August). I specifically asked about retaking courses that had expired since they have a time limit on some. Here was their response:

Dear EngrSC:

Thank you for your interest in Western University of Health Sciences' DVM program. Our GPA requirements have recently changed in that we no longer have a minimum science or prerequisite GPA. However, the GPAs will be considered in the review of your application file for interview consideration. At this time our minimum GPA requirement is 2.75 overall/cumulative. Courses that have been repeated will have the previous instance excluded from the calculation. Only the most recent instance of the course will be included in the GPA calculation. In addition, we will only calculate those courses completed through Summer 2013 for the 2014 entering class.

Please email your admissions counselor or myself with any further questions.
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Thanks!
 
DoctorToby said:
So for those of you who are dying for details on how the interview day process works, like I was, I just wanted to give you guys some insight on what it was like on my interview this weekend from the perspective of an interviewee.

I am am an in stater, so It wasn't a huge travel distance for me, but I found out quickly that a lot of people who were there ( about 90%) raised their hand that they were from out of state. So you OOS peeps have no need to worry about that. When you get there they offer you coffee and tea and you are waiting in a large hall with round tables and first year students are there to greet you and engage you with any questions. EVERY SINGLE Western student was SUPER enthusiastic about their program, and honestly it seemed like genuine passion, not forced positive outlooks or smiles. They were from california and oos and were all very friendly and willing to just sit there an talk.

The interviews are scheduled into morning blocks and afternoon blocks, and so you are broken into smaller groups. You get to participate in a few presentations during the day that go over the admissions process, the financial aid, and a practice problem/example of their problem based learning case studies. I found that to be very helpful, because you get an idea of WHAT they are talking about, and how it actually works. I have to say its not for everyone, but I really loved it. It really encourages collaboration, and everyone seemed really team oriented, which I really liked.

They feed you lunch and you eat during a presentation. I was too nervous to eat then, so I put it in my bag for later....:thumbup:

Depending on what group your in, your interview will be in the morning or afternoon block and those groups get broken down into smaller groups and it seems that only 3/4 people head to the interview area at a time. You interview with two people. They were super nice, but I was still extremely nervous. Behavioral based interview, so you can google that. But overall the whole day was really low stress. All the enrolled students were very supportive before and after you interview, and were very encouraging. :)

Lastly you fit a tour somewhere in the day as well and get to view their campus. Pomona is not super dangerous for hose of you were were worried about it. Its a city, you have to be aware, but nothing crazy, you feel really safe on campus. And off campus is still not that bad. A lot of the students said they lived in pomona, or a nearby city, but mostly they commuted form really close, so the areas really are not as bad as some of you may be hearing. The PBL grooms are really nice, and their facilities are well up kept. I like that you get a lot of hands on experience right way. I'm sure most of you will hear a lot more about this later.

Lastly I was told form the staff that they plan on having December and January interview groups as well, so if you haven't heard, don't stress. Also, because there are interviews later, you probably wont find out stuff to February ( that's my personal guess)....SEEMS SO FAR AWAY! SO IMPATIENT!:bang:


anyways hope that helps, good luck guys!
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I am glad the interview process went well! Hi , I am a current second year at WesternU and I am co-coordinator of the Class of 2018 Interviews! Do you have any suggestions to make the interview process better? Thanks
 
lthalia926 said:
I am glad the interview process went well! Hi , I am a current second year at WesternU and I am co-coordinator of the Class of 2018 Interviews! Do you have any suggestions to make the interview process better? Thanks
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Maybe it's just me, but I would like it if the interview day schedule was sent out earlier, so I could see it before the interview day. It was my first time interviewing at any vet school, and it was a little intimidating to wonder what the day was going to be like, and whether the interviews were going to take up a big portion of the day and be really intense and long. I didn't know that interview days include things like tours, Q&A sessions with current students, and presentations. On the interview day, once I saw the schedule my mind relaxed a bit.
 
I was put on hold on November 4 and just received an interview offer today :soexcited: positive thoughts to everyone else waiting to hear back
 
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Put on hold today with this message:


On behalf of the College of Veterinary Medicine, I wish to inform you of the status of your application.

After a thorough review of your application, the Admissions Committee has opted to place your application for the Fall 2014 entering class on “hold”. The Committee recognizes how hard you have worked to get this far and how anxious you must be to start your future in Veterinary Medicine.

Your admissions status will remain unchanged until you are notified by the Admissions Office. From this point forward we will update you on the status of your application on a monthly basis until you receive a final decision.
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I am going through cycles of excitement and depression every 10 minutes :( ........ :) ........ :( ........

Since they are giving out notices on monthly basis, I'm guessing I will probably know if I get an interview or not by the next time they contact me ??
 
jixwonxee I think that is correct.
 
Kelbis said:
They will be holding more interviews in January. Don't lose hope!
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How did you find out they're holding more interviews in January? I thought it was just in November and December.
 
valew323 said:
How did you find out they're holding more interviews in January? I thought it was just in November and December.
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they indicated in their email to me that they will also be holding interviews in 'early spring'
 
My application was placed on hold yesterday. :(
 
On hold as of 11/21. Nooooo! :smack: It's all good. Still have a little hope.
 
Interview invite today!!!!!!! On hold for about a week. How is everyone travelling?
 
Well, I still haven't heard anything. My application summary changed from "complete" to "incomplete" sometime within the past few weeks, so I emailed them to see what's missing. Maybe a prerequisite issue?

Apparently, my application went back to "complete," and is going back to the admissions committee for further review. *nervous* :eek:

ETA: My application is now "on hold." So far that doesn't seem to be a bad thing, so I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic.
 
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My application was rejected today. I'm not too surprised. Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back!
 
I was put 'on hold' on 10/21 and have not heard anything since... it's been over a month! yikes
 
Me too!!! I was originally put on hold the very beginning of November
 
HollyLollipop said:
My application was rejected today. I'm not too surprised. Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back!
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Do you mind telling us if you've been rejected because of technical reasons? (incomplete application, not meeting class requirements, etc.....)

I thought they only send out rejections at the end of the application review-process along with the acceptance letters.
 
what is this "hold" thing exactly? is it because the application is missing things? or are they just unsure? do all applications go through a hold period and how do you know? i never received any notification like that...
 
jixwonxee said:
Do you mind telling us if you've been rejected because of technical reasons? (incomplete application, not meeting class requirements, etc.....)

I thought they only send out rejections at the end of the application review-process along with the acceptance letters.
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There wasn't anything technically wrong with my app. I still had some incomplete pre-reqs that I'm currently taking but that was noted on the app. Here's the e-mail I received:

"Thank you for applying to Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Veterinary Medicine. Your application was carefully reviewed by the Admissions Committee. I regret to inform you that the committee did not recommend that you be invited for an interview for the class entering in Fall 2014.

The Committee saw much potential in your application, however, and made recommendations for steps to strengthen your application. We appreciate your interest in the College of Veterinary Medicine and encourage you to consider strengthening your application and re-applying for the class entering in Fall 2015.

If you are interested in re-applying for a future class, I strongly recommend that you contact your admissions counselor in April to schedule a personal application review appointment in May or June. Appointments will not be made after June due to processing of applications."
 
For those of you that were granted interviews, what was the subject line of the interview invite email? I'm trying to brace myself for the next email I get from Western whether it be a rejection or an interview invite.

Also, would any of you (interview invitees) mind sharing your stats with us? It would be greatly appreciated! :thumbup:
 
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HollyLollipop said:
There wasn't anything technically wrong with my app. I still had some incomplete pre-reqs that I'm currently taking but that was noted on the app. Here's the e-mail I received:

"Thank you for applying to Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Veterinary Medicine. Your application was carefully reviewed by the Admissions Committee. I regret to inform you that the committee did not recommend that you be invited for an interview for the class entering in Fall 2014.

The Committee saw much potential in your application, however, and made recommendations for steps to strengthen your application. We appreciate your interest in the College of Veterinary Medicine and encourage you to consider strengthening your application and re-applying for the class entering in Fall 2015.

If you are interested in re-applying for a future class, I strongly recommend that you contact your admissions counselor in April to schedule a personal application review appointment in May or June. Appointments will not be made after June due to processing of applications."
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We're you put on hold at all before?
 
AE373 said:
what is this "hold" thing exactly? is it because the application is missing things? or are they just unsure? do all applications go through a hold period and how do you know? i never received any notification like that...
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"The hold status simply means that your application remains with the committee under review. This means that the committee has not made a final decision on your application and have chosen to review other candidates before making that decision."
-Western U admissions counselors

I know some applicants have also been put on hold due to missing documents, etc. Not all applicants are put on hold. Some applicants just go from having their application under review to being invited for an interview. If you are put on hold, you will receive an email notifying you. Hope this helps, AE373!
 
valew323 said:
For those of you that were granted interviews, what was the subject line of the interview invite email? I'm trying to brace myself for the next email I get from Western whether it be a rejection or an interview invite.

Also, would any of you (interview invitees) mind sharing your stats with us? It would be greatly appreciated! :thumbup:
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No Problem. My academic stats weren't the best but I received an interview:

GPA: 3.32
Never calculated last 45 and science
GRE: 155v 155q

Experience:
I have about 65hrs of experience volunteering at a shelter.
I have 300hrs of wildlife and exotic experience through an internship
I have 6 months shadowing at a small animal practice
I have been working there for 1.75 years
and I have 6 months of shadowing and volunteering at an Equine hospital.
 
Janie9117 said:
No Problem. My academic stats weren't the best but I received an interview:

GPA: 3.32
Never calculated last 45 and science
GRE: 155v 155q

Experience:
I have about 65hrs of experience volunteering at a shelter.
I have 300hrs of wildlife and exotic experience through an internship
I have 6 months shadowing at a small animal practice
I have been working there for 1.75 years
and I have 6 months of shadowing and volunteering at an Equine hospital.
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Thanks, Janie9117! What was the subject line of the interview invite email?
 
Ask to interview on 11/5, interviewed 11/11
GPA: 3.21
Last 45: 3.47
Science: 3.24
Highest GRE Scores: 155 V, 157 Q, 4.5 W

Experience as of today:
2 years at a laboratory (740 hours)
300 hours volunteering (Feral cat clinics, wildlife centers)
500 hours interning (Teaching hospitals, wildlife centers)
420 hours of independent research
Total: ~2000
Plus 20 years of pet ownership (3 dogs, 4 cats, 2 rabbits, 3 very well cared for fish)
 
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valew323 said:
For those of you that were granted interviews, what was the subject line of the interview invite email? I'm trying to brace myself for the next email I get from Western whether it be a rejection or an interview invite.

Also, would any of you (interview invitees) mind sharing your stats with us? It would be greatly appreciated! :thumbup:
Click to expand...
The subject line was "WesternU - DVM Application", which doesn't really tell you much about what their decision is.

GPA: 3.82
Science/Prereq GPA: About 3.97
Last 45 GPA: 3.93
GRE: 158 Q, 168 V, 4.0 W

Vet Experience (as of VMCAS deadline):
1337 hours - Kennel assistant at vet clinic for 1 year
117 hours - Volunteered at small animal clinic & small animal emergency clinic
52 hours - Small animal clinic shadowing

Animal Experience (as of VMCAS deadline):
8850 hours - Raising service dog puppies (this was hard to calculate, so I included a note explaining how I decided on this number)
35 hours - Volunteering with horses
90 hours - Volunteering at cat shelter
98 hours - Volunteering at zoo
Plus pet ownership, including my lemon pets who actually made it into a few essays...
 
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I was put on hold on 11/22 and received an interview invite today! So excited and nervous at the same time :):unsure:
 
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I have already scheduled my interview. However, I don't think they are going to be holding anymore interviews after December 10.
This is the email I received from Karen in regards to additional interview dates.
At this time the program does not intend to interview after Tuesday, December 10th. This date will be added to the options this weekend after faculty are confirmed. If any additional dates are scheduled I will be sure to let you know.
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But it might also change.
 
Thanks for the info. Their interviews are during my finals week (both on days when I have finals) :eek:
 
I was placed on hold for a week before I received my email for the interview (I had my interview Nov 11th). They said they would be sending out acceptances in January and February. I thought they had mentioned that they might do additional interviews in January but I could be wrong. Especially if that email from Karen was received recently.
g.p.a. 3.7
science g.p.a. 3.6
hours:
large animal 1000
wildlife 600
small animal 400
 
TheComfyCat said:
Thanks for the info. Their interviews are during my finals week (both on days when I have finals) :eek:
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I'm in the EXACT same boat. I've asked one of my professors if I can take his early, but I'm also having trouble finding a flight late enough so that I can take my Monday exam :(
 
Is anyone on SDN interviewing on December 10th?
 
valew323 said:
"The hold status simply means that your application remains with the committee under review. This means that the committee has not made a final decision on your application and have chosen to review other candidates before making that decision."
-Western U admissions counselors

I know some applicants have also been put on hold due to missing documents, etc. Not all applicants are put on hold. Some applicants just go from having their application under review to being invited for an interview. If you are put on hold, you will receive an email notifying you. Hope this helps, AE373!
Click to expand...
Very helpful! Thanks so much! :)
 
So if Dec 9-10 are really the last interview days, I guess those of us still waiting will know this week whether or not we're rejected. :eek:
 
Anyone interviewing on December 8th and want to split a cab from the comfort inn in Pomona?
 
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