University of Illinois?

Well I wasn't instate but I got in with a 3.5 gpa 1200 GRE *430anatly, 770 Math and 5.5 AW. So I dont see that being entirely true. They should have somewhere on their website their admission stats where you can see what the average is.

I find most people use that excuse that it takes knowing someone (which is helpful in some cases but I didnt know anyone from UI) or and extremely high GPA to get in for reasons why they didn't.

I guess U of I recently got busted for having separate admissions lists for undergrad, one for normal people and one for "special people" aka politician's children, relation to U of I employees etc and it's currently being investigated. I haven't heard about anything like that for the vet school though, but I would think the school would be wary of giving people preference because of who they are or who they know now that they've gotten in trouble for it. And I know that you definitely don't have to have a 4.0 to get in.

Hey, there. As an in-state student you have a higher likelihood of being admitted to the UIUC CVM. You can find information on the University of Illinois through their DVM brochure.
The 4.0 average myth is totally untrue. If you can make the first cut (which is gpa and GRE score), then they don't look at your grades again. The cut is different every year, but it hovers around a 3.0. If you have over a 3.1 or 3.2, you have more of a shot to be on the good side of the cut off. It is actually addressed in one of their pdfs on the first section of the admissions page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you'll see Myths About Admissions in a list of other helpful hints. You can also contact Mary Kelm to get more detailed information. She is one of the people on the list of contacts under the admissions e-mail address and the office phone number.

The University of Illinois has issues with admissions on the undergrad side, yes. But, NO ONE has ever mentioned the college of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), or the College of Veterinary Medicine for that matter, in these allegations. But then again, it is south of the main campus.
I guess the politically connected students wanted to be involved in the law school or LAS, mostly.

Believe me, if it took only connections, I would have been in that school on the first try.

I've taken the gre before, but before 2007. I didnt realize Illinois has an earlier submission date for test scores August. Is there anyway I can still get in with late test scores or should I not even bother with that school anymore?

They are not flexible on the GRE dates, because I asked about a similar issue last year. I had taken the GRE only 9 days before their earliest acceptable date (I think it was 9/1/06 and I had taken it 8/23/06) and was told that I would need to take it again if I wanted to apply.

I hope all that's not true, it's on my list of places to apply.

But where IS their supplemental application? I've looked all over, used the search tool, and all I can find is a brief mention of a supplemental essay in their application checklist. Does anyone have the link to the essay question?

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Thank you so much! I'm gonna have to bookmark that now.

I'd also say that's not true. I was accepted for this year as an OOS student and I didn't even know where the captial of Illinois was in relation to the vet school (became apparent when one of the interviewers introduced herself as a practicing vet in Springfield, and I asked, where is that exactly? It was ok though, they didn't know what the captial of Oregon was ; )

Anywho, I also had about a 3.5 overall GPA, 3.3 science, and 1290 GRE. You do not have to have a 4.0 to get into vet school.

Thought I'd stick my head in to say that rotations are really going well.
Again, the U of I does not require a perfect 4.0 and perfect GRE scores. However, you should have sufficient in your application to make it after that first cut (the one with a minimum gpa of 3.1 or so). This includes the interview. The scary, scary interview.

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I don't think the interview is anything to worry about. Illinois is nice in that they don't really ask you knowledge questions. Their questions are designed to assess your grasp of the profession as a whole. My interviewers particularly focused on ethical issues. But to be honest, I was in and out in 15 minutes, I was more concerned about how little time I got to make my impression than the interview itself.

You do not need a four-point to get into Illinois and I wouldn't concern yourself with the admissions scandal either. The vet school admissions process is pretty objective, knowing the right people probably isn't going to help you. Sorry all you politically connected folks.

damn i just called and i'll have to scratch UI as a possibility. they wont except gre test scores taken past aug 31.

is anyone else out there having trouble writing the personal response Q about the H1N1 virus? Im drawing a blank ... more like been drawing a blank for liek the past 2 weeks ...
I mean.. anything can happen in the future..

JKIM02 said:

is anyone else out there having trouble writing the personal response Q about the H1N1 virus? Im drawing a blank ... more like been drawing a blank for liek the past 2 weeks ...
I mean.. anything can happen in the future..

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I'm struggling with that too. I already mentioned something like that in the context of my personal statement so now I have to come up with something else so I don't repeat myself. I'm just so done with supplementals!

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quick question on u of i regarding the GRE scores. they want it by october 2nd...but i didn't choose to send scores out to u of i when i took my test...i only sent it to 4 schools...shoulda just done it to all that time, but o well, what can i do now?

i took my gre on the 28th of august...anyone know if they'd still accept me as an applicant even though my gre score would arrive late? i'mthinking it will come 2nd or 3rd week. still waiting for their email back to me so wondering if anyone knows anything


yom yomkins yall!

jesiah said:

quick question on u of i regarding the GRE scores. they want it by october 2nd...but i didn't choose to send scores out to u of i when i took my test...i only sent it to 4 schools...shoulda just done it to all that time, but o well, what can i do now?

i took my gre on the 28th of august...anyone know if they'd still accept me as an applicant even though my gre score would arrive late? i'mthinking it will come 2nd or 3rd week. still waiting for their email back to me so wondering if anyone knows anything


yom yomkins yall!

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on the vmcas info it says "all scores must be received electronically by oct 2." i have no idea! lol. i would call them tomorrow and ask them to have confirmation.

yea, but when i looked on their supplemental, it says the 15th. eh?? whatever i just sent it in and took the gamble.

georgie339 said:

I agree-- anything can happen in the future! I had a lot of trouble writing it as well.

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How long was yours? I am writing mine now but I dont know how long I can make it.

JKIM02 said:

How long was yours? I am writing mine now but I dont know how long I can make it.

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The prompt said it should be about a page but I wasn't sure if that was double spaced or not. Since you can't really double space on their application I assumed not so I just wrote about a page single spaced. It ended up being kinda long...

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There are different cut offs depending on whether or not you are a resident. When I did my review last year they told me the cut off gpa for non residents continuing to Phase 2 (reading your vmcas app and supplemental) was a 3.4, but for residents it was a 3.0. It would be impossible to just take the top 300 applicants regardless of residency because that would not work out for the seating of the class. They give 80% of seats to residents. I just submitted my u of i supplemental today too, so I will be waiting along with you!!!

natalieises said:

There are different cut offs depending on whether or not you are a resident. When I did my review last year they told me the cut off gpa for non residents continuing to Phase 2 (reading your vmcas app and supplemental) was a 3.4, but for residents it was a 3.0. It would be impossible to just take the top 300 applicants regardless of residency because that would not work out for the seating of the class. They give 80% of seats to residents. I just submitted my u of i supplemental today too, so I will be waiting along with you!!!

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Wow, I wish I had known that. It says on their website that Phase 1 is composed of several things (GPA, GRE, academic rigor), not just GPA. Is there any way for the GRE to make up for your GPA, or are you SOL despite what the website says? Maybe I shouldn't bother with the supplemental (3.28 cum GPA, 3.5 last 45, 770 math, 750 verbal, 5.0 writing).

hmmm you are right about them including the gre, cum. gpa, and science gpa. I didn't really think about that until you mentioned it. I can only go off of what they told me, but i know she told me those cut offs for the gpa that would at least guarantee an interview if nothing else. I did get some cut off percentiles from the gre, but never really was told anything about how much weight gpa, gre, etc. holds in Phase I. Good question, and sorry if I freaked you out with the wrong info. I didn't know they figured in gre and everything into the first Phase until I checked out the website.

Also, those cut offs vary each year depending on the pool of applicants. The adcom did say that they had an unusually high average for gpas last year. Don't give up hope yet!

Did anyone fill out the "petition to delete grades" section on the U of I supplemental? I've written a few things, but feel like I am just repeating my explanation statement. I'm trying to get more specific, but it's essentially the same problems. Getting those freshman year grades deleted will increase my chances dramatically (even though this is my "wild card" school), so I don't want to "screw the pooch" and write something that's off putting or whiny. suggestions would be much appreciated.

do any of you guys feel confident in what you wrote in your personal response to that darn question? I pretty much finished mine last night (im SUCH a procrastinator) but i do not feel confident about it at all.. Im usually a decent writer, when I do not have time contsraints **cough cough GREcough*, but this essay that I wrote is such crap! lol... I just wanted to see if it was just me or not.. How important is this personal response anyway?

When I did my review from U of I last cycle she basically said they look for certain points. I'm sure they aren't hypercritical of the essay as long as you answer the questions and include the main points.

I just looked over my essay again -- already submitted -- and I hate it. I was kind of rambling, and I'm not sure that I stuck to the prompt well enough because I was at such a loss of what to write. I even wrote about how the age of the Internet helps vets continue learning throughout their careers. Not sure what I was thinking there. Oh well, good practice for next year. I guess I'll find out in the review if I was sunk by my GPA or my lousy essay. <--- pessimist

Natalieses, I didn't mean to freak out on you there, I do appreciate any information that might help divine the future when it comes to the inscrutable nature of admissions.

eventualeventer said:

I even wrote about how the age of the Internet helps vets continue learning throughout their careers.

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I dont see anythng wrong with that.... ... I mean... i hope theres nothing wrong with that cuz i mentioned the same thing in mine ahhaha

hey if anyone knows about freaking out it's me! I understand completely because I was freaking out for the better half of 2009....I know...sad. It's a new year with a new admissions cycle so I'm at the peak of excited/confidence. Let's all enjoy it while it lasts, and not start freaking out yet! lol

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So the writing center at my school told me that "in his experience" admissions officers really only look at the 2ndary for "red flags." So in other words... if you write something questionable... it could hurt you... but as long it's at least run of the mill and doesn't say anything shocking... it just helps you on through.

That being said.. i really liked this essay. It gave the opportunity to talk about why you would be a great vet... not just one that met the minimum demands.

Smileystar5 said:

...So in other words... if you write something questionable... it could hurt you... but as long it's at least run of the mill and doesn't say anything shocking... it just helps you on through.

That being said.. i really liked this essay. It gave the opportunity to talk about why you would be a great vet... not just one that met the minimum demands.

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then what is the point the essay really? IMO the essay was not a good one, it seemed like it was put together quickly. How I read it, it wanted more of your opinion on the profession as a whole and the impact of lifelong learning/ public health issues. I didn't feel like it gave me much license (in only 1 page) to talk about myself as much as other supplementals did.

When i did my phone review after last cycle the person i talked to said my essay was really good, which i didn't think it was that amazing. Last year's was more about telling that you realized vets played an important role in society other than just treating pets(talking about vets in government, food animals, etc.). I'm sure this essay had a similar meaning with the "after hours" stuff. They just want to see that you realize it's not all about doing exams 9-5 then going home and completely turning off your career until the next day. It's not about amazing depth, just seeing that you are experienced and aware. I think it was worth 30 pts last year so it does matter that you at least did a decent job.

P.S. I know someone who did their review and they were told they didn't really answer the second question so they lost important points. So don't feel like it was a waste. Every point counts!

Sorry... I didn't mean to say that 2ndaries aren't important... this is just the perspective that one advisor gave me

I felt like the essay gave me an opportunity to talk about my interest in public health and how I could use my position to benefit the greater community that i live in... with what I do after hours.

Anyways, it's all said and done now. I'm sure all of us did a fantastic job!

oh no i'm not responding in anger. I just didn't want anyone to feel like it was all for nothing, or that the essay would make or break them. I'm no writing expert myself. Good luck to all of us and our sanity

natalieises said:

oh no i'm not responding in anger

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me either

there's not enough room for anger in this emotional time! lol

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Poking my head in between classes. With first year rotations over, they should be getting that together about, now.

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georgie339 said:

Hi Truth!!

Yup, I talked to someone last week who said that they were planning to get the page up by yesterday... so soon hopefully!!

How is your first year going so far?

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Rotations have been busy and tiring, but good. The first class pretty much went over a semester of biochem in 2 hours. Awesome! I'm looking up my reading list, right now. Here we go. I'm ready! Bring on the firehose!

The status page is officially up!!

Is anyone else's GPA lower on their status page than what was in your transcript? I know AP courses don't count in GPA but mine is still way lower and its a little bit scary, did they have a different way of calculating it? Or is this because VMCAS does things by +/- and that could bring my GPA down? It went from a 3.40 to 3.32 i guess it doesnt seem THAT much lower, but i remember how hard i worked my senior year to bring it up to a 3.4 lol and it is actually a big difference

they're not done tallying up the credits from your transcripts. on the email they sent out, it said it will take weeks before its complete.

BlacKAT33 said:

Is anyone else's GPA lower on their status page than what was in your transcript? I know AP courses don't count in GPA but mine is still way lower and its a little bit scary, did they have a different way of calculating it? Or is this because VMCAS does things by +/- and that could bring my GPA down? It went from a 3.40 to 3.32 i guess it doesnt seem THAT much lower, but i remember how hard i worked my senior year to bring it up to a 3.4 lol and it is actually a big difference

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Mine is as well. It's a big difference but I'm just going to try to ignore it...I don't have the energy to find out why.

jpeterman13 said:

Mine is as well. It's a big difference but I'm just going to try to ignore it...I don't have the energy to find out why.

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Yea me too. They do get sent my transcript which I assume they will look at in case there are typos on the VMCAS ones we had to hand type in. Oh well, you're right, no need to get stressed if you can't change it

They didn't even try to calculate mine yet, but I guess with seven transcripts, I'll forgive them for that.

It was a little depressing seeing how many of my classes they weren't counting as science. I guess it's more just checking for their internal requirements, but gdi, they aren't even counting my physics courses beyond the first semester of intro.