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Has this ever happened.....really?
Has this ever happened.....really?
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/studentservices/documents/DVM2010ApplicantReviewSession.pdf
NCSU rejected people with 4.0 or near 4.0 GPAs last year.
9. Dont rely on Student Doctor Network for reliable information.
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/studentservices/documents/DVM2010ApplicantReviewSession.pdf
NCSU rejected people with 4.0 or near 4.0 GPAs last year.
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/studentservices/documents/DVM2010ApplicantReviewSession.pdf
NCSU rejected people with 4.0 or near 4.0 GPAs last year.
I know this sounds weird, but I'm glad some schools seem to weigh their decision on more than just grades. Experience and outside interests both contribute a good amount to the person, I'd say more than the GPA and GRE do. Some schools weigh so heavily on grades, you wonder why they even conduct interviews and review your file!
Sound weird? I'm counting on it.
I think the majority of us are!
I think the majority of us are!
I'm actually really banking on my GPA to pull me through.
I like to think I was far too busy having interesting life to get a 4.0. 😀
I had a 3.3 for my application (3.5 now) and I have been accepted. There is soooooo much more to being a vet than just book smarts.
Same. My GPA is definitely the strongest part of my application. I've wanted to be a vet since I was a kid but never got to accumulate lots of experience because I live in the suburbs and don't have a car. Closest equine/food/zoo vets are at least 2 hours away 🙁.
I read all these posts and hate to be admitting this but it happened to me. I applied this year with a 3.9 (for every calculated GPA) to three separate schools. I had a fair amount of experience and obviously did not think getting in was guaranteed but also did not expect to be looking for what to do until I apply again! I was rejected from two schools and waitlisted at another. I am blaming it on my pathetic GRE score but I freakin took that test three times and studied tons I just SUCK at tests like that. So people GPA is not everything and will not guarantee you a spot! Look at every aspect and do your best to make everything about you irresistible lol. Because my experience with applying this year was nothing less than a giant...FAIL. Even with a 3.9. (This is the first time I have admitted this to myself since I found out Vet School is likely not happening for me this Fall) 🙁
Dang, I'm so sorry! Do you know what you think you need to work on for next year's app? Experience? possibly taking the GRE again?
Yea it was def not the best news I have gotten. I obviously didn't think my GPA was going to guarantee me a spot but I also did not expect downright rejection.
I think the lesson is to apply smart - if you've got a high GPA but marginal GRE and average experience, apply to schools that have a hardon for GPA and don't weight the GRE heavily. If you have a crappo GPA with a lot of experience and a high GRE, apply to schools that weight GPA/GRE equally. Et cetera...
Is this you that got rejected or someone you know? If it was you, sorry to hear about the rejection. Perhaps it was just a bad interview or perhaps the school was looking for something else entirely.
Sure. I got rejected last year at UMN. The two GPAs they calculate should have both come to 4.0 (pre-reqs and last 45 credits) for me. Heck, I didn't even get an interview.
That said, my cumulative 'life' GPA is certainly nowhere near 4.0 (1.7 from my earlier days). So I'm not sure if that fits what you're talking about.
I like to think I was far too busy having interesting life to get a 4.0. 😀
I had a 3.3 for my application (3.5 now) and I have been accepted. There is soooooo much more to being a vet than just book smarts.
I read all these posts and hate to be admitting this but it happened to me. I applied this year with a 3.9 (for every calculated GPA) to three separate schools. I had a fair amount of experience and obviously did not think getting in was guaranteed but also did not expect to be looking for what to do until I apply again! I was rejected from two schools and waitlisted at another. I am blaming it on my pathetic GRE score but I freakin took that test three times and studied tons I just SUCK at tests like that. So people GPA is not everything and will not guarantee you a spot! Look at every aspect and do your best to make everything about you irresistible lol. Because my experience with applying this year was nothing less than a giant...FAIL. Even with a 3.9. (This is the first time I have admitted this to myself since I found out Vet School is likely not happening for me this Fall) 🙁
To the OP: do the schools you were rejected from offer some sort of application counseling? Some schools will give you a profile of how you were assessed and other schools will actually talk to you about how to make a more competitive application next time.
The adcoms did comment on my not so stellar past (an F and 3 Ds) I did the fresh start program, but it still stays there like a sore thumb on my transcripts🙁
When it came time to do the whole VMCAS thing, I was very up front with the adcoms about what had happened, why, how I'd addressed it, and what I'd done to ensure it wasn't going to happen again. I easily spent as much time on my explanation statement as I did my PS.
Did you address the GPA issue in your explanation statement?
Ditto, although I'll add one thing. I made the mistake (it doesn't sound like CT did) of addressing it both in the explanation section AND in my personal statement (because I was so preoccupied with trying to 'explain' my past). One of the things the admissions director mentioned to me after I didn't get in was that focusing *too much* on something in your past "raises a red flag" for the people evaluating your application.
I am probably going to take the GRE one more time, preferably before it ends up being the new format.
I've talked to 3 vets today, and they've all said the same thing to me: "The system is broken."
That's ridiculous.
There is nothing "broken" about a system that requires more than GPA to admit.
I've always heard that admissions committees like to see a student who has improved their GPA throughout their ungrad period. Is this true? Like in my case, I pretty much made straight B's my first year of undergrad (based on my "just getting by" High School mentality) and ended up with a 3.0. During the latter part of my sophmore year, I really got my butt in gear and now my last 45 hour GPA from my Junior and Senior years is ~3.8 (STUPID A-'s 😡😡!!!) but my cum GPA was raised to about 3.5, which I know isn't stellar. I was banking on the fact that the adcoms took note of the fact that I conditioned myself to handle the rigor of the material. Yes? Maybe? PLEASE?
I know people that got in and shouldn't because I'd spent 4 years with them in undergrad and watched them cheat and lie through school.
I've had numerous vets (and not the ones straight out of school) display nothing but incompetence in their offices and on my farm.
I've been following the trends of vet med admissions for a long time, and where there's smoke there's fire. And when you've got people on the admissions committees (and I've heard from numerous people at numerous schools) saying something isn't right, well I'd have to believe them. Or you could just keep your head buried in the sand and ignore it like it doesn't exist, whatever floats your boat.
I have yet to ever meet anyone in any admissions committee anywhere that would say 'our system is 100% perfect; we never deny someone that should be admitted, nor do we ever admit someone who shouldn't be in vet school.' And some will admit that this has likely been true since the first class of the first vet school. There isn't a perfect or an ideal system becaues there isn't a single path into vet med. Do some people think the system needs to be completly redone? Certainly. Do I always agree with their theories? Rarely. I recently heard a vet say that anyone who can't graduate vet school with less than $75,000 in student debt shouldn't be admitted. Just because someone said it doesn't make it true. Admissions is also doing more than just admitting 'the best' out of applicants, they are looking for a mix that works well together, serves the school well, addresses their perceptions of the future needs of the profession, and meets the special interests of the school. The day all ad coms agree on how admissions should work will be the day we will see a class with minimal diversity of experience.
If you witnessed folks lieing and cheating and you did nothing about it, you are a part of the problem. Why hold anyone else (like ad coms) accountable if you don't hold yourself accountable?
I did do something about it and was told life's not fair, get used to it. Excellent solution, is it not?
"Wow, maybe we should all have to take the kas9ey vet school of expertise before we are allowed to take the NAVLE.🙄 If you have had the experience with numerous vets, I'd suggest that there is a common denominator closer to home than all of vet school admissions throughout the continent."
Yep, my county is a black hole for all the barely-got-by vets from Wisconsin, Purdue, Florida, Minnesota and Colorado State. (No, before you jump down my throat again, I am not saying these are horrendous schools that get everything wrong blah blah blah. Don't get your panties in a twist!)
"Please share, what exactly is a long time, and how have you been following these trends? Where all have you lived, that your an expert across the country? What about the trends concerns you, other than the fact that you enabled liers and cheaters to continue on? "
My expertise, sporthorse. My area, state of Florida. Vets I've dealt with through a bajillion pre-purchase exams, too many to count. The internet is a great way to check the pulse on everything in the country and I've been following it for 10 years so I could try and get the gist of who and what is good bad and indifferent (and no, not just on SDN thank you). Just because you don't agree with me doesn't mean I'm wrong.
Yep, my inability to get people kicked out of school for being jerks makes me an "enabler". Who peed in your corn flakes this morning?
"I have yet to ever meet anyone in any admissions committee anywhere that would say 'our system is 100% perfect; we never deny someone that should be admitted, nor do we ever admit someone who shouldn't be in vet school.' And some will admit that this has likely been true since the first class of the first vet school. There isn't a perfect or an ideal system becaues there isn't a single path into vet med. Do some people think the system needs to be completly redone? Certainly. Do I always agree with their theories? Rarely. I recently heard a vet say that anyone who can't graduate vet school with less than $75,000 in student debt shouldn't be admitted. Just because someone said it doesn't make it true. Admissions is also doing more than just admitting 'the best' out of applicants, they are looking for a mix that works well together, serves the school well, addresses their perceptions of the future needs of the profession, and meets the special interests of the school. The day all ad coms agree on how admissions should work will be the day we will see a class with minimal diversity of experience."
So because one guy said only rich kids should get in, by corollary, everyone that said the system is broken is automatically unqualified to make a judgement? Ok, whatever you think, that makes perfect sense.
"I'd love to know what school your heading to. The AVMA has oppurtunities for individuals that are truely invested in this to work with others to have an impact. I'm not sure your anecdotes will help in a serious discussion about what would be appropriate will help. Just so you know, the same thing was said when I started working with Purdue extension in the 80's, when I was in college in the 90's, and when I was working with vets in the 00's. I take it with a great big grain of salt."
Don't you think, that if the same thing has been said for the past 30 years that maybe just maybe its about time to re-evaluate the system? I certainly am not content to sit around and let it be just because it's the status quo.
I don't think the "system" is broken. First off, you're talking about 27 independent institutions in the US. Each has its own goals. I've been in the business of evaluating people for the past 10 years and it's tough. At best, it's an educated gamble. In my line of work, it can be a matter of life and death - ever had to decide which of your people gets to take off a protective mask to see if the chemical agents are gone? The rule there is to make sure you have something special that makes you essential. Same holds with applying for any competitive position. Look at the bulk of the people here and you'll find some major themes: high GPA, high GRE, 21-24 y/o, female, studied animal science, biology, or some related field, has between 1K and 5K hours of vet and animal experience, etc. Not that this is bad, and it's what I would fully expect from this population. Makes the job of an admissions committee member that much more difficult. When you have a spread like this, it becomes a crap shoot - might as well roll the dice or pick names out of a hat. You need to stand out. I went to just short of hell and back to get in. I'm not saying you need to experience some major life changing event, and I hope none of you ever have to experience what I have under the same circumstances. For me, it was just time and place meeting up and putting me in those situations. I'm damn lucky to be where I am today, on many different occasions.There is no rhyme or reason, just get your letters, ignore what everyone else says and be the best person you can. I've talked to 3 vets today, and they've all said the same thing to me: "The system is broken."
The system isn't broken because it's not a system.