A few qustions for everyone

[su_grad2007]

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How many people here are reapplying next year and how many times have you applied so far?

If you were accepted this year (congrats 🙂 ) how many times did you apply before getting in?

If you didn't get in what are you going to do with your next year?

If you had to apply more than once, what did you do with yourself between applications cycles and did it help?

 

[Aninha]

How many people here are reapplying next year and how many times have you applied so far?

If you were accepted this year (congrats 🙂 ) how many times did you apply before getting in?

If you didn't get in what are you going to do with your next year?

If you had to apply more than once, what did you do with yourself between applications cycles and did it help?

I haven't been accepted yet...still have interviews and even some schools I haven't heard from. This is my first time applying. If I don't get accepted I'll apply again!!! I guess if you end up not applying again you probably didn't want this so bad to beginn with...And if I don't get accepted I'll call the school, set up a phone-interview to find out why I was not accepted and what I should do to become a better applicant (most schools will tell you)...so the next year while you wait to apply you can just work on what you need and they'll see that in your application...🙂

 

[shine_bluesky]

This was my first year applying, and i'm going to apply again next year cos i found out yesterday i was rejected from my last uni.

At the moment i'm going to concentrate on my A levels and stuff, then i'll probably work to earn some money, then organise some work experience abroad so i can go travelling and also get experience at the same time.

Hopefully it will be enough to get me in next year!

Katie

 

[Angelo84]

This is my first year applying. I have been accepted at Ohio State University, am on hold at UPenn, and on the alternate list at Cornell. I have interviews at Tufts and Purdue coming up. If I hadn't been accepted I would have called to find out specifically why and probably tried to increase my experience.

Good luck all!

 

[texlaevis]

This is my first year applying. I'm preparing for interviews at Tufts and Illinois, am on the alt. list at Cornell, and am among the many who have yet to hear anything from Penn (and Wisconsin, although they haven't told anyone anything yet). If I don't get in next year, I'll do what many people have suggested: (1) maybe establish residency in a state with a vet school, and (2) call the admissions people and find out what my application lacks.

I read in a really old thread that someone mentioned that it might be a good idea to do something (the example was Teach For America) to "stand out", not necessarily animal-related, just to get the adcom's attention. I might caution applicants against doing something unrelated to vet med, as I am coming off of my second year with Teach For America and feel like I am getting limited love from admissions committees who seem puzzled by the lack of animal experience I have had during my last two years. While teaching low income students and vet med are not completely unrelated, and I believe that my experience in education actually drew me more towards veterinary medicine, I've had no time for recent volunteer/shadowing experiences and (perhaps understandably) I don't think this is really looked-on positively by admissions people.

Anyway, that's just some advice for people looking for a "plan B."

 

[Boxsterluv]

What you do between application cycles may depend on where your application is lacking. If you have tons of hours and varied experience, then there's no need to go find more hours. If your GPA is super, no need to take more classes. However, if the opposite is true, maybe you can do something to strengthen your application. I also agree with the above poster that doing something that makes you stand out, even if it isn't necessarily animal related, is a great idea. Good luck to all!

 

[cyrille104]

How many cycles would you have to be rejected to give up on vet med? I was thinking 4.

 

[Pennymare]

If I didn't get in the first year, I think that I would try to establish residency and try out some of the internships I have wanted to do, such as KEMI, Vets in the Wild, and the Hanover Shoe Farm (two of those are horse related).

Plans might vary based upon the vet school's feedback, but that would be my initial plan. If I didn't get in a second time, then I would check out grad school programs in vet med, equine science,etc. Then, try again 🙂

Definitely choose something animal or medicine related.

 

[kate_g]

How many cycles would you have to be rejected to give up on vet med? I was thinking 4.

Depending on what the reason was, I'd strongly reconsider after just this cycle. I know that's not the "right" answer but I think I'm in a way different position than most other people here - I took two years off after undergrad to work, then spent seven in a grad program for academics and basic research. The next step on the academic route is a postdoc position, but that's not something you can do while reapplying - you can't just bail after a year, when your project is just getting started, if an acceptance comes through. So having to take a dead-end job, and potentially ruin my academic trajectory, to attempt to improve my vet app and re-apply... agh. I could probably have worked things out for one more cycle, but I'd almost certainly be done after that.

 

[philomycus]

At 32, I'll apply 2 more years after this, then probably give up. I'm very established in my current profession making pretty decent $. Let's hope I don't need to reapply at all. Waiting for Iowa on Feb 15th, then UF, then OK.

 

[twosoakers]

i'm 32, too, philo. i applied last year to one school (my instate purdue) and flubbed the interview. this year i applied to five, and western is my only response (interview TOMORROW!!). i'm currently writing my dissertation in english while taking veterinary classes at purdue. i haven't set a limit on when i'll stop trying, but i can't imagine getting out of vet school at 38 years old. i've been in school so long that waiting around another year for someone to let me into a program that i've proved i can already excel in...how freaking arbitrary.

i hope you get into one of those you're waiting on 🙂

 

[JIKJen124]

Can you post interview feedback from your experience last year at Purdue?

 

[philomycus]

It's hard at 32 when you're working a full-time job & a second part-time job to work the 3rd job to get 'enough' vet tech hours to unoffically qualify. I've been working the 3rd job as a tech on Sat's for 6 months and am way short of everything else.

Question tho to everyone.... does research hours conut from my Master's degree??? Even if it was on a slug??

 

[fargeese]

I sure hope research hours count. I teach high school, and coach after school, so I too have had a hard time getting in the extra hours of experience they seem to want. That being said I have been offered an interview at the only school I applied to, we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

My experience is only 125 hrs at a SA vet, 2 months of puppy/kitten fostering, and about 1000 hours of animal dissection (for the classroom and at a science museum). Again, I don't know if it will be enough to get me in, but it was enough to get an interview at least.

I too am 32 and have been teaching biology for years now. What is with all the 32 year olds? Are we all having mid-life crises 🙂 ha ha ha

 

[fargeese]

Oh and I counted the hours I spent on an apiary project in the Peace Corps. If I counted bees I don't see why you can't count slugs 🙂

 

[ShelterGirl]

I'm 32 as well

Seriously, though, I will try 4 times, and that's it. I left my previous job in high tech about a year ago to do FT animal shelter work. If I don't get in this year, I might go back to my old line of work and continue volunteering on evenings and weekends because I'm having trouble making ends meet working at a non-profit ... especially in the Bay Area!

 

[philomycus]

I too teach Biology at the High school (AP) and adjunct at the college level. If dissection hours count, I have thousands....hmm at least something to mention next year in my app. I didn't think that qualified.

 

[Mylez]

If I don't get in this cycle (waitlisted currently at two schools, waiting on two more)...

I will take the "freakish" route of applying to the University of Pretoria (yep, that's right, in SOUTH AFRICA), and if accepted, probably attend veterinary school there. It's not a big leap for me...I have wanted to work on African wildlife for a long time now...might as well get started early!

But also, if I didn't get in, apply again and increase my crappy GRE scores.

 

[Hollycozza]

I went on a tour of the University of Pretoria and it looks incredible!!!

 

[kate_g]

My experience is only 125 hrs at a SA vet, 2 months of puppy/kitten fostering, and about 1000 hours of animal dissection (for the classroom and at a science museum). Again, I don't know if it will be enough to get me in, but it was enough to get an interview at least.

In the course of answering the question of what things in my application would make a (closed-file) interviewer not want to accept me (eek!) I mentioned that I had a lot less "traditional" small animal experience than most people seemed to have. The interviewer laughed and said "oh, that doesn't matter, we'll take care of that for you during veterinary school."

So I'm guessing (hoping!) it's a matter of demonstrating you've got what it takes, rather than more hours always being better.

 

[wildfocus]

What is with all the 32 year olds? Are we all having mid-life crises 🙂 ha ha ha

heehee - i'm 32 years old too! are you all a '74 edition (year of the tiger!). first time applying, been preparing for 7+ years now. i'm going to try one more time after this. i am sooo close to getting into the joint program at csu, have an interview with wsu, and haven't been rejected yet from davis (ranked high for the ecology program - but not really holding my breath). in between these cycles, i may (gulp) start my family - been married for 8 years, and really feeling the pressure of the bio clock! if neither year works out for me, i think i will pursue phd studies in wildlife bio (my husband's field too) and conduct wildlife research wherever the winds take me... 😉

 

[philomycus]

heehee - i'm 32 years old too! are you all a '74 edition (year of the tiger!). first time applying, been preparing for 7+ years now.

Yep. '74er, 7 years teaching, 1st time applying.

Not really a mid-life crisis, but I think we're all realizing if we don't go after our dream now, it's about to be too late. Or not really *too late*, but pretty darn impractical with us being established, families and lives...

 

[twosoakers]

74er, too! I have been preparing for two years, this is actually my "third" time applying (first was when I graduated from undergraduate in '96--does that still count?). Maybe it is a mid-life crisis, haha. I am basically completing my dissertation in English literature, and walking away from a cushy professor job to shift to 14 hour work days! yay! I was explaining this to them yesterday at my Western interview. It's hard to explain that what you're doing "just isn't enough." 🙂

 

[TurboVet]

this is my fourth time applying. i applied in senior year of H.S. for an accelerated program, then in 02, and 04. I highly highly recommend feedback interview on your applications to see where schools thought your weak point(s) were. each school might have a different idea. I continued to work in veterinary clinics, animal facilities, and in research since i first applied, trying to vary the species, responsibilities, and to pursue areas i know i didin't have a lot of experience like large animals. Illinois told me 2 years ago, that i needed to go back to school, take all science courses and get As in everything and that would raise my GPA enough to make the first cut, and then it shouldn't be hard from there. so that's what i did. i have an interview, and it cost me 24,000$, so i hope it goes well.
i thought this was the last time, but after interviewing at tufts, i got all excited about vet med again after the tours, and the presentations, etc. we'll see what happens...

 

[twosoakers]

Good luck, Turbo. Sometimes, persistence actually pays off. I hope you get into all your choices.

 

[africanvet]

If I don't get in this cycle (waitlisted currently at two schools, waiting on two more)...

I will take the "freakish" route of applying to the University of Pretoria (yep, that's right, in SOUTH AFRICA), and if accepted, probably attend veterinary school there. It's not a big leap for me...I have wanted to work on African wildlife for a long time now...might as well get started early!

But also, if I didn't get in, apply again and increase my crappy GRE scores.

Hey Mylez, I'm going to send you a PM about Pretoria. 🙂

 

[conservationgal]

Are there any young ones on here? I am 22 and will be graduating from undergrad this spring...it seems like most people at my interview session were older than me. Does anyone know the breakdown of ages for first year students?

 

[tiddlywinks]

Are there any young ones on here? I am 22 and will be graduating from undergrad this spring...it seems like most people at my interview session were older than me. Does anyone know the breakdown of ages for first year students?

Usually each school will publish something on this in the statistics of the entering class. It's also in the back of the VMSAR. The mean ages for a recent year are here:

http://aavmc.org/students_admissions/documents/FirstYearClassProfile_000.pdf

Don't worry though, I'm a young'un too - I'll only be 20 when I start vet school in the fall 🙂

 

[Emio]

Are there any young ones on here? I am 22 and will be graduating from undergrad this spring...it seems like most people at my interview session were older than me. Does anyone know the breakdown of ages for first year students?

i know the mean ages are obviously higher than 22, but i still htink the mode is somewhere around there 😉. i'm 22, and thats after taking a year off before undergrad.