Academic Dismissal...help

[honeynectarsunshine]

I recently failed 3 classes in my first semester of vet school. Two of the classes were failed by less than 1%.... I had talked to the professors but they were not willing to give any questions back. I passed all but one exam in 2 of the classes. I was able to remediate 2 of the classes and passed one of the remediation exams, leaving me with two fails. During the semester, I struggled a LOT with my mental health, was diagnosed with ADHD, and my grandfather having severe health issues leading to him being admitted to the hospital multiple times through the semester. I've been working with a psychiatrist while I'm at school but haven't been able to speak to her since her license does not allow her to practice in my home state (I'm working on finding another one). During the remediation exams, my boyfriend (who I live with at home) was injured and rushed to the hospital the day before one of the remediation exams. I'm not trying to make excuses but these were very scary situations as my school is not close to home so I had no idea what was going on with their health and was unable to be there if anything were to happen.

I'm planning on spending the next few months to work on my mental health and get my ADHD managed better as I wouldn't be able to start classes again until the fall.

I am able to submit an appeal to the committee to reverse my appeal, but I'm worried that it will be declined. Has anyone ever been through this before? Looking for advice and good vibes....

If my appeal is not accepted, are there schools who will accept me if I were to apply to vet school again? This is the only goal I have in my life, I've put off getting married and decided not to have children so I could follow this path. Without becoming a veterinarian, I don't know what my purpose or passion would be.

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[battie]

Hello, I failed first year of vet school by 0.55% because of how Illinois's curriculum works. I went through the appeals process successfully. I then actually almost failed out again during the second year of the curriculum due to the death of my sister. I am now doing well 3.5 years post-graduation. You're welcome to message me directly.

Without getting into the details of your situation:
1. If you want to do it, you literally have nothing to lose by going through the appeals process. For me, it was writing a letter to the academic committee and talking to the dean.

2. I would be hard pressed to say you would be accepted elsewhere depending on what your current institution is. I have heard/seen stories of people dismissed from the island schools accepted elsewhere at a later date. But that later date was after significant life changes and time. If you're dismissed from a state side school, I would be hard pressed to see you readmitted depending on the circumstances. Failing multiple classes is a tough sale.

3. Being a veterinarian is a job, not your life. There has always been and always will be a risk of your life changing to exclude veterinary medicine, regardless of what part of the journey you're on. Before you make any decisions, you need to have this discussion with a mental health professional. ***Vet med is a job, not a purpose***

 

[honeynectarsunshine]

Hello, I failed first year of vet school by 0.55% because of how Illinois's curriculum works. I went through the appeals process successfully. I then actually almost failed out again during the second year of the curriculum due to the death of my sister. I am now doing well 3.5 years post-graduation. You're welcome to message me directly.

Without getting into the details of your situation:
1. If you want to do it, you literally have nothing to lose by going through the appeals process. For me, it was writing a letter to the academic committee and talking to the dean.

2. I would be hard pressed to say you would be accepted elsewhere depending on what your current institution is. I have heard/seen stories of people dismissed from the island schools accepted elsewhere at a later date. But that later date was after significant life changes and time. If you're dismissed from a state side school, I would be hard pressed to see you readmitted depending on the circumstances. Failing multiple classes is a tough sale.

3. Being a veterinarian is a job, not your life. There has always been and always will be a risk of your life changing to exclude veterinary medicine, regardless of what part of the journey you're on. Before you make any decisions, you need to have this discussion with a mental health professional. ***Vet med is a job, not a purpose***

hello! thank you for your reply. I had thought if the appeal is denied that I may work back home and move on with things before trying to re-apply, but this would likely mean retaking pre-req classes as I'm already a non-traditional student.

I guess I worded the part wrong about purpose - I've always felt like I was meant to work in vet med and that pushed me academically to strive for vet school. I'm safe and not at risk for harm if the appeal is denied or if vet med isn't in the cards for me (just to put that out there), but it is something I have sacrificed a lot for as I'm sure many others have as well. I love the field and can't imagine doing anything else but am also exploring other options during the ofttime I have currently.

I do have an appointment lined up with another mental health professional but was wanting first hand experiences of people who failed and appealed..

Thank you for your help!

 

[JaynaAli]

My class lost several people first year. All but one left vet med and have moved on with their lives. One former classmate ended up applying to/attending Ross a year or two later and was able to complete that program and is a practicing vet. So it may be possible to find another school to attend, but that seems to be the outlier scenario from what I’ve observed.

I don’t have personal experience with it, but I agree with Battie…there’s nothing to lose by appealing. But should your appeal be unsuccessful, I promise the world won’t end if you have to explore other professions. It’s absolutely valid and understandable to be disappointed and sad when you’ve potentially wanted to be a vet your entire life, but at the end of the day, it’s a job to pay one’s bills and I bet you can find something else you enjoy or at least can tolerate, even if that’s hard to see now.

Good luck with your appeal.

 

[battie]

I had thought if the appeal is denied that I may work back home and move on with things before trying to re-apply, but this would likely mean retaking pre-req classes as I'm already a non-traditional student.

It's only you who can determine if reapplying is worth it. For me, I was not going to go back to vet med at all if my initial appeal was denied or if I had actually been dismissed second year. Cut my losses sort of thing. I wouldn't necessarily tell someone to not do it; just anticipate it taking several years and not being picky in the slightest of where you go.

wanting first hand experiences of people who failed and appealed..

The success of appeal really depends on the school and the circumstances. Illinois allows anyone to repeat one year. Everything else is on a case by case basis. Contrast that with Iowa; they have a very strict process that involves retaking the classes you failed as a non-degree seeking student and reapplying with the new first year class *after* repeating the classes. An old poster Elkhart decided it wasn't worth it. We did have another person fail from Iowa that I can't remember their name, who was successful. If you search for "Iowa dismissal" or "Iowa fail", you're likely to find their posts.

There aren't many of us on these forums. I think I'm the only person who is pretty open about it.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

If my appeal is not accepted, are there schools who will accept me if I were to apply to vet school again? This is the only goal I have in my life, I've put off getting married and decided not to have children so I could follow this path. Without becoming a veterinarian, I don't know what my purpose or passion would be.

You've already gotten some good advice here, but I wanted to note this quickly

This statement worries me a bit, because you are literally defining your entire self by something that, at the end of the day, is a job. I know it seems like an all-encompassing thing, but when your career becomes your entire life, your chance of completely burning out is very high. Please cultivate happiness outside of a (potential) career. There are so many other things that are important in making you a well-adjusted, happy person. Speaking from experience.

 

[overcastkidjuno]

I'm so sorry to hear this, hugs from a fellow late diagnosed ADHDer 🫂. That is a lot for you to have had to deal with including your first year of vet school on top. You seem to be a resilient individual.

There have been students at my school who failed first semester of first year and successfully appealed. They restarted completely (doing all courses over again, even those that they passed) the following fall with the next year's class. It would depend on your school of course, but something to discuss with an advisor and the appeal committee.

Best of luck! Hang in there.

 

[VetMed1]

I recently failed 3 classes in my first semester of vet school. Two of the classes were failed by less than 1%.... I had talked to the professors but they were not willing to give any questions back. I passed all but one exam in 2 of the classes. I was able to remediate 2 of the classes and passed one of the remediation exams, leaving me with two fails. During the semester, I struggled a LOT with my mental health, was diagnosed with ADHD, and my grandfather having severe health issues leading to him being admitted to the hospital multiple times through the semester. I've been working with a psychiatrist while I'm at school but haven't been able to speak to her since her license does not allow her to practice in my home state (I'm working on finding another one). During the remediation exams, my boyfriend (who I live with at home) was injured and rushed to the hospital the day before one of the remediation exams. I'm not trying to make excuses but these were very scary situations as my school is not close to home so I had no idea what was going on with their health and was unable to be there if anything were to happen.

I'm planning on spending the next few months to work on my mental health and get my ADHD managed better as I wouldn't be able to start classes again until the fall.

I am able to submit an appeal to the committee to reverse my appeal, but I'm worried that it will be declined. Has anyone ever been through this before? Looking for advice and good vibes....

If my appeal is not accepted, are there schools who will accept me if I were to apply to vet school again? This is the only goal I have in my life, I've put off getting married and decided not to have children so I could follow this path. Without becoming a veterinarian, I don't know what my purpose or passion would be.

Hi there, I’m so sorry to hear this. Have you already submitted your appeal? I was in your position and have had many “failures” when it comes to vet school/the navle. Now it’s all done and out of the way and I’m getting a job as a Vet now. So knowing what I have gone through, believe me I understand where you’re coming from. Feel free to message me.