Accept or Try for IS Next Year

[babooforboo]

Hey folks,

The title pretty much sums up my dilemma: either accept an offer from a Caribbean school, or wait a year and try to get into my IS option...

The benefits of waiting are mainly financial: saving over roughly 100k dollars in debt by going to IS instead of Caribbean school. My IS is just that much cheaper...

Additionally, I hear that the dropout rate is considerably higher in Caribbean schools, so I am concerned about the great probability of failing, taking longer to graduate, and/or struggling immensely in a miserable way.

Then, no surprise here, the thought of being thousands of miles from my family and SO is not super appealing.

That said, I am prepared to go to the Caribbean. I wouldn't have applied there if I weren't.

On the other hand, the costs of waiting a year could be considerable too:

I might not get into my IS AGAIN, thereby effectively wasting a year when I could have been working towards my degree.

What's more disconcerting to me is the scenario in which I lose my Caribbean offers PLUS my IS option, so that I am left with no options. I'm not sure how likely this is, given that I've been offered a spot this cycle at 2 schools, but who knows...The admissions game is a crap shoot, for sure.

Any advice is greatly appreciated - thanks!

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[ziggyandjazzy]

What are your stats? And what is your IS? Did you get an interview if they interview? Have you done a file review? That might give people a better idea how likely/possible it would be to get in to your IS.

I don't really know specifically but if you got into the Caribbean schools this year, I don't know why they would deny you next year. If you can change your app in some way to make you more appealing to your IS so you have a good shot there, I personally would re-apply, but that's just me.

 

[Coffee<3Cats<3&Ratties<3]

What are your stats? And what is your IS? Did you get an interview if they interview? Have you done a file review? That might give people a better idea how likely/possible it would be to get in to your IS.

I don't really know specifically but if you got into the Caribbean schools this year, I don't know why they would deny you next year. If you can change your app in some way to make you more appealing to your IS so you have a good shot there, I personally would re-apply, but that's just me.

There was a girl on the APVMA facebook page that was accepted to a school last year, declined due to personal reasons and was flat out denied by the same school this application cycle after improving her stats. Its defintely a risk to decline a seat but its kind of up to you if the financial implications of the school are worth declining and trying again for your in state.

 

[jaboo]

There was a girl on the APVMA facebook page that was accepted to a school last year, declined due to personal reasons and was flat out denied by the same school this application cycle after improving her stats. Its defintely a risk to decline a seat but its kind of up to you if the financial implications of the school are worth declining and trying again for your in state.

Echoing this. I was told when I was first rejected from my IS school (during my file review) that vet schools tend to look poorly upon people who turn down a school and then reapply. People are fighting for spots all the time. If you don't take your chance, you may never get another one again.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

There was a girl on the APVMA facebook page that was accepted to a school last year, declined due to personal reasons and was flat out denied by the same school this application cycle after improving her stats. Its defintely a risk to decline a seat but its kind of up to you if the financial implications of the school are worth declining and trying again for your in state.

Was it a Caribbean school? I guess perhaps some schools would hold it against you and others wouldn't. I would think that a lot of people apply to schools in the Caribbean and then decline but I absolutely could be wrong. I guess that would just be a risk this person would have to take if they elected to do that.

 

[labrat9]

If you got in to school X but declined or deferred (Carib or not) to reapply in hopes to get in to school Y, would school Y know? (and presumably any others you applied to in the second cycle) How would they know?

I've heard of people holding multiple seats in med school, declining DO to try to go MD next year, etc, but they're two separate organizations and don't "talk to each other" regarding candidates. Correct me if I'm wrong as it's just hearsay from friends applying to med school.

I understand how say, school x would look down on someone who applied to them, was admitted, declined and then reapplied again to school x, but how would school y know they did this? I feel like they get so many applicants, how are adcomm's taking the time to talk to other adcomms at other schools regarding individual applicants admission statuses?
Internally, it's one thing, but between separate institutions?

edit: i mean to quote @johnnaboo 's post but I was on moblie on a disfunctional iphone so it didnt go through apparently

 

[genny]

Does your IS take transfers? Some will from Caribbean schools, but you’d have to do a kickass job in your first semester.

 

[EStenz]

I was in a very similar situation this cycle. I chose to accept my seat with a carribean school. This was my second cycle applying, my IS is Colorado and I was rejected both times I applied. They recommended I get a master's degree before applying again, which still wouldn't guarantee I would get accepted. I didn't want to take on more student loans just for a shot at my IS when I had an acceptance somewhere else. The drop out/fail rate made me nervous at first so I did a ton of research. The curriculum is just as rigarous as any state school as they are AVMA accredited. Carribean schools do accept students with lower stats than the typical US school applicant. Therefore, if a student would struggle with the curriculum in a carribean school, I would assume they would also struggle in any US school. It all comes down to the student. I personally feel this will be a good environment for me to learn as I won't have all the distractions I do at home. The consensus I get from current and previous students is that you form a close bond with your classmates and generally want to help each other succeed.

 

[babooforboo]

What are your stats? And what is your IS? Did you get an interview if they interview? Have you done a file review? That might give people a better idea how likely/possible it would be to get in to your IS.

I don't really know specifically but if you got into the Caribbean schools this year, I don't know why they would deny you next year. If you can change your app in some way to make you more appealing to your IS so you have a good shot there, I personally would re-apply, but that's just me.

My stats are pretty good. I have a 3.5, which may be the biggest thing holding me back, but I have lots of experience in different areas (large, small, exotic, and tropical medicine). I got an interview and it went well, but I have yet to do a file review. You're definitely right that going through that process will inform my decision in an important way.

As for @labrat9 's point, I think you're right that school Y (i.e., my IS option) would not look down upon me declining school X's offer (Carib option). But my concern is that school X would count my decision to decline against me in the next cycle. Because if that is the case, then I risk losing BOTH offers - school Y (assuming I get rejected again b/c I don't do enough to improve my application) and school X (because I declined the previous year). So, basically, I'm not worried about how declining will affect my chances with my IS option; I'm worried about affecting my Carib plan B strategy.

The suggestion of transferring from @genny is starting to look more attractive, and I'm going to do more research into it. From what little I've done, it just seems like a long-shot, and not something you should count on being able to do (even if my IS does take transfers). But I will definitely look into it!

Thanks for the perspective, @EStenz . Interestingly, it sounds like when you were in my position, you did choose to reapply another cycle to try to get to your IS (unless you only applied there, until later cycles when you applied to both IS and Carib options...). I think that if I knew that my IS recommended that I pursue a masters to gain entry, or if I had been rejected twice, I would certainly go with the Carib option, so I definitely think you made the right choice. I guess I feel like my situation is slightly (but importantly) different, however, because it's less clear in my case whether I'm close to being accepted to my IS or not. And if I am close, then it might be worth risking losing the Carib options.

I'm also genuinely perplexed as to why schools that accepted me one cycle would deny me another, situations like @Coffee<3Cats<3&Ratties<3 and @johnnaboo helpfully made me aware of. I mean I get that each crop of applicants is different, and so next year there might be more students with better applications than this year. But at the same time, unless I just barely squeaked into the group of acceptances, then I shouldn't have to worry too much. Perhaps schools just really don't like you turning down an offer, but that just seems unreasonable. Declining an offer opens a spot up for someone else; it's not like I'm costing them a spot.

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your replies - they've been very helpful! And keep them coming, if you don't mind

 

[that redhead]

What's more disconcerting to me is the scenario in which I lose my Caribbean offers PLUS my IS option, so that I am left with no options. I'm not sure how likely this is, given that I've been offered a spot this cycle at 2 schools, but who knows...The admissions game is a crap shoot, for sure.

When I was in your situation (although my offer was in Canada, not the Caribbean), I decided to take the offer I had. There is ZERO guarantee that you will receive another acceptance in any following cycle, no matter what you do to improve your application. What will you say to the Caribbean schools that accepted you when you turn down their offer and then apply again the next year? Not going to look very good.

 

[flameshock]

My stats are pretty good.

I'm also genuinely perplexed as to why schools that accepted me one cycle would deny me another, situations like @Coffee<3Cats<3&Ratties<3 and @johnnaboo helpfully made me aware of. I mean I get that each crop of applicants is different, and so next year there might be more students with better applications than this year. But at the same time, unless I just barely squeaked into the group of acceptances, then I shouldn't have to worry too much. Perhaps schools just really don't like you turning down an offer, but that just seems unreasonable. Declining an offer opens a spot up for someone else; it's not like I'm costing them a spot.

If I was on an admissions committee, and I saw an applicant had declined (not deferred) a spot and was applying again next year, I would look negatively on it. It reads as trying to do exactly what you would be attempting: hedge your bets on a school you consider 'safe' while trying to get in somewhere else. If you were accepted and declined...you better have a hellova reason why.

 

[babooforboo]

What will you say to the Caribbean schools that accepted you when you turn down their offer and then apply again the next year? Not going to look very good.

Can someone articulate why this wouldn't look very good? I genuinely don't understand why schools would look down on this...Obviously I wouldn't be this blunt, but there are lots of reasons I could provide: a desire to take on a smaller load of debt, an opportunity to have an income for another year to help pay for my education, or a better life situation (perhaps my SO will be in a better position to move next year). I don't see why anything along those lines would offend and/or upset an admissions committee so that it would hurt my application's chances.

When looking at the option of deferring, I found this forum post by a Caribbean school official (can't include the link for some reason...):

Granted, the official could be misleading, and even though they say "we do not look upon this negatively", they really do. That's certainly possible.

 

[pp9]

When I was in your situation (although my offer was in Canada, not the Caribbean), I decided to take the offer I had. There is ZERO guarantee that you will receive another acceptance in any following cycle, no matter what you do to improve your application. What will you say to the Caribbean schools that accepted you when you turn down their offer and then apply again the next year? Not going to look very good.

This is why I accepted my OOS offer instead of try a third time with my IS. I never had a good feeling about my IS, never expected to get in. Wouldn't have applied if they weren't my IS anyways.

The debt is crippling but I couldn't see myself do anything other than vet med, so I went ahead and decided to go OOS and get my education started.

If I was on an admissions committee, and I saw an applicant had declined (not deferred) a spot and was applying again next year, I would look negatively on it. It reads as trying to do exactly what you would be attempting: hedge your bets on a school you consider 'safe' while trying to get in somewhere else. If you were accepted and declined...you better have a hellova reason why.

I think the only time this wouldn't look weird is if you had a medical/personal reason and talked to the school about it.

 

[that redhead]

Can someone articulate why this wouldn't look very good? I genuinely don't understand why schools would look down on this...Obviously I wouldn't be this blunt, but there are lots of reasons I could provide: a desire to take on a smaller load of debt, an opportunity to have an income for another year to help pay for my education, or a better life situation (perhaps my SO will be in a better position to move next year). I don't see why anything along those lines would offend and/or upset an admissions committee so that it would hurt my application's chances.

When looking at the option of deferring, I found this forum post by a Caribbean school official (can't include the link for some reason...):

View attachment 228778

Granted, the official could be misleading, and even though they say "we do not look upon this negatively", they really do. That's certainly possible.

What's the date on the SGU post?

It's like telling the guy who asks you to prom "no" because you're looking for someone better to take you and then you realize no one else is going to take you so you go back around to the original guy to see if he's still interested. Especially now that SGU and Ross are accredited, they have a lot more applicants looking for spots and they want to offer them to people who want to go there, not to people who are waiting for something better. I'm not saying you will absolutely be rejected the second time, but I think there will definitely be less interest in your application knowing you'd already turned them down once.

I feel like you want to hear that it's OK to wait. And if that's what you want to do, go for it. But seems like we're all telling you the same thing here.

 

[BPK2022]

I'm just another kid on the block in Pennsylvania anxiously awaiting decisions from the schools I was blessed to get interviews at. I applied to 8 schools that I could see myself attending. Rejected from Ohio and NCSU. Interviewed at LMU, VA-MD, Purdue, Tufts, Illinois (19th), haven't heard anything from UPENN. I would give my left arm to have an acceptance right now. As a PA instate, my costs for any are high. There were things I liked about each school I applied to.
You applied to a Caribbean school, I hope with the idea that you could see yourself attending there.
You have an acceptance! Congratulations! You have the opportunity to be a Vet! Go, be happy. Stop pondering the 'what ifs'.

 

[babooforboo]

Thanks, @that redhead for the interesting analogy. I kind of feel like in the scenario the guy has 100 other dates to prom and someone waiting in line behind me, but oh well...

Especially now that SGU and Ross are accredited, they have a lot more applicants looking for spots and they want to offer them to people who want to go there, not to people who are waiting for something better.

It's possible that "people who want to go there" are the very same people "who are waiting for something better." I'm confident that every pre-vet student on this forum wants to go to pretty much any vet school. But that doesn't mean they don't prefer one over another.

Either way, I definitely think you're right that I'm leaning one way and that there is something of a consensus leaning the other way. But I'm beginning to see (thanks to y'all's help!) that it is just too risky to hazard another application cycle, so that is pushing me towards acceptance.

And to @BPK2022 , I wish you the best of luck! (even if I disagree about the value of pondering "what ifs" )

 

[KCgophervet]

Just an question for you to consider, and not meant to be snarky or judgmental or anything:

Why did you originally apply to the Caribbean school that accepted you this year?

Consider the reasons you originally sent them an application and see if that helps at all in your current decision.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

Has anyone heard of someone being accepted into Ross or SGU and then re-applying and not getting in? With a 3.5, I would say you are far above their average student, which I thought was near a 3.1. I could see them rejecting you if you were close to average or something but I don't personally see why they would reject you. I could understand it more for schools that are more highly selective. If you really want to know more on whether they would hold this against you or not, I would maybe recommend contacting their admissions departments.

I might be coming at this from a different angle, but I would seriously consider re-applying to your IS. Going to your IS would likely save you 150,000 or more dollars and that is not a small amount of money. However, I didn't apply to Caribbean schools, or any expensive OOS schools, because I simply wouldn't go 300k+ in debt for a vet education. To me, it wouldn't be worth it at that point. It seems like there are others on this thread who have spent that kind of money, and they of course may have different opinions than I do.

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

I'm confident that every pre-vet student on this forum wants to go to pretty much any vet school.

I don't agree with this and I think there are many others who don't. There are people who only apply to their IS or only apply to a handful of schools. I have talked to others who wouldn't be willing to take on as much debt as the Caribbean schools and many OOS US schools would require.

 

[babooforboo]

I don't agree with this and I think there are many others who don't. There are people who only apply to their IS or only apply to a handful of schools. I have talked to others who wouldn't be willing to take on as much debt as the Caribbean schools and many OOS US schools would require.

Yes, you're definitely right; I certainly didn't mean that everyone is willing to go to any school, so sorry for that.

I meant something more along the lines of, "Insofar as any vet school would prepare its students to become vets, the students on this forum are happy to go there." But I didn't mean that anyone would be willing to go to any school, no matter the cost, location, etc. You're certainly right that the costs of Caribbean schools outweigh the benefits for lots of folks.

My intention with that line was to point to our deep passion to become vets, which can be served by Carib, IS, and OOS schools alike, and which does give me some desire to go there. It seemed like another user assumed that because I might decline an acceptance, I didn't want to go to the school. I still want to go; I'd just prefer another option.

And I'd love to get some perspectives of students who re-applied to Caribbean schools, as your other post suggested. That's a great point.

 

[Jess Monster]

Get your IS to do a file review so you know where you fell this cycle. You don’t have to make a decision until April.

Personally, I’d wait. I also wouldn’t bother re-applying to whatever Caribbean school(s) you were admitted to this cycle. Clearly, as you’ve outlined, there are some major drawbacks and it doesn’t sound like it would be a good fit for you.

There are no guarantees, but sometimes good things come to those who wait. Delaying things a year to see if you can get a more afforadable option is not a poor choice. Don’t worry about “wasting” that time. Compared to what will hopefully be a lifelong career, a year is nothing. Work. Live. Enjoy yourself.

 

[SkiOtter]

I'm confident that every pre-vet student on this forum wants to go to pretty much any vet school.

I personally don’t want to go to just any vet school. I didn’t apply to anywhere in the Caribbean, Europe, or even the other side of the country from where I live simply because it’d be too far from home for me. I didn’t apply there because I knew I wouldn’t want to go if I got accepted there, especially Europe or the Caribbean. I only applied to schools I would definitely go to if I got accepted there and nowhere else.

 

[EB73674]

I've decided to put off my applications a year for the exact reasons you've stated above, OP. I think I can (eventually) get into a Caribbean school, but I don't want it to be my ONLY option. I want to be able to have a range of possibilities when I do apply, so I'm spending the next year (and my gap year) qualifying myself for as many schools as I can. I would agree with the above advice to, if you decide to decline this year, not bother applying to that same Caribbean school next round. I think it doesn't send a great message to that school, and will likely may your admission harder, if not completely impossible. Do a file review, do everything you can this year to make yourself attractive to your IS (or maybe take another look at what schools would like your file best, strategically), and then have another go next year.

 

[pp9]

More on the idea of transferring:

I personally know people who have gone to an island school with every intention to transfer after the first year...they were in the same situation that you're finding yourself in now. That is definitely a possibility. Two people in my class came in second year from island schools (one from Ross, one from SGU), and I know SMU students who transferred as well. They didn't necessarily transfer into their IS schools.

However, it's a huge gamble. You need to be very aware of the high chance that you will not be accepted as a transfer student anywhere and would be stuck with island tuition. These students had 4.0 GPAs after first year, so there was no reason to doubt their abilities/even bring up the island school stigma. You are also hoping that the school you want to transfer to will have a seat open up (aka someone voluntarily/involuntarily left the program). Then the school has to accept you, it's not like it's an automatic 'We have an open seat, come on in' thing. Then there's the problem of whether or not the two curricula even match. I believe my two classmates had to do work over the summer and spend 8 weeks in the teaching hospital to catch up to the rest of us.

If this is something you'd consider, I'd talk to the school(s) you'd want to try to transfer to. See if you can dig up any stats/info on their websites and go from there.

Again, it's a huge gamble, but so is reapplying. You'd have to determine which you're more comfortable with.

Edit: Here is U of I's transfer page http://vetmed.illinois.edu/education/doctor-veterinary-medicine-degree/transfer-information/ for reference. The transfer application is essentially a condensed version of VMCAS.

 

[WildZoo]

I think the point people are getting at here is there are no guarantees. Wanting another shot at your IS is reasonable, but making the choice to do that means you have to be ok with the idea that you might not get in anywhere next cycle. Is it likely you'd get into an island school again? Sure, probably, based on your stats and the fact that you would be improving your application anyway. But it is not a guarantee. Whether or not you can accept that is up to you.


This kind of thing is why we generally tell people not to apply to a school if they wouldn't go there if it turned out to be their only acceptance.

 

[LamJams]

I am currently still enrolled at a Caribbean school, but will most likely starting in University of Sydney in 3 weeks. (Also waiting on one more school).
I still applied to other schools while I was going there.

What came down in the end for me is that there is no guarantee, and honestly, being in a vet school already just took a lot of pressure off my back. You can wait another year and be stressed about it next year. If you get in, great, but if you don't you are losing 2 years which if you really think about it they are two years you could be working as a vet after graduating.