Class of 2022 Hopefuls

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Question for those of you who taken the GRE: how much actual studying and prep time did you put into it? I scored well on the ACT in high school, and from the practice questions I've done it seems to be only a tad bit more difficult. I can only afford to take the test once, so obviously I need to do well on it, but I don't want to spend too much time preparing for it when I also have to devote time to my classes. I plan to take the exam in April.
 
Ashley*76 said:
Question for those of you who taken the GRE: how much actual studying and prep time did you put into it? I scored well on the ACT in high school, and from the practice questions I've done it seems to be only a tad bit more difficult. I can only afford to take the test once, so obviously I need to do well on it, but I don't want to spend too much time preparing for it when I also have to devote time to my classes. I plan to take the exam in April.
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I'm a strong test-taker and didn't study much at all for the GRE - I think I bought a Kaplan book of practice questions and went through a bunch of those, but I didn't use any of the study aids outside of that. Took it once, scored high, that was the end of it. If you can only afford to take it once, I would use all the resources you have available knowing what works best for your style (for me, quizzing myself works best, especially to get a feel of the format of the exam) - but you certainly don't need to run yourself into the ground studying. I think I probably spent about 3 weeks of working on it 1-2 hours a night before I took the exam - but I'm a low stress test taker, so knew that would work for me.
 
I spent WAAAAAAYYYYY too much time on it and took quite a few practice tests and by the time my test came around I was just so done with it already. I ended up still scoring pretty well, but I NEVER want to see that test again. I believe ETS has free practice questions and two full-length practice tests, which I do recommend taking at least one of them if not both just so you get a feel for how the test is set up and where your weaker spots are. If you were going to take both, you could potentially take one at the beginning to see where you're at to start and then take one closer to your test date.
And the online practice tests are a good way to get used to their on-screen calculator for the things you can't do in your head (theres not nearly enough time to be able to use the calculator for every math problem)
 
I haven't been on here in awhile, but now that it's almost spring, I figured I better come on here and see whats what.
Quick Bio: Class of 2022 applicant, non-traditional student

I was already feeling kind of grumpy because my school of choice (MSU) just announced that they aren't considering GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. *sigh*. Now I"m seeing that the personal statement is going to be out the window too? *double sigh* I feel like all of these boxes I keep checking are disappearing right after I check them.
Then, another girl whom I have classes with (also applying to MSU) had an advisor tell her that she better have a straight 4.0 or to forget applying. I know all applicants are different, but that has me freaking out because there is no way I'll ever get that.
I know its competitive but can someone please tell me its not as cutthroat as it seems???
 
BlueGoose said:
Then, another girl whom I have classes with (also applying to MSU) had an advisor tell her that she better have a straight 4.0 or to forget applying.
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Umm...no. Just no. I don't know about MSU specifically but that's not true for any school.
 
cdoconn said:
I know NCSU is extremely numbers based and they don't interview. But they also ask a lot of personal/ interview type questions in their supplementals... so I'm not sure how I feel about the removal of the PS. I'm afraid it's going to end up with applicants having to write much more as different schools require different things to make up for the lack of a PS.
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Ah, right. I admit that I completely forgot about supplemental apps... most of the schools I applied to didn't have one.
 
BlueGoose said:
I haven't been on here in awhile, but now that it's almost spring, I figured I better come on here and see whats what.
Quick Bio: Class of 2022 applicant, non-traditional student

I was already feeling kind of grumpy because my school of choice (MSU) just announced that they aren't considering GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. *sigh*. Now I"m seeing that the personal statement is going to be out the window too? *double sigh* I feel like all of these boxes I keep checking are disappearing right after I check them.
Then, another girl whom I have classes with (also applying to MSU) had an advisor tell her that she better have a straight 4.0 or to forget applying. I know all applicants are different, but that has me freaking out because there is no way I'll ever get that.
I know its competitive but can someone please tell me its not as cutthroat as it seems???
Click to expand...

Ummm no. Idk the averages of MSU for IS applicants, but I just got accepted as an OOS with a 3.2 science GPA. So there is definitely hope for getting in without perfect grades. They also want to see that you have good experiences. Looking at the successful applicants threads from previous years will give you a generally good idea of the kind of people that get accepted and there are quite a bit of people from MSU on there. 🙂
 
cdoconn said:
Ugh. 3/5 of the schools I applied to had a supplemental app. NCSU had 6 short essays for us to write.
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Guess who did all 6 of those the day they were due when she was applying...

Maybe there's a reason I didn't get in :laugh:
 
WildZoo said:
Umm...no. Just no. I don't know about MSU specifically but that's not true for any school.
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aggievethopeful2021 said:
Ummm no. Idk the averages of MSU for IS applicants, but I just got accepted as an OOS with a 3.2 science GPA. So there is definitely hope for getting in without perfect grades. They also want to see that you have good experiences. Looking at the successful applicants threads from previous years will give you a generally good idea of the kind of people that get accepted and there are quite a bit of people from MSU on there. 🙂
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Whew. That makes me feel a little better. I'm above a 3.2 in my Science and above a 3.5 in my last 36 credits (which MSU uses), plus I have lots of life and vet experience to add to my app. This whole process is stressful!
 
BlueGoose said:
Whew. That makes me feel a little better. I'm above a 3.2 in my Science and above a 3.5 in my last 36 credits (which MSU uses), plus I have lots of life and vet experience to add to my app. This whole process is stressful!
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cdoconn said:
Paging @finnickthedog
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We're talking about Michigan?

Yeah, I had a 3.0 science and a 3.4 last 36. I'm IS. Now, I did have other part of my application that probably stood out but they do consider more than just your grades. You certainly don't need to have a 4.0 or don't bother. (Although my undergrad adviser also was of that opinion).
 
finnickthedog said:
We're talking about Michigan?

Yeah, I had a 3.0 science and a 3.4 last 36. I'm IS. Now, I did have other part of my application that probably stood out but they do consider more than just your grades. You certainly don't need to have a 4.0 or don't bother. (Although my undergrad adviser also was of that opinion).
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Nice! Thanks for sharing that. Maybe it just depends on the advisor one speaks with..... I definitely have supplemental stuff. Went from job shadow to volunteer to paid employee over a 3 year span at the same Veterinary office, some research, military experience, older candidate with life/job experience, etc. This gives me hope!!!

SkiOtter said:
No finnick. They're talking about Michigan STATE. :yeahright:
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😀 Bahahaha!!!!!
 
SummerTheLynx said:
A word of advice to the rest of the people in the thread, the night before is not the time you are supposed to be writing your PS 😛.
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Hey! I wrote it long before then! I just hadn't revised it!

And I'm pretty sure I tell people all the time not to be me, at all costs :laugh:
 
Ashley*76 said:
Question for those of you who taken the GRE: how much actual studying and prep time did you put into it? I scored well on the ACT in high school, and from the practice questions I've done it seems to be only a tad bit more difficult. I can only afford to take the test once, so obviously I need to do well on it, but I don't want to spend too much time preparing for it when I also have to devote time to my classes. I plan to take the exam in April.
Click to expand...

This depends on 1) how well you score on practice tests and 2) what score you're aiming for. If there's very little difference between 1 and 2- congrats! you don't need to study much! If there is a big difference, you'll need to put in more work. It's going to be different for everyone and really depend on what your baseline score is and what score you want.

Download the free GRE Powerprep exams. They're made by the test makers and are very similar to the real thing (my score was within a couple of points, I think). Take one under strict test-taking conditions (don't give yourself extra time!) and that will give you an idea.

BlueGoose said:
I haven't been on here in awhile, but now that it's almost spring, I figured I better come on here and see whats what.
Quick Bio: Class of 2022 applicant, non-traditional student

I was already feeling kind of grumpy because my school of choice (MSU) just announced that they aren't considering GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. *sigh*. Now I"m seeing that the personal statement is going to be out the window too? *double sigh* I feel like all of these boxes I keep checking are disappearing right after I check them.
Then, another girl whom I have classes with (also applying to MSU) had an advisor tell her that she better have a straight 4.0 or to forget applying. I know all applicants are different, but that has me freaking out because there is no way I'll ever get that.
I know its competitive but can someone please tell me its not as cutthroat as it seems???
Click to expand...

I don't believe an advisor said that. Ok, maybe I just don't want to believe an advisor said that. Sounds like someone trying to psych you out.

Just about every school has admissions statistics on its website. Here's the page for MSU. If you're generally above average, you have a good chance of getting in. If you're generally below, you'll probably have to make up for it in terms of experience, essays, etc. The successful applicant and what are my chances thread on here can be reassuring or scary (and helpful too), but the school's data will be the most reliable.

WildZoo said:
Guess who did all 6 of those the day they were due when she was applying...

Maybe there's a reason I didn't get in :laugh:
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Oh man, is the day they're due considered last minute? I finished my essays for a supplemental and submitted it with 18 seconds to spare. Somehow got in. :laugh:

On the other hand, my PS took about three miserable months of work.
 
Hey everyone! So Im having trouble with which factors to look at when deciding which schools to apply to. Does anyone have any advice on what to look for in vet schools?!
 
jjpark11 said:
Hey everyone! So Im having trouble with which factors to look at when deciding which schools to apply to. Does anyone have any advice on what to look for in vet schools?!
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Short answer: go wherever is cheapest for you.

Long answer: there's actually a really cool thread here called "Factors When Picking A School". It's written by veterinary students about their individual universities and they tell what they like and what they don't like about their school. Things like class size, tuition, number of OOS students accepted each year, tuition, whether or not you have the correct pre-requisites, tuition, whether or not your averages match theirs, tuition, distance from your family, tuition, weather, tuition, accreditation, and tuition and important to think about!

(Note I said tuition 8 times. Vet school is expensive. Being OOS is even more expensive. Student loans have interest fees (my friend is paying 7% interest on over $200,000 of student loans.)

I personally made a spreadsheet comparing all accredited vet schools with their prices, average GRE scores, average GPA scores, and a bunch of other things.

One thing that I think isn't important, and other people will agree, is 'official' rankings. In reality there are only 30 veterinary schools in the country, and a LOT of students applying for these seats (1600+ people applied to VAMD and very very few got in.

All in all, I highly recommend the Factors When Pickkng a School thread! They touch a bunch of great ideas and help!
 
cdoconn said:
Short answer: go wherever is cheapest for you.

Long answer: there's actually a really cool thread here called "Factors When Picking A School". It's written by veterinary students about their individual universities and they tell what they like and what they don't like about their school. Things like class size, tuition, number of OOS students accepted each year, tuition, whether or not you have the correct pre-requisites, tuition, whether or not your averages match theirs, tuition, distance from your family, tuition, weather, tuition, accreditation, and tuition and important to think about!

(Note I said tuition 8 times. Vet school is expensive. Being OOS is even more expensive. Student loans have interest fees (my friend is paying 7% interest on over $200,000 of student loans.)

I personally made a spreadsheet comparing all accredited vet schools with their prices, average GRE scores, average GPA scores, and a bunch of other things.

One thing that I think isn't important, and other people will agree, is 'official' rankings. In reality there are only 30 veterinary schools in the country, and a LOT of students applying for these seats (1600+ people applied to VAMD and very very few got in.

All in all, I highly recommend the Factors When Pickkng a School thread! They touch a bunch of great ideas and help!
Click to expand...

I approve :nod:
 
cdoconn said:
Short answer: go wherever is cheapest for you.

Long answer: there's actually a really cool thread here called "Factors When Picking A School". It's written by veterinary students about their individual universities and they tell what they like and what they don't like about their school. Things like class size, tuition, number of OOS students accepted each year, tuition, whether or not you have the correct pre-requisites, tuition, whether or not your averages match theirs, tuition, distance from your family, tuition, weather, tuition, accreditation, and tuition and important to think about!

(Note I said tuition 8 times. Vet school is expensive. Being OOS is even more expensive. Student loans have interest fees (my friend is paying 7% interest on over $200,000 of student loans.)

I personally made a spreadsheet comparing all accredited vet schools with their prices, average GRE scores, average GPA scores, and a bunch of other things.

One thing that I think isn't important, and other people will agree, is 'official' rankings. In reality there are only 30 veterinary schools in the country, and a LOT of students applying for these seats (1600+ people applied to VAMD and very very few got in.

All in all, I highly recommend the Factors When Pickkng a School thread! They touch a bunch of great ideas and help!
Click to expand...
They grow up so fast 😢
 
WildZoo said:
They grow up so fast 😢
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Ooooh. If I'm growing up.... does that... does that mean I'm about to hatch?

8161566ec93eec5926a590982d57b9dd.jpg
 
jjpark11 said:
Hey everyone! So Im having trouble with which factors to look at when deciding which schools to apply to. Does anyone have any advice on what to look for in vet schools?!
Click to expand...
You also need to see what their breakdown for admission is. What are the strong points in your application and what schools favor those aspects heavily? Applying smart will also be key after the aforementioned cost.
 
Ashley*76 said:
Question for those of you who taken the GRE: how much actual studying and prep time did you put into it? I scored well on the ACT in high school, and from the practice questions I've done it seems to be only a tad bit more difficult. I can only afford to take the test once, so obviously I need to do well on it, but I don't want to spend too much time preparing for it when I also have to devote time to my classes. I plan to take the exam in April.
Click to expand...
I'm going to jump in on this one because I had an odd experience with the GRE. I got a 31 on the ACT with no studying and scored in the 90% on math for the practice GREs that I took, with slightly lower on verbal.
On the real day, I ended up scoring several points lower on both sections, and my verbal section was significantly higher than my math. I think that, as others have said, using the ETS software with the online tests would be very valuable, because I totally ran out of time with about six questions left in one math section (undoubtedly contributing to my lower score there), and I'm sure it had a lot to do with the on-screen calculator. However, if you are a good test taker, then I wouldn't personally spend too much time studying otherwise. I didn't feel it helped me any, as all of the practice tests I took were pretty much in the same range every single time.
 
cdoconn said:
Short answer: go wherever is cheapest for you.

Long answer: there's actually a really cool thread here called "Factors When Picking A School". It's written by veterinary students about their individual universities and they tell what they like and what they don't like about their school. Things like class size, tuition, number of OOS students accepted each year, tuition, whether or not you have the correct pre-requisites, tuition, whether or not your averages match theirs, tuition, distance from your family, tuition, weather, tuition, accreditation, and tuition and important to think about!

(Note I said tuition 8 times. Vet school is expensive. Being OOS is even more expensive. Student loans have interest fees (my friend is paying 7% interest on over $200,000 of student loans.)

I personally made a spreadsheet comparing all accredited vet schools with their prices, average GRE scores, average GPA scores, and a bunch of other things.

One thing that I think isn't important, and other people will agree, is 'official' rankings. In reality there are only 30 veterinary schools in the country, and a LOT of students applying for these seats (1600+ people applied to VAMD and very very few got in.

All in all, I highly recommend the Factors When Pickkng a School thread! They touch a bunch of great ideas and help!
Click to expand...
You make said spreadsheet but don't post it here for them? Such a tease 😛

So proud of you, you're growing up so fast!
 
SummerTheLynx said:
You make said spreadsheet but don't post it here for them? Such a tease 😛

So proud of you, you're growing up so fast!
Click to expand...
Hahahaha my spreadsheet is Nsfw as I gave my honest opinions about different states that I'll be applying to if I don't get in this year. :laugh:

If I DO get in, I'll clean it up and send it out. It's obviously not STL level spreadsheets though.
 
Last edited:
BlueGoose said:
I haven't been on here in awhile, but now that it's almost spring, I figured I better come on here and see whats what.
Quick Bio: Class of 2022 applicant, non-traditional student

I was already feeling kind of grumpy because my school of choice (MSU) just announced that they aren't considering GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. *sigh*. Now I"m seeing that the personal statement is going to be out the window too? *double sigh* I feel like all of these boxes I keep checking are disappearing right after I check them.
Then, another girl whom I have classes with (also applying to MSU) had an advisor tell her that she better have a straight 4.0 or to forget applying. I know all applicants are different, but that has me freaking out because there is no way I'll ever get that.
I know its competitive but can someone please tell me its not as cutthroat as it seems???
Click to expand...

I think I know what advisor you're talking about and absolutely do not listen to them. If it is who I am thinking of, they are only interested in seeing people go into animal production (which is a great field if that interests you) but tells all the vet med junkies they will never get in with anything less than perfect grades, one of a kind vet experiences, and extracurriculars out the wazoo. I got into 2 schools and waitlisted at another 2. I had a 3.5 gpa and a 3.3 science gpa. I had a decent amount of vet hours and research experience, but my application certainly wasn't one of the crazy spectacular ones. So don't let anyone psych you out!
 
maisymae said:
I think I know what advisor you're talking about and absolutely do not listen to them. If it is who I am thinking of, they are only interested in seeing people go into animal production (which is a great field if that interests you) but tells all the vet med junkies they will never get in with anything less than perfect grades, one of a kind vet experiences, and extracurriculars out the wazoo. I got into 2 schools and waitlisted at another 2. I had a 3.5 gpa and a 3.3 science gpa. I had a decent amount of vet hours and research experience, but my application certainly wasn't one of the crazy spectacular ones. So don't let anyone psych you out!
Click to expand...

I had similar GPA stats as Maisymae. I applied to 5 schools and was accepted to one, waitlisted at 2 others, and rejected by 2. You definitely do not need to have a super high GPA to get into a vet school if you apply strategically!
 
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cdoconn said:
Short answer: go wherever is cheapest for you.

Long answer: there's actually a really cool thread here called "Factors When Picking A School". It's written by veterinary students about their individual universities and they tell what they like and what they don't like about their school. Things like class size, tuition, number of OOS students accepted each year, tuition, whether or not you have the correct pre-requisites, tuition, whether or not your averages match theirs, tuition, distance from your family, tuition, weather, tuition, accreditation, and tuition and important to think about!

(Note I said tuition 8 times. Vet school is expensive. Being OOS is even more expensive. Student loans have interest fees (my friend is paying 7% interest on over $200,000 of student loans.)

I personally made a spreadsheet comparing all accredited vet schools with their prices, average GRE scores, average GPA scores, and a bunch of other things.

One thing that I think isn't important, and other people will agree, is 'official' rankings. In reality there are only 30 veterinary schools in the country, and a LOT of students applying for these seats (1600+ people applied to VAMD and very very few got in.

All in all, I highly recommend the Factors When Pickkng a School thread! They touch a bunch of great ideas and help!
Click to expand...




Thank you guys so much for the advice!!! I can't believe im going to be applying soon
 
cdoconn said:
Oh hey! I get to stalk c/o 22 from a distance! Officially '21!!!! Good luck y'all!
UiXAker.gif


Let me know if you have any questions (I might not be the most qualified person to ask, but I'll send fun gifs)
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So much happies in my heart every time one class of applicants goes from receiving the advice to giving it 😍
 
cdoconn said:
Oh hey! I get to stalk c/o 22 from a distance! Officially '21!!!! Good luck y'all!
UiXAker.gif


Let me know if you have any questions (I might not be the most qualified person to ask, but I'll send fun gifs)
Click to expand...
For some reason pictured Celine dion singing in the background and laughed twice as hard

But congratulations on being apart of C/O '21!
 
cdoconn said:
Oh hey! I get to stalk c/o 22 from a distance! Officially '21!!!! Good luck y'all!
UiXAker.gif


Let me know if you have any questions (I might not be the most qualified person to ask, but I'll send fun gifs)
Click to expand...

Yeah sorry c/o 2022, you almost had her, but we snatched her back up!

mnlgh.gif
 
WildZoo said:
Oh I know, I'm your honorary big sibling 😉
And your actual big sibling. So, I gotchu forever basically :kiss:
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Woot woot! Never ending friendship!
But also, you're also my fish and aquatic plant connoisseur, because I have all of the aquatic plants questions.

(Also I tried to find a picture of a 13 year old with an egg, but only found this instead.)
x28702634.jpg
 
SportPonies said:
I'm going to jump in on this one because I had an odd experience with the GRE. I got a 31 on the ACT with no studying and scored in the 90% on math for the practice GREs that I took, with slightly lower on verbal.
On the real day, I ended up scoring several points lower on both sections, and my verbal section was significantly higher than my math. I think that, as others have said, using the ETS software with the online tests would be very valuable, because I totally ran out of time with about six questions left in one math section (undoubtedly contributing to my lower score there), and I'm sure it had a lot to do with the on-screen calculator. However, if you are a good test taker, then I wouldn't personally spend too much time studying otherwise. I didn't feel it helped me any, as all of the practice tests I took were pretty much in the same range every single time.
Click to expand...

I agree with the calculator frustration!! It took so much of my time to click EVERY. SINGLE. BUTTON. :yeahright: To add to this though, I used the free magoosh verbal flashcards. Now, none of those words were even on my test and I felt like every question I was guessing on, but it gave me an idea of what to expect at least. I took the ETS online test several times and scored a little higher on the actual test. I feel like that is the most accurate representation of what you'll get. I also got a test prep book for the math section. It had practice problems for the "real-world" math that ETS puts on the test, and the book authors literally said "you will never use any of this in real life" and "they are purposely trying to trick you with this question" etc...
 
Emmy Senpai said:
I agree with the calculator frustration!! It took so much of my time to click EVERY. SINGLE. BUTTON. :yeahright:
Click to expand...

I agree the calculator is frustrating and it's definitely worth it to take an online practice test (or two) with it. This might be too late for you, but for anyone who still has to take the GRE: you don't have to click the buttons! The computer keyboard will work for typing in numbers and if you're good with the number pad, that can save you a lot of time.
 
TrashPanda said:
I agree the calculator is frustrating and it's definitely worth it to take an online practice test (or two) with it. This might be too late for you, but for anyone who still has to take the GRE: you don't have to click the buttons! The computer keyboard will work for typing in numbers and if you're good with the number pad, that can save you a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Wow. I really wish I realized that sooner 🤣
 
TrashPanda said:
I agree the calculator is frustrating and it's definitely worth it to take an online practice test (or two) with it. This might be too late for you, but for anyone who still has to take the GRE: you don't have to click the buttons! The computer keyboard will work for typing in numbers and if you're good with the number pad, that can save you a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Wow if only I had tried that last year haha! That info could save a person!
 
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