CSU Class of 2013

[CBRGrl]

Hi all!

Thought I'd start a thread for all us CSU hopefuls this cycle.Anyone going to the application workshop?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[efab]

when is it?

 

[gone2dogs]

I actually consider myself to be more of a class of 2014 hopeful... I am applying this year but assume I will be rejected. I am just hoping to learn from the application process this year and from the post-rejection interview with Dr. Stewart. But maybe the planets will be aligned in my favor this year and I won't have to spend another year doing a job I don't love. I can always hope!

Is this your first time applying CBRgrl? Are you a CSU student?

 

[LucyLoo]

I went to it last year. Dr. Stewart gives a lot of good info and she's very easy to talk to if you have any questions.

 

[TrocarKarin]

I didn't see any information about it on their website. Can you provide a link?

 

[bunnyslippers]

I wish I could go to this, but I'm all the way in California (and therefore busy hoping and praying that I'm the one out of ten million OOS applicants that CSU takes a chance on!)

 

[starlene45]

me too, bunnyslippers I had all these great plans to go to CO for their open house and/or app. workshops but, you know, life gets in the way (not to mention the price of plane tickets )

I'd love to hear reports from anyone who goes to it, though!

And those of you applying... what's your main interest in CSU?

 

[gone2dogs]

The session is Tuesday, September 9th from 6-7. The only place I saw it mentioned is within the CSU supplemental application under the "before you submit" link. I don't want to post the room info since it said to e-mail them for more info (it gives an e-mail address), just in case they are trying to get a head count of sorts by making you RSVP.

I'll report back anything useful I pick up!

As for my main interest in CSU... it is my in state school, but I also have a deep interest in oncology (mostly small animal) and their animal cancer center is amazing! This is "round one" for applications for me, and I am only applying to CSU. I figure I have the best chances there, so until I have a stronger application (next year) I don't want to spend the money on out of state applications. Plus, I REALLY want to stay in Colorado for a number of reasons!

 

[david594]

I'm throwing my application at this one too. Not expecting much, but would really like to live in colorado for a few years so I am giving it a shot.

 

[CBRGrl]

Here's a link I received as a grad student here at CSU:

http://gfyi.colostate.edu/080903/FA08/0809021106.20726.html

 

[CBRGrl]

Is this your first time applying CBRgrl? Are you a CSU student?

This is my second year applying, I went to the workshop last year and thought Dr. Stewart was really helpful. I actually ended up having my file review with her last year as well. Im in a master's program now here at CSU and really love it so far! Good luck to everyone! I certainly encourage anyone who can, to go and ask as many questions as possible.

 

[gone2dogs]

So I am finally getting back to the forum after going to the workshop on Tuesday and (I think) doing well on my anatomy exam.

I left the workshop with an incredibly sinking feeling about my odds of getting in with my limited vet experience, but I did pick up a few tidbits. I already knew my odds were slim, but I was more hopeful last week.

The tidbits:

• Indeed, no interviews for anyone this year. It sounded like there was a long story to go with that decision, but there wasn't time for her to get into it.
• The committee will be meeting and making decisions on Jan 9th... letters should follow shortly after that.
• Be sure to find something unique about yourself for that question on the supplemental (they already know you think you have amazing animal experience... find something else)
• Don't be humble, but don't exaggerate either
• If you grew up on a ranch (showed dogs, etc.) don't say you have 300,000 hours of experience... just say 10,000+
• After October 24th you can log in to make sure they got all your transcripts and stuff.
• They will still do file reviews if you get rejected.
• They know what vet techs do... if you have been volunteering as a vet tech, just say that, no need to list every procedure you did.

There were some other random things, but I think those are the items of general interest. I know we will all be sitting around freaking out come January 9th!

 

[LucyLoo]

Hey, thanks for the summary and I hope your anatomy exam went well. I wanted to go but the lab I TA for went long and I wasn't able to make it.

It sounds a like they were dodging the question about interviewing a little bit, maybe some politics involved? There's only 600 characters for the unique statement, so I had to cut out a lot of the flowery language which was tough after having 5000 characters in the personal statement. Is it bad that I want to talk about myself??

What were they saying about experience that had you doubting yourself?

 

[gone2dogs]

It actually sounded like she wanted to talk more about the interviews... and seems to think is was a good decision, but she had to leave at 7 on the dot.

As for the unique qualities statement, I think they do want you to talk about yourself... just to talk about something other than your amazing experiences working with vets or whatever. She said about 80% of applicants last year just said that they are qualified because they have such fabulous animal experience, so they didn't seem unique. Plus, they can already see you have experience from other parts of the application. Indeed, it is only 600 words, so you really can't be flowery, just a few sentences!

The start of the really sinking feeling about my lack of vet experience was related to a statement that the letters should come from logical people, depending on your circumstances. Then she threw out the example that an older non-trad applicant (I think that is me) should probably have a letter from their employer (I have that) and 2 from vets they have worked with. Ummm... yeah.... I don't have that. The sinking feeling continued when she said that most of her post rejection interviews came down to the fact that the applicant didn't have enough vet experience. My total hours in a veterinary setting are, gasp, don't laugh, less than 100 as of today. I have extensive basic science research and general animal experience, and spent more hours than I wish at the CSU VTH with my pet dog undergoing chemotherapy treatment, but when push comes to shove, I just don't have the hours with a vet to support my passion for a career change. I know I am applying just for the experience of applying and the post-rejection interview, but I had been clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe, they would take a chance on me!

Oh, and I just remembered that you can "project" hours up until December... that will buy me about 80 hours...

 

[LucyLoo]

Yeah, I think it does depend on your circumstances who you ask for LOR's. I'm a non trad too but I have a LOR from 1 vet, 1 prof and 1 employer. I chose to go with a prof instead of a second vet due to my lower than average GPA. I don't know if you necessarily need two vets as long as you have a quality experience with the vet writing the LOR.

But even if you don't get in this year it sounds like you're setting yourself up nicely for next year. This whole process took a year or so longer than I was expecting so I just quite worrying about it so much and just kind of gave myself over to the process. Even if I don't get in I know I won't have any regrets.

 

[efab]

i have been struggling a little with the 600 character essay that describes my unique qualities. keeping in mind that the committee already knows we have great animal experiences, are we meant to base our answers on our collective life experiences and relate these qualities to how they will make us better contributors to the program and profession?

now that i have written this, it seems like a silly question - but any feedback would be helpful.

 

[BayleeVet2B]

Oh, and I just remembered that you can "project" hours up until December... that will buy me about 80 hours...

Will all the schools let you do that? Add hours until December? I have to find some BIG animals to play with before that!!

 

[LucyLoo]

i have been struggling a little with the 600 character essay that describes my unique qualities. keeping in mind that the committee already knows we have great animal experiences, are we meant to base our answers on our collective life experiences and relate these qualities to how they will make us better contributors to the program and profession?

now that i have written this, it seems like a silly question - but any feedback would be helpful.

That's the way I understood it. I took a quality that I thought was important to practicing vet med and just expanded on it briefly trying to incorporate how I possessed the quality.

 

[meadow36]

i have been struggling a little with the 600 character essay that describes my unique qualities. keeping in mind that the committee already knows we have great animal experiences, are we meant to base our answers on our collective life experiences and relate these qualities to how they will make us better contributors to the program and profession?

now that i have written this, it seems like a silly question - but any feedback would be helpful.

You need to talk about an experience that doesn't involve vet med to set yourself apart. Like a leadership position in a job, club or sport ... a special family circumstance where you were showed maturity or integrity (like caring for a younger sibling, a disabled grandparent, or whatever), some type of community service, etc. People, really think about your lives!!! What have you done?? Make it real!!!

 

[catlover]

Then she threw out the example that an older non-trad applicant (I think that is me) should probably have a letter from their employer (I have that) and 2 from vets they have worked with.

For my letters, I had one from an employer, one from a professor (who I also worked for on a small project) and one from a vet, and I was definitely an older non-trad applicant. I got the professor letter from one of my prereq instructors, not from my original (very old) BS.

 

[starlene45]

efab--

I talked about how the different places I've lived and the different disciplines I worked in as an equestrian helped me understand that I can learn something from every type of person and every situation. I then said something about how my "holistic" approach to learning (geez, cheesy, haha) would help make me a better veterinarian for x y and z reason.

MUCH editing.

VERY hard to do these things in 600 characters.

good luck! you'll find something interesting to say!!!

 

[meadow36]

Special Circumstances and Disadvantaged Circumstances - is everyone writing something for this, or are some people skipping these sections? They seem kind of similar. I talked about special circumstances in my personal statement; and I am struggling to come up with something new and different.

 

[david594]

Special Circumstances and Disadvantaged Circumstances - is everyone writing something for this, or are some people skipping these sections? They seem kind of similar. I talked about special circumstances in my personal statement; and I am struggling to come up with something new and different.

Disadvantaged has kind of a special criteria, IE minority, underprivilidged, poor family educational background, etc. So for this I left it blank.

Under special circumstances I made a quick mention of my undergrad GPA being poor in an unrelated major of study. That my current coursework is taken balancing a 35 hour work week, and my reasoning for taking some pre-reqs outside of a full-time course load semester.

 

[LucyLoo]

Special Circumstances and Disadvantaged Circumstances - is everyone writing something for this, or are some people skipping these sections? They seem kind of similar. I talked about special circumstances in my personal statement; and I am struggling to come up with something new and different.

In the directions it said that it was OK to cut and paste as necessary from the similar section in VMCAS, which is what I did for part of it.

 

[meadow36]

Yeah, I wound up quoting a section from my personal statement. I just hope it sounds okay. I am running out of creative juices with all these supplementals!!!! Still have 2 1/2 to go!!

 

[LucyLoo]

Yeah, I wound up quoting a section from my personal statement. I just hope it sounds okay. I am running out of creative juices with all these supplementals!!!! Still have 2 1/2 to go!!

I know the feeling! How many schools are you applying to?

 

[meadow36]

Eight!! Thank God UFL isn't due until Oct 31st. Gives me a little breather.

 

[bunnyslippers]

Some of these supplementals are pretty intense! I have 5 to go, yikes!

 

[meadow36]

Hi,
Okay so what's the best way to go about this special circumstance essay? I wrote it but it sounds like a "poor me" party. I tried to explain how the experiences made me grow, etc. but I really don't want to come off like I am complaining!! Any advice?

 

[LucyLoo]

I heard thru the grapevine that CSU decided not to interview this year because they have found that the interviews had not made a big difference in their decisions. Instead they want to focus more on contacting references to verify experiences (it seems there may have been a little dishonesty in the past).

 

[david594]

CSU just got my supplemental app and my $60.

That one is out of my hands now.

 

[gone2dogs]

I heard thru the grapevine that CSU decided not to interview this year because they have found that the interviews had not made a big difference in their decisions. Instead they want to focus more on contacting references to verify experiences (it seems there may have been a little dishonesty in the past).

Interesting! They will probably look at my hours and laugh... I think it will be pretty clear that I did not make them up!

My VMCAS and CSU supplemental are in as of tonight. I really didn't mean to put it off this long... and the VMCAS sure did punish me for waiting! Next year, application goes in earlier. I think I just paid $204 to get a chance for a file review interview next spring.

 

[Tsuky2008]

I sent in my CSU supplemental 2 days ago, yay!! Now comes the fun part...waiting!

 

[gone2dogs]

Has anyone else checked the status page? It was up today... the only thing that confused me a little was that it only indicated the self reported GRE scores. It didn't really look like the official scores were considered missing, but there was also no acknowledgment of them. Did anyone else notice this or did anyone have some indication of official scores?

It says all applications will be reviewed regardless of complete status, but I am just trying to make sure that I don't need to resend the scores.

 

[LucyLoo]

Has anyone else checked the status page? It was up today... the only thing that confused me a little was that it only indicated the self reported GRE scores. It didn't really look like the official scores were considered missing, but there was also no acknowledgment of them. Did anyone else notice this or did anyone have some indication of official scores?

It says all applications will be reviewed regardless of complete status, but I am just trying to make sure that I don't need to resend the scores.

My page looked the same and since it was just posted today they may update it further in the future.

 

[CBRGrl]

Has anyone else checked the status page? It was up today... the only thing that confused me a little was that it only indicated the self reported GRE scores. It didn't really look like the official scores were considered missing, but there was also no acknowledgment of them. Did anyone else notice this or did anyone have some indication of official scores?

It says all applications will be reviewed regardless of complete status, but I am just trying to make sure that I don't need to resend the scores.

Mine also looks the same. Last year, this is all it ever said. You can call the dept. to see if they received your scores yet, Im not too worried since they still have mine on file from last year. I'd call, if only to ease your anxiety!

 

[philomycus]

I applied to CSU this year. Not sure why, b/c I think I have a snowball's chance in h*&%, but just popping in to say hi.

 

[LucyLoo]

I applied to CSU this year. Not sure why, b/c I think I have a snowball's chance in h*&%, but just popping in to say hi.

Hey, you never know, it all seems like a big crapshoot anyway. Maybe the dart will hit your app this year.

 

[Barnaby]

Hey, you never know, it all seems like a big crapshoot anyway. Maybe the dart will hit your app this year.

dang, i knew i should've made my app magnetic...

yes, i'm applying too and i feel like there's no shot at CSU. like David, i just threw it on the list for the chance to live in colorado (oh, and go to vet school ).

 

[BayleeVet2B]

Since I think I read that CSU adcoms met 1/9 to start decision making (right ??), I thought I'm move this one to the top!

Let the breath-holding begin!

 

[EqSci]

Yep I think that's right! I feel like it's kind of a joke for me to be hopeful, but hey, a girl's gotta dream, right??

 

[gone2dogs]

Since I think I read that CSU adcoms met 1/9 to start decision making (right ??), I thought I'm move this one to the top!

Let the breath-holding begin!

I'd been thinking this thread needed a bump too! I had been doing a relatively good job not thinking too much about all this until the last week or so... but now I am doing really poorly staying calm! I just keep hoping that maybe, just maybe, they will decide to take a chance on me! I know I won't disappoint them if they do.

At the application workshop, I got the definite impression that they would be attempting to notify us very shortly (as in days?) after they met. But looking at the e-mail they sent a few weeks ago, it said we would hear between late January and mid February. I hope they were just being conservative saying it would take that long, or perhaps their time line has changed and they are meeting later.

Fingers crossed for everyone who applied this year! I don't think it ever hurts to dream!

 

[BayleeVet2B]

Yep I think that's right! I feel like it's kind of a joke for me to be hopeful, but hey, a girl's gotta dream, right??

You took the words right out of my mouth!

 

[2012VMDhopeful]

last year my CSU rejection letter was postmarked Jan 25th. I am OOS.

 

[soxbox]

for what it's worth... my acceptance email came on Jan 19th 2 years ago and I am OOS. Though that is when they were interviewing the in-staters, so I have no idea how things will be different this year. Good luck to all of you waiting

 

[philomycus]

So, acceptances via email, snail mail bad??? Not that it matters, but just want to know if I should get excited if I get an email from them, or dread the lack thereof.

I wasn't too anxious at all so far...but this week it is starting. I'm even reading threads on here I care less about just becuase. Argh.

 

[ervet2b]

So, acceptances via email, snail mail bad??? Not that it matters, but just want to know if I should get excited if I get an email from them, or dread the lack thereof.

I wasn't too anxious at all so far...but this week it is starting. I'm even reading threads on here I care less about just becuase. Argh.

From what I know, I'm IS, CSU sends rejection letters I got mine around Wed of this week last year, and acceptance e-mails, which if they follow past trends they should be going out today!!

 

[EqSci]

Well I guess I won't have to agonize over whether to let my parents open my CSU letter or not - I'll already know what it says!

 

[starlene45]

Bumping up as it looks like there was one IS acceptance today... (not me but I won't spoil her fun if she wants to post here)

...Anyone else hear anything? Anything at all?

 

[bunnyslippers]

Oh my goodness I wish I could just fast-forward through the days or read the future already! Everyday I get exponentially more antsy!