Many vet schools use grades and standardize tests as a way to attempt to determine if you will be able to handle the rigorous course load that you'll see in vet school. Is it perfect? No. But I do want the best and the brightest going into vet school, dental school, med school, law school, etc. "Best" is a subjective term, but if you can't handle the coursework in undergrad, unless something changes you won't make it through vet school. The field won't advance if we take all average all the time. My only point here is that I would take someone who passed the classes the first time over someone who had to retake 5 or 6 or 7 key courses.
I'm not speaking of C's in vet school, that's a whole different can of worms. No, there's no way to know what my vet got in school, but I know that if we don't lower the standards to get in, that there is a certain understanding of what it took to get there and get out with a DVM after your name. There is the saying, "Do you know what they call the guy who graduated bottom of his class from med school? Doctor..." That doesn't mean he's a good one. So much more goes into it than just that. I'm strictly speaking undergrad grades and being a metric for determining eligibility and potential success in professional school. If the standards are high we increase the chance that those exiting the program will be successful contributors to the field.
I'm not sure why it turned hostile. Am I concerned that non-degree students are treated poorly? Of course, and I'm trying to pave a smoother road for those behind me. In some schools even if you wanted a 2nd BS they aren't taking applicants that already have a degree. Sure I'm frustrated at the system, but I hardly think I'm taking it out or blaming anyone here for that. My issue is an administrative issue, not an issue with the students. I was simply pointing out the other side of the issue that hadn't been mentioned. I'm sorry you don't agree with my position on the issue.
I got my pre-reqs. I have transcripts from 8 different schools in 6 different states, but I got them. If what someone else is doing affects me, then I need to know enough about it so I can understand how to work around it and adjust my approach. I'm not 21-22, "eventually" isn't good enough. If 99% of the applicants getting into vet school have 4,000 hours of vet experience, then what those people are doing affects me...It means I need to step up my game and try to match that. Unfortunately applications are all about how you stack up to the guy/gal on the page before/after you. It works that way with resumes for jobs too.
On the issue of grade replacement (true replacement, not average) I think it's unfair to anyone who ends up with a worse grade than the kid that failed the first time but got an A the second. I could argue life isn't fair and the grade you get should be the grade you get...but I'm not. I realize that life sometimes gets in the way and you need a second chance.
I know of a doctor who failed a lab practical in med school because he had a documented seizure during the test. He had to retake the whole course and is lucky it wasn't the end of his career...fair? No. Of course life isn't fair, but there's no reason to go out of our way to make things un-fair, but that's just my 2 cents.
