Does applying to more schools hurt your chances?

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Fleur

Cornell c/o 2018
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I recently read that if you apply to a lot of schools that it actually hurts your chances at all of the schools. Is this true? I plan to apply to 9-10 schools but it is more because I am terrified that I might not get in any where and I really don't want to wait a year to apply again. Do you think it is best to try and eliminate a few more schools before I submit my application? I am a new york state resident and plan on applying to Cornell, Upenn, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Florida, Minnesota, Ross and Saint Georges. The schools I really want to go to are Cornell, Upenn and Florida but I would be happy at any vet school that I get into. I don't care about the cost of applying to that many schools, it will be hard to pay for but I would rather pay and get in somewhere then have to go through the whole process again.

Also which Caribbean school is best? I know that both Ross and Saint Georges are accredited but which has a better reputation and program overall?

Thanks so much for any help! 😍
 
I would say no 🙂 I applied to 15 schools and only got rejected from 3. n = 1 though 🙂
 
I don't think it will hurt your chances, but you really do need to consider it for a few reasons:

1. Cost: Yes you said it is not an issue, but you also have to calculate in interview costs as well.

2. Interview Dilemmas: It is very possible and has happened before where two schools will schedule you for an interview on the same date and while this seems like a simple call one school and try to reschedule, many schools will not. Which means you will spend money to apply to a school just to have to cancel an interview.

3. Location, Cost, Etc of attending a school: You say that you will be happy anywhere that you get accepted but you really should think about it. Vet school is expensive when attending OOS or as an international student. Over 4 years you are looking at around $250-350,000 and while that does not bother some people (like me, ok it terrifies me but I have learned how to manage debt well growing up); it really is something to think about. Also, location, distance from family/friend/support system... I thought location wasn't a huge deal, but it is. You need to be happy living in the area that you will be living in for the next 4 years; vet school is a big enough bitch to deal with that not enjoying or liking where you are living is something you don't want to add to it.

4. Distance from family/friends/support: This is a huge deal. Chances are you will be away from them anyway, but it is easier when you are still in the same country than if you are not. There are many things that I am sure you probably aren't thinking about when including Ross and St. George (they are great schools so nothing about that), but it isn't as simple as, "Well, I am just going out of the country for 4 years of school." There is a culture shock that you have to overcome, a new lifestyle to adapt to, all while dealing with homesickness and attending vet school. It is not an easy task, not impossible (many people do it just fine), but just something to think about.

I am US native going to school in the UK, I applied 3 years in a row and decided to try an international program that I liked. I thought the same thing, well it is just school, no big deal, I will be happy; but things creep up and happen that you don't think about when applying. After a year, I am happy and I have finally adjusted, but I still miss home quite a bit (both family and the US).
 
Seriously, 100% of what DVMD said, down to the US native in another country (Canada for me.)

It doesn't hurt your chances in the sense that schools will think poorly of you, but if you're just shooting wide in the hopes of hitting something without doing your research on the specific schools and their preferences, you're hurting yourself by wasting money and time (plus people who get into more than one school often have the dilemma of choosing, which can be tough!)

I'd say evaluate your stats and compare them to all of the schools. Apply to schools that emphasize/like what you have to offer. If you have really strong stats, I'd suggest you limit your application to your IS and maybe one or two OOS. If you have very weak stats, apply a lot more broadly. (See "what are my chances" thread where people will be happy to look at your stats and offer advice as well as the successful applicants thread where people post their stats and where they got in.)
 
Another thought that just adds to what DVMD said, a friend is attending st georges and we had a talk the other week about if family were to become sick. He said he would have to drop out and come home to help because he can't just travel here on weekends to see someone, were the situation to arise. Just a thought.
 
Another thought that just adds to what DVMD said, a friend is attending st georges and we had a talk the other week about if family were to become sick. He said he would have to drop out and come home to help because he can't just travel here on weekends to see someone, were the situation to arise. Just a thought.

Yeah, my grandma is getting bad with dementia and I can't just jump up and go home; however, this is not just an out of the country thing, this is true for those that are out of state as well (Emiloo can attest to this 🙁). Vet school makes it pretty much impossible to just jump up and go to family in need without having to drop out or defer for a year.
 
thanks everyone 🙂
 
Yeah, my grandma is getting bad with dementia and I can't just jump up and go home; however, this is not just an out of the country thing, this is true for those that are out of state as well (Emiloo can attest to this 🙁). Vet school makes it pretty much impossible to just jump up and go to family in need without having to drop out or defer for a year.

True story (x3) 🙁
 
It won't hurt your chances, but it will hurt your wallet. App fees aren't cheap. Getting to interviews can be very pricey. Landing at a school with crazy OOS tuition is going to hurt. I'd say only apply to schools that you'd seriously consider attending. I know many people will say "I will go anywhere that accepts me!" but try and do a reality check before blowing all that money.
 
One point that I don't think has been mentioned yet is supplemental applications. Most schools have very time consuming supplemental applications. My theory (it could just be me that feels this way) is that instead of being able to devote adequate time to a few supplemental applications, you would have to spend less time on each supplemental. This could prevent you from being able to present the schools with the high quality answers of which you are capable. In my opinion, this could be something that hurts your overall competitiveness as an applicant.

As the others have advised, I would narrow it down to schools that you think that you can afford, and where you think you could be genuinely happy.
 
As others have mentioned, it's very cost prohibitive applying to "lots" of schools. I was actually surprised when I looked up the fee schedule this year. That combined with supplemental application costs, transcript fees, and (for me) the revised GRE cost, I'm going to be broke at the end of August... just in time for classes to start.🙁
 
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