Doing your undergrad...

[swinks]

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Does it matter where one does his/her undergrad?

To elucidate, would there be undergraduate schools that an admissions committee at a veterinary school would regard more highly than others?

The applications that a veterinary school admissions committee recieves every year I'm certain come from applicants who have attended/ are attending a myriad of undergraduate schools. How is it that each of the applicants are judged on a level playing field?

 

[tpad40]

I think that an applicant's undergraduate school is certainly considered by adcoms. There are some schools that definitely take it into consideration more than others.

The GRE is sort of meant to be the "equalizer" since all applicants take the same test.

 

[jglovicz]

I'm sure there are undergrad institutions that are better "ranked" than others, but I think if you're a strong student with good experiences, it really won't matter where you go or what your major is (as long as you, of course, take your prereqs)

 

[canis13]

from what i've heard, yes, admissions committees do take into account where you go to undergrad. a 4.0 is not the same at every school, and it would be unfair of admissions committees to assume that they were. i go to a competitive liberal arts college, where grades are not inflated (to give you an idea, only seven people have graduated with a perfect 4.0 in the last 24 years), every senior is also required to complete a thesis, and some random survey ranked us as having one of the hardest workloads. so that is pretty different from a state school, where the academics, in general, are not as competitive. (note: my intent here is not to brag about my undergraduate school, but just to point out how it is different from state schools).

it doesn't seem to be a disadvantage, per se, to go to a large state school, or a school that is not ranked very high, but it just means that those who do go there, and get into vet school, are the ones graduating with near 4.0s, or have other stuff going for them.

anyway, i assume that the admissions committee is pretty well versed in the reputations of most undergraduate schools that students come from, and if they haven't heard of a school, then there's probably a reason (ranked lower, not many people who graduate from there go on to grad school, etc.). at least i hope this is the case.

 

[1CellNtheSea]

I think that going to a larger, competitive, well-known school says that you can handle course load and harder classes (not that other schools are easy). Also, it gives you more of a chance to get involved with opportunities where maybe smaller schools don't have as many. There also might be a larger selection of courses that work with your schedule. JMO.

 

[canis13]

I think that going to a larger, competitive, well-known school says that you can handle course load and harder classes (not that other schools are easy). Also, it gives you more of a chance to get involved with opportunities where maybe smaller schools don't have as many. There also might be a larger selection of courses that work with your schedule. JMO.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure that the size of your undergrad institution has nothing to do with it - for instance, Harvard has about 6,700 students, and UMass Amherst has about 20,000 undergrads, but one would probably rank Harvard as being more competitive (I have no connections to these schools, I'm just coming up with a random example).
Many of the schools known as being the most difficult are private liberal arts schools, often with under 2,000 students.
Anyway, this isn't a plug for small competitive liberal arts schools, because I think schools with large student populations definitely have a lot of merit, I just don't think that size has anything to do with how they are looked at in terms of difficulty of classes.

 

[sumstorm]

I attended a nationally ranked private lib arts similar to what is described above, but I am not as certain as to whether adcoms would recognize the name (less than 1200 students at any given time) and while I was attending I was the only pre-vet in 7 years (though we had lots of pre-meds.) The 4.0 situation was the same...and no one had 4.0's while I was there (no one obtained an A in organic.)

Having said all that, my undergrad did make me eligible for a number of grants and fellowships, and I believe my TJ Watson Fellowship contributed to my application. I believe that 'fit' is VERY important in undergrad, along with opportunities the school provides (research grants for the summer after freshman year can make a student much more competitive for other opportunites during the next 3 years.) My undergrad also has the highest percentage of admissions to professional/graduate programs.

I did put info about my undergrad in my PS just in case it wasn't well known to adcoms. I don't trust adcoms in vet med to know about all the excellent small schools in the country, especially if they don't encounter it regularly. It would be better known in the med school community (100% acceptance of all pre-med applicants for the past 6 years.)

Pick a school that fits you, will provide the support you need for your life (I had lots of demands on my time since I worked full time and my professors were awesome about coming in very early to work with me, or staying very late, or on the weekend), will encourage you to develop professionally, and provide opportunities to a dedicated student. Other nice things to check for are free tutoring, housing stipends, writing centers with readily available proof readers, strong career centers (can put you in contact with vets to work with/shadow), learning centers, health centers, etc.

 

[BR549]

Yeah, I think it matters. One of my interviewers (the one on the admissions committee) knew of my undergrad school and said, "That's a tough school. What made you want to go there?" I think this had some merit in the decision of my acceptance. It also matters where you are regionally and where you intend on attending vet school. For instance, when the vet I work for applied in the late 90's (Sure, times have changed, but the logistics are almost the same.) the Southeastern schools showed her extra consideration because she attended Berry College, a well-known agricultural college in the Southeast. Every interview she went to spoke of the college in high regards.
IMHO (I had no clue what this meant, so I asked one of my students and she told me!🙂) This is just my conclusion based on my experiences. The scientist in me always feels uncomfortable about making general assumptions with no scientific evidence to corroborate my claims.😛

 

[1CellNtheSea]

Yeah, looking back at my post I realized that didn't sound right. 😳 I think all colleges are equally good but I would look at opportunities to get involved and diversity of classes offered. I didn't quite phrase that how I wanted.

 

[cozycleo]

Honestly, I'm going with the school that will work with me at this point. I've spent the last year at a very large 4 year school, and I can't get them to give me anything but a bill. I have had to claw and fight my way the entire time I've been there. They really cater to younger students and don't do much to help non-trads. I finally got fed up and I'm looking to transfer to a smaller school this fall. I just want to finish my undergrad at this point. Location is irrelevant to me, and I've heard pretty good things about this other school anyway.

 

[TSUJC]

Your undergrad institution is considered by adcoms, but I don’t think it will make or break you when it comes to admissions. I know that Texas A&M awards you "academic rigor" points based on the ranking of you undergraduate school. However, not all schools do that.