Failed out of vet school... what do I do now?

[marvel447]

Hello everyone,

I just finished my first semester of vet school and didn't pass two courses. Today, I received my letter of dismissal, and I'm feeling pretty down. I'm disappointed that my school wouldn't tell me earlier so I could plan better, and now I feel like I'm scrambling. I was also informed today that I could not apply for their special program to get re-admitted due to engaging in academic dishonesty. This event took place when I was going through a mental health crisis and struggling a lot (and currently still am, but I'm trying to work on it). It's no excuse, but I was dealing with not being able to see my therapist and going through the side effects of changing my medications. That being said, I'm not sure if I can appeal the decision under mental health issues or if they would even hear what I have to say. I'm not sure if I would even have a chance at a different vet school since most don't accept academically dismissed students.

I have dreamed of being a vet for so long and have fought hard to get in. I don't know what else I would do if I couldn't be a vet, and I don't know my long-term goals anymore. I am unsure if this is a sign that now is not my time to be a vet and I need to step back to work on myself and come back later or if this means I should seek another career path. I have also already renewed my lease here and have yet to tell my parents I no longer qualify for the special program. I don't want to give up on my dream but am unsure what else to do. I'm feeling disappointed and hopeless.

Do you think I could appeal based on mental health reasons? Would I have a chance if I applied to other vet schools, or did I pretty much blow it? Any advice on what I should do next? (Please be nice to me, as my mental state is already pretty low). Thank you; I appreciate any help or advice.

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[emantis2]

What exactly happened with the academic dishonesty? failing isn’t really the issue here but cheating isn’t acceptable, mental health or not.

 

[puppydogtor]

Sorry you were dismissed, I hope things start getting better for you soon.

I don't know anything about the process of appealing. Engaging in academic dishonesty is enough to get you dismissed from the program alone, doesn't matter how your grades are. You need to speak to your dean to see if there are any available options.

Please start seeing your therapist again asap if you haven't already. I have no idea if you'll be able to continue down this career path or if you'll have to wait a bit - but your life isn't over. There is so much you can do and so many people have no idea what to do with their careers. You might feel hopeless, but vet med isn't everything, I promise.

 

[marvel447]

What exactly happened with the academic dishonesty? failing isn’t really the issue here but cheating isn’t acceptable, mental health or not.

I forgot to take off my AppleWatch during an exam. I didn't utilize it to cheat, but since it was outlined on the syllabus (no form of electronics), I got an automatic 0, resulting in failure of the class since the exams are weighted so heavily.

 

[puppydogtor]

I forgot to take off my AppleWatch during an exam. I didn't utilize it to cheat, but since it was outlined on the syllabus (no form of electronics), I got an automatic 0, resulting in failure of the class since the exams are weighted so heavily.

Did you wear it during the entire exam or did a staff member tell you to take it off before it started? And are there cameras in the testing center that could help prove you didn't use it to cheat? If this was truly an accident, I'm sorry. Mistakes happen. I hope if this is the only issue preventing you from being dismissed that it can be resolved.

 

[battie]

Hey! I am a vet that was academically dismissed following my first year. I appealed the process (Illinois) and was re-admitted. I am happy to talk.

 

[BigCats]

Hey OP, I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope you can find a good outcome. I just wanted to say it might be a good idea to change your screenname if that is your real name.

 

[marvel447]

Hey OP, I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope you can find a good outcome. I just wanted to say it might be a good idea to change your screenname if that is your real name.

Thank you! And it won't let me change it till 1/25th, unfortunately, and when I signed in with Google, it automatically put that as my username so I don't think I can change it until then.

 

[marvel447]

Did you wear it during the entire exam or did a staff member tell you to take it off before it started? And are there cameras in the testing center that could help prove you didn't use it to cheat? If this was truly an accident, I'm sorry. Mistakes happen. I hope if this is the only issue preventing you from being dismissed that it can be resolved.

I wore it the whole exam because I genuinely forgot and no one told me until afterward. They are cameras and I met with the honor board and the dean of the college multiple times already. I accepted responsibility for breaching the syllabus policy (even though I wasn't using it to cheat) and complied with the consequences dolled out to me. Unfortunately, they are super strict about academic honesty, so I do not think that they will be super forgiving.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I wore it the whole exam because I genuinely forgot and no one told me until afterward. They are cameras and I met with the honor board and the dean of the college multiple times already. I accepted responsibility for breaching the syllabus policy (even though I wasn't using it to cheat) and complied with the consequences dolled out to me. Unfortunately, they are super strict about academic honesty, so I do not think that they will be super forgiving.

I would appeal this with a lawyer if the videos showed that you did not use your watch. How did they even know you were wearing your watch?

 

[marvel447]

I would appeal this with a lawyer if the videos showed that you did not use your watch. How did they even know you were wearing your watch?

The video does show me looking at the time, and sometimes, when I moved my arm, the screen lit up. They zoomed in on me and you can clearly see that it just had the time on it, and I wasn't accessing anything else. I have no idea how they knew, and this incident occurred in September, but no one told me until mid-October.

 

[StartingoverVet]

You have a tough decision ahead. I agree with Minnerbelle that your case sounds pretty good for a lawyer, but you have to ask yourself whether that is really such a good idea. Sure being a vet Is super important to you right now, but getting your health issues in order is #1 and there is a lot more to life than just veterinary med, which a lot of people unfortunately find out after vet school (or in my case before). The hard decision may just to be to find another passion and move on. If you decide to litigate, I wouldn’t blame you though. Good luck either way.

 

[Minnerbelle]

You have a tough decision ahead. I agree with Minnerbelle that your case sounds pretty good for a lawyer, but you have to ask yourself whether that is really such a good idea. Sure being a vet Is super important to you right now, but getting your health issues in order is #1 and there is a lot more to life than just veterinary med, which a lot of people unfortunately find out after vet school (or in my case before). The hard decision may just to be to find another passion and move on. If you decide to litigate, I wouldn’t blame you though. Good luck either way.

This is a fair point. I agree it’s a crossroad. Decide this is not worth it and find another path. I’m not sure it even needs to be a passion. One thing I’ve realized over the past few years of being a vet mom, is that as passionate I am about it vet med is a job and it’s not worth sacrificing my children and husband over. Sometimes I regret not just having picked a stable, high paying, but not super exciting job that provides financial security and good work/life balance… so i can have the time and energy for what’s actually important to me.

Or, decide this is something to fight for, and then fight like hell.

 

[battie]

This is a fair point. I agree it’s a crossroad. Decide this is not worth it and find another path. I’m not sure it even needs to be a passion. One thing I’ve realized over the past few years of being a vet mom, is that as passionate I am about it vet med is a job and it’s not worth sacrificing my children and husband over. Sometimes I regret not just having picked a stable, high paying, but not super exciting job that provides financial security and good work/life balance… so i can have the time and energy for what’s actually important to me.

Or, decide this is something to fight for, and then fight like hell.

If I could be a stay at home mom and do one ER shift a week, I absolutely would.

 

[Minnerbelle]

If I could be a stay at home mom and do one ER shift a week, I absolutely would.

lol yes this. I just know too many people who feel exactly this. We all love being a vet and helping animals and people and things. But by a few years in, and even more so for those who start a family… everyone I know would be so much happier to have the career be a much smaller part of our lives.

I don’t think that’s necessarily that unique to us. A lot of people feel that about their 9-5 or more time intensive jobs. But what’s unique is the level of self sacrifice it takes to get us to the same point of wishing it didn’t continue to consume us. The insane lifetime of financial debt that keeps us in servitude to the profession (I don’t even have that, but I still feel it. I’m behind on achieving financial security for my children’s education and my retirement, and being a vet is the easiest way for me to achieve that rather than finding something new). The years through the prime of our lives spent not only in school but the brutal first few years in practice. Mega props to those who get through it with kids in tow. But more often than not it pushes everyone to start a family late. That in itself isn’t bad, but many vets run into fertility issues that are caused or at least exacerbated for this reason. And for those people who feel the emptiness of a child they wished more than anything they could have in their lives, it can be excruciating to realize that this career that they now wish could be a much smaller part of their lives is what got themselves there. And for those lucky like me who decided one day, “ok I’ve waited this for this long, now’s the time, let there be children!” And boom boom out they popped from the womb of this geriatric parent… well it turns out even with a job that actually has good hours (I’m out by 5pm everyday, and no weekends), I get to spend an hour a day with my kiddos during the week. Again, that would be the same with any other full time job in my situation where I only have a spouse and daycare for support (lord only knows how single parents do this)… but having that super late start and becoming a parent at almost 40 has a lot of implications. Hard to imagine when you’re young and you haven’t really come face to face with both sense of mortality… and even more the reality that your body and mind decline past your prime. It suuuuucks to go through the energy intensive period of infants and toddlers with a full time job at 40, when you don’t deal with sleep deprivation as well, your body hurts, and your mental capacity like honestly does start to go down (terrifying but true). That part is hard, but I love my kiddos so much I wouldn’t change it for the world. But the things my husband and I are more saddened by is realizing that we are only going to live so long and what that means for our kids. It mean I only have like 35-40 years with them before they’re worried about me declining or dying from old age. Starting in my mid to late 20s would have given us an extra 10-15 years!!! I’m sad for all the things I may not be alive to experience in their lives. With this perspective, I agree with SOV, if I were in OPs shoes with all that I know now, would I fight for it? … no.

I am one helluva vet. And I actually still love being a vet, which is more than can be said for a lot of people in this profession. Honestly this is a huge blessing. But still, I sort of regret all that I sacrifed for to get here (and all that I am obligated to continue sacrificing).

And for OP who is faced with a much steeper uphill climb. I think yes, if you put a lot of resources into this, this is still a mountain you can climb. But you have an Everest to climb…rather than Mt. Washington. And just because you dream of that moment of being at the summit of Mt. Everest, a passion you’ve spent everything you’ve got til now pursuing and nothing else may matter to you at the moment… you don’t just get to soak that in forever. It will take a lot of resources to get there (which will affect future you who has a life to live afterwards) and life after graduating vet school is really tough too. That’s really important to consider before committing to this.

 

[Jess Monster]

Were I in your situation, I would try to appeal. If anything, get them to amend your records to only reflect the dismissal for failing out and not for any academic code violation. Anything in your record that suggests some moral failing can harm more than just re-admittance to a vet school later on and getting a lawyer is probably not a terrible idea. Context and intention matter. If what you’re saying is true, it’s wrong for the school to brand you a cheater. You need to protect your reputation.

Hell, my school threw a student out twice for actual, witnessed cheating. I feel like there is some obvious room for forgiveness.

 

[Doctor Ham]

This is going to be a very difficult uphill climb for you. That you looked at your watch multiple times during the exam and never recognized that you were inappropriately wearing it raises red flags for me. That you acknowledge a mental health crisis that was significant enough that you failed two classes, raises red flags for you. You need to get that crisis under control before you tackle this uphill climb. Life isn't going to go away just because you're in vet school, so it's better to take school out of the equation and get your mental health in a better place.

 

[Kira1006]

You have a tough decision ahead. I agree with Minnerbelle that your case sounds pretty good for a lawyer, but you have to ask yourself whether that is really such a good idea. Sure being a vet Is super important to you right now, but getting your health issues in order is #1 and there is a lot more to life than just veterinary med, which a lot of people unfortunately find out after vet school (or in my case before). The hard decision may just to be to find another passion and move on. If you decide to litigate, I wouldn’t blame you though. Good luck either way.

What are other careers outside of vet? Would they encompass the schooling we already have? I wouldn't want to have wasted the money on school

 

[battie]

What are other careers outside of vet? Would they encompass the schooling we already have? I wouldn't want to have wasted the money on school

Depends on how far into school you were when you were dismissed.

 

[Musicandhorses]

I forgot to take off my AppleWatch during an exam. I didn't utilize it to cheat, but since it was outlined on the syllabus (no form of electronics), I got an automatic 0, resulting in failure of the class since the exams are weighted so heavily.

Man this is something I would forget to do. It seems like an honest mistake.