Failing Vet School

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
H

hellokitty89

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2013
Messages
33
Reaction score
1
Members do not see this ad.
One of the Doctors I work with has been preaching to all of the new interns about finding out the attrition rates at each school they apply to. I was always under the impression that almost all students make it through a US vet school program without failing out (unless its for personal reasons)... Is it true that a lot of people fail out of US schools or does the vet I work for have kind of an old school mentality about that subject (he graduated 25+ years ago)?

His advice to the new interns made me even more nervous for the next four years.... :scared: :scared:
 
Last edited:
I think each school has a different policy in regards to failing. I know at Penn you can retake a class over the summer. If it's more than one, then you're out unless you appeal it and have a legitimate reason to back yourself up. I might have this slightly wrong since they recently changed it and I honestly wasn't paying a whole lot of attention when they went over it during orientation.

I'm not sure on the total number of people who fail out. We have lost a few classmates for a number of reasons (think like at least 3 are on medical leaves) and a few others are thinking it's not for them so we might be losing a few more but no one that I know of was at risk of failing...granted that's not really advertised either.
 
We have definitely had people fail first and second years but they usually end up in the class below.
 
hellokitty89 said:
One of the Doctors I work with has been preaching to all of the new interns to about finding out the attrition rates at each school they apply to. I was always under the impression that almost all students make it through a US vet school program without failing out (unless its for personal reasons)... Is it true that a lot of people fail out of US schools or does the vet I work for have kind of an old school mentality about that subject (he graduated 25+ years ago)?

His advice to the new interns made me even more nervous for the next four years.... :scared: :scared:
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "intern"?

Anyway, I think drop rates are relatively low. My class has so far lost nobody academically (we lost a couple right away for deferrals).

The island schools have a rep for higher drop rates. They'll claim it's because of the rigorous curriculum. Some will say it's because they accept a wider range of students. I suppose the truth is somewhere in between.

I guess in the end it depends on what you mean by "a lot" ... But I certainly don't think of it as being many.
 
LetItSnow said:
What do you mean by "intern"?

Anyway, I think drop rates are relatively low. My class has so far lost nobody academically (we lost a couple right away for deferrals).

The island schools have a rep for higher drop rates. They'll claim it's because of the rigorous curriculum. Some will say it's because they accept a wider range of students. I suppose the truth is somewhere in between.

I guess in the end it depends on what you mean by "a lot" ... But I certainly don't think of it as being many.
Click to expand...
Sorry! Where I live the Doctors call it internship programs for pre-vets/accepted vets, not volunteering. Something for their insurance purposes I guess?

Anyway, thank you all for your answers, it is comforting to hear!!
 
We have lost 3 people out of my class at tamu I believe. 1 was due to grades and she was commuting (although I commuted so it is doable), another was due to grades but they were because some one in her family had gotten very ill, and one decided he'd rather be a tech and work as a tech in the vet school rather than be a vet. My understanding is that the island schools have pretty high loss rates, but that US schools are relatively low. I don't know about the European or Canadian schools. I know at tamu they really do bend over backward to help you make it through. We are allowed 1 D and 1 F (which you have to retake over the summer). If you go to the admin for help the will really to get any resources you need to improve. Yes it's hard, yes a hate it a good bit of the time and love it at times, but they really do want to see us succeed and graduate.
 
Im not in vet school yet, but Ive asked people about this...I have a friend at VMRCVM who because of medical issues took a semester off and is now in the class below, I know people at NCSU who did the same thing (but 2 chose not to return), and at Kansas I was told by an upperclassman that many students end up the in class below if they have to retake classes. He said something like 15-20 a year but that seems high?
 
We lost one person to health (and then decided not to come back) and one to academics first year (who is now in the class below us). First semester second year we lost one who just didn't want to do it anymore. We gained two people from the year above us this year, and one first year. So ~3 (out of a class of 60) seems to be "the norm" up here. We can write a "supplemental exam" if we fail the class, but not all classes offer them and you can only write 2 total I think. We also have a certain GPA we have to meet each semester - if you don't, you go on academic probation, and each year you have to maintain a higher GPA. For me personally, while I've not had to write a supplemental I got in a bit of hot water first year in a class or two but second year has been a breeze comparatively. I'm not sure if it was an adjustment period that I had to get through or what, but I would say just work hard and seek help as soon as you feel yourself slipping (if you do).
 
We lost 3 for academic reasons the first semester of first year and 1 for health reasons. All are coming back in the class after ours next year. We're losing 2 at the end of this semester (that I know of) for personal reasons, who likely aren't coming back, but they're dropping out after passing this semester so that they could come back in a later class if they want.

VMRCVM has strict rules, if you fail any class, you're out. You can reapply for the next class. If you accumulate more than 5 D's overall or in 1 semester, you're out. You can reapply for the next class. You also have to maintain over a 2.5 to get into clinics 4th year. I don't know what happens if you don't.
 
We've lost three total, but no one failed out that I know of. Most dropped before the end of the first semester. NCSU's policy is 4 Ds in an academic career, but not more than 1 a semester. Also your GPA can't be lower than a 2.0, which for some can be tricky when you have + and - for each letter grade with different grade points for each. A C is a 2.0, while a C- is a 1.67. And it's a 9 point grading scale because of the +/-. If you do fail out you have the opportunity to petition for readmittance. This means that you'll start over with the first years the following year and join their class. As far as I know the students who do fail out (or get Ds in both semesters of anatomy) are likely to be readmitted. It's all up to the dean and other faculty. Vet school is hard and if you don't put in the time or effort you can fail out, but if you work hard for it, then you can survive.
 
We've lost three. 2 for medical I believe and one failed our first class of the year :ninja:
 
Here if you "Fail Out" first year you have to go through the entire admissions process again. I think of a class of 80ish, we had five leave in the first year and one in third year. I don't know their reasons for leaving - grades or other.
 
We lost one that I know of due to non-academic reasons. We have gained around 6 from the year before. Edinburgh allows you to retake exams that you fail in August, if you pass those you can move on in the course, if you don't pass August exams then you must retake that section of the course. It puts you behind by a year, but you only have to retake the section that you failed.
 
We have lost 7 or so due to academics, and one for health reasons. One didn't technically fail out, but she was in danger of doing so so she met with the higher ups, reapplied, and got in. Most of the people who failed out of my class are in the class of 2016 now, and they had to reapply to vet school to get back in, so they are good about giving people second chances. We have gained 4-ish from the year ahead of us, but they may have either failed out or gotten over 10 hours of Ds; I don't know their situations.
 
I met an interviewer for AVC oin Canada. He was asked the same question. Everyone graduates, even if it is a year later. Very rarely does someone drop out or leave for other reasons.
 
orcagirl said:
We've lost three total, but no one failed out that I know of. Most dropped before the end of the first semester. NCSU's policy is 4 Ds in an academic career, but not more than 1 a semester. Also your GPA can't be lower than a 2.0, which for some can be tricky when you have + and - for each letter grade with different grade points for each. A C is a 2.0, while a C- is a 1.67. And it's a 9 point grading scale because of the +/-. If you do fail out you have the opportunity to petition for readmittance. This means that you'll start over with the first years the following year and join their class. As far as I know the students who do fail out (or get Ds in both semesters of anatomy) are likely to be readmitted. It's all up to the dean and other faculty. Vet school is hard and if you don't put in the time or effort you can fail out, but if you work hard for it, then you can survive.
Click to expand...

Im certain we will go over this during orientation but can you explain the grading scale a little more? I am not familar with the + or - ....
 
7 people at Mizzou!? :scared: Wow!

This thread scares me!
 
cs5910 said:
7 people at Mizzou!? :scared: Wow!

This thread scares me!
Click to expand...

That wasn't all first year though, and almost all of the ones who did fail first year reapplied and got back in.
 
10 dropping out per class is pretty standard at Kansas-most just fall back to the next year's class to repeat whatever subject they failed.

You can't get Ds at all either-so failed a class can be defined as below 70% as a final grade.
 
At UTK it is standard to lose 2-3 the first semester. My class, 2016, gained 3 people from 2015 at the beginning of fall semester. Think it was a variety of health/personal and academics.

3 days into our first semester we lost one as she realized vet school wasn't for her. At the end of last semester, we lost 5 more due to academics. Here, you have to meet with the board if you fail a class or get a D in any class. If you fail only one class and do well in the others, you might be let back into the next year class. Sometimes, though, you are dismissed and have to reapply to come back. I only know of one of the 5 coming back in next years class, the other ones I've heard about have to reapply.

UTK administration and faculty are really helpful and wants you to succeed. They will get you tutors or work with you to find your learning style. But you have to reach out for help and ask for it.
 
Can any Ohio State people give some input?

(Currently freaking out now....) :scared:
 
JoAnna423 said:
Im certain we will go over this during orientation but can you explain the grading scale a little more? I am not familar with the + or - ....
Click to expand...

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/academicaffairs/academic.html


This should explain it more to you. It's always easier for me to see the numbers. I don't think they really covered it at orientation, but it's all in the syllabi. The grading scale is always the same and they don't round ever!
 
CanHardlyWait said:
We lost 3 for academic reasons the first semester of first year and 1 for health reasons. All are coming back in the class after ours next year. We're losing 2 at the end of this semester (that I know of) for personal reasons, who likely aren't coming back, but they're dropping out after passing this semester so that they could come back in a later class if they want.

VMRCVM has strict rules, if you fail any class, you're out. You can reapply for the next class. If you accumulate more than 5 D's overall or in 1 semester, you're out. You can reapply for the next class. You also have to maintain over a 2.5 to get into clinics 4th year. I don't know what happens if you don't.
Click to expand...

It was 3 Ds in a semester or 5 Ds overall when I was there I think. And yeah, if you get one F, you're out.

I definitely got a D or two in my third year when my life got really messed up.

I think we lost 3 in the first year and 2-3 per year after. About half and half academics and health/family reasons.
 
hellokitty89 said:
Can any Ohio State people give some input?

(Currently freaking out now....) :scared:
Click to expand...

I think second year lost a few more than us, not sure.

We only lost one this year (due to personal reasons, not academics), and she is in the class below us. That's it 🙂
 
I think we only lost like...4 or 5 at TAMU. We lost 2 before school even started, 1 after the first week, 1 after the first year, 1 deferred after second year, and that's it to my knowledge. We may have lost one in the transition from 3rd to 4th but I don't know for sure.

Also, TT, how the hell are you a 5 year member and I'm only a 2 year member? Something is afoot here...
 
HopefulAg said:
I think we only lost like...4 or 5 at TAMU. We lost 2 before school even started, 1 after the first week, 1 after the first year, 1 deferred after second year, and that's it to my knowledge. We may have lost one in the transition from 3rd to 4th but I don't know for sure.

Also, TT, how the hell are you a 5 year member and I'm only a 2 year member? Something is afoot here...
Click to expand...

They only do badges for 2, 5, 7, and 10 years. So in December, it will have been ...


Wait, you are right. Hah! Womp womp.

Email a mod and be all like, "Hey! Where's my badge?"
 
Academically, we lost two in our first year. Both from anatomy, as far as I know. Both dropped to the 2016 class. One survived, the other didn't make it past first semester. She didn't have the best habits either. Nice girl, but when you show up 15 minutes late for class every day smelling like you just crawled out of a bottle, I'm guessing that there wasn't much studying going on. I don't know if we've lost anyone this year. No one has come out and said anything, so hopefully we're intact.

Vet school actually isn't that hard to pass. If you are trying to maintain all A's, then you'll have to spend a lot more time studying. I'll be happy if I leave with the same GPA I graduated undergrad with - 3.14 - who doesn't like pi? They will throw a ton of information at you. There is no way they can test you on everything. There's a lot of gamesmanship involved. Our sys path professor pointed this out this year. He has 15 questions on the exam - it's not hard to figure out what he's going to ask about. Relax and READ the questions. I failed to read well enough on a path test and it cost me 9 points.
 
Armymutt25A said:
Relax and READ the questions. I failed to read well enough on a path test and it cost me 9 points.
Click to expand...

Yes. There are many words that look similar but mean very different things. For example, Peritoneum vs. Perineum, that "to" makes a HUGE difference and if you are reading fast you can make an easy mistake. I often underline important words and read the question a few times just to be sure I am understanding it appropriately.
 
Wow. So, we only lost one and it was a deferral for personal reasons and just joined the next class.
 
Our class only lost two first year, one left just as classes started because of family related issues and the other left at the end of first year due to health reasons. Then we lost three after first semester of second year and then at least two after the second semester. We have gained more than 13 from the class ahead of us and stand to gain more after the third year finals. Here at KSU you can receive 2 D's but have to come back in the year under you to redo them, and if you get an F, you have to reapply with no guarantee that you will get back in.
 
We lost 1-5/year. I would say most of those dropped back a class. We lost students due to family illness, personal illness, pregnancy, and grades.

A human doctor friend and I were talking this past week; we have both come to the conclusion that the folks who make it through med/vet school do so more because of perseverance than any other trait. To that end, you just keep swimming.
 
Armymutt25A said:
Our sys path professor pointed this out this year. He has 15 questions on the exam - it's not hard to figure out what he's going to ask about. Relax and READ the questions. I failed to read well enough on a path test and it cost me 9 points.
Click to expand...

Is that the same professor who rewrote an entire exam from multiple choice to short answer for me because I had pneumonia and missed the midterm? There's a fair bit of gamemanship from the professors, and the questions I had were nothing like the standard ones the rest of the class had. Oh, and the rest of my class had a 16 point curve, but since only 2 students took the midterm, we didn't get any curve. When a typically A student makes a C, you know, as a B average student, your are screwed. Grateful retirement is looming.
 
sumstorm said:
Is that the same professor who rewrote an entire exam from multiple choice to short answer for me because I had pneumonia and missed the midterm? There's a fair bit of gamemanship from the professors, and the questions I had were nothing like the standard ones the rest of the class had. Oh, and the rest of my class had a 16 point curve, but since only 2 students took the midterm, we didn't get any curve. When a typically A student makes a C, you know, as a B average student, your are screwed. Grateful retirement is looming.
Click to expand...

Are you saying we should be glad said professor is retiring? I've head people loved him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Shiloh47
  • Locked
Vet School / Vet Profession and Economic Policy
2
Replies
99
Views
3K
supershorty
supershorty
BigBang1234
International Students for Vet School
Replies
23
Views
3K
Minnerbelle
Minnerbelle
C
Vet School Debt and Repayment
Replies
11
Views
2K
battie
battie
vampyrica
Research In Vet Med (+ School)
Replies
12
Views
2K
Musicandhorses
M
F
Vet School Recommendations?
Replies
4
Views
2K
FutureDrMP
F
Top