Heard of anyone applying to all 28?

[stick91]

My dad frequently asks me how many vet schools I plan on applying to and I always respond "about half." He then always asks "well why don't you apply to all of them?!" Granted, he has pretty much agreed to pay for my application fees (yippee!) but I think it would look a little ridiculous to apply to every single one...and of course there are some that I just don't meet all the requirements for. It isn't helped by my older sister chiming in that "well I'll probably apply to 30 med schools"

So, out of pure curiosity I was wondering if anyone has heard of or has themselves applied to every US vet school in one application cycle?

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[athenaparthenos]

Whew! That sounds exhausting! Even without the money being an issue (and that on its own would be HUGE for all of them, I shelled out over $500 just for 5!), there's supplemental applications for many schools, extra fees, different prereqs for different schools... that sounds like waaaaaay too much effort to make sure all of your ducks were all in a row for every. single. school.

 

[msmrtrthnyllb]

Make sure that you even have all of the prerequisites unique to each school. Example, I was thinking about applying to North Carolina, but didn't have the 6 credit hours of Business/Finance courses. I don't know what year of undergrad you're in, but you might have a lot of those to catch up on if you're intent on applying to all schools.

 

[projekt]

From what I've seen in the last couple of years lurking/participating on SDN is if you're competitive, you'll get into nearly every school you applied to, and if you're not, then you probably won't get into all of the schools that accept very few out of state students. A good selection of schools would be:

1. Your in-state school.
2. Your dream school. (Luckily for me, my dream school is IS)
3. Penn, Cornell, Tufts, i.e., schools that are highly ranked and accept lots of out of state students.
4. Kansas and a couple others that accept lots of out of state students
5. Western, if it appeals to you.

Why apply somewhere if you don't feel like going there? If you don't want to live in OK, don't apply to OKSU, for example

 

[critterfixer]

projekt, very, very few people get into every school they apply to. Many highly competitive applicants don't even get into one, though they will eventually get in. If 100 highly competitive people apply for 80 seats, 20 of them aren't getting in.

To the OP, I would advise you against applying to too many schools, and 28 is definitely too many. For one, it may just look as though you haven't thought very hard about which schools are the best fit for you, and two, you are potentially taking an interview slot from others who don't have someone willing to pay for all those application fees. I think it is just bad form. Apply to 10, sure, but more than that just seems excessive.

 

[meadow36]

I am looking at about 6 this cycle; there are 10 that I like but I don't meet the requirements for the other 4.

I don't think it's to anyone's advantage to apply to all of them. However, I love your dad's attitude!! He sounds very sweet. Wish my dad was like that.

 

[diggsta]

I met someone at my Ohio interview who said he applied to all of them. Wonder how he did.......

 

[stick91]

Just to clarify. I myself have absolutely no intention of applying to all of them, I was just wondering if anyone ever even tried it because as some of you have said, that seems like way too much work!

I've already gone through and crossed off at least half of the schools based on not meeting requirements for them. Now I'm working on going through the remaining and deciding for each one that if it were the only school I got into I would be 100% committed to going there and could see myself being happy there. (also, I just finished undergrad, I'll be taking a couple online classes to fill pre-reqs for my target school, Oregon State, that I couldn't take during undergrad)

 

[adOggy07]

I met a classmate from undergrad who applied to all 28 also...

I personally would never do it myself... I applied to 8 and thought that was a lot!

Lucky for me, my dad also paid for my application fees, which came out to a little over $1000. In the middle of my application cycle.... he asked, "are you sure you're going to get in somewhere?"... I told him that I honestly had no idea and no guarantees. Then he said, "then why am I paying $1000 for these applications?!"

Thank goodness I got in somewhere, or else I'd probably be paying my dad back in monthly increments out of guilt.

 

[Moonpaw]

Just so you know, I was in the exact same boat...my brother just graduated from med school, but when he applied, it was to about 20-30 schools, and so my dad had the same attitude about vet school--"Why not apply to all 28?" It also didn't help that I had a lot of AP credits that counted for nothing, but my dad didn't realize that. So he thought that I had finished a good amount of school, not wanting to believe me when I told him that those APs didnt' count for anything, and that I can't graduate in 2 1/2 years (or even 3 years and keep my sanity), and so take all the other pre-reqs for schools I wasn't applying to because I didn't have the pre-reqs.

Now there's a run-on sentence for you!

 

[lailanni]

Just to clarify. I myself have absolutely no intention of applying to all of them, I was just wondering if anyone ever even tried it because as some of you have said, that seems like way too much work!

I've already gone through and crossed off at least half of the schools based on not meeting requirements for them. Now I'm working on going through the remaining and deciding for each one that if it were the only school I got into I would be 100% committed to going there and could see myself being happy there. (also, I just finished undergrad, I'll be taking a couple online classes to fill pre-reqs for my target school, Oregon State, that I couldn't take during undergrad)

I'm not sure if you're from Oregon? Just want to caution you that they only take a very, very small number of OOS people [8 non-residents]. And there is no interview for OOS so you can't pitch your case.

If you're not from Oregon and you really, really, really want to go there you may want to consider establishing residency.

 

[VetMed555]

Also, assuming you're a qualified candidate, you will get interviews at most of the schools. Some schools don't do interviews, but if you apply to ALL, let's say 15 offer you interviews...or even 10. That means you have to drive/fly out to each one (or at least some of the ones you selected). I paid about $500 for 4 schools in application fees, but then for 3 interviews (one being in-state), I had to pay for 2 hotels, 2 plain tickets, 2 rental cars plus miscelaneous expenses. It was NOT cheap. I say 4-5, maybe 10 AT MOST is a good number. Plus it took me forever to finish supplementary applications. Missouri one had 4 mini-essays! Plus an essay for each: Illinois and Auburn, plus a complete description of experiences for VMRCVM. If I were to appy to all 28, I would start 2 years in advance. . Plus, some of the places I would DEFINITELY not want to go to for one reason or the other, so why would I apply there? Projekt's list is pretty good, the rest depends on your stats, your undergrad school, and your experiences. Some schools look more for certain things than others. Example: I applied to Missouri with 0 large animal experience, and that's what they were strongly looking for. (rejected). Had a lot of research experience and was accepted at VMRCVM (definitely research-oriented school). I'm oversimplifying, but you get the point.

P.S. Apart from financial reasons, I had to skip 2-3 days of school for each interview, and it was hard to catch up. I don't think I'd be able to if I had more than 4-5 interviews.

 

[stick91]

I'm not sure if you're from Oregon? Just want to caution you that they only take a very, very small number of OOS people [8 non-residents]. And there is no interview for OOS so you can't pitch your case.

If you're not from Oregon and you really, really, really want to go there you may want to consider establishing residency.

Yep, I'm from Oregon, that's why it's my first choice!

 

[twelvetigers]

Why apply somewhere if you don't feel like going there? If you don't want to live in OK, don't apply to OKSU, for example

Hey now! Everyone should wish they lived in Oklahoma. We're all really nice out in these parts, and there are lots of towns with interesting Native American words for names. Like Wewoka, Tecumseh, Okmulgee, Ofuskee, Talequah, Owasso, Pawhuska... Plus, we have... um... Garth Brooks.

 

[CalpardNY]

You'd also have to keep in mind that the vet schools see where else you applied and often ask you why you applied to certain schools.

I applied to 14 (10 US and 4 international) and came across that issue. While the major way i came to chose my schools was based on what schools i met the requirements for (i didnt have cell bio, nutrition, business, etc etc), I researched each of the schools and liked something about them all and would be happy going to each one.

However, some of the schools i interviewed at asked me why i applied to 14 schools. They perceived it as being less dedicated to each of the schools. And while to some extent that was true (i mean we'd all love to go to our dream school but most of us are realistic that any vet school = VET at the end of it and are thrilled to go where we get in!) it doesn't mean we aren't any less passionate about the field than someone who applies to 5 schools. But i can't imagine trying to rationalize applying to all 28 to an adcom!

 

[projekt]

twelvetigers, I put that in just for you

 

[twelvetigers]

Well, maybe *I'M* glad I don't live in Georgia. I don't even like Ray Charles or peaches. Hmmph.

...okay, so I really like both of those things. But, you know.