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I'm just curious. I keep seeing that it takes an average of three tries to get in...
1.5? i applied to caribbean schools late winter of the app year knowing my stateside odds weren't fantastic but i'd kind of already had my heart set on coming here a long time before applying too. it would have been a real struggle for me to choose had i also been accepted in the US, i'm so glad i wasn't!
Actually, I was kinda in the same boat as jmo...so, I guess that'd be a 1.5 as well?
In my opinion, the numerical "average" isn't a meaningful number. From the statistics I've seen, the number of application attempts is a highly skewed bell curve. It's skewed right, so that means that the numerical average is being pulled towards "3" because of a few folks with >3 attempts. So, while the average is 3, the majority of people probably applied 1 or 2 times before they were successful.I'm just curious. I keep seeing that it takes an average of three tries to get in...
In my opinion, the numerical "average" isn't a meaningful number. From the statistics I've seen, the number of application attempts is a highly skewed bell curve. It's skewed right, so that means that the numerical average is being pulled towards "3" because of a few folks with >3 attempts. So, while the average is 3, the majority of people probably applied 1 or 2 times before they were successful.
Mean, medians, and modes.. Mmmm, yum. Statistics....
I'm just curious. I keep seeing that it takes an average of three tries to get in...
Just out of curiosity ... are you confusing that with the number of schools to which an average applicant applies in any given cycle? (Because I thought I asked VMCAS that once and the answer was 3.)
Definitely possible the answer is '3' to both questions.
Nope. I'm not.
Where'd you get the "3 tries average to get in" number? (Curious.)
Read it in a few different places. Can't remember. Why do you ask? (Curious).
Mostly because I don't really believe it and wondered if it was just something you "heard" or something that came from a reliable source with the data to actually know.
I'm guessing I've heard it mostly from "around." Here, etc.
Right now, y'all are my "reliable source."
This thread has been most interesting and helpful.
VMCAS posts here infrequently-but-regularly and sometimes has given some data.... They might give us an authoritative answer. Dunno if they track this particular stat.
VMCAS posts here infrequently-but-regularly and sometimes has given some data.... They might give us an authoritative answer. Dunno if they track this particular stat.
I know that I've heard "3 attempts" before as well, though in my experience with meeting people and watching some of the threads here, I'd think that it lies closer to 2 attempts. I just can't imagine there are really that many people who are still truckin' after 3 attempts to pull up the average that much, considering how large the "1 attempt" group likely is.
I imagine it could be one of those stats that gets misinterpreted and repeated. Like how a statement such as "X% of entering students are admitted by their 3rd attempt" gets transformed into something about average attempts.
The only person who doesn't get into vet school are the ones who stop trying.
One nice thing, though: once you're in, nobody cares how many attempts it took you. Like... nobody. So that's cool.
I know I'm personally very excited about no one caring what my undergrad grades were. Clean slate!
I feel that most people stop caring, though I suspect there are always a few insecure types who won't let things like that drop.
I remember reading a blog written by a vet (supposedly) where she kind of smugly suggested that people who repeat some of their prerequisite courses are worse doctors than those that don't (and that they only got into vet school due to falling standards). You know, because after four years of veterinary school, passing all of your exams, and becoming licensed, how you did in an introductory science course when you were 19 is a much better indicator of your abilities.