How many tries?

Well I got in my first time. But in all honesty I would have applied every year for the next 50 years. If you want something bad enough, you'll get there no matter what.
The main question for most people is, how bad do you want it and how far are you willing to go for it?
If you have no doubt in your mind about it, then never stop striving for it.

 

word.

i just this weekend realized how badly i want to go to penn. if i don't get in this round, i may defer at tufts and csu (they still havent technically offered me seats yet though) and try penn again next year. i'll reapply every year until i get too old to remember how to use a computer.

 

If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is not for you. But that says nothing about vet school. I'll reapply until I get in, because it's the only thing I really want to do everyday, but I too am curious how many tries it has taken some people to get in (especially to NCSU ).

 

I'm on my second year of applying to NCSU. Last year I received my rejection letter mid-March, and during the follow-up with an admissions counselor, he let me know that I'd be extremely hard-pressed to get into vet school without a 3.3 GPA. So I'm not really holding my breath too much again this year for NCSU.

But Mississippi wants me, so I'm happy anyways (although it'd be nice to stay in state!)

I always figured 3 times applying would be enough to push me over the edge.

 

I'm on my fourth time applying. For me it's not a question of "I'm going to keep applying until they see that I really want this" but now a question of "i wonder if they're seeing something that i don't." after enough times, you start to doubt yourself and think that maybe they're seeing through you into something you didn't even know was there. I've been working toward vet med for over 6 years, and now if it doesn't come again, i think i'm done, because i'm starting to think there's a reason they don't want me in the profession.

 

I don't want to be too discouraging - on the contrary, if you figure out a way to do this I hope you'll tell us about it. But I can't imagine Tufts and CSU would let you defer in order to re-apply to Penn. I think deferring is rare and requires some pretty thorough justification. I also kind of doubt that you'd be able to defer two schools at the same time.

I'm guessing your only options are to go to either Tufts or CSU (neither of which is exactly a booby prize), or ditch them both and reapply next year with no guarantees. If nothing else that would show Penn that you're really, really intent on going there...

 

Oh, and at Minnesota I heard a rumor that there was a student there who got in on her *10th* try. I think I'd be way into the "must be a reason they don't want me" zone by then.

 

ok, you called my bluff. i haven't looked into it yet and have no idea how it works... i thought it was along the lines of "if we wanted you this year, we'll want you next year, so come whenever you want." and do they have to know i'm deferring to another school as well?

who knows, maybe i won't get in anywhere, and it'll at least make for a cheaper vmcas application next year with only one school!

 

no offence, but this is kind of a smack to the face to those people who are working so hard to get into ANY school.

A position is a position - no matter where it is. If i were you, and you happen to score a seat in a school this year, i'd clutch it with both hands and never let go. All the schools in North America are good... and once the degree is on the wall, nobody cares where it came from.

 

and i certainly meant no offense either. there was no smacking. i most likely didn't get into my top choice... apologies if my off the cuff remark on decisions offended anyone.

i care where it came from. that in no way suggests anything about the objective qualities of other north american schools. just that there's one in particular where i want to spend these four years. that's all!

 

I agree...if you get a spot, hold on to it. You cannot refer vet school admissions for any old reason. I don't know specifics, but I think it has to be an amazing opportunity or maybe some sort of emergency. I was told I could defer (not officially- just a conversation with a professor) to go and do reproduction research in africa on cheetah and cape buffalo if I wanted to take up the opportunity. Even then, I'm still accepting my admission offer.

If I hadn't gotten in this year (first try), I think I would have taken the mcat and applied to both vet and med schools next year. If I got into both, I'd go to vet school, but otherwise, I'd go med.

 

i think it is important to be practical and realistic about this... if i was 21 again, yeah, i could spend the next 9 years reapplying. but, as someone who is older, with a family, mortgage, job, responsibilities, etc., how fair is it for me to put my spouse through a decade of applications? also, i agree with the post above that maybe after the fifth time, the adcom sees a red flag that i don't. it makes sense to try 2-4 times, but, for me, there is definitely a point when i will need to be flexible and continue on with my life. god knows, this last year has put everything on hold, and i can't do this to my family for years and years on end...

 

I've been told by a vet school assistant dean that requests to defer are evaluated on a case by case basis, and are only allowed in special circumstances.

Some examples given were: you are serving in the Army Reserve, and you are being deployed now, or, in cases of medical illness.

Obviously each school can set their own rules, but with things being what they are (competition is super high, so many highly qualified applicants, limited number of seats, etc.) I would imagine that this is probably how most other schools handle it too....

 

Hehe, when I first decided to apply to vet school I heard stories about people who failed to get into vet school so they became doctors instead. I thought this was an urban legend and assumed there was NO WAY vet med was more competitive than human med - MD's work on people for christ's sakes! Little did I know!

Emio - I think I remember you from the Penn interview last friday, you were the girl from Saint Joe's with blonde hair, right? Dont know if you remember me but my name is Jessica, I was dressed unobtrusively in a grey suit (yes, I caved to the suit) and was sitting in that back right corner in the interview waiting room. I really really really liked Penn too, in big part because how awesome all the interviewees and current students I met were, but you should go visit the other two schools first if you dont get into Penn before you make an rash decisions to decline! I dont know anything about colorado, but I knew a couple tufts vet students who really like it there, and boston is a great city. Maybe if you visit you'll be pleasantly surprised with the professors, facilities, and students.

 

that was me! wait, which right? did we get to talk? i can't remember a gray suit

that comment i made before was completely off-the-cuff, and i'm not seriously considering turning down two good schools (if they even let me in!), so i have lots of visiting to do .

still though.. to stay on track... i'm not a big family person, so school is most of my life and most likely will still be my lifesource twenty years from now if i don't get in before then, lol. family is no small reason to reroute your path to remain sane.

 

lol yep. i still want a pony! maybe someday...

 

I agree with Wildfocus, b/c of our age group. I'd apply next year for sure and probably one more after that. We're not as young as some of you 'whippersnappers' on here

 

Before I started applying to vet school, I made a promise to myself that if I got to the point where I can't improve my application any more (grades, GRE, exprience) then I would stop applying. I knew an applicant that tried for 5 years, but never really tried to improve their app and finally gave up on vet school. But in the same breath another applicant tried for 5 years, (graduated undergrad, found a job doing research) and then finally got accepted. So for me, it's whether or not my application could improve from year to year.

 

I probably would have tried 3 times and then moved on. At some point you have to start worrying about what your career is going to be without a DVM, and you can't be in getting-experience-for-vet-school land forever.

 

My plan was that if I didn't get accepted this year I would start a Masters program. For me this was actually a great option as I would be able to get a degree in animal behavior which is where I want to specialize. So I would skip a year (which let's face it, in general if you have deficiencies the chance of improving in the 6 months between cycles may be slim) and apply again. If I had not been accepted on my second try, that was going to be it. Of course I'm one of the older non-trad students so I don't have as much time. And with the animal behavior degree I would at least have some of the sam opportunities.

 

A Davis AdCom told me that they always encourage people to reapply and that last year they accepted someone who applied 7x. They saw that person as being really dedicated & decided to give him a shot.

As for me, I will keep trying. Getting an interview tells me that I'm at least on the right track!

 

Although I said something very much like this just a few posts ago, it *is* true that at my Penn interview the admissions guy kind of offhandedly mentioned (when I asked whether you could apply for in-state status after the first year) something to the effect of "you could defer your acceptance, move to PA for the year, and you'd be considered a resident when you started the next year."

So although you do have to provide some justification, probably in writing, and probably jump through some hoops, I'm not sure it has to be a dire emergency or a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But I still don't think "I want to reapply to my first choice school but keep you as a backup" would fly.

 

This is my mindset as well. I am on 2nd year of trying and I was thinking I would give it at least 3 years. This is really what I want to do.

This is what I hate about vet school admissions! I think everyone on this board would make a wonderful veterinarian, but because of the system and the numbers, we start to doubt ourselves. I have had these same thoughts but I am also very stubborn and don't want to let schools dictate to me what I should be doing with my life. At least with medical school, if you don't get in to a prestige school, there is a smaller school somewhere who will probably take you.

 

Penn is different from the rest of the schools in that it actually DOES allow deferments relatively easily. But certainly not to apply to another school.

 

Emio,

What do you mean when you say that tufts hasn't "technically" offered you a seat yet. Did they tell you/hint at your acceptance un-officially after the interview? I'm confused by this.

 

No letter yet. But they hinted. I take back all the stupid stuff I said, too, btw.