Illinois 2024-2025 (c/o 2029 hopefuls)

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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SkiOtter said:
Lol I’m not the one out here insulting peoples school and calling it a back up option and saying that they shouldn’t have a high GPA cut off because I don’t understand how their admissions process works. They have never been a holistic option. They are the exact OPPOSITE of it. They make initial cuts based SOLELY on academics. Before they even look at the rest of your app. That is not holistic.
Adios.
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You quite literally spent this entire discourse putting words in my mouth and insulting me. The lack of awareness for your behavior is startling. I apologized immediately for my wording, yet here you are, continuing to harass me despite that fact. Find some peace in this world, there’s literally no reason to be harboring this level of anger towards a stranger on the internet who never even intended to insult you in the first place. Wishing you the best in life!
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turtle36 said:
Sorry it was the class before that was a 3.4! Again I was not trying to insult anyone, I think illinois is a great school and I was speaking to their previous reputation!
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My friend, I've told you before and will continue to tell everyone who cites them - do not use the AAVMC website for your data/decision making process. It has been laughably inaccurate even since I started planning for my application 12 (?) years ago. They actually went as far as publishing an admissions guidebook maybe ~8-10 years ago and a large portion of info was blatantly wrong. Only, only, only use the schools' websites, or you will be wasting your money and time. I'm talking incorrect prereqs and everything. I've contacted them about this directly in the past and for whatever reason, they just don't care to make sure the data they present is correct.

Honestly, the word 'holistic' is bit of a buzzword in vet med admissions. The truth is that there is not a single school out there that does not make a cut based off academic stats at some point. You cannot expect these schools, which get thousands of apps these days, to actually look at everyone's application thoroughly before making a cut based on something objective. Some schools do put more weight on experience, the interview, etc., but all consider academics at some point in the process.

No, GPA isn't everything, but it does mean something. Statistically, getting a seat in a vet school has been less likely than getting a seat in a med school for as long as I can remember. We are now moving towards things being a bit more prestigious in addition to more difficult based on supply/demand alone. Like I said earlier, I don't think that's a bad thing. Schools are getting what might be record numbers of apps - they are going to choose the highest and best when they can. If you don't have competitive academic stats, you need to do heavy, heavy research on admissions at each school and apply strategically, improve your stats, or keep throwing apps out there and blaming the schools.

If you aren't academically competitive, a school would be hard pressed to take a risk on you when they have 20 applicants with significantly better stats for that seat. Once you're in, they want you to stay in. GPA is the only objective way to determine what applicant is most likely to survive the academics of vet school. Honestly, I would not be surprised in the least if someone told me that the schools that have been relaxing admissions recently are also dealing with increased attrition on top of decreasing NAVLE pass rates (which we know the latter is actually happening at certain schools).

SkiOtter said:
Illinois has NEVER actually been a holistic school. Phase 1 has ALWAYS depended on GPA+/-GRE. The cutoff for phase 1 changes year to year based on the applicant pool. But it’s ALWAYS been there.
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Yep. The huge benefit of Illinois is that if you make the initial cut off, your academics are no longer considered past phase 1 (I know you know this, Ski). That worked in my favor (applying strategically) - my numbers were absolutely average, but I knew I brought a lot more to the table if I could just make that first cutoff. It worked for 2/3 schools considering my second round only, for which I had significantly more experience. Ironically, the one school it didn't work for has seemingly relaxed their admissions since that time...they are currently in the midst of a NAVLE pass rate crisis :shrug: There's a lot of variables, but it's hard to ignore that especially considering that Illinois' pass rates have maintained themselves quite well in the same time frame while several other schools have not.

turtle36 said:
I have worked with multiple doctors from Illinois and have nothing bad to say about their quality of education.
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Damn right! :laugh: Although to be transparent, I have definitely been openly critical of some aspects of Illinois, but there is no such thing as a perfect school. Some of the things I've mentioned over the years were quickly addressed for the classes following mine. Not all schools would do the same.

Overall, no regrets when it comes to my school choice.

turtle36 said:
People get a little too heated too quick on here
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Total side comment, but this forum is significantly tamer than it used to be.

And also quieter, which doesn't help me on my boring Saturdays at work...
 
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pp9 said:
And also quieter, which doesn't help me on my boring Saturdays at work...
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I get all my drama from SPF these days 🤣 No longer on Facebook (quit logging in, but didn't delete my profile), but I'm not sure if I miss the APVMA page or not. No other drama quite like it.
 
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turtle36 said:
This is crazy high for a school most OOS people only apply to as a backup option, not to be rude but this is often recommended for students who have been denied previous years, so to suddenly start having this crazy high GPA cutoff is absurd to me.
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There is no such thing as a backup veterinary school.
Sour grapes are not a good look, to be quite honest.
 
In any event, I’ll remind everyone to keep things civil. My suggestions for doing so include:
- Not insulting the quality of education at any accredited program. You look silly. Don’t do it.
- Not personally insulting each other. You look silly. Don’t do it.

Getting into vet school is hard. Finishing it is harder. There are plenty of people on this site who have done both. Remember that before you disparage a program, there are likely students or graduates from that program here. Think about how you’d feel if someone else said about you/your school what you’re about to say BEFORE you hit that post button.

Thank you for attending my Ted talk.
 
supershorty said:
There is no such thing as a backup veterinary school.
Sour grapes are not a good look, to be quite honest.
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This was just poorly worded, as I explained several times. Again I apologize for that, I never said nor intended to imply the school is a “lesser” school, simply that it often gets brought up as an option that is more holistic and friendlier to OOS students. I’ve heard this about a number of schools and it’s never presented negatively or in a manner to make the quality of that education seem less.

Honestly that other user continuously harassing me after I attempted to apologize really puts a bad taste in my mouth about this forum. I’ve seen some really nasty posts from people on this forum who are clearly working in the field and it seems like there is a lot of people make accounts and wait for moments to pounce and completely tear into other users, often young prospective students. At this point please stop quoting and responding to these posts. Good luck to everyone moving forward and the best of luck to you all. Please be kind to one another, this field is already tough enough.
 
Hi everyone, just a quick question. My advisor had me sign up to take Cell Biology to be able to take the upper-level Biochemistry for veterinary school, but then I realized I did not need that class and only needed to take the lower-level Biochemistry. I ended up dropping Cell Biology because I no longer needed it for any prereqs or classes, and I also noticed that upper-level Biochemistry wouldn't fit into my schedule due to doing research next semester. I reached out to Illinois about just taking a different Biochemistry due to it not fitting and no longer needing to take it and was told that even though they would accept my lower level Biochemistry, because of what I put on my VMCAS application, there is no way for me to be able to change that class and would have to take the class I reported. I was told that I had moved on past Phase I and onto Phase II OOS. I was curious if you guys thought that if I was offered an interview if I should contact the dean and see what he would say. The admission person was a little rude in the emails and trying not to let it discourage me due to moving on. Just thought I would see what you all thought I should do! It's my first time applying, so I don't have much experience with knowing what to do in these situations! TIA!

Edit: All of the other schools I applied to said that it was completely okay and would change it on my application so I just didn't know if this was just an Illinois requirement. Thanks!
 
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futurevet2029 said:
Hi everyone, just a quick question. My advisor had me sign up to take Cell Biology to be able to take the upper-level Biochemistry for veterinary school, but then I realized I did not need that class and only needed to take the lower-level Biochemistry. I ended up dropping Cell Biology because I no longer needed it for any prereqs or classes, and I also noticed that upper-level Biochemistry wouldn't fit into my schedule due to doing research next semester. I reached out to Illinois about just taking a different Biochemistry due to it not fitting and no longer needing to take it and was told that even though they would accept my lower level Biochemistry, because of what I put on my VMCAS application, there is no way for me to be able to change that class and would have to take the class I reported. I was told that I had moved on past Phase I and onto Phase II OOS. I was curious if you guys thought that if I was offered an interview if I should contact the dean and see what he would say. The admission person was a little rude in the emails and trying not to let it discourage me due to moving on. Just thought I would see what you all thought I should do! It's my first time applying, so I don't have much experience with knowing what to do in these situations! TIA!
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Reporting a class that you are “planning to take” on VMCAS doesn’t mean you HAVE to take that class. If you take a different class that satisfies the requirement then you can show that class when you send your updated transcripts. The “planned” courses isn’t a set in stone agreement that you will take those exact classes so I’m not sure why the admissions person made it seem that way but maybe Illinois has a different process. I had done this exact thing and took a different class than I originally reported on my vmcas and had no issues (but I did not apply to Illinois when I did this)
 
futurevet2029 said:
Hi everyone, just a quick question. My advisor had me sign up to take Cell Biology to be able to take the upper-level Biochemistry for veterinary school, but then I realized I did not need that class and only needed to take the lower-level Biochemistry. I ended up dropping Cell Biology because I no longer needed it for any prereqs or classes, and I also noticed that upper-level Biochemistry wouldn't fit into my schedule due to doing research next semester. I reached out to Illinois about just taking a different Biochemistry due to it not fitting and no longer needing to take it and was told that even though they would accept my lower level Biochemistry, because of what I put on my VMCAS application, there is no way for me to be able to change that class and would have to take the class I reported. I was told that I had moved on past Phase I and onto Phase II OOS. I was curious if you guys thought that if I was offered an interview if I should contact the dean and see what he would say. The admission person was a little rude in the emails and trying not to let it discourage me due to moving on. Just thought I would see what you all thought I should do! It's my first time applying, so I don't have much experience with knowing what to do in these situations! TIA!

Edit: All of the other schools I applied to said that it was completely okay and would change it on my application so I just didn't know if this was just an Illinois requirement. Thanks!
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I’ve never heard of them requiring a non-prereq in-progress class to actually be taken. They do require fall transcripts prior to interview day (I don’t remember if it’s before or after offers are sent out) so I would assume that they would be able to see any issue then but I can’t imagine they actually would care, so that’s odd that you got a confusing response from ASA. Maybe they didn’t understand what you were actually asking? Or maybe they’re new?
 
Thank you for
Cowsrcool said:
Reporting a class that you are “planning to take” on VMCAS doesn’t mean you HAVE to take that class. If you take a different class that satisfies the requirement then you can show that class when you send your updated transcripts. The “planned” courses isn’t a set in stone agreement that you will take those exact classes so I’m not sure why the admissions person made it seem that way but maybe Illinois has a different process. I had done this exact thing and took a different class than I originally reported on my vmcas and had no issues (but I did not apply to Illinois when I did this)
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Thank you so much! This is what they sent me, so I was just really confused! They said that it was already on my transcript but I haven't taken the Biochemistry yet and I cannot because of it not fitting in my schedule. Thank you again!
 

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SkiOtter said:
I’ve never heard of them requiring a non-prereq in-progress class to actually be taken. They do require fall transcripts prior to interview day (I don’t remember if it’s before or after offers are sent out) so I would assume that they would be able to see any issue then but I can’t imagine they actually would care, so that’s odd that you got a confusing response from ASA. Maybe they didn’t understand what you were actually asking? Or maybe they’re new?
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It wouldn’t be for the Cell Biology, it would be for the biochemistry. Thats also what I was thinking so I did not know if I should reach out to the Dean and discuss it with them. Just confused as to why a planned class that I put together in the summer (not sure what time it would be offered) would affect my whole application. Thank you!
 
futurevet2029 said:
because of what I put on my VMCAS application, there is no way for me to be able to change that class and would have to take the class I reported.
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This seems weird to me. A ton of students take different "planned" classes the spring semester of the application cycle that aren't on the VMCAS due to a variety of reasons. It's normally a situation of as long as all the prerequisites are done by the end of the semester, you're fine.
futurevet2029 said:
I was curious if you guys thought that if I was offered an interview if I should contact the dean and see what he would say
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It never hurts to try.
futurevet2029 said:
The admission person was a little rude in the emails and trying not to let it discourage me due to moving on
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I would keep in mind that tone is hard to convey in text overall. Assume positive intent overall unless there's obviously hostile language used.
 
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battie said:
This seems weird to me. A ton of students take different "planned" classes the spring semester of the application cycle that aren't on the VMCAS due to a variety of reasons. It's normally a situation of as long as all the prerequisites are done by the end of the semester, you're fine.

It never hurts to try.

I would keep in mind that tone is hard to convey in text overall. Assume positive intent overall unless there's obviously hostile language used.
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I appreciate it! If moved on to interviews, I will reach out to the dean because I also thought that it was weird.

I do appreciate your touch on the tone, it is hard to understand someone through text. Thank you so much!
 
futurevet2029 said:
I do appreciate your touch on the tone, it is hard to understand someone through text. Thank you so much!
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I feel that social media has trained people to automatically assume the worst in responses since algorithms specifically aim to steer people towards conflict because it drives engagement. I don't think most people mean to be aggressive and that most people don't mean to automatically assume the worst in others. It's just an inherent response now. Hence why I'm no longer on social media sites except this one.
 
battie said:
I feel that social media has trained people to automatically assume the worst in responses since algorithms specifically aim to steer people towards conflict because it drives engagement. I don't think most people mean to be aggressive and that most people don't mean to automatically assume the worst in others. It's just an inherent response now. Hence why I'm no longer on social media sites except this one.
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I completely agree with you! Taking a step back and just re-reading things do help a lot. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question and provide some helpful tips! 🙂
 
FLBuckeye said:
OOS and got to phase 2. S- 3.87 and cumm- 3.8. I have had a few advisors and mentors and the feedback is that gpa is not just a number. For instance, a 3.8 gpa and a course load of 12-15 credit hours per semester is not seen as favorably as the same gpa with 20 credit hours. I took 20 CH every semester. Cannot swear this is accurate about how they rank gpa but it makes sense if they are trying to assess ability to do well in Vet school. Just sharing what I was told and by no means judging anyone else’s hard work to get to this point. Good luck all!!
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I’ve always taken low credit loads and moved to phase II, I think it’s also a mix of if you worked and did EC too
 
Cowsrcool said:
Last year the GPA cutoff for phase II was in the 3.8+ range so honestly it seems lower this year if you can even believe haha
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our average was a 3.81 so cutoff had to of been lower
 
For anyone rejected from moving on to phase 2. I emailed asking for a general review and they said it’s strictly ranked GPA cut offs at this point based on the current application pool and changes each year. Numbers won’t be released until the class demographic is concocted for all those who accept seats.
 
Hi I am seeing a bunch of people saying they "made it on to phase 2" when I have not heard a single thing from them yet. Anyone else in this boat?
 
DublinCharles5 said:
Hi I am seeing a bunch of people saying they "made it on to phase 2" when I have not heard a single thing from them yet. Anyone else in this boat?
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Oh wait you’re saying moving on to phase 2, not through it, yeah I heard I moved on to phase 2 November 1st. Probably best to email like SkiOtter said!
 
battie said:
Phase 3 was interviews when I attended. They interviewed approximately 400 students.
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That’s what the website still says, which it’s possible that it’s not updated, but I’d expect it to still be about the same.

Admissions - Veterinary Medicine at Illinois

The selection of students is a three-phase process, a cognitive evaluation, non-cognitive evaluation and interview.
vetmed.illinois.edu vetmed.illinois.edu
 
SkiOtter said:
That’s what the website still says, which it’s possible that it’s not updated, but I’d expect it to still be about the same.

Admissions - Veterinary Medicine at Illinois

The selection of students is a three-phase process, a cognitive evaluation, non-cognitive evaluation and interview.
vetmed.illinois.edu vetmed.illinois.edu
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It was around that last year. I don’t exactly remember the number, but it could’ve been 400. It was definitely in that ball park
 
Anybody have any predictions as to when interview decisions will come out? I have a feeling it’s starting to get close
 
On the website FAQ, they say the interview invites would be sent out once the admissions advisory committee reviews all applications, which occurs by mid January. So I would guess then?
 
Is it true that if you interview with Illinois that you're either accepted or waitlisted, not outright rejected? I saw someone on FB mention it but hadn't heard of Illinois doing that haha
 
catsandsnakes said:
Is it true that if you interview with Illinois that you're either accepted or waitlisted, not outright rejected? I saw someone on FB mention it but hadn't heard of Illinois doing that haha
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I saw that too…
 
catsandsnakes said:
Is it true that if you interview with Illinois that you're either accepted or waitlisted, not outright rejected? I saw someone on FB mention it but hadn't heard of Illinois doing that haha
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Unless something has recently changed, this is correct. If they interview you, you are either waitlisted or accepted.
 
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