Illinois c/o 2015 Hopefuls

[Whyevernot55]

Just curious, what did everyone choose to write about for their supplemental essay? I went with the food animal veterinarian shortage.

I wrote about veterinary ethics and the changing perspectives of vet med - mostly about how it affects legislation of veterinary medicine (ie debarking and declawing bans, and mandatory spay/neuter). Stuff I'm REALLY interested in, but it was totally not enough space to really get into it!

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[pibbles]

Just curious, what did everyone choose to write about for their supplemental essay? I went with the food animal veterinarian shortage.

.

 

[squibby]

The struggle to balance the responsibility to animal welfare with the needs of agribusiness in meeting production demands for an exploding population.

 

[that redhead]

I initially wrote about the food animal vet shortage, but after reading back over my essay, the suggestions I had were lame and impractical and I just felt like I came across as uninformed. So I deleted the thing and wrote about the effects of the economy on many fields of vet med, where I tied in some stuff about LA Probably a pretty common topic, but I felt a lot better about it than I did about my LA shortage one, so I went with it!

 

[LMMS]

Just curious, what did everyone choose to write about for their supplemental essay? I went with the food animal veterinarian shortage.

I wrote about the ongoing decimation of the bat population... The mystery of the illness, and how, if it isn't solved, the impact the loss of bats will have upon both human and animal health.

I was on the fence about it; but it's those types of things that get me jazzed up and keep me focused. I just hope they don't find the topic (or me) overly weird.

 

[Pigsfoot]

I was on the fence about it; but it's those types of things that get me jazzed up and keep me focused. I just hope they don't find the topic (or me) overly weird.

we like weird here. bring on the weird!

 

[FutureZooVet86]

we like weird here. bring on the weird!

Yes, weird is good. Good luck to all you 2015 hopefuls

 

[LMMS]

we like weird here. bring on the weird!

Really? Neato!! Perhaps that's the reason I was drawn to apply to IL... I couldn't quite put my finger on 'why', but I felt that it would be a good match for me.

Hooray for oddball in us all!

 

[thedogisgreen]

Recently checked my status page to find that they have evaluated my courses and come up with a sGPA. Still not happy about courses they have excluded, including two classes in the ecology/behavior sector of the bio department. They did include one ecology/mol bio lab that they hadn't previously, but they are still leaving out two classes that I think should be included.. and of course, these are solid A's. Agh, don't know how to/if I even can argue with them. You guys having issues with these types of courses not being included?

 

[Horsingaround31]

Shoot! Just checked and my GPAs still aren't calculated. I'm interested to see what they decide to use.

thedogisgreen - That's a good question -- can we dispute their selections? Anyone know for sure?

 

[Pigsfoot]

thedogisgreen - That's a good question -- can we dispute their selections? Anyone know for sure?

You can do it. get the syllabus from your profs and have the prof write a little ditty about how the class was a biology based class. send these (with your stating of your case) to Mary Kelm or Dr. Morin, and let them know how bio heavy these classes were. I had a couple of classes changed after my GPA was done being tallied up and it helped. Mary did it for me last year but she's part time now, so I'm thinking Dr. Morin should be able to work the same magic. i hope. best o' luck!

 

[Horsingaround31]

You can do it. get the syllabus from your profs and have the prof write a little ditty about how the class was a biology based class. send these (with your stating of your case) to Mary Kelm or Dr. Morin, and let them know how bio heavy these classes were. I had a couple of classes changed after my GPA was done being tallied up and it helped. Mary did it for me last year but she's part time now, so I'm thinking Dr. Morin should be able to work the same magic. i hope. best o' luck!

Good news!

 

[that redhead]

Recently checked my status page to find that they have evaluated my courses and come up with a sGPA. Still not happy about courses they have excluded, including two classes in the ecology/behavior sector of the bio department. They did include one ecology/mol bio lab that they hadn't previously, but they are still leaving out two classes that I think should be included.. and of course, these are solid A's. Agh, don't know how to/if I even can argue with them. You guys having issues with these types of courses not being included?

I just got mine calculated too - not looking so hot at all I'm considering submitting syllabi but there are quite a few (ANSC, PLSC?) I think should count and I feel weird being like, "Shouldn't all these As in science courses count toward my sGPA?"

 

[bbeventer]

They still arnt counting an animal health class I took as science... its even a class UofI recommends :/ odd. What do I do if the prof that was teaching that class got fired?

 

[thedogisgreen]

You can do it. get the syllabus from your profs and have the prof write a little ditty about how the class was a biology based class. send these (with your stating of your case) to Mary Kelm or Dr. Morin, and let them know how bio heavy these classes were. I had a couple of classes changed after my GPA was done being tallied up and it helped. Mary did it for me last year but she's part time now, so I'm thinking Dr. Morin should be able to work the same magic. i hope. best o' luck!

Awesome, thanks! Already got one convincing letter from a prof and waiting on a second.

 

[LMMS]

They finally calculated my GPAs and all I have to say is for the science.

They used every lousy grade they could from the early 90s (even though I retook each and every one of them) and disregarded my good grades in other courses that I thought would count. I would petition, but they're graduate courses that were taught by (1) someone who passed away in 1998 and (2) someone who retired so the course is no longer taught.

 

[pennyonthefloor]

They finally calculated my GPAs and all I have to say is for the science.

They used every lousy grade they could from the early 90s (even though I retook each and every one of them) and disregarded my good grades in other courses that I thought would count. I would petition, but they're graduate courses that were taught by (1) someone who passed away in 1998 and (2) someone who retired so the course is no longer taught.

I would send an e-mail or call to ask them to re-calculate. Many of my grad school courses are heavily science based (ie: molecular epidemiology)... I politely asked to see what their classification of a "science" course was. Got an e-mail back with a response to double check my science GPA-- they went and re-calculated it. It went up 0.1. May not seem like much for some people, but I'm happy.

Never hurts to ask- what's the worst they can say? No?

 

[Woodinator15]

Woo! They finally calculated my GPAs.

I believe someone mentioned that they're evaluating everything in alphabetical order, and I am in the "W" area so they must be pretty close to being done with evaluating the science GPAs.

 

[LMMS]

I would send an e-mail or call to ask them to re-calculate. Many of my grad school courses are heavily science based (ie: molecular epidemiology)... I politely asked to see what their classification of a "science" course was. Got an e-mail back with a response to double check my science GPA-- they went and re-calculated it. It went up 0.1. May not seem like much for some people, but I'm happy.

Never hurts to ask- what's the worst they can say? No?

Ain't that the truth? Well, I called this morning and spoke with Karen. She was AMAZINGLY helpful and beyond kind in answering my questions. She was also kind enough to allow me to submit a couple of course descriptions so she could see if they could be used. Even if they do say 'no', it was great to find out how nice the folks out there are.

 

[broncogal12]

You can do it. get the syllabus from your profs and have the prof write a little ditty about how the class was a biology based class. send these (with your stating of your case) to Mary Kelm or Dr. Morin, and let them know how bio heavy these classes were. I had a couple of classes changed after my GPA was done being tallied up and it helped. Mary did it for me last year but she's part time now, so I'm thinking Dr. Morin should be able to work the same magic. i hope. best o' luck!

What email did you send it to? I sent an email to [email protected]and I sent it before the Thanksgiving break. Am I being too impatient?

 

[Pigsfoot]

What email did you send it to? I sent an email to [email protected]and I sent it before the Thanksgiving break. Am I being too impatient?

yes, that email should work....wait til the end of the week, then call? it's coming up on our finals, so they should be finishing up those GPAs for the status pages soon...but probably not finalized til after x-mas...?

 

[thedogisgreen]

I feel ridiculous. I've submitted three courses for review that I think should be part of my science GPA. It would only raise it by 0.05, so it seems so silly to bug them about it and make them put in the effort.. but I guess a tiny change can make all the difference. Fingers crossed, and really antsy for an answer.

 

[david594]

I'll throw it out there, but you U of I students(and hopefuls) are getting an awesome shelter medicine faculty member in the near future.

 

[thedogisgreen]

I'll throw it out there, but you U of I students(and hopefuls) are getting an awesome shelter medicine faculty member in the near future.

Ooo, awesome! That would definitely up Illinois on my list! Stealing faculty from the OSU?

 

[david594]

Ooo, awesome! That would definitely up Illinois on my list! Stealing faculty from the OSU?

Nah. We wish we could have him though.

 

[bbeventer]

So I have a quick questions, I just realized I forgot to change my address after I moved on my UI supp. Should I just email them and inform them of the change?

 

[broncogal12]

So I decided to call UI after not hearing from them... Whoever answered the phone was SUPER nice! She said that at this point in the game, changing your GPA doesn't matter, even if it would've raised mine by .1 .... But she informed me I have made it through to the next cycle? I guess that means I haven't been rejected yet?

 

[zoolife89]

Does anyone know if any rejection letters have gone out yet? I know last year some were sent out mid-December for those who didn't make it past the first round.

 

[squibby]

I haven't heard of any letters yet.

 

[zoolife89]

U of I has 3 stages to admissions, the first includes GPA/GRE/Rigor Points, the second includes everything else minus the interview, the third is the interview. Final admissions is based only on stages 2 and 3. If you made it to the next cycle, that means your grades and test scores were good enough and they will not being looking at them again, congrats!

 

[LMMS]

Hey all - I checked my status page for giggles and found some changes. It said that:

(1) My application review was in process.
(2) My transcripts had been reviewed.
(3) My transcript boxes have changed to say that Fall 2010 was pending as well as something about final transcripts that I can't remember.

I assume that this means I made it through to the second phase of admission, but don't want to get my hopes up. Anybody else see changes to their page??

 

[bbeventer]

I am going to go check right now! But I am stressing because I called my school today to see if my transcript has been mailed yet and they told me it hasn't!! Yikes! Anyone know if there is a deadline? I have been on the verge of tears all day.

ETA: The supplemental page isnt even loading for me to login to check. Anyone else having this problem?

 

[LMMS]

I am going to go check right now! But I am stressing because I called my school today to see if my transcript has been mailed yet and they told me it hasn't!! Yikes! Anyone know if there is a deadline? I have been on the verge of tears all day.

ETA: The supplemental page isnt even loading for me to login to check. Anyone else having this problem?

BB - Fall transcripts aren't due 'till February 1, so you have PLENTY of time!! Time to turn your frown upside down...

And yeah, just checked, and the page wouldn't load for me either. I checked yesterday from work, so I dunno what's up right now. I'm hoping it's the server having issues or something like that.

 

[bbeventer]

BB - Fall transcripts aren't due 'till February 1, so you have PLENTY of time!! Time to turn your frown upside down...

And yeah, just checked, and the page wouldn't load for me either. I checked yesterday from work, so I dunno what's up right now. I'm hoping it's the server having issues or something like that.

Oh my! Thank you!! I couldn't find the due date anywhere! Some reason I was thinking it had to be in the second week of January. Oh I feel so much better now!

 

[Whyevernot55]

Stupid status page won't open for me either - yesterday I couldn't even get to the main admissions site, now it won't load the status page when I click the link.

I want to know if I've had changes!

 

[squibby]

I just got my page to load. It looks like they are in the middle of entering my Fall grades because the courses are listed, but the grades and points aren't listed, and yet it says my transcript has been evaluated for Fall.

 

[that redhead]

Hey all - I checked my status page for giggles and found some changes. It said that:

(1) My application review was in process.
(2) My transcripts had been reviewed.
(3) My transcript boxes have changed to say that Fall 2010 was pending as well as something about final transcripts that I can't remember.

I assume that this means I made it through to the second phase of admission, but don't want to get my hopes up. Anybody else see changes to their page??

Mine have said all of those things just about all along, so I don't think it's an indication of if you've moved on to another stage.

 

[zoolife89]

I agree with redhead, my fall courses have been listed all along as well. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think we've got another week before we have any updates.

 

[LMMS]

Mine have said all of those things just about all along, so I don't think it's an indication of if you've moved on to another stage.

I agree with redhead, my fall courses have been listed all along as well. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think we've got another week before we have any updates.

Thanks for the info! Guess they were just a bit behind on my stuff, or, there was an issue with my page. Yet another reason SDN is a good thing.

 

[lalaland]

Got a UIUC rejection letter by snail mail today. There was no status update online. At least I still have a few more schools to hear from. Good luck to you all!

 

[vetmed2014]

Got a UIUC rejection letter by snail mail today. There was no status update online. At least I still have a few more schools to hear from. Good luck to you all!

Sorry to hear that, lalaland. Best of luck with your other schools! If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? (Just so I can see if I should be expecting the same letter)

 

[GreenMouse]

If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? (Just so I can see if I should be expecting the same letter)

Sorry about that, lalaland

If it helps others, I live in the same city as the school, and have not heard anything one way or the other yet. They may be sending out waves? I think it said on the website that this year they would not notify about rejections until they also send interview acceptances, but I'm guessing it still may take them a while to get all the paperwork out the door.

Good luck to everyone! I'll be anxiously checking the mail!

 

[lalaland]

Sorry to hear that, lalaland. Best of luck with your other schools! If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? (Just so I can see if I should be expecting the same letter)

I live in the same city as the school, too, and am an alum.

 

[wklash]

From what I know (I called the school earlier this week), denial letters/interview offers will go out by end of this week (snail mail!). I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from the school as well. Good luck everyone!!!!

 

[squibby]

Boy the next couple of weeks are going to be nerve wracking! It seems like all of the schools are going to send things out at the same time.

 

[bbeventer]

From what I know (I called the school earlier this week), denial letters/interview offers will go out by end of this week (snail mail!). I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from the school as well. Good luck everyone!!!!

I think they have already gone out... that is denials at least. I got mine Monday

 

[wklash]

I think they have already gone out... that is denials at least. I got mine Monday

I'm so sorry to hear that Are you in Illinois? I haven't gotten anything from them yet (in Michigan). Hopefully, you'll hear good news from other schools!!

 

[bbeventer]

I'm so sorry to hear that Are you in Illinois? I haven't gotten anything from them yet (in Michigan). Hopefully, you'll hear good news from other schools!!

Yes, I am IS. Unfortunately, I was a fool this cycle and only applied to UI and CSU and am out of the running for both. Heres to next year.

 

[AuRevoirFinance]

Did anyone actually do this:
Petition to Ignore Academic Record Completed over six years ago


as it's referred to on the website at: http://vetmed.illinois.edu/asa/brochure/03.html?

My questions: 1) were you successful and 2) what happens if you were counting on those long ago years to fulfill certain prerequisites like English or other Humanities?

I'd happily submit this petition next year but don't ever want to take an English course again.

 

[BuggerDoodle]

I petitioned for them to ignore my older grades and it was accepted, which greatly helped my GPA since my undergrad grades were horrible! Unfortunately, this does mean that you have to have 12 hours of humanities/social science within 6 years and 1 English and either a 2nd English or a speech class. I ended up having to retake these to meet these requirements but the added bonus of this is that I was able to boost my last 45 GPA by taking things like Intro to Psychology, Sociology, and other freshman classes that were fairly easy As. We haven't heard about interviews yet this year so I don't know how much it helped me but it did boost my cumulative GPA by 0.5 by doing this.