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Hey everyone,

I'm from Calfornia, and am struggling with the question "What do you believe the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University has to offer you that is unique:'. Having never been in Iowa, I really don't know what there is there. Honestly, I just want to go to vet school, so I'm applying pretty much everywhere.

Anyway, I looked on the website, and all I can really find is is that they have immersive summer programs.

Can anyone tell me a bit more about features of ISU (vet school or school in general)? Just a short list would be helpful, and I can look into them further. I just need some place to start, because the official website isn't super helpful.

Thanks!
 
I'm a current VM1 at ISU so I can maybe add a little insight here. In a general sense, what I love about ISU is that it is located in a relatively small midwest town just like the one I grew up in. The vet med campus is located just next to ISU's main campus. It's a relatively small campus, and you can easily walk to any building you need to get to. It's especially nice when the weather isn't favorable because all the buildings are connected so you don't have to go outside. Students here at ISU tend to be more like one big family, and people are always willing to help each other out. I love that our atmosphere isn't so competitive because if you have a competitive attitude in vet school you aren't going to be as successful. It's impossible to learn all of the info they throw at you without helping each other. Also, the clinicians here are amazing, and they truly care about helping you succeed. You can wander around the hospital and if you come across something interesting you can stop and watch. Some clinicians will even let you help them out. In a specific sense, in 2008 they built a brand new $48 million, 108,000 sq. ft. equine/food animal hospital. They just finished a $45 million small animal hospital expansion. There are opportunities for summer research, over 30 different student clubs/organizations (I'm in a bunch of these if you want to know more about them), study abroad programs, and many more things. There are a lot of great opportunities here, that's for sure. I could probably ramble on and on about how awesome it is, but I'll stop here for now. haha. No matter what kind of veterinary medicine you're interested in, ISU probably has something for you. If you have any more questions, or if I didn't answer this one very well just let me know!
 
So would you say that Iowa State has the atmosphere of a college town? That's pretty cool because I'm in a college town college right now, and I love it here. 🙂

Turns out there is a lot of stuff on the website, I just had to click through. Haha.I guess I was looking for more specific stats that I could back up my statement with. Since I'm sure every vet student could you that their faculty love to teach students and that vet students tend to become really close to their class, it's not really something "unique", though it is great that higher education in general, is so interactive.

For example, I'm personally interested in research, and saw this specific stat that said ISU is "ranked number 1 in number of citations per research paper published by SciBytes", so that helps me support why I want to go there. Do you have any specific programs you know that Iowa State is known for that you could tell me about? Or if you just want to give me a run down your favorite clubs/programs that your'e involved in, that's fine too!

Not sure if I just never knew about study abroad programs in vet school (and they're common) or if ISU is special in that respect, but that sounds awesome! I never got the chance to study abroad in undergrad, and would love to do it with respect to the veterinary field!

Thanks so much! That was super helpful!
 
Ames, IA is most definitely a college town! The school spirit around here is pretty intense too which was new to me since I went to a small private undergrad university. So far I'm liking Ames better than my hometown 🙂

There is a lot of information all over the website if you just take the time to click around. I remember finding some good stuff there when I was applying. I also knew a current student at the time from my home state so I got a lot of good info from her. So it's definitely good that you're seeking out info from current students! Adcoms like to see that you took the time to look into their program.

Now for specific clubs/organizations. There are so many I could never list them all, but I can talk about the ones I'm in and know the most about. I'm in SCAAEP (student chapter of the american association of equine practitioners), AABP (student chapter of the american association of bovine practitioners), V-SMART (veterinary student mixed animal recruitment team), Surgery Club, VBMA (veterinary business management association), and SCAVMA (student chapter of the american veterinary medical association). In equine club we'll have the opportunity to attend wet labs where we can observe/participate in things such as castration, farrier, gastroscopy, joint injections, field services, colic surgery, and ophthalmology. And every week we can go on equine rounds in the hospital where we get to go into the clinic and the residents show us what's been going on that week. In surgery club we get to do stuff like repair lab-simulated tibial fractures, learn how to do ortho surgeries and practice with the equipment, and you get to work closely with the surgeons which is good for networking. ISU is one of the top vet schools for food animal medicine so the bovine club is really popular. There are wet labs where you can do stuff like euthanasia, necropsies, liver biopsies, hoof trimming, and you can do food animal rounds in the hospital. Pretty much all of the clubs have really neat opportunities like this.

I don't know a lot about their research programs yet, but I do know that they are well known for it. I know there is a Summer Scholars program every summer where you can stay here and do research. You get paid to do it, and there are research opportunities in pretty much every aspect of vet med.

I hope I answered your questions 🙂
 
wildcatj said:
Anyone else struggling with the uniqueness essay? I'm having trouble finding anything to talk about that is actually unique and not related to animal/vet experience.
Click to expand...

So I am starting to worry as this essay still has me staring at a blank page. What is everyone's take on this?

Are they asking to just talk about aspects of your life that don't relate to animals? just like, um.. I don't even know, past jobs or something?

Or is the non-animal related yacking supposed to then loop back to veterinary medicine, somehow?

For example, I could talk about working in human medicine, but then would I need to relate what I learned there to veterinary medicine? or just talk about human medicine and call it good?

so confused and struggling😱
 
Maschka1 said:
So I am starting to worry as this essay still has me staring at a blank page. What is everyone's take on this?

Are they asking to just talk about aspects of your life that don't relate to animals? just like, um.. I don't even know, past jobs or something?

Or is the non-animal related yacking supposed to then loop back to veterinary medicine, somehow?

For example, I could talk about working in human medicine, but then would I need to relate what I learned there to veterinary medicine? or just talk about human medicine and call it good?

so confused and struggling😱
Click to expand...

I'm talking about different things I've done (that are non-veterinary, non-animal) where I've worked with diverse sets of people (all are tutoring/teaching primarily, so comes together) and am adding in some comments about how that can contribute to the ISU community--basically, highlighting characteristics of myself that are important but not scientific (communication, getting along with different types of people, etc.).

But, yes, the point as I understand it, is they want to know what makes you special and unique outside of vet stuff. So, if there are things that are cool and add diversity from past jobs, use that. Or do you have a cool hobby or were awesome at a sport or are artsy?
 
kakurubird said:
I'm talking about different things I've done (that are non-veterinary, non-animal) where I've worked with diverse sets of people (all are tutoring/teaching primarily, so comes together) and am adding in some comments about how that can contribute to the ISU community--basically, highlighting characteristics of myself that are important but not scientific (communication, getting along with different types of people, etc.).

But, yes, the point as I understand it, is they want to know what makes you special and unique outside of vet stuff. So, if there are things that are cool and add diversity from past jobs, use that. Or do you have a cool hobby or were awesome at a sport or are artsy?
Click to expand...

LOL ya. there in lies the issue. My hobby? Training service dogs, my Sport? Horse back riding. Art? umm. I am good at drywall and tile laying?

I have tried writing about the 3 jobs I have worked in that don't include animals, but I somehow keep end up bringing it back to why those experiences will make me a better vet. no clue why they would make me a better part of the student community at ISU, unless of course someone wants to buy a house 😛 ( I was a Realtor for several years)
 
Maschka1 said:
LOL ya. there in lies the issue. My hobby? Training service dogs, my Sport? Horse back riding. Art? umm. I am good at drywall and tile laying?

I have tried writing about the 3 jobs I have worked in that don't include animals, but I somehow keep end up bringing it back to why those experiences will make me a better vet. no clue why they would make me a better part of the student community at ISU, unless of course someone wants to buy a house 😛 ( I was a Realtor for several years)
Click to expand...

Then you must be a good communicator. You listen to people and help them find what they want/need. It doesn't have to be more difficult than finding little things like that. I talked about how drumline taught me dedication, loyalty, self confidence, interpersonal skills especially with difficult people. I also talked about celebrating diversity and trying new things.
 
hedgiehog said:
Then you must be a good communicator. You listen to people and help them find what they want/need. It doesn't have to be more difficult than finding little things like that. I talked about how drumline taught me dedication, loyalty, self confidence, interpersonal skills especially with difficult people. I also talked about celebrating diversity and trying new things.
Click to expand...

Yes! This is exactly what jumped to mind for me also.

Sure, being a realtor has NOTHING to do with vet med, but what have you learned about yourself?
Communication must be key to selling anything, I'm sure you had to deal with crazy people at times (patience), were you working on your own a lot of the time (independence, time management). Working with other people can include working with other students, professors, clinicians, etc. even before you're a vet.

Basically, the impression I get is they are looking for soft skills that you can use to contribute to ISU. I'm sure there aren't too many realtors in vet school anywhere, so use what you've learned from doing that to describe how you would be good for ISU.

And if you've done drywall and tile-laying, you've done construction work? You could totally do something cheesy about houses and make it a metaphor for your unique-ness and awesome-ness, I'm sure.

You can make it work!
 
So...I am also applying to Iowa too. I know they already calculated my grades, and I was trying to compare my stats versus two years ago, but I'm an OOS. Does anyone know how many OOS they take??
 
So opinions... For my uniqueness essay I'm thinking about talking about music/art and tying skills I've learned there to vet med. Totally lame? I'm having to be pretty creative with the connections so I think it'll either look like I'm totally BSing or that I'm actually making some interesting connects. Not sure which it'll be yet...
 
wildcatj said:
So opinions... For my uniqueness essay I'm thinking about talking about music/art and tying skills I've learned there to vet med. Totally lame? I'm having to be pretty creative with the connections so I think it'll either look like I'm totally BSing or that I'm actually making some interesting connects. Not sure which it'll be yet...
Click to expand...

I say go for it!

I did mine on learning a 2nd and 3rd language... I think anything is fine - it won't sound lame if it's genuine!
 
Germadirk123 said:
So...I am also applying to Iowa too. I know they already calculated my grades, and I was trying to compare my stats versus two years ago, but I'm an OOS. Does anyone know how many OOS they take??
Click to expand...

last year:

63 Iowa
26 Nebraska
60 other OOS
 
I'm confused about how they calculated my science GPA. I know everyone says that theirs is on the low side...but I don't get how they calculated mine to be a 3.05. I've calculated mine multiple ways using different classes and get a range from 3.13-3.24 depending on what classes I use. I guess it is not that big of a difference, but still 🙁
 
I know I should probably ask them this, but I thought I'd see if someone knows here first- Do only the required courses I enter on the supplemental get used to calculate the science GPA? If so, I took two semesters of A&P- I want to make sure to enter the best one (the second).

Also, did anyone happen to ask if high school/college activities included all activities through those times or only those directly related to the institution?
 
bannanababy146 said:
I'm confused about how they calculated my science GPA. I know everyone says that theirs is on the low side...but I don't get how they calculated mine to be a 3.05. I've calculated mine multiple ways using different classes and get a range from 3.13-3.24 depending on what classes I use. I guess it is not that big of a difference, but still 🙁
Click to expand...

Ask them. They calculated my cumulative GPA low and I asked them about it, explained to them how I calculated it and they agreed that I was correct and they changed it, so ask them... maybe they did make an error or at the very least you can calculate it with the answer they give you and make sure that you get the same science GPA.
 
Is anyone applying to Iowa's DVM/MBA program? Does anyone know how long their additional MBA related essay should be ?
 
dvmdreamer said:
Also, did anyone happen to ask if high school/college activities included all activities through those times or only those directly related to the institution?
Click to expand...

I asked them this directly and they said any activities in high school/college. Doesn't have to be through either school.
 
Ah! I just figured out how to post here...silly...

I'm applying to ISU and the admissions person Dr. Howard told me that it's too late to ask any more questions about prereqs. Could you help me please? I think they are getting annoyed with how often I keep asking them questions.

Thank you!!

For the general biology requirement, can I use two of these three classes: Cell Biology, Zoology, and Botany?



Do you know if there is a preference for which one of these two courses should satisfy the Mammalian Anatomy or Physiology requirement? Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy and Comparative Physiology


Also, when I enter in my course work, should I give the full name of the course next to the course number or do I just put the school code, which may look something like BI 202?



If you don't know the answer, do you think I should just put down all of the options that I think may fit, which would be one more class than the number of credit hours needed? Or should I just use my best judgement in picking and if I choose incorrectly, my transcript can be reviewed by admissions when they review my submitted file?
 
michellebell said:
Ah! I just figured out how to post here...silly...

I'm applying to ISU and the admissions person Dr. Howard told me that it's too late to ask any more questions about prereqs. Could you help me please? I think they are getting annoyed with how often I keep asking them questions.

Thank you!!

For the general biology requirement, can I use two of these three classes: Cell Biology, Zoology, and Botany?



Do you know if there is a preference for which one of these two courses should satisfy the Mammalian Anatomy or Physiology requirement? Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy and Comparative Physiology


Also, when I enter in my course work, should I give the full name of the course next to the course number or do I just put the school code, which may look something like BI 202?



If you don't know the answer, do you think I should just put down all of the options that I think may fit, which would be one more class than the number of credit hours needed? Or should I just use my best judgement in picking and if I choose incorrectly, my transcript can be reviewed by admissions when they review my submitted file?
Click to expand...

I think your biology classes are fine, if you look under their requirements page I'm pretty sure it gives zoology and cellular biology as examples. Unless I'm thinking of another school.

I put down the full name of the class because that is what they used in the example. Either way though I think they could figure it out.

If you aren't sure if one of the classes fulfills the requirements then just put all of them down to be on the safe side, I doubt it would be held against you. I'm pretty sure that's what I did for the Biology requirement.
 
Does anyone know if the supplemental fee that is supposed to be good for 2 years is only applicable to Iowa residents, or everyone????
 
michellebell said:
For the general biology requirement, can I use two of these three classes: Cell Biology, Zoology, and Botany?
Click to expand...
Botany -- I doubt it. Cell biology and zoology -- potentially, if the zoology course is a general overview course and both courses had a lab component. If not, I doubt it.

Here are the descriptions for the ISU courses that fulfill the general biology requirement:
BIOL 211. Principles of Biology I.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: High school biology and chemistry or credit or enrollment in CHEM 163 or CHEM 177
Introduction to the nature of life, including the cellular basis of life; the nature of heredity; evolution; diversity of microbial, plant, and animal life; and principles of ecology. Intended for life science majors. First of core series of required courses for the biology major.
​
BIOL 212. Principles of Biology II.
(3-0) Cr. 3. F.S. Prereq: BIOL 211
Introduction to the nature of life, including the cellular basis of life; energy relationships; the nature of heredity; evolution; form and function of microbial, plant, and animal life.
​
Do you know if there is a preference for which one of these two courses should satisfy the Mammalian Anatomy or Physiology requirement? Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy and Comparative Physiology
Click to expand...
There's no preference if both fulfill the requirement.
Also, when I enter in my course work, should I give the full name of the course next to the course number or do I just put the school code, which may look something like BI 202?
Click to expand...
I'd list both. Course numbers don't mean much outside of any given institution.
 
sarah1029 said:
Does anyone know if the supplemental fee that is supposed to be good for 2 years is only applicable to Iowa residents, or everyone????
Click to expand...
I'm not sure where you got that the fee is good for 2 years?
 
sarah1029 said:
Does anyone know if the supplemental fee that is supposed to be good for 2 years is only applicable to Iowa residents, or everyone????
Click to expand...

Since it doesn't say anything specific, I would assume everyone.

If you're in that position though, I'd give them a call just to make sure it's okay and that they know that's your situation (as in, make sure there's nothing else you need to do so that your application doesn't get tossed for being incomplete).


cuitlamiztli said:
I'm not sure where you got that the fee is good for 2 years?
Click to expand...

Maybe it's a new thing? The status page for the supplemental says: "Please Note - Processing fees are good for two consecutive years."
 
cuitlamiztli said:
I'm not sure where you got that the fee is good for 2 years?
Click to expand...

On the supplemental application it says the processing fee is good for two years. I applied last year but didn't get in and my processing fee status says 2nd time applicant.
 
kakurubird said:
Maybe it's a new thing? The status page for the supplemental says: "Please Note - Processing fees are good for two consecutive years."
Click to expand...
hedgiehog said:
On the supplemental application it says the processing fee is good for two years. I applied last year but didn't get in and my processing fee status says 2nd time applicant.
Click to expand...
Ah, gotcha.
 
Question: Does anyone else not have their GPA's calculated? They have my transcript listed as received 8/20, but I don't have anything calculated.
 
The supplemental fee is definitely good for two years. I applied last year and the year before and did not have to pay the supplemental fee last year, which was really nice because ISU's supplemental fee is one of the most expensive.
 
DVMDream said:
The supplemental fee is definitely good for two years. I applied last year and the year before and did not have to pay the supplemental fee last year, which was really nice because ISU's supplemental fee is one of the most expensive.
Click to expand...

Missouri's was $100 this year. 🙁 Makes $75 look relatively cheap, especially since it's two years.


wildcat, I have my GPAs calculated and my last transcript was received 8/17. I remember it being calculated within a week or so--I was surprised how quick. Maybe give them a call?
My signature page/fee aren't listed as received yet, but only mailed them last Tuesday, so I'm sure it will take a lot longer now processing things. I'm sure more is being received now than the beginning of August!
 
kakurubird said:
Missouri's was $100 this year. 🙁 Makes $75 look relatively cheap, especially since it's two years.


wildcat, I have my GPAs calculated and my last transcript was received 8/17. I remember it being calculated within a week or so--I was surprised how quick. Maybe give them a call?
My signature page/fee aren't listed as received yet, but only mailed them last Tuesday, so I'm sure it will take a lot longer now processing things. I'm sure more is being received now than the beginning of August!
Click to expand...

I love how speedy Iowa is, emailed them an hour ago and they already responded to tell me no worries, they just haven't gotten to my transcript yet.
And yeah, I was not pleased about Mizzou's app fee. That was a bummer.
 
wildcatj said:
I love how speedy Iowa is, emailed them an hour ago and they already responded to tell me no worries, they just haven't gotten to my transcript yet.
And yeah, I was not pleased about Mizzou's app fee. That was a bummer.
Click to expand...

my GPAs weren't calculated yet either. Transcripts arrived 8/20

Sent from my PC36100 using SDN Mobile
 
wildcatj said:
I love how speedy Iowa is, emailed them an hour ago and they already responded to tell me no worries, they just haven't gotten to my transcript yet.
And yeah, I was not pleased about Mizzou's app fee. That was a bummer.
Click to expand...

👍
I have been really impressed with how quickly they answered some of my prereq questions!
 
kakurubird said:
👍
I have been really impressed with how quickly they answered some of my prereq questions!
Click to expand...

Especially, if I may so, in comparison to Ohio. I had to email back and forth with them for 2 months to finally get any sort of answer about pre-reqs. It was pretty sucky.
 
wildcatj said:
Especially, if I may so, in comparison to Ohio. I had to email back and forth with them for 2 months to finally get any sort of answer about pre-reqs. It was pretty sucky.
Click to expand...

YES. I did finally get answers from them, and answers that were helpful, but, still, took MUCH longer.

Though, to be fair, Iowa often got back to me within a few hours and it's hard to be much quicker than that. A few days in comparison is much longer than same morning!
 
kakurubird said:
YES. I did finally get answers from them, and answers that were helpful, but, still, took MUCH longer.

Though, to be fair, Iowa often got back to me within a few hours and it's hard to be much quicker than that. A few days in comparison is much longer than same morning!
Click to expand...

I was waiting two weeks in between emails with the professional admissions folks. There were a few times where I had to email back at 2 weeks just to ask the same thing again. And answers were so vague... Eventually it got squared away, but I was getting nervous. I probably just should have called, but I would have had to email them info anyways.
 
So I still haven't had my GPA's calculated. I messaged and they told me not to worry, but what gives! They've had my transcripts since the middle of August.
 
wildcatj said:
So I still haven't had my GPA's calculated. I messaged and they told me not to worry, but what gives! They've had my transcripts since the middle of August.
Click to expand...

Mine either. I sent my transcripts at the beginning of Sept, but I just sent my VMCAS a week ago. I would imagine they wait until they have that, as they have no way of knowing if they have ALL transcripts until they have the application. And now they have tons to sort through, so I'm guessing it will be be a week or two. I'm anxious to see mine too, since I've been reading how its calculated oddly.
 
Have any of your GPAs updated? Mine hasn't and they've had my transcript for about 3 weeks now.
 
ThrowMeABone said:
Have any of your GPAs updated? Mine hasn't and they've had my transcript for about 3 weeks now.
Click to expand...

I'm still waiting impatiently on mine and they've had my transcripts since the middle/end of August.
 
Maybe they are busy reviewing IS files so they can make decisions for the first round of interviews and have the grunt work of OOS gpa calculations on the back burner :/
 
My GPA's finally got calculated. Not as high as I would have liked, but that's to be expected with ISU.
 
dvmdreamer said:
No... mine changed the day after I submitted. I would call.

:luck::luck: <--for you
Click to expand...

Thank you, I mean I know they have a lot of stuff to put together but I was kind of figuring that would be quicker.. I will definitely give them a call tomorrow 🙄
 
I sent Kathy a message and she said she just overlooked updating my status to received but they do in fact have it. On another note, does anyone here know Iowa still takes into account the cumulative GPA as well as the science and last 45? Last year they did but this year I dont see a spot for that on my status page.
 
According to the Selection Criteria section it looks like it is just the science and last 45 credit hours:
"GPA (35%) - Includes required science course GPA and last 45 credit GPA. Both GPAs considered are weighted equally."

Just an FYI for others who were waiting as well, today my GPA calculations were posted.
 
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