Iowa State c/o 2022 applicants

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307 --> 225.. Not holding my breath but 82 spots isn't too bad!

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Personally, I rarely used the first year books with the exceptions of Guide to the Dissection of the Dog, Guide to the Dissection of the Horse and Ruminants, and the Neuroanatomy book. I do agree with the earlier post that Duke's Physiology was supremely helpful for the vitamins/minerals unit of first semester nutrition and the GI unit of second semester histophysiology, so it may be handy to have that on standby---you can certainly rent from Amazon if you'd like, but I also urge you to check out the Buy, Sell, Trade Facebook page if you haven't yet, as you can often find upper year students selling books for reduced prices (and sometimes even free!). If you're not much of a textbook person and just want to reference them on an as-needed basis, there are a few copies available to students in the vet med library.
 
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Current Students,
I was reviewing to vet med year 1 book requirement and many of them are listed for rent on amazon. Would you recommend buying the books bc they will be used all four years, or is renting books just for the semester they are needed okay?

Thanks!

I think everyone relies on books a different amount. I personally bought quite a few, and rarely sat down to “read” them (with some exceptions I’ll mention) but even the ones I didn’t “read”, I would reference if I needed clarification on a certain subject (aka needed it explained differently than in the prof-provided PowerPoints). Other friends did use the books a lot. I think if you know where you’ll fall on the spectrum from undergrad, go ahead and buy/rent accordingly. But if you’re not sure how much you’ll actually want to use the books, it’s totally reasonable to wait and see how you feel once you get going- you’ll have time to order a book online and get it in time to be helpful if you realize you wish you had something.
That said, here are the ones I found helpful:
-Duke’s Physiology, for reasons other have mentioned. I’m about to start 4th year clinics, and going through my books to sell some. This is one I plan to keep (despite no more “exams”) bc it’s a great quick reference (e.g. if I didn’t remember much about gas exchange in the lungs and wanted to refresh my memory, this would be a good way to catch up and covers a broad range of topics). So obviously this is one I’d buy.
-Probably SOME anatomy book of some kind. First semester you’ll do dog/cat so the one most people use is Miller’s, and 2nd semester is large animal. Dyce does cover most of the species including dog/cat and could potentially be a nice reference for the whole year, to be honest I own it and can count on one hand how many times I’ve used it. There is a spiral-bound one they’ll recommend for 2nd semester, (I can’t remember the name, I think it was guide to dissection of the ruminant and (maybe?) horse)- I thought that was very helpful.
-We were “required” to buy the neuro book 2nd semester. RENT or borrow if you can at all- the book is not great.
 
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Is that your number from today?
Yeah I sent a message, she said to ask again on the 30th because they will be updating it again then!
 
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I wanted everyone's advice... Im on two waitlists (Mississippi and Iowa), If they do not work out, what would you suggest I do? I have some options.

1) I'm from NJ so that means no residency or in-state tuition unless I take a gap year after graduating and move. Definitely something I am willing to do but its so complicated and I have no one to offer advice or stories on that. Currently I work as a vet tech because NJ has no law that you need to have a cert, but I'm pretty sure I would need a cert if I wanted to get a job in another state... so IDK what kinds of jobs I could apply for. Plus if I move Im not sure if changing my address would screw with my current application if I did happen to get in off the waitlist?

2) I applied to a 1 year Tufts Infectious Disease and Global Health masters program. Only thing is I am not sure if it ends before the 2023 class would start. I was accepted today and have until May 16th to submit a 500 deposit/make a decision. My overall GPA is not spectacular because I worked full time until spring of 2017. Maybe like a 3.2 overall as of now. My last 45 last cycle was around the same mark because I had a really bad semester. Currently, If I applied next cycle my last 45 would be a 3.7 (Assuming I get the grades I am expecting this semester). So what Im thinking is a 1 year masters might increase my GPA but could potentially lower my last 45.... Also potentially I could get residency in Mass but Tufts is hard to get into even with residency (Im thinking at least) and the price difference is soooo ****ty.... I also reaaaaaaally don't want to waist 500 bucks if I did happen to get into a vet school off the wait list. Definitely not a rich lady:p

3) Take the year to work full time at my current hospital, save money, apply next cycle with what Ive got plus some extra experiences. (I already have over 4,000 hours of vet hours but its mostly small animal). My application would definitely be more competitive now that my last 45 is higher and I will have some more large animal vet experience. I could even be promoted to a manager position at my current hospital which might look good.


***So if you don't want to read all that; basically I have 3 choices 1, move and get residency before applying next cycle, 2, do a 1 year masters program in infectious diseases at tufts in the mean time before next cycle, or 3, take the time off to work and save in NJ..... If anyone has any advice about anything at all you can DM me or just reply here. <3
 
I wanted everyone's advice... Im on two waitlists (Mississippi and Iowa), If they do not work out, what would you suggest I do? I have some options.

1) I'm from NJ so that means no residency or in-state tuition unless I take a gap year after graduating and move. Definitely something I am willing to do but its so complicated and I have no one to offer advice or stories on that. Currently I work as a vet tech because NJ has no law that you need to have a cert, but I'm pretty sure I would need a cert if I wanted to get a job in another state... so IDK what kinds of jobs I could apply for. Plus if I move Im not sure if changing my address would screw with my current application if I did happen to get in off the waitlist?

2) I applied to a 1 year Tufts Infectious Disease and Global Health masters program. Only thing is I am not sure if it ends before the 2023 class would start. I was accepted today and have until May 16th to submit a 500 deposit/make a decision. My overall GPA is not spectacular because I worked full time until spring of 2017. Maybe like a 3.2 overall as of now. My last 45 last cycle was around the same mark because I had a really bad semester. Currently, If I applied next cycle my last 45 would be a 3.7 (Assuming I get the grades I am expecting this semester). So what Im thinking is a 1 year masters might increase my GPA but could potentially lower my last 45.... Also potentially I could get residency in Mass but Tufts is hard to get into even with residency (Im thinking at least) and the price difference is soooo ****ty.... I also reaaaaaaally don't want to waist 500 bucks if I did happen to get into a vet school off the wait list. Definitely not a rich lady:p

3) Take the year to work full time at my current hospital, save money, apply next cycle with what Ive got plus some extra experiences. (I already have over 4,000 hours of vet hours but its mostly small animal). My application would definitely be more competitive now that my last 45 is higher and I will have some more large animal vet experience. I could even be promoted to a manager position at my current hospital which might look good.


***So if you don't want to read all that; basically I have 3 choices 1, move and get residency before applying next cycle, 2, do a 1 year masters program in infectious diseases at tufts in the mean time before next cycle, or 3, take the time off to work and save in NJ..... If anyone has any advice about anything at all you can DM me or just reply here. <3

I don't know if my advice is going to help you, but I'm in a similar situation with my GPA not being great overall and my last 45 being strong. I was denied at my in state after an interview (Minnesota), and am up really high on the wait list here at ISU. My animal experience is also heavily concentrated in the small animal field, which was one of my weaknesses I was told during my file review. Since it is all a numbers game at MN, my 2 gen chem classes and into bio classes (C-, B-, B-) are weighed just as much as my O-chem grade (A), so they suggested re-taking those three classes to boost not only my pre-req GPA, but also last 45. So with all of this information, I decided to not reapply for the class of 2023, and retake those three classes during next fall/spring, along with getting more diverse experience (just got an internship at the wildlife rehab center along with shadowing large animal/equine vets) and reapply for the class of 2024. I plan on only applying to MN because realistically I don't want to spend $25,000 a semester and hope to have a lot better looking application after these years off. I don't know if any of this information would help you make a decision, I guess my thought process was I am young, I have a lot of time to figure my life out and an extra year off in between undergrad and vet school isn't the end of the world.
 
I don't know if my advice is going to help you, but I'm in a similar situation with my GPA not being great overall and my last 45 being strong. I was denied at my in state after an interview (Minnesota), and am up really high on the wait list here at ISU. My animal experience is also heavily concentrated in the small animal field, which was one of my weaknesses I was told during my file review. Since it is all a numbers game at MN, my 2 gen chem classes and into bio classes (C-, B-, B-) are weighed just as much as my O-chem grade (A), so they suggested re-taking those three classes to boost not only my pre-req GPA, but also last 45. So with all of this information, I decided to not reapply for the class of 2023, and retake those three classes during next fall/spring, along with getting more diverse experience (just got an internship at the wildlife rehab center along with shadowing large animal/equine vets) and reapply for the class of 2024. I plan on only applying to MN because realistically I don't want to spend $25,000 a semester and hope to have a lot better looking application after these years off. I don't know if any of this information would help you make a decision, I guess my thought process was I am young, I have a lot of time to figure my life out and an extra year off in between undergrad and vet school isn't the end of the world.
Thanks for your input. It's nice that you have that option of an in state school. NJ sucks. Unless I can get in to North Carolina I am basically spending 300,000 in total with all of the expenses... and I'm pretty sure I can't get into North Carolina. Lol. I'm leaning more towards working and repeating a few classes that I've gotten Cs in and just facing the debt. But I feel like I'd regret not taking one year off to get residency especially with all the money I'd save. Idk. So many things to consider
 
Thanks for your input. It's nice that you have that option of an in state school. NJ sucks. Unless I can get in to North Carolina I am basically spending 300,000 in total with all of the expenses... and I'm pretty sure I can't get into North Carolina. Lol. I'm leaning more towards working and repeating a few classes that I've gotten Cs in and just facing the debt. But I feel like I'd regret not taking one year off to get residency especially with all the money I'd save. Idk. So many things to consider
I definitely feel your pain! I did not have an IS either (NH :)) so I went looking for schools that considered last 45 heavily and allowed you to switch to IS after a year. My overall GPA was barely above a 3.0 so I wasn't in great shape, but I was a nontraditional student so I showed I was serious by getting all A's in my prereq's which totaled my last 45. School's need some evidence you are going to do well and succeed in their curriculum. I also applied to 8 (I think) schools and was prepared to take on the debt, but I had a plan for dealing with it (mainly PAYE and expected salaries vs living cost). I ended up getting in at Davis which does allow switching to IS after the first year and has a lot of scholarships (compared to other vet schools as far as I know). My point is this, take the year improve your last 45 as planned, maybe even earn some money. If you can move to a state with an IS I would do it, because OOS is horrendously expensive. Do your research and know what you will be getting into.
 
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I definitely feel your pain! I did not have an IS either (NH :)) so I went looking for schools that considered last 45 heavily and allowed you to switch to IS after a year. My overall GPA was barely above a 3.0 so I wasn't in great shape, but I was a nontraditional student so I showed I was serious by getting all A's in my prereq's which totaled my last 45. School's need some evidence you are going to do well and succeed in their curriculum. I also applied to 8 (I think) schools and was prepared to take on the debt, but I had a plan for dealing with it (mainly PAYE and expected salaries vs living cost). I ended up getting in at Davis which does allow switching to IS after the first year and has a lot of scholarships (compared to other vet schools as far as I know). My point is this, take the year improve your last 45 as planned, maybe even earn some money. If you can move to a state with an IS I would do it, because OOS is horrendously expensive. Do your research and know what you will be getting into.
Wow, I'm surprised, I thought Davis would be harder to get into because of how well they are ranked. Would you recommend applying there next year? Yeah, I am leaving more towards staying home and working/taking a few courses
 
I wanted everyone's advice... Im on two waitlists (Mississippi and Iowa), If they do not work out, what would you suggest I do? I have some options.

1) I'm from NJ so that means no residency or in-state tuition unless I take a gap year after graduating and move. Definitely something I am willing to do but its so complicated and I have no one to offer advice or stories on that. Currently I work as a vet tech because NJ has no law that you need to have a cert, but I'm pretty sure I would need a cert if I wanted to get a job in another state... so IDK what kinds of jobs I could apply for. Plus if I move Im not sure if changing my address would screw with my current application if I did happen to get in off the waitlist?

2) I applied to a 1 year Tufts Infectious Disease and Global Health masters program. Only thing is I am not sure if it ends before the 2023 class would start. I was accepted today and have until May 16th to submit a 500 deposit/make a decision. My overall GPA is not spectacular because I worked full time until spring of 2017. Maybe like a 3.2 overall as of now. My last 45 last cycle was around the same mark because I had a really bad semester. Currently, If I applied next cycle my last 45 would be a 3.7 (Assuming I get the grades I am expecting this semester). So what Im thinking is a 1 year masters might increase my GPA but could potentially lower my last 45.... Also potentially I could get residency in Mass but Tufts is hard to get into even with residency (Im thinking at least) and the price difference is soooo ****ty.... I also reaaaaaaally don't want to waist 500 bucks if I did happen to get into a vet school off the wait list. Definitely not a rich lady:p

3) Take the year to work full time at my current hospital, save money, apply next cycle with what Ive got plus some extra experiences. (I already have over 4,000 hours of vet hours but its mostly small animal). My application would definitely be more competitive now that my last 45 is higher and I will have some more large animal vet experience. I could even be promoted to a manager position at my current hospital which might look good.


***So if you don't want to read all that; basically I have 3 choices 1, move and get residency before applying next cycle, 2, do a 1 year masters program in infectious diseases at tufts in the mean time before next cycle, or 3, take the time off to work and save in NJ..... If anyone has any advice about anything at all you can DM me or just reply here. <3

Sent you a DM
 
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I knows everyone says that but I still have a hard time believing it! Lol.
You will still get a great education wherever you go. The ranking does not matter. At all. There were a lot of posts on a different thread about how the rankings are done. It’s a survey sent out to some people at schools only and it’s up to them to respond and send it back in. Some schools refuse to participate, some schools don’t even have the vets fill them out and it’s people in the admin office. They really do not matter.
 
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Wow, I'm surprised, I thought Davis would be harder to get into because of how well they are ranked. Would you recommend applying there next year? Yeah, I am leaving more towards staying home and working/taking a few courses
Rankings don't matter for the quality of education. Davis cares about a very specific subset of information. They care about your last 45, then your science GPA. They do not take into consideration overall GPA. After those two major factors they look at your quant GRE. Then the letters of recommendation but only how they scored you. They invite the top 10% or so of the OOS students for an interview, and after that nothing meters but the interview. Davis is super competitive, but I had a great last 45 and science because I had basically no science classes outside prereqs. So if you think you'll fit their criteria absolutely you should apply. Check out accepted student stats on their website and see how you compare on those specific criteria. Best of luck to you!
 
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Made one for you @SkiOtter :) :love:
giphy.gif


*damn, is it too big?
 
I totally forgot to take myself off of the waitlist a couple of weeks ago, and I just got a portal update with an acceptance. I was originally number 91. I will be declining. Best of luck to everyone still waiting, the list is definitely moving :)
 
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Just accepted my spot!! So thrilled. I was # 87.
 
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I totally forgot to take myself off of the waitlist a couple of weeks ago, and I just got a portal update with an acceptance. I was originally number 91. I will be declining. Best of luck to everyone still waiting, the list is definitely moving :)
Thanks for the update glad things are moving a lot!!! CONGRATS on Penn! That’s awesome!!!
 
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Thanks for the update glad things are moving a lot!!! CONGRATS on Penn! That’s awesome!!!

Thank you so much! :) Best of luck with Iowa, I’m rooting for you!!!!
 
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Just accepted my spot!! So thrilled. I was # 87.

Congrats!!!! I’ve seen you post before about how badly you want to go to ISU. So happy for you! :soexcited:
 
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Received an acceptance offer yesterday and will be declining. I was number 86 on the list. Best of luck to you all! :luck:
 
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These updates are making me excited!! congrats on those who have been accepted to Iowa or to other schools! still hoping for some good news for myself lol
 
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Rankings don't matter for the quality of education. Davis cares about a very specific subset of information. They care about your last 45, then your science GPA. They do not take into consideration overall GPA. After those two major factors they look at your quant GRE. Then the letters of recommendation but only how they scored you. They invite the top 10% or so of the OOS students for an interview, and after that nothing meters but the interview. Davis is super competitive, but I had a great last 45 and science because I had basically no science classes outside prereqs. So if you think you'll fit their criteria absolutely you should apply. Check out accepted student stats on their website and see how you compare on those specific criteria. Best of luck to you!
Oh okay. I doubt I'd fit top 10
These updates are making me excited!! congrats on those who have been accepted to Iowa or to other schools! still hoping for some good news for myself lol
I know! Same here! What # are you currently? Im 91, but I'm hoping this next update drops me down to the 70 mark. I wish it was moving faster though, I'm stressin out!
 
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Oh okay. I doubt I'd fit top 10

I know! Same here! What # are you currently? Im 91, but I'm hoping this next update drops me down to the 70 mark. I wish it was moving faster though, I'm stressin out!
Oh i'm like dead last lol so I've already started planning on applying again this fall, but I'm still hopeful!
 
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Oh i'm like dead last lol so I've already started planning on applying again this fall, but I'm still hopeful!
Well If you get in then I get in so I'll be routing for you!!!
 
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Oh okay. I doubt I'd fit top 10

I know! Same here! What # are you currently? Im 91, but I'm hoping this next update drops me down to the 70 mark. I wish it was moving faster though, I'm stressin out!

I feel ya!! I’ve finally made it out of the triple digits! I’m probably sitting pretty close to you!!! All fingers crossed for everyone enduring this stress haha truly hope we all get an offer
 
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Oh okay. I doubt I'd fit top 10

I know! Same here! What # are you currently? Im 91, but I'm hoping this next update drops me down to the 70 mark. I wish it was moving faster though, I'm stressin out!
To be honest I didn't either, but it might help to look at the accepted stats page. I'm sure you will be a great vet, wherever you go! I'm crossing my fingers for you :)
 
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To be honest I didn't either, but it might help to look at the accepted stats page. I'm sure you will be a great vet, wherever you go! I'm crossing my fingers for you :)
Thanks!!:) I'll definitely be updating this page, don't you worry :p
 
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Hi everyone!

I know some have talked a little about this but for the current CVM students on here, could you give any advice or helpful tips for the incoming class? How was your first year of vet school? What books did you actually use and what additional resources were helpful for you? Any recommendations on supplies and items that were useful for you?

First year has been good! Just heading into finals now so we’ll see by the end of the week . But some great advice I received was to start studying anatomy NOW. I used the Colorado dog all summer and it definitely saved my butt for the fall semester. Anatomy is intensive and Dr. Swamy expects the best of his students so it would save you a lot of pain to start looking at it this summer. As for helpful books I’d definitely get the Dukes Physiology and Anatomy books goes for the fall. I didn’t use any of the other books honestly but that varies between students and their preferences. Also you’ll go through lots of gloves in anatomy lab so stock up now! And I’d recommend 2 lab coats for anatomy....they get disgusting quick.
Don’t stress or freak out too much it’s honestly a fantastic experience. I haven’t been too stressed overall this year except when finals come around but that’s normal. Yes studies are important but make sure to reach out and make friends in all the classes, experience the town and events, don’t be a hermit basically haha. Mental health is super important and the experience is 100 times better when you have friends to go through it with and support you along the way. We’re all a big family and the upper classmen are usually more than happy to help you out along the way . Feel free to ask any questions! I’m happy to help and will most likely be one of the orientation leaders this August when you all come in!
 
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Anyone get an updated waitlist number? I’ll try and call on my lunch break today.
 
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Anyone get an updated waitlist number? I’ll try and call on my lunch break today.
Sent a portal message around 9 this morning. Haven’t heard back yet. Hoping to be out of the triples and into the double digits today. Highly doubt I’ll get an admission offer this class cycle but trying to remain hopeful. Was 209 at start and got to 129 as of last Monday.
 
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