Is it true that people who get into vet schools have around 3.7~4.0 GPA?

[orca2011]

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I personally think UF does a TERRIBLE job at testing the important stuff. I would say most of us are learning how to ace tests, instead of what's important the rest of our careers. I try to learn the material, to KNOW the material so I can be a good veterinarian. UF wants you to be a good 40 question MC (100% of your grade) test taker on the most arbitrary CRAP that you will NEVER see, ever again in your life. It pisses me off.

(This is probably what most first years are like, hoping 2nd year is better )

Anyway, I try to just focus on myself, learn what is important for my future of helping living beings, and take the grades that come along with it. People forget that your grades will most likely sky rocket in clinics if you actually LEARNED the material. The important part of SCHOOL.

/end rant. Sorry

Heh...this is how I feel a lot of our tests are like here...so you're not alone. Many of the professors repeat questions, so if you don't look at your test box, you can be really screwed. I had a hard time doing that the first semester because I want to LEARN the material and not just remember answers/recognize questions from another test. But I've learned to look through them a little bit. Maybe not as much as other students, but it has helped my grades I think...or I've found a way of studying that works and just haven't really realized it...not sure which.

 

[LetItSnow]

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I personally think UF does a TERRIBLE job at testing the important stuff. I would say most of us are learning how to ace tests, instead of what's important the rest of our careers. I try to learn the material, to KNOW the material so I can be a good veterinarian. UF wants you to be a good 40 question MC (100% of your grade) test taker on the most arbitrary CRAP that you will NEVER see, ever again in your life. It pisses me off.

(This is probably what most first years are like, hoping 2nd year is better )

I think it's more instructor-dependent than year-dependent. The overall material starts to get more interesting and relevant in 2nd year, but the exams are still widely variable. Seems like some instructors test based on what they think you <need> to know, and some intentionally pick out random minor nitpicky details just to test whether you studied the entirety of their material. Probably a universal truth.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I think it's more instructor-dependent than year-dependent. The overall material starts to get more interesting and relevant in 2nd year, but the exams are still widely variable. Seems like some instructors test based on what they think you <need> to know, and some intentionally pick out random minor nitpicky details just to test whether you studied the entirety of their material. Probably a universal truth.

Maybe this is just me being a crotchety old man, and maybe I have said this before (yeah, yeah... cue the old man jokes), but I think the change in teaching style has had a large impact on testing style.

I think most instructors feel like they have already sifted through the material and given you a small subset in their powerpoints etc, and therefore it is ok to test you on anything in their presentation. In the past, I found that part of being a test taker was knowing what was important in all the material, now it is ALL important in the instructor's eyes. I think this is a flaw in the process. I found this true not just at vet school, just that it is amplified here.

Another example of the subversive quality of technology. No one teaches, they just present. And I have no problem with powerpoints, in biz, I used powerpoints in presentations all the time, except I didn't rely on them... they were an adjunct to my powers of persuasion, not a replacement.

 

[Emiloo4]

Maybe this is just me being a crotchety old man, and maybe I have said this before (yeah, yeah... cue the old man jokes), but I think the change in teaching style has had a large impact on testing style.

I think most instructors feel like they have already sifted through the material and given you a small subset in their powerpoints etc, and therefore it is ok to test you on anything in their presentation. In the past, I found that part of being a test taker was knowing what was important in all the material, now it is ALL important in the instructor's eyes. I think this is a flaw in the process. I found this true not just at vet school, just that it is amplified here.

Another example of the subversive quality of technology. No one teaches, they just present. And I have no problem with powerpoints, in biz, I used powerpoints in presentations all the time, except I didn't rely on them... they were an adjunct to my powers of persuasion, not a replacement.

Our behavior professor read word-for-stinking-word off of every stinking slide like a book. As a visual person, I appreciate them as a way to follow along, but I don't appreciate being read to from them.

 

[RinTinTin]

Our behavior professor read word-for-stinking-word off of every stinking slide like a book. As a visual person, I appreciate them as a way to follow along, but I don't appreciate being read to from them.

I've had these professors in undergrad (just had one this semester actually) and I absolutely hate it. What is the point in even going to class if all they are going to do is read directly off of the notes they've given you?! I can learn it just as well reading it to myself if there is not going to be any further explanation. 😡

 

[KCgophervet]

I've had these professors in undergrad (just had one this semester actually) and I absolutely hate it. What is the point in even going to class if all they are going to do is read directly off of the notes they've given you?! I can learn it just as well reading it to myself if there is not going to be any further explanation. 😡

That was basically my undergrad Physiology course last semester. It was actually worse to go to class because occasionally the professor would go off on tangents, lose focus, or just plain say the wrong thing or give conflicting information. I stopped going to class, only showed up on the exam days, and actually did better than many people who went to class. The professor did not get the nicest review from me... I mean you're being paid (not much I know, but still) to teach students, who are paying through the nose to learn from you, the least you can do is actually put a little effort into it instead of just reading off notes you made 5+ years ago.

 

[StartingoverVet]

That was basically my undergrad Physiology course last semester. It was actually worse to go to class because occasionally the professor would go off on tangents, lose focus, or just plain say the wrong thing or give conflicting information. I stopped going to class, only showed up on the exam days, and actually did better than many people who went to class. The professor did not get the nicest review from me... I mean you're being paid (not much I know, but still) to teach students, who are paying through the nose to learn from you, the least you can do is actually put a little effort into it instead of just reading off notes you made 5+ years ago.

OMG, I have this happen a lot. Lecturers often "misspeak" and then I remember their incorrect information and get it wrong. In undergrad, without recordings, profs would always deny they had misspoke, now I have evidence of their errors (not that they care... "it was correct in the powerpoint" is the usual response... as if I am supposed to have time to verify every detail of their power points).

 

[DVMDream]

OMG, I have this happen a lot. Lecturers often "misspeak" and then I remember their incorrect information and get it wrong. In undergrad, without recordings, profs would always deny they had misspoke, now I have evidence of their errors (not that they care... "it was correct in the powerpoint" is the usual response... as if I am supposed to have time to verify every detail of their power points).

I love it when you have two lecturers tell you the exact opposite thing and both have the exact opposite thing in the notes, so then you bring it to their attention and they just kind of babble and blab and then say, "yeah this is right." Umm... ok, then. That cleared that up.

 

[Emiloo4]

I love it when you have two lecturers tell you the exact opposite thing and both have the exact opposite thing in the notes, so then you bring it to their attention and they just kind of babble and blab and then say, "yeah this is right." Umm... ok, then. That cleared that up.

This was my entire repro exam. 5 people, 5 conflicting answers, each of their different answers as choices. I mean, what is that? 😡

 

[Foxhunter]

This was my entire repro exam. 5 people, 5 conflicting answers, each of their different answers as choices. I mean, what is that? 😡

Apparently the first years had professors with "differing opinions" on a "fact" that were both teaching the same class. Both professor had questions about that fact on the exam, so no one knew how to answer. Like seriously- don't take your beef out on the students.

 

[Emiloo4]

.

 

[Emiloo4]

Apparently the first years had professors with "differing opinions" on a "fact" that were both teaching the same class. Both professor had questions about that fact on the exam, so no one knew how to answer. Like seriously- don't take your beef out on the students.

Exactly! That's what it was for us. We would ask to have it clarified and no one would budge.

 

[DVMDream]

This was my entire repro exam. 5 people, 5 conflicting answers, each of their different answers as choices. I mean, what is that? 😡

I have said this a few times lately in the lounge, but it needs repeating:

REPRO SUCKS!!! I HATES IT WITH A PASSION!!

And the prof who teaches it keeps changing up his answers and what is "correct". Just

I really hope I don't have to deal with that prof ever again, because he is the worst teacher that we have had yet. It is horrible. He can't simply explain a problem he always takes some long-ass detour to finally explain the problem. And even when he finally does explain it good luck understanding the guy, he mumbles, has a thick accent from I don't know where and talks really, really quietly.

 

[Frozenshades]

I love it when you have two lecturers tell you the exact opposite thing and both have the exact opposite thing in the notes, so then you bring it to their attention and they just kind of babble and blab and then say, "yeah this is right." Umm... ok, then. That cleared that up.

Ugh, I hate that! Especially when it's something that's not very well understood, so what they've told you is just sort of conjecture and you have no real way to look it up and see what's right.

If it came up on an exam I just stuck to using what that professor had in their notes (unless they specifically made an announcement/sent out an email correcting it), that way if it gets counted wrong you have written proof that according to the prof's notes your answer was right, and can only hope that's convincing enough for them. Frustrating.

 

[1103]

Yes my GPA is pretty low..2.9-3.2 Pre-req and only 2.8 overall, with a 2.8 last 45. I also worked full time took 17 credits and have a business degree. I have a learning disability as well. I also did research like you in Costa Rica, volunteer work in Mexico and soooo much more....I am hoping I am lucky....Where did you get in?

 

[twelvetigers]

*looks around*

Errr...

You've got about a 5 month delay here. Just in case you didn't notice the date of the original posts.

 

[MassDVMMPH]

Yeah, there is an Irish Pub on Main St. I've never been. We tried to go on New Years day to watch the Michigan vs Carolina bowl game but they were closed due to pluming issues. Must have been a crazy New Years Eve Party gone awry. But I'd love to check it out. I'll be here all summer-PM me when you get to town.

Oh, and so I'm not entirely hijacking this thread: I agree that grades, while important are not the only factor in getting into vet school. I think it was LIS who suggested the OP look more into the process to calm his/her nerves about the process. That's great advice.
Also great advice is to stop whining now about how hard life is. Whatever your circumstance, someone has it worse than you. (For example I just found out from a friend in an MPH program that in VA alone up to 30% of the population doesn't have adequate/sanitary waste removal plumbing systems in their house. Thus they have human waste cesspools on their property.) What matters is not the cards life has dealt you, but how you play them. Buck up, OP and start walking the walk! You can do this if you want it!

There's nothing inherently wrong with having a cesspool on your property - lots of people who live in rural areas do - my parents still have one and have it pumped out by the "honeywagon" regularly. They've lived in their home for almost 60 years. They have 4 acres of land and are surrounded by 30 more acres owned by a neighbor - it's a beautiful area.