futurevets
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I am currently studying at RUSVM and I would like to share with you my experience so far. Those who might still be undecided can benefit from this. However, keep in mind that this is MY experience, other students can have similar or different experiences than mine.
First, I will start with the good stuff, the positive stuff, YAYYY!!!
1. The application process is super fast and even tho I had some issues during my application process, it was all due to COVID so it was not their fault. Even then the application process was a very positive experience.
2. The interview, it was excellent. I enjoyed it a lot and honestly the lady made me feel very comfortable and not nervous at all.
3. They look at applicants in a holistic way, they don't focus only on gpa or GRE scores but they take a look at your overall experience.
4. Once you are accepted they will set u up on a fb group and you will have the ability to get to know your classmates. There will be students explaining to you the whole process and it feels very welcoming. You will even have an upper add you on a whatsapp group so you can ask as many questions as you would like. This helped a lot!
5. The student success center will be there to help you out. Granted, their advice is not always the best because everyone learns differently but they are there for you and will help you to improve your study techniques.
6. A lot of support from students 🙂
Now, let's talk about the bad.... yup, there's always good and bad for everything...
1. BLOCKS... ok, let's be honest! I have a love/hate relationship with the blocks so it is not a bad thing honestly. It is more positive than negative HOWEVER, whether you like blocks or not you will burn out.
-The good thing about blocks is that it forces you to study and stay on top of the material
-The bad thing about blocks is that you need to study constantly and because they have a cumulative portion of 4 old questions from previous material, you can still fail the block easily if u didn't learn the material well enough the previous weeks. It doesn't matter if you get all the new material questions right, if you get wrong the old ones u literally fail the block (i do not know how this works for uppers but for lower semesters is like this).
The blocks situation is hard to understand unless you have taken them.
2. 2 weeks break. This is an accelerated program and you only get 2 weeks breaks and 3 weeks break in winter. This may be good for some people but not good for others. It all depends... honestly i think 2 weeks is not enough. Why? if I had a longer break Id be doing internships, externships, shadowing, getting involved in activities to learn more about the real world in vet med. Because I only have 2 weeks breaks, I just want to sleep, lay in bed and watch netflix the entire time because after finals you are literally burnt out.
I know i know.... I knew about the break situation before applying but I thought it was not going to be that bad. Well, I couldnt be more wrong! too late to change my mind now. Ill have to suck it up.
3. Mental health. I won't lie, the constant stress of having blocks, of having that pressure to do well on the blocks each week otherwise you can fail a class, the constant pressure of thinking " am i learning this or am i just cramming it?" is just exhausting. Why do I say this? every week I feel like I am cramming and not learning things correctly because IT IS SO MUCH MATERIAL TO LEARN IN A WEEK that there is no other way to do this but to cram!!!!. I am not Einstein so if you have a way to do this more efficiently let me know!
Now I wonder how well this will go in the NAVLE... (if i make it) lol. I am constantly wondering if I am learning enough to pass the NAVLE.
4. NAVLE. Please be aware that Ross pass navle rate is not good. As a matter of fact they got a warning from AVMA not long ago and now they went back to 80% (dUe To CoViD) lol. Even during a pandemic, no other vet school had such a drop on navle pass rate than Ross. If they go lower than 80 they will be in serious trouble and you can kiss goodbye to the accreditation. They have been trying to improve this but it looks like all decisions they make are the wrong ones. Other vet schools in the Caribbean have way higher navle pass rates, even the one that is not accredited which to me honestly is EMBARRASSING.
Let's see what data shows for the upcoming years. Cant wait to know if blocks will help to increase the navle pass rate.
5. The fail out rate and the rate of those that fail is high. Now, they dont give us those numbers but i can tell you right here, right now, that a looooooooooooot of people fail out. If you fail 2 classes in one semester you are out. If you fail 3 classes during your time at Ross, you are out!!! They don't care if you are about to go to clinical, if you fail 2 classes during your last semester in the island, you will get kicked out and better pray you have a good reason to tell them why that happened. The committee deny more students than they let back in.
They say if you fail 3 classes or more you wont be able to complete clinical rotations in other universities but that is a lie because I have talked to numerous students from different places and their schools dont work that way. True, it limits you where you can apply to clinical but the international vet schools are very lenient about this. Based on their own presentation about how to apply to clinicals, Royal accept 4 or more fails, there is another university that accept students with a 2.0 GPA and 4 or more fails etc... you get the point.
This being said, if you come here be better to study a lot and work your butt off so you dont find yourself in this kind of situation.
6. Last I will say the hardest part is having to lose friends over and over, making friends over and over. Why? like I said above, a lot of people fail out. It's a bitter sweet situation because you want to celebrate and be 100% happy when you pass but how can you? when you keep getting messages from those who helped you out telling you "i couldnt make it?"
I have wanted to scream so many times and complain about how hard this stuff is but most of the time I just suck it up because I do not want to project any negativity towards my classmates but this is hard!!! not being able to vent as you want sucks.
Overall, Ross is a good place, the island is beautiful. The support you have from classmates is strong and Ross gives you a chance to become a veterinarian. If you come here please dont party too much, stay on top of everything and study your butt off. I've cried, I have had so many thoughts of quitting, I have been miserable but I keep thinking it will be worth it one day.
Hope you the best!
First, I will start with the good stuff, the positive stuff, YAYYY!!!
1. The application process is super fast and even tho I had some issues during my application process, it was all due to COVID so it was not their fault. Even then the application process was a very positive experience.
2. The interview, it was excellent. I enjoyed it a lot and honestly the lady made me feel very comfortable and not nervous at all.
3. They look at applicants in a holistic way, they don't focus only on gpa or GRE scores but they take a look at your overall experience.
4. Once you are accepted they will set u up on a fb group and you will have the ability to get to know your classmates. There will be students explaining to you the whole process and it feels very welcoming. You will even have an upper add you on a whatsapp group so you can ask as many questions as you would like. This helped a lot!
5. The student success center will be there to help you out. Granted, their advice is not always the best because everyone learns differently but they are there for you and will help you to improve your study techniques.
6. A lot of support from students 🙂
Now, let's talk about the bad.... yup, there's always good and bad for everything...
1. BLOCKS... ok, let's be honest! I have a love/hate relationship with the blocks so it is not a bad thing honestly. It is more positive than negative HOWEVER, whether you like blocks or not you will burn out.
-The good thing about blocks is that it forces you to study and stay on top of the material
-The bad thing about blocks is that you need to study constantly and because they have a cumulative portion of 4 old questions from previous material, you can still fail the block easily if u didn't learn the material well enough the previous weeks. It doesn't matter if you get all the new material questions right, if you get wrong the old ones u literally fail the block (i do not know how this works for uppers but for lower semesters is like this).
The blocks situation is hard to understand unless you have taken them.
2. 2 weeks break. This is an accelerated program and you only get 2 weeks breaks and 3 weeks break in winter. This may be good for some people but not good for others. It all depends... honestly i think 2 weeks is not enough. Why? if I had a longer break Id be doing internships, externships, shadowing, getting involved in activities to learn more about the real world in vet med. Because I only have 2 weeks breaks, I just want to sleep, lay in bed and watch netflix the entire time because after finals you are literally burnt out.
I know i know.... I knew about the break situation before applying but I thought it was not going to be that bad. Well, I couldnt be more wrong! too late to change my mind now. Ill have to suck it up.
3. Mental health. I won't lie, the constant stress of having blocks, of having that pressure to do well on the blocks each week otherwise you can fail a class, the constant pressure of thinking " am i learning this or am i just cramming it?" is just exhausting. Why do I say this? every week I feel like I am cramming and not learning things correctly because IT IS SO MUCH MATERIAL TO LEARN IN A WEEK that there is no other way to do this but to cram!!!!. I am not Einstein so if you have a way to do this more efficiently let me know!
Now I wonder how well this will go in the NAVLE... (if i make it) lol. I am constantly wondering if I am learning enough to pass the NAVLE.
4. NAVLE. Please be aware that Ross pass navle rate is not good. As a matter of fact they got a warning from AVMA not long ago and now they went back to 80% (dUe To CoViD) lol. Even during a pandemic, no other vet school had such a drop on navle pass rate than Ross. If they go lower than 80 they will be in serious trouble and you can kiss goodbye to the accreditation. They have been trying to improve this but it looks like all decisions they make are the wrong ones. Other vet schools in the Caribbean have way higher navle pass rates, even the one that is not accredited which to me honestly is EMBARRASSING.
Let's see what data shows for the upcoming years. Cant wait to know if blocks will help to increase the navle pass rate.
5. The fail out rate and the rate of those that fail is high. Now, they dont give us those numbers but i can tell you right here, right now, that a looooooooooooot of people fail out. If you fail 2 classes in one semester you are out. If you fail 3 classes during your time at Ross, you are out!!! They don't care if you are about to go to clinical, if you fail 2 classes during your last semester in the island, you will get kicked out and better pray you have a good reason to tell them why that happened. The committee deny more students than they let back in.
They say if you fail 3 classes or more you wont be able to complete clinical rotations in other universities but that is a lie because I have talked to numerous students from different places and their schools dont work that way. True, it limits you where you can apply to clinical but the international vet schools are very lenient about this. Based on their own presentation about how to apply to clinicals, Royal accept 4 or more fails, there is another university that accept students with a 2.0 GPA and 4 or more fails etc... you get the point.
This being said, if you come here be better to study a lot and work your butt off so you dont find yourself in this kind of situation.
6. Last I will say the hardest part is having to lose friends over and over, making friends over and over. Why? like I said above, a lot of people fail out. It's a bitter sweet situation because you want to celebrate and be 100% happy when you pass but how can you? when you keep getting messages from those who helped you out telling you "i couldnt make it?"
I have wanted to scream so many times and complain about how hard this stuff is but most of the time I just suck it up because I do not want to project any negativity towards my classmates but this is hard!!! not being able to vent as you want sucks.
Overall, Ross is a good place, the island is beautiful. The support you have from classmates is strong and Ross gives you a chance to become a veterinarian. If you come here please dont party too much, stay on top of everything and study your butt off. I've cried, I have had so many thoughts of quitting, I have been miserable but I keep thinking it will be worth it one day.
Hope you the best!
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