Tufts 2024-2025 (c/o 2029 hopefuls)

[supershorty]

This thread is for discussing applications to Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in the 2024-2025 (class of 2029 hopefuls) cycle.

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[sophia.max]

hey everyone! i'm an incoming v28 and i just wanted to wish everyone luck with the application cycle! I'm also happy to read anyone's personal statement or supplements. hope to see everyone on campus in a few years!!

 

[fauna]

was wanting to apply OOS but currently not sure if I will be able to based on their LOR requirements

1. A faculty member who taught you a course in your major or who taught you in a science course. If you have completed graduate work, you should choose an appropriate graduate school faculty member who taught you in a course.
2. A pre-veterinary, pre-medical, or pre-health professions committee representative, or from a dean, advisor, or second faculty member as described in (#1), above.
3. A veterinarian or research scientist with whom you have had considerable experience.

I have one former professor from my major who will write me a letter but I really do not have a relationship with anyone else from my academic life. I have great connections with my work life and have two veterinarians who I have worked under from separate jobs. I graduated in December so I am no longer a student. Maybe I can make something work but as of now I have NO plan in mind.

 

[oweue]

was wanting to apply OOS but currently not sure if I will be able to based on their LOR requirements



I have one former professor from my major who will write me a letter but I really do not have a relationship with anyone else from my academic life. I have great connections with my work life and have two veterinarians who I have worked under from separate jobs. I graduated in December so I am no longer a student. Maybe I can make something work but as of now I have NO plan in mind.

i actually emailed them asking about this, graduated in may 2023 and stated i wasn't sure if i could get another professor LOR. they told me they are pretty strict about this, that is has to be another professor/advisor but can be from any department, even outside science. i worked it out eventually, chances are at least one professor will say yes! good luck!

 

[oweue]

does anyone know when tufts sent out interviews last year?

 

[max_wildlife]

Hey all, I'm a current fourth year at Tufts in the middle of clinical rotations! feel free to reach out if you have any questions. they're launching a new curriculum this year for the class of 2028 onward, so I may not be able to help too much with certain specifics, but I'm happy to answer questions about life in central Mass and what the interview process looked like (awhile ago now, but I believe unchanged).

good luck this cycle!!

 

[max_wildlife]

does anyone know when tufts sent out interviews last year?

they've pretty consistently sent out interview invites mid-January over the last few years, though in the past I believe a smaller group of people receives invites in late December as well. not sure if they're still holding that pattern.

 

[oweue]

they've pretty consistently sent out interview invites mid-January over the last few years, though in the past I believe a smaller group of people receives invites in late December as well. not sure if they're still holding that pattern.

thanks for letting me know! I saw that a few time, wondering if they will do December interviews again this year! I toured last week and loved it, hoping this cycle goes well! I’ve been working at Angell for a few years and heard so many great things about tufts

 

[Erin Hanger]

I am planning to make a video for one of the Tuft's essay questions and I am writing a script right now. The question is:

"What is your passion outside of veterinary medicine? Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you. How does this passion speak to who you are? (Please do not use an animal, veterinary, or science theme.)"

I love sewing historical costume and studying history in general. When I was a child, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia. History, and eventually sewing historical costumes, was the only thing that reliably held my attention. It taught me many things, such as resilience and hard work, helping me to overcome my disabilities. This is really want I want to write about, but now I am concerned because the prompt also says:

"This section is not meant to replace the "Explanation Statement" section of the VMCAS application. Please use that section to tell us about any extenuating circumstances or hardships you have experienced."

I am not turning it into a sob story, but I have overcome a lot of difficulties in my life and this hobby was the tool that took center stage in that. It helped me become the person I am today. Do you think this is unwise to write about? Will they consider this "extenuating circumstances"? I am only putting in 2-3 sentences about this, the rest is about my passion for the subject.

 

[_rae_]

thanks for letting me know! I saw that a few time, wondering if they will do December interviews again this year! I toured last week and loved it, hoping this cycle goes well! I’ve been working at Angell for a few years and heard so many great things about tufts

Hey again friend! I also worked at Angell and was accepted to Tufts! Let me know if you have any questions.

I am planning to make a video for one of the Tuft's essay questions and I am writing a script right now. The question is:

"What is your passion outside of veterinary medicine? Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you. How does this passion speak to who you are? (Please do not use an animal, veterinary, or science theme.)"

I love sewing historical costume and studying history in general. When I was a child, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia. History, and eventually sewing historical costumes, was the only thing that reliably held my attention. It taught me many things, such as resilience and hard work, helping me to overcome my disabilities. This is really want I want to write about, but now I am concerned because the prompt also says:

"This section is not meant to replace the "Explanation Statement" section of the VMCAS application. Please use that section to tell us about any extenuating circumstances or hardships you have experienced."

I am not turning it into a sob story, but I have overcome a lot of difficulties in my life and this hobby was the tool that took center stage in that. It helped me become the person I am today. Do you think this is unwise to write about? Will they consider this "extenuating circumstances"? I am only putting in 2-3 sentences about this, the rest is about my passion for the subject.

I wrote about knitting and how it played into my role as an activist (so similar!). I think a sentence or two about it wouldn't hurt, but I definitely wouldn't focus on it. Happy to send over the essay I wrote if you want some inspo!

 

[max_wildlife]

I am planning to make a video for one of the Tuft's essay questions and I am writing a script right now. The question is:

"What is your passion outside of veterinary medicine? Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you. How does this passion speak to who you are? (Please do not use an animal, veterinary, or science theme.)"

I love sewing historical costume and studying history in general. When I was a child, I was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia. History, and eventually sewing historical costumes, was the only thing that reliably held my attention. It taught me many things, such as resilience and hard work, helping me to overcome my disabilities. This is really want I want to write about, but now I am concerned because the prompt also says:

"This section is not meant to replace the "Explanation Statement" section of the VMCAS application. Please use that section to tell us about any extenuating circumstances or hardships you have experienced."

I am not turning it into a sob story, but I have overcome a lot of difficulties in my life and this hobby was the tool that took center stage in that. It helped me become the person I am today. Do you think this is unwise to write about? Will they consider this "extenuating circumstances"? I am only putting in 2-3 sentences about this, the rest is about my passion for the subject.

I don't think it's unwise to write about - I think keeping the explanation to 2-3 sentences sounds about right. I think they'll be happy to read about the passion so distinctly different from medicine.

I wrote my essay about how I wanted to grow up to be Indiana Jones when I was a kid. I did touch on ADHD briefly; I wrote about the struggle of deciding what path to commit to and hopping between careers, but less about the struggle itself (the diagnosis, the consequences etc) if that makes sense. I focused more on the passion I felt and joy that I got from those different careers along the way.

 

[oweue]

Hey again friend! I also worked at Angell and was accepted to Tufts! Let me know if you have any questions.


I wrote about knitting and how it played into my role as an activist (so similar!). I think a sentence or two about it wouldn't hurt, but I definitely wouldn't focus on it. Happy to send over the essay I wrote if you want some inspo!

funny, I also wrote about crochet being my passion this year! I’ve been at angell for a few years so maybe we overlapped!

 

[_rae_]

funny, I also wrote about crochet being my passion this year! I’ve been at angell for a few years so maybe we overlapped!

We definitely must have! I was there for over three years!

 

[oweue]

anyone else see at the bottom of the email from tufts the other day it says decisions released in February? I’ve heard from a few people they are considering not doing interviews and seeing they don’t have anything about interviews on the timeline, do you think there won’t be any this year?

 

[catsandsnakes]

anyone else see at the bottom of the email from tufts the other day it says decisions released in February? I’ve heard from a few people they are considering not doing interviews and seeing they don’t have anything about interviews on the timeline, do you think there won’t be any this year?

which email did you get that showed it? the most recent one i got was about their "why i chose tufts" panel haha

 

[oweue]

which email did you get that showed it? the most recent one i got was about their "why i chose tufts" panel haha

i think it’s their newsletter type one? think I get those bc I put my email in for the virtual tour

 

[catsandsnakes]

i think it’s their newsletter type one? think I get those bc I put my email in for the virtual tour

I ended up getting the email you got!! It really does seem like they aren't doing interviews -- you think they'd include that in the timeline hmm

 

[tyline]

Hey all, I'm a current fourth year at Tufts in the middle of clinical rotations! feel free to reach out if you have any questions. they're launching a new curriculum this year for the class of 2028 onward, so I may not be able to help too much with certain specifics, but I'm happy to answer questions about life in central Mass and what the interview process looked like (awhile ago now, but I believe unchanged).

good luck this cycle!!

What type of new curriculum?

 

[catsandsnakes]

What type of new curriculum?

New D.V.M. Curriculum | Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

vet.tufts.edu

 

[lianguine]

Hey all, current first year at Tufts. Dunno how often I’ll be checking SDN but if you have any questions lmk! We just started classes last week. Good luck on apps everyone

 

[oweue]

anyone else see their admissions criteria on their website says they’re 60% holistic? weird considering they have historically been very GPA heavy… I’m interested to see what their 2028 statistics are! gives me a little hope that they really are being more holistic

 

[miniaturedove]

anyone else see their admissions criteria on their website says they’re 60% holistic? weird considering they have historically been very GPA heavy… I’m interested to see what their 2028 statistics are! gives me a little hope that they really are being more holistic

I also saw on their website that they are not doing interviews this cycle!

 

[Cowsrcool]

Hey all, current first year at Tufts. Dunno how often I’ll be checking SDN but if you have any questions lmk! We just started classes last week. Good luck on apps everyone

Would love to hear your take on the current situation at tufts. Heard through the grapevine they accepted too many first years and now don’t have the facilities for the students they have. Please weigh in your honest experience !

 

[laxbro17]

Has anyone gotten an email about paying the supplemental fee or do you know when they will send it?

 

[leoa]

Has anyone gotten an email about paying the supplemental fee or do you know when they will send it?

I haven't received an email, but on VMCAS it says they will send it within a week following the VMCAS deadline, so I guess by Monday

 

[jreissatia]

I emailed them and they said they sent it yesterday but due to technical errors only a few people got it. They are currently fixing it with IT and plan to send it once fixed

 

[catsandsnakes]

I emailed them and they said they sent it yesterday but due to technical errors only a few people got it. They are currently fixing it with IT and plan to send it once fixed

Did they say when the fee itself will be due?

 

[ToeBeans25]

Did they say when the fee itself will be due?

I received an email with the payment link today saying that it would be due on the 27th. Not sure if this is the same for everyone though or if it depends on when you get the email?

 

[catsandsnakes]

I also just received the email this afternoon! I submitted my application a little over three weeks ago.

EDIT: forgot to mention that the due date was also the 27th for me!

 

[turtle36]

I got mine the day after I submitted

 

[lianguine]

Would love to hear your take on the current situation at tufts. Heard through the grapevine they accepted too many first years and now don’t have the facilities for the students they have. Please weigh in your honest experience !

They sure did! They were going for 130 class size, ended up with 180ish students accepting, and got it down to 150 currently.

The school made plans for new parking, added faculty, and a new building. I usually get to class 10-15 min early (which is late by my classmates standards) and have no issues parking. The building is a mystery but I think they said it would be up end of 2024? The AVA is only one room that fit us all, so we take all our classes there (all first years take lectures at the same time). The most annoying thing is during breaks there’s a huge line to the bathrooms.

I personally don’t have too many complaints but we’re only a few weeks in. I love most of our professors. There are lots of fun opportunities and free lunch talks. Our anatomy labs and clinical skills groups are split. Half the class does anatomy while the other half goes to the barn etc, then the next day it switches. I probably have more issues with being the guinea pigs for the new curriculum, but Tufts is very receptive to criticism and feedback. The anatomy labs/lectures were going at a weird pace so they adjusted it for us. There are bumps in a new class called Clinical Relevance working on case studies, but I’m sure it’ll be better for you guys. A lot of us think the V29 class will be big too if they’re putting all the work in for us.

 

[Cowsrcool]

They sure did! They were going for 130 class size, ended up with 180ish students accepting, and got it down to 150 currently.

The school made plans for new parking, added faculty, and a new building. I usually get to class 10-15 min early (which is late by my classmates standards) and have no issues parking. The building is a mystery but I think they said it would be up end of 2024? The AVA is only one room that fit us all, so we take all our classes there (all first years take lectures at the same time). The most annoying thing is during breaks there’s a huge line to the bathrooms.

I personally don’t have too many complaints but we’re only a few weeks in. I love most of our professors. There are lots of fun opportunities and free lunch talks. Our anatomy labs and clinical skills groups are split. Half the class does anatomy while the other half goes to the barn etc, then the next day it switches. I probably have more issues with being the guinea pigs for the new curriculum, but Tufts is very receptive to criticism and feedback. The anatomy labs/lectures were going at a weird pace so they adjusted it for us. There are bumps in a new class called Clinical Relevance working on case studies, but I’m sure it’ll be better for you guys. A lot of us think the V29 class will be big too if they’re putting all the work in for us.

Thank you for the response! Has tufts mentioned what they are doing with v29 like are they aiming for the same class size? Also how is the new curriculum working for you guys? I’ve heard it’s STACKED

 

[lianguine]

Thank you for the response! Has tufts mentioned what they are doing with v29 like are they aiming for the same class size? Also how is the new curriculum working for you guys? I’ve heard it’s STACKED

Of course! The only thing they’ve mentioned so far for you guys was getting rid of interviews. As for classes, it’s a lot. That’s def just first year in any school. Our schedule most days is 8 am - 4 or 5 pm with Tues/Fri half days. Exams are always on Fridays (but not every Fri) and many lectures have open-book asynchronous quizzes. In my head I’ve split classes into three catergories: major lectures, hands on skills courses, and busy group work classes (pass/fail). The last category was mostly where they adjusted the new cirriculum to be more group oriented. Half the class is lecture, the other half is working in a small group. I don’t worry about them at all. It’s more about balancing the big lectures with the smaller assignments from other courses. I don’t know how it compares to previous years, but my friends and I have been managing. It can be overwhelming, but they’ve stressed that they have resources if you need help/guidance. One huge difference is that many classes are required attendance because of the group work, and they’re strict on requesting excused absences beforehand. After COVID exams used to be all online at home, but now they’ve moved to online in the lecture hall.

Edit: I’ll add, the curriculum was shortened overall in length but with the same material. So things are fast. It’s a bit disorganized at times, but they are generally good with addressing complaints we have. I would hope things get smoothed out for future years.

 

[jreissatia]

That’s crazy 1400 applicants and 130 seats. Truly hoping for the best

 

[turtle36]

Email just came out with a timeline update!
It says that applicants will hear back from Tufts in 2 different waves. The first wave will go out in December and these will be the initial cuts. If you do not get an email in December it means to move onto the secondary round. Applicants will be notified in February if they move on from this point. Good luck everyone!!

 

[resistnotebook]

How does everyone else feel that no interviews are being conducted this year?

 

[turtle36]

How does everyone else feel that no interviews are being conducted this year?

Not great if I’m being honest.

 

[Cowsrcool]

How does everyone else feel that no interviews are being conducted this year?

I think it’s a double edged sword. On one hand I understand that with an overwhelming number of applicants it’s hard to organize interviews but on the other hand you would think interviews could “slim the herd” for them, rather than having to pick 130+/1400 people for spots with nothing to look at but their application stats. I think interviews are a huge plus, as it brings forward those who are truly passionate about the field and maybe also brings to light those that may be “perfect on paper” but lack ESSENTIAL skills for the field that you can’t see on paper. 🤷‍♀️

 

[keimeko]

I think since they decided after the cycle was submitted it may also be a double edged sword. I believe there was only 1 or 2 essay section? Everything you wanted to say on interview hopefully would’ve been on that essay.

 

[catsandsnakes]

I like that they will send an email about not making the initial cut, that way we don't have radio silence from them until February. I do wish interviews were held, since I had an internship in MA I was hoping to talk about in interviews, but oh well.

 

[channie]

I think it’s a double edged sword. On one hand I understand that with an overwhelming number of applicants it’s hard to organize interviews but on the other hand you would think interviews could “slim the herd” for them, rather than having to pick 130+/1400 people for spots with nothing to look at but their application stats. I think interviews are a huge plus, as it brings forward those who are truly passionate about the field and maybe also brings to light those that may be “perfect on paper” but lack ESSENTIAL skills for the field that you can’t see on paper. 🤷‍♀️

This is exactly how I feel 😭 on paper I’m not the perfect applicant but I feel like my personality and passion really shines in interviews, it’s one aspect of the process that I actually enjoy. And it gives an extra chance to showcase how much knowledge you have in the field, and that you can apply problems to real life scenarios, which can’t be shown just on the application. Definitely understand why they aren’t, but definitely hurts my chances a little more than it would for others I feel.

 

[turtle36]

A

This is exactly how I feel 😭 on paper I’m not the perfect applicant but I feel like my personality and passion really shines in interviews, it’s one aspect of the process that I actually enjoy. And it gives an extra chance to showcase how much knowledge you have in the field, and that you can apply problems to real life scenarios, which can’t be shown just on the application. Definitely understand why they aren’t, but definitely hurts my chances a little more than it would for others I feel.

Also in the age of Ai, interviewing people is a more transparent process in terms of vernacular and comprehension, as well as real-time problem solving.

 

[tal1214]

I got an email there was an update in my portal but I’m not seeing an update … anyone else having this issue?

 

[Cameron Esparza]

I got an email there was an update in my portal but I’m not seeing an update … anyone else having this issue?

Im having the same issue

 

[kotarose]

I got an email there was an update in my portal but I’m not seeing an update … anyone else having this issue?

I don't see anything either.

 

[oweue]

same…. very nervous since they said they’re sending rejections in December

 

[tal1214]

same…. very nervous since they said they’re sending rejections in December

Same that’s what I’m taking it as

 

[AmandaTucker]

I got the same email but no update. This was the school I was really hoping for so feeling bummed out at the moment.

 

[tal1214]

I got the same email but no update. This was the school I was really hoping for so feeling bummed out at the moment.

Me too

 

[shibadad]

I got an email there was an update in my portal but I’m not seeing an update … anyone else having this issue?

same here! but the email does say "Committee has completed its deliberations for some of the applicants" so I think they might have sent this email to everyone even if that person's decision isn't out yet.
I wonder if they'll keep sending out emails like this one? Or if we just need to check the portal every day now for a decision?