UC Davis c/o 2024 (hopefully)

[Coopah]

Current third year here!

1) The schedule varies daily, but in first year I would say it's typically lectures in the morning 9-12, then 2-3 hours in lab in the afternoon. Some days are shorter and occasionally you'll be there all day 9-5. You always get an hour break for lunch. In first year you rarely start before 9am (except during orientation week) and never end later than 5pm. There are no weekend responsibilities until fourth year. In second year there are more 8am classes but you're still out by 5pm. In third year 8am is the typical start time and on your surgery days (a few times per month), you'll start at 7am, with class in the morning and labs that run from noon to whenever you finish your surgery (usually between 5:30 and 7pm) plus a 9pm night check. Fourth year is a whole other beast, with early mornings, late nights, and weekend duties.

Keep in mind that at least currently, most of our lectures are recorded and attendance is not strictly mandatory, so you can choose to watch the recordings instead of attending in person. This is kind of frowned upon by the professors but it's ok to do. Discussion sessions and labs are mandatory and attendance is taken via swiping in with your ID badge.

In terms of studying, I would say I do around 2-3 hours per weekday. Less if it's a light week, more if it's an exam week. On the weekends it probably varies from 8 to zero hours depending on how caught up I am. In first year the exams are fairly spread out so you have more time. In second year you have an exam just about every week (and sometimes it's a Friday exam that covers everything you learned Monday-Thursday) so you really have to stay on top of everything. People who are planning on going into academic internships and residency probably study more. You just have to find your rhythm and how you study best, both effectively AND efficiently. Personally, I have to be really efficient with my study time because a) I commute 45 minutes each way to school, b) I have a small child to take care of when I get home, and c) I have to get enough sleep or my health starts to suffer. So I try to treat school like a job and spend 8-9 hours per day on it, either in class or studying. Evenings and weekends are reserved for family time and nights for rest. I don't pull all nighters, but I also don't do a lot of extracurriculars or unstructured free time. It all works out.

2) I don't think it's really possible to get a jump on the vet school curriculum, honestly. There is so much info coming at you so fast that everyone's in the same boat no matter how prepared they were coming in. But if you're set on taking a class, I would vote histology. They'll go over relevant anatomy with you in each block. I didn't have any histology or microscopy skills coming in and they spend less time teaching that than they do anatomy.

3) Do whichever is cheapest! Saving money is really important. Personally, I do neither - I live with my husband and child. But I'm not the norm. Most of my classmates live with other vet students, which is cheaper than living alone and (if all goes well) gives you a built-in social network and study buddies. Keep in mind that the housing scene in Davis is pretty competitive so it's often easier to go in on something with some roommates.

4) Most people wear jeans or leggings with casual tops, like t-shirts or fleeces. Large animal people wear boots. A lot of people wear scrubs to class if they have lab that day. There is a group of people in our class who used to wear animal onesies on exam days. There's no dress code so you can wear whatever you want, but you should exercise good judgment because vet med is a smaller world than most students realize. Inappropriate or revealing clothes would be very out of place.

Feel free to ask any other questions! I absolutely love Davis and I'm so glad to be here. I'm also happy to be a resource for any returning/nontraditional students wondering about life in vet school.

You know, I never figured out who you were, but I just did

Hi there!

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[Lucy410]

You know, I never figured out who you were, but I just did

Hi there!

Hi! Yep, the details in this post pretty much narrow it down haha.

(For everyone else, there are only three people in our class with kids, and only one of us does this crazy commute!)

 

[DVM2024]

Well, just got my interview rejection! My stats were good but they were at the low end of the average out-of-state stats. Bummed but it was worth a shot! Best of luck to everyone!

 

[schlagzeugerin]

Just got rejected out of state as well! Good luck to everyone

 

[justwannabeavet]

Well, just got my interview rejection! My stats were good but they were at the low end of the average out-of-state stats. Bummed but it was worth a shot! Best of luck to everyone!

I am so sorry to hear that, good luck in the rest! How did you receive it?

 

[EngrSC]

Also rejected OOS! Can’t say I’m too upset about it, as I wasn’t to keen on moving back to California anyway.

Good luck to everyone that is invited to interview!

 

[meelc]

Just checked my portal and I had an interview invite IS!!!

Last 45 GPA: 4.0
Science GPA: 3.28
Quant GRE: 161

 

[bbmeow29]

Also rejected OOS! Goodluck everyone!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[honeybooboobear]

I GOT AN INTERVIEW INVITE!!!!!!!!!! its my third time applying and honestly I'm in shock.

I am IS and my stats are:
last 45 gpa: 4.0
science gpa: 3.42
Quant GRE: 164

 

[itseunsss]

Just got an interview invite! So excited and nervous at the same time!!

I'm also IS.
Last 45 gpa: 4.0
Science gpa: 3.49
Quant GRE: 168

 

[Ilovemycats]

Also just received interview invite! (my hands are still shaking)

 

[kbandlow]

Got the email earlier than expected!!
OOS applicant invited to interview. Will be interviewing Friday, December 6. Beyond excited!

 

[blueheeler]

Just checked the portal. OOS rejected. My stats are in b/w IS and OOS applicants. Statistics for applicants invited to the interview this cycle for anybody who is interested:

California Applicants
Average VMCAS Science GPA: 3.62
Average Most recent 45 Sem/68 Qtr Units GPA: 3.77
Average Quantitative GRE Score: 67%

Non-Resident Applicants
Average VMCAS Science GPA: 3.93
Average Most recent 45 Sem/68 Qtr Units GPA: 3.96
Average Quantitative GRE Score: 81%

 

[Nmakowsk]

Got an interview invite at 4:57 pm today!
Stats: IS interview invite
last 45 units GPA: 3.98
Science GPA: 3.98
GRE: sucked. I dont remember what but about 50% or less lol .. yeah, dont judge please lol

 

[Wolfie<3]

Got an IS interview!!!!!!


Last 45 gpa: 3.53
Science gpa: 3.47
Quant GRE: 159

 

[Coopah]

I got an OOS interview invite, but I think I will have to decline. There is no way I can get there and back to school without missing two days of classes--the last two days of class for the semester.

If that's your only reason, your professors where you reside are typically very accommodating. If you have other reasons I totally understand. I hope you have a wonderful journey!

 

[Coopah]

Congratulations to everyone who got an interview! To those who didn't, I wish you best of luck whether you're applying again next cycle or somewhere else this cycle!

 

[kbandlow]

California Applicants
Average VMCAS Science GPA: 3.62
Average Most recent 45 Sem/68 Qtr Units GPA: 3.77
Average Quantitative GRE Score: 67%

Non-Resident Applicants
Average VMCAS Science GPA: 3.93
Average Most recent 45 Sem/68 Qtr Units GPA: 3.96
Average Quantitative GRE Score: 81%

Where did you get these stats?

 

[corgimom12]

got an interview earlier this evening!! IS, second time applicant.

 

[blueheeler]

Where did you get these stats?

It was in the rejection message on my portal.

 

[Coopah]

I will definitely ask. But I have a presentation and a final on one of those days. Not sure how much wiggle room there will be.

You can definitely take the final earlier or later depending on the professor and I'm sure they'll work around the day for the presentation. Good luck!

 

[DVM2024]

I am so sorry to hear that, good luck in the rest! How did you receive it?

It was on the applicant portal

 

[D&Clvr]

I just received my invite for IS!! Set for December 6th.
First-time applicant, nontraditional student! Yes, so excited.....this is my dream school!

Last 45 gpa: 3.97
Science gpa: 3.21
Quant GRE: not sure, but not the best

 

[GreenTeaPython]

Received an invite, IS applicant.
Cumulative GPA - 3.95
Science GPA - 3.95
Last 45/68 units - 3.87
Quant GRE - 71% (I don’t recall the raw score).

 

[DVM2024]

Received an invite, IS applicant.
Cumulative GPA - 3.95
Science GPA - 3.95
Last 45/68 units - 3.87
Quant GRE - 71% (I don’t recall the raw score).

What’s your choice school?

 

[GreenTeaPython]

What’s your choice school?

It’s kinda dependent on financial aid offerings — that said if everything was equal probably Tufts?

 

[OtterBot]

Rejected OOS as well. Disappointed, but trying to stay hopeful about other schools! Good luck to all!

 

[honeybooboobear]

Anyone else notice the pizza social RSVP has the wrong dates? ( ´▽｀)

I did notice that, I just picked the third date because I'm going to be on Dec 9th, the "third" date. ahahaha i hope they assume that!

 

[Drisin93]

Rejected OOS as well. Disappointed, but trying to stay hopeful about other schools! Good luck to all!

The stats for OOS are crazy high. Average GPA almost 4.0?!?!? They also had a huge number of applicants. Hang in there! The right school will find you!

 

[DVM-2023]

I got an OOS interview invite, but I think I will have to decline. There is no way I can get there and back to school without missing two days of classes--the last two days of class for the semester.

You can figure it out. Take your finals early or talk with your professors.

 

[brigidcflanagan]

I'm a non traditional student currently finishing up some pre-reqs in hopes of applying to vet schools (UCD is my top choice!) in 2021. Does "last 45 GPA" just mean the GPA of the last 45 credits you've taken? I've never heard of this before! Also I would love to know from current Davis students why y'all chose Davis over other schools, and your favorite things about it so far! I have no idea what species I want to work with (besides all of them) and really want to go to a school that will allow me to learn about all kinds of animals and specialties (small, large, wildlife, exotic, welfare/non-profit, behavior); to current students, do you notice that there is a lot of diversity in terms of different programs and different species that can be learned about? Many vet school websites boast their involvement in different programs but I've found that some of them may only have one or two classes for a certain program, and I would love to have more opportunity since I don't know yet what I'll fall in love with.

Thank you, and good luck to everyone who has applied for this cycle!

 

[Lucy410]

I'm a non traditional student currently finishing up some pre-reqs in hopes of applying to vet schools (UCD is my top choice!) in 2021. Does "last 45 GPA" just mean the GPA of the last 45 credits you've taken? I've never heard of this before! Also I would love to know from current Davis students why y'all chose Davis over other schools, and your favorite things about it so far! I have no idea what species I want to work with (besides all of them) and really want to go to a school that will allow me to learn about all kinds of animals and specialties (small, large, wildlife, exotic, welfare/non-profit, behavior); to current students, do you notice that there is a lot of diversity in terms of different programs and different species that can be learned about? Many vet school websites boast their involvement in different programs but I've found that some of them may only have one or two classes for a certain program, and I would love to have more opportunity since I don't know yet what I'll fall in love with.

Thank you, and good luck to everyone who has applied for this cycle!

Hello! I'm also a nontraditional student, and I'm a third year at Davis.

Yes, the last 45 units is from whatever the last 45 credits you took were. For me, they were all post-bacc courses and my master's program and didn't include any of my undergrad coursework. That was good for me because that GPA was a 4.0, and my undergrad GPA definitely was... not. However, your undergrad GPA does still matter, particularly in your overall science GPA.

I honestly chose Davis because a) it was my in-state, so in-state tuition combined with savings and my husband's salary means I will graduate debt-free, and b) because the location allowed my husband to keep his job without us living separately. I only applied to Davis because no other school met that criteria (and luckily I got in!).

That said, the longer I'm at Davis the more I appreciate and love it. Some of the things I really like about the school are:

• The block curriculum. I really like being able to focus deeply on one body system at a time, and it keeps our exam schedule from getting crazy. We pretty much never have more than one exam per week.
• The faculty. Davis has really top notch faculty and the vast majority of them seem to really care about students. Any professor of ours would be happy to meet with students individually, and they provide really excellent resources for our learning. Of course there are some duds, but most of them are really great teachers (in addition to being great clinicians and researchers), which is hard to find. And something I didn't realize first year is how lucky we are to have so many specialties represented in our faculty. In particular, we have a full dentistry/oral surgery department, a really good exotics department, excellent radiologists, great behavior service... things that it turns out not all vet school have. We're in dentistry block right now and I was really surprised to hear that most vet schools don't offer as much dentistry as we get.
• The school also puts a lot of effort into assessment (end of course evals, end of year evals, individual instructor evals... the list goes on and on). Some people get annoyed by this but I actually really appreciate how much effort the school puts into gathering feedback, particularly because they actually listen and act on it. I worked in higher ed administration prior to vet school and I really appreciate how much work they put into this.
• Speaking of - I really feel like the administration is on our side. It's really hard to fail out of Davis once you're here. They will work with you to remediate, and in some cases will even let you repeat an entire year instead of kicking you out for academic performance. They're also very willing to accommodate physical and mental health needs. There was a period in second year when I was very ill and in and out of the hospital for 6 weeks in the middle of the semester and they bent over backwards to help me stay in school (and I did!).
• Our teaching hospital. We have many opportunities to be in there starting in first year, and we have open access to alllll of the medical records which is a fantastic resource for case-based learning. In fourth year, we're guaranteed rotations with services with top-notch clinicians. Personally, I wouldn't want to go to a school without their own teaching hospital (though there are schools without them who manage just fine and graduate incredible vets).
• Surgery and cadaver labs. I recently learned that not all schools operate like Davis does in this respect, and I'm glad we have the resources we do. Each team of three students gets their own dog cadaver for the year for anatomy dissection, and the cadavers are available to us at any time. For third year surgery labs we also work in groups of three, and each of us is guaranteed our own dog neuter, cat spay, and dog spay. Each team of three gets nine surgeries throughout the year and we rotate through the positions of surgeon, assistant surgeon, and anesthetist. At some other schools it seems there are not enough cadavers or surgical patients, so students have to share more or may not get to do certain things at all. Also, we have a clinical skills lab with an RVT whose full-time job is to teach students hands-on clinical skills like placing IV catheters, running fluid pumps, intubation, etc. either as drop-ins or by appointment, which is so nice.
• This is a smaller thing, but I really like that nearly all of our lectures and most of our discussions are recorded (video and audio). It's a fantastic resource for reviewing, or if you happened to miss class that day. For discussions and labs attendance is required and recorded, though, so you can't just skip.

Ok, that's a lot, but I hope it's helpful. Now in terms of species diversity in the curriculum, the vast majority of the first two years is spent on four species: cats, dogs, cows, and horses. I think you're going to find that's the case at most (all?) vet schools. In third year you track either small animal (cats, dogs, and small mammals) or large animal (either equine, food animal/cows, or zoo animal). You can add an optional didactic block in Avian & Reptile medicine. Probably the biggest complaint I hear about our curriculum is that it's difficult to do a truly "mixed species" track with both small and large animals. You have to chose a track in third year, and you *can* go back and do didactics for a different track during fourth year but that means giving up clinical rotations. Some schools never have you track, so you learn all species all the way through. Personally, I like tracking because it allowed me to focus more deeply on the species I'm actually going to be treating after graduation. But if you're planning on going into mixed practice, this is a consideration to keep in mind. The school has made some noise about making changes to better accommodate this but I haven't seen it happen yet, probably because it's only a problem for ~10% of the class. Oh, and don't come to Davis to be a pig vet. They're sprinkled into the curriculum but swine is not a significant industry in California, so they're not taught much here.

ETA: You can also take whatever elective rotations you want in fourth year, so even if you tracked small animal you can take large animal rotations, and vice versa. And many people do, to broaden their knowledge/experience.

That said, there are tons of opportunities to learn about other species through club involvement during the first three years. There are lunch talks, wetlabs, symposiums, clinics, research, and work opportunities aplenty. Most people start to narrow down what species they want to work with by the end of second year when you have to choose your track.

Ok, I'm out of time to write this, but feel free to ask me any more questions.

 

[D&Clvr]

Hello! I'm also a nontraditional student, and I'm a third year at Davis.

Yes, the last 45 units is from whatever the last 45 credits you took were. For me, they were all post-bacc courses and my master's program and didn't include any of my undergrad coursework. That was good for me because that GPA was a 4.0, and my undergrad GPA definitely was... not. However, your undergrad GPA does still matter, particularly in your overall science GPA.

I honestly chose Davis because a) it was my in-state, so in-state tuition combined with savings and my husband's salary means I will graduate debt-free, and b) because the location allowed my husband to keep his job without us living separately. I only applied to Davis because no other school met that criteria (and luckily I got in!).

That said, the longer I'm at Davis the more I appreciate and love it. Some of the things I really like about the school are:

• The block curriculum. I really like being able to focus deeply on one body system at a time, and it keeps our exam schedule from getting crazy. We pretty much never have more than one exam per week.
• The faculty. Davis has really top notch faculty and the vast majority of them seem to really care about students. Any professor of ours would be happy to meet with students individually, and they provide really excellent resources for our learning. Of course there are some duds, but most of them are really great teachers (in addition to being great clinicians and researchers), which is hard to find. And something I didn't realize first year is how lucky we are to have so many specialties represented in our faculty. In particular, we have a full dentistry/oral surgery department, a really good exotics department, excellent radiologists... things that it turns out not all vet school have. We're in dentistry block right now and I was really surprised to hear that most vet schools don't offer as much dentistry as we get.
• The school also puts a lot of effort into assessment (end of course evals, end of year evals, individual instructor evals... the list goes on and on). Some people get annoyed by this but I actually really appreciate how much effort the school puts into gathering feedback, particularly because they actually listen and act on it. I worked in higher ed administration prior to vet school and I really appreciate how much work they put into this.
• Speaking of - I really feel like the administration is on our side. It's really hard to fail out of Davis once you're here. They will work with you to remediate, and in some cases will even let you repeat an entire year instead of kicking you out for academic performance. They're also very willing to accommodate physical and mental health needs. There was a period in second year when I was very ill and in and out of the hospital for 6 weeks in the middle of the semester and they bent over backwards to help me stay in school (and I did!).
• Our teaching hospital. We have many opportunities to be in there starting in first year, and we have open access to alllll of the medical records which is a fantastic resource for case-based learning. In fourth year, we're guaranteed rotations with services with top-notch clinicians. Personally, I wouldn't want to go to a school without their own teaching hospital (though there are schools without them who manage just fine and graduate incredible vets).
• Surgery and cadaver labs. I recently learned that not all schools operate like Davis does in this respect, and I'm glad we have the resources we do. Each team of three students gets their own dog cadaver for the year for anatomy dissection, and the cadavers are available to us at any time. For third year surgery labs we also work in groups of three, and each of us is guaranteed our own dog neuter, cat spay, and dog spay. Each team of three gets nine surgeries throughout the year and we rotate through the positions of surgeon, assistant surgeon, and anesthetist. At some other schools it seems there are not enough cadavers or surgical patients, so students have to share more or may not get to do certain things at all. Also, we have a clinical skills lab with an RVT whose full-time job is to teach students hands-on clinical skills like placing IV catheters, running fluid pumps, intubation, etc. either as drop-ins or by appointment, which is so nice.
• This is a smaller thing, but I really like that nearly all of our lectures and most of our discussions are recorded (video and audio). It's a fantastic resource for reviewing, or if you happened to miss class that day. For discussions and labs attendance is required and recorded, though, so you can't just skip.

Ok, that's a lot, but I hope it's helpful. Now in terms of species diversity in the curriculum, the vast majority of the first two years is spent on four species: cats, dogs, cows, and horses. I think you're going to find that's the case at most (all?) vet schools. In third year you track either small animal (cats, dogs, and small mammals) or large animal (either equine, food animal/cows, or zoo animal). You can add an optional didactic block in Avian & Reptile medicine. Probably the biggest complaint I hear about our curriculum is that it's difficult to do a truly "mixed species" track with both small and large animals. You have to chose a track in third year, and you *can* go back and do didactics for a different track during fourth year but that means giving up clinical rotations. Some schools never have you track, so you learn all species all the way through. Personally, I like tracking because it allowed me to focus more deeply on the species I'm actually going to be treating after graduation. But if you're planning on going into mixed practice, this is a consideration to keep in mind. The school has made some noise about making changes to better accommodate this but I haven't seen it happen yet, probably because it's only a problem for ~10% of the class. Oh, and don't come to Davis to be a pig vet. They're sprinkled into the curriculum but swine is not a significant industry in California, so they're not taught much here.

That said, there are tons of opportunities to learn about other species through club involvement during the first three years. There are lunch talks, wetlabs, symposiums, clinics, research, and work opportunities aplenty. Most people start to narrow down what species they want to work with by the end of second year when you have to choose your track.

Ok, I'm out of time to write this, but feel free to ask me any more questions.

Thank you so much for the information, I can't tell you how valuable insight into pros/cons of a program! Davis is also my IS and has always been my number one. You are just solidifying what I thought was already an outstanding program. I have worked with many of their alumni and I have always been impressed by their graduates, which is why I have always held the program with high regard. Hopefully, I will be part of that experience one day!

 

[brigidcflanagan]

Hello! I'm also a nontraditional student, and I'm a third year at Davis.

Yes, the last 45 units is from whatever the last 45 credits you took were. For me, they were all post-bacc courses and my master's program and didn't include any of my undergrad coursework. That was good for me because that GPA was a 4.0, and my undergrad GPA definitely was... not. However, your undergrad GPA does still matter, particularly in your overall science GPA.

I honestly chose Davis because a) it was my in-state, so in-state tuition combined with savings and my husband's salary means I will graduate debt-free, and b) because the location allowed my husband to keep his job without us living separately. I only applied to Davis because no other school met that criteria (and luckily I got in!).

That said, the longer I'm at Davis the more I appreciate and love it. Some of the things I really like about the school are:

• The block curriculum. I really like being able to focus deeply on one body system at a time, and it keeps our exam schedule from getting crazy. We pretty much never have more than one exam per week.
• The faculty. Davis has really top notch faculty and the vast majority of them seem to really care about students. Any professor of ours would be happy to meet with students individually, and they provide really excellent resources for our learning. Of course there are some duds, but most of them are really great teachers (in addition to being great clinicians and researchers), which is hard to find. And something I didn't realize first year is how lucky we are to have so many specialties represented in our faculty. In particular, we have a full dentistry/oral surgery department, a really good exotics department, excellent radiologists, great behavior service... things that it turns out not all vet school have. We're in dentistry block right now and I was really surprised to hear that most vet schools don't offer as much dentistry as we get.
• The school also puts a lot of effort into assessment (end of course evals, end of year evals, individual instructor evals... the list goes on and on). Some people get annoyed by this but I actually really appreciate how much effort the school puts into gathering feedback, particularly because they actually listen and act on it. I worked in higher ed administration prior to vet school and I really appreciate how much work they put into this.
• Speaking of - I really feel like the administration is on our side. It's really hard to fail out of Davis once you're here. They will work with you to remediate, and in some cases will even let you repeat an entire year instead of kicking you out for academic performance. They're also very willing to accommodate physical and mental health needs. There was a period in second year when I was very ill and in and out of the hospital for 6 weeks in the middle of the semester and they bent over backwards to help me stay in school (and I did!).
• Our teaching hospital. We have many opportunities to be in there starting in first year, and we have open access to alllll of the medical records which is a fantastic resource for case-based learning. In fourth year, we're guaranteed rotations with services with top-notch clinicians. Personally, I wouldn't want to go to a school without their own teaching hospital (though there are schools without them who manage just fine and graduate incredible vets).
• Surgery and cadaver labs. I recently learned that not all schools operate like Davis does in this respect, and I'm glad we have the resources we do. Each team of three students gets their own dog cadaver for the year for anatomy dissection, and the cadavers are available to us at any time. For third year surgery labs we also work in groups of three, and each of us is guaranteed our own dog neuter, cat spay, and dog spay. Each team of three gets nine surgeries throughout the year and we rotate through the positions of surgeon, assistant surgeon, and anesthetist. At some other schools it seems there are not enough cadavers or surgical patients, so students have to share more or may not get to do certain things at all. Also, we have a clinical skills lab with an RVT whose full-time job is to teach students hands-on clinical skills like placing IV catheters, running fluid pumps, intubation, etc. either as drop-ins or by appointment, which is so nice.
• This is a smaller thing, but I really like that nearly all of our lectures and most of our discussions are recorded (video and audio). It's a fantastic resource for reviewing, or if you happened to miss class that day. For discussions and labs attendance is required and recorded, though, so you can't just skip.

Ok, that's a lot, but I hope it's helpful. Now in terms of species diversity in the curriculum, the vast majority of the first two years is spent on four species: cats, dogs, cows, and horses. I think you're going to find that's the case at most (all?) vet schools. In third year you track either small animal (cats, dogs, and small mammals) or large animal (either equine, food animal/cows, or zoo animal). You can add an optional didactic block in Avian & Reptile medicine. Probably the biggest complaint I hear about our curriculum is that it's difficult to do a truly "mixed species" track with both small and large animals. You have to chose a track in third year, and you *can* go back and do didactics for a different track during fourth year but that means giving up clinical rotations. Some schools never have you track, so you learn all species all the way through. Personally, I like tracking because it allowed me to focus more deeply on the species I'm actually going to be treating after graduation. But if you're planning on going into mixed practice, this is a consideration to keep in mind. The school has made some noise about making changes to better accommodate this but I haven't seen it happen yet, probably because it's only a problem for ~10% of the class. Oh, and don't come to Davis to be a pig vet. They're sprinkled into the curriculum but swine is not a significant industry in California, so they're not taught much here.

ETA: You can also take whatever elective rotations you want in fourth year, so even if you tracked small animal you can take large animal rotations, and vice versa. And many people do, to broaden their knowledge/experience.

That said, there are tons of opportunities to learn about other species through club involvement during the first three years. There are lunch talks, wetlabs, symposiums, clinics, research, and work opportunities aplenty. Most people start to narrow down what species they want to work with by the end of second year when you have to choose your track.

Ok, I'm out of time to write this, but feel free to ask me any more questions.

AMAZING. These are exactly the kinds of things I was hoping to find out. I feel like there is a lot to a school (or missing from a school) that the website just can't tell you, and I really appreciate you taking the time to outline all of this for me. Good luck finishing your program!!

 

[Bluefarm]

Any advice on preparing for the interview? TIA!!

 

[Lucy410]

Any advice on preparing for the interview? TIA!!

The questions they will ask you are secret, but there are plenty of good examples of MMI questions online. There are also some good tips on how to prep for MMIs. My biggest tip would be to Google a bunch of MMI prompts, then practice answering them as if you were really at the interview. Time yourself, because you will only have a certain time period to answer (I think 5 minutes?). They will cut you off if you go over time, and if your answer is too short you will sit there in awkward silence until time is up. When I interviewed you could bring a watch (which is probably still the case) to keep track of time. Ideally, find a friend or family member who will practice with you and give you feedback. If you're on your own, take a video of yourself and watch it back.

Honestly there's no way to prepare for the specific questions they will ask, but practicing formulating and delivering a clear, concise, well-considered monologue on a topic will help you immensely. Not just thinking about how you would do it, but actually practicing doing it!

Keep in mind that the interviewers - who are mostly faculty members, if I remember correctly - don't want you to fail. They know you're nervous and they won't try to intimidate you. They have to stick to a specific script and cannot give feedback, which can seem strange, but it's just the way the process works. If you give a less-than-stellar answer at a station, shake it off and move on to the next with a clear head. It was almost certainly not as bad as you thought, and one station won't make or break your score.

I actually thought the MMIs were kind of fun, and less stressful than an open-ended "tell me about yourself" style of interview. Good luck!

 

[vettobedetermined]

for those that have attended the pizza social in previous years, are people usually still dressed professionally? or is it a mix of professional and casual, etc?

 

[Coopah]

for those that have attended the pizza social in previous years, are people usually still dressed professionally? or is it a mix of professional and casual, etc?

It can be casual as soon as you're done with your interview! Some people don't bring a change of clothes so it's a mix but if you want to be more comfortable I would recommend it! (Still presentable though. You probably know but just in case )

 

[shell1036]

Hi all, first-year at Davis here. Along with my amazing Davis peers on this thread, I want to be another resource for anyone with any questions. Don't stress about interviews, you got this & just be your amazing self! Highly recommend coming out to the pizza social post-interview, would love to meet everyone & hang out.

 

[doctor-who]

To everyone who interviewed today: how did it go?!

 

[D&Clvr]

To everyone who interviewed today: how did it go?!

Some may still be interviewing or taking a break before the pizza social. Are you interviewing soon?

 

[Coopah]

Well done to everyone who did the interviews today! You made it! I saw some of you at lunch before the noon interviews and I'll see more of you at the pizza social. Good luck to all those waiting to interview!

 

[doctor-who]

Some may still be interviewing or taking a break before the pizza social. Are you interviewing soon?

Tomorrow morning!! I’m SO nervous! This means so much!!!!!!

 

[Coopah]

Tomorrow morning!! I’m SO nervous! This means so much!!!!!!

We'll try to stay calm. Approximately 67% of people who interview get invites to attend. The interviews sole purpose is to see how you fair under pressure. Just be able to have a conversation, that's not that difficult right? So take some deep breaths and remember, you've already qualified academically. This is just telling them you can communicate and are a generally good person. You got this

 

[D&Clvr]

Tomorrow morning!! I’m SO nervous! This means so much!!!!!!

me too! 10 am...maybe I'll see you there!

 

[D&Clvr]

We'll try to stay calm. Approximately 67% of people who interview get invites to attend. The interviews sole purpose is to see how you fair under pressure. Just be able to have a conversation, that's not that difficult right? So take some deep breaths and remember, you've already qualified academically. This is just telling them you can communicate and are a generally good person. You got this

Great advice...I try to remind myself, just be yourself so they can see who you are. If it doesn't work out then maybe it wasn't the right fit....

 

[SBS From NJ]

First time applying from NJ.....Does anyone know any students attending who live in NJ?

 

[Lucy410]

First time applying from NJ.....Does anyone know any students attending who live in NJ?

I know one of person from New Jersey in my class but I'm sure there are more. Most people here are from California but certainly not all. I'm from Massachusetts but was a CA resident when I applied.

Good luck to everyone interviewing today! Truly, we are all rooting for you! Check any bathroom stall in Valley Hall for a special message of encouragement. I'll be at the student panel and pizza social on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to meeting some of you then!

 

[Coopah]

First time applying from NJ.....Does anyone know any students attending who live in NJ?

I know of a few from different classes! There are plenty of east coasters here. Personally, I'm from NH! California has been great so far, feel free to ask anything about the moving process or adjustment.

 

[Wolfie<3]

I woke up to feeling some cold/flu symptoms -- Hoping and praying it doesn't turn into anything worse. Luckily I scheduled my interview for Tuesday. Time to do everything I can to get better this weekend

Good luck to the rest of you interviewing today and Monday!