UC Davis SVM Class of 2021

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Here is one of my favorite photographs from UC Davis CVM - just for your viewing pleasure - NOT that any of you are going to get a Bengal tiger on your first day of school.

You can start-off with Lyla the cat instead ... you know ... Lyla from the WW Immunology thread on SDN! 😏

Very happy and excited for everyone!

tiger-ucdavis-vet-school-2013.jpg
 
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bombai said:
To any current UCD students--how much hands on do you really get? I feel like it was one of the least of all of the vet schools I have been looking at. Can anyone elaborate a little on this? I mean, do you come out a "confident" practicing veterinarian or do you really need internships/residencies/etc to get those basic surgery skills down? I hope my question is clear.
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Honestly, I think it depends on what you are interested in and how hard you'll push to get experience. In your first year you'll do handling and/or later exam labs on the major species (dogs, cats, horses, sheep, cows, rats, rabbits). There are also a lot of opportunities to practice--there's the treatment crew (for small animal, equine, and exotics) where you get up early or stay late to help with treatments. There's also clubs that offer physical exam labs. There's clubs (Mercer and Knights Landing) that offer monthly clinics where you practice being a vet--communicating with clients, handling animals, performing physicals, etc. There are TNR programs basically every weekend where you practice doing quick physicals while prepping patients, recovering patients, ear tipping/vaccines/etc. And the third years get to do neuters. There's also summer rotating clinics where you can work with a department and gain experience that way. Overall I feel like there's a lot of opportunities to get experience, especially if you're a go-getter (which lets face it, most vet students are). I hope that helps, feel free to message me with other questions, and congrats on getting in!

So excited for you all! I look forward to meeting you in the fall, and if anyone else has other questions feel free to post them here or message me. 🙂

And for those who didn't get in, don't despair...it took me THREE TRIES to get in. I didn't even get interviewed the first two times. So don't give up. And I personally know at least five people who got off the wait-list in our year (sometimes it's considerably more, too), so if you're wait-listed don't give up either. It's a tough road but definitely worth it!

*edited to add TNR
 
Got rejected. I am curious about my chances for reapplying since this was my first try.

Is there a decent chance that I could get accepted on my second try given that I was rejected after the MMI?
 
maho123 said:
Got rejected. I am curious about my chances for reapplying since this was my first try.

Is there a decent chance that I could get accepted on my second try given that I was rejected after the MMI?
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New cycle, new slate
 
maho123 said:
Got rejected. I am curious about my chances for reapplying since this was my first try.

Is there a decent chance that I could get accepted on my second try given that I was rejected after the MMI?
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Of course! Who knows what the next cycle will look like, but as long as you keep your grades up, I think you'll have a good chance of getting another interview. And I'm sure that going through the MMI once will help you for next time!

I talked to a couple of students who were waitlisted/rejected the first time around and they said that's pretty common.
 
nyanko said:
Congratulations @Coopah !!!!! (and everyone else of course!) I 😍Davis and hopefully you guys will too!
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Thanks Nyanko, I appreciate all your advise and sage wisdom :bow: 😉, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, can I PM you if I do? I already 😍 Davis and am constantly reminding myself to carefully consider my options and not just hit the accept button :laugh:
 
maho123 said:
Got rejected. I am curious about my chances for reapplying since this was my first try.

Is there a decent chance that I could get accepted on my second try given that I was rejected after the MMI?
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I have heard that some people apply 4 or 5 times and get in. And I also heard that this was an especially competitive year. I am not sure about the validity of these, but it's something to think about.
 
nyanko said:
Congratulations @Coopah !!!!! (and everyone else of course!) I 😍Davis and hopefully you guys will too!
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What do you love about Davis? I ask as I have multiple offers and am really trying to make the most informed choice. I think I will end up there but I just want to keep my mind open until I choose 🙂. Also--when did you graduate--I'm wondering if you had a similar curriculum to what is being offered now.
 
Coopah said:
Thanks Nyanko, I appreciate all your advise and sage wisdom😉, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, can I PM you if I do? I already 😍 Davis and am constantly reminding myself to carefully consider my options and not just hit the accept button :laugh:
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Haha those are my exact feelings. It's a very tempting button!
 
I'm having a hard time deciding too. My husband is being stationed in Connecticut next month so NY is a lot closer, but he'll be at sea for most of the two years left on his contract. We want to end up on the west coast after the military so I don't know if Davis would be better. Cost wise there's a little to significant difference depending on scholarships/grants but obviously won't know anything about those for a while yet. :/
 
emacc said:
I'm having a hard time deciding too. My husband is being stationed in Connecticut next month so NY is a lot closer, but he'll be at sea for most of the two years left on his contract. We want to end up on the west coast after the military so I don't know if Davis would be better. Cost wise there's a little to significant difference depending on scholarships/grants but obviously won't know anything about those for a while yet. :/
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Yeah, I was figuring the same thing. There is almost no difference for me being IS CA and OOS NY for Cornell due to the price of housing in Davis vs Ithaca. So then it would be a matter of other factors. It would be nice to know who gives more scholarships... I will definitely be going to the information session. It's a tough choice (along with other tough choices that I am GRATEFUL to have).
 
Does Davis not have accepted student days? I didn't see anything about that on the portal.
 
cohen2000 said:
Does Davis not have accepted student days? I didn't see anything about that on the portal.
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I saw something on the portal where you could bring family (but that there was a limit last year to bringing only FOUR people with you). I'm not sure if that is what you were talking about. I was thinking--four? I can understand but that is going to be tough when all my family is here in California and wants to come!!!
 
bombai said:
I saw something on the portal where you could bring family (but that there was a limit last year to bringing only FOUR people with you). I'm not sure if that is what you were talking about. I was thinking--four? I can understand but that is going to be tough when all my family is here in California and wants to come!!!
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That's for the white-coat ceremony in August. I was talking about something like information sessions for admitted students.
 
cohen2000 said:
That's for the white-coat ceremony in August. I was talking about something like information sessions for admitted students.
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Oh. I have no idea. But I do remember them talking about a week where we do group activities to get to know each other. But no, I do not know. I am sure they will inform us (or perhaps someone will ask). 🙂
 
@Coopah of course you can PM me if you have more questions!!

bombai said:
What do you love about Davis? I ask as I have multiple offers and am really trying to make the most informed choice. I think I will end up there but I just want to keep my mind open until I choose 🙂. Also--when did you graduate--I'm wondering if you had a similar curriculum to what is being offered now.
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Well I loved northern CA, Davis is a cute little city and it's between actual cities that you can go to pretty easily. Location really can't be beat IMO.

As far as the school itself, like anywhere there are good and bad things. It's vet school, it's not going to be all kittens and puppies and happytime, there's a lot of hard work and a lot of crap to wade through, but IMO they have a great support staff to help you wade through the crap and once you're in, they and the faculty want to make sure you have what you need to succeed. To me, that's important.

I graduated in 2014. We were the last class in the old curriculum. I was, however, my class's representative to the faculty curriculum committee so I had a lot of insight into the new curriculum both prior to and immediately after it was instituted. I can tell you that a lot of planning and thought went into the change and how it would benefit the students and the greater veterinary community - we used feedback from practicing veterinarians who had hired Davis grads along with recent grads themselves to make decisions about content and time allotted to different areas, and we had educational experts helping to design the format. I really believed in the new curriculum and hopefully they've been working out some of the kinks over the past few years too.
 
pitbullmom said:
#5 on the waitlist! They said last year 17 people declined. Should I be hopeful? 🙂 Any advice from previous years is appreciated!
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At the pizza party there were several people who came off the waitlist, all after #5. Crossing my fingers for you!
 
bombai said:
At the pizza party there were several people who came off the waitlist, all after #5. Crossing my fingers for you!
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Thank you! Honestly it's an honor considering it's the #1 school in the world. Congrats to everyone accepted!!
 
Coopah said:
Thanks @TerraVet I will! Does anyone happen to know the safe areas of Sacramento and the spots to avoid? I was just perusing rentals online for kicks, but I don't know what to expect.
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Most of the folks I know who live in Sac are in west sac. Keep in mind for your 4th year you'll need to be within 20 minutes (though some folks still live in Sac and make it work) when you're on call. I live in Davis so I can only say West Davis is really pretty and quiet 🙂
 
@pandabear93 --I think someone got off that was #8 last year. I have no idea about #18. I'm sure someone might know 🙂. I do remember someone saying that usually at least 5 people decline for their in state school. But I will definitely cross my fingers for you. You never know 🙂!
 
MuffinStuffin said:
I got the call and missed it. I was so upset with myself. Called them back and got the news. I cannot be happier!😀:soexcited:
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I missed it too. I'm on vacation in Hawaii right now and was lying on the beach when the phone rang. I didn't want to get up to go get it out of my bag so I let it ring. I checked it a while later, saw the Davis area code, and called them back right away! Ha! Sorry for being a lazy beach bum, Davis!

Congratulations, MuffinStuffin! Do you think you're going to accept the offer?


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Lucy410 said:
I missed it too. I'm on vacation in Hawaii right now and was lying on the beach when the phone rang. I didn't want to get up to go get it out of my bag so I let it ring. I checked it a while later, saw the Davis area code, and called them back right away! Ha! Sorry for being a lazy beach bum, Davis!

Congratulations, MuffinStuffin! Do you think you're going to accept the offer?
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Very good chance I will. It wasn't really on my radar until after the interview. My fiance has an interview for a nearish MD PhD program at another UC. If he gets accepted then 100% I'll be there!

Currently choosing between Tufts, Cornell, and here and waiting on Penn. From a financial perspective this is absolutely the best choice for me.


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MuffinStuffin said:
Very good chance I will. It wasn't really on my radar until after the interview. My fiance has an interview for a nearish MD PhD program at another UC. If he gets accepted then 100% I'll be there!

Currently choosing between Tufts, Cornell, and here and waiting on Penn. From a financial perspective this is absolutely the best choice for me.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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Wow, sounds like you have some excellent choices! Good luck to your fiancé, and hopefully I'll see you on campus in the fall.


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For those of you who got acceptance calls, did you also get a message on your portal? I got the acceptance message in my portal and my portal is updated but I didn't get a call and I'm freaking out that the acceptance is a mistake!!!!
 
vetmedhopeful94588 said:
For those of you who got acceptance calls, did you also get a message on your portal? I got the acceptance message in my portal and my portal is updated but I didn't get a call and I'm freaking out that the acceptance is a mistake!!!!
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This is exactly what happened to me. I'm assuming they will be giving us calls on Monday, don't worry! My acceptance was a pretty specific WICHE one, so I don't think it's a mistake 🙂 (and if it is, that's pretty cruel... lol)
 
vetmedhopeful94588 said:
For those of you who got acceptance calls, did you also get a message on your portal? I got the acceptance message in my portal and my portal is updated but I didn't get a call and I'm freaking out that the acceptance is a mistake!!!!
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So one thing to know is that if your phone is off or on airplane mode you don't see a missed call (at least on an iPhone)... and I don't think they leave a message. So perhaps they called when your phone was off. Just something to note. I was worried because I was going to be flying but luckily they called when my phone wasn't off/on airplane mode 🙂.
 
Hey guys! Does anyone who either currently attends Davis or happens to know how common grants/scholarships are? They quoted somewhere around an avg of ~38% of four years of tuition per student and curious?
 
Secretariat_12 said:
Hey guys! Does anyone who either currently attends Davis or happens to know how common grants/scholarships are? They quoted somewhere around an avg of ~38% of four years of tuition per student and curious?
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I know for the class of 2020 we all got a decent grant our first year (it covered about 20% of our tuition). You'll also get a grant to help cover the cost of your laptop, which is required. No idea if a large grant happens every year or what next year will be like but certainly hoping for the same, and I know the school works really hard to help subsidize the cost of our education. There's a gigantic application you fill out in October of your first through fourth years where you apply for a subset of more than 700 scholarships. There's more scholarships than vet students, so chances are good you'll get at least one, and they range from 500 to 18k. They also send out pretty regular emails about other grants and scholarships you can apply for, so there's definitely plenty of opportunities, honestly more than I've taken up on 😛 They certainly aim to cover about 40% of our cost of tuition over the course of our time here, and we do have lower than national average student vet debt.
 
I've just accepted my offer and I'm really excited to start and meet everyone! I've heard that there will be a Facebook page for the incoming class to find roommates. Does anyone know when it will be made? I'm assuming in April once everyone's decisions are made..
 
buttons21 said:
I've just accepted my offer and I'm really excited to start and meet everyone! I've heard that there will be a Facebook page for the incoming class to find roommates. Does anyone know when it will be made? I'm assuming in April once everyone's decisions are made..
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The Facebook page is already made theres a link in the portal!
 
Can we waive out of the health insurance if we have our own like we could for undergrad at UCD?
 
TerraVet said:
I know for the class of 2020 we all got a decent grant our first year (it covered about 20% of our tuition). You'll also get a grant to help cover the cost of your laptop, which is required. No idea if a large grant happens every year or what next year will be like but certainly hoping for the same, and I know the school works really hard to help subsidize the cost of our education. There's a gigantic application you fill out in October of your first through fourth years where you apply for a subset of more than 700 scholarships. There's more scholarships than vet students, so chances are good you'll get at least one, and they range from 500 to 18k. They also send out pretty regular emails about other grants and scholarships you can apply for, so there's definitely plenty of opportunities, honestly more than I've taken up on 😛 They certainly aim to cover about 40% of our cost of tuition over the course of our time here, and we do have lower than national average student vet debt.
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Thanks for the info! Do you happen to know a dollar amount for the grant? I'm trying to compare costs between schools and Davis mentions grants on their website, but doesn't give an actual figure. (20% of IS tuition first year would be $6,265- does that sound right?)

Also, would you say that the cost of attendance info is accurate?
Screen Shot 2017-01-08 at 5.52.12 PM.png


Students I talked to said average rent is about $650 when sharing a house, but if the above is accurate (for a 12 month budget), that would leave $772 for other monthly expenses not even including transportation, heath insurance, or books and supplies. That seems awfully high to me. I live in a high cost of living area and definitely don't spend that much each month!

Anyway, I love everything about UC Davis except for the cost, so any info would be very welcome 🙂
 
TrashPanda said:
Thanks for the info! Do you happen to know a dollar amount for the grant? I'm trying to compare costs between schools and Davis mentions grants on their website, but doesn't give an actual figure. (20% of IS tuition first year would be $6,265- does that sound right?)

Also, would you say that the cost of attendance info is accurate?
View attachment 213237

Students I talked to said average rent is about $650 when sharing a house, but if the above is accurate (for a 12 month budget), that would leave $772 for other monthly expenses not even including transportation, heath insurance, or books and supplies. That seems awfully high to me. I live in a high cost of living area and definitely don't spend that much each month!

Anyway, I love everything about UC Davis except for the cost, so any info would be very welcome 🙂
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The cost of attendance is only for the nine months your in school, you are expected to be able to pay for the other three months without financial aid.
 
Coopah said:
The cost of attendance is only for the nine months your in school, you are expected to be able to pay for the other three months without financial aid.
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Right, but that only makes it crazier. Then housing/food/personal/transportation comes out to $2,117/month, which seems really, really high. I'm hoping they're overestimating.
 
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