supershorty
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UF 2025-2026 (c/o 2030 hopefuls)
Started by supershorty
enicidemYraniretev
Full Member
Hey future UF applicants, I got into UF as part of the 2029 cohort. If any of you want advice on your application, I am happy to help 🙂
Chronically online rising 4th year available for guidance 🫡
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Danc1ngQu33n!
Full Member
I also just got accepted for '29! I was a low gpa applicant if anyone needs help <3
This cycle is my second one (first time applying to UF though) and I reallyyy don't want to go for a third cycle [emoji28] yall got any blanket tips? If it helps my GPA is a 3.4 and I've been working at a clinic full time since June 2024
Out of state I’m guessing then? If possible I would try to raise that GPA, UF is known for being very GPA oriented, especially for OOS students. Other than that they very much value quality and varied veterinary experience and interests/hobbies/volunteering outside of vet med.
Here is an example of the accepted student profiles from the past few years:
Admitted Class Statistics » Veterinary Education » College of Veterinary Medicine » University of Florida
Class of 2030 Student Profile Class of 2029 Student Profile Class of 2028 Student Profile Class of 2027 Student Profile
Thanks for the link! Do you know if UF is one of those schools that does grade replacement or recalculates your GPA to get rid of the +/- scale? I know most places don't do either, but I also can never find that info when I'm looking for it. Either one of those boosts my GPA so for me it's worth finding outOut of state I’m guessing then? If possible I would try to raise that GPA, UF is known for being very GPA oriented, especially for OOS students. Other than that they very much value quality and varied veterinary experience and interests/hobbies/volunteering outside of vet med.
Here is an example of the accepted student profiles from the past few years:
Admitted Class Statistics » Veterinary Education » College of Veterinary Medicine » University of Florida
Class of 2030 Student Profile Class of 2029 Student Profile Class of 2028 Student Profile Class of 2027 Student Profileeducation.vetmed.ufl.edu
No problem! To my knowledge UF does not do either of those currently.
enicidemYraniretev
Full Member
Generally, I would recommend having someone who doesn't know you personally read over your essays. The whole point of these essays is to sell yourself and tell your story, so someone that doesn't know you will be better equipped to tell you how effective your essays are at doing that.
I was admitted to UF as an IS student, but I haven't started yet so I can really speak to what their large/exotic programs are like. UF is also surrounded by many apartments and a decent place tends to run around 700-800 dollars a month, though more expensive luxury places do exist too.
UF has a very strong exotics service with multiple boarded specialists and a residency program. The zoo med rotation is often easy to get if desired. Some people take it twice. There is also an aquatic animal certificate offered (no extra tuition cost) and many exotics oriented students pursue it.
The large animal hospital is very modern and up to date. There is a large animal medicine service, large animal surgery service, and FARMs (production) service. I’m not a large animal student but from what I’ve been told by residents UFs large animal case load is decent, but somewhat less than other southern schools known for large animal. This is because a lot of the horses are in Ocala, FL and they will typically go to the Ocala specialty hospital. Large animal students are typically required to take externships to gain more experience because of this.
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Hi!! I hope all of you are well. 2nd Time applicant, but first time applying to UF. I currently have a 3.6 cum GPA, non-traditional major in anthropology and strong research ( 1 publication ) + vet experiences. I was kind of let down last cycle because I only got waitlisted in 1 school (of 4 that I applied to). I saw on this forums that many students that get accepted sometimes even do like travel experiences to other countries to get rare vet experiences, so I plan to do one before submitting my app. I dont know if it's overkill? I really do not want to have to go for another cycle,... any advice would be very helpful, as I know each year it will just get more & more competitive
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
oh my, thank you so much. It answered my question perfectly!
Tech_Penguin
Full Member
I don't know why some schools care about these travel abroad experiences when it's you paying 4-7k to go on vacation and watch people work with animals. Seems more fluff than actual substance.
enicidemYraniretev
Full Member
As someone who did a semester abroad and was accepted to UFCVM, I don't think that its a necessity to travel abroad to be accepted, but it did give me the opportunity to work hands on with unique native animals in a way that would not have been possible in Florida. If anything, those sort of things help your application stand out.
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Tech_Penguin
Full Member
hmm, maybe the person who reviewed your application didn’t feel the same way as the people in the video. But wouldn't zoo hours be the most straightforward way to work with non-native animals? Unless your goal is to practice outside the US also
enicidemYraniretev
Full Member
A zoo is definitely a viable way to work with exotic animals. It was primarily unique because I was working with Australian wildlife and their habitats.
Of interest, I think it is viewed different as actual study abroad and go to school for a full semester in another country and a short 7-10 day trip to work with a Vet. The point was you could spend $1000s doing that week long trip but it might not move the needle for admissions. The point was to save that money and build your application at home. In the end though, the admissions process is fairly subjective between schools so gaining experience matters and if you want to go to a far land and work with elephants or other exotics, you should.
Not all trips are like this, but a lot are. It's v important to do a lot of digging and sifting (and talking to trip alumni) when choosing to drop that kind of money on a trip. Some trips really are good experience, but as a prevet, the type of experience you can expect is often limited just because you aren't a vet student/vet.
Personally, a trip abroad, even if it were real veterinary experience, doesn't hold a lot of weight with me. I am also not on an adcom.
Basically this. It's kind of a gamble. If you already have quite a lot of hours, a trip may not matter much. On the other hand, if you have very few hours and need to buy your experience, that isn't great either. These trips can be fun ways to get some hands on experience, but they are in no way a realistic portrayal of what 99% of vets are doing on the day to day. I'd rather see someone with 100 hours in a clinic than 100 hours bottle feeding orphaned manatees, even though the latter is more exciting.
I agree study abroad trips can be very tricky. I did a 2 week trip to Australia that was advertised as veterinary work but i basically paid 6k to clean enclosures 🥴 but then i did a $3,000 month long trip to Japan and it was AMAZING. so much more veterinary related work! (… and i loved it so much, i’m currently in Japan for the third time…) like pp said, HEAVY on the talk to people who already went, it’ll give you a lot more honest insight compared to just reading the advertisement.
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Thank you all so much, this discussion really helped me decide on that matter. I have another question:
I participated in 2022 from a one-day experience (would have been an internship but Covid made it impossible so it was virtual) with a college of vet med where I learned a lot about specialties in vet med, had some lectures from professors of the school, had a few personal development workshops and overall learned more about vet med. Would this be classified as "extracurricular" "veterinary" or any other way? I am struggling to distinguish this and the vmcas site doesn't answer it explicitly.
I participated in 2022 from a one-day experience (would have been an internship but Covid made it impossible so it was virtual) with a college of vet med where I learned a lot about specialties in vet med, had some lectures from professors of the school, had a few personal development workshops and overall learned more about vet med. Would this be classified as "extracurricular" "veterinary" or any other way? I am struggling to distinguish this and the vmcas site doesn't answer it explicitly.
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Hi, also a second time applicant! I wish you the best this year!
purrlywhites
Full Member
Also a second time applicant :’) UF is one of my top choices but also have a 3.46 cGPA so I’m hoping to get some advice here
I vote extracurricular, or 'other' if that's an option (VMCAS is down right now as I type this so I can't check). You might have had presentations on different specialties, but that does not give you 'veterinary experience.' Similarly, I present to student groups on my specialty all the time and I would not expect that to count for veterinary hours. For more context - You can watch TV shows and learn about the profession, that would not count as veterinary hours. You may get career exposure through this seminar/TV shows, but you are not supervised by a vet in these contexts so it doesn't qualify as vet experience by default. Veterinary supervision, or lack thereof, is what veterinary experience hours boil down to.
Edit: For what it's worth, even if you listed it as veterinary, I really don't think a school would be upset about it. They will interpret it how they want to, but I just can't imagine this being considered veterinary experience.
Statistics for the class of 2029 to give you an idea of what they are looking for! Keep in mind that there are people that had lower or higher than these numbers so don’t let it deter you!
Applications:
- 2,088 applied
- 486 interviews
- 150 admitted
Average GPA:
- Overall: 3.71
- Science: 3.66
- Last 45: 3.73
Average Experiences:
- Veterinary: 1,760 hrs
- Animal: 580 hrs
- Employment: 1,120 hrs
- Extracurricular: 1,340 hrs
- Research: 200 hrs
- Volunteer: 160 hrs
Applications:
- 2,088 applied
- 486 interviews
- 150 admitted
Average GPA:
- Overall: 3.71
- Science: 3.66
- Last 45: 3.73
Average Experiences:
- Veterinary: 1,760 hrs
- Animal: 580 hrs
- Employment: 1,120 hrs
- Extracurricular: 1,340 hrs
- Research: 200 hrs
- Volunteer: 160 hrs
PawPrint_Doc
UFCVM c/o 2030
Does anybody know if they are continuing the holistic application review this cycle? I was previously told they will check "all complete applications" but i'm unsure if this is true... anybody know?
Thanks in advance 🙂
Thanks in advance 🙂
Its the same (new) admissions director - I believe they will read all applications that meet minimum requirements again, but I cannot make promises.
protozoan11
Full Member
Hi guys. For the supplementary essays on VMCAS, the prompts say "in 250 words or less" but the actual text box allows a character limit of 2000 characters which is way over the 250. All my answers so far have been over the 250, so kind of worried now although they fit within the given character limit. What have you guys done?
PawPrint_Doc
UFCVM c/o 2030
I made sure my word count was close or specific to the 250 words. Despite there being more characters available on the character limit.
UF is very specific on following application instructions to the tee, at all the admissions events I’ve attended they make sure to reiterate “please make sure you read and answer the prompt according to how it’s asked”
Although others could have followed a different protocol, I personally stayed specific to the 250 words.
Can confirm: stick to the 250
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protozoan11
Full Member
Also, does anyone know whether the UF admissions committees specifically compares previous applications and essays if you're a reapplicant?
PawPrint_Doc
UFCVM c/o 2030
I’ve heard you are “flagged” as a re-applicant to give notification to the admissions team you are a re-applicant but I am unsure of the specifics regarding how they would compare a previous application to a newer application.
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Just wanted to let you know you all saved me money. thank you <3
I was looking at going to Costa Rica, but some other ppl went and told me it was basically not worth it. Now I can use that money to apply to other schools!
Hi Chill! That is great news. Best of luck to you in this process. You got this.
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Hello again! I have a question: would a skill related to research experience outside of vet med be considered too closely related to vet med??
Edit: would a skill (example: teamwork skills ) acquired from any research experience in topics unrelated to medicine (example: plants) be appropriate to talk about? because for some committees research is already considered to be part of veterinary medicine?
Edit: would a skill (example: teamwork skills ) acquired from any research experience in topics unrelated to medicine (example: plants) be appropriate to talk about? because for some committees research is already considered to be part of veterinary medicine?
Last edited:
PawPrint_Doc
UFCVM c/o 2030
Please rephrase your question, not sure I understand what you’re asking.
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
I edited it!!
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Someone in another thread answered, in case anyone else has the same question:
"Probably just depends. I sorta assume with a question like that they’re wanting to know about soft/intangible skills more so than like, ‘I can do western blots’ or ‘I learned to write a paper’ or something like that. Probably just depends on how you’re framing it and if it’s truly the best skill you can present to show off a positive quality about yourself.
In general though, my advice would be if you’re questioning if something is technically right or wrong (aka is it vet med or not) err on the side of caution and maybe pick something else that fulfills the prompt without ambiguity."
Danc1ngQu33n!
Full Member
Would like to come in here and say that my overall gpa was a 3.0 and I got in last round! Most of my friends were also in the 3.3-3.6 range. That being said, all of our apps were different and I had around 8k vet hours logged etc Statistics can be incredibly discouraging when looking from the outside- but there are people with lower numbers than the 'average' in the class!! It a tough road but not impossible <3
Yes which is why I include in my post “Keep in mind that there are people that had lower or higher than these numbers so don’t let it deter you!”. There are people who got rejected with a 3.8 and accepted with a 3.0 with similar hours/extracurriculars. To some extent it is just pure luck but some people asked for stats!
protozoan11
Full Member
Hi again - back with another question. Does anyone know if the admissions committee is known to contact LOR writers during packet review?
They have not in the past.
PawPrint_Doc
UFCVM c/o 2030
Hello All! My portal was updated this morning with my residency classification. (IS)
Not sure if this means they are starting to check applications 🙂 Good luck everyone!
Not sure if this means they are starting to check applications 🙂 Good luck everyone!
stinkyfreddy
Full Member
Hi! news anyone?
TheShepherdsKeep
NCSU CVM '30
Did anyone get an email from them that your application got forwarded to admissions? I only got an email that my application is received and is currently processed.
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bottlenose
Full Member
Hey! I got an email on september 8th that says the following:
I believe that you should get 3 emails total: one with the title that starts with "Welcome from the ..." which you get when you submit VMCAS, one that says "Application recieved" which you get when you submit the professional application, and "UF CVM Application Complete" which you get when you have finished both the prof/vmcas and you have 3 LORs.
I'm not sure if they have to manually complete the applications and send to the committee for review -- if so, it may take them some time due to the number of apps they recieve at/around deadline. I sent mine in pretty early (late august) so that may be why mine got processed so quick.
Hope this helps, and good luck! 🙂
TheShepherdsKeep
NCSU CVM '30
Thank you! I just got the email today yay
Tech_Penguin
Full Member
Have many people gotten the app complete email? I submitted a day before the deadline but haven’t gotten it yet
TheShepherdsKeep
NCSU CVM '30
I submitted 2 weeks before deadline. i did email them last week and they got back to me and updated my application to complete and now forwarded to admissions.
I have not received the the application complete email. I was considering emailing them.
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