Update so far in the application process

[jtt5]

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Hey guys,
Just thought I would start a thread in which people could talk about their application experience so far and what exactly is going on at this point. At the beginning of this whole journey I applied only to 4 schools, with the idea that I might not be attending vet school at all this year. Starting off in Dec, I was shocked I got an interview for U of Penn as an in state resident, followed by a flat out rejection from Cornell in Jan. Next, I got an interview for OSU in Feb and a rejection from Tufts on Valentines Day. Finally, in March I heard that I got accepted to OSU (one of the best feelings ever 🙂 ) Then, just a few days ago I got waitlised at U of Penn for an alternate spot. This whole process is exhausting and random. Just wondering what everybody else thought of this whole application process? Also, curious as to what schools people applied to: interviewed/accepted/rejected.

 

[HeartSong]

Which OSU, Ohio, Oregon or Oklahoma? I'm guessing Ohio from your location.

I only applied to Oklahoma State. Interviewed and am on the alternate list. The process seems very long and lots of hurry up and wait. I also had to take the Biology GRE which is an agony most vet applicants don't have suffer through since OK State and Georgia I believe are the only schools that require it.

 

[jtt5]

Which OSU, Ohio, Oregon or Oklahoma? I'm guessing Ohio from your location.

I only applied to Oklahoma State. Interviewed and am on the alternate list. The process seems very long and lots of hurry up and wait. I also had to take the Biology GRE which is an agony most vet applicants don't have suffer through since OK State and Georgia I believe are the only schools that require it.

The OSU is Ohio State, I kept forgetting that other schools as well use that abbrev. It also, looks like you are an Oklahoma State resident, is that right? You said you were an alterante there, and I was wondering if your in state school gave you the same lecture that U of Penn gave to its in staters? I am from Philadelphia and they basically said that the in state waitlist has not moved much if at all in the past 3 yrs, but the out of state waitlist moves a lot. I was wondering, when you interviewed at Oklahoma State if they mentioned their in state waitlist at all? Just seeing if this theory can be applied to all vet schools with in state waitlistees. Good luck with Oklahoma and I hope you hear from them soon, I hear it is a great school ! 🙂

P.S. What was the GRE biology like (did not have to take it), was it hard?

 

[2quick]

I've finally heard back from all of my schools, so I can give a rundown of how the process went for me. I applied to 7 schools that interview and 3 which don't (I'm a NJ resident, so I applied to a bunch!). I received interview invites from Ohio, Virginia, Tufts, UPenn, Illinois, and Florida and was put on pre-interview hold at Michigan but later rejected. I ended up going to all of the interviews except Florida's, because it would have been difficult to travel down there and I'd already gotten into a couple places. Of the schools I interviewed at I was accepted by Ohio State, Tufts, and Virginia; waitlisted by Illinois; and put on 'hold' by Penn, but found out recently that I was rejected. The schools I applied to which don't interview were Cornell, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and I was waitlisted by all of them (though #2 on the list at Iowa).

So far I've withdrawn from everywhere except Ohio, Tufts, and Cornell. I was really impressed with the program at Ohio (and the ability to obtain residency while a student!)- so I'm pretty certain I'll be choosing to go there over Tufts.

How do you feel about Ohio? Would you choose to go to Penn over OSU?

Congrats on your acceptance, and keep us updated on your progress!
Andrew

 

[HeartSong]

They didn't say anything to me about the waitlist. I also have not seen the letter they sent yet since they sent it to my house and my mom called me to tell me the main jest of it. So they might have given some details in the letter but I don't know. I am an Oklahoma resident, and OK state does look like a great school.

The Biology GRE was terrible. I got a little over three quarters through the test in the time limit, left a bunch of questions blank and still scored above average (I forget what my exact score is). Answering a question incorrectly counted off more than leaving it blank. The questions were so specific that you either knew the answer or you didn't . . . or more likely had no idea what they were talking about.

An example of a question would be . . .
The addition of colchicine to a culture of actively dividing flagellated eukaryotic cells inhibits all of the following EXCEPT.
(A) movement of flagella
(B) growth of flagella
(C) formation of the mitotic apparatus
(D) formation of the microtubular cytoskeleton
(E) polymerization of tubulin

Either you know it, or you're sitting there going huh, whhaaa. And that goes on for 200 questions, three hours, and no break at a cost of $130. But if you like that kind of thing, then I guess it might be fun. 😛

 

[jtt5]

So far I've withdrawn from everywhere except Ohio, Tufts, and Cornell. I was really impressed with the program at Ohio (and the ability to obtain residency while a student!)- so I'm pretty certain I'll be choosing to go there over Tufts.

How do you feel about Ohio? Would you choose to go to Penn over OSU?

Congrats on your acceptance, and keep us updated on your progress!
Andrew[/QUOTE]



Andrew,

As of now the only acceptance I have is OSU and I really liked the campus alot. It was more modernized than Penn, the campus looked great. First, Ohio seems to be located in a better area than Penn. Who can forget the cheap tutition as compared to Penn. OSU will leave me a lot less in debt and a great education is a sure thing. Also, I like how all the small animal and large animal campuses (so to speak) are located in one location as compared to Penn where I would have to travel to New Bolton to do my large animal rotation. However, the only reason I would go to Penn (and probably still hang on to my waitlist spot) is b/c I was planning to get an apartment with someone in Phila (and this person might be going to Jefferson for Med school) and also other personl reasons which would make Penn a little closer to home. I am kind of torn at this time 🙁 I wanted to ask where in NJ you live, my mother lives in NJ (and I am there all the time, she is located in Washington Twp, Sewell, NJ) I saw that you were from NJ and you mentioned it in several posts, just wondering where at?

As of now I am sending in my acceptance to Ohio and holding on to the waitlist spot at Penn. Ohio appears more attractive by the day though. Congrats on your acceptances, you did great this application year. Why would you choose Ohio over Tufts? What did Tufts lack or that you did not like about it? I heard Tufts was a nice school? Just wondering 🙂

Carol

 

[nychilla]

Hey Andrew,

I just responded to one of your postings on the general interview thread. I'm on the alternate list at Penn - but didn't get a good feeling from the school during the interview process. I'm going to remove my name - Cornell it is!!!!

Has Cornell given you any information since you were put on the waitlist? Would love to see you next year! By the way, congratulations on your acceptances - you're definitely the interview master! You can't go wrong, no matter where you choose!

-Allison

 

[ghostsamurai]

anyone hear from Davis yet, I know they're supposed to send acceptances via email this week.

 

[2quick]

As of now I am sending in my acceptance to Ohio and holding on to the waitlist spot at Penn. Ohio appears more attractive by the day though. Congrats on your acceptances, you did great this application year. Why would you choose Ohio over Tufts? What did Tufts lack or that you did not like about it? I heard Tufts was a nice school? Just wondering 🙂

Carol[/QUOTE]


Hey Carol,

I'm up in Bergen County, I'm not sure how far that is from Washington Township (I suck at NJ geography/counties). The Tufts vs. Ohio decision has definitely been a tough one, but I can give my general reasons why I believe I'll be choosing Ohio.

First, though Tufts is just 30-40 min from Boston, I'd still be living in North Grafton, which, though pretty, really doesn't have much to it. I certainly like Boston more than Columbus, however, with OSU I'd be right next to Columbus and could go in whenever I wanted, vs. going into Boston perhaps a few times a semester.

I really liked the small animal hospital at Tufts and they have a great caseload, however, since it's in MA, the large animal seemed to be a bit lacking- I don't know that I'll end up doing large animal, but I'm still interested in gaining some good experience. Ohio, I feel, has one of the most well-rounded caseloads/hospitals I've come across. Their small animal surgery and medicine services are some of the best in the country, they have new endowed professorships in equine med/surgery, a brand new large animal ambulatory center 35 min. away, great research on-campus, etc... Not to mention the amazing new academic building (geeze, this sounds like a commercial!)

Ohio also has the residency thing. In addition, I spoke with the financial aid person at Ohio and apparently out-of-state students get a $10,000 scholarship for the first year! In the end, OSU tuition works out to around $20,000 per year vs. about $32,000 at Tufts- a pretty big difference.

Ohio and Tufts both have great reputations, so that wasn't much of a factor (I believe US News puts Ohio 6th and Tufts 12th or something?).

One of my few problems with Ohio was its large class size (140) compared to Tufts (80). However, I spoke with an intern at the AMC who went to OSU and he allayed my concern of getting lost in the crowd- apparently the professors make themselves available and the class is split up for certain laboratories. He also said that Ohio has a good small animal caseload, but that there is also a hospital 10 min. away called MedVet which is HUGE! Here's its website: http://www.medvet-cves.com/New Building/new_hospital overview.htm According to him, it's of comprable size to the AMC. He worked there summers as a tech while in school, and said that if you want a crazy caseload, that is a great place to be. That's one of the great things about being in a large city in my opinion, there are a bunch of great things to do/get involved with without traveling too far.

I hope I didn't come off as disliking Tufts, because I definitely love the school. I just believe that Ohio is a better fit for me regarding it's location, programs/caseload, and cost.

Sorry for the long post, it's just a very good/tough question! Keep us posted on the UPenn/Ohio thing.

Andrew

 

[2quick]

Hey Andrew,

I just responded to one of your postings on the general interview thread. I'm on the alternate list at Penn - but didn't get a good feeling from the school during the interview process. I'm going to remove my name - Cornell it is!!!!

Has Cornell given you any information since you were put on the waitlist? Would love to see you next year! By the way, congratulations on your acceptances - you're definitely the interview master! You can't go wrong, no matter where you choose!

-Allison

Hey Allison,

Alas, I was also put on Hold after my interview at UPenn and found out that I was rejected a few days ago. I was not all that impressed with the place either, and during the day I pretty much decided that I wanted to go to Ohio, which I believe came across during my interview (though it was a great interview!). I also had been emailing one of the professors at UPenn I worked with regarding my concerns with the school and how much I liked Ohio- little did I know that he'd actually be on the admissions committee this year (OOPS!)- so that probably didn't help either, hehe.
Did your tour guide take you into that old room with the wooden chairs and talk about the 'spirit' of Penn? I was thinking, c'mon, I can't believe you guys still use this room! UPenn is putting up a new academing building now, but a year too late for us sadly.

I haven't heard anything from Cornell yet. Apparently us wait-listers will receive an email indicating our status sometime soon. Cornell's really the only school I'm still considering vs. Ohio (I've already withdrawn from Virginia and will be withrdawing from Tufts I think), so it'll be interesting to see what happens with them.

LOL @ the 'interview master' hehe. I dunno about that, but it's nice of you to say. You're going to do great at Cornell I'm certain! Start looking for cool Cornell Vet paraphernalia!

Andrew

 

[PAThbrd]

I'm up in Bergen County,

As in the Cadets of Bergen County? yeah drum corps! sorry, I greatly miss my marching band days...

 

[birdvet2006]

As in the Cadets of Bergen County? yeah drum corps! sorry, I greatly miss my marching band days...

Me too! I loved my marching band days (I played marching horn). 🙂 Drum corps is so cool.



Cindy

 

[2quick]

As in the Cadets of Bergen County? yeah drum corps! sorry, I greatly miss my marching band days...


Hehe, I guess so. I know my high school had a well-known marching band; I'd hear about them going to competitions in California and what-not. I don't really know though, I was a violin guy. Now that I think about it, I think the orchestra had a lower ratio of guys/girls than vet school- such a place does exist!
Andrew

 

[PAThbrd]

Now that I think about it, I think the orchestra had a lower ratio of guys/girls than vet school- such a place does exist!

Yeah such a place exists, Midway College, Kentucky's only college for women, followed by vet school with the 7:3 ratio, maybe Ill meet someone by the time Im 30 haha!

 

[jtt5]

As of now I am sending in my acceptance to Ohio and holding on to the waitlist spot at Penn. Ohio appears more attractive by the day though. Congrats on your acceptances, you did great this application year. Why would you choose Ohio over Tufts? What did Tufts lack or that you did not like about it? I heard Tufts was a nice school? Just wondering 🙂

Carol

Hey Carol,

I'm up in Bergen County, I'm not sure how far that is from Washington Township (I suck at NJ geography/counties). The Tufts vs. Ohio decision has definitely been a tough one, but I can give my general reasons why I believe I'll be choosing Ohio.

First, though Tufts is just 30-40 min from Boston, I'd still be living in North Grafton, which, though pretty, really doesn't have much to it. I certainly like Boston more than Columbus, however, with OSU I'd be right next to Columbus and could go in whenever I wanted, vs. going into Boston perhaps a few times a semester.

I really liked the small animal hospital at Tufts and they have a great caseload, however, since it's in MA, the large animal seemed to be a bit lacking- I don't know that I'll end up doing large animal, but I'm still interested in gaining some good experience. Ohio, I feel, has one of the most well-rounded caseloads/hospitals I've come across. Their small animal surgery and medicine services are some of the best in the country, they have new endowed professorships in equine med/surgery, a brand new large animal ambulatory center 35 min. away, great research on-campus, etc... Not to mention the amazing new academic building (geeze, this sounds like a commercial!)

Ohio also has the residency thing. In addition, I spoke with the financial aid person at Ohio and apparently out-of-state students get a $10,000 scholarship for the first year! In the end, OSU tuition works out to around $20,000 per year vs. about $32,000 at Tufts- a pretty big difference.

Ohio and Tufts both have great reputations, so that wasn't much of a factor (I believe US News puts Ohio 6th and Tufts 12th or something?).

One of my few problems with Ohio was its large class size (140) compared to Tufts (80). However, I spoke with an intern at the AMC who went to OSU and he allayed my concern of getting lost in the crowd- apparently the professors make themselves available and the class is split up for certain laboratories. He also said that Ohio has a good small animal caseload, but that there is also a hospital 10 min. away called MedVet which is HUGE! Here's its website: http://www.medvet-cves.com/New Building/new_hospital overview.htm According to him, it's of comprable size to the AMC. He worked there summers as a tech while in school, and said that if you want a crazy caseload, that is a great place to be. That's one of the great things about being in a large city in my opinion, there are a bunch of great things to do/get involved with without traveling too far.

I hope I didn't come off as disliking Tufts, because I definitely love the school. I just believe that Ohio is a better fit for me regarding it's location, programs/caseload, and cost.

Sorry for the long post, it's just a very good/tough question! Keep us posted on the UPenn/Ohio thing.

Andrew[/QUOTE]





Hey Andrew,
I can not believe all the information that you know about each school, I find it very hard to collect all the information from websites or people in general. I was wondering if you happen to know when Ohio State vet school starts? I know that it is in mid-Sept, but do you know of the actual date? Also, I was wondering if you knew the curriculum for all four years at vet school or do you know where I could download one? I have an idea, but I just wanted to see more in detail the type of courses that I would be taking. One other thing, you mentioned in your response about $10,000 scholarship. I was wondering if this is given to all out of staters or only to a select few? If it is only given to a select few do you happen to know the criteria to apply for this? Sorry for so many questions, one last one I promise 😳 I was wondering when the finicial aid package and information on housing is going to be sent, I think I heard that it was going to be in july, this late? Again sorry for the line of questioning, it just seems like you know more about this then I would. Any bit of info. would help. To keep you updated I believe that I am going to Ohio and holding on to the waitlist spot at U of Penn (I hope I can do this, even though I am accepting to go to Ohio). I think I am Ohio bound, what about you any concrete decisions yet about where you will be attending? Keep us updated 🙂


Carol