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Hoping to create a list of the academic support and remediation programs available at all of the veterinary schools. Many students need some assistance at some point and knowing what (if anything) is available to them could be a big help when deciding on where to attend, as well as aiding veterinary students at schools without assistance show their administration what could be done.
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Responses in alphabetical order
Illinois
1) vet med exclusive counselors that keep tabs on students. If anyone falls below a certain level, they get an email about coming to talk and make a strategy for success.
2) There are student tutors for each class except for third year. The student tutors are paid by ASA for up to 5 hours of tutoring a week.
3) We also have a student run depression and anxiety support group that meets once a month to help in that front.
Remediation:
We need to maintain 60%+ each quarter and finish each year with a 70%+. If you fall below either of those, you are dismissed. You are able to petition for reinstatement via the scholastics committee by meeting with Dr. Foreman, writing a letter stating what happened, why, and how you're going to be better. Then the committee makes that decision. They take the matter pretty seriously, and I feel that they truly think through what the individual student's circumstances were when offering people a second chance. That second chance, however, is repeating the year you failed, no matter how close to the cutoff you were.
2019 lost 4 people due to grades (I think); 2020 lost 3 people; 2021 has lost 1; and 2022 did lose a person, but unsure if it was due to grades. That's for their entire time here. The 2019, 2020, and 2022 losses were after 1st year; the 2021 loss was after 2nd year.
Source: I repeated first year after ending with a 69.45%.
Iowa
- An F in any core curriculum course or rotation gets you dismissed. I believe that you can fail an elective course and stay enrolled provided that you still meet the minimum GPA to be in good standing, but generally it isn't electives that give people any big trouble academically, anyway.
- While there is technically no stated limit on the number of Ds a student can earn, you are required to maintain a 2.0 at all times for cumulative GPA, cumulative core GPA, and semester GPA, so it would be difficult to make more than one D and meet that minimum (assuming that your other grades are generally okay). A D in a rotation means that the rotation must be repeated, which may or may not delay graduation depending on the availability to take it again.
- If a student falls below that 2.0 minimum for any of the listed GPA categories, they are placed on academic probation for the following semester. In order to have that probationary status removed and remain in the DVM program in good standing, the student must be >2.0 for all GPAs at the end of that semester. If the student fails to do this, they are dismissed. The school is not at all lenient on this point, either; I was dismissed and I was only about 0.02 points below that 2.0 for my probationary semester... I made mostly Bs and Cs, with a smattering of As here and there, but two Ds I made in the fall of second year spelt the end of my vet school career.
- A student who is dismissed is pretty much out for good. Simple repeats aren't offered like they are at some other vet schools. There is a route to get back into the program, but it is long, expensive, isn't guaranteed, and it also necessitates that the student start completely over from first year if they are allowed back in, regardless of how far they were in when the dismissal occurred. Very, very few dismissed students actually try for it, especially those who are let go any further in than first year. Basically, the student enrolls and takes undergraduate "foundational" courses in those subjects they struggled with as either a CALS special student or a degree-seeking student with an adviser through Iowa State. There are also consortium agreements with a couple other universities that allow for online courses to be taken for this purpose, though apparently not all courses taken this way are eligible for financial aid, so this unfortunately may be an out-of-pocket expense. If the student makes satisfactory grades in those courses, then they can petition the committee for readmission into the DVM program; if successful, the student will start over with the next incoming first year class. As I alluded to earlier, I didn't attempt this, so my knowledge of the precise details is quite limited. @Falconette85 is currently going through the process and has put together an amazing and thorough guide right here for anyone who may need it.
In terms of academic support:
- From what I have heard, there are finally some vet school specific counseling staff available!
- There's tutoring, mediated primarily by upper year students, for most, if not all, of the first year courses. About halfway through a semester, after midterm exams, any students making a C or lower in a class will receive an email from OASA offering to get that tutoring set up for them. I can't quite recall if any tutoring is offered for second year courses but I want to say no...? At any rate, if you find yourself struggling academically, definitely take advantage of this resource! Truth be told, I genuinely think that I would have failed large animal anatomy my second semester if it weren't for my frequent tutoring sessions.
- There is a remedial exam offered for students who have a C- grade or lower in small animal anatomy following the final. If this exam is passed, the student will pass the course with a C. The trade-off for this is that you will be required to spend some extra time prior to the start of second year in the lab reviewing structures on the specimens, as well as keeping a log of your activities/learning to turn into the instructor. I don't remember if there was a hard hour requirement for this, but it's not really that steep a price to pay in order to guarantee that you pass the course.
- Upper year students will frequently roam the room, answer any questions, and act as TAs of sorts during the lab portions of classes such as neuroanatomy, histophysiology I and II, anatomic path I and II, and both semesters of anatomy.
- For several of the more difficult classes, including immunology and small animal anatomy, there are multiple extra lecture sessions for review. These are optional, but are great if you have questions regarding the material or just need some extra time and guidance to really solidify concepts.
- All professors have their open office hours listed on the syllabus for their classes if you have questions or want to discuss an exam or something.
- As a student, you'll have 24-hour access to the vet med building with your ID badge. Super handy if you decide you need an anatomy lab study session at 4 AM on a Sunday or something in a desperate attempt to save yourself, haha (I have certainly done that myself many times!).
- There is also a hands-on clinical skills lab where you can practice suturing, venipuncture, wound draping, and lots of other procedures. There are usually at least one or two instructors in there who can watch and give you feedback and advice if you want it.
Kansas State
For K-State we had tutors available from the class above us. It's not a super organized system, my understanding is you have to reach out to the dean's office letting them know you'd like a tutor in a certain class, and they'll send out an email to see if anyone is willing. I've heard mixed things about whether they're willing to find you a tutor if you're not already failing the class. Other than that, almost all of the professors are more than willing to answer questions by email or appointment.
As far as remediation, there's not a whole lot. If you get a D in a class, you have to retake it, i.e. you're held back a year (during 4th year if you get a D in a rotation you can make it up either during a vacation block, or after graduation. You can still walk with your class, but it might affect your ability to start a job right after finishing). If you get an F, more than one D within three consecutive semesters, or more than two D's overall, you're dismissed. You can petition to be reinstated, but I don't know how successful that tends to be.
The only class that we had any sort of opportunity to try to remediate was pharmacology, both semesters if anyone had a D after the final, they could take a makeup final and if they passed that, they got a C in the class. However, several other professors did curve grades at the end of the semester, in a couple instances pretty generously. My class never lost more than 2-3 people in a semester due to grades, so it seems to work out okay for most people.
Washington State
LA anatomy-peer guided review
Surgery skills-TA (aka peer) guided learning
Email/ office hours.
We also have counselors that help with study methods.
Remediation: you get 5 credits of marginal. Getting any marginal credits and a student advisory committee meets with you so hopefully can improve the situation so you dont get any more marginals. After that you're either on probation meaning you cant get any more marginals or you have to redo that year-case by case basis. Fail any class and you either repeat a year or are dismissed-case by case basis. For our mega courses sys path and clin path if you marginalize or fail any single exam the course director checks in on you because either of those courses alone could get you dismissed if you marginalize or fail them.
******************************************************************************************
Responses in alphabetical order
Illinois
1) vet med exclusive counselors that keep tabs on students. If anyone falls below a certain level, they get an email about coming to talk and make a strategy for success.
2) There are student tutors for each class except for third year. The student tutors are paid by ASA for up to 5 hours of tutoring a week.
3) We also have a student run depression and anxiety support group that meets once a month to help in that front.
Remediation:
We need to maintain 60%+ each quarter and finish each year with a 70%+. If you fall below either of those, you are dismissed. You are able to petition for reinstatement via the scholastics committee by meeting with Dr. Foreman, writing a letter stating what happened, why, and how you're going to be better. Then the committee makes that decision. They take the matter pretty seriously, and I feel that they truly think through what the individual student's circumstances were when offering people a second chance. That second chance, however, is repeating the year you failed, no matter how close to the cutoff you were.
2019 lost 4 people due to grades (I think); 2020 lost 3 people; 2021 has lost 1; and 2022 did lose a person, but unsure if it was due to grades. That's for their entire time here. The 2019, 2020, and 2022 losses were after 1st year; the 2021 loss was after 2nd year.
Source: I repeated first year after ending with a 69.45%.
Iowa
- An F in any core curriculum course or rotation gets you dismissed. I believe that you can fail an elective course and stay enrolled provided that you still meet the minimum GPA to be in good standing, but generally it isn't electives that give people any big trouble academically, anyway.
- While there is technically no stated limit on the number of Ds a student can earn, you are required to maintain a 2.0 at all times for cumulative GPA, cumulative core GPA, and semester GPA, so it would be difficult to make more than one D and meet that minimum (assuming that your other grades are generally okay). A D in a rotation means that the rotation must be repeated, which may or may not delay graduation depending on the availability to take it again.
- If a student falls below that 2.0 minimum for any of the listed GPA categories, they are placed on academic probation for the following semester. In order to have that probationary status removed and remain in the DVM program in good standing, the student must be >2.0 for all GPAs at the end of that semester. If the student fails to do this, they are dismissed. The school is not at all lenient on this point, either; I was dismissed and I was only about 0.02 points below that 2.0 for my probationary semester... I made mostly Bs and Cs, with a smattering of As here and there, but two Ds I made in the fall of second year spelt the end of my vet school career.
- A student who is dismissed is pretty much out for good. Simple repeats aren't offered like they are at some other vet schools. There is a route to get back into the program, but it is long, expensive, isn't guaranteed, and it also necessitates that the student start completely over from first year if they are allowed back in, regardless of how far they were in when the dismissal occurred. Very, very few dismissed students actually try for it, especially those who are let go any further in than first year. Basically, the student enrolls and takes undergraduate "foundational" courses in those subjects they struggled with as either a CALS special student or a degree-seeking student with an adviser through Iowa State. There are also consortium agreements with a couple other universities that allow for online courses to be taken for this purpose, though apparently not all courses taken this way are eligible for financial aid, so this unfortunately may be an out-of-pocket expense. If the student makes satisfactory grades in those courses, then they can petition the committee for readmission into the DVM program; if successful, the student will start over with the next incoming first year class. As I alluded to earlier, I didn't attempt this, so my knowledge of the precise details is quite limited. @Falconette85 is currently going through the process and has put together an amazing and thorough guide right here for anyone who may need it.
In terms of academic support:
- From what I have heard, there are finally some vet school specific counseling staff available!
- There's tutoring, mediated primarily by upper year students, for most, if not all, of the first year courses. About halfway through a semester, after midterm exams, any students making a C or lower in a class will receive an email from OASA offering to get that tutoring set up for them. I can't quite recall if any tutoring is offered for second year courses but I want to say no...? At any rate, if you find yourself struggling academically, definitely take advantage of this resource! Truth be told, I genuinely think that I would have failed large animal anatomy my second semester if it weren't for my frequent tutoring sessions.
- There is a remedial exam offered for students who have a C- grade or lower in small animal anatomy following the final. If this exam is passed, the student will pass the course with a C. The trade-off for this is that you will be required to spend some extra time prior to the start of second year in the lab reviewing structures on the specimens, as well as keeping a log of your activities/learning to turn into the instructor. I don't remember if there was a hard hour requirement for this, but it's not really that steep a price to pay in order to guarantee that you pass the course.
- Upper year students will frequently roam the room, answer any questions, and act as TAs of sorts during the lab portions of classes such as neuroanatomy, histophysiology I and II, anatomic path I and II, and both semesters of anatomy.
- For several of the more difficult classes, including immunology and small animal anatomy, there are multiple extra lecture sessions for review. These are optional, but are great if you have questions regarding the material or just need some extra time and guidance to really solidify concepts.
- All professors have their open office hours listed on the syllabus for their classes if you have questions or want to discuss an exam or something.
- As a student, you'll have 24-hour access to the vet med building with your ID badge. Super handy if you decide you need an anatomy lab study session at 4 AM on a Sunday or something in a desperate attempt to save yourself, haha (I have certainly done that myself many times!).
- There is also a hands-on clinical skills lab where you can practice suturing, venipuncture, wound draping, and lots of other procedures. There are usually at least one or two instructors in there who can watch and give you feedback and advice if you want it.
Kansas State
For K-State we had tutors available from the class above us. It's not a super organized system, my understanding is you have to reach out to the dean's office letting them know you'd like a tutor in a certain class, and they'll send out an email to see if anyone is willing. I've heard mixed things about whether they're willing to find you a tutor if you're not already failing the class. Other than that, almost all of the professors are more than willing to answer questions by email or appointment.
As far as remediation, there's not a whole lot. If you get a D in a class, you have to retake it, i.e. you're held back a year (during 4th year if you get a D in a rotation you can make it up either during a vacation block, or after graduation. You can still walk with your class, but it might affect your ability to start a job right after finishing). If you get an F, more than one D within three consecutive semesters, or more than two D's overall, you're dismissed. You can petition to be reinstated, but I don't know how successful that tends to be.
The only class that we had any sort of opportunity to try to remediate was pharmacology, both semesters if anyone had a D after the final, they could take a makeup final and if they passed that, they got a C in the class. However, several other professors did curve grades at the end of the semester, in a couple instances pretty generously. My class never lost more than 2-3 people in a semester due to grades, so it seems to work out okay for most people.
Washington State
LA anatomy-peer guided review
Surgery skills-TA (aka peer) guided learning
Email/ office hours.
We also have counselors that help with study methods.
Remediation: you get 5 credits of marginal. Getting any marginal credits and a student advisory committee meets with you so hopefully can improve the situation so you dont get any more marginals. After that you're either on probation meaning you cant get any more marginals or you have to redo that year-case by case basis. Fail any class and you either repeat a year or are dismissed-case by case basis. For our mega courses sys path and clin path if you marginalize or fail any single exam the course director checks in on you because either of those courses alone could get you dismissed if you marginalize or fail them.
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