Vet school applications

[Vet2B]

If you are in vet school: How many schools did you apply to? How many times did you have to apply before you were accepted?

If you are pre vet: How many schools are you applying to?
Do you expect to get accepted the first year you apply?
How many years are you willing to apply before you give up?

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[Vet2B]

This is actually my second round of college. I went for a journalism degree the first time. I'm pre-vet at the University of Tennessee. It's the only vet school I am going to apply to.
My grades aren't bad, but they aren't outstanding either (3.23 currently). I've told myself that I'll apply 3 times and if I don't get accepted by then I'll look at other options. At UT last year they had over 400 students apply and 65 accepted. They have been accepting more and more out of state students each year so the ratio is getting bigger every year.
In Knoxville there is a very high concentration of vets. I'm assuming it's because people come her to vet school and decide to stay. I wonder if it's that way in every city with a vet school.....

 

[Vet2B]

Originally posted by Herpeto
I am a non-traditional pre-vet and this will be my first time applying. I am applying to both medical and veterinary school at the moment
Herp

Best of luck!
If you got accepted for both vet and med school, which would you pick?

 

[Vet2B]

OwlMyst posted this link in the "why only one vet school in TX" thread and it was pretty good. It gives lots of great info including which programs accept out of state applicants. I think that most will at least consider them now.http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/.../vet_frame.html

 

[Herpeto]

Thanks for the thread. How much longer in the pre-vet program. So why are you only applying to UT. Don't you believe it wiser to apply to large swath of schools to increase your chances? I know you GPA, but what about you GRE, MCAT or VCAT scores. Do you have a lot of animal experiences? I would think having two degree will certainly help.

If I do well on the MCAT, should I send it into school that don't even request it, even though they have my GRE scores?


Herp

 

[Vet2B]

I still have about 4 semesters before I appy to vet school so no VCATs yet. I have about 130 hours of volunteer hours so far. I volunteer at a clinic that does free spay and neuters for feral cats once a month and get lots of experience there. Each clinic is about 8-10 hours. I've done everything from expressing bladders to assisting in surgery.
I'm only applying to UT because I grew up here in Knoxville. My family is here and I bought a house last year too. This is where my roots are and will more than likely stay. I have considered moving to Nashville at some time, but that's still less than 3 hours away. I just figure if I don't get in at UT then it wasn't suppose to happen.
If you get a steller MCAT score I'd put it on your resume anyway. It couldn't hurt.

 

[dvm n 06]

I am a 2nd year vet student at Auburn. I only applied once to 3 schools. I applied to U Penn, Va-MD (my state school), and Auburn. I was wait listed at Auburn and Va-MD, but was accepted to Auburn in June.

 

[cudvm2005]

3rd year vet student at Cornell. I went through the application process once and applied to three schools: Cornell, Penn, and Tufts. Luckily, was accepted to all three and chose Cornell for many reasons. Hope this helps.

 

[Vet2B]

Originally posted by cudvm2005
3rd year vet student at Cornell. I went through the application process once and applied to three schools: Cornell, Penn, and Tufts. Luckily, was accepted to all three and chose Cornell for many reasons. Hope this helps.

That is remarkable! Cornell has one of the best reputations in the country for their vet program, I understand why you would have picked them!

 

[Vet2B]

Originally posted by dvm n 06
I am a 2nd year vet student at Auburn. I only applied once to 3 schools. I applied to U Penn, Va-MD (my state school), and Auburn. I was wait listed at Auburn and Va-MD, but was accepted to Auburn in June.

Even a wait list is very good. What was your GPA and how many vol hours did you have?

 

[Herpeto]

Can the vet schools see all the different schools one applies to on the VMCAS application? I know with medical school they can't, I'm just wondering if it's similiar.

Herp

 

[cudvm2005]

"Can the vet schools see all the different schools one applies to on the VMCAS application? I know with medical school they can't, I'm just wondering if it's similiar."

I don't think they can see, because they will ask you where else you applied to if you interview. I'm not totally sure though, and things may have changed since I applied a long time ago.

 

[cudvm2005]

Originally posted by Vet2B
That is remarkable! Cornell has one of the best reputations in the country for their vet program, I understand why you would have picked them!

It's a great program and I love vet school here. Ithaca, however, leaves a lot to be desired....

 

[dvm n 06]

I had a 3.75 G.P.A. and had over 3000 hours working in a small animal hospital. I also volunteered at a cat santuary and at a zoo. I didn't have any large animal experience which I'm pretty sure is a major reason why I wasn't accepted at Va-MD because they like to see large and small animal experience.

I do believe that schools have access to the schools you apply to because I was asked in one of my interviews which school I would go to if I was accepted to all three schools and I'm fairly certain that I didn't supply them with that info.

 

[pburris]

I'm living proof that nontraditional pre-vets can get in!

Here are my stats:

overall GPA: 3.2
science GPA: 3.6
GRE: 2010 (taken in 2002 before the written section was added)
age: 30
undergrad degree: BA in Journalism and Psychology, completed in 1995 (I just recently went back to take the pre-reqs for vet school)
# of attempts: surprisingly, just 1!
# of vet schools applied to: just 1 - my state school for geographic and monetary reasons.
Experience - 2 years volunteering at 'vet check' night at a local animal shelter, a few months working full time at a clinic as a vet assistant (at the time of my application - I continued working there for over a year), one school year mucking stalls at a horse barn twice a week. That's it!
Also, my GPA from the first 4 years of undergrad was only a 3.0 (not bad in the real world, but not great in the pre-vet world). I had to really work to raise it with my vet school pre-reqs. I think that the improvement made up for the fact that a 3.2 GPA is on the lower end of the spectrum among applicants.

I was counting on allowing for at least 3 tries and was genuinely surprised when I put on the alternate list - and then eventually accepted - after the first try. If I hadn't gotten in when I did, I was looking into some 2 year masters programs in my area so that I could at least be moving forward toward something while I was waiting to try again...

Best of luck to everyone applying - it can be done!

Peggy

 

[Truth74]

Peggy, you are an inspiration to me, because I will be 29 in one week.
The whole marriage and children thing is great, but I should have gone to school first. I'm a non-traditional student also. I'm applying for a job in a clinic or stable, now. I'm volunteering at the local animal shelter and hope to get back into horse work later this year.

The admissions counselor at vet med thinks I have a very good shot.

 

[Horseradish99]

Herpeto,

I'm interested in your situation...

My girlfriend of two years is starting vet school here at Ohio State next month. I just started med school at Ohio State last week, so we are living the med/vet experience and plan to stay together for the long haul.

Our interest is in rural medicine, and we hope to find somewhere out west to practice eventually.

Why does your gf want you to go the med route exactly?

Scott

 

[skibum]

to respond to the original post, i am applying to 7schools (CSU, Oregon, Washington, Minn, Wisc, Iowa, Tufts).

I am going to be optimistic here and say YES, I will be getting in on the first try. 😀 However, I am aware of my shortcomings and if I do not get in, I can pretty much tell you the reasons right off:
1. Hours of experience - I have maybe hundreds of hours rather than the thousands many applicants have.
2. Course load - as a non-trad, I work full time and go to school part time. Your first year of vet school you could be taking 20-30 hours. Schools (at least CSU does) want to see you can handle a full load of science courses. I've had friends who have been told by CSU to quit their jobs and go to school full-time. not really an option for me right now.

How many times I apply will depend. If I get rejected without even an interview a couple of times, I'll probably call it quits. I do plan on applying more than once though. And if I don't get in the first time, I plan on meeting with someone from the adcom and finding out why so I can improve my app for the next time.

 

[Vet2B]

Originally posted by skibum

2. Course load - as a non-trad, I work full time and go to school part time. Your first year of vet school you could be taking 20-30 hours. Schools (at least CSU does) want to see you can handle a full load of science courses. I've had friends who have been told by CSU to quit their jobs and go to school full-time. not really an option for me right now.

I am worried about this too. I work 40 hrs a week and go to school. I'm only taking 7 hours this semester because of craziness in my personal life. I'm hoping it won't come back to bite me later. Next semester I am taking 9 but it's still not full time....