VMCAS Questions and Rants c/o 2024

[RahyneDays]

Were you helping in run the symposium or were you a participant? For hobbies can't you leave organization blank? If not put N/A

I was a participant, but it was still a cool experience I would like to list because my team and I synthesized a neat (though theoretical) organism using CRISPR and GeoBank and presented it to other students as well as professionals with other undergraduate research projects.

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[MixedAnimals77]

I was a participant, but it was still a cool experience I would like to list because my team and I synthesized a neat (though theoretical) organism using CRISPR and GeoBank and presented it to other students as well as professionals with other undergraduate research projects.

So I'm trying to remember- but definately put it. So since you presented it I would definately list that. So I'm thinking organization would be the symposium name and then under description you could put what you did and that you were participant/presenter. I hope that helps some.

 

[finnickthedog]

2.) Hobbies. (I know hobbies are supposed to be listed under extracurricular but if its something you do for fun [ie amateur entomologist] what the heck would you put under "organization"?)

I put "personal activity" in the organization field for hobbies because I don't think it could be left blank. (If they do let you leave it blank then I would do that). N/A would also work. I honestly don't think it matters too much what you put there as long as it makes some sense.

 

[deleted676737]

2.) Hobbies. (I know hobbies are supposed to be listed under extracurricular but if its something you do for fun [ie amateur entomologist] what the heck would you put under "organization"?)

I think I just put “Personal Hobby” for the organization and had no issues. As was mentioned above, it doesn’t matter too much as long as it makes sense.

Also... hi there, fellow Kansas Citian!

 

[grebes4lyfe]

I think I just put “Personal Hobby” for the organization and had no issues. As was mentioned above, it doesn’t matter too much as long as it makes sense.

Also... hi there, fellow Kansas Citian!

OH HAI IM FROM KC TOO!

 

[SkiOtter]

2.) Hobbies. (I know hobbies are supposed to be listed under extracurricular but if its something you do for fun [ie amateur entomologist] what the heck would you put under "organization"?)

Is organization a required field? If not, just leave it blank. If it’s required just put like... “self” or something I guess
I did one of those two things on mine but can’t remember which

 

[RahyneDays]

I think I just put “Personal Hobby” for the organization and had no issues. As was mentioned above, it doesn’t matter too much as long as it makes sense.

Also... hi there, fellow Kansas Citian!

Hello!

 

[blueheeler]

Soooo I have been out of school for about a year and a half now. I want to ask a professor for a recommendation from a course I took in 2016. How should I ask for a recommendation from this professor? I have a resume ready. Should I write a cover letter as well?

I wanted to give an update. My professor said he would write me a positive evaluation!!!

 

[SkiOtter]

Not sure if this has been answered but does being full pay impact admissions? I would assume there exists some bias toward vet students who are able to graduate debt free, given the high incidence of debt (and relatively low salary) in our profession. But I also get that none of this stuff exists in a bubble and that class/income divisions go much deeper than the ability to pay for a DVM and would impact other significant areas of the app as well.

No. They aren’t the ones giving you loans. They don’t care where your money comes from. Not going to be more likely to admit you because you have money.

 

[blueheeler]

Not sure if this has been answered but does being full pay impact admissions? I would assume there exists some bias toward vet students who are able to graduate debt free, given the high incidence of debt (and relatively low salary) in our profession. But I also get that none of this stuff exists in a bubble and that class/income divisions go much deeper than the ability to pay for a DVM and would impact other significant areas of the app as well.

It would really suck if there was a bias towards being full-pay. It shouldn't make me less deserving to be a veterinarian just because I cannot afford to pay veterinary school without taking on loans.

 

[EngrSC]

It would really suck if there was a bias towards being full-pay. It shouldn't make me less deserving to be a veterinarian just because I cannot afford to pay veterinary school without taking on loans.

I feel like that would be a form of discrimination

 

[KCgophervet]

Not sure if this has been answered but does being full pay impact admissions? I would assume there exists some bias toward vet students who are able to graduate debt free, given the high incidence of debt (and relatively low salary) in our profession. But I also get that none of this stuff exists in a bubble and that class/income divisions go much deeper than the ability to pay for a DVM and would impact other significant areas of the app as well.

Along with what everyone else has said, I doubt the people evaluating your application have any idea whether or not you'd be able to pay for vet school without loans. Not to mention I think ~90% of vet students have to take out loans to pay for vet school so...

 

[KCgophervet]

You don't think there would be indicators of affluence in someone's application though? Such as access to unpaid internships or test scores inflated through prep classes? Or that there is communication with the FA office regarding a student's ability to pay?

Also the logistical aspects of vet school such as moving OOS require money and a lot of it... Not to mention working a job usually isn't recommended while pursuing a DVM. I'm not suggesting that you can "buy" your way into vet school. But I feel like money has to play some sort of factor (as unfair as it is) and I have a hard time believing admissions doesn't acknowledge that on some level. Because you can admit a bunch of very smart OOS-ers but if they can't afford it without very generous FA, then I feel like it's a safer bet to let in someone who is similar stat-wise but has the $ to relocate and the $ to attend without FA? I'm not trying to be gatekeepy or classist by any means but vet schools are a business and these are very real things to consider.

Indicators sure. But I don't think anyone is looking at those going "oh hey they can afford to do this stuff I bet they can afford vet school." The school doesn't give a rats behind where the money is coming from so long as the tuition dollars are paid, and since students are guaranteed to receive enough federal loans to cover the cost of attendance I have trouble seeing how they would care. The school gets their $$ either way, if the student defaults on loans that doesn't impact the school.

 

[KCgophervet]

Oh and there's no way a school could know the financial status of a student before acceptance unless they filled out a FAFSA. The school's don't have to (and often don't) offer any financial aid outside of the federal loans, which are through the government not the schools themselves.

 

[Caiter92]

You don't think there would be indicators of affluence in someone's application though? Such as access to unpaid internships or test scores inflated through prep classes? Or that there is communication with the FA office regarding a student's ability to pay?

Also the logistical aspects of vet school such as moving OOS require money and a lot of it... Not to mention working a job usually isn't recommended while pursuing a DVM. I'm not suggesting that you can "buy" your way into vet school. But I feel like money has to play some sort of factor (as unfair as it is) and I have a hard time believing admissions doesn't acknowledge that on some level. Because you can admit a bunch of very smart OOS-ers but if they can't afford it without very generous FA, then I feel like it's a safer bet to let in someone who is similar stat-wise but has the $ to relocate and the $ to attend without FA? I'm not trying to be gatekeepy or classist by any means but vet schools are a business and these are very real things to consider.

Would you be listing taking prep courses on your application somewhere? I can't think of a spot it would go. I did really well on the GRE, I took no prep courses and paid like $50 for a Magoosh subscription to study. I hardly think they looked at more scores and would think, "gee, this girl must have taken courses and be rich."

Plenty of people do unpaid internships or shadow for experience. They might have lower vet numbers because they had to balance work with it, but it's not unique to someone with money. People also relocate every year for school and make it work. Yeah it's going to be harder for someone who doesn't have financial support, but they can do it. It's not as impossible as you're making it out to be.

You may not be trying to be, but you're definitely coming across as elitist thinking someone with money deserves special treatment in admissions. Everyone will have access to enough loans to pay. You're considered independent when applying for FAFSA for professional programs. The school is not worried about someone not being able to pay. Hell there are new schools opening because they know pre-vets will be willing to take out $300k+ in loans to do it.

Grades, LORs, essays and experience is what matters when applying, not money.

 

[SkiOtter]

You don't think there would be indicators of affluence in someone's application though? Such as access to unpaid internships or test scores inflated through prep classes? Or that there is communication with the FA office regarding a student's ability to pay?

Also the logistical aspects of vet school such as moving OOS require money and a lot of it... Not to mention working a job usually isn't recommended while pursuing a DVM. I'm not suggesting that you can "buy" your way into vet school. But I feel like money has to play some sort of factor (as unfair as it is) and I have a hard time believing admissions doesn't acknowledge that on some level. Because you can admit a bunch of very smart OOS-ers but if they can't afford it without very generous FA, then I feel like it's a safer bet to let in someone who is similar stat-wise but has the $ to relocate and the $ to attend without FA? I'm not trying to be gatekeepy or classist by any means but vet schools are a business and these are very real things to consider.

No school cares how much money you have. This is a professional school, not undergrad. They want the best class they can get since there’s so limited spots, not an okay class who bought their way in. Loans exist for a reason. For people to pay for school if they don’t have a bunch of family money lying around. The financial aid office is completely separate from the vet schools. That’s who sees your FAFSA (which can be submitted AFTER acceptance anyway). The school isn’t even the one GIVING you the loans so they aren’t concerned about saving their money.

 

[battie]

Approximately 17% of students graduate veterinary school without debt. However, I doubt that's the goal of admissions committees.

 

[PenguinPal506]

Im entering my courses for my transcript now. Some of my courses are 1.5 credits or 5.5 credits but the VMCAS only allows whole numbers in the credits box. Does anyone have a solution to this?

 

[Adriel]

Question:
Can someone give me some classes that fulfilled their "Humanities" credits... Purdue and UF both need 9 credits and I'm not sure if for "subject" in the transcript section I should put "History" or "humanities"? Specifically, would english 1 & 2 and American history 1 & 2 count towards humanities? and would their subject be humanities or english/government?

 

[SkiOtter]

Im entering my courses for my transcript now. Some of my courses are 1.5 credits or 5.5 credits but the VMCAS only allows whole numbers in the credits box. Does anyone have a solution to this?

VMCAS Transcript Entry

help.liaisonedu.com

 

[SkiOtter]

Question:
Can someone give me some classes that fulfilled their "Humanities" credits... Purdue and UF both need 9 credits and I'm not sure if for "subject" in the transcript section I should put "History" or "humanities"? Specifically, would english 1 & 2 and American history 1 & 2 count towards humanities? and would their subject be humanities or english/government?

Put the subject as what they actually are. You’ll get to choose what classes you want to fill each prereq for each school. That’s where you put what you’re choosing as humanities.
As for what they consider humanities, contact each school if they don’t list it on their website what qualifies. English might not qualify since it usually is counted under an English prereq. Contact the schools to check. They’re the only ones who can tell you what they will accept or not.

 

[EngrSC]

Put the subject as what they actually are. You’ll get to choose what classes you want to fill each prereq for each school. That’s where you put what you’re choosing as humanities.
As for what they consider humanities, contact each school if they don’t list it on their website what qualifies. English might not qualify since it usually is counted under an English prereq. Contact the schools to check. They’re the only ones who can tell you what they will accept or not.

Has anyone figured out how to do this?

 

[SkiOtter]

Has anyone figured out how to do this?

Have you input all of your classes and finalized yet? I think it’s in the supplemental part on vmcas for each school, but you have to completely be done inputting classwork.

 

[Cat-atonic]

Has anyone figured out how to do this?

Ski is correct. You have to go into the program materials for each school. When you click on the program, you'll see a tab at the top for prerequisites. That page will pull up your transcripts and allow you to select your courses for each prerequisite.

 

[EB73674]

I have a GPA calculation question - so some schools specifically care about certain GPAs (cumulative vs. science vs. pre-req vs. science pre-req), and I’m trying to figure out how to calculate mine. If a school only wants/requires a certain pre-req but not another (say, only Orgo 1 is required but not Orgo 2, or Biochem series but no lab), do we think they’d count towards a science pre-req GPA if you take the second in a series or an extra lab?

 

[SkiOtter]

I have a GPA calculation question - so some schools specifically care about certain GPAs (cumulative vs. science vs. pre-req vs. science pre-req), and I’m trying to figure out how to calculate mine. If a school only wants/requires a certain pre-req but not another (say, only Orgo 1 is required but not Orgo 2, or Biochem series but no lab), do we think they’d count towards a science pre-req GPA if you take the second in a series or an extra lab?

Depends on how the school calculates. Some use all science classes, some use JUST the prereqs. Contact each school and ask them what classes they use to calculate their GPAs.

 

[EngrSC]

When assigning prereqs to an individual school, do you select every attempt at the course or only the most recent? (Every attempt is entered under my transcripts obviously)
For instance, I took Physics I and II as part of my original degree >10 years ago. I had to retake both for some schools. Do I select the original and the new courses under prereqs?

 

[battie]

When assigning prereqs to an individual school, do you select every attempt at the course or only the most recent? (Every attempt is entered under my transcripts obviously)
For instance, I took Physics I and II as part of my original degree >10 years ago. I had to retake both for some schools. Do I select the original and the new courses under prereqs?

I picked the most relevant class when I picked between retakes. Generally, I picked the most recent with the best grade. Since your original classes were out of date, I would just pick the new ones.

 

[Georgethecat]

When assigning prereqs to an individual school, do you select every attempt at the course or only the most recent? (Every attempt is entered under my transcripts obviously)
For instance, I took Physics I and II as part of my original degree >10 years ago. I had to retake both for some schools. Do I select the original and the new courses under prereqs?

Agree with batsenecal that choosing the most recent take is probably the way to go, especially if the schools aren't accepting your original takes because it was too long ago. And as you've said, all of the classes are entered. It's not like you're trying to hide anything. As always, it might be best to contact each school and ask them directly what they want.

Paging @Awapi for how she handled that for UGA, since I think that's one of your schools.

Kind of an interesting debate that if schools won't accept course work that is older than 10 years, then why should that course work be included in your gpa's?????

Best of luck to you!

 

[battie]

Kind of an interesting debate that if schools won't accept course work that is older than 10 years, then why should that course work be included in your gpa's?????

While they're included in the VMCAS GPA, schools may not include them when calculating their own GPAs. At least that would make the most sense to me.

 

[DishonorOnUrCow]

Hi there, first time applicant and I'm probably over-thinking this... but, I'm confused on dates for the question "Select the first and last semesters that your transcript covers, even if there were breaks between semesters."

Do you select dates that encompass the entire duration or only the dates of the start of a semester. For example, if I started Fall 2019 and graduate Spring 2023, do I put 8/2019 to 5/2019 or 8/2019 to 1/2019? Again, super dumb question. I'm paranoid of making a silly app mistake.

 

[battie]

"Select the first and last semesters that your transcript covers, even if there were breaks between semesters."

You do the start and stop dates of your entire transcript for that institution. So for the place I got my bachelors, I put 8/2010 - 5/2014, and for the place I did one summer course and a 5th year, I put 6/2013 - 5/2015.

 

[vgurjar]

Under the transcript entry section, what is the correct way to enter college credit classes completed in highschool? My guess was to put them under the semester before my first one at college but I wasn't sure what to put as far as freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate. Thank you for your help!

 

[ajs513]

Under the transcript entry section, what is the correct way to enter college credit classes completed in highschool? My guess was to put them under the semester before my first one at college but I wasn't sure what to put as far as freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate. Thank you for your help!

VMCAS Transcript Entry

help.liaisonedu.com

Scroll down to the test credit section. Enter it under your first term at the college that awarded you the credit.

Edit: realized you didn’t mean AP. But the answer should be in that link.

 

[Old-Country-Vet-Tech]

Check with the schools you want to apply to. It varies widely from school to school. Some only use the VMCAS GPA’s, some use their own but don’t have grade forgiveness, and some use their own with grade forgiveness. I had a 3.32 with grade forgiveness and my VMCAS GPA was much lower (3.0) but I ended up doing fine. Don’t worry yourself too much.

Found out that im in a similar boat with Vmrcvm because im over the 10 year rule for them.

 

[Old-Country-Vet-Tech]

Odd question I am not seeing an answer for in previous threads. How would you go about describing 1.) participation in a symposium hosted by your college 2.) Hobbies. (I know hobbies are supposed to be listed under extracurricular but if its something you do for fun [ie amateur entomologist] what the heck would you put under "organization"?)

What do you put under hours...I collect sharks teeth in creeks for fun so I get that.

 

[bellaj11]

Found out that im in a similar boat with Vmrcvm because im over the 10 year rule for them.

Same situation for one of the schools I’m applying to. I’m a non-traditional student who took several years off before completing my bachelors in biology in 2016. I was told by one of the admissions counselors that I would have to retake Bio 101, Chem 101, and Physics 101. I stated I was taking 400 level biology courses before I graduated in 2016 and she said they could waive the bio 101. I’m taking O chem right now and my hope (I’m planning on meeting with the advisor) they can waive the chem 101 also. It’s such a frustrating (and expensive) road block.

 

[blueheeler]

Current mood

 

[DishonorOnUrCow]

Is there a specific difference between honors and awards that we should keep in mind when entering achievements?

 

[XCTFnba]

So I have started filling out my vet school applications and am currently filling out the activities section. Every time I fill out an “experience” section, it asks about a “Release of Authorization”. I am wondering how to respond to that question for every experience. Since I have a bunch of extracurriculars and other experiences, I keep thinking it would be silly to put all the contact information for every single thing I did in college and high school down that was not either a veterinary experience or a work experience, since that would mean they could call all those places. Just want to hear from people who’ve applied in the past about their suggestions with this, because I want the schools to know that everything I put on my application is 100% the truth, but also not have them call everybody I’ve had an experience with.

 

[SkiOtter]

Is there a specific difference between honors and awards that we should keep in mind when entering achievements?

Nifty vmcas website has many answers

Achievements

help.liaisonedu.com

 

[SkiOtter]

Very unlikely they will call anyone unless the hours look wonky and they need to verify with your experience. UGA is really the only one I’ve heard of that actually calls any of your experiences, and I think it might even only be LOR writers.
No school is going to have enough time to call every experience from every single applicant. That’s just a massive waste of their time.
If there’s a specific experience/person you’d rather not be called, just leave off contact info if you’re worried.

 

[deleted676737]

Is there a specific difference between honors and awards that we should keep in mind when entering achievements?

Ski already answered your question, so I’ll refrain from being a broken record here, but I just wanted to say that your username is amazing.

 

[hiellen]

So any repeat applicants tried the “copy application” prompt when you start the app again? It says you can’t edit colleges attended or transcript entry if they were verified previously, but can edit in progress. Just a little nervous that I may not be able to put grades for the last two semesters or a summer class. It would save a ton of time since I have 7 years of courses to put in. Has anyone else tried it?

 

[finnickthedog]

So any repeat applicants tried the “copy application” prompt when you start the app again? It says you can’t edit colleges attended or transcript entry if they were verified previously, but can edit in progress. Just a little nervous that I may not be able to put grades for the last two semesters or a summer class. It would save a ton of time since I have 7 years of courses to put in. Has anyone else tried it?

It was a couple years ago but I only had minor issues (which were corrected) with copying transcript information so it was well worth copying the application.

(Experiences on the other hand... I don't know if they ever fixed how those copy over but that part was useless. Still worth copying though to save me time on the transcript entry.)

 

[SkiOtter]

So any repeat applicants tried the “copy application” prompt when you start the app again? It says you can’t edit colleges attended or transcript entry if they were verified previously, but can edit in progress. Just a little nervous that I may not be able to put grades for the last two semesters or a summer class. It would save a ton of time since I have 7 years of courses to put in. Has anyone else tried it?

Worked real well for me for the 2022 cycle. I had classes in progress and new summer classes taken after submission (that weren’t listed as planned on my app the first time because I didn’t originally plan on taking them) and it went fine and everything copied over from the 2021 cycle. The last 2 semesters would have technically been “in progress” since you hadn’t finished them, which would make that whole school (if you went to multiple) editable for adding more. It also made verification faster for me since half was already done and locked in.

 

[SkiOtter]

Experiences on the other hand... I don't know if they ever fixed how those copy over but that part was useless. Still worth copying though to save me time on the transcript entry.

I don’t think I had issues with copying over experiences for 2022! So I assume whatever problem it was they fixed

 

[PetVet23]

So any repeat applicants tried the “copy application” prompt when you start the app again? It says you can’t edit colleges attended or transcript entry if they were verified previously, but can edit in progress. Just a little nervous that I may not be able to put grades for the last two semesters or a summer class. It would save a ton of time since I have 7 years of courses to put in. Has anyone else tried it?

I applied 3 times and used that for both re-applications, and I don't remember really having any issues with it!

 

[hiellen]

@finnickthedog @SkiOtter @PetVet23
Thank you! I was mostly concerned that I didn’t take the oklahoma state animal nutrition in the spring like I had planned but I am taking it over the summer. But it sounds like it will work!

 

[finnickthedog]

I don’t think I had issues with copying over experiences for 2022! So I assume whatever problem it was they fixed

The year I copied information the experiences copied but were not in order (not that it mattered if you had new ones) and we were told they would not reorder so we had to delete them all and re-enter if we wanted most recent first. It was obnoxious but I'm glad that's no longer a problem.