VMCAS Questions and Rants c/o 2024

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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DishonorOnUrCow said:
In case anyone was curious about turn around time right now— I submitted late Monday night and was verified this morning (Thursday). Best of luck to everyone!
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Thanks!! I submitted mine on Tuesday. So nervous for my app to become verified... lol. 😛
 
I am super stressed currently because I didn't know VMCAS doesn't accept transcripts that are sent to students and have to be sent directly from my university. I don't know if they will receive my transcript in time now for Sept. 17th YAY 🙂
 
kat27 said:
I am super stressed currently because I didn't know VMCAS doesn't accept transcripts that are sent to students and have to be sent directly from my university. I don't know if they will receive my transcript in time now for Sept. 17th YAY 🙂
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It's alright. Just realized on Sunday, after deciding to add a school that requires the GRE and 3 supp essays, that I sent my scores to one of my other schools using the general university code and not the VMCAS code. 54 more dollars and hopefully they arrive soon. To paraphrase Buddha: "Applying is Suffering"
 
Got verified this morning! My science GPA is a lot lower than I originally thought... :hungover:
 
atticus1957 said:
Anyone feel like chump for even trying to apply? Now that I'm about to submit feeling like I have no shot. I thought I would be relieved to submit lol
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I felt pretty good until my application was verified. That made it real and now I feel anxious and afraid.
 
Is anyone reading essays? I know theres a thread, but I messaged everyone on it like 2 weeks ago, and haven't gotten any responses! Also for those saying they feel like chums...SAME. Im planning on submitting September 1, and every time I think about it, I just get more discouraged.
 
Okay so my current GPA is higher than when I sent in my transcripts cause new classes went better than expected. Should I report the new GPA under student-reported GPA or the old one?

Also, if I did well on my SS1 grades and want the schools to see that so they can see the higher GPAs I should have, how do I go about sharing that with them? Should I just email them all individually and explain?

OR should I resend in my transcript to VMCAS? It is online and free...
 
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Another question (sorry), is anyone elses' total for their VMCAS application higher than what the pricing chart says it should be? It should be 215 + 110 for each additional application but mine is that plus an extra 45$...
 
Okay I actually have another question, sorry. I am doing all my extra essays and final touches this weekend and am trying to perfect this. If I have to write the same/similar essays, such as the diversity essays, for different school with different lengths, how much can I keep certain ones shorter. For example, I have to send 4 diversity essays, with limits of 1000, 1500, 3500, and 5000 characters. I wrote a 1500 character one and I was wondering how close to the limit I should get on the higher two. Thank you!!!

Edit: I have dragged on with everything I can think of and only got up to 2400 characters and it isn't even that great... Will they look down on my for writing so little?
 
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Once you have submitted your application and transcripts have been received does VMCAS automatically start the verification process? I don't know if it is verifying my application or not because I didn't get a notification, but everything is submitted except I am waiting for my LORs to be submitted.
 
justwannabeavet said:
Okay I actually have another question, sorry. I am doing all my extra essays and final touches this weekend and am trying to perfect this. If I have to write the same/similar essays, such as the diversity essays, for different school with different lengths, how much can I keep certain ones shorter. For example, I have to send 4 diversity essays, with limits of 1000, 1500, 3500, and 5000 characters. I wrote a 1500 character one and I was wondering how close to the limit I should get on the higher two. Thank you!!!

Edit: I have dragged on with everything I can think of and only got up to 2400 characters and it isn't even that great... Will they look down on my for writing so little?
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I had the same essays I think. I wrote 3500 on the nose for the 3500 one, added a couple sentences and got 3800 for the 5000 character essay. Then I condensed everything for the 1000 and 1500 character count ones and was pretty much right on the number for those.
 
scs589 said:
Is anyone reading essays? I know theres a thread, but I messaged everyone on it like 2 weeks ago, and haven't gotten any responses! Also for those saying they feel like chums...SAME. Im planning on submitting September 1, and every time I think about it, I just get more discouraged.
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Did you PM people on the list in the latest post in the thread? Since school is starting back up, a lot of the readers have less availability and have taken themselves off the list. I personally am going to school and working two jobs well over full-time now and I’m really scrunched for time. I still have a backlog of people who asked for reviews before I took myself off the list and I’m not taking any more requests after those.

Keep in mind that we do this on our own time on a 100% volunteer basis and, at least in my case, I can spend a good length of time (I’m talking days to weeks) on a really long, thorough review and edit of statements so that I can provide as much guidance and assistance as possible. If I no longer have the time to dedicate to doing the best possible job of that, then I take myself off the list.

justwannabeavet said:
Okay so my current GPA is higher than when I sent in my transcripts cause new classes went better than expected. Should I report the new GPA under student-reported GPA or the old one?

Also, if I did well on my SS1 grades and want the schools to see that so they can see the higher GPAs I should have, how do I go about sharing that with them? Should I just email them all individually and explain?

OR should I resend in my transcript to VMCAS? It is online and free...
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I don’t see why you couldn’t use the higher GPA and then send in the new transcripts including summer courses if you’d like since we haven’t reached VMCAS deadline yet. A heads-up to individual schools would probably be nice but isn’t necessary since they’ll just see the updated VMCAS application after verification.

That said, I didn’t take summer courses personally so I’m not 100% sure on this. Maybe someone else here did and can confirm that this is the correct course of action? You could always contact VMCAS directly and ask, too, since they’ll give you the most accurate answer.

justwannabeavet said:
Another question (sorry), is anyone elses' total for their VMCAS application higher than what the pricing chart says it should be? It should be 215 + 110 for each additional application but mine is that plus an extra 45$...
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Did you use PTE? That’s the only thing I can think of that would cause your VMCAS application to cost more than expected. If not, I would contact VMCAS directly and see if they can pinpoint where that extra $45 is coming from.

EDIT: This page (VMCAS Application Fees) states that the current fees are actually $215 + $115 per each additional school—maybe that’s where the discrepancy is coming from? How many schools are you applying to?

justwannabeavet said:
Okay I actually have another question, sorry. I am doing all my extra essays and final touches this weekend and am trying to perfect this. If I have to write the same/similar essays, such as the diversity essays, for different school with different lengths, how much can I keep certain ones shorter. For example, I have to send 4 diversity essays, with limits of 1000, 1500, 3500, and 5000 characters. I wrote a 1500 character one and I was wondering how close to the limit I should get on the higher two. Thank you!!!

Edit: I have dragged on with everything I can think of and only got up to 2400 characters and it isn't even that great... Will they look down on my for writing so little?
Click to expand...
As I’ve said in response to similar questions: use as much of that space as you feel you need to. A strong 1500 or 2400 character essay is much preferable to a mediocre and meandering 5000 character one. Longer is not always necessarily better.

If you’re concerned, you could try PMing your essay(s) to a reader or two on the latest version of the Personal Statement Readers list for suggestions and input.

slipperyhippo2019 said:
Once you have submitted your application and transcripts have been received does VMCAS automatically start the verification process? I don't know if it is verifying my application or not because I didn't get a notification, but everything is submitted except I am waiting for my LORs to be submitted.
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Yes.
 
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Elkhart said:
Did you PM people on the list in the latest post in the thread? Since school is starting back up, a lot of the readers have less availability and have taken themselves off the list. I personally am going to school and working two jobs well over full-time now and I’m really scrunched for time. I still have a backlog of people who asked for reviews before I took myself off the list and I’m not taking any more requests after those.

Keep in mind that we do this on our own time on a 100% volunteer basis and, at least in my case, I can spend a good length of time (I’m talking days to weeks) on a really long, thorough review and edit of statements so that I can provide as much guidance and assistance as possible. If I no longer have the time to dedicate to doing the best possible job of that, then I take myself off the list.


I don’t see why you couldn’t use the higher GPA and then send in the new transcripts including summer courses if you’d like since we haven’t reached VMCAS deadline yet. A heads-up to individual schools would probably be nice but isn’t necessary since they’ll just see the updated VMCAS application after verification.

That said, I didn’t take summer courses personally so I’m not 100% sure on this. Maybe someone else here did and can confirm that this is the correct course of action? You could always contact VMCAS directly and ask, too, since they’ll give you the most accurate answer.


Did you use PTE? That’s the only thing I can think of that would cause your VMCAS application to cost more than expected. If not, I would contact VMCAS directly and see if they can pinpoint where that extra $45 is coming from.

EDIT: This page (VMCAS Application Fees) states that the current fees are actually $215 + $115 per each additional school—maybe that’s where the discrepancy is coming from? How many schools are you applying to?


As I’ve said in response to similar questions: use as much of that space as you feel you need to. A strong 1500 or 2400 character essay is much preferable to a mediocre and meandering 5000 character one. Longer is not always necessarily better.

If you’re concerned, you could try PMing your essay(s) to a reader or two on the latest version of the Personal Statement Readers list for suggestions and input.


Yes.
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Thank you!! I didn't use PTE and I was just comparing what it says on their fees chart to my price and thought the discrepancy was really weird... But it makes sense since their chart doesn't accurately reflect the extra costs, thank you!
 
justwannabeavet said:
Thank you!! I didn't use PTE and I was just comparing what it says on their fees chart to my price and thought the discrepancy was really weird... But it makes sense since their chart doesn't accurately reflect the extra costs, thank you!
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I’d still contact vmcas if there’s a discrepancy between their chart and what the actual costs are. They used to be accurate in the past so idk why they’re not this year.
 
Alright where do we find the CAS ID with the extra numbers for ordering our transcripts? I did it before but I don't remember now, I think there is a transcript request form? How do I access that?
 
I just got a new job as a "veterinary assistant" at a clinic. I was previously employed elsewhere as a veterinary assistant where I was working directly with veterinarians, doing a lot of vet tech tasks such as blood draws and filling medications. At my new job I'm not allowed to administer medications on my own or draw blood, from what I've gathered during my training is that I will be expected to feed/clean up after hospitalized patients and a few boarders here and there, but mainly my job will be to restrain for vets/hold on to animals for them while they figure out what their next steps are, help with x-rays and assist with anything the vet techs might need help with. Obviously in addition to this I will also be responsible for a lot of the cleaning around the clinic. Can I count this as veterinary hours or is it more appropriately labeled as animal hours? I feel like it's kind of 50/50 but I also get the chance to learn a lot!
 
Manders221 said:
I just got a new job as a "veterinary assistant" at a clinic. I was previously employed elsewhere as a veterinary assistant where I was working directly with veterinarians, doing a lot of vet tech tasks such as blood draws and filling medications. At my new job I'm not allowed to administer medications on my own or draw blood, from what I've gathered during my training is that I will be expected to feed/clean up after hospitalized patients and a few boarders here and there, but mainly my job will be to restrain for vets/hold on to animals for them while they figure out what their next steps are, help with x-rays and assist with anything the vet techs might need help with. Obviously in addition to this I will also be responsible for a lot of the cleaning around the clinic. Can I count this as veterinary hours or is it more appropriately labeled as animal hours? I feel like it's kind of 50/50 but I also get the chance to learn a lot!
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I would DEFINITELY count them as Veterinary hours. Different clinics often have very different ideas of what all technicians/assistants should be allowed to do. There are also various laws that dictate what uncertified/licensed techs can/can't do - so they may additionally be interpreting those differently! BUT, you're still working under the supervision of a veterinarian, and you're still at a vet clinic!
 
Hey y'all, just an update on speed. I turned in my one transcript a while ago, turned in my applications (except one) yesterday around 8 pm EST, and was verified like ten minutes ago (around 1:50 pm EST) so it was really quick!! I had just turned in a new transcript but the only difference was it had two new grades! Good luck everyone!
 
Hey everyone! I have a few questions I'm hoping someone will have the answers too.

1. For the explanation statement I was wondering if I should describe why I graduated from an adult high school rather than a normal high school? I know a lot of people perceive adult high schools to be for "bad students/delinquents," so I'm worried that the admissions committees may interpret it that way. (I wasn't either BTW. I just wanted to graduate h.s. a year early and attending the adult h.s. allowed me to do 2 years in 1.)

2. I'm struggling with writing my experience descriptions/key responsibilities. I have read through multiple years of VMCAS Question Forums, and the general consensus seems to be to write them in a narrative/summary style. With that being said, most of the comments following one of those posts say to check each schools specific instructions on how they would like them to be written. I was just wondering where people are finding these specific instructions? I have been scouring the schools' sites all day and have not been able to find anything. Also, as I was reading through all the old forums a lot of people were saying to describe what you learned rather than just list what you did. Every time I try to do this I go over the character limit. So, I was hoping someone could give me an example of how they wrote some of their descriptions?

3. In the animal experience section, under "animal types," what would be considered in the "other" category? Would I use this to list aquatic species? Or would fish/invertebrates be considered exotic?

Any help with these questions would be highly appreciated. Thanks!!
 
How many hours can you put for owning a pet as animal experience? Or does it depend on school? Thanks!
 
pandacowl said:
How many hours can you put for owning a pet as animal experience? Or does it depend on school? Thanks!
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I think this depends on the school. I went to a pre-vet admissions event this summer at Cornell, and they stated that dog/cat ownership doesn't really count for them as animal experience. However, owning a horse or living on a farm WOULD qualify as animal experience. I'm not completely certain, but I would imagine owning really "exotic" exotics (more interesting than a hamster/gerbil/parakeet) or wildlife would be included in this.
 
sonagi said:
The experiences section is confusing me -- am I supposed to be inputting them manually from most recent to least recent? I thought that since VMCAS automatically ordered them by time on the experiences page, regardless of the order I inputted each one, that it wouldn't matter. But I checked a preview pdf for one of my schools and they were all disorganized. Any help would be appreciated!
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I believe that the PDF organizes them by category, which is why it looks disorganized. You can put them in in any order. The VMCAS puts them into chronological order by start date and then it organizes them by category in the PDF.
 
Confused about the "student reported GPA" section in the personal information section of the application. I put down 3.7 because according to my University's scale that is what I have, but I know when VMCAS will verify my transcripts that GPA is going to be a different number, most likely lower, based on the universal scale that they will use to compare my grades. What do I put down? Does it look bad if my reported GPA is higher than what VMCAS calculates later?
 
pandacowl said:
How many hours can you put for owning a pet as animal experience? Or does it depend on school? Thanks!
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Drisin93 said:
I was told at Washington State to put pet ownership on my application but to be very careful about over-stating the hours. They have had people who gave themselves credit for 24-hours a day for years. I just honestly thought about how much time I spent actually taking care of my pets. I put down 2-hours a week for my dog.
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I listed 2 hours/week for animals that I’ve owned as an adult (primary caretaker and financially responsible for them). Many of them have been special needs so I described that in the description.
 
Drisin93 said:
Does applying to an invitation-only early acceptance program count as having applied to vet school?
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Yes, because you still applied. However, since this is a unique situation, you could use the explanation statement to explain what you mean.

kat27 said:
What do I put down? Does it look bad if my reported GPA is higher than what VMCAS calculates later?
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Put down what's on your transcript. It doesn't look bad. Schools know the VMCAS GPA will be different. A lot of them calculate their own
 
Hi everyone! I have two questions about whether these are vet experiences:
  1. I worked at a veterinary diagnostics lab for my university in the shipping department handling samples, inputting client information, assisting lab technicians, etc. But I wasn’t necessarily working with the vets more so around the vets if that makes sense.
  2. I currently work as a veterinary assistant at an animal shelter where I perform animal health checks, vaccinate and run simple tests like fecal floats and ear cytologies. But I work under the the medical manager rather than the vet there.
I was thinking of these mainly as animal experience but wasn’t sure.
Thanks!!
 
Drisin93

I applied to an early acceptance program as a sophomore, which was by invitation only and not through the VMCAS. I did not get in. Now I am applying the traditional route. For applications that ask if I have applied to vet school before, I am not sure what the answer is. Does applying to an invitation-only early acceptance program count as having applied to vet school?
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I don't think so. I'm early admit and was told by my university it isn't considered a prior application. If you are applying to the same school that turned you down I would just call or email them and ask them to be sure. I know in submitting my paperwork for official acceptance this cycle I called a few times with questions. They never had any problems answering. I don't believe any other college will care or consider it a prior application since it wasn't through VMCAS.
 
Hey y'all! I was wondering what people think about me filling out my explanation statement for a reason why my semester GPA in my sophomore year was like 0.4 lower than my freshman year. I struggled mentally and in managing time, as we had a lot of family issues going on at the time. Long story short, my dad and stepmother divorced, and their biological daughter went to live with her mother, my stepmother. The stepmother was abusive and neglectful, so many times I had to take time out of studying/working on school work to go and buy groceries for my sister, take her to and from her extracurricular activities, and support her emotionally. She was eventually placed with a foster family with a father she saw as predatory toward her, and she ended up self harming and being taken to a long term mental care facility 3 hours north from us. I was the only one in the family who was able to take time out to make the trip up there frequently, to give her support and make sure she knew we still cared about her. While it's over now, and things are better, I struggled to allot proper time and attention to my studies. I justify it by also saying that through it I learned better time management and healthier coping mechanisms, which is reflected by how well I did in my junior year.

I just worry that they may just take it as an "excuse" as to why I had 3.2/3.3 semester GPAs in my sophomore year, while I had 3.5/3.6 freshman year and 3.7/3.8 my junior year. It's stuff I'm completely comfortable talking about, but I don't know if it's worth it, since 3.2/3.3 aren't exactly bad, but not ideal. Sorry for the somewhat heavy stuff, it's just that it's something I know I learned from and grew as a person as a result of.
Thank you!
 
Sqweamish said:
I just worry that they may just take it as an "excuse" as to why I had 3.2/3.3 semester GPAs in my sophomore year, while I had 3.5/3.6 freshman year and 3.7/3.8 my junior year. It's stuff I'm completely comfortable talking about, but I don't know if it's worth it, since 3.2/3.3 aren't exactly bad, but not ideal. Sorry for the somewhat heavy stuff, it's just that it's something I know I learned from and grew as a person as a result of.
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It would not hurt you to fill out the explanation statement, especially since this is not "an excuse" by any stretch of the imagination. Schools are aware that life happens and can go down hill real fast. If you're comfortable writing the short statement, including how you adjusted to come back swinging (great job, btw!), then I don't see why not. To me, a 0.4 GPA shift is a little on the high end at this point with how competitive the process is becoming.
 
Drisin93 said:
The first one is not animal experience because you weren’t working with animals. I think it might be vet experience.
I think the 2nd is vet experience. You may not be under the direct supervision of a vet, but it is still in a vet clinic.
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Thank you!
 
Hi guys! I know that usually admissions committees will look down on you if you write about career goals you have no experience in, but I wanted to get your opinions. I've recently found that I really want to work with the ASPCA and become a forensic veterinarian to work with abuse/neglect cases. In college, I toured the vet forensics lab on my campus, and more recently I've enrolled in the Veterinary Forensics program through University of Florida. I am taking classes now, but I don't have any actual hands on experience with vet forensics. But I am REALLY excited about this field and am learning so much. So here's the dilemma - should I talk about vet forensics as my career goal or hold off on it since I don't have hands on experience with it? OR do you think that I could talk about vet forensics AND shelter medicine (I have hands on experience with this) to smooth it out, especially because shelters see a fair amount of cruelty cases as well?
 
Question: Could a lab course I've taken for school count as reserach? For a microbiology lab I took we all took individual samples from an object of our choosing and then were required to do various tests of our choice to narrow down species possibilities of microbes and ultimately sequence the DNA of our microbes. Could this count towards research since it was individualized?
 
mo309 said:
Question: Could a lab course I've taken for school count as reserach? For a microbiology lab I took we all took individual samples from an object of our choosing and then were required to do various tests of our choice to narrow down species possibilities of microbes and ultimately sequence the DNA of our microbes. Could this count towards research since it was individualized?
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My undergrad does a similar project, and we did this for our bacti lab during 2nd year of vet school. I did not count that as research cause you're not really researching anything. The point of the project is to teach you about the tests and the microbes that are associated. The point of research is to find new info.
 
mo309 said:
Question: Could a lab course I've taken for school count as reserach? For a microbiology lab I took we all took individual samples from an object of our choosing and then were required to do various tests of our choice to narrow down species possibilities of microbes and ultimately sequence the DNA of our microbes. Could this count towards research since it was individualized?
Click to expand...

I agree with what was said above. I also did the same thing in my microbiology lab. I did list my physiology lab as an individual animal experience because we studied/handled unique live critters (lots of gators, monitors, goldfish, tree frogs, beardies, etc.) that required training in handling and sample collection techniques that varied by species. So I think something unique like that should be listed.
 
Drisin93 said:
Does your university use a 4.0 scale?
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My university itself uses percentages for GPA but they provide us with a conversion scale. Upon conversion, my 80% cGPA is 3.7, however I'm sure at American schools, 80% would not be converted to a 3.7, and VMCAS uses American school conversions to convert percentages into grade points. Unsure what converted GPA would be!
 
batsenecal said:
Yes, because you still applied. However, since this is a unique situation, you could use the explanation statement to explain what you mean.



Put down what's on your transcript. It doesn't look bad. Schools know the VMCAS GPA will be different. A lot of them calculate their own
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My university records final GPA as percentages, would it be fine to put the percentage instead of Grade point do you know?
 
Should I account for the experience I will have had up until the due date of the application? I started a new job at a clinic but I would like to submit my application this weekend. By the 17th (when VMCAS is due), I will have acquired 45 hours there, but after this week I only have 15. If I submit it tomorrow can I put that I have 45 hours or should I just say 15? Thanks for all the help from everyone on this thread, it's been so nice to have a place to ask random questions!
 
Triple checking my application before submitting and just thought of another volunteer experience, but not sure if I should add it. Are beach cleanups substantial enough to add to my experiences?
 
Manders221 said:
Should I account for the experience I will have had up until the due date of the application? I started a new job at a clinic but I would like to submit my application this weekend. By the 17th (when VMCAS is due), I will have acquired 45 hours there, but after this week I only have 15. If I submit it tomorrow can I put that I have 45 hours or should I just say 15? Thanks for all the help from everyone on this thread, it's been so nice to have a place to ask random questions!
Click to expand...
Only put what you have currently had at that experience. If you mark it as current and have hours per week, they can see you’ll be gaining hours.
 
Does anyone know about how long it takes to be verified? I submitted last night. Also, I sent all my GRE scores at the same time but not every school has “accepted” them yet. Should I call the schools if they don’t “accept” them by next week?
 
gianna1018 said:
Does anyone know about how long it takes to be verified? I submitted last night. Also, I sent all my GRE scores at the same time but not every school has “accepted” them yet. Should I call the schools if they don’t “accept” them by next week?
Click to expand...

I submitted half of my applications on 8/27 around 8pm and they were verified by 8/29 around 2pm.

Not sure about the GRE question, my VMCAS states that they have been "accepted" by all but one of the schools. I reached out to VMCAS and they said that all the schools I am applying to had received the scores.
 
Okay thank you! Yeah I submitted them all via ETS on the same day but 2 of the schools I sent them to didn’t show up on my check status page yet under Standardized Tests so I’m just confused haha
 
gianna1018 said:
Okay thank you! Yeah I submitted them all via ETS on the same day but 2 of the schools I sent them to didn’t show up on my check status page yet under Standardized Tests so I’m just confused haha
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Some schools (Auburn for example) do not verify scores within vmcas! So you might not necessarily get an “accepted” notice from that standpoint
 
scs589 said:
Some schools (Auburn for example) do not verify scores within vmcas! So you might not necessarily get an “accepted” notice from that standpoint
Click to expand...

Okay that makes SO much more sense now. Thanks! 🙂
 
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