VMCAS Questions and Rants c/o 2028

[ipocylel]

vet school ranking is baloney.

For me it boils down to COA and location. having a curriculum style that meshes with your preferences is also a bonus but for me isn’t a requirement since I would still rather go to a cheaper school regardless.

thank you for ur input! i have heard though that degrees from different places do hold weight though, for example a girl at my clinic got accepted into penn and uf, and at the end apparently the penn degree would've made her around 20k more in salary. she ended up going with uf anyways just because of the penn tuition. any insight on this?

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[supershorty]

thank you for ur input! i have heard though that degrees from different places do hold weight though, for example a girl at my clinic got accepted into penn and uf, and at the end apparently the penn degree would've made her around 20k more in salary. she ended up going with uf anyways just because of the penn tuition. any insight on this?

It’s not true or based in fact.

 

[renacuaja]

thank you for ur input! i have heard though that degrees from different places do hold weight though, for example a girl at my clinic got accepted into penn and uf, and at the end apparently the penn degree would've made her around 20k more in salary. she ended up going with uf anyways just because of the penn tuition. any insight on this?

I don’t work at your clinic so I have no idea about the specifics of that. I will say that is not the case for the majority of clinics and it seems like what you heard about is an exception to the norm.

Tony Bartels on VIN talks a lot about student debt and school selection. Listening to any of his videos for pre-vets is extremely insightful. I think if you Google his name it should be easy to find.

 

[ipocylel]

thank u everyone! i appreciate the transparency on rankings

 

[battie]

i am becoming so anxious about choosing the "right" school. i'm really worried that i will make the "wrong" decision,

There is no wrong decision depending on your life circumstances. They all provide the same product, a doctorate.

location, COA

Yes, these absolutely matter. Finances is the number one stressor for practicing vets and while starting salaries have gone up over the last 3 years, we also will likely see a reduction in spending (and some have according to VIN) on pet healthcare. These higher starting salaries do have to be maintained by the doctor making them; if you dont produce enough to pay for yourself, your salary will be decreased.

reputation/ranking

Means absolutely nothing. None of the ranking parameters have anything to do with student success post-graduation.

 

[J&F_Vet]

Don't stress. The dates will make it obvious that the supervisor is likely gone from the facility. If you have space, you can explain it. But don't waste the space doing so

Okay, that's what I figured. I guess I'll mention I stopped that experience as she retired and throw in that I lost contact. Do you think it would be good to put contact information for a fellow volunteer so there's some way for them to verify? They were in the same position as me and we were both young during this experience so just wondering if it's worth doing that at all

 

[battie]

Okay, that's what I figured. I guess I'll mention I stopped that experience as she retired and throw in that I lost contact. Do you think it would be good to put contact information for a fellow volunteer so there's some way for them to verify? They were in the same position as me and we were both young during this experience so just wondering if it's worth doing that at all

No, there are a ton of people in a similar position and the vast, vast majority of schools do not have the time to verify.

This is not something to stress over

 

[Elylbrooke]

Does anyone have advice on getting a LOR from a professor as a non-traditional applicant with no professors to reach out to? Im planning to apply to LMU but they require 1 LOR from a professor and I have no idea how I would get that as Im not currently a student anywhere