VMCAS Questions and Rants c/o 2029

[verme080]

Thought I would start this as the cycle should be starting later this month. Good luck everyone!

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[VeggieTrex]

Seeing as VMCAS opened today I feel this is an appropriate response:

AAAAAHHHHH!

 

[finnderella]

Good luck y'all! It's a long trek but it'll (hopefully) all be worth it in the end!

 

[FutureDrMP]

Second time's the charm✨ Good luck everyone!

 

[HorseObsessed]

I opened it last year but this is my first time filling it out. Aaahhh! I already feel like I've messed up (33 experiences seems like too many but they say to put down everything, right?)

 

[lizardman]

I opened it last year but this is my first time filling it out. Aaahhh! I already feel like I've messed up (33 experiences seems like too many but they say to put down everything, right?)

You’re good, this made me curious so I just counted and I have 43 lol

 

[HorseObsessed]

You’re good, this made me curious so I just counted and I have 43 lol

That's such a relief to hear cause I just realized I have more to add. This is silly!

 

[supershorty]

I have blatantly, unabashedly, and unapologetically stolen this post from @battie and modified it as I saw fit. If something in it is wrong, blame her; if something in it is the most brilliant advice you've ever seen, obviously I get all the credit

The cycle has opened for the class of 2029 and below is the obligatory unsolicited advice post that is necessary every year. These points are based on the most common questions that seem to roll around every year.

1. Consider yourself rejected until you receive an acceptance. As such, do not stop working on your application after you hit submit. Continue to gain hours, improve or maintain those grades, and do everything you would do before turning it in.
- It is an urban myth most veterinary students take multiple cycles for acceptance. The AAVMC reports that approximately 65-70% of incoming first year veterinary students are first time applicants. Make your application count.
- That being said, if it takes you more than one cycle, you are very much not alone!

2. You don't have to turn in your app right meow. There is no advantage to turning your application in early for the vast majority of schools. So turn it in when it's ready.

3. Updates are school-dependent. So ask them. Be aware you will likely get a generic answer with vague timelines.

4. Personal pets are worth limited hours (again, school-dependent). Be realistic about how many hours you assign for pet ownership.

5. Prerequisites are prerequisites. If a school doesn't require it, don't feel you have to take it. If a school does require, 99% of people will need to take it at 99% of schools 99% of the time. The majority of schools will not forgive/replace a prerequisite for the majority of applicants. The only way you'll know is if you email schools about your specific situation.
- Do not be surprised if you're rejected from a school due to prerequisites not being met if you haven't taken it and have not listed it as planned. How do the schools know you'll have it done otherwise?

6. GPA cut offs are a thing. If you submit below a published GPA cut off, you just made a donation to the school.

7. There will be radio silence for extended periods of time. Mentally prepare yourself to not hear from anyone for months at a time.
- This is a serious point. You will not get updates willy nilly. There are thousands of you and only dozens of admissions committee members per school. Check old threads for basic timelines.

8. You need to submit a transcript from every higher education institution you attended. Community college while also in high school? Add to VMCAS and submit. Junior college 3 years ago before a gap year? Submit. 7 colleges cause you had to move a bunch? Submit.

9. Provisional accreditation doesn't matter for the baby schools. As long as you pass the NAVLE and graduate, the AVMA will recognize your degree and you'll be a veterinarian. Deficient accreditation in the older schools also doesn't really matter. Every school has lapsed in some sort of accreditation standard at some point. They get x amount of time to resolve it and the resolution generally only benefits students.

10. Only apply to schools where you would 1) be willing/able to travel to for interviews and 2) would actually go if accepted. Actually sit down and think about what you would do if you were accepted to every school. As a (common) example, don't apply to the island schools just because of their reputation for being "easier" to get into; actually consider what it would mean to move to an island nation and those pros and cons.
- Every year, a portion of students gain an acceptance and a subsequent level of stress of actually realizing they will have to move to said place. If the coasts, Midwest, cold, hot, rural, big city, whatever difference from where you live that may actually be a challenge for you would be, don't apply to those schools. Don't waste your money/time.

11. Changing residency status by moving states: triple check the rules and get the exact requirements in writing from the university. Not the CVM or SVM. From the actual department at the university that controls residency status. The vet school doesn't determine that at all. Assume the worst: you would have to move a year prior to the *submission* of your application. Cause then, if you in fact don't have to be there until a year before *matriculation*, you're covered.
- You can assume someone has moved to such-and-such state to change residency. It just makes sense with how many people apply and attend vet school. Whether or not they're on SDN is hit or miss because there are really probably <100 active members on with probably 50% changing out year over year as people move on. So assume it's possible, it's been done, and, most importantly, *do the research yourself to find out the rules*. Every state is different and rules can change yearly due to state legislation.

12. No one single minutiae detail is likely to tank your application with exception of potentially legality aspects or an obvious (to the application committee) "red flag" . One C, or even one F, will likely not be the death knell of your application if you're overall well rounded. Only 15 hours of cow experience will not get you tossed in the garbage can.
- Focusing on these minutiae outside of the context of your overall application is not good for your mental health. If you have the thought of "Will X thing hurt my chances?" take a minute to consider the literally over 100,000 veterinarians practicing right now and think of the chances that some of them may have had a similar experience. If the answer is, "I guess this circumstance isn't all that unique to me," then chances are that thing won't tank your application.

13. No one can tell you the chances of being pulled from the wait-list. It changes every year for every school.

14. Have people read your personal statement. Have them give you feedback beyond "this is good." Take advantage of resources online to prepare for interviews - there are loads of resources out there for both MMI and behavioral interviews. Preparation shows and makes the interview go better for both you and the people conducting it.

 

[battie]

If something in it is wrong, blame her; if something in it is the most brilliant advice you've ever seen, obviously I get all the credit

So much for being willing to give you a couch to surf on

 

[honeypot999]

6. GPA cut offs are a thing. If you submit below a published GPA cut off, you just made a donation to the school.

Truly follow this advice, every year there are applicants asking if they can get waivers for a sub 3.0 gpa. The answer is no, they will not make an exception.

If you don’t have a competitive gpa, you shouldn’t apply to gpa heavy schools unless you have a great science and last 45 gpa. Remember just because a school has holistic admissions doesn’t mean it’s not competitive to get in there.

You have to apply smart and play to the strengths of your application. Admissions are a crapshoot and gpa isn’t everything.

 

[eleanor713]

If anyone wants any help with anything regarding applying and the VMCAS feel free to message me! I did it twice and feel pretty confident with it!

 

[Catmom08]

I found a thread from 2016 for schools that’ll either average grades from multiple attempts, replace the grades entirely, or generally focus on the last 45 hrs. Does anyone know any school that replace or are last 45hrs heavy off the top of their heads?

 

[HorseObsessed]

In the citizenship information, it asks for legal state of residence. I live, work, and go to school in Texas. I have my license here and file taxes here. However, my parents and my permanent address are in Massachusetts, and I'm fairly sure I would be "in state" in MA since they claim me as a dependent. Do I put MA in this section?

 

[battie]

In the citizenship information, it asks for legal state of residence. I live, work, and go to school in Texas. I have my license here and file taxes here. However, my parents and my permanent address are in Massachusetts, and I'm fairly sure I would be "in state" in MA since they claim me as a dependent. Do I put MA in this section?

Call them. This will be state and MA state law specific.

 

[_rae_]

8. You need to submit a transcript from every higher education institution you attended. Community college while also in high school? Add to VMCAS and submit. Junior college 3 years ago before a gap year? Submit. 7 colleges cause you had to move a bunch? Submit.

Please for the love of god do not skip this step. I made this mistake the first time I applied and wasted almost $500 on applications the schools wouldn't even accept. Does it show up on your high school transcript? Does it show up on your college transcript? Doesn't matter. If it's a college class, report it as a separate institution.

 

[miniaturedove]

Are there any vet schools that absolutely require in-person interviews? I'm looking to cross those off of my list if there exist any

 

[finnderella]

Are there any vet schools that absolutely require in-person interviews? I'm looking to cross those off of my list if there exist any

Purdue does, I know that. I think that might be it?

 

[miniaturedove]

Purdue does, I know that. I think that might be it?

Thank you! I assumed most allow for remote, but I wasn't sure :')

 

[jalonzo1]

Are there any vet schools that absolutely require in-person interviews? I'm looking to cross those off of my list if there exist any

Mississippi State requires in person interviews.

 

[Gina Lawson]

Hi!

If you use the professional transcript entry service, can you add in addl courses taken prior to finalizing your app on your own? I'm considering the PTE as I have a long academic history, but I'm also taking a summer class and will be getting that transcript in at the "last minute."

Thanks

 

[honeypot999]

Hi!

If you use the professional transcript entry service, can you add in addl courses taken prior to finalizing your app on your own? I'm considering the PTE as I have a long academic history, but I'm also taking a summer class and will be getting that transcript in at the "last minute."

Thanks

Honestly PTE is a waste of money. You can knock it out within a weekend if you have some time. But yes you can enter courses BEFORE paying for PTE, and will have to wait until verification is complete to add any other courses.

 

[finnderella]

Hi!

If you use the professional transcript entry service, can you add in addl courses taken prior to finalizing your app on your own? I'm considering the PTE as I have a long academic history, but I'm also taking a summer class and will be getting that transcript in at the "last minute."

Thanks

I'd skip the PTE, personally! Waste of money!
It's super tedious to put all the classes in, but if you manually do it, you know there's a less chance of miscommunication on the transcript front. It only took 2 hours or so for me to input from 3 different transcripts!

 

[Kira1006]

Purdue does, I know that. I think that might be it?

I know for a fact WSU has in person interviews

 

[Kira1006]

13. No one can tell you the chances of being pulled from the wait-list. It changes every year for every school.

I applied last year for c/o 2028 and got waitlisted. Would it be recommended to apply again this cycle? Should I change my application at all, like personal statement? Or should I wait at least til April when students either accept/reject the school?
P.S. I was IS second time applying.

 

[Georgethecat]

I applied last year for c/o 2028 and got waitlisted. Would it be recommended to apply again this cycle? Should I change my application at all, like personal statement? Or should I wait at least til April when students either accept/reject the school?
P.S. I was IS second time applying.

Does your IS school do file reviews? That would be your best indication if you need to address specific areas of your application.

 

[Gina Lawson]

Employment history question: I've been working for nearly 30 years and cannot recall exact dates and such for part time jobs during high school. How important is the accuracy when entering these in VMCAS? Thanks!

 

[renacuaja]

Employment history question: I've been working for nearly 30 years and cannot recall exact dates and such for part time jobs during high school. How important is the accuracy when entering these in VMCAS? Thanks!

Unless those jobs were really important in some way, you don’t have to enter them.

I had like 10 years of work experience and I didn’t put in a couple jobs because I felt like my application was complete without them.

But if you want, you could maybe look at your tax transcript online (idk how far back they go) or make a rough but reasonable estimate.

It’s not like the school transcripts where if you don’t include it your application gets invalidated.

 

[Gina Lawson]

Unless those jobs were really important in some way, you don’t have to enter them.

I had like 10 years of work experience and I didn’t put in a couple jobs because I felt like my application was complete without them.

But if you want, you could maybe look at your tax transcript online (idk how far back they go) or make a rough but reasonable estimate.

It’s not like the school transcripts where if you don’t include it your application gets invalidated.

@renacuaja Thank you so much!

 

[Elylbrooke]

Currently waitlisted and preparing to reapply, is it mandatory to rewrite your personal statement or can you use it again? Or would I be able to make very minor changes and keep it mostly the same? I felt like i had a strong statement but my downfall may be a lack of variety in my experiences.

 

[Kira1006]

Does your IS school do file reviews? That would be your best indication if you need to address specific areas of your application.

Sadly I don't believe WSu is doing file reviews to know what to improve on my application.

 

[woofers7]

The fact that this thread is for the class of 2029 is craazzzzyy!! I feel like I just got my accepted letter yesterday!

 

[Natalie22]

I have blatantly, unabashedly, and unapologetically stolen this post from @battie and modified it as I saw fit. If something in it is wrong, blame her; if something in it is the most brilliant advice you've ever seen, obviously I get all the credit

The cycle has opened for the class of 2029 and below is the obligatory unsolicited advice post that is necessary every year. These points are based on the most common questions that seem to roll around every year.

1. Consider yourself rejected until you receive an acceptance. As such, do not stop working on your application after you hit submit. Continue to gain hours, improve or maintain those grades, and do everything you would do before turning it in.
- It is an urban myth most veterinary students take multiple cycles for acceptance. The AAVMC reports that approximately 65-70% of incoming first year veterinary students are first time applicants. Make your application count.
- That being said, if it takes you more than one cycle, you are very much not alone!

2. You don't have to turn in your app right meow. There is no advantage to turning your application in early for the vast majority of schools. So turn it in when it's ready.

3. Updates are school-dependent. So ask them. Be aware you will likely get a generic answer with vague timelines.

4. Personal pets are worth limited hours (again, school-dependent). Be realistic about how many hours you assign for pet ownership.

5. Prerequisites are prerequisites. If a school doesn't require it, don't feel you have to take it. If a school does require, 99% of people will need to take it at 99% of schools 99% of the time. The majority of schools will not forgive/replace a prerequisite for the majority of applicants. The only way you'll know is if you email schools about your specific situation.
- Do not be surprised if you're rejected from a school due to prerequisites not being met if you haven't taken it and have not listed it as planned. How do the schools know you'll have it done otherwise?

6. GPA cut offs are a thing. If you submit below a published GPA cut off, you just made a donation to the school.

7. There will be radio silence for extended periods of time. Mentally prepare yourself to not hear from anyone for months at a time.
- This is a serious point. You will not get updates willy nilly. There are thousands of you and only dozens of admissions committee members per school. Check old threads for basic timelines.

8. You need to submit a transcript from every higher education institution you attended. Community college while also in high school? Add to VMCAS and submit. Junior college 3 years ago before a gap year? Submit. 7 colleges cause you had to move a bunch? Submit.

9. Provisional accreditation doesn't matter for the baby schools. As long as you pass the NAVLE and graduate, the AVMA will recognize your degree and you'll be a veterinarian. Deficient accreditation in the older schools also doesn't really matter. Every school has lapsed in some sort of accreditation standard at some point. They get x amount of time to resolve it and the resolution generally only benefits students.

10. Only apply to schools where you would 1) be willing/able to travel to for interviews and 2) would actually go if accepted. Actually sit down and think about what you would do if you were accepted to every school. As a (common) example, don't apply to the island schools just because of their reputation for being "easier" to get into; actually consider what it would mean to move to an island nation and those pros and cons.
- Every year, a portion of students gain an acceptance and a subsequent level of stress of actually realizing they will have to move to said place. If the coasts, Midwest, cold, hot, rural, big city, whatever difference from where you live that may actually be a challenge for you would be, don't apply to those schools. Don't waste your money/time.

11. Changing residency status by moving states: triple check the rules and get the exact requirements in writing from the university. Not the CVM or SVM. From the actual department at the university that controls residency status. The vet school doesn't determine that at all. Assume the worst: you would have to move a year prior to the *submission* of your application. Cause then, if you in fact don't have to be there until a year before *matriculation*, you're covered.
- You can assume someone has moved to such-and-such state to change residency. It just makes sense with how many people apply and attend vet school. Whether or not they're on SDN is hit or miss because there are really probably <100 active members on with probably 50% changing out year over year as people move on. So assume it's possible, it's been done, and, most importantly, *do the research yourself to find out the rules*. Every state is different and rules can change yearly due to state legislation.

12. No one single minutiae detail is likely to tank your application with exception of potentially legality aspects or an obvious (to the application committee) "red flag" . One C, or even one F, will likely not be the death knell of your application if you're overall well rounded. Only 15 hours of cow experience will not get you tossed in the garbage can.
- Focusing on these minutiae outside of the context of your overall application is not good for your mental health. If you have the thought of "Will X thing hurt my chances?" take a minute to consider the literally over 100,000 veterinarians practicing right now and think of the chances that some of them may have had a similar experience. If the answer is, "I guess this circumstance isn't all that unique to me," then chances are that thing won't tank your application.

13. No one can tell you the chances of being pulled from the wait-list. It changes every year for every school.

14. Have people read your personal statement. Have them give you feedback beyond "this is good." Take advantage of resources online to prepare for interviews - there are loads of resources out there for both MMI and behavioral interviews. Preparation shows and makes the interview go better for both you and the people conducting it.

School dependent for pet ownership hours? I have never found any information about this on school websites. Is it necessary to include owning dogs/cats on the VMCAS?

 

[battie]

School dependent for pet ownership hours? I have never found any information about this on school websites. Is it necessary to include owning dogs/cats on the VMCAS?

No. If you do, be highly conservative.

 

[battie]

@Doctor Ham do you have any perspective on pet ownership?

 

[miniaturedove]

Do classes like calculus/statistics count towards science GPA? Doing my research in the past, I didn't think so but now I'm second guessing myself.

 

[battie]

Do classes like calculus/statistics count towards science GPA? Doing my research in the past, I didn't think so but now I'm second guessing myself.

School dependent

 

[Gangar#094]

Currently waitlisted and preparing to reapply, is it mandatory to rewrite your personal statement or can you use it again? Or would I be able to make very minor changes and keep it mostly the same? I felt like i had a strong statement but my downfall may be a lack of variety in my experiences.

I'd recommend going over it once more with fresh eyes yourself and asking other readers before recycling the same statement. The same goes for how you describe/input experiences. If you can read an experience and say "and?" or "so what?" consider if you've properly conveyed what the experience entailed.

School dependent for pet ownership hours? I have never found any information about this on school websites. Is it necessary to include owning dogs/cats on the VMCAS?

Pet ownership is finicky because accounting for every Fido or Fluffy cared for is nominal compared to other possible experiences. I recommend considering the uniqueness of pet ownership and care. Do you have a unique animal experience that highlights your readiness to tackle vet school? Animals with special conditions, needs, or care would be the only pets I'd consider including a strict interpretation of "is this relevant" in highlighting your strengths as an applicant.

 

[eleanor713]

School dependent for pet ownership hours? I have never found any information about this on school websites. Is it necessary to include owning dogs/cats on the VMCAS?

I’ve heard from certain schools only add hours where you are in direct care of them such as special needs, show or work pets, medical care other than just observing their vet appointments. I would say just about everyone that goes into vet school has or has had pets and most time with them doesn’t directly correlate to someone being a qualified applicant.

 

[Natalie22]

I'd recommend going over it once more with fresh eyes yourself and asking other readers before recycling the same statement. The same goes for how you describe/input experiences. If you can read an experience and say "and?" or "so what?" consider if you've properly conveyed what the experience entailed.


Pet ownership is finicky because accounting for every Fido or Fluffy cared for is nominal compared to other possible experiences. I recommend considering the uniqueness of pet ownership and care. Do you have a unique animal experience that highlights your readiness to tackle vet school? Animals with special conditions, needs, or care would be the only pets I'd consider including a strict interpretation of "is this relevant" in highlighting your strengths as an applicant.

My childhood dog had a stage 4/5 heart murmur for the last two years of her life and I spent the last two summers of undergrad working with her veterinarians and cardiologist to best adjust her meds and maintain her quality of life as best as we could. She passed away in October, RIP Summer. Do you feel that this would qualify as a special needs animal, or overall Is worthwhile including on my application? I sure learned a lot about what veterinary cardiologists do, end of life care, and CHF in general, but I don’t want to flood my application with irrelevant experiences. Thank you both @eleanor713 for your help

 

[Horsin'Around]

My childhood dog had a stage 4/5 heart murmur for the last two years of her life and I spent the last two summers of undergrad working with her veterinarians and cardiologist to best adjust her meds and maintain her quality of life as best as we could. She passed away in October, RIP Summer. Do you feel that this would qualify as a special needs animal, or overall Is worthwhile including on my application? I sure learned a lot about what veterinary cardiologists do, end of life care, and CHF in general, but I don’t want to flood my application with irrelevant experiences. Thank you both @eleanor713 for your help

I'm sorry for your loss but to be honest I wouldn't consider care of a CHF dog as a special needs dog for animal hours. A majority of applicants will have chronically ill pets on medications for example CKD cats and little old dogs with MMVD. I honestly can't think of a "special needs" pet where you could even get animal hours unless maybe you had an animal in a wheelchair or an indwelling feeding tube. You can mention her in your application in other ways for sure but I don't think animal experience hours. Curious to hear what other people might think about this topic it seems to come up every year.

 

[battie]

Curious to hear what other people might think about this topic it seems to come up every year.

I wish schools would be up front about this since it is a question ad nauseum. I don't think pet ownership hours should be included at all.

The grey area is where work and home mix. My personal example is my family owned pet stores that sold animals up until about 2015. I started working in the pet stores at 10 years old and included the hours working in the stores. However, I didn't count hours if a puppy came home and became a personal pet. This could apply to applicants who come from ranching or breeding backgrounds as well. The pet stores, breeding facilities, ranches, etc. are all business based rather than personally based.

Horse ownership/riding gets tricky to me. I don't think ownership should count, such as feeding, mucking, etc. However, hours spent training/riding for competition, yes.

I think pet ownership is a given for the vast majority of students. And agreed, the vast majority of us probably had some pretty sick pets that required some extra care. So they're moot hours to put on the application.

 

[Gangar#094]

Sports (canine, horse), service dog puppy raisers, breeders, and other categories of "pet adjacent" interaction that go beyond normal care and maintenance are things I have in my mind. Pets with exceptional needs, which require training or medical application beyond informed pet care, and livelihood (ranch, dairy, other production).

If you use such experiences, I recommend a conservative calculation for total hours, especially in livelihood scenarios. There comes a point where excess hours may become a liability instead of a strength. Surplus of numbers =/= preparedness.

If in doubt, reach out directly to schools and see if there is an advisor, counselor, or admissions officer you can speak with and see their recommendation.

 

[KCgophervet]

Back when I was applying (forever ago), UMN had an information session and specifically said to include pet ownership.

Honestly, my personal opinion is to include it because if schools don't want to consider it they don't have to, but if they do consider it (even just a little) they can't know unless you tell them. I can't imagine including pet ownership ever hurting anyone's application, unless you really oversell the hours.

Honestly just familiarity with the species is a bonus. People growing up on farms are being told to include livestock experience, why should pet ownership of small animals not also be animal experience?

 

[eptesicusfuscus]

Hello! I am in a bit of a unique situation applying to vet school for the first time. I'm a non-traditional student (applying with BS biology, BS chemistry, MS chemistry) limited to vet schools within a commutable distance to national laboratories (i.e. UTK), and ideally with DVM/PhD programs. I was pre-vet until my junior/senior year of undergrad when I decided to veer off to grad school. AKA I have a ton of research experience, decent gpa, and pretty diverse animal experience (small, large animal, exotics), but comparatively minimal vet hours. I'm spending the time between now and submitting my application shadowing (small animal/exotics) and working in a clinic (small animal) part time. All that being said, I would love to make the best case for myself applying to UTK since I'm also out of state (I'm aware how delusional I sound trying to accomplish this, I swear).

When applying to graduate schools, it was always recommended to reach out to schools and “prove your interest” in one way or another (attending events, contacting admissions). Is there a similar situation when applying to vet schools, or is it frowned upon to contact admissions for visits, application advice, or anything like that? Similarly, is the best way to find out about events by just being on a school's email list? Are there any ways to show interest that may not be as obvious? Thank you! (apologies if this is in the wrong thread, I'm new here!)

 

[battie]

From just the DVM side, admissions may not even know you've toured or attended events like Open House. At my school, all of that was done through a completely different department. I actually knew more about who was attending tours as the student tour coordinator than the admissions department unless the student requested an admissions meeting. I honestly feel like this is less of a thing in vet med because the schools don't have to actively recruit students in any way; there are anywhere from 4-20 students applying per seat at different schools.

However, from the PhD side, it may be entirely different because that was managed by a different group of people as well. Paging @supershorty for her perspective

 

[supershorty]

However, from the PhD side, it may be entirely different because that was managed by a different group of people as well. Paging @supershorty for her perspective

hello

With the caveat that I have never been involved with the admissions process for the dual degree program PhD portion, beyond going through it myself, I'll say that attending campus events to "prove interest" is unlikely to have an effect on the decision. What can play a more significant role in PhD admissions is connecting with potential advisors who have the funding for additional graduate students in their labs. In theory, it might sway an outcome if a program knows that there is a funding option available for that student already. That being said, how much power that has is going to vary from program to program and likely ranges from negligible to mild (for dual programs, specifically).

 

[miniaturedove]

Hello! I created a GPA calculator that should get pretty close to how VMCAS calculates it. I double checked between theirs and mine to make sure the calculations are being done correctly. I'd like to think it's a little more user friendly, even if it's not perfect.

NOTE: It is view-only. Make sure you make your own copy!

Kathy's_Template_Calculator - Google Drive

drive.google.com

Hoping this is helpful to all of yall applying this year!

 

[eptesicusfuscus]

hello

With the caveat that I have never been involved with the admissions process for the dual degree program PhD portion, beyond going through it myself, I'll say that attending campus events to "prove interest" is unlikely to have an effect on the decision. What can play a more significant role in PhD admissions is connecting with potential advisors who have the funding for additional graduate students in their labs. In theory, it might sway an outcome if a program knows that there is a funding option available for that student already. That being said, how much power that has is going to vary from program to program and likely ranges from negligible to mild (for dual programs, specifically).

That makes sense! I’m mastering out of my chemistry PhD program so I assumed the ever-present necessity of funding was translated across disciplines. Thank you!

Follow up question: Is the best way to distinguish yourself in the applicant pool mostly by diversity of experiences and personal statement? (Thank you all again for answering my dumb questions!!)

 

[Gina Lawson]

Paging VMCAS support pls!

A few questions...

1. Should withdrawal be entered as a "W" or "WD" or whichever is on your transcript?
2. Would an associates in veterinary technology after a BS be considered post-bacc status?
3. If the transcript abbreviates the name of a class (i.e. "Gen" for "general"), should you write it out appropriately or use the abbreviation?

Thank you!

 

[renacuaja]

Paging VMCAS support pls!

A few questions...

1. Should withdrawal be entered as a "W" or "WD" or whichever is on your transcript?
2. Would an associates in veterinary technology after a BS be considered post-bacc status?
3. If the transcript abbreviates the name of a class (i.e. "Gen" for "general"), should you write it out appropriately or use the abbreviation?

Thank you!

1. Write as it's written on your transcript
2. Yes
3. Write as it's written on your transcript