VMCAS Questions and Rants c/o 2030

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Hey yall, I had a question about the Casper test. How do you do well on these test? I feel like I do well, but then get results and dont get the percentile I want. I dont know how to better my answers lol. Thanks in advance!
Look up the Casper test on YouTube!! I did some great practice that way. General consensus— consider all sides always. Be willing to take a moral stand when you need to but always try to acknowledge all sides and possibilities.
 
Look up the Casper test on YouTube!! I did some great practice that way. General consensus— consider all sides always. Be willing to take a moral stand when you need to but always try to acknowledge all sides and possibilities.
that is actually so smart thanks!
 
hi! does anyone know if utah state university is accepting applications for this cycle? and if so.... where? i dont see them listed in vmcas. thanks!
 
hi! does anyone know if utah state university is accepting applications for this cycle? and if so.... where? i dont see them listed in vmcas. thanks!
I actually emailed them earlier this week about this and they said they're working on getting the application finalized with VMCAS and it should be available sometime this month!
 
When you are matching your classes to prerequisites for schools, there is a minimum credit listed but also a minimum grades listed. For instance, for Biochem for Midwestern, it's listed as minimum credit hours: 3 and minimum grades: 2.

What is this about? I only have one Biochem class that was 3 credit hours and I received one grade for it.
 
When you are matching your classes to prerequisites for schools, there is a minimum credit listed but also a minimum grades listed. For instance, for Biochem for Midwestern, it's listed as minimum credit hours: 3 and minimum grades: 2.

What is this about? I only have one Biochem class that was 3 credit hours and I received one grade for it.

The grade is the worth. So when it says "minimum grade, 2" the minimum is a C because a C is worth 2 points towards your GPA. By extension, a D is worth one (so not usable); B is worth 3; and A is worth 4
 
This may be dumb but I have heard different things. For those of us who majored in animal science or something related where your classes had hands on interactions with animals are you counting those as experience hours? I gained what would add up to be about 60 hours of various hands on experience with cattle, swine, small ruminants, and equines. Would it be wrong to include this in my hours? I don't NEED the hours but since majority of my experience is with small animals adding to the large animal seems advantageous. What do you guys think?
 
This may be dumb but I have heard different things. For those of us who majored in animal science or something related where your classes had hands on interactions with animals are you counting those as experience hours? I gained what would add up to be about 60 hours of various hands on experience with cattle, swine, small ruminants, and equines. Would it be wrong to include this in my hours? I don't NEED the hours but since majority of my experience is with small animals adding to the large animal seems advantageous. What do you guys think?
i did not include any hours of hands-on experience gained through classes. i worked with mice at one point and cattle for animal science. since they were technically part of a course and had less than an 3 hours each week with them, i did not count them. i personally would not include those hours, but other can weigh in if they did or didn't.
 
This may be dumb but I have heard different things. For those of us who majored in animal science or something related where your classes had hands on interactions with animals are you counting those as experience hours? I gained what would add up to be about 60 hours of various hands on experience with cattle, swine, small ruminants, and equines. Would it be wrong to include this in my hours? I don't NEED the hours but since majority of my experience is with small animals adding to the large animal seems advantageous. What do you guys think?

This is such a wishy washy area, I don't think you can go wrong no matter what you do. When I was applying, hours linked to classwork did not count. But I've definitely read differently since. I personally wouldn't have added such hours back in the day.

The way I see it now is you can add them with the disclaimer it was part of Ansci 101 or whatever. The schools will count it or they won't on their end. But I dont think you'll be dinged for it.
 
This may be dumb but I have heard different things. For those of us who majored in animal science or something related where your classes had hands on interactions with animals are you counting those as experience hours? I gained what would add up to be about 60 hours of various hands on experience with cattle, swine, small ruminants, and equines. Would it be wrong to include this in my hours? I don't NEED the hours but since majority of my experience is with small animals adding to the large animal seems advantageous. What do you guys think?
My university offered animal handling classes taught by veterinarians. We also had barn duty once a week for a semester. Personally, I counted those hours as veterinary experience and animal experience, respectively. That was tons of hands-on time I spent with animals learning castration, dehorning, blood draws, safe handling skills, etc.

To me, that deserved to be on my application. Honestly, I chose to go to that school because they emphasize their hands-on opportunities. I'm not a large animal person, so my undergrad was my way of getting large animal and equine hours without having to take a summer away from my wildlife internships. Our pre-vet club takes an annual roadtrip to multiple vet schools and (from what I can remember) the majority of the schools said to put down our handling hours because they were good quality. I got into four schools, so I would say it helped my application.
 
hey yall i need help.
I currently have 2/3 of my LORs locked in. My main problem is that I am not close or comfortable enough to ask one of my most recent professors for a letter. My masters degree was online while I worked full time. The only conversation between any of my professors and I was through email. I email two professors that I would be most comfortable asking (barely) and they still have not responded. I’m at a loss of what to do.

*I obtained my bachelors in 2021 and am no longer in contact with my advisor or any professors *
 
hey yall i need help.
I currently have 2/3 of my LORs locked in. My main problem is that I am not close or comfortable enough to ask one of my most recent professors for a letter. My masters degree was online while I worked full time. The only conversation between any of my professors and I was through email. I email two professors that I would be most comfortable asking (barely) and they still have not responded. I’m at a loss of what to do.

*I obtained my bachelors in 2021 and am no longer in contact with my advisor or any professors *
Not all schools require a letter from a professor. The school I attended requires three letters, one from a DVM, and that’s the only requirement. If you don’t have one, just apply to places that don’t require it. However, if places you’re looking at applying do *require* it, then either figure it out or don’t apply there…otherwise you’re wasting your money and donating your app fees.
 
This may be dumb but I have heard different things. For those of us who majored in animal science or something related where your classes had hands on interactions with animals are you counting those as experience hours? I gained what would add up to be about 60 hours of various hands on experience with cattle, swine, small ruminants, and equines. Would it be wrong to include this in my hours? I don't NEED the hours but since majority of my experience is with small animals adding to the large animal seems advantageous. What do you guys think?
I put it under animal hours, but noted that it was part of *insert course here.* I was pretty low with my LA/equine hours when I applied so I felt it was important to show that I have at least some handling experience. With that said, for my specific class, we had lecture for two hours/week or something, then the lab was on Friday morning for 1-2 hours. I actually kept an accurate log of direct animal hours and did not count hours spent sitting in lecture.

No idea if including it actually mattered in the grand scheme of things, but I don't think it would hurt you if you are honest with the hours.
 
hey yall i need help.
I currently have 2/3 of my LORs locked in. My main problem is that I am not close or comfortable enough to ask one of my most recent professors for a letter. My masters degree was online while I worked full time. The only conversation between any of my professors and I was through email. I email two professors that I would be most comfortable asking (barely) and they still have not responded. I’m at a loss of what to do.

*I obtained my bachelors in 2021 and am no longer in contact with my advisor or any professors *
I also got my bachelors in 2021 and ended up having to reach out to two professors who taught me. Thankfully one of them I was a bit closer with, but the other one was a music professor. I told her that while it had nothing to do with my new career, I loved her classes and thought her view of me as a student in a non-science course would be good to have. She was hesitant to do it because she wanted me to pick a science professor but I told her all they cared about was that she taught me and had a good view of me as a student, and she agreed. I had no issues using that letter to get accepted places. I would reach out to your favorite undergrad professors, remind them of who you are, and ask if they would be willing to write you a *good* letter of recommendation. You’d be surprised how many of them might remember you.
 
Hi. this is random, but does anyone know what kind of AI detectors universities use to screen application essays?

Since AI is pretty dominant today, I just want to take extra precautions with my applications.
 
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Hi. this is random, but does anyone know what kind of AI detectors universities use to screen application essays?

Since AI is pretty dominant today, I just want to take extra precautions with my applications.
I doubt you will get a solid answer to this, but there are a number of free things out there you can try. How effective they are, who knows. If universities have AI detectors in place, my guess is they are paying big fees for the use of these programs and they aren't readily available to students :shrug:

You might check with your local library to see if they have a subscription to something? Or if you're still a student, check with your school's tutoring or writing services and see what they suggest. The eruption of AI in academia is all pretty fresh and they might have the best suggestions for you.
 
Hello all! Does anyone know if “the more the merrier” applies when it comes to listing advanced biology courses for prerequisites? Should I include all the classes that could count as advanced biology, even if that means going over the minimum credit requirement? Or is it better to just pick a few? I got the same grade in all of them, so my prereq GPA wouldn’t change either way. I know it probably depends on the school, but I haven’t found anything that says I shouldn’t list all the ones that qualify. TIA!!!!!
 
Hello all! Does anyone know if “the more the merrier” applies when it comes to listing advanced biology courses for prerequisites? Should I include all the classes that could count as advanced biology, even if that means going over the minimum credit requirement? Or is it better to just pick a few? I got the same grade in all of them, so my prereq GPA wouldn’t change either way. I know it probably depends on the school, but I haven’t found anything that says I shouldn’t list all the ones that qualify. TIA!!!!!
For me, if a school said in notes to only list up to the upper credit limit, I did that. Otherwise, I picked upwards of 5-6 courses if I could, to show that I had more than met the minimum criteria. As long as they’re all the same grade roughly, and all meet requirements, I don’t think there’s any harm!
 
If my current school lists a lab as separate from a lecture course (ie, organic chemistry), and a vet school requires one semester of that class's lecture with "lab recommended", should I mark just the first semester of lecture and lab, both semesters of just the lecture, or both semesters of the labs and lectures?

I'm also applying to a school that requires 1 semester(4 credits) of a class with a minimum grade of a B. I took that class as a two-semester sequence(8 credits total) and got a B+ in the first semester but a B- in the second semester. Do I label both classes as the prerequisite, since they average to the B minimum, or just the first semester since it meets the required number credits and meets/exceeds the minimum grade?
 
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