VMCVM c/o 2025!

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Nottodaysatan821 said:
Oh! Oh! Me too!
OOS, first time applicant to VMCVM. My family lives in the area, it sure would be nice to have the support system. Good luck, everyone!
Click to expand...
I grew up 20 minutes away from Blacksburg and I will say that it's been INCREDIBLE having my family here, it's amazing what a strong support system can do!
(plus I can go home to visit my fur babies whenever I want to 😉 )
 
EB73674 said:
You convinced me girl, I'm applying! 2nd time applicant, 1st time applying to VAMD, OOS non-trad applicant 🙂
Click to expand...
Yaaasssss!!!! I wish I could love this 10x 😍
Hoping this is your year!!
 
Ahhhh I just decided to today that I am going to apply here! I've been going back and forth with a few schools for weeks and finally made a decision! This will be my 2nd cycle, but first time applicant to VAMD as OOS resident.
 
Yay, I’ve been waiting for this thread! Good luck to everyone applying! If you guys have questions feel free to message me :cat:
 
So is the essay describing why you chose Virginia Maryland optional, it does not seem that it's required on VMCAS? I can definitely write a paragraph or two, but 4000 characters is quite a lot!
 
PhiloslothicalStudent said:
So is the essay describing why you chose Virginia Maryland optional, it does not seem that it's required on VMCAS? I can definitely write a paragraph or two, but 4000 characters is quite a lot!
Click to expand...
Interesting! That's a new question this year
 
Also a first year at VMCVM. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have.
 
"Once our committee completes their review of all applications, we will start putting together offer letter, alternate letters, and denial letters. Our plan is to send all of these notifications out by the end of this year. Our aim is late November/early December"

Wow isn't that super early???? I didn't even think I'd have interview invites for most of my schools sent out by then, let alone acceptances/rejections! I guess they are speeding along the process since there's no interviews this year.
 
Dana_May_B said:
"Once our committee completes their review of all applications, we will start putting together offer letter, alternate letters, and denial letters. Our plan is to send all of these notifications out by the end of this year. Our aim is late November/early December"

Wow isn't that super early???? I didn't even think I'd have interview invites for most of my schools sent out by then, let alone acceptances/rejections! I guess they are speeding along the process since there's no interviews this year.
Click to expand...

I know! Im super excited because I’ve already been accepted to Midwestern, but VMCVM is my in state school and I kind of need to make a decision about midwestern in December when the housing application opens if I want to live there on campus. So now I may actually have an answer from VMCVM by then!!!
 
I was just on a Zoom meeting with Shelby for Pre-Vet Club, and I thought I'd share some info from her regarding this application cycle.

Number of applicants this year:
  • ~350 VA
  • ~165 MD
  • 62 WV contract (above average)
  • ~1200 OOS
They're planning on ranking everyone similarly to how they rank applicants before interviews (55% academic, 45% nonacademic). Then, they will reevaluate the CASPer scores of those who they'd normally invite for interviews before sending out final decisions (they usually invite 320 students to interviews).
Also, word is that VMCAS is changing the format of the essays again next year. They're supposedly going to go back to one long essay. Shelby said she doesn't know how this will affect VMCVM's supplemental essays yet.
They are not requiring CASPer Snapshot this year. If you submitted it, they will review it, but it's solely because they're curious about how it works, and it won't affect your application at all.
Don't worry if you feel short on experience hours because to them as long as you have 100 vet/animal hours, it counts the same as having 1,000 hours. There's also really no benefit to having a variety of animal/vet experience. For research, 25-30 hours should give you full points in that category.
They're heavily considering the impact of COVID on your entire application.

I hope this eases some of y'all's minds. It certainly did for me.
 
raegan117 said:
I was just on a Zoom meeting with Shelby for Pre-Vet Club, and I thought I'd share some info from her regarding this application cycle.

Number of applicants this year:
  • ~350 VA
  • ~165 MD
  • 62 WV contract (above average)
  • ~1200 OOS
They're planning on ranking everyone similarly to how they rank applicants before interviews (55% academic, 45% nonacademic). Then, they will reevaluate the CASPer scores of those who they'd normally invite for interviews before sending out final decisions (they usually invite 320 students to interviews).
Also, word is that VMCAS is changing the format of the essays again next year. They're supposedly going to go back to one long essay. Shelby said she doesn't know how this will affect VMCVM's supplemental essays yet.
They are not requiring CASPer Snapshot this year. If you submitted it, they will review it, but it's solely because they're curious about how it works, and it won't affect your application at all.
Don't worry if you feel short on experience hours because to them as long as you have 100 vet/animal hours, it counts the same as having 1,000 hours. There's also really no benefit to having a variety of animal/vet experience. For research, 25-30 hours should give you full points in that category.
They're heavily considering the impact of COVID on your entire application.

I hope this eases some of y'all's minds. It certainly did for me.
Click to expand...

Hi! I have applied to VMCVM, first time OOS applicant, but attend undergrad at a small college in southwest Virginia.

Thank you so much for posting this information! I was just about to email admissions regarding the CASPer Snapshot - it wasn't specified that is was required, so I wasn't sure. I took the CASPer yesterday, and wasn't sure if they would wait until that was received in order to start reviewing my application? My VMCAS has been verified, so that is the only thing they are waiting for!

Best of luck to everyone else applying!
 
raegan117 said:
I was just on a Zoom meeting with Shelby for Pre-Vet Club, and I thought I'd share some info from her regarding this application cycle.

Number of applicants this year:
  • ~350 VA
  • ~165 MD
  • 62 WV contract (above average)
  • ~1200 OOS
They're planning on ranking everyone similarly to how they rank applicants before interviews (55% academic, 45% nonacademic). Then, they will reevaluate the CASPer scores of those who they'd normally invite for interviews before sending out final decisions (they usually invite 320 students to interviews).
Also, word is that VMCAS is changing the format of the essays again next year. They're supposedly going to go back to one long essay. Shelby said she doesn't know how this will affect VMCVM's supplemental essays yet.
They are not requiring CASPer Snapshot this year. If you submitted it, they will review it, but it's solely because they're curious about how it works, and it won't affect your application at all.
Don't worry if you feel short on experience hours because to them as long as you have 100 vet/animal hours, it counts the same as having 1,000 hours. There's also really no benefit to having a variety of animal/vet experience. For research, 25-30 hours should give you full points in that category.
They're heavily considering the impact of COVID on your entire application.

I hope this eases some of y'all's minds. It certainly did for me.
Click to expand...
Seems kinda unfair to the people who have 1000+ hours for 100 hrs to count the same as 1000 just my opnion
 
patelmohnish said:
@TrashCat @britzen @flameshock @WhtsThFrequency do you guys mind dropping your extracurricular info and experience hours research etc (stats) so people applying this cycle can get a idea of what the school is looking for
Click to expand...

here’s my post from the successful applicants thread:

TrashCat said:
I can’t believe that I got accepted and get to post here 🙂 This is seriously so exciting.

I’d say the biggest takeaway from my application is: it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Really, though. I got rejected from 3 out of 4 schools I applied to, AND got waitlisted at my dream school. Still got in!! It can happen. Don’t give up!

23, F, MD Resident, Traditional applicant although I did take 2 years off since undergrad, First cycle

Applied: VMCVM, Tennessee, Ohio, UPenn
Interview Invites: VMCVM
Waiting to hear: None
Accepted: VMCVM
Attending: VMCVM!!! :cat:

Overall GPA: 3.56
Science Prerequisite GPA: 3.31 <--- Hahahaha. Wow
Last 45 GPA: 3.76

GRE (Q/V/W): 153 (49%) / 156 (73%) / 5.5 (98%)

Degree(s):
-Bachelor’s in Biology
-A few undergrad credits after graduation from community colleges

Veterinary Experience:
Veterinary Assistant at small animal practice (4000 hrs) -- full time for 2 years, part time for last year in college
Shadowing vet at shelter (16 hrs)

***After submitting application, e-mailed w/ update: Shadowing equine vet (8 hrs)

Animal Experience:
Volunteer at Animal Shelter (1000 hrs)
Dog Sitter (21 hrs)

Research:
Intern and Research Assistant (2000 hrs) – Started as an intern summer before junior year, then continued the project on my own thereafter during the school years through winter break of senior year. My project focused on crayfish – field collection & laboratory data entry, then my continued research was in the lab focusing on genetics (dissection, DNA extraction, PCR, cloning, electrophoresis, analyzing sequencing data) & poster presentation

Extracurriculars/Awards:
Co-President of College Women’s Leadership Group
Co-Founder and VP of College Health Professionals Club
College Student Government Association Senator
Junior Year College Class Treasurer
GSE Member
BBB Member and Treasurer
Dean’s List
College Honors Program Graduate
College Biology Freshman Award (Book award)
College Biology Junior Award (Scholarship for research)
Varied college academic scholarships (3)
Bioscience academy (HS)
Top 5% (HS)
AP Scholar with Distinction (HS)
Honor Roll (HS)
Editor-in-Chief Yearbook (HS)
Varsity Pom Squad (HS)
Varsity Softball Team & Captain (HS)
NHS (HS) – Organized a supply drive for local animal shelter & personally delivered supplies

Non-Animal Employment:
Retail clothing store (136 hrs)
Volunteer at homeless shelter (30 hrs)

LORs:
Chief of Staff (Veterinarian)
Veterinarian
Veterinarian
Research advisor/Professor of Biology
Volunteer coordinator at shelter
Professor of Physics

Essay Questions/Personal Statement:
My essays focused a LOT on the importance of practicing vet med before all else because I believe experience is what makes a good vet. I gave many personal stories from my own experience – both related to my veterinary experience and in extracurriculars/life. But I emphasized that no matter what I actually end up doing in my career, I want to directly help pets and strengthen the human-animal bond. I thought the most important role vets play is liaison between animals and humans – one health! Discussed my main goal was to fulfill this role and bridge the gap between species. I mentioned wanting to make vet care more affordable/accessible & possibly owning a low-cost vet clinic. Then discussed how vet med is evolving and the work I do may change but the goal should remain the same. I want to spread the mentality of feeling responsible for the lives of animals. As far as attributes, I focused on perseverance, creativity, and empathy. I again gave examples from my own experience for each trait. 🙂

My explanation statement explained an incomplete grade I had (because my school transcript shows an I and the grade instead of just the grade) & talked about my weakest semester. A very close family member passed away RIGHT before exams that semester. Also discussed why I took time off from school before applying.
Click to expand...
 
patelmohnish said:
Seems kinda unfair to the people who have 1000+ hours for 100 hrs to count the same as 1000 just my opnion
Click to expand...

VMCVM only uses this as a guide to whether you understand what being a veterinarian entails and that you want to pursue the profession. You don't need to spend 1000 hours doing something to realize if it is a career you want to do. If you have lots of hours you also have other advantages in the application - you should be able to write better essays based on your experiences and will have more options for killer letters of rec.

Gaining veterinary hours is also often directly to advantages and privileges you have in life. You are much more likely to be able to gain hours if you live middle income suburbia than if you live somewhere very rural or very urban. You are also much more likely to be able to gain hours if you can work for free (volunteer, shadowing), which not everyone can afford to do.

It's also much easier to get hours for clinical medicine than anything else, especially small animal medicine. Given that 25% of veterinarians work in fields outside of clinical medicine (where it is much harder to gain experience), there's not much point to racking up hours in clinical medicine for the sake of racking up hours if that's not what you want to do with your life.
 
Last edited:
patelmohnish said:
@TrashCat @britzen @flameshock @WhtsThFrequency do you guys mind dropping your extracurricular info and experience hours research etc (stats) so people applying this cycle can get a idea of what the school is looking for
Click to expand...

The main reason I got an interview was because of a good GPA. (My experience points were probably average to above average.)
The reason I got in is because I crushed the MMI.

In normal years, as long as you make it to the interview, your application score resets to zero and your performance in the MMI interview determines whether or not you are offered admission. This year the CASPer scores are included in the overall application, so I'm not sure how that will impact offers compared to previous years. It might be harder for candidates with below average GPA/experience to gain admission as a result.


Generally, my understanding for what they are looking for:

- If you have a GPA at or above average, you will very likely get an interview (or, for this year, a CASPer review).

- If your GPA is at or just below the average, you will need to gain points in other parts of your app to get an interview. This is very doable depending on your experience, research, recommendations, and essays. Strengthening non-GPA parts of your application will help you get enough points to be ranked for an interview. Strive to maximize every category you can if you don't have a strong GPA. (If you don't get an interview, do a file review with admissions. The vast majority of people who do a file review (close to 100%) get an interview and/or admission the following cycle if they address their weak points.)

- If your GPA is far below average you will need to gain discretionary holistic points. The admission committee has a lot of leeway to recommend applicants with below average stats, but it's an uphill battle because you'll have to gain enough discretionary points to catch up to people with max or close to max points from GPA (which is 55% of the application) and/or experience (45% of the application). Address why you didn't do well in school, any mitigating circumstances that impacted your ability to gain experience, and/or anything that has changed that will allow you to do well in vet school.

Past academic performance is the best predictor of future academic performance which is why it's weighed most heavily - they don't want to admit someone who will fail out. But they are also firm believers that applicants should be evaluated based on non-academic qualities as well because being good at academics does not necessarily equate to being good at being a veterinarian. (You need people skills, etc too).


I don't remember my exact numbers but:

- Cumulative GPA well above the average
- Science GPA above average
- Last 45 above average
- Pre-requisites - met the bare minimum plus like 2 bio classes. I have a humanities/social science background, and never took some basic biology courses including anatomy or physiology before vet school. (1st year hurt friends, recommend taking anatomy if you can before vet school.)
- Veterinary experience hours met their minimum for max points, but far below average compared to other applicants. All in one area of vet med with 0 hours of private clinical veterinary experience
- Animal experience hours far above minimum and above average compared to other applicants. (I worked full time for an animal shelter.)
- Research - none listed (legitimately forgot that I did research one summer as an undergrad because it was so long ago... whooops)
- Work experience - a lot in both animal and non-animal areas (I'm a second career student). I tied my previous jobs, including non-animal ones, into how they would help me succeed in vetmed through my essays.
- Recommendations - one from a vet highlighting why I'd be a good fit for the profession, one from a professor highlighting my academic ability, and one from an animal experience related boss who highlighted soft skills that are considered assets for veterinarians (the sort of stuff they look for in MMIs).
- MMI Interview - above average.
 
Last edited:
With the end of November around the corner, just wanted to wish everyone good luck! Based on my stalking, we may be hearing around November 21! I will say though as someone who has been rejected before when applying, take it as a grain of salt. Don't let it define your worth or ability to succeed in the profession. Enjoy the time you have with your family and consult the school after the holidays for how to improve. Being OOS I don't have my hopes too high, but I know the feeling of "we regret to inform you..." emails. My inbox is always open, but I hope we can all get some good news!
 
pawprintsandponytails said:
With the end of November around the corner, just wanted to wish everyone good luck! Based on my stalking, we may be hearing around November 21! I will say though as someone who has been rejected before when applying, take it as a grain of salt. Don't let it define your worth or ability to succeed in the profession. Enjoy the time you have with your family and consult the school after the holidays for how to improve. Being OOS I don't have my hopes too high, but I know the feeling of "we regret to inform you..." emails. My inbox is always open, but I hope we can all get some good news!
Click to expand...

wait omg where did you see that?
 
kfmaguire said:
wait omg where did you see that?
Click to expand...

They sent an email stating decisions would be released in late November/early December. I looked through previous cycles forums and typically they send information out around November 21st for interviews, but since they are nixing that, it may be when decisions are released.
 
For all the schools I’ve spoken to, the highest grade is considered when it comes to the listed grade for the course, but both grades are included in the overall gap calculation (even if your college says they’ll replace it, the vet school will require both scores).
 
Both grades from retakes will be included in your GPA calculations.

You can petition to have a grade replaced or substituted with a higher level course if the original grade is 7 years or older. That only counts for the science GPA though - all courses (no matter how old) will be included in the cumulative GPA.
 
patelmohnish said:
What do you guys think, is today the day?
Click to expand...
I've gotten my hopes up because of everyone talking about last year's timeline, but I honestly feel like it will be a little later (like the week after Thanksgiving). Last year they just sent out interview invites. This year I feel like they'd need more time to consider applicants since they're sending out FINAL decisions, not interview invites. I'm hoping they come out today, but I'm expecting another couple of weeks.
 
We have finals next Monday-Wednesday so I imagine things will still be happening behind the scenes. But also who knows what the timeline is since they aren't interviewing this cycle!

Good luck you guyssssss!! Y'all will be starting vet school before you know it (and hopefully at the best school, aka VMCVM! 😛)
 
They said the timeline is late Nov-early Dec.
Do you know who the people on the admissions committee are just wondering?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

supershorty
VMCVM 2025-2026 (c/o 2030 hopefuls)
Replies
1
Views
1K
Kirb
Kirb
supershorty
OVC 2025-2026 (c/o 2030 hopefuls)
Replies
1
Views
1K
Lowenger
Lowenger
supershorty
Cornell 2025-2026 (c/o 2030 hopefuls)
Replies
2
Views
2K
supershorty
supershorty
supershorty
CSU 2025-2026 (c/o 2030 hopefuls)
Replies
1
Views
1K
vampyrica
vampyrica
supershorty
Western 2025-2026 (c/o 2030 hopefuls)
Replies
4
Views
1K
mb421
M
Top