Western 2024-2025 (c/o 2029 hopefuls)

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Shelea Caroeaetogae said:
they called? idk but some things just seem a little off...Western never calls about updates/decisions but also how are they pulling people off the waitlist if the date to make your decision to choose your spot as an alternate hasn't passed yet? Is the alternate list being built as first come, first serve then? I'm just confused about how their accepted class was chosen and how their alternate list is being built with some people not receiving decisions and people being pulled off the list before decision date has passed. Does this mean that everyone on the current alternate list just didn't get accepted because we lost the lottery (as referenced in WesternU's handbook for the DVM program) and didn't get chosen? In which case, are we higher up on the alternate list than if those who haven't received a decision are now offered an alternate position? Just very frustrated about the lack of transparency on their process, and if anyone has any insight, I think that would help all of us
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I agree! I am left so confused
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Also for reference if anyone is confused about the lottery system that I am referencing to, this is what is stated in their 2024-2025 DVM catalog book:

"Student Selection Process
The WesternU Office of Admissions assists the college in application processing, including the preparation, distribution, and handling of all admissions-related materials. Applications are reviewed by WesternUCVM faculty using uniform criteria and acceptable applicants are recommended for interview. Candidates who are deemed qualified after file review and interview are ranked based on file review and interview scores, and the class is selected by lottery from those ranking in the top 75% of qualified candidates. Decisions regarding the admission of applicants are final."
 
Shelea Caroeaetogae said:
Also for reference if anyone is confused about the lottery system that I am referencing to, this is what is stated in their 2024-2025 DVM catalog book:

"Student Selection Process
The WesternU Office of Admissions assists the college in application processing, including the preparation, distribution, and handling of all admissions-related materials. Applications are reviewed by WesternUCVM faculty using uniform criteria and acceptable applicants are recommended for interview. Candidates who are deemed qualified after file review and interview are ranked based on file review and interview scores, and the class is selected by lottery from those ranking in the top 75% of qualified candidates. Decisions regarding the admission of applicants are final."
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Weird how long it takes to get a decision if it’s just lottery, and if interviews are supposedly still going I wonder how they decided who already got accepted
 
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zero40 said:
I spoke with one of my friends and she said Western called and took her off the waitlist yesterday. So I guess they are taking people off as apps are declined? My spouse and I prepared for either acceptance or denial. Being waitlisted was a whole other curve ball 😂 Still thankful though!
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when did she receive the waitlist?
 
Wait, so if we haven’t heard back yet about a decision after interviewing should we just assume we have an R? Since they are already pulling people off the waitlist?
 
I wouldn’t assume a rejection until they specifically tell you so. That said, I have no idea how to explain some of us having decisions while others have yet to even hear about an interview.
 
I believe those not offered interview yet are very different than those who interviewed but have not received anything in their portal. Im not sure what it means but the fact theat a candidate DID interview- I assume- would get a notification , accepted, waitlisted or rejection, that TRULY makes no sense to me
Quinnley said:
I wouldn’t assume a rejection until they specifically tell you so. That said, I have no idea how to explain some of us having decisions while others have yet to even hear about an interview.
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BigBang1234 said:
when did she receive the waitlist?
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Quick clarification, it was not a call. They emailed her and then the students portal updated a few minutes later. It was also early in the morning AFTER decision day. She accepted the alternate spot the same day of the email. I am kind of wondering if they either made a mistake with my friend and western was supposed to accept her or the student scored really high and they were in the top couple of the waitlist.

Talking to doctors in the past, students that have not had their portal updated have still gotten interviews/acceptances so please don’t take my post as a negative thing! I was just super surprised that someone was already pulled off the waitlist.

We also have not heard this happen to anyone on this forum so I wonder if it was a one off thing?
 
Has anyone received a rejection or its just been waitlists so far? Do they even rejext people?
 
Bruiz10 said:
I spoke to a current western student (she is externing where I work) she mentioned western sometimes sends out decisions in a few rounds based on last name
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They could've changed the system but historically in the past they've sent out all decisions out once...we can try and see if this is true though. My last name is at the end of the alphabet, what about everyone else?
 
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I haven’t heard anything. Not even an interview invite. Does this mean I will be rejected since it’s so far out?
 
Although I did not apply to Western U this year, I was accepted last year and wanted to provide some information/insight from LAST year (they may have change some things this year so please keep that in mind!).

#1: WesternU sometimes has rolling admissions and rolling acceptances but sometimes just has rolling application review. What does this mean? Most schools wait until after the September 15th application deadline once they’ve received all applications to start reviewing them. WesternU, however, does application reviews on a rolling basis meaning they will review applications as they are submitted, so submitting earlier COULD POTENTIALLY be beneficial but not for sure.

Please not that rolling application review isn’t the same as rolling admissions. Rolling admissions means they accept students on a continuous basis throughout the year. Last year, they did not do this. You were either accepted, waitlisted or rejected. If you were waitlisted then you could potentially get admission later on but they notified everyone around the same time. In past years, they have done rolling admissions/acceptances though so not sure if hat they did this year.

#2: The application is not a full lottery process. You receive a ranking based on your file AND interview. If you score high enough, you are placed into the acceptable pool and the top 75% candidates are entered into a lottery system to decide who gets accepted.

What does this mean? There are way more candidates/applicants than seats available. So it seems instead of having to pretty randomly select one candidate over the other that are EQUALLY qualified and both received high rankings, they have a lottery system choose from all qualified applicants. For example they could have 300 qualified applicants but only have 115 seats so they need some way to decide who gets those seats. NOT THE BEST METHOD BY ANY MEANS. I also don’t think the lottery system determines your ranking on the alternate list just to choose who gets a seat.
 
I just called the admissions counselor and she told me that they will still be reviewing and adding interview dates until April. She said that this application cycle the average GPA has been higher than last cycle. She said it is a 3.5, but you still have a chance of getting in if your GPA is under that.
 
Weird that they waitlist people already ): its like “hey you’re good enough but we’re still keeping an eye out for better”
 
alexit said:
I just called the admissions counselor and she told me that they will still be reviewing and adding interview dates until April. She said that this application cycle the average GPA has been higher than last cycle. She said it is a 3.5, but you still have a chance of getting in if your GPA is under that.
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They always said that, last year the GPA was 3.7 or something
 
alexit said:
I just called the admissions counselor and she told me that they will still be reviewing and adding interview dates until April. She said that this application cycle the average GPA has been higher than last cycle. She said it is a 3.5, but you still have a chance of getting in if your GPA is under that.
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It’s definitely possible! My cGPA was 3.3
 
bingbong123 said:
Weird that they waitlist people already ): its like “hey you’re good enough but we’re still keeping an eye out for better”
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Right! I get rolling admissions for undergrad, but I don’t understand how that works when you have a fixed number of seats.
 
Received an email about
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[td]
On-Campus Event​
[/td]​
[/td]​
[td width="535px"]
[td]
WesternU College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Annual Open House​
[/td]​
[/td]​

my portal didnt change
 
bingbong123 said:
Weird that they waitlist people already ): its like “hey you’re good enough but we’re still keeping an eye out for better”
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I actually think that being waitlisted means the opposite. I think it means that you were in that top ranked 75% but just didn't win the lottery because the next logical place to place these candidates who they would've been happy to have in their incoming class would be on the waitlist rather than forcing them to wait longer for a decision. It would make sense why alternates heard the same day as those who were accepted. And then I assume that as they empty the alternate list, they will fill up the alternate list again. Obviously we won't know which way it's going until someone else receives an acceptance but those were my thoughts.
 
Shelea Caroeaetogae said:
I actually think that being waitlisted means the opposite. I think it means that you were in that top ranked 75% but just didn't win the lottery because the next logical place to place these candidates who they would've been happy to have in their incoming class would be on the waitlist rather than forcing them to wait longer for a decision. It would make sense why alternates heard the same day as those who were accepted. And then I assume that as they empty the alternate list, they will fill up the alternate list again. Obviously we won't know which way it's going until someone else receives an acceptance but those were my thoughts.
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I completely agree with you. It really wouldn't make sense if it were the other way around. I imagine they create an alternate list equivalent to the total number of available seats they have for that year and then pull from the alternate list until it's exhausted. My friend accepted an alternate spot and was accepted the next day. Also, on the APVMA Facebook page, a mom posted that her daughter was also taken off the alternate list.

I feel like we can all speculate, but we'll just have to wait and see. It honestly sucks that more of us can't get in. This process can be really mentally draining. It's almost funny, practically begging to pay schools hundreds of thousands of dollars.
😂
 
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So those still in limbo probably won’t hear back til they know whether or not the alternate list is moving/expected to be emptied?
 
Late to posting but I received an OOS acceptance on March 17 🙂 I had been waitlisted the last 2 application cycles at western and many other programs, so for those feeling defeated if you did not receive an acceptance, I know how you feel but please keep your head up and know these things do not define you or your abilities!
 
Shelea Caroeaetogae said:
I actually think that being waitlisted means the opposite. I think it means that you were in that top ranked 75% but just didn't win the lottery because the next logical place to place these candidates who they would've been happy to have in their incoming class would be on the waitlist rather than forcing them to wait longer for a decision. It would make sense why alternates heard the same day as those who were accepted. And then I assume that as they empty the alternate list, they will fill up the alternate list again. Obviously we won't know which way it's going until someone else receives an acceptance but those were my thoughts.
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I agree 👍 💯
 
bingbong123 said:
So those still in limbo probably won’t hear back til they know whether or not the alternate list is moving/expected to be emptied?
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I think take it with a grain of salt though because there's no way to actually confirm if our theories are true until someone from admissions actually confirms it, but I guess the question is, asides from the one person who was taken off of the alternates list, when can we expect them to take off more people (or are they already emailing more)?
 
harleyvetstu said:
I’m just confused because I interviewed in December and have gotten no update since. Any ideas?
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I was told by admissions no one came off the wait list. And second wave is not till April 16th. I would just assume no news is good until it's not.
 
Dkayla2 said:
I was told by admissions no one came off the wait list. And second wave is not till April 16th. I would just assume no news is good until it's not.
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Man, now I really think my friend must have been a mistake on their end 😂 sooo confusing
 
zero40 said:
Man, now I really think my friend must have been a mistake on their end 😂 sooo confusing
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Just happy for her that she is in. I will pray for the rest of us. April 16th here we come!!
 
Dkayla2 said:
I was told by admissions no one came off the wait list. And second wave is not till April 16th. I would just assume no news is good until it's not.
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I have to wait until April 16th to find out if I get an interview or rejection? 😭😭😭😭
 
Has anyone else not heard back at all yet? Like, no interview, no decision, no nothing really?
 
ilovechickens said:
Has anyone else not heard back at all yet? Like, no interview, no decision, no nothing really?
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yeah, i have heard absolutely nothing. my portal looks essentially the same as when i submitted. i don’t know if i am missing somethiny?
 
same here, the only thing i see now is the scholarship opportunity again.
 
Has anyone created a discord server for accepted students or is there a FB group that anyone knows about? I just paid my deposit!
 
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