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Nope...I wish I was. This letter came from the AAVMC CEO.
Western c/o 2024
- Thread starter Wolfie<3
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This is unacceptable. The AAVMC has, from what I could dig up, done this three times now. In 2014 with LMU, last year with Western, and now this year. Further action must be taken on the part of students affected by this.
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At this point, I think it would be the AVMA COE.
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When I spoke to someone at the AVMA from what I could tell they have no dealings with the policies set forth by the AAVMC. So I doubt they’d be able to do anything. However, I could be wrong.
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What is this lunacy?!?!
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No kidding. What’s the point of the April 15th deadline if all vet schools don’t have to abide by it?
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This is the exact wording of the policy:
“In order to grant member schools enough time to complete their admissions processes and to give applicants enough time to consider all offers of admissions, no AAVMC Member Institution will require any applicant to make a decision about admission or financial aid before April 15 of each year.”
Do words not mean anything anymore? Is that what this is?
“In order to grant member schools enough time to complete their admissions processes and to give applicants enough time to consider all offers of admissions, no AAVMC Member Institution will require any applicant to make a decision about admission or financial aid before April 15 of each year.”
Do words not mean anything anymore? Is that what this is?
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“Thank you for informing us of your experience with Western University of Health Sciences College of Veterinary Medicine (WUHSCVM). In accordance with the AAVMC Acceptance Date policy, I have investigated the situation in consultation with the AAVMC Admissions and Recruitment Committee (ARC).
The intent of the AAVMC Acceptance Date policy is to allow applicants sufficient time to consider all offers of admission that they receive. This means that all offers of admission from all schools should remain open until April 15 of each year. This policy is in place to prevent applicants from being pressured to make a final decision prior to that date. Applicants, however, are free to accept offers at any time before April 15th.
It is important to understand that AAVMC does not play a direct role in the admissions process at any school. Any decision regarding admissions will ultimately rest with WUHSCVM. AAVMC is working closely with WUHSCVM to clarify the language in their offer letter to avoid any confusion about the Acceptance Date policy.
I wish you the best of success in your pursuit to become a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.“
This is what was written in the letter they sent me earlier. I interpreted as nothing is being done no disciplinary actions.
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I feel like they acknowledged everything I told them but will not or won’t do anything to Western accept “work with them to change the language in their admission letter”
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“All offers of admission should remain open until April 15 of each year.”
That’s the entire point. They said it themselves. Regardless of how Western phrased their offers of admission, they did not keep offers open until April 15th. That should be as clear cut as it comes.
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I thought so too. Apparently not.
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Are they afraid of another lawsuit? Could that be it?
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I mean I guess every organization is always afraid of being sued. Which is why I sent them a strongly worded email letting them know that I’d be encouraging students affected by Western’s actions to determine an effective course of action to pressure the AAVMC and Western into taking appropriate measures. I’ll leave it up to them to interpret that.
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First of all, I just want to say I feel for all of you who are in this situation. It sucks... there's no disguising that. I can't even imagine how I would have reacted after learning my dreams have come true only for it to be taken away within months. Honestly, I don't think the school will lose accreditation for this because accreditation (as I understand it, anyway) relies on the education we're receiving and not necessarily admissions policies/decisions.
I hope this all works out.
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From that letter, it shows them stating their exact policies that are being infringed upon, but using vague language as a way to discredit their need to intervene. It’s a very cowardly and contemptible way of handling the situation, an organization that is designed to keep the applicants’ best interests at heart.
This does not simply affect those who were waitlisted and were not promised a spot; those students were ACCEPTED at a veterinary school and then had that seat stripped from them. These are students who worked their butts off to prepare, apply, and interview at these schools, are lucky enough to get an acceptance (they thought) and wanted to attend Western but the school they had chosen took not only their seat, but all the other seats or waitlist positions the students may have had and given up in anticipation of attending WesternU.
It’s incorrigible in the worst possible way; this journey is already an uphill battle with a large weight stacked against applicants, and now with this, it shows applicants present and future can’t rely on anyone to look out for them but themselves.
We may not be able to make AAVMC act, but what we can do is spread the word to applicants, to let them know what is going on, and to let them make the choice as to whether they want to play this gamble.
This does not simply affect those who were waitlisted and were not promised a spot; those students were ACCEPTED at a veterinary school and then had that seat stripped from them. These are students who worked their butts off to prepare, apply, and interview at these schools, are lucky enough to get an acceptance (they thought) and wanted to attend Western but the school they had chosen took not only their seat, but all the other seats or waitlist positions the students may have had and given up in anticipation of attending WesternU.
It’s incorrigible in the worst possible way; this journey is already an uphill battle with a large weight stacked against applicants, and now with this, it shows applicants present and future can’t rely on anyone to look out for them but themselves.
We may not be able to make AAVMC act, but what we can do is spread the word to applicants, to let them know what is going on, and to let them make the choice as to whether they want to play this gamble.
I got mine at the end of May last year.
Anyone see any updates on their academic requirement status on their admissions page? I've submitted transcripts in February and today. Admissions page shows the transcripts have arrived but some prerequisite classes are still marked as pending.
Mine is the same way. I’ve emailed twice to check on the status of things (About once a month) and as of 3 weeks ago I was told they were working on portal updates, but that they had been undergoing system maintenance. I was told we would get an email when our portal information is updated.
FutureDogtor1997
WesternU c/o 2024
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I just have one prerequisite pending (that I'm taking right now). I submitted my transcript for previous quarters for other prerequisites a couple weeks ago. It usually took a few days-a week for the prerequisites to come up as fulfilled on my applicant webpage. I'm not sure why it's taking that long...maybe its a manmade edit, but it'll show up eventually! I think just as long as you submitted them before this next June 1st deadline, you'll be fine.
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Is anyone else surprised that they already are deciding to have the first month of classes online?
No, I expected it after other universities in LA said they would be doing online instruction in the fall a couple weeks ago. I’ve heard of other vet schools doing a similar structure (mostly online, smaller lab group/multiple sessions) in the fall as well. It sucks but I’m not surprised.
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red_jellyfish
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I'm pretty sure the school is continuing with online classes until the shelter-in-place order in CA is lifted, even then, they might continue online classes for a few months after. I think they are taking every precaution necessary. All fourth year clinics are online until further notice as well. Not ideal, but they are doing the best they can.
FutureDogtor1997
WesternU c/o 2024
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I am curious. How are online clinics going to work?? It seems like a subpar way to actually get the training needed for actually going out and getting a job in the field...Maybe I'm missing something though. Clinics, for me, is still a long time away. I would definitely love some insight on how Western adapted their off-site clinics and on-site clinics for students.
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I think it’s worth noting that while online clinics aren’t ideal, most vet programs seemed to sway towards them during COVID... some still in them I believe. Because this is new territory for everyone, I expect this is something employers will have to keep in mind when hiring students when c/o 2021 graduates.
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I will be in online clinics until August 3rd *at the earliest*. They forced us to have 6 weeks vacay for our first 3 blocks, and then we did online imaging, and are currently in online clin path. Next Monday starts online primary care. From there, we have more stuff we get to pick from, or we can do an off campus rotation if we can land one.
I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I feel I have learned. Imaging was vaguely less than ideal, but that had to do with course issues rather than content issues. Clin path has been a roller coaster of emotions the last two weeks, but I've learned a boatload. We learn clin path in 2nd year, and 2nd year is a black hole in my mind due to personal goings on. So last week with cytology, I spent 60 hours on the rotation material. Then I started this week's material early on Saturday in the hopes of lessening the load. I started the day with an emotional breakdown due to not remembering anything about reading bloodwork. Now, I'm a full day ahead on the material and am able to get through an entire case (between download and writing up the report) in about an hour to an hour and a half if I'm not distracted. A lot of that is self-driven though. I've been looking up pathophysiology from textbooks and Merck to understand why globulins are low and where this azotemia is coming from, etc.
I know I'm one of the few in my class who is handling online well, however. I don't have any obligations outside of rotations besides NAVLE studying and spending time with my fiancee since he's on leave until late June. I also did most of my didactic years semi-online because paying attention in class is hard for me. For my friends with other commitments, its been a struggle. A lot of students have been experiencing some levels of depression and anxiety due to the entire world situation to start with, so the addition of online clinics hasn't helped.
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Has anyone accepted their financial aid offer yet?
Yes I have. Are you apart of the WesternU class of 2024 Facebook page?
FutureDogtor1997
WesternU c/o 2024
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I have accepted my financial aid as well.
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You guys should also have access to your official Class of 2024 FB page by now. You just need to add your westernu email to your profile. Once you do that, you request the community through here: WesternU. Then, search "WesternU DVM Class of 2024." There are some professors on it I believe.
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Yes I am
red_jellyfish
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The 3rd and 4th year curriculum at Western relies heavily on outside clinics/hospitals/institutions/etc. for their clinical experience. They are subject to the rules/regulations of that particular hospital in regards to shelter-in-place orders in that particular area. I believe most, if not all, vet schools had some form of online classes/rotation as well during that time and going into the new school year. Obviously, it's not ideal to have online clinics. However, many preceptors have generously been holding online rotations, including zoom meetings with assigned activities, depending on the discipline. All rotations are still subject to review by the Dean/Director of 4th Year Curriculum to insure that they are fulfilling all requirements.
I just graduated so the last two months of my 4th year were online. My class had to be flexible while the administration sorted out everything, but honestly, I think it worked out well for my class and the faculty really did a great job considering what they were up against (i.e. trying to coordinate rotations for 100 students online, asking/finding preceptors if they were willing to host online rotations for students, quality checks on what those rotations entailed to ensure they met the curriculum, etc). Did these rotations replace the value of being in the clinics? No. But, I still learned a lot from these rotations.
As the SIP orders are slowly being lifted in CA and around the US, some students are able to attend their rotations in-clinic, given they follow precautions (such as wearing masks). There are still students enrolled "online". Not sure what is currently being offered for them, but I personally think that their experiences can only be improved as both the school and preceptors have had more time to sort out the kinks in holding online rotations.
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So I was one of the ones that was offered a spot and then was waiting till April 15th and ended up losing my spot. Well they accepted me (again) lol. I have been wondering about if classes will be online, sounds like some of y’all know or have heard that the first month or more will be online. Just wanted to know if anybody has heard more info, or know who I should email to find this out. I am coming from Texas so I am trying to figure out if I should move as planned to Cali or if they are recommending us out of staters to stay for the semester... I have no idea so any suggestions or insight would help!!!!
Any more news on the classes being online etc
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We got this email back in May:
"
Dear DVM 2024 students,
WELCOME to WesternU CVM! We are so excited to have you join our family, and we look forward to getting to know each of you in the coming years.
I know that you have all been waiting patiently for an update on what the fall semester will look like. We have been developing a number of different plans, dependent on the type of local and state regulations and restrictions that will be in effect in August. Recently, Los Angeles County (where our college is located) extended "safer at home" restrictions through the summer with a phased re-opening for business, educational and entertainment activities. Based on our anticipation that these restrictions will continue well into August, we have determined that CVM orientation (starting August 3) and the first month of curricular activities will occur online. We plan to start integrating activities for experiential ("hands-on") learning such as anatomy lab and clinical skills in small group settings on campus beginning after Labor Day on September 8, 2020.
The CVM faculty and administrators are hard at work to fine tune the online delivery of the curriculum to ensure you receive an excellent education while maintaining your health and safety. Based on student feedback, we believe that we were quite successful in moving our curricular activities to the virtual platform in a very short period of time this past spring, but we now have the summer to really review and refine our instructional methods to make your learning experience even better.
We will be holding a virtual Town Hall meeting for the class of 2024 during the first week in June (tentatively set for Thursday, June 4 at 1 pm PDT – we will email you the details soon). This meeting will provide a time for you to meet some of the CVM faculty, to get more information about how we are planning to deliver a quality educational experience online until we can safely return to campus, and to hear from some students from the DVM 2023 and DVM 2022 classes.
Stay safe, be well, and we will see you (virtually!) soon, "
Hope this helps!
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I would definitely say move to Cali as planned. Sounds like after a month we will be on campus for some portion of our learning. I wouldn't necessarily want to be moving during the first month of classes being online either since it'll be a weird transitional/adjustment period already but obviously totally up to you
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The impossible just happened. I got pulled off of the waitlist today and will be declining! So anyone who is still keeping their fingers crossed, the alternate list is actually moving!
Did they call you or email?
Hello my dears,
I just got a phone call from and they pulled me off the waitlist.
The impossible actually Happened and I am still in shock.
I am going and nothing is stopping me.
For the rest of the friends on this thread, keep you head up and don’t lose hope!
I just got a phone call from and they pulled me off the waitlist.
The impossible actually Happened and I am still in shock.
I am going and nothing is stopping me.
For the rest of the friends on this thread, keep you head up and don’t lose hope!
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They called and thankfully left me a voicemail because I was at work. I'm still in disbelief that the alternates list even got touched since there were accepted students who were waiting to get a seat themselves.
Congrats!
Chasingvetdreams
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Hey everyone! Did anyone else on the alternate list get the are you still interested email? Trying not to get my hopes up but I’m crossing my fingers that it means they’re still calling people
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Crazy! And congrats New mates! Please add the Facebook group to catch up on info! Welcome!
I got the email too!
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Has anyone received a missed call and tried to call back but no one is answering??
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I havent had any calls but did you check it was Robin's number from the email?
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It was! Eventually, I was able to get through and found out I got pulled off the waitlist!! Its so surreal!!
Congrats!
