what do these vet schools look for when potential students are applying?

[horselvr4life]

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so i am young, but i want some information on these schools. i am not currently applying yet, but i am looking at what schools would fit me best and what they look for when students are applying.

universitey of minnesota (my home state)
univ of wisconsin
univ of iowa
univ of colorado
univ of texas

are there any other colleges i should consider?

also what are these colleges like in terms of cost, class sizes, etc? what are the professors like? are they helpful in any way? what are all the class subjects? do they offer training in both small and large animal? (i think most do, but i just want to be sure. 🙂 ) for univ of minnesota, i know they do an interview process. what do they ask? is it a lot of questions? how long was the waight for your acceptance letter? does the school offer an equstrian team? i have many more questions. please answer them to the best of your abilities. thank you for your time! god bless you all! 😍😀😉

 

[nyanko]

You'd probably be best served using the search function for this forum (select Pre-Veterinary on the side) and reading the various threads about the schools in which you are interested. Just looking at the dates of the posts in those threads can answer at least a few of those questions, and looking at the successful applicants thread may help answer a couple of others.

 

[chordy4]

while certainly, i'm sure, some individuals attending those schools can give you a bit of an insider's view...your best best, especially if you're a few years away from applying is to do some investigation on your own.
all of those vet schools will have their own websites with tuition info for IS and OOS, class sizes, what their curriculum is like for various years (maybe not all sites, but most).
you can become more familiar with the process, and with what each school is like based on doing a little research on your own...and it tends to be a very informative process, and at least in my opinion, just gets you more excited to apply 🙂

Oh, and second nyanko!

 

[LucyLoo]

Make sure you look at Colorado State not Univ of Colorado (boo!hiss!)😛

 

[horselvr4life]

unfortunetly though, i am unable to travel to these colleges now because of gas money, expenses, etc. and the web doesn't answer all my questions. 🙁

 

[chordy4]

unfortunetly though, i am unable to travel to these colleges now because of gas money, expenses, etc. and the web doesn't answer all my questions. 🙁

i wasn't suggesting you travel...

 

[Bill59]

Make sure you look at Colorado State not Univ of Colorado (boo!hiss!)😛

And Texas A&M, not Texas. And it's Iowa State, not Iowa. University of Minnesota is right though. 🙂

Like chordy4 said, go to each school's website and look for admissions.

 

[horselvr4life]

i wasn't suggesting you travel...

oh, i know. i just ment for the other people who suggested it.

 

[cozycleo]

I currently attend U of MN and I'm hoping to someday attend the CVM at MN. I highly suggest scheduling an info session with the college of vet med. They are very informative!!! I just had one a couple weeks ago and I loved it. You get the tour and you can ask all the questions you want.

They have both a large animal and small animal hospital. They don't really focus on exotics much. In addition, they have the DVM/MPH program, which is what I want to do. They also just recently added a Biosafety Level 3 lab, which I was super excited about (some people think I'm nuts to be excited over that).

Resident tuition is currently just over 20k a year, but remember that doesn't include living expenses. That's just tuition and fees.

I can also tell you the U of MN does have an equestrian club and a pre-vet club (which I just joined). Seriously, if you want to learn more, I highly recommend going down and talking to them. They are super friendly and willing to answer your questions.

If you have any other questions about MN, let me know. I'm not at the CVM yet, but I'm working on it. Hoping to apply in about 2 years.

Good luck!

 

[LucyLoo]

They also just recently added a Biosafety Level 3 lab, which I was super excited about (some people think I'm nuts to be excited over that).

Hey, I don't think you're crazy! I work in a BSL-3 lab and you get to see some cool stuff! (the constant showering does get a little old though)

 

[SweeTeaPie]

oh, i know. i just ment for the other people who suggested it.

I think you might have mistaken LucyLoo's advice to "look at Colorado State not Univ of Colorado" to mean to travel there and physically "look" at it(?) when in actuality she's just trying to tell you that the school you need to investigate for Veterinary Medicine is Colorado State, NOT Univ. of Colorado. In other words, these are two different schools and one has a veterinary college, and the other one doesn't.

You can probably find a lot more information about these schools online than you might think. Try visiting www.aavmc.org and take a look at Students & Admissions and Applying to Veterinary School. Just set aside about an hour to get started and get a good look at everything. You might also consider purchasing the Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements (VMSAR) book which will give you information on all of the vet schools in the U.S and what they require, etc. You can find it on this site http://www.thepress.purdue.edu/
Good Luck

 

[LucyLoo]

SweeTeaPie is correct, I meant CSU has the vet school, not UC 🙂

 

[nyanko]

oh, i know. i just ment for the other people who suggested it.

Nobody suggested you travel, unless you consider the search page of the SDN forums, the AAVMC website and the school's websites to be exotic locales. 😕

 

[rexosaurus]

Despite what these schools may be "looking for", most, if not all, veterinary colleges base more than half of the weight on GRE scores and grades. Since you have 2 years still before applying, it may benefit you very much to concentrate on those two aspects. They will be your best bet when getting into any school, then comes experience (which should be highly varied), then well-roundedness and such. Try not to become what they are looking for, but find a school that is looking for you and what you have to offer. 😀

 

[twelvetigers]

It's good to start young and figure out what's what. My advice is to read this forum - spend some days sifting though old posts and threads... get veterinary experience at a clinic, the humane society, etc.... and get GOOD GRADES! Work hard.

Can't help you with info about any of your schools of choice though, sorry. Good luck!

 

[Pennvet]

Those schools are particularly interested in money and good looks. Grades and GRE, ehh, not so important.

Be sure to get your hair and nails did before your interview and you'll be a shoe-in!

 

[cozycleo]

Hey, I don't think you're crazy! I work in a BSL-3 lab and you get to see some cool stuff! (the constant showering does get a little old though)

When I was telling DH and some friends and family about it, they just got a glazed look in their eyes like "you WANT to do that?"

Well yeah!!! LOL

I can imagine showering all the time would get old, but oh the possibilities. Since I want to do the public health thing, I was beyond thrilled.

 

[StealthDog]

The U of MN class size is 90, and cost for in-staters is about $20,000 per year (for now- I'm sure it will keep giong up). We have a range of professors, just like you experience in undergrad. Some are super helpful, most are helpful if you seek them out during office hours, and a handful are not helpful at all. If you check out the online course catalog, you can see what courses are offered- far too many to list here!

All vet schools offer training in large and small animal, since when you graduate you are qualified to practice on any species (except for humans). The U of MN does have a tracking program, so before your third year, you choose if you want to focus on small animal, equine, production animal, mixed (small and large), or make your own track (for people interested in wildlife, public health, etc).

The undergrad does have an equestrian team, but the vet school does not. We do have an equine club that brings in equine-specific speakers, hosts wetlabs, things like that.

The interview questions at the U of MN are all "behavioral interview"-style. They almost all start with "tell me about a time when...". A few that I remember from my interview were "Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a crisis" and "Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond for someone."

My interview lasted about an hour. They probably asked 8 or 10 questions. I found out that I was waitlisted about three weeks after my interview, then got off the waitlist in mid-July.

I definitely agree with the poster who suggested taking a tour of the vet school, and also check out the open house the first Sunday in April. You can see student panels about how to get in to vet school and what life is like as a vet student, talk to the dean of admissions, tour the clinics, and see what student clubs there are.

Hope that helps!