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What if I don't get in?
- Thread starter Vet Med
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3 choices:
1. Stop trying.
2. Try different or less competitive schools.
C. Improve your application.
I suggest the last two.
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Did you strengthen your application significantly between last year and this year? Improve GPA, GRE, get more experience? If not, and you've been rejected from 2/3 so far, then there is a good chance you'll be rejected from Mizzou again as well. So, first thing, I would start to develop a plan for what you will be doing after grad. Doesn't mean you won't get into vet school at all, but you might have a good year or two to fill before you get accepted somewhere. If you're not interested in a master's or something, I'd work on getting more vet experience. You probably won't be able to get a "great" job in the field if you are honest and tell them this would just be a stepping stone to vet school. But I got a decent tech assistant job at a great speciality hospital for almost two years while I was applying. Pay was nothing I could live on longterm, but it helped keep my head above water while racking up thousands of hours experience that I think really made the difference in getting me accepted.
And you have to determine how much you really want to do this. If vet med is all you can see you imagine yourself doing, then just readjust your timeline a bit. Many people apply 3,4,5 or more times before getting in. Sounds like you are young, you've got plenty of time to work on improving your strengths as an applicant.
And I would seriously broaden the schools you apply to next time. Manhy people fall into the trap of thinking their instate is their best shot (and usually the cheapest, which is a big factor), and don't really try for any others. That's what I did, and I got rejected from my IS twice and ended up getting into KSU, which happens to take about half it's class from OOS. Start looking at other schools where you think you could be happy, see what their OOS numbers are like and if you can meet their pre-reqs, and add them to your list for next year.
And of course, conduct post-mortems with the schools that rejected you this year. They usually give very direct, blunt feedback that can be a real help with planning your next year.
And you have to determine how much you really want to do this. If vet med is all you can see you imagine yourself doing, then just readjust your timeline a bit. Many people apply 3,4,5 or more times before getting in. Sounds like you are young, you've got plenty of time to work on improving your strengths as an applicant.
And I would seriously broaden the schools you apply to next time. Manhy people fall into the trap of thinking their instate is their best shot (and usually the cheapest, which is a big factor), and don't really try for any others. That's what I did, and I got rejected from my IS twice and ended up getting into KSU, which happens to take about half it's class from OOS. Start looking at other schools where you think you could be happy, see what their OOS numbers are like and if you can meet their pre-reqs, and add them to your list for next year.
And of course, conduct post-mortems with the schools that rejected you this year. They usually give very direct, blunt feedback that can be a real help with planning your next year.
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Not to be rude, but there are at least two other recent threads (perhaps page 2) that deal with this exact question. The unfortunate thing is that vet schools can be so unpredictable with who they decided to let in. You application sounds very strong to me personally and I'm sorry if Mizzou also rejects you but really, that's the way this game goes.
It sounds like you need to research your own life. People over the internet can only provide the same basic advice to everyone (see previous threads). You need to explore what is feasible for you. Do you need to work to support yourself or is someone else footing bills? Do you want to pursue graduate programs just to get into vet school or because you're genuinely interested (You'll learn from other threads that it isn't appreciated if you apply for a Masters just as a steppign stone)? What parts of your experience did you enjoy most? Maybe find a job in that area of work.
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If I understand you correctly, when you applied last year you were only a junior...if you had been accepted, that would have been pretty amazing ( I know it happens, but that is hardly the standard). I would assume that almost 100% of the applicants you were competing with last year had more education, life experience, and vet experience. I don't mean that in any kind of negative way, and I could be totally wrong about that.
It seems like your grades are above average, and taking the initiative to get the food animal experience that you did is impressive. I think your first step should be to wait and get reviews from the schools you applied to; they will tell you whether they think you should get more experience, or more upper level science classes, or improve your gre. Listen to them, if they are giving vague feedback try to ask specific questions so that you get the information you need, and the next time you apply, apply to more schools. I know it is expensive, but the odds are against anyone applying to vet school and you need to do something to balance that out. Do research on the schools you look into; how many out of state students do they take? what percent of out of state applicants are accepted? what are the average GRE scores and GPAs? Be realistic, and stay hopeful.
It seems like your grades are above average, and taking the initiative to get the food animal experience that you did is impressive. I think your first step should be to wait and get reviews from the schools you applied to; they will tell you whether they think you should get more experience, or more upper level science classes, or improve your gre. Listen to them, if they are giving vague feedback try to ask specific questions so that you get the information you need, and the next time you apply, apply to more schools. I know it is expensive, but the odds are against anyone applying to vet school and you need to do something to balance that out. Do research on the schools you look into; how many out of state students do they take? what percent of out of state applicants are accepted? what are the average GRE scores and GPAs? Be realistic, and stay hopeful.
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You still clearly have a shot at Mizzou, but you didn't mention which schools you were rejected from.
You should think carefully about whether you applied to the best schools for you. There are plenty of threads on here about which schools to apply to...
Do they accept lots of OOS students?
Do they value GPA more than GRE (to me there is a huge disconnect between your GPA and your GRE score which is a red flag)?
Do they value upper level classes that you may or not have?
Did you spend time getting varied animal experience when you needed varied veterinary expereince?
etc etc.
Some people might be able to get in anywhere, but for many of us, choosing the right school may be the key.
You should think carefully about whether you applied to the best schools for you. There are plenty of threads on here about which schools to apply to...
Do they accept lots of OOS students?
Do they value GPA more than GRE (to me there is a huge disconnect between your GPA and your GRE score which is a red flag)?
Do they value upper level classes that you may or not have?
Did you spend time getting varied animal experience when you needed varied veterinary expereince?
etc etc.
Some people might be able to get in anywhere, but for many of us, choosing the right school may be the key.
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This may sound trite, but should you not get in (although I suspect that you still have a fairly good chance at Mizzou given your standing from last year)...
You pick yourself up, you dust yourself off, and you start all over again.
Get yourself another post-denial application review and see what they say. It's highly possible that they will say that a graduate degree will do nothing to enhance your application.
You pick yourself up, you dust yourself off, and you start all over again.
Get yourself another post-denial application review and see what they say. It's highly possible that they will say that a graduate degree will do nothing to enhance your application.
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Some schools don't count grad classes into the GPA (can't remember which ones), so I would check on that. Plus, I'm sure if you've done this well in your undergraduate career, you'll do fine in a master's program as well.
I'd do some research on threads in this forum. There are so many people here who have had the same questions you do, and there are so many great responses from people who have had to apply twice or more to get into vet school. You do what you can until you can't. If you really want to be a vet, and you get rejected again this year, keep improving your application, tweak your PS, and cross your fingers for luck. 🙂
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I wouldn't worry about that too much. In my experience graduate classes are not way harder than undergraduate classes. In fact, there is often grade inflation in graduate school which is why some vet schools won't include graduate GPA (because most people come out of grad school with very high GPAs, I'd say in the 3.7-4.0 range).
But yeah, relax and try not to freak out until you see how all the cards play out for you this year. It's not bad to start thinking about what you should do if you don't get in (I agree with SOV that you do have a very big discrepancy between GRE and GPA, I'd try to increase my GRE if I were in your shoes. It may not be absolutely necessary but it certainly couldn't hurt you to increase your score) but don't panic. Even if you don't get in this year, don't panic. You're young and You'll get there eventually if you want it and are willing to do what it takes
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You sound like me! That's exactly how I felt after I got rejected the first time. But trust me, life goes on. I tried for vet school 3 different times (MSU and other schools) and got rejected...in that time, I graduated from undergrad, worked for 2 years at various jobs, shadowed more vets, and basically tried my hardest to improve my app as much as possible. I eventually enrolled in a Master's degree program in Food Safety (food animals) and will graduate in spring. Then, finally, I decided to give vet school one last try, and on my 4th try, I finally got in!
If i had to do it all over again, I would have skipped going out into the working world and just applied to grad school right away after undergrad. I think that makes it harder to go back into a school/study situation once you've taken time off like that. and I'm very thankful to have a great support system (my family and friends), and I really have seen that God will provide for you no matter what, and sometimes a "no" is really more like a "not right now".
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Well said and I fully agree. Take time now to look into jobs in your area of interest that do not require a DVM and start considering those options (and NOT as just stepping stones - I would try to find something you could actually see yourself doing long term). For instance, I considered becoming an aquarist, marine biologist, behavorial ecologist, and oceanographer as alternate jobs to a marine veterinarian that would fulfill my dream of working with aquatic critters (and I put A LOT into researching each profession and had many conversations with professors that I knew were in those fields). If you really truly cannot see yourself being happy unless you have a DVM, I would suggest waiting a couple years and getting more life experience before reapplying and definitely apply to MANY schools.
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Did you go meet with their director of admissions (or whatever the appropriate person is at Missouri) after your first rejection? You may be surprised at what aspects of your application turned them off.
I wrote what I thought was a pretty good application last year. After I got rejected I met with the admissions director. She gave me a completely different view of things and I walked out with a nicely prioritized list of exactly what I needed to do to strengthen my application.
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It seems that a lot of people think graduate classes are easy, I don't think that is all true. I know a lot of my graduate classes are not inflated, and are pretty difficult.. so it depends on the school/teacher... ect.
