Why is VMCAS so freakin' expensive?!

[Mereafterthough]

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So random question: Why is the VMCAS application fees so damn expensive? I mean really how much does it cost to send our applications to each school? 😕

 

[turnandburn]

This is just the beginning! 😉
I think EVERYTHING related to vet school is expensive!!! 🙄

 

[Nexx]

Not knowing exactly what the fees are I can still say there are probably several reasons.

Most importantly to make it relatively cost effective for serious students to apply but at the same token restrictive enough that most people don't go overboard and apply to every vet school they can. That is most will sit and have a serious think about which schools they want, will be happiest with, and have a decent chance at getting into without wasting the schools time.

Next I'm sure it take a whole lot of infrastructure to run VMCAS itself (Servers, bandwidth, staff, etc), as well as for each individual school to review applications, interview students, run tours, print materials, etc.

It's just one way to recoup costs.. but yeah vet school in general isn't cheap. Come to think of it, undergrad wasn't too cheap either until you look at it compared to other options 🙂

 

[sumstorm]

Also, you are paying for things like data security, convenience (while it may cost more to do it this way, if you had to do the exact same info on 6 web based applications from the school, or, better yet, paper applications, it would cost you a lot in time, energy, and effort), customer support, annual improvements in programming and technology, convenience for vet schools, organization of materials, etc.

In cases where personal info is on the line, the electronic data security guys get paid pretty well because they are on the line all the time. husband is in this field in another sector.....if a system is even potentially breached for more than 0.7 seconds (think power failure) we get a call, no matter what the time, reason, etc. Programmers still tend to be paid pretty well....so staff costs are probably pretty high.

 

[nyanko]

yet they can't even program something that puts the experiences in chronological order automatically

edit: ah ha, at the VMCAS forums the admin said that they will be ordered automatically on the application sent to the schools. So that's good. I still wish it would come out that way on our screen, though.

 

[lailanni]

Ditto - everything vet school related is expensive. The GRE is expensive, flying out to your interviews is expensive, and then when you get in "expensive" takes on a whole new meaning. Average debt is around $120k. Fun times, fun times. 🙁

 

[twelvetigers]

yet they can't even program something that puts the experiences in chronological order automatically

edit: ah ha, at the VMCAS forums the admin said that they will be ordered automatically on the application sent to the schools. So that's good. I still wish it would come out that way on our screen, though.

Really? So that means that we don't have to worry about putting them in order ourselves? I guess it's not *that* much trouble, but...

 

[nyanko]

Really? So that means that we don't have to worry about putting them in order ourselves? I guess it's not *that* much trouble, but...

It is THAT much trouble if I already entered them in chronological order starting with the OLDEST first because that's how I could remember them best.

 

[twelvetigers]

...yeah, that's no fun. 🙁

 

[LaurenKittie]

Do you have to pay one price to fill it out or does it change depending on how many schools you're applying to? I know most schools also have their own supplemental application fees.

 

[bunnity]

It costs more to apply to more schools on VMCAS. Then you are also paying for the supplementals for those schools.

 

[Mereafterthough]

Thanks, all the above responses make a lot of sense. It is hella convenient, I would die if I had to do this via paper like I did undergraduate applications. On another note, how much are all of you spending on these apps so far? Including the VMCAS, GRE retake, and Supps I'm paying $720 and that's only for 4 damn schools.

 

[Mistoffeles]

Thanks, all the above responses make a lot of sense. It is hella convenient, I would die if I had to do this via paper like I did undergraduate applications. On another note, how much are all of you spending on these apps so far? Including the VMCAS, GRE retake, and Supps I'm paying $720 and that's only for 4 damn schools.

I hope that you get 4 interviews, so that you can watch that number climb to $720 per school in supplementals, airfares, hotels, a suit for interview, etc.

really, in all seriousness, i hope that all of you have to spend a lot on this process - it means you're being successful!! 🙂

 

[amom427]

For two schools I am spending about $770. I think that is about right. I can't remember exactly how much the VMCAS is. (I think it's $261.) But I took the GRE twice this summer and have to take the GRE Biology, so that by itself is $430! Man, I hadn't really thought about it until now. That is super depressing!! 😱

 

[david594]

For two schools I am spending about $770. I think that is about right. I can't remember exactly how much the VMCAS is. (I think it's $261.) But I took the GRE twice this summer and have to take the GRE Biology, so that by itself is $430! Man, I hadn't really thought about it until now. That is super depressing!! 😱

Wait until you get an interview and realize you have to spend $600+ on it, and your chances of getting in are still only something like 1 in 5.

 

[Mereafterthough]

I hope that you get 4 interviews, so that you can watch that number climb to $720 per school in supplementals, airfares, hotels, a suit for interview, etc.

really, in all seriousness, i hope that all of you have to spend a lot on this process - it means you're being successful!! 🙂

Thanks! 🙂

 

[LaurenKittie]

Yikes...I'd better start putting money away for this NOW even though it's a couple years away. I guess the financial aspect of actually applying/interviewing isn't something I even thought about.
As soon as I get a steady job I'm opening a savings account. It will be my vet account 😀

 

[primatevetjess]

I applied to 8 schools. 😱 It was very expensive. I don't remeber how much the VMCAS cost me, I think I've blocked it from memory. The only good thing was that I only had to fly to one school. Ohio does their interviews early on, and they were my #2 school. By the time Minnesota asked me to interview, I already knew that I was accepted to Ohio so I didn't have to go. Also one of the factors that lead me to apply to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Colorado was that they don't do interviews! The only other place I interviewed was Davis, which is a 6 hour drive.

 

[jesiah]

bc money rules the world mang