School list help

[TwinkieChi]

Hi! I am new to SDN and I have been having trouble deciding which schools to apply to. I am an out of state applicant for all vet schools and the low statistics of how many seats are typically given to out of state students is freaking me out. I want to apply to schools that I will have the best shot of getting into as being an out of state student. I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge about how schools offer acceptances. More specifically, which schools will look at my application and see a lot of value in being an underrepresented minority, being bilingual (I translate for vets to clients), and being a first generation college student. I'm a 20 year old female graduating next fall with a B.S. in Veterinary Science.

My GPA is high (3.89 cumulative at the end of this semester if I can do well in my physics class), I have worked in small animal veterinary hospitals (3 different ones) since graduating high school (1000+ hours), I have 100 hours of equine veterinary experience and a small amount of cow research experience, and my extracurriculars include being in my university's honors program, TRiO program for first-gen students, being a student ambassador for my college (with an executive board position), being in my school's pre-vet club, an internship at the Boys and Girl's club, volunteering at animal shelters, and my current research for my honors thesis.

My concern is that I am at a disadvantage being out of state for every vet school and the all the aspects that schools look for I am only average in (experience-animal, research, and extracurriculars). I absolutely do not have the money to apply to many schools so the few that I can apply to (maybe 3 or 4) I want to make count so if anyone has any info on which schools will really look at being a minority, being bilingual, and first generation college student as something that will make me stand out from all of the other out of state applicants I would really appreciate it. I'm just starting to feel all the stress of picking schools and I know there are not that many but it is still very overwhelming.

Also, I have looked at which schools I have all the pre reqs for and that still only narrowed me down to 21 schools :/ so I am just looking for guidance on how to narrow that list down further based on how likely I am to get in.

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[MixedAnimals77]

Your GPA is pretty solid. Could maybe vary your vet experience if you can. Some schools still evaluate the GRE so that'll have to be factored in. Since you're OOS everywhere apply to the schools that allow change of residency for sure if you have the prereqs so NC,MO,WA. Theses states make it worth it. OH also allows it but it's still really expensive. Then I'd narrow it down by price tbh. So like Purdue is a much better option to apply to over say Midwestern. Price narrowing I think will be your best bet just because you'll get a great education no matter where you go if its accredited. Yes some schools like WSU getting into the pullman campus as OOS is extremely slim but like MO takes half of their class from OOS. Just use individual school websites,VIN and AVMA to see what you can narrow down! Good luck

I would say just to add that vet school as I'm sure you know is extremely competitive to get into no matter where you apply. You could look for schools with a more "holistic" approach but anymore all the schools are constantly changing how they evaluate candidates in one way or another. I think its important to remember things that make you unique and try not to focus on what makes you what is considered average as theres always the outliers!

 

[shee-p]

any info on which schools will really look at being a minority, being bilingual, and first generation college student as something that will make me stand out from all of the other out of state applicants

I am minority/bilingual/first-gen student and used the same approach this past cycle. I was waitlisted at two OOS veterinary schools. You have better stats than I did (more animal/veterinary experience hours and higher GPAs), so you may have better luck than I did with acceptances! If cost isn't a factor, I think you should apply to Oregon State and University of Wisconsin. Both mention on their website that they seek to attract qualified minorities/applicants that come from diverse ethic, educational, and social backgrounds. I believe Ohio State is also big on diversity. Their website says that "70% of the Class of 2022 are students from underrepresented groups in veterinary medicine." I'm not sure what other schools take diversity into account. I was so focused on getting into my in-state, since it's cheap. I do agree with @MixedAnimals77 that cost should be your number one factor in choosing schools however.

 

[TwinkieChi]

Your GPA is pretty solid. Could maybe vary your vet experience if you can. Some schools still evaluate the GRE so that'll have to be factored in. Since you're OOS everywhere apply to the schools that allow change of residency for sure if you have the prereqs so NC,MO,WA. Theses states make it worth it. OH also allows it but it's still really expensive. Then I'd narrow it down by price tbh. So like Purdue is a much better option to apply to over say Midwestern. Price narrowing I think will be your best bet just because you'll get a great education no matter where you go if its accredited. Yes some schools like WSU getting into the pullman campus as OOS is extremely slim but like MO takes half of their class from OOS. Just use individual school websites,VIN and AVMA to see what you can narrow down! Good luck

I would say just to add that vet school as I'm sure you know is extremely competitive to get into no matter where you apply. You could look for schools with a more "holistic" approach but anymore all the schools are constantly changing how they evaluate candidates in one way or another. I think its important to remember things that make you unique and try not to focus on what makes you what is considered average as theres always the outliers!

Thank you so much for the advice! I was looking at the VIN website and what freaked me out the most was looking at their map and seeing the low percentages of out of state applicants who get a seat (2-8% at most ). Also I’ll be taking the GRE this summer and will be taking a prep course so hopefully I can do decent.

But do you have any suggestions for varying my vet experience? I was offered to go back to work with the horses again this summer but with all the application fees and everything I was leaning more towards the small animal hospital again since they pay me.

 

[TwinkieChi]

I am minority/bilingual/first-gen student and used the same approach this past cycle. I was waitlisted at two OOS veterinary schools. You have better stats than I did (more animal/veterinary experience hours and higher GPAs), so you may have better luck than I did with acceptances! If cost isn't a factor, I think you should apply to Oregon State and University of Wisconsin. Both mention on their website that they seek to attract qualified minorities/applicants that come from diverse ethic, educational, and social backgrounds. I believe Ohio State is also big on diversity. Their website says that "70% of the Class of 2022 are students from underrepresented groups in veterinary medicine." I'm not sure what other schools take diversity into account. I was so focused on getting into my in-state, since it's cheap. I do agree with @MixedAnimals77 that cost should be your number one factor in choosing schools however.

If you don’t mind me asking which OOS schools you applied to?

Also I keep hearing to go for the cheapest school from my advisors/professors. But I just want to get into somewhere and figure out the money stuff later maybe not the best mindset but that’s where I am right now.

 

[cheval12]

Hi! I am new to SDN and I have been having trouble deciding which schools to apply to. I am an out of state applicant for all vet schools and the low statistics of how many seats are typically given to out of state students is freaking me out. I want to apply to schools that I will have the best shot of getting into as being an out of state student. I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge about how schools offer acceptances. More specifically, which schools will look at my application and see a lot of value in being an underrepresented minority, being bilingual (I translate for vets to clients), and being a first generation college student. I'm a 20 year old female graduating next fall with a B.S. in Veterinary Science.

My GPA is high (3.89 cumulative at the end of this semester if I can do well in my physics class), I have worked in small animal veterinary hospitals (3 different ones) since graduating high school (1000+ hours), I have 100 hours of equine veterinary experience and a small amount of cow research experience, and my extracurriculars include being in my university's honors program, TRiO program for first-gen students, being a student ambassador for my college (with an executive board position), being in my school's pre-vet club, an internship at the Boys and Girl's club, volunteering at animal shelters, and my current research for my honors thesis.

My concern is that I am at a disadvantage being out of state for every vet school and the all the aspects that schools look for I am only average in (experience-animal, research, and extracurriculars). I absolutely do not have the money to apply to many schools so the few that I can apply to (maybe 3 or 4) I want to make count so if anyone has any info on which schools will really look at being a minority, being bilingual, and first generation college student as something that will make me stand out from all of the other out of state applicants I would really appreciate it. I'm just starting to feel all the stress of picking schools and I know there are not that many but it is still very overwhelming.

Also, I have looked at which schools I have all the pre reqs for and that still only narrowed me down to 21 schools :/ so I am just looking for guidance on how to narrow that list down further based on how likely I am to get in.

Hey! So I was lucky enough to have my dad help me financially when applying to schools, so I was able to apply to a lot. I made a very detailed excel sheet with all of the schools' statistics (i love making spreadsheets lol). OOS acceptance rate was one of my columns. I can tell you the top OOS acceptance rates (as in how many of their incoming class is from OOS):

Kansas State - 81%
Univ. of Penn - 69.6%
Tufts - 69.4%
Purdue - 64.4%
Miss. State - 56.5%
Univ. of Illinois - 53.8%
Mizzou and Univ. Minnesota - 50%

After that, all other schools are below 50%. Let me know if you want the full list lol.

 

[ajs513]

What everyone else said, but there’s an important thing I want to add. Cost should be very high up on the list of factors, but you also want to make sure it’s a school that you have a good chance of getting in to. I don’t really have recommendations aside from maybe Mississippi State. I just know they tend to be very holistic in how they select applicants and their cost of living is low. If you spend $1500 applying and interviewing at 4 schools and don’t get in, you’re out that money as well as a year’s salary as a vet. That could be $75,000 or over $100,000 depending on where you work, but regardless it’s not worth having to reapply and spend money all over again just to hopefully go somewhere that’s $30,000 cheaper. Cost should be the main factor when you’ve been accepted to multiple places and you’re deciding where to go. It should still be a factor in where you apply, but less so.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Thank you so much for the advice! I was looking at the VIN website and what freaked me out the most was looking at their map and seeing the low percentages of out of state applicants who get a seat (2-8% at most ). Also I’ll be taking the GRE this summer and will be taking a prep course so hopefully I can do decent.

But do you have any suggestions for varying my vet experience? I was offered to go back to work with the horses again this summer but with all the application fees and everything I was leaning more towards the small animal hospital again since they pay me.

For vet experience if you can find food animal and maybe more equine you could shadow even just one day a week this summer would be good that way you can keep your small animal job and make money.

I had a 3.76 GPA. With a multitude of other things you can go look at under accepted stats 2022. I got into WA pullman campus OOS (like a less than 3% chance) as well as IA and MO and my IS CSU but was cheaper for me to go to WA.

I encourage you to play with VIN and their repayment calculator. I get wanting to be a vet and it's easy to look at the money later but I really hope you dont and start learning about the debt now. Some of the most expensive schools are not sustainable and realistic long term to attend on a vets salary. While it's easy to push it off that's just one of the reasons suicide is so high in this profession. So start getting educated now because some schools are wanting to know you have a plan and ask about it in interviews!

 

[SkiOtter]

Also I keep hearing to go for the cheapest school from my advisors/professors. But I just want to get into somewhere and figure out the money stuff later maybe not the best mindset but that’s where I am right now.

I FULLY agree with your advisors/professors. Go. To. The. Cheapest. School. You. Can. There are a handful that let you change residency after first year. If you don’t have an in state school, these likely would be cheapest. As for schools that don’t let you switch residency, there are still some that are a ton cheaper for total cost of attendance (tuition+living expenses) than others.
Paying back 300-400k in loans for 25 years is a lot more stressful and a lot bigger tax payment at the end than 150-200k in loans. With that money you save, you can have more freedom to do more fun things thoroughout your life like fun vacations or buying a house or getting a new car at some point. With 300k of debt and having to save more money for the big tax bill at the end of 25 years, you have a lot less “fun money” throughout your life.

 

[pandacowl]

Sorry to hijack thread are NC, MO, WA the only 3 states that allow for change in residency?

 

[ajs513]

Sorry to hijack thread are NC, MO, WA the only 3 states that allow for change in residency?

Ohio does.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

There are other exceptions like marry a resident but the only tried and true ones are the ones you listed and Ohio as ajs mentioned. I would keep an eye on NC because they standardized their process for C/O 2022 so watch and see how that goes for residency switches

 

[ziggyandjazzy]

I absolutely do not have the money to apply to many schools so the few that I can apply to (maybe 3 or 4) I want to make count so if anyone has any info on which schools will really look at being a minority, being bilingual, and first generation college student as something that will make me stand out from all of the other out of state applicants I would really appreciate it.

I would also take into account interviews when you consider the cost of applications. You may only spend $100-200 dollars per school applying but could easily spend $500+ to attend interviews. I know Oregon State and NCSU do not have OOS interviews. I am not sure what other schools don't have interviews. This may be something to consider/look into as well.

 

[SkiOtter]

I know Oregon State and NCSU do not have OOS interviews. I am not sure what other schools don't have interviews. This may be something to consider/look into as well.

Oklahoma state(unless you’re IS), Wisconsin, and Cornell don’t either.
NCSU is the only one out of those ones that lets you change residency though, so likely the cheapest option.