THE BASICS OF PREPARING FOR VETERINARY SCHOOL

 

february 2001

 

Gaining admission to veterinary school is a very challenging and demanding process, not least because there are only 27 accredited veterinary schools in the U.S.A., and a further 4 in Canada (listed below). Only 3 are west of the continental divide (in bold below), and one of those (Oregon State University) actually sends its students to one of the other 2 (Washington State University) for their second year and part of their third year of training.  The final western veterinary school, UC Davis, is consistently ranked as the finest veterinary school in North America, and admission is very competitive. UC Davis currently takes 122 students in each entering class, Oregon State 36, and Washington State 101 (which includes the Oregon students).

 

US Veterinary Schools: all of these have extensive and very informative web sites, which I encourage you to visit. The same is true of the Canadian schools.

 

Auburn University

Colorado State University

Cornell University

Iowa State University

Kansas State University

Louisiana State University

Michigan State University

Mississippi State University

North Carolina State University

Ohio State University

Oklahoma State University

Oregon State University

Purdue University

Texas A& M University

Tufts University

Tuskegee University

University of California, Davis

University of Florida

University of Georgia

University of Illinois

University of Minnesota

University of Missouri

University of Pennsylvania

University of Tennessee

University of Wisconsin

Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

Washington State University

 

 

Canadian Veterinary Schools

 

Université de Montréal

University of Guelph, Ontario Veterinary College

University of Prince Edward Island, Atlantic Veterinary College

University of Saskatchewan, Western College of Veterinary Medicine

 

What you need to apply and get in

There are minor variations between the procedures and requirements for each veterinary school, but the requirements for UC Davis are typical.

 

Prerequisites for admission to UC Davis

 

Required undergraduate GPA: a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4-point scale is required. Applicants accepted into the entering class of 2000 had a mean accumulative GPA of 3.45.

 

Additional Requirements and Considerations

 

Graduate Record Examination (GRE) – General Test Only (must be taken by Oct. 1): Accepted applicants in the entering class of 2000 had the following mean percentile scores on the three sections of the GRE: Verbal 80, Quantitative 79, Analytical 89.

 

Animal/Veterinary experience

Three letters of evaluation

Narrative statement of motivation

Accuracy and neatness of application

Interview

 

Coursework

 

Lower Division Required Science Courses

One year of General Biology

One year of General Chemistry

One year of Organic Chemistry

One year of Physics

Upper Division Required Science Courses

One semester of Biochemistry

One semester of Systemic Physiology

One semester of Vertebrate Embryology

One semester of Genetics

Additional Course Requirements

English (12 quarter units-one course must be an English Composition course)

Humanities and Social Sciences (12 quarter units)

Statistics (4 quarter units)

 

Applicants for the entering class of 2000 at UC Davis

 

Male: 240       Female: 870    Total: 1, 110   Accepted: 122


Further information: there are two advisors for pre-veterinary studies here at CSU Fresno. Both are highly approachable and more than willing to advise students. They are:


 

Dr. Paul Crosbie

Assistant Professor

Department of Biology

Science 206

(559) 278-2074 (office/lab)

(559) 278-3963 (fax)

pcrosbie@csufresno.edu

 

Dr. Michael Thomas

Professor

Animal Sciences and Agricultural Education Department AND Director, The Solutions Center

San Ramon 3 137

(559) 278-4288 (office)

(559) 278-2971 (Department office)

(559) 278-4101 (fax)

michaelt@csufresno.edu