I graduated from Purdue University in May 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a concentration in pre-veterinary medicine. I am currently in my second round of veterinary school applications.
I have learned through the application process that it is all politics and is unfair. For Purdue at least, I have learned that they take roughly 64 of 84 students from out of state. I have an extremely unfair disadvantage as I am an Indiana resident, female and white. That being said, a lot of students, I believe, will go back to where they came from after they graduate veterinary school, thus the lack of veterinarians around here.
I believe that during the application process, veterinary schools should not look at our gender, race or residency until after candidates have been selected for interviews.
I have done multiple feedback calls about my application, and everybody tells me the same thing: “Your application is great. It is just where you fell in the number pool. Try again next year.” When I ask what I possibly could do to make myself more competitive — I have done everything under the sun — they literally tell me “nothing,” because my application is great! OK, then why did I not get an interview?
I am too stubborn to give up. This is my dream, but to others, the rejection can get discouraging and force them to give up.
I cannot emphasize enough that the admissions committee should not be allowed to see our gender, race or residency until after interviewees are selected based solely on their applications.
It is very frustrating that I don’t have a fair advantage at my state school. I have a better chance at getting into a school out of state, which also means paying more money, but whoever said dreams are free? I hope something can be done about this.