host posted on November 05, 2012 11:45
Review by
Ember Keithley
Agriculture Advising
Western Illinois University
New to advising Pre-Veterinary Medicine Students? Looking for a book to give you all the inside information? Want something to spell it all out? In hopes to find materials to help educate myself, I hit the web and started researching. In my search I came across the book, Veterinary Medical School Admission Requirements, and hoped that it would be the answer to all my questions. While it has valuable information, it is more of a resource for the students then for the advisor.
The book begins by discussing a student’s opportunities and choices, covers accreditation, lists all accredited institutions and their contact information, covers financing Veterinary School Education, Loan Programs, Standardized tests and the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). It then details each of the Veterinary Medicine Schools and gives basic information about the school and their requirements. This was the most valuable to me. It discussed pre-requisite courses, highlighted the minimum GPA (along with the mean GPA for the most recent admitted class), summarized the admission procedure, highlighted the evaluation criteria, provided tuition and fee breakdowns along with entrance requirements.
The information provided about each of the schools can be compiled and used when talking to students about Vet School. It is nice to have a resource to use when discussing pre-requisite courses, GPA, experience, etc. While I might look at this occasionally with a student during our advising session I plan to use it more as a resource that students can check out to see exactly what is needed in their quest to become a Veterinarian.
Another interesting feature of the book is a section on application and enrollment data highlighting everything from number of applicants to sources of financial aid to profiles of Professional First Year DVM Students. It is useful to see the statistics on how competitive the programs are and just how exclusive veterinarian schools can be.
Overall, this book is a good resource for students looking at Veterinary Medicine. Advisors will find that it covers lots of basic information. I will add it to my binder of information (FAQ’s1, keys to a successful application1, tips and suggestions2, careers3 , etc.) for Pre-Veterinary students.
1 http://vetmed.illinois.edu/asa/prospect.html
2 http://vetmedicine.about.com/library/viewers/uc-apptips.htm
3 http://vetmed.iastate.edu/academics/prospective-students
Veterinary medical school admission requirements: 2010 edition for 2011 matriculation. Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, Review by Ember Keithley. West Lafayette, IN. Purdue University. 220 pp. $21.95, ISBN #
978-1-55753-555-9