Choosing where to apply

In applying to veterinary school, I honestly don't believe there is such a thing as a safe school. Personally, I was admitted to my top choice without evening getting into my "safe school" on the list of schools to which I applied (and by "safe school" I mean the one I originally thought I had the best chance of getting into). That just goes to show that the admissions for each school might not be what you think. So in choosing where to apply I would consider a few main things:

• Total cost of tuition and living (keep in mind that most schools will not allow you to switch to in-state tuition at any point during the entire 4 years)
• Location: can you picture yourself actually living there and not being miserable for 4 years?
• What type of vet you want to be (and if that school has a program that will suite you well) if you already know that
• Each school's minimum requirements and if you'll meet them (keep in mind some schools do have alternate eligibility options as well)

When I was applying some people would tell me things like "Apply to so-and-so, they'll love you" and "Don't apply to so-and-so, they won't accept you." I do believe there are some truths to that type of advice sometimes but only when it comes from someone who is really "in the know." Many people are often misinformed, and also, sometimes there is just something about you that a school likes. So, my advice is if there's a school you really want to go to but you've heard your chances of getting in are low, do it - apply. You never know.


In terms of deciding how many schools to apply to - that I do not know. Applying is expensive and the more schools you apply to, the more expensive it gets. If you have the money, apply to more (if there are more that fit your criteria). I don't think applying to too many schools will look bad but I can't promise you that since I am not "in the know" on that. I can tell you that I only applied to 5 schools and shortly after my applications had all been sent in and the deadlines had passed I had quickly began to regret not applying to more. Of course, after I got an acceptance letter, I was no longer regretting that choice. But, those four months before that letter came were pretty bad. If you feel like I felt (you don't want to apply to a lot of schools) and you feel like you can't narrow down your list anymore based on the above mentioned criteria then maybe even take into consideration the application itself: Does that school use VMCAS or will you have to fill out an entirely separate application? How much will that cost? How much do the different supplemental applications cost and what do they ask for? I wouldn't use the application itself as a primary means to choose between schools but maybe just as a last case thing - if you really need to narrow it down and feel like you have no other way. And speaking of the application, I think my next post will probably be about VMCAS and maybe about the application process in general.