This story was originally published on my vet school blog, “Wet Cleanup on Aisle 5.”
I received my official rejection letter from CSU’s vet school a couple months ago, and am just now getting around blogging about it. Why? Because I wanted to see what they had to say in my “file review,” i.e., my post-rejection interview.
It’s pretty cool that they even do this: basically, I got a one-on-one conversation with an admissions committee member to go over strengths and weaknesses in my application.
I knew it would be a long shot the first go-round. Despite a stellar GRE score (which I chalk up to being older and knowing more stuff), my undergrad grades are just average, and all my upper-division science courses are in geology. And from 15 years ago. The vet school wants to see recent coursework, in the biosciences.
That’s what I’m taking this year, but seeing as how vet school applications are due an entire year before you start, I was only a month in to the school year when I submitted everything. My admissions committee member told me they want to see two semesters worth of upper-division biosciences coursework on your application. (Good thing I didn’t take Biology 101, like my advisor suggested!)
The good news is that was the only weakness she could point out. Phew! So I’m not a total failure after all! Just gotta try again next year, and cram in as many upper-division courses as I can between now and then. And cross my fingers, and try not to breathe the wrong way on the application. Even though my counselor was very positive, I still have to suspect that there is some sort of bizarre ritual that determines who does and does not get in. Maybe I need a voodoo doll or something.
Of course, this means I’ll be 40 when I graduate, instead of 39. Ah, well.
P.S. Some may wonder whether CSU is the only school to which I applied, and the answer is yes, ‘cause I have lived here 15 years and I’m not moving. So there.
P.P.S. To amuse myself and lick my wounds, I imagined myself making a fortune by selling the t-shirts depicted above.
Wow, you deferred for a year? Somehow, that makes me feel a little better. I think I have a silly self-imposed mental deadline of “must have DVM by age 40!” You’re right, though, what’s another year? 🙂
Sorry about that — it sounds like it’s totally correctable for next round, though. And at 35, what’s another year, right? 🙂 (That’s what I told myself when I decided to defer for a year!) I don’t think I’d move, either — especially if it sounded like I had as good a chance as you do of getting in next year.
Yeah, I wanted to get in-state tuition, so I had to live here for a year before starting school to become a resident. So I was balancing, “I’d like to be out of school before I’m 80” with “At my age, I really need to NOT spend an extra 8-10K a year on OOS tuition”, and money won. 🙂
If I had to choose between 40 grand and an extra year, I think I’d choose the 40 grand too!!
hey! i just discovered your blog and i wanted to commiserate. I decided at 30 to apply to vet school also, after years of having a career in art-type stuff. I had to go back to school and basically get the equivalent of a biology degree while working full time. I applied to my in-state school (University of Illinois) and was waitlisted but didnt get in. I kinda had a break down (by that time I was 35) and didn’t want my heart to get broken again, so I decided to take a year off from apps and get a new job instead. I ended up getting 2 new jobs! one as a part time assistant at a vet ER and another as a research tech at a lab working with mice. Turns out I really love both. I am planning on re-applying this year and now, if I dont get in I realized I can just keep these jobs which I really enjoy. Not too shabby, I’m still working with animals and making money, right? btw-now I’m 37 and for some reason am really hung up about the age thing…..*if* I get in next year, I’ll be graduating at 41. oh well!
anyway-best of luck to you! glad to find a kindred spirit!
Hi Labtech, thanks for writing! Always an inspiration to hear from someone else with the same crazy dream. I’m glad you’ve found jobs you really love… that alone ought to be worth all the hard work you put in getting your bio degree. I think you should still go for vet school, though… in 2004, there was a 61-year-old who graduated from med school. You’re a long way off. 🙂