The Admissions & Application Process

Message from the Admissions Director to Class of V'28
(applying in Summer 2023)

Dear applicants, 

As you are in the process of applying, we wanted to make clear our requirements for this year’s application process so that you can plan accordingly.  You will find everything you need below.

• Experience

  Penn Vet has never required a certain number of experience hours or that applicants get experience in every area of vet med. While we believe that experience in the veterinary profession is crucial, we also recognize that not all have the time or ability to get all that experience and don’t judge applicants on their total number of hours or locations. Instead, vet experiences should allow for a mature view in the role of the veterinarian, an understanding into the depth of the vet profession, and a realization of the science of medicine practiced by veterinarians. The only way to get these is through vet experiences. We do not view vet experience as busy work to accumulate hours, but rather view it as career building to accumulate knowledge. While we recommend that you have at least 500-600 hours of experience when applying, it is really the insight and understanding gained in the experience that impacts the competitiveness of an applicant.  You should consider this when completing the essays in the application and use detail to convey this understanding.

• References

  Penn Vet has always been flexible in acceptance of references to meet our requirements of 1 Science Academic reference, 1 vet reference and 1 references of your choosing (total of 3 required). We will accept those references submitted to VMCAS from the following:

  • Academic/Science References: faculty members who have taught you in class, teaching faculty members who you have worked for (T/A, Research) but haven’t taught you in class, academic advisors, etc.
  • Vet References: Vets you have worked for clinically, worked for in labs, who have taught you in class, etc. While we feel that the best references come from direct work with clinical/research vets, we will accept them from Vets in other relationships if you wish to solely meet the reference requirement.
  • Reference of Your Choosing: from anyone you select…your choice. We strongly recommend using another vet or faculty member. We do not recommend personal references.
  • Also of Note: VMCAS accepts up to 6 references. While our requirement is only three, rest assured we will read all references submitted to the application.
• Pass/Fail and Online Courses

  Penn Vet has always accepted online coursework from accredited colleges/universities. This year will be no different. In fact, rarely can we tell from transcripts that courses are online. In regards to Pass/Fail coursework, please see our policy below: 

  If a college/university Required students to take courses Pass/Fail only due to the pandemic, we will accept that Pass in any 2020 or  2021 course to meet a requirement(s).

  If a student has been made a choice to take a course Pass/Fail (when a graded option was offered), we will still accept the Pass/Fail course towards a requirement(s). However it must be supplemented by a letter or email (from the professor or academic advisor) sent directly to the Office of Admissions identifying what the grade in the class would have been if not taken Pass/Fail, as all Matriculation Requirements must be completed with a C or above.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions, but if you have more, don’t hesitate to contact me directly at rdimeo@vet.upenn.edu . I am more than happy to help and look forward to receiving your application in this upcoming cycle.

Sincerely,

Rob DiMeo
Director of Admissions – Penn Vet