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University of California - Davis

Admissions Contact Information

Phone: 530-752-1383
Email: admissions@vetmed.ucdavis.edu
Address: One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616
Website: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/index.cfm

Background Information

  • When was the school founded? The veterinary school at UC Davis was established in 1946 and opened in 1948. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest vet school in the United States. 

  • What is the mission of the institution? “Our mission is to advance the health of animals, people and the environment.” The School of Veterinary Medicine serves the people of California by providing educational, research, clinical service, and public service programs to the highest quality. 

  • What is the campus/city like? 

  • Is it a public or private University? It is a public school.

  • Do they have any special programs? Veterinary Medical Opportunity Program (VMOP) which is a supplemental program/application for consideration of those applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds. There is also the Veterinary Scientists Training Program (VSTP) which is designed to train the next generation of veterinary scientists. They also have summer enrichment programs which are designed to provide disadvantaged students with activities that will enhance their preparation to veterinary school. 

  • Do they have any special facilities? William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center, Gourley Clinical Teaching Facility, Tupper Hall, California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab System.  

​Ranking​

  • U.S. News and World Report Tanking: #2

  • Accreditation: ​It was given full accreditation in 2011.  Accreditation from the AVMA Council on Education represents the highest standard of achievement for veterinary medical education in the US. 

​Required Coursework

- General Inorganic Chemistry

- Organic Chemistry

- Physics

- Biological Sciences (general biology, ecology, biodiversity)

- Genetics

- Biochemistry

- Physiology

- English (12 credits)

- Humanities and Social Sciences (12 credits)

- Statistics 

 

​Coursework Criteria​

  • 75% of these required courses must be completed by the time of the application and all should be completed by the time of matriculation.

​​Veterinary Program​

  • How many years is the program? It is a four year program.

  • What is the start date? The start date is August 15th.

  • What is the average class size? 133

  • What concentrations are offered? When going for your general DVM there are two concentration options that you split into during your third year. You can either go the small animal route or the large animal route. There are many other elective classes that can be taken that emphasize different concentrations such as wildlife or zoo medicine.

  • What other degrees are offered? There are many different degrees offered at UC Davis. You can get your DVM, MPVM, DVM/PhD dual degree, they have 32 veterinary related specialty residency programs, and they have a Master of Public Health jointly offered with a DVM.

  • What are the residency placement options? UC Davis has a variety of different residency programs and placements locations. For example, they have small anima residencies in behavior, oncology, ophthalmology, and shelter medicine. They also have large animal residencies in such programs as equine surgery and dairy production medicine. UC Davis offers 40 residency training positions each year and many students also go to residency programs at other veterinary schools throughout the country. 

  • What is the NAVLE pass rate? 98%

  • What is the retention rate? In 2011, they had 100% retention rate.

  • What are some student activities? There are many research programs and activities available for students at UC Davis. Such research programs as STAR, YEAR, and VSTP allow first through fourth year students the opportunities to experience animal-oriented, hypothesis-driven, biomedical research. There are also many different clubs on campus directed towards veterinary medicine and other animal related fields. For example there is the behavior medicine club, the lab animal medicine club, shelter vets club, and veterinary pathology club. 

  • What professional development do they offer graduates? UC Davis offers post-DVM advanced studies through internships/residencies which help advance the knowledge and skills of veterinarians. They also have programs in veterinary medical research and a master of public health. 

  • What academic support programs do they have? They offer tutoring programs for students who are experiencing academic difficulties. They also have disability accommodations; they provide health services to students along with counseling for various needs. 

  • What is the curriculum? UC Davis actually went through a major curriculum overhaul in which they switched from the "Old Curriculum" implemented in 1990 to the "New Curriculum" created in 2011. The new curriculum is meant to be student-centered, inquiry-based with material constructed in blocks. The first and second years will learn the basics of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, and clinical pathology. Then in the third year, students will take a comparative stream while also chosing their small or large animal focus area. The fourth year is the clinical year with the opportunities for externships. 

​Admissions General Information​

  • Professional Application Service:  VMCAS

  • VMCAS Deadline: October 2nd

  • Do they have a supplemental application? Yes they have a supplemental application that goes out in October, but there is no fee associated with it. 

  • Do they have interviews? They have Multiple Mini Interviews in mid-December for students extended an invitation. More information can be found under the subjective review components section.

  • Are AP credits accepted? Yes, AP credits are accepted. They will only be accepted for lower-division coursework.

  • Do they require a pre-professional curriculum? They do not require a specific pre-professional curriculum, but they do require a bachelors degree for acceptance. 

  • ​What professional test do they accept? They accept the GRE. 

Admissions Statistics

General Statistics 

# of in-state applications received per year - 523

# of out-of-state applicants per year - 520

# of students accepted - 133

% of applicants accepted - 12.7%

% of in-state students enrolled - 92.5%

% of out-of-state students enrolled - 7.5%

% female - 80.5%

% male - 19.5%



GPA Statistics

Avg. cumulative GPA of admitted students - 3.48

Avg. last 45 credits GPA of admitted students - 3.61

Avg. required credits GPA of admitted students - 3.33



GRE Statistics

Avg. quantitative score for admitted students - 159  (76%)

Avg. verbal score for admitted students - 158 (79%)

Avg. analytical score for admitted students - 4.72 (65%)

 

Subjective Review Components

UC Davis has a very rigorous application process that evaluates students on their academics, understanding of the profession, their achievements, and their professional potential. They do this through various application and interview processes. 

​

1. Academics: applicants must have 75% of their science classes completed with a 2.5 GPA or better. They will look at the overall science GPA and the GPA of the last two years of graded undergraduate/graduate work. Also, they required applicants to have a bachelors degree upon matriculation. This is a little bit different than some other schools that accept students without a degree. 

 

2. GRE scores: they look at the GRE scores as an indicator as well. If it has been taken multiple times, they will take highest scores in each category. 

 

3. PPI Evaluations: in addition to the letters of recommendation required on the VMCAS, UC Davis requires three ETS PPI Web-based evaluations. These can be the same as the letters of recommendation done through the VMCAS, but must be sent in separately to the school.

 

4. MMI Interview: UC Davis does hold interviews for selected applicants in a Multiple Mini Interview formate. These are short, structured interviews used to assess personal traits/qualities. In this interview, each applicant is given a question/scenario to read and then they are given several minutes of dialogue with interviewers for assesment of their answers. The interviews are by invitation only and occur during the second and third weeks in December. 

 

5. Supplemental Application: they also have a supplemental application that is available online in mid-October and is due November 1st. There is no fee for this application. 

 

Tuition and Fees

  • In-state tuition = $30,812

 

  • Out-of-state tuition = $43,057

 

  • Is there an enrollment deposit required? There is not an enrollment deposit required to hold your spot at the vet school. 

 

  • Residency status options = You can earn in-state residency in California for tuition purposes by satisfying the following three conditions: a physical presence, intent to become a California resident and financial independence. However, this is an extremely difficult process to go through. California does not make it easy to earn in-state residency.

 

​Funding Options​

  • Grants-in-aid - UC Davis and the School of Veterinary Medicine both provide grants to eligible students. In order to be considered for these grants applicants must submit the FASFA by March 2nd. 

 

  • Fellowships - There are fellowships offered through UC Davis for a variety of subjects. These fellowships are posted on the website and students apply for them. They are highly competitive, but they provide students with invaluable experience and in some cases additional funding. 

 

  • Scholarships - The school of veterinary medicine administered over 650 scholarships totally $1.7 million. These scholarships can be distributed to incoming first year students, but a majority of them are given to students who have shown extraordinary accomplishments throughout their time at UC Davis. 

 

  • Assistantships - There are assistantships available for students, but there are not assistantships available in all areas; for example there are assistantships specifically for comparative pathology. In many cases students who are chosen receive a small stipends or have their tuition fees waived. 

​

  • Loans - There are many different ways to get loans for paying for veterinary school. There are graduate plus loans that are avaliable to students enrolled in graduate or professional programs. They may be borrowed up to the cost of attendance for the period of enrollment. There are also alternative loans that are unsecured, credit-based loans that may require a co-signer. These are based upon a student's credit worthiness. UC Davis also offers short term loans of $500 to students based on eligibility. They need to be repayed within 30 days. 

 

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