Frequently Asked Questions

If you don't see your question here, please contact us at vetadmissions@purdue.edu.

Admissions

All application materials should be submitted directly to VMCAS. Failure to submit all transcripts from all institutions attended will result in an incomplete application. Transcripts sent directly to Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine will not be evaluated as part of your application.

No. All necessary application material will be submitted through VMCAS. Subsequently, Purdue does not have a supplemental application fee.

Deadline to apply for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle is September 16, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Applicants wishing to apply to the College of Veterinary Medicine must apply through the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). The application service will not be available to applicants to apply after this deadline date.

No. You already have a position in a veterinary medical program of study. You would be a potential transfer student. Our policy for transfer admission can be found on our website. Our regular admissions process only considers applicants who would be first-time attendees in a veterinary medical program.

Yes. International applicants meet the same requirements as all other applicants with the exception of the standardized test. If you are from a non-English speaking country, you will need to complete the TOEFL exam.

We will waive the English Proficiency testing requirements for applicants who have received a baccalaureate degree or graduate or professional degree, within the last 36 months prior to the time of recommendation for admission, from a school where English is the primary language of instruction in a country/location where English is the native language.

Academic transcripts from international schools must be submitted to one of the organizations that evaluate international transcripts for equivalency. Information on these organizations can be found in the information for the VMCAS application.

Non-traditional applicants apply via VMCAS and are considered equally to all other applicants.

No. The required coursework is designed to bring all applicants to a baseline point to begin the evaluation process. The Admissions Committee will then look at other factors of the applicant’s background.

The State of Indiana allows Purdue University the authority to determine residency status for the purpose of charging tuition and fees. Establishing residency for this purpose is very difficult to accomplish and involves the predominant purpose for which you came to Indiana. If your predominant purpose for coming to Indiana is education, then residency will probably not be granted; however, there are exceptions. More detailed information can be found on the Registrar’s website.

No. Purdue does not require the GRE as part of their admissions process. GRE scores submitted will not be evaluated as part of the admissions process, therefore, you do not need to submit your GRE scores to Purdue.

Prerequisite Course Requirements

Yes. All applicants must complete the prerequisite course requirements regardless. These courses bring all applicants to a baseline level from which the Admissions Committee’s evaluation process begins.

The course descriptions posted on our website are provided as guides for you and your academic advisor to determine which courses on your home campus most closely match our course descriptions.

Credit hours for courses will vary from institution to institution. Focus on whether you need only a one semester stand-alone course or a two semester course sequence to meet the intent of our requirement. Keep in mind that it is impossible for us to be familiar with courses on the hundreds of campuses around the country. Your academic advisor is your best resource.

Yes. You cannot double count a course to meet two different requirements. A course devoted to the study of genetics will be more in-depth than a general biology course would include.

If you hold or will hold a bachelor’s degree at the time of your entrance into Vet School, we will assume that you have fulfilled your campus’s communication requirement thus fulfilling our communication requirement. If you do not, you will need to complete a communication course as outlined in the course descriptions provided on this website. If your campus does not offer a course that closely matches our requirement, then you will need to provide official documentation from your campus indicating how you have fulfilled this requirement.

If you are wishing to use your bachelor's degree to meet this requirement, when filling out the application in VMCAS, you will simply select, "I Am Not Matching Any Course to this Prerequisite."

No. The faculty of our college has approved the courses they believe to be the basic foundation courses needed in order for a student to be successful in our curriculum.

NOTE: Completion of required courses for one veterinary school/college does not guarantee compliance for another. You must complete the prerequisite courses for each veterinary college to which you wish to apply.

For our purposes, three-quarters equates to two semesters.

You may use AP credit to meet required coursework provided that the credit has been posted to a collegiate academic transcript and the subject area is clearly indicated for which credit was granted.

Online/distant learning lecture-only courses are accepted by the Admissions Committee.

Online/distant learning labs do not meet our pre-requisite course requirements. Labs must be completed onsite at an institution.*

*Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many higher education institutions around the country are opting for a Pass/Not Pass grading option and online lecture and labs, therefore, the following changes are in effect:

  1. We will accept a grade of "P" (pass) for any prerequisite courses taken during these terms.
    • Spring 2020
    • Summer 2020
  2. We will accept online lecture and lab courses taken during these terms.
    • Spring 2020
    • Summer 2020
    • Fall 2020
    • Spring 2021
    • Summer 2021
    • Fall 2021
    • Spring 2022
    • Summer 2022

View our complete information on pre-requisite course requirements.

Yes. You may have the last of your required coursework in progress when you apply. In other words, your required coursework must be completed by the end of the spring semester prior to fall matriculation. Courses may not be taken during the summer. Our Admissions Committee has determined that summer session is too late for course completion and receipt of summer grades for finalization of admission for fall semester.

In addition you need to report on the VMCAS application in the appropriate section, the courses you have in progress for fall semester and those you plan to complete during the spring semester. This section must be completed thoroughly in order to avoid having a required course marked as deficient and your application denied for lack of prerequisites.

Yes. The faculty recommends that you continue to take higher-level math and science courses which will build upon your undergraduate educational foundation. In addition, course in personal finance, business management, accounting and general leadership courses are also encouraged.

Applicants may re-take a course to improve their academic performance. Required courses must be completed with a "C-" grade (1.7 on a 4.0 scale) or better in each course. Applicants are reminded that the Admissions Committee will use the average of grades earned to calculate the cumulative grade point average.

No. Your cumulative grade point index for our program is calculated using all grades received in your courses.

It is best if you carry a full-time undergraduate credit hour load (i.e. 15-16 credit hours). This will help you develop the time management, organizational skills and study skills which are essential to be successful in the DVM program.

You can take the prerequisite courses from any two-year or four-year accredited college or university. We recommend attending an undergraduate institution with a rigorous academic program that will prepare you for the academic rigors of the veterinary program.

Prerequisite science and math courses ten years or older will not be accepted. These courses need to be repeated or courses of a higher level may be substituted. All courses taken will be used in the cumulative GPA. The repeated or substituted courses will be used in the prerequisite core GPA. If you wish to appeal this policy, a written appeal should be sent to vetadmissions@purdue.edu and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Experience Requirements

No. We are seeking students from a wide variety of backgrounds and with interests in a diverse range of veterinary careers including private practice, academic, government, industry and research. Your focus should be on the quality of the experience; not quantity.

Animal experience can include work on a livestock farm, with a humane society, zoo or kennel, showing animals as 4-H projects, wildlife rehabilitation, and working with animals in other kinds of competitions or businesses. Personal pets are not included.

Veterinary experience is gained while working directly with a veterinarian. This can range from on the job shadowing to working with a veterinarian as an assistant in a clinical, research or regulatory setting.

DVM Program Specifics

Tracking is a characteristic of our curriculum that gives students the option of focusing their studies in the latter part of the curriculum on a particular group of species to gain more in-depth training. Students who do not want to focus their studies can pursue the Mixed Animal Track which is the traditional broad-based approach. All Purdue DVM students receive a broad education that will prepare them for careers in diverse fields of veterinary medicine.

The first two and a half years of our DVM program provide a broad education in the basic and clinical sciences for the major domestic species (dogs, cats, horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs). During semester 5, all students take core courses covering the diagnosis and treatment of diseases in these major species. That same semester each student must select a track which will help them in choosing elective courses for semester 6 and will determine their required and elective courses in the fourth year. There are seven tracks: 1) equine; 2) food animal; 3) small animal; 4) companion animal (equine and small animal); 5) large animal (equine and food animal); 6) mixed animal (all species); 7) non-practice (preparation for careers in research or industry). Tracking allows students to obtain more in-depth training for the species with which they expect to work when they graduate. The two most frequently chosen tracks have been small animal (35-45% of each class) and mixed animal (35-40% of each class).

Because our curriculum provides broad training in the major domestic species, graduates are prepared to change their career direction if they choose. PVM implemented clinical tracking in 1990 and extended tracking to the third year of the program in 1999 so we have many years of experience with this flexible curriculum.

Basic surgical skills are taught to all DVM students using models, cadavers, and dogs and cats from humane societies that undergo neutering procedures (semesters 5 and 6 of curriculum). Humane society animals that are spayed and castrated are returned to the humane society for adoption. More advanced surgical skills in small animals are taught during semester 6 electives using cadavers, cadaver parts and models. Additional neutering procedures are also performed. We no longer conduct terminal surgical laboratories in small animals.

Large animal surgery elective laboratories in semester 6 are taught using cadaver parts (e.g. limbs, skulls) and live sheep that are recovered following some procedures and then euthanized after more invasive procedures.Students provide care for their sheep throughout the course. A limited number of horses are used for a terminal surgical laboratory. The large animal surgery laboratory courses are elective courses.

The Purdue University Veterinary Hospital operates a Large Animal Hospital, Small Animal Hospital, Animal Emergency Service and ambulatory services. We see primary care cases, as would be seen by your family veterinarian, and referral cases that are sent by other veterinarians in the state and surrounding states for care by board-certified specialists. We also receive tertiary care cases that are complex cases, often referred by veterinary specialists, requiring the most advanced diagnostics and therapeutics. Our caseload is diverse and provides a wealth of teaching material for our students. The annual caseload of the Small Animal Hospital and Animal Emergency Service was 24,433 in 2022-2023. The annual caseload of the Large Animal Hospital was 6,145 in 2022-2023. The large animal in-hospital caseload is supplemented by a rich ambulatory caseload that in 2022-2023 consisted of 3,400 calls during which 14,452 animals were seen. In 2012 we launched the Priority 4 Paws mobile surgical unit which travels to animal shelters to provide neutering services. The unit is staffed by a veterinarian and veterinary technician who supervise veterinary medical and veterinary technology students as they provide surgical and anesthesia care to the humane society animals. This is an outstanding learning experience for our students in which they gain extensive practical experience. The Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) also has a strong caseload with 29,962 accessions in 2022. 

Purdue Veterinary Medicine has about 115 faculty members the majority of whom are veterinarians. The faculty is quite diverse coming from a variety of backgrounds and geographic regions. We are fortunate to have specialists in most of the clinical disciplines which results in broad case exposure for our students. The following specialties are represented by our faculty: anesthesiology, behavior, cardiology, clinical pathology, dermatology, emergency and critical care, equine practice, internal medicine, microbiology, neurology, oncology, ophthalmology, pathology, radiation oncology, radiology, poultry, preventative medicine, small animal practice, surgery, swine herd health, theriogenology, and toxicology. Most of our faculty members have teaching responsibilities. They are enthusiastic teachers who sincerely care about our students. Many Purdue Veterinary Medicine faculty members hold leadership positions in professional organizations or are involved in international collaborations. Some faculty members hold joint appointments with other departments on campus or are involved with private industry, all of which contribute to a rich learning environment for our students.

Yes, check out our dual degree options.

The Off-campus/Adjunct Faculty Block program allows students to individualize and enrich their fourth year education by arranging off-campus experiences that are not available at Purdue Veterinary Medicine. During their third year, students may request to take up to four 3-week elective blocks (depending on their track) with a mentor at an off-campus location. Up to 60 off-campus or adjunct faculty blocks may be approved per class by the Curriculum Committee if it is determined that each proposed block offers a well-supervised and rigorous experience that is not available at Purdue. The range of experiences includes pet bird/exotic animal practice, zoo animal practice, intensive food animal operations, embryo transfer, laboratory animal medicine and governmental and private pharmaceutical laboratory research. The student is required to submit a detailed application outlining the proposed experience and its justification. The mentor of the off-campus block provides a performance appraisal of the student and a grade of Pass or Not Pass is recorded for the block.

Finances after Veterinary School

Applicants to veterinary school often report that they have seen average salaries of $50,000-$55,000 for entry-level veterinarians. Some sources average the salaries in private practice with those for post-graduate training positions, such as internships, to come up with these figures. Combining these two types of positions does not accurately represent the employment market. For Purdue veterinary graduates, the average private practice salary for new graduates is approximately $120,000.

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) surveys graduating veterinary students each year regarding employment statistics and indebtedness and publishes the findings. Below are the mean figures that have been reported for the graduates in 2023.

Mean Starting Salaries
DVM Class Purdue Mean Starting Salary for Private Practice National Mean Starting Salary for Private Practice
2023 $118,782 $125,449
2022 $114,884 $114,266
2021 $100,617 $97,879
2020 $94,053 $92,796
2019 $88,909 $86,245

Approximately 32% of US graduates pursue internships and other postgraduate training immediately following graduation. Earning potential increases significantly for practice owners and board-certified veterinary specialists.

DVM Educational Debt
DVM Class Purdue Mean Total Educational Debt National Mean Total Educational Debt
2023 $145,914 $195,385
2022 $155,795 $194,725
2021 $144,083 $201,863
2020 $145,336 $204,675
2019 $163,897 $199,148