Application Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in applying to The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine!  Please review each section of the applicant checklist below to ensure your application process goes as smoothly as possible.  

student at orientation

Class of 2028

Important Dates

All completed applications must be submitted and verified through VMCAS. Strict deadlines are enforced, and late documents will not be reviewed.

  • SEPTEMBER 16
    Deadline to apply.

  • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 
    Applications reviewed.

  • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 
    Interview invites extended.

  • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 
    Interviews.

  • FEBRUARY/MARCH
    Offers of admissions or decline will be sent to all applicants.

  • APRIL 15
    Deadline to accept or deline an offer of admissions.

Applicant Checklist

The admissions committee seeks well-rounded students passionate about people, animals, science and learning.  Each applicant is considered on a combination of factors, which include:

Strong Academic Background

Applicants should have a strong overall GPA in undergraduate/graduate coursework and prerequisite course requirements (specifically science courses). We must be confident that the applicant can successfully complete our rigorous, science-based veterinary curriculum.   GPA for admission is not absolute; however, below is the breakdown for Ohio Residents and Non-Residents who are given preferential consideration:

  • Minimum Overall GPA: 3.0 average or above
  • Competitive Overall GPA: 3.6 average or above
  • Competitive Science GPA: 3.6 average or above
  • Applicants with a GPA less than 3.0 will not be considered
  • Applicants dismissed from another veterinary school will not be considered for admittance
Veterinary and Animal Experience
  • Volunteer or work with a veterinarian(s) to gain a realistic perspective of the profession.
  • Gain experience with various veterinary career paths to develop your professional knowledge.
  • Experience should be of appropriate breadth and depth to gain an appreciation for and understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the veterinarian and the scope of veterinary medicine.
  • Work with various animals (companion animals, food animals, equine, exotic, and research).
  • Gain unique and diverse experiences.
  • No minimum number of hours with a veterinarian or animal experience, but most applicants demonstrate considerable experience.
Community Involvement and Extracurricular Activities
  • Get involved in community service and extracurricular activities.
  • Degree of involvement is considered.
  • Balancing school and responsibilities outside of the classroom demonstrates your ability to handle the difficult demands of veterinary school.
Leadership Ability, Communication, and Interpersonal Skills
  • Leadership ability can be demonstrated in many ways, such as positions of responsibility in employment, church, community, and school organizations, including coaching, tutoring, and mentoring.
  • Applicants must communicate effectively and possess skills to express their thoughts and ideas.
  • Applicants must have strong interpersonal skills and work experience with diverse groups of people.

If you have questions about applying to our college, please contact us at (614) 292-1171 or email dvmprospective@osu.edu. Consultation with the Office of Admissions and Recruitment is available to candidates who do not gain admission into our college.  Please call (614) 292-1171 to schedule an appointment.

To gain admission to Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine, you must meet the specified prerequisites from an accredited college or university. 

 

Preparing your application is the first step on your journey to becoming a veterinarian. The AAVMC’s VMCAS is a user-friendly system for applying to veterinary medical schools.

VMCAS Contact Information 

  • Transcripts must be sent to VMCAS from all US and English-speaking Canadian institutions you listed in the Colleges Attended section of your application, even if the courses later transferred to another institution or were dual enrollment courses. These include courses taken in high school for college credit.
  • Transcripts must be addressed to VMCAS. Transcripts addressed to you, a program, a school, or any address other than VMCAS are not accepted.
  • Your registrar must mail transcripts. For security purposes, they cannot accept transcripts you or anyone other than the registrar mailed. If anything on your transcript indicates that it was issued to the student, picked up by you, or mailed to any address other than VMCAS, your transcript will be rejected, and you will need to send a new one to VMCAS.
  • In rare occurrences where a school's computer system can only include the applicant's name in the transcript's Issue to field, instruct the registrar to mail the transcript to VMCAS and include a letter stating the registrar's policy for addressing transcripts. Transcripts will not be accepted without this letter. Additionally, the transcript cannot have an "Issued to Student" or "Student Copy" stamp and cannot be picked up by the applicant.
  • The Ohio State University requires a total of THREE (3) references. At least one must be a veterinarian.
  • You can submit a maximum of SIX (6) references via VMCAS.
  • Letters from relatives are not acceptable.
  • You will indicate on the supplemental application which references you would Ohio State to review. 
  • Recommended Deadline: August 15
  • Offical Deadline: September 15 at 11:59 PM EST
Helpful Hints:
  • All evaluations must be submitted to VMCAS electronically. In this section, please enter information for a minimum of THREE (3) references and up to a maximum of SIX (6) references. VMCAS is not responsible for verifying an evaluator’s identity. VMCAS reserves the right to contact the applicant or evaluator to investigate if a discrepancy is found. VMCAS reserves the right to share the discrepancy without comment with all VMCAS programs.
  • All evaluations on the VMCAS application system must be submitted via the electronic reference portal by 11:59 PM EST, September 15.
  • Check to be sure those selected to be your reference are willing to provide a reference before entering their contact information on the application. As soon as the information is saved, an e-mail request is automatically sent.
  • All evaluations submitted to VMCAS are sent to ALL of your designated Colleges of Veterinary Medicine. Thus, they should not make references to specific programs.
  • If you choose not to waive your right of access to the evaluation, you won’t be able to see the evaluation until you are admitted and enrolled into a College of Veterinary Medicine.
  • Any evaluator listed as “Requested” can be deleted and replaced. Under certain circumstances, a reference listed as “Accepted” can be deleted. To have an “Accepted” reference removed, please contact VMCAS.
  • We strongly encourage you to enter your evaluator information early in the application process to expedite their receipt of the evaluation request.
  • If your references have questions, encourage them to contact VMCAS directly- we are happy to help them use our reference portal

This is a university requirement. You will receive a personalized link once Ohio State has received your verified VMCAS application. It may take up to seven days to receive the link to the supplemental once Ohio State receives your verified VMCAS application.

Please note: The GRE exam or MCAT is not required for admission into our program.  There is no testing required or a need to send in GRE scores.

When applying for the DVM program, you DO NOT have to complete all prerequisite courses before applying. All prerequisite courses must be completed by the end of the summer term preceding the fall term when you would start the DVM program.

Contact the Office of Admissions

Phone: 614-292-1171
Email: CVM-DVMadmissions@osu.edu