Fall '09 coursework will count towards the Required Course GPA and Last 45 Credit Hour GPA for Louisiana and Arkansas residents only. Fall '09 credit hours and grades will NOT be used in GPA calculations for Out of State applicants. This change has been made in an effort to make offers to desired, qualified out of state applicants in a much more timely manner.

In addition to the specific prerequisite courses, also factored into the Required Course GPA are any other Animal Science, Physical Science or Biological Science courses that are taken and in which an "A" grade is earned. Social science, humanities, business, engineering, kinesiology, and any general education courses are NOT calculated into the Required Course GPA; however these courses (with the exception of kinesiology courses) will still be used for the Last 45 Credit Hour as seen below.

The Last 45 Credit Hour GPA is computed by using the most recent 45-60 semester hours of course work, with the exception of kinesiology courses. The entire last semester is included when calculating the Last 45 Credit Hour GPA. (If only 3 more credit hours are needed from one semester during which 18 credit hours were taken, all 18 credit hours would be factored into the Last 45 Credit Hour GPA.)

Applicants may choose to re-take a course to better master the subject at any point or to try to improve upon their Required Courses GPA or Last 45 Credit Hour GPA. If a course that is more than six years old is retaken, the most recent grade will be used in calculating the Required Course GPA, otherwise the grades (and credit hours) from both courses are used when computing grade point averages. (If a course is retaken more than twice within the past six years, all grades/credits will be used.) If a course substitution is approved by the Admissions Office, the course being used as the prerequisite will be calculated into the Required Course GPA. (NOTE - Course substitutions are on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed.)

Courses taken on a quarter term system do not have the same number of contact hours as similar courses on a semester term system; thus, credit hours earned from a school on a quarter system must be converted to semester hours. Typically, one quarter hour converts to a semester hour at 2/3 of its value, while one semester hour converts to one quarter hour at 3/2 of its value. The LSU SVM Admissions Office uses the multiplier of 0.667 for this conversion - (Sem Hrs = Qtr Hrs * 0.667). Typically, applicants taking courses at a school on a quarter term must take three three-quarter hour courses to meet the full six semester credit hours of a two-course sequence. (For instance, General Physics I, II, and III would have to be taken at a quarter term school to meet the six semester hour requirement for General Physics I and II at LSU.)

What does it take to be a competitive applicant? While the minimum GPA for eligibility is a 3.00, just meeting the minimum GPA requirement will not make an applicant competitive. There is no minimum GRE score; however applicants should certainly have a score as close to the average as possible (obviously higher than the average is better). An applicant has to be competitive on a broad scale, as there are three objective areas and two subjective areas (for more qualified applicants) that are evaluated during the admissions process. Interested applicants should visit the "Previous Class Statistics" page to get a better idea of what the class averages are that it will take to be competitive in the applicant pool. It is also strongly advised that interested applicants also read through the "Applicant Selection Procedure" page.