Admission to the School of Veterinary Medicine is granted only for the fall semester of each school year and only on a full-time basis. A prescribed number of student spaces is planned for each class, and the formal application material with all supporting credentials is required of each applicant.

The Faculty Committee on Admissions and Scholastic Standing is responsible for determining the application procedure and for selecting the entering class in the professional curriculum. All pre-professional requirements must be completed by the end of the spring semester before fall matriculation in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Formal applications must be submitted no later than October 2nd, 2009 at noon (Eastern Standard Time) for the Class of 2014 (with possible matriculation into the fall '10 semester). Applications must be submitted through the Veterinary Medical Colleges Application Service (VMCAS). Along with the VMCAS application materials, an LSU SVM supplemental application must be completed and submitted directly to the LSU SVM Student Affairs Office as well as all official undergraduate/graduate transcripts, GRE scores and letters of recommendation. Please visit the application instructions for more details on the application process. Students reapplying must submit a completely new application for each application period.

Students admitted and enrolled in the school must be capable of satisfactorily meeting all requirements of the curriculum in veterinary medicine. Eligible candidates are chosen to be interviewed by members of the Faculty Committee on Admissions and Scholastic Standing and are carefully selected to ensure that they are properly motivated, competent to undertake the rigorous courses of professional study, and capable of meeting the demands of a professional career.

Academic and non-academic qualifications are considered in the selection process. Selection for admission is based on the sum of the objective and subjective scores. The exact combination of each component to the total score may vary slightly from year to year and is determined by the admissions committee and the dean. Please see the above chart for the exact overall scoring breakdown. What does it take to be a competitive applicant? Interested applicants should visit the "Previous Class Statistics" to get a better idea of what it will take to be competitive in the applicant pool, with regards to the objective information below.

The objective evaluation is based on scholastic achievement and standardized test scores. All official transcripts of college course grades are examined to determine scholastic achievement. The total objective score is derived from:

• Required Course GPA - (29%)
• Last 45 Credit Hour GPA - (18%)
• General GRE score - (18%)

Effective beginning with the '08-'09 application cycle, the Faculty Committee on Admissions and Scholastic Standing has instituted the following changes to the objective evaluation:

• Only Animal Science, Physical Science or Biological Science courses are included in the Required Course GPA. Social science, humanities, business, kinesiology, and any general education courses are NOT calculated into the Required Course GPA, but are still calculated into the Last 45 Credit Hour GPA - except for kinesiology courses which are not used at all. For major details on the GPA calculation changes, please visit the "How are GPA's Calculated?" page.
• The objective evaluation now has a 65% weight in the overall scoring. The weights of the Required Course GPA and Last 45 GPA have been changed slightly from prior application cycles. (See above chart for new overall scoring breakdown.)

The subjective evaluation of applicants is based on non-academic qualifications considered relevant to the determination of the applicant's prospective performance in the veterinary medical curriculum and in the practice of veterinary medicine. Motivation, maturity, attitude, interest, and other characteristics will be evaluated for all qualified candidates, along with work experience, familiarity with animals, and reference information submitted in support of the application. These qualities are evaluated by two separate committees. The first committee reviews the supporting documents (autobiography, letters of recommendation, transcripts, work experience, and familiarity with animals). The second committee evaluates the individual through a personal interview. These appraisals result in an average subjective score which is added to the objective score to produce the total numerical evaluation of the candidate. Through this process, the professional judgment of several faculty members is included in arriving at a final decision of recommended students for the Class of 2014. The total subjective score is derived from:

• Folder Reviews - (15%)
• Interviews - (10%)

Effective beginning with the '08-'09 application cycle, the Faculty Committee on Admissions and Scholastic Standing has instituted the following changes to the subjective evaluation:

• Interviews will not be granted to every Louisiana and Arkansas applicant.
• Selected out of state applicants will be invited to interview for a possible seat in the new class. Interviews invitations will start to be sent out in early- to mid-January.

The final decision rests with the Dean of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. The Faculty Committee on Admissions and Scholastic Standing makes their recommendations to the Dean who then finalizes the offers of admission.

Note - Under exceptional circumstances, a limited number of applicants not selected under the above criteria may be admitted. Factors to be considered by the Faculty Committee on Admissions & Scholastic Standing include undergraduate experience, GRE score, advanced academic work, work experience, or participation in special educational programs, as well as those special attributes possessed by the applicant that add to the cultural, educational, and/or geographical diversity of the entering class.