Admissions Criteria

Recommended Academic Criteria

Florida CVM Students
  • Science, Last 45, and Overall GPAs greater than 3.0
  • Completion of required Undergraduate Course Requirements with a letter grade of “C” or above
  • Missing no more than three Science or Math prerequisite courses prior to the VMCAS application deadline in September

Veterinary Experience

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine does not have a minimum requirement for veterinary experience. Veterinary experience should reflect a wide range of responsibilities and quality of experiences rather than quantity of hours. We recommend that applicants be exposed to both large and small animal clinical practices before applying to our program under the supervision of veterinarians. This will give them an opportunity to shadow or work with a veterinarian and ultimately obtain letters of reference which are an important part of the application process. Research is also a valuable form of experience and working in a research environment as an undergraduate or graduate student may also help to develop skills important to veterinary medicine.

Professional References

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine requires three strong professional references with at least one from a veterinarian. Committee references are accepted but not from family members.


Overview of the Admissions Process

Academic Assessment

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine (UFCVM) does not have a set minimum academic requirement in order to be admitted. However, Science, Last 45 and Overall GPAs will be used in evaluating the academic ranking of applicants. Candidates are ranked in two independent applicant pools based on residency: State-Funded and Self-Funded seats. The incoming class size of 150 students is comprised of 104 state-funded students and 46 self-funded students. 

Full Application Review

Applicants selected from the academic ranking will have their entire veterinary school application reviewed individually by two members of the UFCVM Admissions Committee. Once again, there will be two applicant pools: state-funded and self-funded. Candidates will be scored and ranked on the following criteria:

  • Academic History and Experience: Academic load, number of withdrawals, research participation, teaching assistant positions, strength of academic references (if any), and academic flags/concerns.
  • Veterinary Experience and Preparation: Amount of significant hours of veterinary experience, legitimate animal experience, strength of veterinary/animal-related references, relationship between references, and veterinary/animal experiences.
  • Overall Professionalism and Readiness to Matriculate: Overall professionalism of the application, strength of written communication skills, extracurricular experiences, community involvement, international experiences, awards and recognition, non-veterinary or animal related employment experiences. Candidates are encouraged to review the Technical Standards found in the Student Handbook as part of their application steps and admissions decision making process.

Candidate Interview

In November and December, candidates selected from the full application review pool will be invited to participate in the Virtual Interview process conducted via Zoom. Each applicant will be interviewed by a two- or three- member panel. Candidates will have a 45-minute long behavioral interview which will be scored on a number of behavioral factors such as teamwork, integrity, maturity and problem-solving.


Candidate Selection

Below are the criteria and percentages used to select candidates for the final class:

  • Academic (Based on GPA’s): 15%
  • Packet Review: 45%
  • Interview: 40%