LSU Veterinary School welcomes its 40th class

The students in the Class of 2016 began their professional veterinary journey with the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine on August 10 when they started orientation. On August 15, they received their blue lab coats and took the LSU SVM’s professional oath of conduct.

The LSU SVM received 798 applications for this class. Of these 798 applications, 154 were submitted by Louisiana residents, 39 were submitted by Arkansas residents and 579 came from other states. The LSU SVM admitted 88 students (63 from Louisiana, nine from Arkansas, three from Puerto Rico and 13 from other states).

Sixty-nine members of the class are female (78.4 percent) and 19 are male (21.6 percent). The students’ ages range from 20 to 45 for a median age of 23.7.

Of the 88 students accepted into this class, 27 (31 percent) had college degrees at the date of their acceptance into veterinary school (one advanced degree, one associate degree, 24 BS degrees and one other. Sixty-one students did not have a degree by their acceptance date (a college degree is not required to be accepted into the LSU SVM though students need at least two years of college courses in order to meet the minimum requirements).

The average required course GPA for the entire class is 3.77. For students from Louisiana, the average required course GPA is 3.76; for Arkansas, it is 3.70; and for other states, it is 3.84.

If you are contemplating a career in veterinary medicine, you should acquire a sound foundation in the biological and physical sciences and a general knowledge of the arts and humanities in both high school and college. In addition, you should be motivated by a respect for animals, a sincere desire to serve the public, a propensity for the biological and medical sciences, and a deep interest in promotion of the health of animal and human populations. You must have a high aptitude for scientific study and must possess an excellent moral and ethical character.

Candidates for the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree must complete a minimum of six years of college education. This includes two or more years of pre-veterinary coursework and four years of the professional DVM program. The pre-veterinary requirements may be completed at LSU or at any other accredited college or university offering courses of the quality and content of those prescribed in the LSU General Catalog.

The minimum requirement of 66 semester hours, including 20 hours of elective courses, may be completed in a minimum of two years. A Bachelor's degree is not a requirement for acceptance into the LSU SVM's DVM program, although applicants are strongly encouraged to follow an undergraduate degree path in the event that entrance into the DVM program is not granted. For information about the DVM program at the LSU SVM, click here.

Photo: The Class of 2016 takes the professional oath of conduct as part of their new student orientation at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

Media Contact:

Ginger Guttner  

Director of Public Relations

LSU School of Veterinary Medicine

225-578-9922 or gguttner@lsu.edu

Mission:

The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is a dynamic community dedicated to saving lives, finding cures, and changing lives through outstanding clinical and community service, groundbreaking research, and educational excellence.