Subjective Criteria as the Sole Method of Selecting Veterinary Candidates at a US Veterinary Medical School

For the past four years, Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences' veterinary Admissions Committee has used a completely subjective process to select veterinary students. The basic premise of the subjective admissions process is to evaluate applicants holistically, with equal emphasis on cognitive and non-cognitive attributes. The system allows the Committee the flexibility to weigh factors deemed by the school and profession to be important without the necessity of creating complex mathematical models to fit the confines of a point system. The subjective system, endorsed by the school's faculty and legal counsel, is summarized in this article.