VSU VetMed Retention Policy
Don’t go to Visayas State University VetMed if you’re not prepared for the possibility that one setback could cost you more than just your place in the program.
Getting dismissed doesn’t only mean leaving veterinary medicine. It can also make it significantly harder to transfer to another school because many universities won’t accept applicants with failed grades, even if they’re applying for a completely different course. In other words, one academic setback can end up affecting your options far beyond VetMed itself.
For students who have already spent four or five years in the program, the consequences are even heavier. Even though VSU has no tuition, those years were never “free.” They were paid for with time, transportation, boarding expenses, books, equipment, uniforms, missed opportunities, and countless sleepless nights. Those are investments you’ll never get back.
I understand why the retention policy exists, especially for first-year students who are still figuring out whether veterinary medicine is truly for them. But it’s much harder to accept when someone has already dedicated years of their life to the program, only to find that leaving VetMed may also mean many doors outside of VetMed are suddenly closed.
After investing years into the course, there are very few opportunities to start over somewhere else.
Not saying academic standards shouldn’t exist, but I do think there needs to be more pathways for students who’ve already invested years of their lives and are willing to start over in another program instead of having their entire academic future defined by one chapter.