Updated October 26, 2026

Cornell Vet School Interview: Does Cornell Interview for DVM?

Whether Cornell interviews vet school applicants, what it judges instead, and how its offers are decided.

Cornell does not interview DVM applicants. Your written file decides: the VMCAS application (which opens in late January) with its embedded Cornell supplemental section (available in mid-May with no supplemental application fee), three evaluation letters, your grades and prerequisites, and your veterinary and animal experience. Applications for the Class of 2031 closed on September 15, 2026, and decision letters come by email in January 2027.

Start your free week How vet school practice works

Key facts (2027 entry)

Interview: None for regular DVM applicants. Cornell's How to Apply page says: "We do not interview at Cornell."
Decisions: January 2027, by email pointing to your Cornell Tracking Page.
What is judged: A holistic, need-blind review of coursework, academic and extracurricular interests, talents and background. Academics are looked at first.
Application: VMCAS with the embedded Cornell Supplemental section. No extra Cornell fee.
Deadline: September 15, 2026 for the application, all transcripts and all letters. It has passed.
Tests: No GRE, MCAT or Casper.
Other routes: Accelerated 7-year BS/DVM for Cornell CALS students (it includes a meeting with the director of admissions), the DVM/PhD pathway, and transfer entry.

Is there an interview day?

No. Cornell's How to Apply page says: "We do not interview at Cornell." So there is no MMI, panel or video interview for regular DVM applicants.

Your file speaks for you. Everything the committee learns about you comes from your VMCAS application, the Cornell section, your transcripts and your letters.
One exception. Applicants to the accelerated 7-year BS/DVM pathway must meet with the CVM director of admissions during the application process.

Still practice interviews? If other schools on your list interview, practice still pays off, and it sharpens the stories you write about.

How offers are decided

Decisions come by email in January, directing you to your Cornell Tracking Page.

Admitted. You get a Conditions form listing any missing prerequisites and documents. You must reply by April 15 with a $500 deposit if you accept.
Alternate (waitlist). Alternates also get a Conditions form, and are typically notified about one week after the April 15 deposit deadline.
Denied. Your letter explains how to book a post-application advising appointment. Cornell says many students apply numerous times before getting an offer.

How Cornell judges your application

The Admissions Committee uses a holistic, need-blind review and sets no lower GPA limit. Your academic record is the first thing it looks at.

Academics

GPA first. The committee looks at your cumulative GPA and your prerequisite grades early in the review.
Your college counts. Cornell assigns points to the college you attended based on its competitiveness, using Peterson's Guide to Four-Year Colleges.
Harder courses are noticed. Meeting the biology or chemistry requirement with higher-level courses (for example after AP credit), or taking a full-year biochemistry course where your college offers one, is noted when the committee judges the quality of your academic program.

Experience

No minimum hours. Cornell looks for an understanding of the profession and what you learned from your experiences.
Breadth and depth. Competitive applicants normally have two or more areas of experience (for example small animal, large animal, research, food animal, exotic or wildlife), with real depth in at least one.
Character. The committee values research, community involvement, non-academic talents, and reliability, honesty and dedication to service.

Letters

Cornell requires three letters through VMCAS: one from a veterinarian, one from an advisor or faculty member who can speak to your academic ability, and one from anyone you choose. You list the names and emails of 3-4 evaluators on the How to Apply steps and may submit up to six evaluation letters in total, and applicants do not have to provide letters for each relevant experience they list.

Requirements, routes and dates

New prerequisites applied to everyone who applied in fall 2026 for the Class of 2031, including reapplicants.

Key requirements

60 semester credits. No bachelor's degree is required, but at least 30 credits must be upper division at a four-year school.
Prerequisites. A year each of biology, chemistry and physics with labs, English composition or writing-intensive courses, biochemistry, humanities or social sciences, and at least 12 semester credits of advanced life sciences.
Grades. C minus or better in every prerequisite. Up to 12 semester credits can be in progress when you apply.
New York residents. Complete the New York State Residency Form through your Tracking Page. To be considered a New York resident, you must live in a permanent or principal home in the State of New York for the 12 months immediately before the expected enrollment date.

Dates for the Class of 2031

Mid-May 2026. You could designate Cornell in VMCAS and open your Cornell Tracking Page.
September 15, 2026. VMCAS deadline, including the Cornell section, all transcripts and all letters. It has passed.
January 2027. Decision letters by email.
April 15, 2027. Enrollment decision and $500 deposit due, after February 1, 2027 recommended financial aid paperwork (FAFSA and CSS Profile Form) and March 15, 2027 Dean's Certification for admitted students and alternates. Official final transcripts with all outstanding prerequisite coursework completed are due June 15, 2027.

Other routes

7-year BS/DVM. For selected Cornell CALS students, who apply in the fall of sophomore year. Provisional acceptance needs a 3.7 GPA. Final acceptance needs 400 hours of experience (at least 200 with a veterinarian, mostly with traditional species), and applicants must meet with the CVM director of admissions.
DVM/PhD. Same application, plus a research section and three extra letters from research mentors.

How to prepare

With no interview, your writing and your letters have to show who you are.

Show what you learned. For each experience, say what you saw, what you did and what it taught you about the job, not just the hours.
Go beyond cats and dogs. Cornell values a diversity of experiences. If your hours are all small animal, add a farm, research lab, shelter or wildlife setting.
Choose letter writers early. Pick a vet and a professor who know your work well, and tell them about the September deadline.
Talk it through out loud. Answering interview-style questions aloud is a fast way to find the stories and views worth putting in your essays.

Use Cornell's advising. Cornell offers phone or Zoom appointments with the director of admissions, a monthly campus presentation and tour from March to November, and applicant roundtables on how files are reviewed.

Practice questions

Questions in the style of a No interview station, written for applicants to Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. They are practice questions, not the school's own. Open one for what a strong answer does.

Thinking back on your veterinary observation hours, what was the most surprising or unglamorous part of a veterinarian's day-to-day work?

Name one specific, real task and show that it made your view of the profession more realistic, not less keen.

Most of your experience is with small animals. How would you build the breadth to work with livestock, research or public health?

Be honest about the gap and give concrete, realistic steps you have taken or will take.

In your own words, why is antimicrobial resistance considered one of the major crises facing veterinary medicine today?

Explain it simply, give one example from animals and one from people, and say what a vet can do about it.

What do you think the veterinarian's ethical role is within commercial meat production?

Show you understand both animal welfare and the farmer's business, and say where you stand with reasons.

You discover a respected senior partner has been under-dosing pain medication during routine surgeries to save the clinic money. How would you address this?

Put the animals first, check your facts, raise it directly and respectfully, and know when to go higher.

During a bird flu outbreak, the protocol requires culling many poultry that look healthy. Local farmers are angry. How do you explain and handle this?

Acknowledge their loss, explain the One Health reason in plain words, and offer real support where you can.

Frequently asked questions

Does Cornell vet school interview applicants?

No. Cornell's How to Apply page says: "We do not interview at Cornell." The only exception is the accelerated 7-year BS/DVM pathway, where applicants must meet with the CVM director of admissions.

How many veterinary hours does Cornell require?

There is no minimum for regular applicants. Cornell looks for breadth and depth, and competitive applicants usually have two or more areas of experience. The 7-year BS/DVM pathway does require 400 hours.

Does Cornell vet school require the GRE or Casper?

No. Cornell does not use the GRE, the MCAT or Casper.

When does Cornell vet school send decisions?

For the Class of 2031, decision letters are due in January 2027. Applicants are typically notified after mid-January by an email that points to the Cornell Tracking Page.

Do I need a bachelor's degree to apply to Cornell's DVM?

No. You need 60 semester credits, with at least 30 at the upper division level at a four-year school, and all prerequisites.

Sources

Official pages only, read on the date shown. Schools change their process every year, so check the school's own page before you apply.

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine: How to Apply · read October 24, 2026
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine: How to Prepare · read October 24, 2026
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine: Prerequisite Credits and Courses · read October 24, 2026
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine: Timetables for the Regular Application Cycle · read October 26, 2026
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine: Admissions Decisions · read October 26, 2026