Dropping the GRE for Vet School Admissions: Equity Boost or Quality Risk? (#339)

In recent years, many veterinary schools across the United States have dropped the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as a requirement for admission.

Once viewed as a standard measure of academic readiness for rigorous professional programs, the GRE has fallen out of favor amid growing concerns about its predictive value, accessibility, and fairness.

But is this shift a step toward a more inclusive veterinary profession, or does it risk lowering academic standards?

As with many reforms, the answer is complex. There are both promising benefits and troubling drawbacks.

The Case for Dropping the GRE

• Equity and Access

  
  

  • The GRE has long been criticized as a barrier for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students.

    
    

  • Preparation courses and multiple test attempts are costly, giving affluent applicants a distinct advantage.

    
    

  • Removing the GRE requirement lowers the financial and logistical burden of the application process, opening the doors for a more diverse pool of future veterinarians.

    
    

  • This matters. The veterinary profession has struggled with issues of diversity and inclusion for decades. A broader applicant pool can help reshape the profession to better reflect the society it serves, fostering greater empathy and cultural competence in clinical settings.

• Weak Predictor of Clinical Success

  
  

  • Numerous studies in human and veterinary medicine have questioned the GRE’s ability to predict long-term clinical competence, empathy, communication skills, or professional behavior - all essential qualities in a successful veterinarian.

    
    

  • Academic achievement in undergraduate coursework, hands-on animal experience, and qualitative attributes like resilience and teamwork often provide more relevant insight into a candidate’s suitability for the profession.

    
    

  • By eliminating an overemphasized metric, schools can prioritize a more holistic review of applicants, focusing on lived experiences, motivation, and potential.

• Administrative Simplification

  
  

  • Removing the GRE reduces one administrative step for both applicants and admissions committees.

    
    

  • It eliminates the need to interpret scores that often fluctuate due to test-day anxiety or disparities in educational background, and it aligns admissions practices with the growing movement toward test-optional policies in higher education.

The Case Against Dropping the GRE

• Loss of a Standardized Benchmark

• While imperfect, the GRE has served as a standardized metric across varied undergraduate institutions.

• GPA inflation, disparities in grading practices, and differences in course rigor can make undergraduate transcripts difficult to compare objectively.

• The GRE, despite its flaws, offered at least one uniform measure to help level the playing field.

• Without it, admissions committees may lean more heavily on subjective criteria such as personal statements, recommendation letters, or prestige of undergraduate institutions, potentially increasing, not decreasing, bias.

• Reduced Academic Signal

• For students from less-known colleges or international backgrounds, the GRE could help demonstrate academic readiness.

• A strong GRE score sometimes helped applicants without access to prestigious institutions or research opportunities stand out.

• Its absence may disadvantage capable candidates who otherwise could have used it to bolster their applications.

• Risk of Lowering Standards

• Some critics argue that eliminating standardized tests without a clear, evidence-based replacement risks diluting academic rigor.

  
  

• Veterinary medicine is a demanding profession that requires not only compassion but also the capacity to master challenging scientific and technical material. Without reliable indicators of academic stamina, some worry that programs may admit students unprepared for the intensity of veterinary education, increasing the likelihood of burnout or attrition.

Looking Ahead: Metrics That Matter

The debate over the GRE is not simply about a test; it's about the kind of veterinarians the profession wants to train and the metrics we use to define potential.

Rather than clinging to outdated assessments or abandoning academic rigor altogether, veterinary schools must invest in more nuanced and inclusive tools, such as structured interviews, behavioral assessments, and competency-based evaluations that better capture the complex skill set required of today’s veterinarians.

Ultimately, dropping the GRE is neither a panacea nor a pitfall.

It is a signal that change is underway.

Whether that change leads to a stronger, more diverse, and more compassionate profession will depend on what replaces the GRE and how thoughtfully schools design their admissions processes going forward.

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