PVM Rolls out Welcome Mat as Prospective Students Put Best Feet Forward on Interview Days

Student Ambassadors and Dean Reed stop for a photo together during the reception in the library for prospective students
Dean Willie Reed with veterinary student ambassadors (left-right) Sophie Scheer, Naja Williams, and Riley Lautenschlager, all of the Class of 2025, at the reception that concluded the third day of DVM prospective student interviews January 23.

After a three-year hiatus, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine resumed in-person interviews for prospective DVM students seeking admission to the next first-year class, the Class of 2028. A total of 211 applicants responded to invitations to come to Lynn Hall for one of three half-day interview sessions. The first session was held on Friday, December 1 for Indiana residents and the second and third sessions were offered to non-resident applicants on two consecutive Fridays last month, January 19 and 26.

Balloons decorate the entrance to the library where prospective students and their guests mingle with college faculty and students
A reception for prospective students and guests in the Veterinary Medical Library concluded each interview day as PVM student ambassadors, faculty and staff mingled with the applicants and their guests.

Throughout the afternoon on each of the interview days, the prospective students and their guests were able to hear presentations from PVM’s Wellness and Counseling Services, Global Engagement, and Purdue SAVMA. Additionally, Dean Willie Reed addressed each group, and the admissions team arranged tours of the new hospital facilities and coordinated student panel presentations. The afternoon programming on each interview day concluded with a reception in the Veterinary Medical Library where current PVM student ambassadors enthusiastically greeted the interviewees and answered questions.

“I’d really like to give special recognition to the DVM and Veterinary Nursing (VN) student ambassadors who helped with each interview day,” said Lori Stout, director of admissions and recruitment. The VN student ambassadors led non-stop tours of the hospital from 1:00-5:00 p.m. during each of the afternoons, and the DVM student ambassadors were on-hand throughout the afternoons to escort the interviewees to their interviews as well as to serve on the student panel. They also helped each day with set up and clean up.

“Special thanks also go to Admissions and Recruitment Assistant Director Austin Jennings and Barb Cochran, administrative assistant, as well as Amanda Taylor, lead administrative assistant in Student Services, for all their hard work in helping plan and execute three VERY successful interview days,” Lori said.

The Admission Committee’s next steps in the admissions process involve selecting which of the interviewed students will receive letters of acceptance. A total of 1,777 applications for admission were received. 

Thank you to each of the following student ambassadors who helped with the interview days:

Class of 2025
  • Megan Colborn
  • Sydney Gehlhausen
  • Riley Lautenschlager
  • Marissa Ramon
  • Sophie Scheer
  • Cameron Vaughn
  • Naja K. Williams               
  • Kaitlyn Wolfe
Class of 2026
  • Brianna Bernath
  • Melanie Figueroa
  • Mollie Madigan
  • Andrew Montgomery
  • Victoria Potter
  • Kendall Sattler
  • Kennedy Smith
Class of 2024
  • Amber Bakker
  • Kyra Dabbert
  • Bailey Hendricks
  • Brooke Hopkins
  • Monica Robinson

Writer(s): Lori Stout and Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

Recent Stories

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

This week, we are proud to recognize Lorraine Fox, who is a business assistant with the Veterinary Medicine Procurement Center.

PVM Interview Days Move College Closer to Admitting the DVM Class of 2030

After a total of three afternoons dedicated to conducting in-person interviews with 226 prospective veterinary students, the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is close to completing the process of admitting 84 members of the incoming first-year DVM class – the Class of 2030.  The students invited for the interview days were selected from a total pool of 1,930 applicants from across the country as well as countries abroad.

Experts to Gather at Purdue for Conference Addressing the Public Health Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance

The ongoing challenges posed by multi-drug resistant infections will be the focus of a multidisciplinary conference taking place in three weeks at Purdue University.  The Fourth Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance is set for February 25–26, 2026 at Purdue’s Stewart Center in West Lafayette. Registration is still open for the event, which will bring together scientists and scholars from human and veterinary medicine, public health, research, and industry to address the determinants, dynamics and deterrence of drug resistance.

PVM’s Upcoming Coppoc One Health Lecture to Focus on Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine brings a leading One Health scholar to campus each year to address vital health issues from a One Health perspective as part of the Coppoc One Health Lecture series.  This year’s presentation, scheduled for February 26 in Lynn Hall Room 2026, is on the engaging topic, “One Health at Home: Dogs as Sentinels of Environmental Exposure.” The speaker will be Audrey Ruple, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVPM, MRCVS, the Dorothy A. and Richard G. Metcalf Professor of Veterinary Medical Informatics at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

“Paws Up” – brought to you by the PVM Wellness Committee

Today we are happy to acknowledge our Student Success Center Team.

One Health: A ‘digital twin’ model for predicting cancer outcomes

The striking similarities between invasive bladder cancer in dogs and humans have fueled research advances for more than three decades. Most of that work has looked at separate aspects of the disease — risk factors, early detection, symptoms, treatment and gene expression. But a new project at Purdue University that combines many types of available data in a “digital twin” model of bladder cancer may prove powerful enough to predict patient outcomes, starting with the probability of metastasis.

Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins Wins Lifetime Achievement Award at ACVR Annual Meeting

The American College of Veterinary Radiology (ACVR) gave its esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 to Purdue Professor Emeritus Bill Blevins, who is well known to countless Purdue Veterinary Medicine alumni for the expertise he taught them about all things Diagnostic Imaging during his long Purdue career.