Saturday, April 2, 2011

I'm going home.

I went though three titles and they all turned out to be Rocky Horror lyrics.

We've got two weeks left in the semester before finals. Everyone's pretty on edge. Luckily I'm in a pretty good spot right now. My grades going into finals are two As, one B+ and one B, so I'm not worried about failing out or having to repeat a semester. At the same time I really want to keep those two As, raise the B+ to an A and raise the B to a B+, but that might not happen and as long as I don't drop to a C in anything I suppose I'll be satisfied if not exactly happy about it.

The reality is that 20% of our starting class won't graduate with us. Ross has a high attrition rate, for a number of reasons, such as the stress of living thousands of miles from home, friends and family. But the majority will leave because of academic reasons. I've heard a lot of speculation on how ethical it is for Ross to take in the lower GPA students that couldn't make it into U.S. vet schools, and most of it is pretty nasty and suggests profit as a primary motivation. As far as my opinion goes, I like that Ross gives those students a shot, but that is exactly what it is; a chance. Quite frankly some people can't succeed in a professional degree program as rigorous as vet school. That isn't to say that they're stupid, just that they're not cut out for this. Ross gives them an opportunity and if they can't make it then at least they had a fair shot.

It'll be interesting to see who comes back next semester and who doesn't.

Anyway, I'm heading back to Indiana the weekend after finals for two weeks. I've got a pet sitter arranged for Mama and her babies. I'm extremely disappointed that I'll be away from them between the ages of 4-5 weeks, so I'll miss out on the wobbly kitten phase.

The first week I'm home I'll be heading up to my alma mater to give a talk to the Purdue Pre-Vet Club about Ross and what it's like being a Ross student. I'm really excited about it. It's something I wish had been available to me when I was considering applying to Ross, so hopefully it'll go well and might be something we could do every year.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! I failed out of an English major at Ball State in 2002. I still have several friends who live in Muncie and visit them frequently. Maybe I should contact them.

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  2. Enjoy your time at home! I know everyone will be glad to see you!

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