CREATING A NEW ACCOUNT:
To create an account, click “Create An Account” beneath the login information on the VMCAS homepage. You will be asked to create a username, password, security question, supply valid contact information, agree to terms, and click on the “Create My Account” button to activate a new VMCAS account and be assigned a VMCAS ID#. For your own security, do not share your password or account information with anyone.
APPLICANTS MAY CREATE NO MORE THAN ONE ACCOUNT PER APPLICATION CYCLE. Creating more than one account will lead to delays and difficulty in handling the receipt of your transcripts and letters of reference. Any applicant who creates multiple accounts will have their duplicate accounts terminated, including any documents associated with those accounts.
YOUR NAME:
Provide your title, first name, middle initial, last name and suffix. You may also indicate a display name, such as a nickname or preferred first name to be used throughout your application.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Provide an e-mail address and phone number which you would like VMCAS to use for communication purposes, and specify the type of e-mail address and phone number it is (home, work, or school). Please make sure the e-mail address provided is one that you will have access to, as important messages from VMCAS and the veterinary schools and colleges to which you are applying will be sent here.
USERNAME AND PASSWORD:
Create your log on information, making sure your username is at least 6 characters long, and your password is at least 8 characters and contains both letters and numbers or special characters.
NOTE: To edit any of this information after creating the account, visit “My Profile” section of your application by clicking the arrow next to your name at the top of the page.
PROGRAM SELECTION
Once an account has been created, please select at least one veterinary medical school or college to which you will be applying. It is best to add all programs you are applying to at this point. Additional programs can be added and/or removed in the future. Once at least one program has been added, applicants are welcome to advance to the application.
FORGOTTEN PASSWORDS:
The VMCAS staff does NOT have access to your password information. To retrieve your password, please click the “Forgot your username or password?” link under the login prompt, and an email will be sent to you prompting you to reset your login information.
Please note that passwords and usernames are case sensitive.
VMCAS DASHBOARD:
All applicants must select at least one veterinary program designation in order to move on and begin the application process. Doing so does not finalize school selections; applicants will be able to remove program designations at any time before submission.
Upon adding at least one veterinary program to the application, the system will bring applicants to the VMCAS Dashboard. Your name and VMCAS ID# will appear in the top right-hand corner. Please use this ID# when sending materials to VMCAS or contacting us via e-mail or phone.
The application is divided into four main sections. Each section contains progress bars to guide applicants through the process. At any time, applicants can return to the VMCAS Dashboard by clicking on the link for “My Application”, which is located on the top left section of the screen. The four main sections of the application are as follows:
Personal Information
In this section you will fill out all relevant contact and biographic information, as well as report other personal historical information.
Academic History
This is where you will record the schools you have previously attended, enter your coursework, and report your standardized test scores.
Supporting Information
This is where you will request letters of reference from your evaluators, report your various non-academic experiences, compose your essay, and sign VMCAS release statements.
Program Materials
The veterinary programs to which you are applying can require that you answer school-specific questions, select prerequisite courses, or upload supplemental materials which you may submit directly via this section of the VMCAS application. Once you have added schools to apply to in the designations section, the requirements for their supplemental materials can be found here. You may also view important information about each program you are applying to in this section.
On the left, you can select “My Application,” where you can designate which schools you would like to apply to, submit your application when ready, make payments, and monitor your application’s status. On this toolbar you can also view messages sent to you from the VMCAS staff. VMCAS highly recommends that all applicants monitor this inbox, as some messages may be filtered as spam by your e-mail address, yet will still appear here.
You can click on your name on the top right corner at any time to access the Instructions & FAQ which gives you detailed instructions for each section of the application. You can also access the “My Profile” section from this drop down list, which contains your account and password information.