AgScholars Program

Participants must be enrolled in the Animal Sciences BS degree program at the University of Missouri and complete course pre-requisites required of all applicants to the Mizzou College of Veterinary Medicine and required courses needed to complete the AS 3 (4) and 1 AS degree program.

1. Maintain a cum GPA of 3.50 or better in Mizzou classes (semesters where a student is enrolled as a part-time student will not be used in the calculation of cumulative GPA). If a student fails to maintain a 3.50 cumulative GPA, he or she will have two successive full-time semesters to improve cumulative GPA to 3.50 or better. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the program. If after coming off cum GPA probation cum falls below program minimums of 3.50 a second time, automatic dismissal.
2. Required courses for admission must be taken at Mizzou (60 hours total). Elective courses may be taken elsewhere in summer, but grades will not be used in calculating the required cum GPA (required courses meeting program minimums taken while in high school must be recorded on Mizzou transcript).
3. Make a B- or better in the sixty hours of required preprofessional courses. If one or more grade of a C is obtained in any required course, a student will be dismissed from the program. A single failing grade in any course will result in dismissal. Note: This academic requirement of a B- also applies to the general and organic chemistry requirement for biochemistry 3630. This does not include animal science courses unless being used to fulfill a course pre-requisite.
4. Maintain an average course load of 15 hours per semester (fall and spring only), exclusive of summer courses, AP, CLEP, or advanced standing course hours.
5. Acquire a minimum of 300 contact hours of professional exposure in high school or college. No more than 100 of the required 300 hours are allowed to be completed in the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center for those students employed there. Observation hours must be completed prior to submitting vet school application.
   
   A combination of a minimum of 50 hours in two of three areas — Small Animal (SA) practice observation, Large Animal (LA) practice observation, or Research participation — is required. The remaining required portion of the 300 hours can be accumulated from any combination of SA or LA practice observation. While participation in research beyond 50 hours may provide value, no more than 50 hours of research can be used in fulfillment of the 300 contact hours of professional exposure.
   
   For example, any of these would be acceptable:
   250 hours of LA + 50 hours of SA
   150 hours of SA + 150 hours of LA
   250 hours of SA + 50 hours of research
   140 hours of SA + 110 hours of LA + 50 hours of research
   
   To qualify, research must find the scholar to be engaged in life-sciences, animal-sciences or biologic research. This research exposure does not include simple animal care or maintenance of lab cleanliness but must involve some degree of participation in hypothesis driven research, be that in participation in study design, conducting experiments or analysis of data. The Primary Investigator on the study must submit a brief description of your role and time commitment to the research project(s) to document satisfactory participation.
   
   If a student submits an application to the Mizzou College of Veterinary Medicine independent of the Scholars Program, prior to meeting the minimum program standards, and is unsuccessful in gaining admission, that student forfeits their placement in the Scholars Program. They may apply to other Veterinary programs without jeopardizing their status in the program.
   
6. Required to meet with faculty mentor the first month of every enrolled semester, though additional meetings are encouraged. Fall (September) and Spring (February).
7. Become and remain an active member of the Pre-Veterinary Medicine Club and attend a minimum of 10 on campus meetings per academic year. Socials do not count.
8. Meet minimum attendance and participation requirements for supervised observation in the Mizzou Veterinary Health Center. These clinical rotations do not meet the requirement for experience with veterinarians (see point five above).
9. Complete program minimums within four years. A minimum of three years (six full-time semesters) of undergraduate studies at Mizzou are required before matriculating at the College of Veterinary Medicine
   
   Mizzou Animal Sciences courses that can be used toward fulfilling the 10 semester hours biological science prerequisite are:
   AS 3213 Genetics (3 hrs)
   AS 3254 Physiology of Domestic Animals (5 hrs)
   AS 4314 Repro Physiology (3 hrs)