Is this normal!?

[cowperson]

hello,
I'm a vet student here in the United States, I can't tell you what year or what school. I am asking other students if the following behavior is normal at your vet schools
My class has had some problems. The most disturbing is the drinking and driving. We've had at least 3 students doing this, with one brazen enough to practically brag about it in class. There are quite a few parties, some thrown by the school on school property and some people leave these inebriated and behind the wheel. One day some of my classmates were drinking in the parking lot at 11 am, and still had more lectures to do in the afternoon. It was definately beer.
One other problem was cheating. We had a couple students providing answers to each other because the test/quiz was staggered in time, and the answers were funneled down the line to the next group. The administration knew it was being done, but couldn't identify any individuals and took no action. They let the grades stand.
Other problems have been a less serious, just a basic lack of respect. Mostly this is cutting in lines, letting doors close, or cell phone use, etcetera

Does anyone else have a class like this? I understand the petty stuff and bickering is normal from reading the other med school groups and stuff, but the drinking/cheating thing gets to me. Does this happen everywhere? Please, any feedback is welcome.
Thank you

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[are_jay]

hello,
I'm a vet student here in the United States, I can't tell you what year or what school. I am asking other students if the following behavior is normal at your vet schools

....

Does anyone else have a class like this? I understand the petty stuff and bickering is normal from reading the other med school groups and stuff, but the drinking/cheating thing gets to me. Does this happen everywhere? Please, any feedback is welcome.
Thank you

Wow that is pretty bad. I know many schools cannot use university funds to purchase alcohol for events, even if it is just at a restaurant. Have seen/heard of the cheating thing, the problem is that there needs to be proof of who is doing what for there to be any meaningful consequences. Still very frustrating. Folks here seem to be good about getting DD's, so I'm not sure why it is a problem where you are.

Hopefully things will get better, I can't imagine all the drunk cheaters keeping their grades up, but that's just me...

 

[CanadianDVM]

cheating is a problem that every university faces... its especially a problem in the programs where you've got a lot of very smart people, who have been used to being the top of their class all the time, no bumped down to "average" status. Med schools and dental schools deal with this too. I'm pretty sure faculty does everything they can to try and circumvent cheaters, but realistically there's only just so much you can do.

As for the drinking and driving - i dont know about it if it happens. People drink and party hard (you have to to keep your sanity) but as far as i know they do it responsibly. I do now of a few cases last year where a few people showed up for the afternoon blitzed, but this year it definitely has not happened (probably because we are so much busier).

 

[birdvet2006]

At my vet school, the majority of the students were young. Drinking is allowed at a younger age (16 or 18?) in Scotland, and drinking was rampant. There are pubs everywhere! You even went with your advisor to get a drink at the local pub - part of the culture. Drinking was found at ALL events, even graduation (champagne, mimosas etc.). Social events were often held at the vet school itself (in the student social building) and people got drunk there. People came to school hung over all the time. But drunk driving? Not sure. Most people were wise enough to call a taxi or have a friend drive. Heck - we even had annual pub crawls (a blast to participate in, let me tell you) where everyone is drunk in the end. AVS weekend? Drunkenfest is another name. (AVS is Association of Veterinary Students).

Cheating - I think every school does have its cheaters. I often wondered about people who kept going to the bathroom during exams...but found that eventually, they made a professor go with you to the bathroom! That stopped those "bathroom-goers" pretty quickly. Our exams were pretty serious events. Held on the main campus (really gothic architecture and church-like exam halls with stained glass etc.), with ricketty squeaky wooden exam tables (individual tables and chairs spaced apart). They had 2-3 professors or proctors walking up and down the aisles/rows throughout the exam, watching you closely. You could only bring your pens/pencils/markers and your student ID. Everything else to be left at the back or side of the exam hall. Anyways, I don't think cheating was rampant but I wouldn't be surprised if it did happen. I don't think that those who felt the need to cheat would actually make it through the entire course without repeating exams, and possibly failing out or dropping out all together. You either know your stuff or you don't!

 

[Atomicgal]

Yeah i know the problem well!! I can really relate to this one. During a rather stressful exam not so long ago, a mobile phone was ringing out from an unknown source. The people supervising the exam tried to find the person responsible but failed to do so. I ended the exam thinking i had completely failed (and almost tearful with frustration!). Luckily for that person i passed though i spent 6 agonising weeks awaiting the results.

The drinking, partying, cheating .. well i think that happens in just about every university and college - it's up to the lecturers to do all they can to prevent this from happening - my uni friends were forever going to bars at lunchtime!! I refrained like the good lass i am!!

I hope it all works out for you though.

Linda