# Admissions Profiles, Academic Stress, and Student Outcomes in Veterinary Education: A Narrative Review

## TL;DR

This review examines how admissions, academic stress, and support systems affect veterinary students' outcomes and well-being.

## Contribution

The paper highlights the need for holistic admissions and institutional support to improve student success and mental health in veterinary education.

## Key findings

- High GPA and test scores predict early academic success but miss key non-cognitive traits like resilience and communication.
- Academic stress from heavy workloads and assessments is linked to anxiety, depression, and burnout.
- Wellness programs and peer support can improve student well-being when integrated into the curriculum.

## Abstract

Veterinary education is academically demanding and emotionally challenging, yet it remains unclear how student selection, academic stress, and well-being interact over time. This review explores how admission characteristics, training pressures, and institutional support influence student outcomes. Strong prior academic performance predicts early success in science-based courses, but grades alone do not capture important qualities such as resilience, adaptability, motivation, and communication skills, which are essential in clinical training. Students commonly face heavy workloads, frequent examinations, financial strain, and stressful clinical transitions. Ongoing stress is associated with anxiety, low mood, and burnout risk. Evidence shows that programs embedding mentoring, wellness training, peer support, and accessible counseling within the curriculum can improve well-being and engagement. A balanced approach that considers both academic readiness and personal strengths, combined with sustained institutional support, may enhance student retention, academic achievement, and long-term professional sustainability.

Veterinary education is academically demanding and emotionally intensive, affecting student performance, well-being, and long-term professional development. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on academic stressors, admissions predictors, coping mechanisms, and institutional responses in veterinary training. Cognitive indicators such as Grade Point Average (GPA) and standardized test scores reliably predict early performance in pre-clinical biomedical courses. However, these measures do not adequately capture essential non-cognitive attributes, including resilience, adaptability, motivation, and communication skills, which are critical for sustained success in clinical environments. Holistic admission approaches show promise but remain inconsistently validated across institutions. Academic stress in veterinary programs arises from heavy curricular loads, frequent high-stakes assessments, financial pressures, and transitions into clinical training. Persistent stress exposure is associated with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and burnout risk. Evidence suggests that structured wellness initiatives, peer mentoring, and resilience-building programs can mitigate these effects when embedded systematically within the curriculum. Current literature is largely cross-sectional and geographically concentrated in Western educational contexts, limiting causal inference and generalizability. Longitudinal, multi-institutional research linking admissions profiles to academic trajectories and psychological outcomes is needed. Integrating cognitive and non-cognitive evaluation with sustained institutional support may enhance retention, academic performance, and professional preparedness in veterinary education.