Class of 2020 Applicants

[Koala1010]

Hey all... since I'm returning to school next week, I was wondering whether it is more appropriate to get gifts/cards for my advisor and recommenders when I return to school or if most people do this after they have already heard back from schools (whether good or bad) in spring. I am guessing either is fine, but wasn't sure if one makes more sense and was interested in other opinions. I'm kind of leaning towards waiting at this point!

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[wheelin2vetmed]

Hey all... since I'm returning to school next week, I was wondering whether it is more appropriate to get gifts/cards for my advisor and recommenders when I return to school or if most people do this after they have already heard back from schools (whether good or bad) in spring. I am guessing either is fine, but wasn't sure if one makes more sense and was interested in other opinions. I'm kind of leaning towards waiting at this point!

If you get a gift card, I think $10 Starbucks or something is sufficient; anything more seems a bit excessive to me.

I went in to my professor's office yesterday who runs the lab I volunteer at (she's amazing, wrote one of my letters, and has supported me so much - love that lady) and just said " Dr. L, can I give you a hug!?" She proceeded to almost trip over my wheelchair which was funny, but I said "Thank you for believing in me and helping me with everything." It made her day.

Depends on your relationship with them me thinks.

 

[finnickthedog]

I'm a 4th time applicant, got accepted to western university last application cycle, but distance was too far and tuition too high. I wasn't sure if I was even going to apply this year but decided last minute that I was. I just submitted my application yesterday and sent in transcripts last week. Hoping they receive them in time to get everything entered by the 15th. At least all my ELORS are in. This is my very last time applying. Only applying to UGA. Last ditch effort kinda thing.

Good luck to everyone.

Good luck to you!

 

[BeamingLight]

I'm a 4th time applicant, got accepted to western university last application cycle, but distance was too far and tuition too high. I wasn't sure if I was even going to apply this year but decided last minute that I was. I just submitted my application yesterday and sent in transcripts last week. Hoping they receive them in time to get everything entered by the 15th. At least all my ELORS are in. This is my very last time applying. Only applying to UGA. Last ditch effort kinda thing.

Good luck to everyone.

I hope your dreams come true this time around. One of my favorite doctors I worked with over the years went to UGA. She's an amazing doctor. Good luck!

 

[Cephal0pod]

If you get a gift card, I think $10 Starbucks or something is sufficient; anything more seems a bit excessive to me.

I went in to my professor's office yesterday who runs the lab I volunteer at (she's amazing, wrote one of my letters, and has supported me so much - love that lady) and just said " Dr. L, can I give you a hug!?" She proceeded to almost trip over my wheelchair which was funny, but I said "Thank you for believing in me and helping me with everything." It made her day.

Depends on your relationship with them me thinks.

Oh the warm fuzzies. That is great.

I definitely plan on sending some heartfelt thank you notes/letters, and will probably include some sort of small gift as well. I was planning on doing this shortly after they submitted my eLORs.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

Is VMCAS slow to update status changes? My supplemental says that they received my VMCAS application today, but VMCAS still has it listed as "verifying."

 

[Caiter92]

Is VMCAS slow to update status changes? My supplemental says that they received my VMCAS application today, but VMCAS still has it listed as "verifying."

Same for me. I think I may have read in the VCMAS faq that they release the apps to your schools right away, but schools don't usually bother to look at it till it's verified. Maybe that is what's going on?

 

[PrincessButterCup]

Same for me. I think I may have read in the VCMAS faq that they release the apps to your schools right away, but schools don't usually bother to look at it till it's verified. Maybe that is what's going on?

I got an e-mail from VMCAS this afternoon saying that my coursework has been verified.

 

[hna028]

For those that have already gotten their application verified, how long did it take for VMCAS to verify your application?

Also my apology if this question was asked before >__<

 

[deleted676737]

For those that have already gotten their application verified, how long did it take for VMCAS to verify your application?

Also my apology if this question was asked before >__<

I submitted VMCAS on a Friday, and it was verified by the following Tuesday morning, and that was a few weeks ago. So, at least in my case, it was finished relatively quickly. But as more and more people start submitting since we're approaching the deadline now, it may start taking a little bit longer.

 

[thecatastrophist]

For those who are waiting, I submitted my VMCAS on the deadline because I had to wait on my October paycheck to pay the application fees. I was verified maybe a week or a week and a half after applying. But as others have said, if you submit early, you'll probably be verfied quickly. I imagine my wait was due mostly to the amount of applicants who submitted and needed to be verified.

 

[Koala1010]

I feel like everyone has been getting verified super early... they kind of set you up to believe it will take forever (and I'm sure in some cases it does), but mine was literally verified a day after all three of my recs were submitted (at the beginning-ish of August).

 

[PrincessButterCup]

I submitted August 16 and was verified yesterday, so it took just a little over a week.

 

[Soon2bedogtor]

GRE to schools directly, transcripts to VMCAS only!

You are fab, just fab. Thank you!

 

[WildZoo]

I feel like everyone has been getting verified super early... they kind of set you up to believe it will take forever (and I'm sure in some cases it does), but mine was literally verified a day after all three of my recs were submitted (at the beginning-ish of August).

I'm pretty sure they do that so everyone doesn't end up submitting last minute, in which case it probably would take longer to verify.

 

[WildZoo]

Last year I submitted on October 2nd and was verified on October 23rd. So if you do end up submitting on the deadline it could take longer, but there's also a chance that they've made verification more efficient this year (it seems that way to me).

 

[finnickthedog]

So... I picked up my copy of my transcript today and I have a question. I'll ask VMCAS as well, but I'm hoping someone here knows and I usually hear something faster on here.

For my AP credits, the transcript just lists that I got a total of 16 credits but does not list the courses I got credit for. On the application, do I still list the courses that I got credit for? If not, how am I supposed to list them? And if I can't list the individual courses then am I going to have any sort of issue with the fact that two of them are prereqs? The school accepts AP credits to meet the requirement, but I don't know how I'm supposed to prove I got credit if it's not on my transcript. :/

 

[PrincessButterCup]

From my understanding, what you enter has to match your transcript exactly. I would expect they wouldn't want you to enter them with your courses for that reason, but maybe they'll tell you to list them with your experiences instead?

 

[emilygee]

I had the same problem. You have to contact your school and have them draft a letter stated the course equivalency for your AP credits. You then send that to VMCAS and, if you want, to the schools you applied to.

 

[finnickthedog]

I had the same problem. You have to contact your school and have them draft a letter stated the course equivalency for your AP credits. You then send that to VMCAS and, if you want, to the schools you applied to.

Is that what they told you?

I finally found this after awhile of searching through the instructions:

If your transcript does not break down the credit into individual courses and you know what these are, you may still break this down yourself as long as the credits add up to the correct lump sum indicated on the transcript.

So I really just don't know. I sent an email. Waiting to hear back. I'm going to be so ticked off if I have to get a letter sent.

 

[wigglebutt]

So I was planning on finishing my pre-reqs this fall for the one school I'm applying to this semester. Due to some unfortunate financial circumstances I won't be able to do them until the spring semester. Does anyone know if waiting until the spring to finish them would count against me on an application? Would it look like maybe I didn't plan well or something? I got my BS back in 2011 but kind of whirl-winded into the vet school stuff and have been scrambling over the last 2 years

 

[Gwenevre]

So I was planning on finishing my pre-reqs this fall for the one school I'm applying to this semester. Due to some unfortunate financial circumstances I won't be able to do them until the spring semester. Does anyone know if waiting until the spring to finish them would count against me on an application? Would it look like maybe I didn't plan well or something? I got my BS back in 2011 but kind of whirl-winded into the vet school stuff and have been scrambling over the last 2 years

E-mail or call your schools. Some schools don't mind if a certain number of your prereqs are finished the spring before matriculation.

 

[heyyimhayley]

Thoughts on contractions in personal statement? I have a lot of "I've" and "I'm" that save me a bunch of characters... is that frowned on/unprofessional?

 

[Caiter92]

Thoughts on contractions in personal statement? I have a lot of "I've" and "I'm" that save me a bunch of characters... is that frowned on/unprofessional?

I've always been told in any sort of formal writing piece it is best to use contractions as little possible. A few probably is fine, but I would definitely try to limit them.

 

[Cephal0pod]

Haha, that is kinda clever. I didn't use any contractions, I've always been taught to steer clear of them with more professional writing.

Edit: Whoops, Caiter beat me too it. I second the sentiment.

 

[wheelin2vetmed]

How long did it take to see your official GRE scores populate in your ets.org account? Of course, they only give you 4 schools to send your score to for free, and I applied to 5. So I have to order my GRE score for one school.

When will the application credit card charges end!?

 

[Cephal0pod]

How long did it take to see your official GRE scores populate in your ets.org account? Of course, they only give you 4 schools to send your score to for free, and I applied to 5. So I have to order my GRE score for one school.

When will the application credit card charges end!?

I had my scores about 10 days after I took the test the first time.

 

[finnickthedog]

To anyone it may concern (probably no one at this point since we're so close to the deadline), the email I received back from VMCAS was useless so I gave them a call. I was told that it should be fine that I broke down my AP courses into what they actually are because they'll be marked as AP and they add up to the correct number of credits.

So that's what I'm going to do and fingers crossed that they didn't steer me wrong.
(For the records, this advice does line up with the quote I pulled from the instructions earlier or I wouldn't be following it. I only called to verify the instructions since it goes against the whole 'must match exactly' deal. The thing is with the AP credits you can't match exactly in my case because there is no course code, title, or grade listed on the official so it makes sense that there would be different instructions, I just wish it was a little more clear.)

Also, they strongly advised me to submit as soon as possible even though my transcript isn't in yet. So I'm having my mother look my application over for errors and probably submitting tonight or tomorrow. Then I get to play the waiting game... first for the transcript to arrive and then for verification.

 

[SummerTheLynx]

To anyone it may concern (probably no one at this point since we're so close to the deadline), the email I received back from VMCAS was useless so I gave them a call. I was told that it should be fine that I broke down my AP courses into what they actually are because they'll be marked as AP and they add up to the correct number of credits.

So that's what I'm going to do and fingers crossed that they didn't steer me wrong.
(For the records, this advice does line up with the quote I pulled from the instructions earlier or I wouldn't be following it. I only called to verify the instructions since it goes against the whole 'must match exactly' deal. The thing is with the AP credits you can't match exactly in my case because there is no course code, title, or grade listed on the official so it makes sense that there would be different instructions, I just wish it was a little more clear.)

Also, they strongly advised me to submit as soon as possible even though my transcript isn't in yet. So I'm having my mother look my application over for errors and probably submitting tonight or tomorrow. Then I get to play the waiting game... first for the transcript to arrive and then for verification.

This is correct. Just add an explanation statement explaining that your school's policy prevents them from listing the individual credits on there!

 

[heyyimhayley]

Apologies if this has been asked before, but do you just list "volunteer" in the box where it says volunteer compensated or academic credit for clubs? Also I did a couple summer programs that were experiential learning type of thing that i didn't get credit for..so are they volunteer?

 

[KaMi03]

Does the application have to verified by September 15th? Do they stop verifying whichever applications they have not gotten to at that point?... Or do they cut off at the applicants that turned in 2 weeks prior? Someone from VMCAS said 2-4 weeks. I'm still waiting on one letter to start verification unfortunately

 

[WildZoo]

Does the application have to verified by September 15th? Do they stop verifying whichever applications they have not gotten to at that point?... Or do they cut off at the applicants that turned in 2 weeks prior? Someone from VMCAS said 2-4 weeks. I'm still waiting on one letter to start verification unfortunately

No, you just have to gave all your materials in by that day. They will continue to verify until they get through all the applications.

 

[finnickthedog]

This is correct. Just add an explanation statement explaining that your school's policy prevents them from listing the individual credits on there!

If I'm listing the courses anyways... then what exactly am I supposed to put in the explanation statement? If I put that they aren't individually listed on the transcript then won't it just look weird that they're individually listed on the VMCAS coursework? I'm just a little confused as to what the explanation statement is supposed to add. It would make more sense to me to include one if I was listing all the credits as a 16 credit chunk... but I'm putting them as individual courses so I'm confused.

 

[SummerTheLynx]

If I'm listing the courses anyways... then what exactly am I supposed to put in the explanation statement? If I put that they aren't individually listed on the transcript then won't it just look weird that they're individually listed on the VMCAS coursework? I'm just a little confused as to what the explanation statement is supposed to add. It would make more sense to me to include one if I was listing all the credits as a 16 credit chunk... but I'm putting them as individual courses so I'm confused.

It is more to say that there is a reason that your AP credits are not listed on your transcript

 

[finnickthedog]

It is more to say that there is a reason that your AP credits are not listed on your transcript

Right... but I thought the school doesn't see my actual transcript, they just see what I put into VMCAS.
So if the courses are going to be listed on VMCAS... what is the purpose of the explanation?
I'm just trying to figure out what exactly I'm using the explanation to say in this case because I don't quite understand.

I'm sure this is absurdly simple, but I'm sick and I'm just not getting it so sorry for the ton of questions.

 

[zinhle]

Question...
I received an email from one of my evaluators saying he summited my reference and wishing me luck, but when I look into vmcas it still shows only as "accepted". does it take a while to update ? he is super busy and I don't want to bother him again, but im afraid he might have done something wrong. anyone had this issue before ? should I ask him to summit it again?

 

[Cephal0pod]

Hm, it shouldn't take long, I got a completed eLOR notification email from VMCAS the same day. Maybe give it a day to see if it updates, then if not, politely ask him to confirm it was submitted?

 

[LuckySpartan]

That status should change instantaneously. I would ask him to resubmit

 

[heyyimhayley]

Anyone applying to Cornell have any issues with eLORs that only go through their system? My old manager just told me today that he never received their invitation. I contacted admissions, hopefully there is something they can do.

 

[njvet93]

Anyone applying to Cornell have any issues with eLORs that only go through their system? My old manager just told me today that he never received their invitation. I contacted admissions, hopefully there is something they can do.

The eLor request from Cornell went to my evaluators spam folder. Maybe have your manager check there if they haven't already.

 

[heyyimhayley]

The eLor request from Cornell went to my evaluators spam folder. Maybe have your manager check there if they haven't already.

Yeah I told him it may have gone there, I didn't hear back after that email though (it was me saying thanks for telling me, check your spam folder and I'll touch base with you after I talk to admissions). It also was over a month ago that I sent the request. I should have followed up with him sooner, but he is very busy, and I just assumed he received it.

 

[BeamingLight]

Thoughts on contractions in personal statement? I have a lot of "I've" and "I'm" that save me a bunch of characters... is that frowned on/unprofessional?

I think this depends on what you want. I was taught that formal writing should not use contractions however, I think this rule is less important the more confident you are in your writing. Because I was trained this way, it is normal for me to never use contractions, but as I read and re-read my PS, there were times where the uncontracted versions sounded TOO formal, almost unnatural, so I changed them. Write in whatever way that makes you feel most confident. Some would rather not take the risk, but I don't think it's a big deal.

P.S. I talked about this extensively with my friend who is a writer by profession and he agrees with me.

 

[LyraGardenia]

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but how did you all enter your average weekly hours for extracurricular clubs??? I never kept track of this because we didn't have to enter a number of hours for those experiences before. I could try to come up with a rough estimate, but it varied widely depending on whether or not we had events going on.

 

[heyyimhayley]

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but how did you all enter your average weekly hours for extracurricular clubs??? I never kept track of this because we didn't have to enter a number of hours for those experiences before. I could try to come up with a rough estimate, but it varied widely depending on whether or not we had events going on.

I only included meeting times. It was probably more than that if you include events, and time outside of meeting spent preparing where I had leadership positions, but I didn't find that important to calculated.

 

[WildZoo]

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but how did you all enter your average weekly hours for extracurricular clubs??? I never kept track of this because we didn't have to enter a number of hours for those experiences before. I could try to come up with a rough estimate, but it varied widely depending on whether or not we had events going on.

Just estimate. I honestly doubt the schools will care all that much about whether you have an exact number for the hours you spent in extracurriculars that aren't part of your vet, animal, and research experience.

 

[missdarjeeling]

Oh christ, every day it's something new with this POS website. Now it's doing this thing where if I go edit an entry in the achievements or experiences section, when I save it, it sets the start date back a day. Every time. WHY.

 

[WildZoo]

Oh christ, every day it's something new with this POS website. Now it's doing this thing where if I go edit an entry in the achievements or experiences section, when I save it, it sets the start date back a day. Every time. WHY.

That is such a weird glitch

 

[LuckySpartan]

Personal Statement question to all my fellow applicants.... How important/ not important is it to clarify in your personal statement your clinical interest... i.e. small animal vs. large animals.....

 

[Caiter92]

I would answer all parts of the prompt, but my career interests section was pretty small. Most of my PS was my unique experiences and knowledge of the profession aspects of the prompt. My career interests were included in my summary of sorts last paragraph. It was a, "right now I'm interested in x,y,z, but am looking forward to exploring these and other options during my time in school," sort of thing.

 

[finnickthedog]

I'm (finally) submitting my application.
Nervesnervesnerves.


EDIT #2: The status changed to verifying so it's all good.

EDIT: I submitted and it says it's "awaiting materials" but all my eLORs are complete and I received an email that my transcript was recieved/processed. Given that I just got the email less than an hour ago could it be that the status is just behind? Should I call? Or wait a certain amount of time and then call?