already impossible to interview for Davis?!

[bluesails]

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Hi all,

Would appreciate any and all advice.

I am in the very unusual and fortunate situation of being an international student / non-US citizen applying to vet school in the US.

My undergrad (Dartmouth) is on a compacted quarter system and ends our fall quarter right at Thanksgiving. This means I have an extended winter break from late November until something like January 2nd. I am flying back to my home country in order to spend some much-needed time with my family and to possibly volunteer at a Philippine crocodile rehabilitation center.

My problem is that this makes it virtually impossible to go to ANY of UC Davis's MMI dates (for those applying, you'll have the message that lists a few dates in mid-December). I know that I am an OOS candidate and have very slim chances already, but have been told by an alumni friend who is an admissions officer that I have a strong application and that Davis takes a lot of Ivy League undergrads. So I am not giving up hope on Davis, and it is definitely one of my top choices.

Is it in my best interests to tell Davis now that I have a conflict, at the risk of getting cut out of the applicant pool? Also, do you think admissions would be even at all open to moving an interview very early (like late November) or very late (first few days of January)?

I basically want to know if it's pretty much impossible for me to interview for Davis in the (kind of unlikely) event that I get an interview, because it is one of my dream schools. There is no way for me to fly back and forth from Southeast Asia to go to an interview.

Help?

 

[epivetlove]

This is not specific to Davis, as you're asking, but a somewhat similar situation. Texas A&M holds interviews for just one weekend (that I'm aware of) in January. A friend applied for c/o 2017, was granted an interview, but could not get back to the states (she was in Africa) in time to attend and was not given any other opportunity to interview. I think the best chance is to just email admissions and ask, since you have a unique situation.

Good luck! 🙂

 

[jmo1012]

also not davis specific, but i dont know of any MMI interviewing schools that will let you reschedule. never hurts to ask, but unfortunately they want to be able to evaluate everyone at the same time under the same factors in the same situation.

 

[bbeventer]

If Davis is somewhere you really want to interview at.... then I would seriously weigh the pros/cons of coming back to the US early or staying on vaca and helping some crocodiles. This really isn't the schools problem, this is a conflict your creating.

 

[Frozenshades]

also not davis specific, but i dont know of any MMI interviewing schools that will let you reschedule. never hurts to ask, but unfortunately they want to be able to evaluate everyone at the same time under the same factors in the same situation.

👍

 

[bluesails]

If Davis is somewhere you really want to interview at.... then I would seriously weigh the pros/cons of coming back to the US early or staying on vaca and helping some crocodiles. This really isn't the schools problem, this is a conflict your creating.

I don't think it's immediately clear how difficult it is for me to book tickets home, but as an international student I have to plan any trips home almost a year in advance in order to save money and to actually be able to get a seat on a plane. My parents are aware that once I am in vet school it will be harder for me to ever visit them since I will be trying to do constructive things with my breaks, so we planned this trip together one year ago. I was unaware of the fact that any school did interviews in mid-December. I also wouldn't have anywhere in this country to live for the weeks that I spent waiting for that interview, so it's very difficult for me to change my vacation time from the schedule that I'm allowed to live in my dorm.

I would just like to clarify that this is most definitely not a conflict I "created" for myself out of the desire to spend a longer vacation at home.

 

[allieh8607]

If Davis is somewhere you really want to interview at.... then I would seriously weigh the pros/cons of coming back to the US early or staying on vaca and helping some crocodiles. This really isn't the schools problem, this is a conflict your creating.

These are my thoughts exactly. Being interviewed at a school, any school, is a privilege and not a right. I understand and appreciate you predicament, it is quite a tough situation but if you're lucky enough to be granted an interview you'll need to seriously prioritize. If you are going to contact UC David I definitely would not mention the crocodile thing, as they will probably cross you off their list immediately. But you can try explaining your family situation, however I don't think it's going to get you very far just due to the nature of Davis' interview style. Good luck though!

 

[orca2011]

Classmate of mine was abroad in Europe (she had planned the vacation wayyy in advance of interview dates) and asked Penn if they would reschedule, which they generally won't (unless it's a legitimate reason). She ended up having to drop the $1000 for a flight to come home early for it.

I, too, can appreciate how difficult it is to go home to visit your family, but you must have also realized that you were applying to veterinary school and should have factored interviews into your decision. While it is possible, I find it unlikely that no where on this site, or on Davis' site did they fail to mention that some interviews were done in mid-December. Tufts is another school that does some interviews in December, just as a heads up (not sure if you applied there).


ETA: They do actually mention that MMI interviews take place mid-December on their website under "Application Timeline"

 

[bluesails]

Thank you to those of you who gave very informative anecdotes!

This thread is shifting into a conversation about the obvious mistake I made, which I am pretty informed about already. When I said I wasn't aware of the MMI dates, yes, I did mean that I hadn't found their page that says things about the timeline.

I would really appreciate it if further comments focused on other peoples' experiences with rescheduling interviews rather than pointing out the obvious flaws in my plan. This really does not have to evolve into a conversation about whether I deserve to solve this problem or not. Thank you!

 

[psilovethomas]

Thank you to those of you who gave very informative anecdotes!

This thread is shifting into a conversation about the obvious mistake I made, which I am pretty informed about already. When I said I wasn't aware of the MMI dates, yes, I did mean that I hadn't found their page that says things about the timeline.

I would really appreciate it if further comments focused on other peoples' experiences with rescheduling interviews rather than pointing out the obvious flaws in my plan. This really does not have to evolve into a conversation about whether I deserve to solve this problem or not. Thank you!

Why don't you just contact the school directly if you don't like what we have to say? All we can do is predict.

 

[orca2011]

Thank you to those of you who gave very informative anecdotes!

This thread is shifting into a conversation about the obvious mistake I made, which I am pretty informed about already. When I said I wasn't aware of the MMI dates, yes, I did mean that I hadn't found their page that says things about the timeline.

I would really appreciate it if further comments focused on other peoples' experiences with rescheduling interviews rather than pointing out the obvious flaws in my plan. This really does not have to evolve into a conversation about whether I deserve to solve this problem or not. Thank you!

I don't think anyone was trying to say you don't deserve to try to solve this problem. I think it's worth a shot to ask Davis what their thoughts are, but from the stories I've heard, many schools are unforgiving when it comes to making exceptions for things like visiting family. I also think that if you do ask them about rescheduling, a lot of their decision will be based on how you word the inquiry.

 

[Falina]

To be honest, having gone through the process last year, I doubt that they will let you select a date outside of those 🙁
During the MMI you will have mini interviews with 6-8 faculty members and move between different rooms. It would be unlikely that they would be able to get that many faculty members together, or have that many rooms open, outside of the interview weekend.

It wouldn't hurt to ask, though. I would simply ask if it's at all possible to interview outside of the scheduled dates. Don't say that you can't make it otherwise, and don't give any reasons. I don't think they'd get any bad impressions of you or "write you off" with a simple question like that. Lots of people have finals and all kinds of things around that time, so I'm sure you wouldn't be the only one that asks.

Good luck! I hope they'll be able to accommodate 🙂

 

[pp9]

This is definitely a stressful predicament, but I agree with everyone else saying that your chances are slim to none for a reschedule. Like Falina said, the interviews are pretty well planned out. How much time, work, and probably money are put in by the school to interview hundreds of applicants is not always apparent.

Please don't take this in a negative way. I do not have a "tone in my voice," if you will, when I say this. But you have to realize that the schools have 1000 or so applications. They will probably interview somewhere around 300 (I don't know the numbers, UC Davis is not one of my choices). If you can't go, the next person can and will. If I were you, I wouldn't even bring it up to the school and I would cancel my trip.

According to http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/students/dvm_program/admissions/Admission_timeline.cfm, you should find out whether or not you get an interview approximately 1 week ago...haha. The general theme I've noticed is a minimum of three weeks notice is given to you if you land an interview (you need to schedule flights and book hotels after all). If you get an interview, bite the bullet and cancel your trip. Realize that you cannot know whether or not you will ever get the chance again, even with repeated apps. If you don't get an interview, enjoy your family time!

I sincerely hope you find out soon, because you are certainly not in an easy situation. I think telling the school that you pretty much did not plan ahead would be a poor decision. I'm not saying they'd toss your app for that, but this is something you are responsible for and can handle on your own, even if you end up wasting money along the way. Just a drop in the bucket compare to vet school tuition 😛 Falina does have a point when she suggests just asking without explaining your situation. If I were to miss a final at my school, I would fail the course. No exceptions. I wonder how that hasn't been an issue in the past now that I think of it.

 

[AdumberatedMyst]

I'm in the similar position as you, OP. I'm an international student from Taiwan, and I came home after I graduated from UCSD. After few years of internal and external struggle, I finally decided to pursue my dream of becoming a vet. However, I am currently working in an animal hospital in Taiwan, so it is so stressing just thinking about the interviews. It will be hard to drop everything and fly to the US for an interview.

What concerns me the most is that I applied to several schools, and almost all of them requires interviews (MMI or not), and they all have very different interview dates. I don't know how in the world am I ever going to make it to the interviews, if I was granted any. I don't even know whether or not I should ask the schools now. I felt like asking them now would actually hurt my application, and they might just cross of my name off the list as soon as I ask them.

It'd be awesome if anyone can give me any suggestions. Thanks.

Edit: Oops, I just realized Felina and pinkpuppy9 have already made the suggestions. I guess the smart thing for us to do is simply ask the admission offices and see if it is possible to reschedule or do the interview via Skype. Thank you everyone!!

 

[BlackDog17]

They're not going to reject you just for asking. Yeah, if you call and start ranting about how unfair their interview dates are and acting like you're entitled to special treatment, that will probably come back to haunt you. But if you calmly explain your problem and politely ask for help, they're not going to just throw your application in the trash. That would be ridiculous.

However, as others have said, don't count on them making an exception for you, especially since their interview dates have been posted on their website.

 

[Angelo84]

It may also be helpful to give another option--such as keeping the interview time but doing it via something like Skype if you will have or can get to internet access.

 

[pooter]

It may also be helpful to give another option--such as keeping the interview time but doing it via something like Skype if you will have or can get to internet access.

Good thought, but I don't think an MMI would work through Skype. That'd be 6-8 different interviewers who would all have to have to be competent with Skype, who would have to know who bluesails is and when in the rotation ze falls, who would have to connect with hir 6-8 different times and somehow share the interview prompts without giving hir extra time and then they'd have to hope the internet holds out on both ends for the length of all 6-8 interviews. It would just get too complicated.

As to bluesails's situation . . . all I've got is that the cost of a plane ticket is less than the cost of not getting into vet school and having to delay your career for a year.

 

[FutureVet123]

I would do everything you can to go in person. I'd be worried they see it as if there's hundreds of people who are desperate to come do it in person, why would they make an exception?

 

[WelshCob]

I would just ask them and stress that you are an international student. This isn't a vacation situation where you know you're flying to Cancun, Mexico to live it up for a while. You're going home to visit family, just tell them your situation. You email them now and they say they cant move it and you cant come back to the U.S. then don't worry about it. You have other applications and if you are good enough to get into Davis as an OOS then you will get in elsewhere too. A lot of schools with traditional interviews do Skye. At UF last year they had several Skype interviews due to a terrible snow storm in the northeast and flights being cancelled left and right.