Career goals part of personal statement

[VeganChick]

As you all know 🙂, the last part of the personal statement asks about career goals. While I have a basic idea of where I would like my career to go, I am not sure on exactly what I want and am hoping vet school will help me do so.

Anyway, I spoke to two different Directors of Admissions this summer and one said that the school likes the student to know what they want before coming in because not being sure makes them look wishy-washy, and the other said that being undecided is perfectly fine because that is part of the reason for the complete education. These are my top two schools (of course).

So, which direction should I go? The "here-is-what-I-am-going-to-do-with-my-education" or the "I-look-forward-to-my-education-helping-me-make-the-best-decision-for-me" route?

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[nyanko]

Well, not sure that I should really be giving actual advice about personal statements, but can't you meet in the middle in some way? Talk about how you feel really drawn to x in veterinary medicine, but look forward to developing an appreciation for the diversity of veterinary medicine as a field and blah blah whatever?

 

[jkq202]

yeah, I would go with something like that too. That's sort of the direction I went. I had some ideas about what I want to do, but didn't get extremely specific.

 

[CBRGrl]

Yeah, I mean they can't expect you to know that you want to be, say a 'small animal neurologist,' fresh out of undergrad. I think a compromise is the best route, say you're leaning towards something but that you're open to the possibilities.

 

[VAgirl]

VeganChick,

I had the same concerns. I think we all probably do, to some extent. Because while we may be interested in a given field and have some general experience, we likely haven't done exactly those specific things of interest. When I started my personal statement, I felt it was important to state what I wanted to do, but also indicate I realized it could change. I really felt that way given that I was a nontraditional applicant and my life right out of undergrad had not gone at all how I would have expected it a few years earlier. So I wanted to sort of address that I knew that could happen in the future, too.

During several rounds of PS revisions, though, I began to state my goals more absolutely. I can't remember all of the feedback now, but I'm pretty sure my mentor who was an adcom in years gone by was one of the ones advising against the wishy-washy-ness.

Looking back at my different drafts, I'd say that the openmindedness I was trying to convey really didn't come out well. So I'd say just go with what you think you want to do in the field. They know your career ideas might change in vet school, I'm sure they've seen it happen before. So I think that, while you want to avoid making it sound like a change in goals would totally throw you, if you show them how your vet med experiences and what you've learned from them have led you to feel that X area is right for you, I think it will make for a stronger personal statement.

 

[critterfixer]

I wrote about how I was drawn to several different areas of vet med (by several, I mean 3) and wanted to pursue a career in one of those three areas. So I *think* I conveyed I had a good idea of my interests, but also that I was leaving the door open to persuaded in a particular direction.

 

[ShelterGirl]

I got dinged last year for not having clear career goals in my PS.

This year I included my goals and relevant examples that led me toward that path. In the interviews they probed me for open-mindedness; fortunately I had some other experiences (zoo, wildlife) that I enjoyed and could draw on for those questions.

 

[rexosaurus]

I think it's okay to say that you're still exploring your niche in vet med, and that you hope the 4 years of vet school will give you the opportunity to do that. Also, if you DO declare a certain area that you want to go into, you should definitely have some (actually, a lot) of experience to back that up. How can you justify wanting to do species conservation work in Africa if you've never actively done conservation work or been to Africa? Just an example, hope it helps!

 

[VeganChick]

Thanks so much for the great thoughts! I feel much better about being able to strike some sort of middle ground in the way I write about my goals .