Class of 2020 Applicants

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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LetItSnow said:
Bum advice.

Maybe the reason you got in was in spite of your letters. I'm not saying it necessarily was, but it's bad advice to encourage people to settle for more generic recommendation letters unnecessarily, just because you had some and you got in. Nobody - especially not MB - is saying you can't get in with less-than-amazing portions of an application.

You want to do the absolute best you can with every part of the application. Some parts will be better than others just because that's the way life works and most of us can't be amazing at everything. But I'm with MB: You want to have letter writers that <actually really> want you to get into vet school.

If you don't have them, ok, you go with what you have. Again, that's just life. But for people who are in the planning stages of vet school, it's better advice to suggest that they start building those relationships so that they have people who are more excited about them personally when it comes time to have someone write the letter.

In regards to how you approach someone, I've always strongly advocated in-person if it's possible. It's more professional and it delivers the message to the person you're asking that you really care about the quality of what they write. So they are more likely to put more effort into it. If someone sent me an email with "Um, hey, could you write me a letter?" how much effort am I going to put into that compared to the person that shows up in my office wearing halfway-decent clothes with a copy of their resume and says "I'm applying to vet school. I felt like you would be well-positioned to write me a letter of recommendation because of our <whatever history you have>. Would you be willing to help me?"

Holy cow - I'm going to put out EFFORT for that second person.
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I see you didn't get the point of my post. Oh well.
 
What do you all think about eLORs from non-vet employers (assuming the schools you're applying to accept them)?

When doing my prereqs, I had to commute an hour each way to school and was also working, so I didn't have time to hang around on campus and chat with my professors much. There were two or three, including my pre-vet advisor, who I was able to talk to and get to know a little bit, but none of them really know me that well. My first time through undergrad, I got to know my professors very well, so I can tell how superficial the connections I had with these recent profs are, in comparison. So I'm expecting a meh/good letter and not a great one, though I plan to give the prof I ask my resume and my personal statement draft so she can get a sense of what I'm trying to do.

My old boss, though, from a job I left in 2012 knew me very well. She's an academic, so she's used to writing letters for students, and we talked at length about my plans to take classes and apply to vet school. Her nephew is doing the same thing, so she's familiar with the process. I think she'd be in a good position to speak to almost all of the things listed on the eLOR form and I've been in touch with her recently about serving as a reference for me. She's given a reference for me before that my other employer described as "glowing," so I think she'd write an awesome letter. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to reach out to her to balance out what's bound to be a weaker academic reference. Would it look a little odd to have a letter like this, since it has nothing to do with science, school, or vet med?
 
Nalikti said:
Potentially stupid question, I admit, but in the Prerequisites tab for the schools in Manage My Programs, do we need to select all of the classes entered that could satisfy the specific pre-req, or can we just pick and choose (for example, if I've taken several different classes that fall under the umbrella of a particular school's "Social Sciences and Humanities" pre-req, should I check all of them, or just the first ones listed chronologically on the transcript, or the ones with the highest grades)?

I feel like such an idiot asking this, haha.
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Was this question ever answered? I'm curious as well. Also wondering if for the schools that don't require labs, I should check off the lab that went with that course? Same with the schools who only require like physics 1 and not physics 2.
 
missdarjeeling said:
What do you all think about eLORs from non-vet employers (assuming the schools you're applying to accept them)?

When doing my prereqs, I had to commute an hour each way to school and was also working, so I didn't have time to hang around on campus and chat with my professors much. There were two or three, including my pre-vet advisor, who I was able to talk to and get to know a little bit, but none of them really know me that well. My first time through undergrad, I got to know my professors very well, so I can tell how superficial the connections I had with these recent profs are, in comparison. So I'm expecting a meh/good letter and not a great one, though I plan to give the prof I ask my resume and my personal statement draft so she can get a sense of what I'm trying to do.

My old boss, though, from a job I left in 2012 knew me very well. She's an academic, so she's used to writing letters for students, and we talked at length about my plans to take classes and apply to vet school. Her nephew is doing the same thing, so she's familiar with the process. I think she'd be in a good position to speak to almost all of the things listed on the eLOR form and I've been in touch with her recently about serving as a reference for me. She's given a reference for me before that my other employer described as "glowing," so I think she'd write an awesome letter. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to reach out to her to balance out what's bound to be a weaker academic reference. Would it look a little odd to have a letter like this, since it has nothing to do with science, school, or vet med?
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I'd say that would be a great one! Especially if you're applying to multiple schools (where not all of them allow this kind of letter), it would be an awesome fourth letter if you can swing 3 more.
 
missdarjeeling said:
What do you all think about eLORs from non-vet employers (assuming the schools you're applying to accept them)?

When doing my prereqs, I had to commute an hour each way to school and was also working, so I didn't have time to hang around on campus and chat with my professors much. There were two or three, including my pre-vet advisor, who I was able to talk to and get to know a little bit, but none of them really know me that well. My first time through undergrad, I got to know my professors very well, so I can tell how superficial the connections I had with these recent profs are, in comparison. So I'm expecting a meh/good letter and not a great one, though I plan to give the prof I ask my resume and my personal statement draft so she can get a sense of what I'm trying to do.

My old boss, though, from a job I left in 2012 knew me very well. She's an academic, so she's used to writing letters for students, and we talked at length about my plans to take classes and apply to vet school. Her nephew is doing the same thing, so she's familiar with the process. I think she'd be in a good position to speak to almost all of the things listed on the eLOR form and I've been in touch with her recently about serving as a reference for me. She's given a reference for me before that my other employer described as "glowing," so I think she'd write an awesome letter. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to reach out to her to balance out what's bound to be a weaker academic reference. Would it look a little odd to have a letter like this, since it has nothing to do with science, school, or vet med?
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Definitely a good choice. As long as you meet the requirements for letters from vet types, I think a strong letter from a person well-suited to evaluate you is great.
 
LetItSnow said:
Definitely a good choice. As long as you meet the requirements for letters from vet types, I think a strong letter from a person well-suited to evaluate you is great.
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Yeah I am having my college cheer coach and past bosses write me a letter of rec. They both know me differently and are able to speak about me in a different dynamic other than from a vet or academic standpoint. So coaches, bosses, mentors etc are also great sources if you had a good professional relationship with them 🙂
 
I can see both sides, but the advising department at my school actually recommended sending an email to potential recommenders first, asking them if they would write a letter and providing some initial information, and offering to meet in person to discuss further. Two of mine wanted to meet in person, one was fine with the info I sent over email, and the other was in another state so we wouldn't have been able to meet anyway. I think a professional, informative email probably works just as well as an initial request in person, and might be more convenient for all involved, especially if it isn't someone you run into on a regular basis anymore.
 
missdarjeeling said:
What do you all think about eLORs from non-vet employers (assuming the schools you're applying to accept them)?

When doing my prereqs, I had to commute an hour each way to school and was also working, so I didn't have time to hang around on campus and chat with my professors much. There were two or three, including my pre-vet advisor, who I was able to talk to and get to know a little bit, but none of them really know me that well. My first time through undergrad, I got to know my professors very well, so I can tell how superficial the connections I had with these recent profs are, in comparison. So I'm expecting a meh/good letter and not a great one, though I plan to give the prof I ask my resume and my personal statement draft so she can get a sense of what I'm trying to do.

My old boss, though, from a job I left in 2012 knew me very well. She's an academic, so she's used to writing letters for students, and we talked at length about my plans to take classes and apply to vet school. Her nephew is doing the same thing, so she's familiar with the process. I think she'd be in a good position to speak to almost all of the things listed on the eLOR form and I've been in touch with her recently about serving as a reference for me. She's given a reference for me before that my other employer described as "glowing," so I think she'd write an awesome letter. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to reach out to her to balance out what's bound to be a weaker academic reference. Would it look a little odd to have a letter like this, since it has nothing to do with science, school, or vet med?
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One of my letters was from a lit professor I'd had at least one class with for 5 semesters straight, and ended up being a TA for. I have a feeling his was probably my best letter because he knew me so well. Definitely a good idea to have an extra letter in there by someone who knows you really well, as long as your other letters cover the schools' specific requirements.
 
Another thing that may seem like a stupid question...

How do you ask for the a letter of recommendation? I'm sure my vet will have no problem writing me one, but I'm still incredibly nervous about asking and not sure how to phrase it. 🙁
 
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Nalikti said:
I never was able to find a definitive answer to this question, no. I'm hoping to ask VMCAS directly come Monday morning when they're open again, since this is an entirely new thing this year and all.

For now, I just went and selected all of my classes that could reasonably satisfy each of my schools' pre-reqs and called it good. As for the labs...my undergrad didn't have separate classes and labs, so I'm not the best person to ask about that question.

I wonder...has anyone tried to access Iowa State's supplemental again? Is it still spitting out errors about the VMCAS IDs being too short?

EDIT: Yes. Yes, it is. Bleh.
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Definitely a good idea to talk to VMCAS directly but from looking at it, it seems like you should just pick a course that satisfies the requirement. Some supplemental apps have a similar thing where you fill out a form and self-identify which of your courses satisfy each prerequisite.
 
finnickthedog said:
Another thing that may seem like a stupid question...

<i>How</i> do you ask for the a letter of recommendation? I'm sure my vet will have no problem writing me one, but I'm still incredibly nervous about asking and not sure how to phrase it. 🙁
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"I am applying to vet school this summer and was wondering if you would be able to write me a good/positive/excellent/fabulous recommendation letter. I can give you a copy of my CV and my personal statement if you think it would be helpful."
 
My prospect of possibly not being able to get a very positive LOR from the only vet I'm shadowing is something that will probably keep me from applying this year. I know that LORs will be my weakest link, because the vets I used to work with were Residents in the VTH and have since moved on to bigger and better things.
While the rest of your application may be A++, what your supers and colleagues think of you will speak volumes to adcoms. So keep that in mind when you're deciding who to ask to write you letters.
 
Does anyone know if going to a good undergrad school (like Ivy-level) helps with vet school application? My GPA isn't ideal, a 3.47, and I have to retake orgo 2 this Fall. I'm hoping the committee would wait till my new orgo grade comes in before final consideration. My application won't be the strongest but I am applying in state which could help and I'm incredibly motivated to get in.
 
Gwenevre said:
My prospect of possibly not being able to get a very positive LOR from the only vet I'm shadowing is something that will probably keep me from applying this year. I know that LORs will be my weakest link, because the vets I used to work with were Residents in the VTH and have since moved on to bigger and better things.
While the rest of your application may be A++, what your supers and colleagues think of you will speak volumes to adcoms. So keep that in mind when you're deciding who to ask to write you letters.
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Wait a sec, I don't get it. Why not get in touch with the residents you knew well?

I wouldn't let the hold you back for applying!
 
PrevetGA said:
Does anyone know if going to a good undergrad school (like Ivy-level) helps with vet school application? My GPA isn't ideal, a 3.47, and I have to retake orgo 2 this Fall. I'm hoping the committee would wait till my new orgo grade comes in before final consideration. My application won't be the strongest but I am applying in state which could help and I'm incredibly motivated to get in.
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I suppose the best answer is probably "Sure, maybe, depending on who reads and scores your application."
 
LetItSnow said:
Wait a sec, I don't get it. Why not get in touch with the residents you knew well?

I wouldn't let the hold you back for applying!
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Because even those residents I knew I didn't have a very rock solid strong personal relationship with either. My relationships were with the techs, since every month the residents rotated in and out of Neuro, and I was only in the clinic once a week. The residents saw me and worked with me, but they didn't know me on a very personal basis, just that I showed up, held dogs, and the techs could vouch for me. So while I might be able to find them, I'm not confident I'd get a rock solid letter now compared to if I waited, worked for a vet or interned and got one of two good solid letters next year instead.
 
finnickthedog said:
Another thing that may seem like a stupid question...

How do you ask for the a letter of recommendation? I'm sure my vet will have no problem writing me one, but I'm still incredibly nervous about asking and not sure how to phrase it. 🙁
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Don't worry, I was really nervous as well! If you've worked with them for a long time, just be yourself and talk to them as you would normally. I think I told them I was applying to vet school in the course of a regular conversation, then asked if they'd feel comfortable doing a letter for me. Even though I'd been shadowing these vets for a long time, I was still so jittery... but you can't let fear of rejection keep you from doing it 🙂
 
Nalikti said:
I never was able to find a definitive answer to this question, no. I'm hoping to ask VMCAS directly come Monday morning when they're open again, since this is an entirely new thing this year and all.

For now, I just went and selected all of my classes that could reasonably satisfy each of my schools' pre-reqs and called it good. As for the labs...my undergrad didn't have separate classes and labs, so I'm not the best person to ask about that question.

I wonder...has anyone tried to access Iowa State's supplemental again? Is it still spitting out errors about the VMCAS IDs being too short?

EDIT: Yes. Yes, it is. Bleh.
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Oops I totally did the opposite. I just picked a class I got an A in that satisfied the requirement. Hopefully both ways are acceptable. I can't imagine this being too big a deal, right? Since it's new and stuff the schools probably don't know what to expect either, and as long as the pre-reqs are indicated somewhere... or at least thats what I'm hoping.
 
BirdsinMyHouse said:
Don't worry, I was really nervous as well! If you've worked with them for a long time, just be yourself and talk to them as you would normally. I think I told them I was applying to vet school in the course of a regular conversation, then asked if they'd feel comfortable doing a letter for me. Even though I'd been shadowing these vets for a long time, I was still so jittery... but you can't let fear of rejection keep you from doing it 🙂
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I asked one of my eLORs today, and I was so nervous it was pretty embarrassing. But she still said yes! 🙂
 
finnickthedog said:
Another thing that may seem like a stupid question...

How do you ask for the a letter of recommendation? I'm sure my vet will have no problem writing me one, but I'm still incredibly nervous about asking and not sure how to phrase it. 🙁
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I get being nervous about it. I understand. But take a deep breath and just flat-out ask them. "My vet school application is coming up and I was wondering if you could support me by writing a great letter of recommendation." You're not asking them to marry you; just to write a letter on your behalf. The exact words you use aren't a big deal as long as you're respectful and professional.

It will be fine. Promise.
 
If I have many hours that were supervised by a vet but the animals are used in biomedical research, although I wasn't the one conducting the actual research, should I log the hours on VMCAS as vet hours or as research hours and say they are vet hours too? Which would look better on an application?
 
PrevetGA said:
If I have many hours that were supervised by a vet but the animals are used in biomedical research, although I wasn't the one conducting the actual research, should I log the hours on VMCAS as vet hours or as research hours and say they are vet hours too? Which would look better on an application?
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If you were working for the comparative medicine department and taking care of the lab animals under the direction of a veterinarian, then likely veterinary.

If you were working for a PI, likely research. But it sounds like you were doing the former.

It honestly I don't think matters in terms of what "looks" better because it doesn't change what you actually did. No one cares that you have 1000 hrs of research experience if all you did was clean glassware, ya know?
 
LuckySpartan said:
I am applying to MSU. I just visited the website and I am able to view the pre-reqs
https://cvm.msu.edu/student-information/dvm-program-admissions/pre-requisite-course-requirements
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I know where to find the pre-reqs. I was just wondering about the tab that used to exist in the "program materials" section of the application. It was there and now it isn't so I wanted to make sure it wasn't just me who had it disappear. If you have no idea what I'm talking about then possibly you started the app after it had already been removed.
 
Hey question everyone. When you submitted evaluation requests, did you get a confirmation email from VMCAS that the request was sent to all of them? Because I only got a confirmation email about the 3rd (I've only asked 3 so far), and I'm concerned it wasn't sent to the others even though I checked the box for it, and the status says "requested"
 
heyyimhayley said:
Hey question everyone. When you submitted evaluation requests, did you get a confirmation email from VMCAS that the request was sent to all of them? Because I only got a confirmation email about the 3rd (I've only asked 3 so far), and I'm concerned it wasn't sent to the others even though I checked the box for it, and the status says "requested"
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I didn't get notifications for all of them (only my first), but I went and confirmed it with my evaluators themselves, and they did all go out. You should be fine, provided that you didn't typo their email addresses or anything!

There's also a "resend" button in case one of them gets lost, thankfully... so if, after checking with your evaluators, one of them didn't get it for whatever reason, you're able to send a new request if need be!
 
I only have small animal and medical-research animal veterinary hours. I'm thinking of doing some wildlife rehab work but that would most likely be only animal hours. This would give me a lot of hands on medical experience in something I'm interested in (wildlife) and could possibly write about in my essay. But it's not vet hours. Do you think it would be better anyway to get actual vet hours in something like large animal/exotics even though that doesn't interest me as much?
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm shadowing tomorrow so hopefully I can suck it up and ask her.
Then I just have to wade through getting my other evaluators. I'm so undecided on who to ask. Not sure who my best options are but I know I need to decide soon so that I can ask them and make sure they're willing.

So I also realized today that you're supposed to enter your experiences with the most recent first... which is fine. Except that I may get more experiences between now and when I submit. If I do, does that mean I have to delete all my previously entered experiences so that everything is in the right order? It seems a little ridiculous to go through all that trouble. Am I just over complicating this? Is there a better way to handle it?
 
finnickthedog said:
So I also realized today that you're supposed to enter your experiences with the most recent first... which is fine. Except that I may get more experiences between now and when I submit. If I do, does that mean I have to delete all my previously entered experiences so that everything is in the right order? It seems a little ridiculous to go through all that trouble. Am I just over complicating this? Is there a better way to handle it?
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I have no idea for sure, but my guess would be that it's a suggestion meant to make the list easier to read and not a hard-and-fast requirement. I'm an idiot and did mine by category, following my CV, before I noticed the instructions, so it's mostly out of order chronologically. :smack: Think I'm going to put all the actual text into a Word document and then copy/paste everything in order later.

If you really insist on having it in exact order, you could always start off with a few blank spots filled with gibberish as placeholders up top and then fill in the rest of your experiences. As you get new experiences, you could edit the gibberish placeholders in order and then delete any extra ones once you're done and ready to submit. That's probably the most painless way to do it. Well, provided you remember to delete the gibberish.
 
missdarjeeling said:
I have no idea for sure, but my guess would be that it's a suggestion meant to make the list easier to read and not a hard-and-fast requirement. I'm an idiot and did mine by category, following my CV, before I noticed the instructions, so it's mostly out of order chronologically. :smack: Think I'm going to put all the actual text into a Word document and then copy/paste everything in order later.

If you really insist on having it in exact order, you could always start off with a few blank spots filled with gibberish as placeholders up top and then fill in the rest of your experiences. As you get new experiences, you could edit the gibberish placeholders in order and then delete any extra ones once you're done and ready to submit. That's probably the most painless way to do it. Well, provided you remember to delete the gibberish.
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So I'm probably making this harder than I need to. 😉

I might do that though with inserting some "dummy" spaces. I'm sure I'll be looking everything over before I submit anyways so the likelihood of me forgetting to remove it is slim to none.
 
finnickthedog said:
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm shadowing tomorrow so hopefully I can suck it up and ask her.
Then I just have to wade through getting my other evaluators. I'm so undecided on who to ask. Not sure who my best options are but I know I need to decide soon so that I can ask them and make sure they're willing.

So I also realized today that you're supposed to enter your experiences with the most recent first... which is fine. Except that I may get more experiences between now and when I submit. If I do, does that mean I have to delete all my previously entered experiences so that everything is in the right order? It seems a little ridiculous to go through all that trouble. Am I just over complicating this? Is there a better way to handle it?
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Are you sure...? I've just read over the help database and the instructions on VMCAS itself, and I didn't see anything that indicated this.

If that's truly the case... welp. I've got to do mine all over again, too!
 
Nalikti said:
Are you sure...? I've just read over the help database and the instructions on VMCAS itself, and I didn't see anything that indicated this.

If that's truly the case... welp. I've got to do mine all over again, too!
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On the Experiences page of the FAQ, look in the box at the top of the page: "Include all relevant experiences, whether they are voluntary, paid, or academic experiences, beginning with the most recent." [their emphasis, I'm not being a jerk, I swear] . There's also "beginning with the most recent" language somewhere else. It's easy to miss. Took me a minute to find it after reading finnick's post and skipped right past it at least 3 times before I saw it.
 
missdarjeeling said:
On the Experiences page of the FAQ, look in the box at the top of the page: "Include all relevant experiences, whether they are voluntary, paid, or academic experiences, beginning with the most recent." [their emphasis, I'm not being a jerk, I swear] . There's also "beginning with the most recent" language somewhere else. It's easy to miss. Took me a minute to find it after reading finnick's post and skipped right past it at least 3 times before I saw it.
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fuuuu_by_gamerdudexi.jpg


Oh, well. I had a feeling that I'd miss something during this whole crazy process.

I guess I'll work on redoing it tomorrow, then. Though I am slightly perplexed by the fact that this is not mentioned within the instructions on the actual Experiences entry page.
 
Nalikti said:
Oh, well. I had a feeling that I'd miss something during this whole crazy process.

I guess I'll work on redoing it tomorrow, then. Though I am slightly perplexed by the fact that this is not mentioned within the instructions on the actual Experiences entry page.
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Yeah... it's weird.
I don't touch anything on the application without the FAQ/Instructions page up though because there is so much more information there than what they give you on the app. Stuff like this. *sigh*

This is why we start early I guess.

And you know, it would be super nice if they allowed us the ability to reorder our experiences if they really want them in the order of most recent first. But I guess that would make our lives too easy, right?
 
Anybody got any tips for writing a personal statement? I wrote a draft but I'm pretty sure I'm going to scrap it cuz I pretty much wrote it like a CV and its terribly dull 🙁
 
Hi all. Not sure if someone's addressed this yet.. in the evaluations section, I am unsure what to write in for the Personal Message/Notes area? I've already asked my letter writers for a LOR beforehand (in person and via email). I definitely want to include thanking my eLOR writer again, but I don't want to seem repetitive. What do most of you put?
 
RoRey14 said:
Hi all. Not sure if someone's addressed this yet.. in the evaluations section, I am unsure what to write in for the Personal Message/Notes area? I've already asked my letter writers for a LOR beforehand (in person and via email). I definitely want to include thanking my eLOR writer again, but I don't want to seem repetitive. What do most of you put?
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Is that section not optional? I didn't look at it too closely because I haven't sent any of mine out yet.

Being that you talked to them before hand I would probably just write something along the lines of "Thanks again". I'm not sure there's really much else to say unless there are additional instructions or perhaps deadlines you forgot to make them aware of.
 
RoRey14 said:
Hi all. Not sure if someone's addressed this yet.. in the evaluations section, I am unsure what to write in for the Personal Message/Notes area? I've already asked my letter writers for a LOR beforehand (in person and via email). I definitely want to include thanking my eLOR writer again, but I don't want to seem repetitive. What do most of you put?
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All I wrote in them was "Thanks, ____!"
 
Nalikti said:
I didn't get notifications for all of them (only my first), but I went and confirmed it with my evaluators themselves, and they did all go out. You should be fine, provided that you didn't typo their email addresses or anything!

There's also a "resend" button in case one of them gets lost, thankfully... so if, after checking with your evaluators, one of them didn't get it for whatever reason, you're able to send a new request if need be!
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Interesting, well one of the ones that I didn't get a notification for did email me and say she received it, so I assume it's fine now.
 
Does anyone know if we can check the status of the evaluations before we send in applications? The VMCAS FAQ says to go to the "Program Status" page under "Manage My Programs" but the page just keeps telling me I haven't submitted any applications yet.
 
PrevetGA said:
I only have small animal and medical-research animal veterinary hours. I'm thinking of doing some wildlife rehab work but that would most likely be only animal hours. This would give me a lot of hands on medical experience in something I'm interested in (wildlife) and could possibly write about in my essay. But it's not vet hours. Do you think it would be better anyway to get actual vet hours in something like large animal/exotics even though that doesn't interest me as much?
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I suppose it depends on if the schools you're applying to like to see paid or volunteer experience, I remember reading a post that said that CSU (...maybe it was UC Davis?) like paid experience. BUT I did a file review with UW-Madison after last cycle and was told that since I indicated on VMCAS that I was interested in wildlife medicine it was great that I was volunteering in the wildlife dept of the humane society. What better way to show a school you know a bit about areas of the field that you're interested in than getting hands on experience in them?

Breadth and Depth was her phrasing for what they look for. She said my SA hours were way over other applicants and that my animal hours were lower since they were only pet sitting. So having wildlife in my animal hours for me was a plus. I also shadow a LA/Equine vet so my vet hours were not limited to SA only. Long story short I guess it depends on what the other areas of your experiences look like.
 
The vet I currently work for sees primarily cats and dogs but will also see rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, and chinchillas provided its not some sort of serious issue. Should I classify my experience here as small animal or small animal and exotics? If I get an interview and it would be wrong I don't want it to look like I'm trying to pad my application
 
@wigglebutt Rodents can certainly count as exotic pets, so I don't see any harm in mentioning it, if you think the level of experience with them was particularly meaningful overall. However, I would question the value of including exotic experience on your application if, for example, you only saw one guinea pig out of every six months of seeing exclusively dogs and cats.

superkelpie said:
Does anyone know if we can check the status of the evaluations before we send in applications? The VMCAS FAQ says to go to the "Program Status" page under "Manage My Programs" but the page just keeps telling me I haven't submitted any applications yet.
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If I recall correctly, you should be able to see if the evaluator received the notification and if the evaluation is "in progress" under the eLORs section beside their name. VMCAS usually sends an automatic email if your evaluators submitted the form. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way to know the depth of that "progress" unless you ask your evaluator directly.
 
wigglebutt said:
The vet I currently work for sees primarily cats and dogs but will also see rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, and chinchillas provided its not some sort of serious issue. Should I classify my experience here as small animal or small animal and exotics? If I get an interview and it would be wrong I don't want it to look like I'm trying to pad my application
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I'm in a similar boat. We ended up with the occasional rabbit, ferret, rat, hamster, etc., but it was fairly infrequent. Except for rabbits during maggot season, when it was maybe once a week. I originally just clicked "small animal" for that experience but have been wondering what to do about it. It seems misleading to also check off exotics, so I was thinking of maybe splitting it up and doing a separate entry for the same hospital but with exotics checked off and an appropriate estimate of the low number of hours. Has anyone else come up with a solution for this?
 
missdarjeeling said:
Has anyone else come up with a solution for this?
Click to expand...

I think you guys might be over-thinking it just a titch. If they saw exotics, and you saw exotics with them, check it off. If they didn't, don't. If it feels misleading, maybe it is. But if you did actually see exotics, then it's not misleading or dishonest at all. Just because it was a small percentage doesn't take away from it being real experience.

LIS's first, or thirtieth (I forget), rule: Just go with what feels most honest. The position you want to be in is when someone asks you about the experience, your answer defends whatever you put on the application. Yanno?
 
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