conundrum - unpaid LA experience vs. paid SA experience

[sunnex3]

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i'm in bit of a dilemma here.

i am trying to strengthen my application in any way possible right now. probably one of my biggest weaknesses is that i don't have any LA/equine vet expererience. i do have regular equine experience - rode horses since i was 9 and volutneered at a therapeutic riding center for 2 years.

i have a friend who knows a travelling equine vet who i MIGHT be able to get some shadowing experience with for maybe 4 days this month and maybe a few more next month.

i can only do so little because i already have a full time job in the ER/ICU at the specialty/referral hospital i work at. i HAVE to have a full time job because i am very financially strapped right now and really need the money, thus i do not have much time for other things (besides a couple classes left over that i need to take to apply).

i am really stressing about this because i need more LA experience but i absolutely cannot sacrifice a lot of my paid working time for it.

has anyone else been in a similar situation before? just for your information, my vet experience consists of 2 summer/1 winter at a private practice (general) in DC, and i currently work at/volunteer as a tech at a shelter/rescue league medical center in DC as well as work in a specialy hospital (internal medicine, surgery, ER/ICU). i have dabbled with lab experience at school. GPA = 3.94, GRE = 1340.

thanks - i truly appreciate everyone's input. just don't know what to do right now.

 

[sunnex3]

.

 

[jmo1012]

how long do you have until you apply?

ETA: nevermind, i think i found my answer in a different thread.

honestly, you probably need to do whats best for you and if you cant afford to lose time at work then thats your answer. someone else might have a better idea as to how much a few hours of experience will make on an app, but maybe you could add a line in the PS somewhere about working vs. getting experience. it probably depends on the schools you apply to and your other stats though too.

 

[sunnex3]

i am applying this cycle in the process now.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Well if you need the money, you kind of gotta work... Can you possibly switch schedules with someone at work so that you can have the equine vet shadowing fall on one of your off days?

 

[sunnex3]

i should ALSO note that i am extremely committed/set in specializing i have no intent of going into LA AT ALL - totally SA, either soft tissue surgery or specializing in emergency/critical care. i don't know if that helps or matters.

 

[sunnex3]

Well if you need the money, you kind of gotta work... Can you possibly switch schedules with someone at work so that you can have the equine vet shadowing fall on one of your off days?

that could be difficult..i also have to take physics II + ochem lab I. i'll be working 2 overnight shifts (13 hours each) and one day shift (also 13 hours) + taking those classes + being on call + applying/writing essays.

 

[Minnerbelle]

i should ALSO note that i am extremely committed/set in specializing i have no intent of going into LA AT ALL - totally SA, either soft tissue surgery or specializing in emergency/critical care. i don't know if that helps or matters.

that could be difficult..i also have to take physics II + ochem lab I. i'll be working 2 overnight shifts (13 hours each) and one day shift (also 13 hours) + taking those classes + being on call + applying/writing essays.

okay... well if you need the money and you don't have time... then what's the deal here? something's gotta give if you want LA experience.

now, seeing this huge flurry of frantic posts you've had in the last hour, i'm guessing you just need validation. so here it is:

no, it's not a death sentence if you don't have LA experience. i didn't have any, and i'm sure i had less LA animal experience than you did. was not a problem.

 

[sunnex3]

here is my specific question: is a few days (i.e. a couple weeks at most) of equine vet experience even going to do anything for me at all? is it worth me spending the time to do it? it's not that i don't want to do it - i would absolutely LOVE to get equine experience, i love horses. i'm just really stuck and don't know what to do.

 

[sunnyshine]

I think you may be ignoring the above posts. Minnerbelle seems to have already answered your question very nicely. If you can switch your schedule around at work to get some time with the LA Vet then go for that, but if it is to cumbersome to do so then just forget about. I applied to vet school with minimal LA experience I got into 3 schools. Also, no one will be able to say with certainty if the hours will help your application or not, but to be honest I don't feel it will make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

 

[sunnex3]

urgh. just took an hour to take a deep breath (or many) and calm down. i had a mini freak out session today. much better now. sorry if it seemed like i was ignoring your posts minnerbelle! i tend to have a very one track mind when i get stressed.

feeling really stupid now

 

[equitate]

Sorry if I made you panic by suggesting in your other thread that you try to get LA experience instead of raising your GRE score. It was not my intention to freak you out, I promise!

In an ideal world, we'd have the time/brainpower for a 4.0 GPA, 1600 GRE, tons of vet/animal/lab/work experience hours in every area imaginable, stacked leadership & extra curricular involvement and so on and so forth. In reality, this is pretty darn close to impossible! Don't panic if you can't get LA experience. It sounds like you have a pretty competitive application already. When it comes down to it, you need to be able to live. If you can't do that without your current job, by all means keep it and forgo the LA experience. The best we can do is submit the strongest application we are capable of creating given our own unique time/mental/financial situations and hope for the best. Admissions is a crapshoot, anyway 😛 Best of luck.

On a related note, we ALL have "I'm-scared-to-death", "I'm-never-going-to-get-in", "I'm-so-inadequate" moments. I suggest trying to put it in perspective and calm down a bit so you're still alive to press the "submit" button in a few months! 😉 Trust in yourself and in all of the hard work and time you've put into this. Things will work out.

 

[Minnerbelle]

urgh. just took an hour to take a deep breath (or many) and calm down. i had a mini freak out session today. much better now. sorry if it seemed like i was ignoring your posts minnerbelle! i tend to have a very one track mind when i get stressed.

feeling really stupid now

no worries at all. as i said, that's exactly how i took your OP in the first place.

as easy as it is for me to tell you all to calm down and not freak out, i've been in your shoes and it's much easier said than done. i've def had my freak out moments. i have definitely started threads that were like "noooooo fml, tell me i'm not screwed!?!? i found out today that what i thought was vet experience was only animal experience, and all i have is a measly 500 hrs in 1 shelter for vet experience. waaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" i would pull it up to show you... but i'm a bit too embarrassed. i wish i were a bit more mature about my freakouts too.

but i have to say, based on what you've posted, you have a strong academic profile (huge plus), and a good deal of SA experience in multiple specialties, and you HAVE LA animal experience at least. As long as you represent yourself well on paper and during interviews, I'm almost certain that you'll think back next March and laugh about how silly your fears were. You have full control over how you are going to present yourself on your VMCAS and supplementals, so I'd worry about that more than anything else. Everyone has dings on their applications in some shape or form, but at the end of the day (or year rather), ~3000 people will have seats in vet schools. You have a lot of positives in your application, and not much LA vet experience just in and of itself I really don't think is enough to get you rejected from all vet schools as long as you apply broadly enough. So my advice is to not wallow and freakout about things you can't change, and instead put that energy into putting together an application package that really stands out.

 

[StartingoverVet]

as easy as it is for me to tell you all to calm down and not freak out, i've been in your shoes and it's much easier said than done. i've def had my freak out moments. i have definitely started threads that were like "noooooo fml, tell me i'm not screwed!?!? i i would pull it up to show you... but i'm a bit too embarrassed. i wish i were a bit more mature about my freakouts too.

.

Now you have me looking at your old threads. Dangerous can of worms you opened here!

 

[jmo1012]

In an ideal world, we'd have the time/brainpower for a 4.0 GPA, 1600 GRE, tons of vet/animal/lab/work experience hours in every area imaginable, stacked leadership & extra curricular involvement and so on and so forth.

😱 oh man, imagine how hard it would be to get in then! if we think vet med is competitive now...yikes!!!