Hi! I am interested in applying for an internship in the Veterinary Hospital at the Animal Kingdom Park or the Animal Behavior internship that they have. Has anyone participated in either, and can provide me with some advice to help me get in? I am trying to prepare myself for next Summer or Fall. Thank you!
Disney Internship at Animal Kingdom
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Think I should tag @pinkpuppy9 ?
Would they know more information?
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Pretty sure she did this internship (maybe?) Feel like I read it in another post somewhere
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Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for responding to me! I am sorry, but I am about to bombard you with a bunch of questions!
If you don't mind me asking, were you an undergrad when you applied or did you already graduate? I am not sure when it would be best to apply since it is a half of a year commitment, plus one of the requirements is for you to be at least a junior. Also, when do the applications open exactly, like when one internship starts the next application opens? Lastly, what were the highlights of your internship and tasks you completed?
Thank You again for replying!! I really appreciate it!
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I believe for a lot of the Disney programs you have to either be currently in college or a recent graduate (I know within 6 mo of starting for the DCP, not sure about internships) so I wouldn’t wait too long after you graduate to apply if you do wait
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Correct, current student or within 6m of graduation. I graduated and started my internship about a month later in June.
Overall just make sure you meet the requirements. Most applications are auto-rejected by the computer because they simply don't meet the requirements (just like vet schools would do). You won't get auto-rejected so long as you meet those basic requirements (student or recent grad, and whatever their experience requirement is now, and it there are any other requirements listed).
Interview is pretty standard, too.
The behavior internship (my friend did this, not me) is a lot of observation and recording data for specific projects they have going on. Idk anything about the selection process for that one, though.
That was my intern-mate! She spent time in Namibia. FWIW, I also only had about 6-8 months at a wildlife center and maybe a year at a vet clinic at the time of application. I knew about the internship for years before I applied, but kinda forgot about it until I was rejected from all the schools I applied to. I applied on a whim, expected nothing, and got accepted on my first try too.
I think after however many years/bad interns they've been doing this internship, they have figured out how to select the good applicants even if those applicants aren't loaded with experience. I've been told they've had a pretty decent run of interns since the pair that interned just before I did, but I was told a toooon of scary horror stories that happened before me haha.
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Hi!
How many people are accepted would you say get into the program; I know this application process is highly competitive. Also, when do the applications open exactly, like when one internship starts the next application opens? Lastly, what were the highlights of your internship and tasks you completed?
Thank You!
Thank you!
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Gaby answered your first questions, and if I remember correctly, she's right about apps opening up in the beginning of the year for the June internship. Looking at my old emails, I applied late February, interviewed a week later, then probably got the offer another week or two after that? Also, when I applied, the hospital manager told me there were like 300 or more apps for those two positions, so yeah, really competitive. They only interview like 10ish people out of that pool, so if you get an interview you're pretty close.
my highlights:
-cases: being able to treat and released an injured alligator, working with a pelican that had a stingray barb caught in it's pouch, and getting in a tame rabbit which I ended up adopting
Also I fell in love with a stray dog we had but I couldn't take her 🙁-gopher tortoises 😍
-helping out with the zoo procedures in the field and getting some hands on experience with those animals/procedures
-I seriously miss working with the hospital team. I got along really well with everyone so it was just a blast all the time. As long as you are capable and trustworthy, they don't babysit you which I liked. I still keep in touch with most of everyone on the team and I catch up with the vets every year at AAZV.
-Learning a loooot that I would still not know if I didn't get this internship (and I'm in my last year of vet school now). This internship put me far ahead of my peers in terms of clinical skills, wildlife medicine, etc. You get to work with 10 (when I was there anyways) leaders in zoo/wildlife medicine and pathology for 7 months, so it's an incredible learning opportunity. Very, very few prevets can say the same. It is incredibly unique to have this internship on your vet school applications as well. It's also good for the "So tell me about a cool experience you've had" question you'll inevitably get at some point in your life, lol.
-I also love living in Florida in general. I grew up in FL and loved being back.
-I made some amazing friends in my Animal Programs intern class.
I could go on. My internship was probably the best 7 months I've had yet! Sometimes I still wonder if I should have stayed on as a keeper, because there was an opportunity for that for me. Alas, vet school was still calling me at the time.
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Came to this game late but I did the animal nutrition internship if you're interested definitely a unique experience on my application as well 😉
How was that internship like?
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It was great! We worked along side the nutrition assistants daily and actually performed their actual job. Once you were trained you got to diet prep unsupervised. You work 4 days a week 10 hours and 1 day is a research day where you help prepare samples for the current research project (my project has already been published so its different now) and update patient weights and nutrient percentages for each nutrient category. You also present an individual project at the end the internship. Definitely gave me some interesting points to bring up in interviews and I've been published as a contributor in a research article now!
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It may have closed for the season already. If it has, you won’t find the info about it until the app opens back up in the late summer/early fall.
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Bringing this back...applications have opened up! I'm super nervous and am not expecting to get it at all but figuring, what's the hurt in trying? I also have more than the "should total to ___" hours, but less than the "Minimum of __ months". Anyone know if they would value my hours enough that I could bypass the minimum month requirement?
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I’d say apply anyway because worst they say is you do need the number of months. But potentially you’d be fine without the months but have the hours. There’s no sense in NOT applying this cycle. If you waited til you had the minimum months, you may have missed out on earlier opportunities to do it.
ooh okay, thank you!
Another question, since it says to outline the requirements in your resume, do they want you to include exactly how many hours you completed?
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Thanks everyone! I wound up enailing and asking and she had said the hours are most important. So I applied but then immediately got told I was not eligible, so i emailed her again considering I meet all other requirements except that I met the # of hours in the lesser duration. Still waiting to hear from her. I’ll think about the nutrition one!
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Leanne is a very particular person dont take it personally!! but if you have questions about the nutrition internship feel free to message me!
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I found the application opened around late August and I submitted early September, and now the same application page I used to apply/found the job description has disappeared. I think it's closed already unfortunately. I read somewhere else that one girl received her offer end of October after already being interviewed, so I think the application process is pretty speedy.
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I was speaking with a woman named Juliana and she put my application back in the selection pool!! I know my chances are slim but very grateful for her 🙂
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That's definitely helpful, thank you! And UGH i know. Submitted my applications weeks ago and they're all verified, and I know I can't expect to hear from anyone until November at the very minimum, yet I still check my email daily :')Just for reference (and I'm sure this changes year to year but I know it's tough to get information for this stuff), during the year I applied the applications opened on 8/22, I submitted mine on 8/24, received an email to schedule an interview on 9/28 for 10/3, and got a call to offer me the position on 10/13. Thankfully it isn't a terribly long process! Unlike the process of applying to vet school itself
How did it go? I applied a month ago and still waiting to hear back from them. Any advice if I land an interview?Just for reference (and I'm sure this changes year to year but I know it's tough to get information for this stuff), during the year I applied the applications opened on 8/22, I submitted mine on 8/24, received an email to schedule an interview on 9/28 for 10/3, and got a call to offer me the position on 10/13. Thankfully it isn't a terribly long process! Unlike the process of applying to vet school itself
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Is this a paid internship?
