Dog ownership... put in application?

[arcana]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

This might sound weird... but if you are a dog owner in college too then maybe you can sympathize.
So the University of BC (Canadian) application is asking me to list "Experiences Showing Self-Reliance (independence, decision-making, maturity, facing adversity)". Do you think I could put down raising and caring for a puppy as showing maturity? It's not a huge deal if I don't, but would it seem trivial/silly if I do?

Any thoughts?

 

[8744]

This might sound weird... but if you are a dog owner in college too then maybe you can sympathize.
So the University of BC (Canadian) application is asking me to list "Experiences Showing Self-Reliance (independence, decision-making, maturity, facing adversity)". Do you think I could put down raising and caring for a puppy as showing maturity? It's not a huge deal if I don't, but would it seem trivial/silly if I do?

Any thoughts?

Why not. It's probably more significant than 90 percent of the other activities carefully selected by pre-meds to highlight their leadership skills, compassion, and fitness for a medical career.

 

[Revenant]

It's infinitely better than president/founder of the pre-med club, or secretary of a number of other useless clubs that pre-meds generally use to "pump-up" their resume.

 

[greg1184]

I didn't put that in my primary application, but in my UMiami secondary application I mention that I loved pets.

 

[TeaKae]

I wrote about owning a rescue dog in my AMCAS. Don't know if it has hurt or helped, though. It's something that talks a little bit to who I am, more so that the pre-med stuff that everyone does (which I also have in there e.g. hospital volunteer, pre-med club, etc.)

 

[nick_carraway]

I talked about taking care of a sick feral kitten I found on campus. I think my cat's a pretty big part of my life and it was a tough time trying to get her better so I had no doubt that I should write about it in relevant secondary prompts.

 

[Disinence2]

It's infinitely better than president/founder of the pre-med club, or secretary of a number of other useless clubs that pre-meds generally use to "pump-up" their resume.

I highly dissagree

I wouldn't put this in there. LOTS of poeple have pets. Use this as something to talk about during an interview as it will make you seem more "human"

"Q: So what do you enjoy outside of medicine"
"A: Well ive been raising puppies for..blah blah blah"

much better than putting it on amcas

 

[fun8stuff]

This might sound weird... but if you are a dog owner in college too then maybe you can sympathize.
So the University of BC (Canadian) application is asking me to list "Experiences Showing Self-Reliance (independence, decision-making, maturity, facing adversity)". Do you think I could put down raising and caring for a puppy as showing maturity? It's not a huge deal if I don't, but would it seem trivial/silly if I do?

Any thoughts?

i would only put this if you have nothing else to talk about. everybody and their brother has had a dog. i would hope that you have done other things in your life that have shown independence, decision-making, maturity,facing adversity... like through a job or volunteering? Of course, if you have already talked about these things then I would not talk about them again, unless I was going into more detail.

 

[mindquick]

what about rabbit ownership? i found white baby bunnies on a college campus lawn, they were obviously not wild rabbits and needed my help. i took them home and gave them milk. a few years later i bred hundreds of little white bunnies, they were cuddly and cute, with red eyes. i have no human friends, so during college i just cuddled together with my bunnies. they were great company and licked me a lot. later my parents forced me to sell them for $5 each, which is too bad.

should i put this info in my applications?

 

[fun8stuff]

what about rabbit ownership? i found white baby bunnies on a college campus lawn, they were obviously not wild rabbits and needed my help. i took them home and gave them milk. a few years later i bred hundreds of little white bunnies, they were cuddly and cute, with red eyes. i have no human friends, so during college i just cuddled together with my bunnies. they were great company and licked me a lot. later my parents forced me to sell them for $5 each, which is too bad.

should i put this info in my applications?

so you stole them from their mother? then, later on you ate them. yeah, i would definitely put it.

 

[mindquick]

so you stole them from their mother? then, later on you ate them. yeah, i would definitely put it.

what the heck? where did i say that i ate them? i sold them to the pet store because keeping a hundred bunnies in your home can be a burden. and i did not see their mother, but they came up to lick me, so they were telling me that they wanted me to take them home.

 

[TeaKae]

I would only talk about it if:

A. It's YOUR animal, not your parents!
B. It's a dog. Some will argue with me here, but dogs require, far and away, a greater time/care investment than any other (common) household pet. You don't have to walk a cat 3 times/day. Cats do their biz in the house, you have to take a dog out for poopies.

 

[mindquick]

I would only talk about it if:

A. It's YOUR animal, not your parents!
B. It's a dog. Some will argue with me here, but dogs require, far and away, a greater time/care investment than any other (common) household pet. You don't have to walk a cat 3 times/day. Cats do their biz in the house, you have to take a dog out for poopies.

I think it's a lot easier to care for a dog than 100 bunnies hopping around the house.

 

[arcana]

Right... it's a dog, I bought him and cared for him etc. The application is like the AMCAS's "work/activities" section, in which you fill in stuff for research, leadership, volunteering, etc, and then this section on Self-Reliance. Wtf. 😛

 

[amolamedicina]

I think it's a lot easier to care for a dog than 100 bunnies hopping around the house.

Fortunately, my time for applying has not yet come, but I wonder if I will mention that I own three dogs and five rabbits. lol


Brenda

 

[mindquick]

Fortunately, my time for applying has not yet come, but I wonder if I will mention that I own three dogs and five rabbits. lol


Brenda

yeah mention it, i think owning a lot of pets will teach you about caring and compassion:

 

[HoboCommander]

 

[Revenant]

I throw bunnies at cars on the highway. Should I put that on my app?

 

[HoboCommander]

I throw bunnies at cars on the highway. Should I put that on my app?

how can you do such a thing? why are you going into this field, if you don't have compassion for bunnies?

 

[Revenant]

how can you do such a thing? why are you going into this field, if you don't have compassion for bunnies?

This is the only profession where I can kill people and get less heat for it.

 

[HoboCommander]

This is the only profession where I can kill people and get less heat for it.

so you want to be a doctor so that you can.... kill people. hmm...

 

[DrBeat]

I read a study that showed pet-owners to be more controlling than non-pet-owners. Has anyone else seen it?

 

[MystA RavE]

I had pet sea monkeys when I was 10, will this get me into med school? I even got the accessories for them to play with, which shows my caring side.



😴

 

[plauto]

I take care of my toe nails every week. Don't you guys think this is a clear sign of independence and responsibility?

C'mon are you serious man? If you are, you got bigger problems than getting into med school.......

 

[mints of b]

If you had a monkey, I'd mention it. A dog? No.