Experience and Proof

[WannaBeVet]

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So, I have heard that Cornell requires you to have a proof of veterinary/animal experienes that you have done. I'm still a first year in undergrad but I want to make sure I have this for all of my experiences that I am doing currently...

Anyone know anything else about this? I looked it up on their website but it doesn't really mention anything aside from what the minimum recommended is and the diversity factor.

Also would this proof be; a recommendation, a signed off timed sheet, etc?

Thank you!

 

[Whyevernot55]

It's my understanding that Cornell requires letters of recommendation from every vet experience, which I think counts as the proof.

 

[GSDgirl]

I think Whyevernot55 is right. In order to count an experience you need to be able to supply a letter from the person that supervised you. (So no letter, no "experience.") I didn't apply to Cornell myself, so you'll probably get better info from a current student or someone who applied this cycle. (But I do remember reading this about letters when I was selecting schools to apply to.)

OP, good work for getting ready so early!

 

[clouds815]

they require on their Supplemental application, when you list your animal/veterinary experiences, you have to have a letter for every experience you list. you Can, however, list them all on the VMCAS (the main app for all vet schools), and only include your typical 3-5 selected Letters of Rec.

i hope that is understandable, a bit confusing.

basically you list everything on the VMCAS, and then cornell's supplemental has you relist a bunch of stuff. and if you don't have a letter for an experience, you can't put it on their supplemental app, but they will still see it on the VMCAS.
how they 'count' stuff like that who knows.

no signed off time sheet as far as i know, but you should keep track of your hours, makes it easier when you go to apply, as you have to list your hours of experience in such and such field

 

[nyanko]

how they 'count' stuff like that who knows.

They don't count the VMCAS stuff. During my file review, the only vet experiences acknowledged for me were what I listed on the supp.

 

[Whyevernot55]

They don't count the VMCAS stuff. During my file review, the only vet experiences acknowledged for me were what I listed on the supp.

Which is SUCH a pain in the rear. I mean come on. I had one that was three years ago, I was one of several pre-vets and vet students shadowing, and there's no way I spent enough time with any one vet to get a letter. So according to Cornell, that never happened. 👎

 

[WannaBeVet]

Thanks so much everyone for the replies!

It's great to know all of this info! I suppose then I will have to be asking for letters of recommendation from everyone as soon as possible.

Another question though, what is the letter of recommendation supposed to be like? A letter recommending me for vet school or a letter simply stating that I shadowing?


Also, do they require these letters for veterinary experience only or for animal experience also?

Ooof, sorry for so many questions! I just want to be prepared when the time comes to actually apply!

 

[savannah sunset]

There is a link on the Cornell website which allows you to view the supplemental application. This is taken directly from the sample application: "The Admissions Committee requires evaluations from EACH veterinary, animal or biomedical research related experience listed in the next section, or the experience will not be considered."

There is also a link called "Guideline to you Evaluators" which explains what they would like to see in the LORs. This is found on the Application Instructions and Forms - DVM Degree page

 

[WannaBeVet]

There is a link on the Cornell website which allows you to view the supplemental application. This is taken directly from the sample application: "The Admissions Committee requires evaluations from EACH veterinary, animal or biomedical research related experience listed in the next section, or the experience will not be considered."

There is also a link called "Guideline to you Evaluators" which explains what they would like to see in the LORs. This is found on the Application Instructions and Forms - DVM Degree page

Thank you! I guess I just didn't dig far enough for info... I despise going through university webpages. Lol.

Thank you again, I am sure the Guidelines to your Evaluators will be beyond valuable.

 

[cowgirla]

The small animal vet that I got most of my early experience with, shadowing, etc, passed away three years ago. I had about a 700 hours there. Needless to say, Cornell wouldn't accept that as a reason for not having a LOR from him. 👎

 

[luplodw]

The small animal vet that I got most of my early experience with, shadowing, etc, passed away three years ago. I had about a 700 hours there. Needless to say, Cornell wouldn't accept that as a reason for not having a LOR from him. 👎

What??!?! That is so not fair! I think it is ridiculous not to accept experiences just because you don't have a LOR

 

[clouds815]

The small animal vet that I got most of my early experience with, shadowing, etc, passed away three years ago. I had about a 700 hours there. Needless to say, Cornell wouldn't accept that as a reason for not having a LOR from him. 👎

omg that is ridiculous

 

[clouds815]

wannabevet -
just want to make it clear that if you are not applying for a few years, i wouldn't necessarily think you need to ask them to write letters right away

the letters for VMCAS are ONLINE and in a specific format (limited character count, & specific questions, etc). you put in the evaluator information, then VMCAS sends them the info as to what to do. you do not see these letters, they don't go through you to whatever schools you are applying to.

VMCAS accepts 3-5 in total, so asking them to write them now for three years from now wouldn't really work in my opinion (though you could certainly make it clear that you will need one when the time comes), because you can't 'collect' them yourself. although if they wanted to i guess they could write like a draft or something and store it for a while, then enter it in your app later, idk -your evaluators decision about how they want to do things

now if you have EXTRA letters that you are sending specifically for Cornell, not through VMCAS, I'm don't remember how that works - I *think* they can also be done online via Cornell's supplemental by the evaluator, or in paper. perhaps someone else remembers, but your best bet is really to call Cornell admissions and ask them anything you are concerned about


hope this helps - (i did apply to cornell - waitlisted gaahhh)
best of luck, sorry its so confusing

 

[mtrl1]

I've actually written 2 LORs for pre-vet students applying to Cornell, as I was an officer in a vet school club in which pre-vet students participated. The applicant fills out the contact information of the recommender and then the recommender gets their own link and password to a website where they enter the evaluation. I don't know if that clarifies anything or not, but basically, all the recommenders fill out the same scoring system and questions for the applicant. It probably makes it a bit more objective.....although I admit that I have never seen a VMCAS LOR so I have no idea what that looks like.

 

[NStarz]

I've actually written 2 LORs for pre-vet students applying to Cornell, as I was an officer in a vet school club in which pre-vet students participated. The applicant fills out the contact information of the recommender and then the recommender gets their own link and password to a website where they enter the evaluation. I don't know if that clarifies anything or not, but basically, all the recommenders fill out the same scoring system and questions for the applicant. It probably makes it a bit more objective.....although I admit that I have never seen a VMCAS LOR so I have no idea what that looks like.

So you can't "bank" letters for Cornell? I have a few LORs that have already been written but I've fallen out of touch with the people. Does this mean Cornell won't take a written letter?

 

[mtrl1]

I have no idea, but I would guess probably not...since like I said, you fill out the eval on their website.

 

[Mereafterthough]

So you can't "bank" letters for Cornell? I have a few LORs that have already been written but I've fallen out of touch with the people. Does this mean Cornell won't take a written letter?

Yes, you can "bank" letter for Cornell you just can't use those same letters for VMCAS. I remember going through this headache when I applied but basically if you're applying to Cornell you have to decide which recommendations/evaluations (same thing) you want to submit via VMCAS or through Cornell. Since Cornell wants everything what I did was submit the "heavy hitters" via the VMCAS since I knew those eLORS were going to all the schools I was applying too. Then if I had any extra recommendations from other experiences that I couldn't include in the VMCAS I sent those to Cornell. Whatever you submit via VMCAS you DO NOT have to re-submit again to Cornell.

Also, you can submit evaluations to Cornell either a) through the admissions portal when it's up or b) via paper/snail mail. I remember the one evaluation I did "bank" on I sent via snail mail. I got this recommendation in another country and about 2 years in advance and they accepted it. I just had it in a sealed and signed envelope. Lastly, your evaluator doesn't have to closely follow the evaluation guidelines. This document is there to give them an idea of the kinds of things Cornell wants to know about their applicants from their evaluators but they don't necessarily have to answer all of the questions.

I hope this helps and didn't confuse you more. If you have any questions please e-mail Jennifer Mailey she is extremely patient and amazing (I questioned her relentlessly for four years) OR PM me. Good luck!! 🙂

 

[WannaBeVet]

Ooof, so much to know and to do!

Thank you everyone for this valuable information! I will need to figure all of this out once I see where my shadowing gig is going.

Is Cornell the only school that does this?

 

[twelvetigers]

Yeah, just Cornell. Some schools allow you to submit more than three LORs, but they aren't *required* and don't have to be for specific experiences.