File Review and The Future...

[thedogisgreen]

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So I had my file review at my IS yesterday, and now I'm just really, really confused and frustrated. Got a lot of contradictory feedback.. get your eLOR from a vet, no, get it from someone who knows you best (which would be a tech), but also happens to be a vet... get long-term experience at multiple hospitals (volunteering a bit at multiple hospitals and long term at one of them isn't enough..ahh but I don't have all the time in the world!)... get more diverse small animal experience (small animal clinics, a shelter, and a clinic in a developing country don't count apparently?)... I guess at this point all I can do is cram in as much as I can over the summer and build strong relationships with vets, but it seems like it's never going to be good enough...
The part that got to me most was about my personal statement, that it made me seem really, really fluffy and idealistic. Seems like the adcom's interpretation of it was very, very different from what I intended to portray. I did a phone file review at one of the OOS schools I had applied to and they didn't have a single negative thing to say about my PS, but my IS couldn't stand it. So I really don't know what to go for here since VMCAS has the same PS for all. My IS wants it to be more science based... I was trying to present who I was in my PS and what I wanted to do, so now I guess I need to completely shift gears, though I'm not even sure what including more science in it really means.
Anyone have any suggestions for improving applications after negative file reviews or how to fit the PS to meet what all the schools want? It's all so incredibly subjective, I'm definitely not a fan of this process. Blech. 🙁

 

[twelvetigers]

Usually as the summer progresses, many SDNers will want someone to read their PS and will, in exchange, read yours. This is a great way to get some different viewpoints about it from people who, like the adcoms, don't know you at all. I would recommend hanging around and participating in that if you can. Also have people who DO know you read it to make sure that you aren't selling yourself short somehow.

As for the experience, that's probably what most of us here do - get as much as possible in as many different areas as possible while trying to find at least one vet that gets to know us well enough to write a positive LOR on our behalf. Was your vet LOR someone you didn't know well?

The 'more diverse' small animal thing is a bit strange given what you DO have. Do you have any research or large animal stuff?

It is a terribly subjective process, sadly. Just do the best you can!

 

[david594]

Did you not have a LOR from a practicing US veterinarian?

Also how much experience did you have at with the small animal clinic? And did you work with a vet at the shelter? And working in the developing country sounds fun, but trips to foreign countries aren't going to give you a better understanding of what you future career as a veterinarian will be like.

 

[BlacKAT33]

There is a thread somewhere about personal statements and a ton of people volunteered to read anyone's PS. I'd be happy to look at it. My PS, by "accident" i guess, has a ton of science in it. i guess i'm just used to writing like that. So maybe i'd be able to tell you how to put a spin on the stuff you already wrote

 

[thedogisgreen]

Last year, I had two LORs from vets and one from a tech. Of all of them, the tech knew me best. At this point, I've been working there a lot longer so the vets do know me better than they did, but techs definitely still know me best.
Let's see, when I applied last year, my small animal experience was 215 hours at one small animal clinic (where I spent summers and breaks), 170 at another clinic (near my school), 120 at a shelter (yes, with a vet, shelter with tons of money and a huge sick ward), 60 at a clinic in another country, plus several hundred more scattered between places during high school. Also had a bit of large animal, and then tons of animal experience (fostering, wildlife refuge, etc.), which I was pretty much told was useless. Have lots more hours at my clinic near school, where I'll start working full time in a few weeks after graduation, so hopefully that will help. My hours were definitely on the lower end of applicants, but do you think they were so low as to not be sufficient to give me a sense of the field, in the eyes of the adcoms?
Yeah, after graduation, I'm definitely throwing myself into PS world and would love to do editing for people in exchange for feedback on mine.. I'm good at tearing apart other people's writing, but have a hard time with my own. Not sure if I need to just edit mine to add more science to it or if I need to start from scratch, because she seemed pretty unhappy with it, though I got the opposite response from another school. Fun..

 

[sunnyshine]

I know how you feel because I have had to deal with alot of the same things. A perfect example is when I did my file review with Colorado State and they loved my personal statement, but my IS school (PENN) said that it wasn't scientific enough (btw - is PENN your IS?). I know that it sometimes feels impossible to get into veterinary school, but if you keep reaching for this dream then it will become a reality. I once had a professor at my school tell me something that has really stuck with me when applying to vet school - he said that: "the things in life that are really worth having are those things which are the hardest for us to obtain". So although vet school is a very difficult mountain to climb, it will be worth it when you reach the top.

As for application advice I would just try to make use of this forum as much as possible. Where all in it together.

 

[heylodeb]

looking at other things you have posted - I'm pretty sure your IS is Davis. and YES - my file review was a little confusing too. They also really disliked my PS - not scientific enough apparently, as well.

I am completely rewriting mine because I think that that will be necessary to make it flow better and show that I really took their advice to heart.

 

[twelvetigers]

I wish adcoms would be a bit nicer when they tell you what they'd like to see improvement on. Making you feel like your PS was just terrible, your vet experience was extremely sub-par, and that your animal experience was useless... well, it's almost like they're actively trying to discourage people from applying again. And that's just shady business.

I say this knowing that others have felt the same way after file reviews.

To the adcoms that are encouraging to those going through the application process after a rejection: THANK YOU, we love you. 🙂

 

[NStarz]

Completely OT, but I thought it was relevant. Currently my favorite song (Scott Alan's "The Distance You Have Come"). The lyrics are beautiful and so is the music. You can hear it at scottalan.net 🙂​

I don't know where tomorrow finds me
The only thing I know is where I'm standing now.
In this life, there's never been a guarantee
Which seems to be the only guarantee I've found.
But keep your eyes upon the road
Keep driving
It won't be long until you see
A sign that says that you're arriving.


And when you reach that day
When you conquered what's behind you
Don't forget the fight it took to get you here.
And when you reach the top
Of the mountain you've been climbing
Don't forget the distance you have come.





It's hard when no one tells you if you're
winning
But just remind yourself how far that you've already
come.
And some days you may feel that there is no
ending
But if you give up now, you'll never know if you could
have won.
Keep your eyes upon the road
Keep driving
It won't be long until you see
A sign that says that you're arriving





And when that day has come
When you've conquered what's behind you

Don't forget the moments that have come before

And when you reach that place

When you're miles from where you started

Don't forget the distance you have come.


And there'll be days when the weight of the world will
bind you
And you're wondering if the world really needs
you

But keep on goin', keep on driving

Cuz the sign ahead will soon be behind you.



And when you reach that day

When you've conquered what's behind you

Don't forget the fight it took to get you here.

And when you reach the top

Of the mountain you've been climbing

Don't forget the distance you have come.



And when that day has come
When you've conquered what's behind you

Don't forget the moments that have come before.

And when you reach that place

When you're miles from where you started

Don't forget the distance...

Don't forget the distance...



Don't forget the distance you have come.​

 

[thedogisgreen]

To the adcoms that are encouraging to those going through the application process after a rejection: THANK YOU, we love you. 🙂

agreed. and please let there be more of you who are so kind.

Nice song, NStars, definitely very relevant to this whole process, thanks!

And yep, I'm a Davis hopeful. Who knows at this point, though, each adcom has such different preferences for who/what qualities they like...