Hindsight is 20/20

[Halebug]

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Hey Everyone,
I am scheduled to talk to current pre-vet students about everything involved in preparation for applying and applying to vet school. I have thought many times throughout my application process "I wish I would have known this before" and want to share those things with other students. I was just wondering what sort of things you would like to share with students that you learned throughout your application process!

Examples of what I am talking about:

1) I wish I had known about Student Doctor Network. I did not find out about it for quite a ways through my application process and have found this forum to be so incredibly helpful!!

2) I wish I had known that supplemental applications had lots of essays on them. I am not sure what I thought they were going to have but I remember opening that application thinking it wouldn't take very long to just restate all the things I had already wrote in my VMCAS just to find a load of essays to write!

Any of your thoughts would be helpful and I am sure the students that come will surely appreciate your input as well!

 

[lunajett]

Agree SDN is extremely helpful, especially when starting out on the long road to vet school. But I would just suggest you also recommend that people come and actually poke around and take a couple weeks reading through some threads, BEFORE posting a thread along the lines of "Hey here's my stats how do I get into vet/school, where should I apply/ what are my chances, etc.?"

Also, not ALL supplementals have a bunch of long essays to write. I remember a few I did were literally one page, just a couple totals or stats the school wanted for whatever reason. Then there were others that required multiple additional essays and definitely needed a few days work. So either way, people should check those requirements long before they are due so they know how much time they should allot for supplementals.

Anywho, some of my advice...

Don't just apply to your "top" school or your instate. Especially if you know, stats-wise, you are not a shoe-in. Broaden your horizons a bit. In the grand scheme of things, with what vet school will cost you, the additional fees for applying to a few more schools are insignificant, and can make the difference between you getting in now or needing to go through a few more cycles, with all that added expense and "wasted" time.

Be prepared to not get in the first or second or maybe third time, and don't let it be the end of the world if you are rejected. If this is REALLY the right thing for you, that shouldn't be the end, and you can use that time to become a better prepared candidate and better future student.

A lot of applicants apply (and the ones with great numbers get in) with the bare minimum vet experience. This might be ~100 hours "shadowing" their local vet, with no real hands-on experience. I don't think this is a good thing for vet schools or the future of the profession, and I would strongly advise applicants to get actual paid experience as a front-line staff in a vet hospital. This will only help your application, and will absolutely make you a better student and clinician once you graduate.

 

[libster06]

1) I wish I had known about Student Doctor Network. I did not find out about it for quite a ways through my application process and have found this forum to be so incredibly helpful!!

Me either. I found out about it after I was accepted in my vet school admissions packet for LSU.... so I missed out on help through the entire application process. So I would definitely emphasize this.

I also wish I would've known how long this process takes to complete. For some reason I wasn't super anal about applying and waited about 3-4 weeks to START applying. I had to apply through both VMCAS and Texas Medical and Dental Association (for A&M) so it was 2 applications that were basically the same thing but still it took twice as long to enter all the information twice and also write 2 different personal statements (different prompts) and then TMDSAS had a completely different LOR system than VMCAS and it was infinitely more complicated. Everything eventually worked out (although I didn't choose A&M), but there was so much headache that went along with the process because I waited so late. One of my LORs for TMDSAS actually got lost and having to deal with all of that at the deadline time was more than enough to give me a nervous breakdown. Had I started earlier, could have been more prepared for mishaps.

 

[libster06]

Also, not ALL supplementals have a bunch of long essays to write. I remember a few I did were literally one page, just a couple totals or stats the school wanted for whatever reason. Then there were others that required multiple additional essays and definitely needed a few days work. So either way, people should check those requirements long before they are due so they know how much time they should allot for supplementals.

I was going to add something like this too. None of my supplementals were very taxing (I applied to four schools). You should be checking supplementals at the same time you begin applying. Let them know that there ARE supplementals and to check them out, but I wouldn't totally scare them over the supplementals; those are almost the least of their worries.

 

[hunterjumper12]

1. Make sure your intended area of interest is the area in which you have the most veterinary experience. I can't remember for the OOS schools I applied to, but I know my IS school (NCSU) strongly emphasized this.

2. When applying to schools, apply where you think you will be a competitive applicant. CSU was one of my dream schools, but looking over my stats, I realized I just simply wouldn't have been a competitive applicant there, and therefore didn't waste the time and money to apply there.

3. If you have a low amount of hours, make up for it with a strong GPA/GRE. If you don't have a good GPA/GRE score, make up for it with a lot of hours and an awesome personal statement.

4. Have everyone you know read over your personal statement, and your supplemental essays too (if possible). Even if I didn't use the suggestions that someone gave me for my PS, it was still good as I was usually able to use it for another essay in my application.

5. Ask your LOR early! I asked 2 in July and the other one at the end of August 😱. Thankfully, the August one was able to get it in on time, but it was still stressful. Besides, you want to give them as long as possible to think about all the good things they are going to write about you 😀

Although these are sort of general ideas, they were the main things that I wish I would have known when I was applying, so hopefully they will be helpful to someone else.

 

[scb44f]

A lot of applicants apply (and the ones with great numbers get in) with the bare minimum vet experience. This might be ~100 hours "shadowing" their local vet, with no real hands-on experience. I don't think this is a good thing for vet schools or the future of the profession, and I would strongly advise applicants to get actual paid experience as a front-line staff in a vet hospital. This will only help your application, and will absolutely make you a better student and clinician once you graduate.

I would change the wording on this one; definitely look for paid experience, because it's great in many ways, but don't discount the possibilities involved in shadowing because some places may let you do more than just stand there. Of course, this is going to depend on where you are, the vet, the clinic, etc. Coming from a more rural area, the clinics are already saturated with assistants and techs, but only one vet I shadowed actually had me strictly shadowing. The other 3 let me get hands-on, and another 2 on top of that actually reimbursed me some gas money for helping out.

Other things I would mention:

Don't forget your thank you's! Since I did all shadowing, I gave every clinic a thank you card when I was done with my stint there. They certainly don't have to let you in, so showing your appreciation is just a nice gesture. It can also help if you decide to use them for a LOR.

If the vet schools you're interested in have open houses, go, especially if someone from admissions gives presentations. This was the biggest key to my success this year because I got advice on how to make my application strong straight from the people looking at it.

Along with this, get to know what each school you're applying to looks for in applicants. Different schools look for different things, and you want to make yourself as competitive as possible. One of the things I learned at the open house I attended was that Mizzou looks for a bit of experience in a lot of categories, but after so much, they don't give you any more "points". So, someone with 300 hours in SA would get the same "points" as someone with 3000 hours in SA. Other schools may look for lots of experience in the area you're interested in. You'll never know until you ask/search for the information!

Use your resources! Connections can be incredibly helpful. Last summer, I stayed with a family friend for a week and a half who happens to be the director of the animal shelter in her town and works with all of the vets. I would've preferred asking myself, but she asked one of them for me if I could shadow for a few days, and they welcomed me with open arms. I didn't get a ton of new experience from it, but seeing how a different clinic ran was insightful (they didn't have appointments... first come first serve... very interesting).

Along the same lines, if you're interested in gaining more LA experience, but work with a SA vet, ask them if any vets in the area work more with large animals. You might hear some names you hadn't heard of before.

About applying, tell them to do one small part at a time starting from the very beginning. Working on it like that instead of all at once can help alleviate the feeling of "OMG this is ridiculous! How long is this application??"

Make sure you are eligible for the schools you apply to. It would be a shame to spend the effort/money on applying to a school who won't even consider you.

 

[katryn]

1. Start keeping track of hours/experience as soon as you get it, or put it all together well in advance of application. I had an excel spread sheet with primary contact/DVM, clinic name, address, phone number, number of hours total, avg. hours per week, and a list of duties. All I had to do was copy and paste into VMCAS. I was able to put paid and volunteer, as well as animal and vet experience in this way.

2. It seems really obvious now, but I wish someone had pointed out to me that "I've always wanted to be a vet" is not an acceptable answer. It can be part of the answer, but not all of it. I'm not ashamed to admit that it took me two application cycles and a post-mortem interview to figure this out.

3. Use and abuse the post-rejection review if you get rejected. I didn't do a review after my first application, and I really feel like it might have saved me an application cycle if I had.

4. Mock interviews are never a bad thing, even if you only do it once to verify that interviewing doesn't give you the hebiegebies.

5. Send in transcripts/GRE scores/anything that has to be mailed in EARLY. Then verify that it got there, and make sure you know your deadlines.

 

[Armymutt25A]

Wish this sight existed back in '94. My only reference then was a 10 year old book on becoming a vet in the school library.

 

[pooter]

Budget $$$ for the entire application process. It might seem obvious, but I hadn't quite processed just how expensive sending the same VMCAS application to multiple schools would be, especially when you take into account supplemental application fees and travel expenses for interviews.

 

[Halebug]

Thanks for the feedback everyone...so many of the things that were mentioned are things that I too had to figure out...it is just hard to look back even now and remember the things I wish I had known! I think they will find this information so helpful....keep em coming!

 

[Halebug]

Budget $$$ for the entire application process. It might seem obvious, but I hadn't quite processed just how expensive sending the same VMCAS application to multiple schools would be, especially when you take into account supplemental application fees and travel expenses for interviews.

I definitely did the EXACT same thing. I remember someone telling me to set aside at least 1000 bucks to apply and at the time thinking they must have been exaggerating! I did not consider the fact that I have gone to three colleges and had to send transcripts from all of those several times, that each school you apply to has a separate fee....and on and on! It adds up so fast! Good advice!

 

[hunterjumper12]

Also, either send your transcripts/applications with delivery confirmation, or send them early enough to be able to email/call and confirm that they got there before the deadline. That will save you a lot of stress!

 

[bbeventer]

Haha, I don't even think I found out about supplementals until like July sometime, after I stumbled across SDN.

I guess my contribution is list every award no matter how small or how irrelevant.

- The comments I received back is I needed more awards and such on my app (I didnt list very many because I thought they needed to be animal related).

 

[310509]

As someone who applied multiple times, I think the biggest one for me is making sure you print and/or save your VMCAS application. I did this and is was SO easy to fill it out for the next year because a lot of it hasn't changed.

Also, just because it is a different year, doesn't mean you have to change your essays. According to my post-rejection reviews, I received full credit on my essays, so I didn't change a thing because my goals hadn't changed.

ALSO, I don't know if this is the same at other schools, but Joyce Massie from VMRCVM actually proof-read my personal statement for me and gave me suggestions. She gave me a deadline I had to have it into her by (I think August 1). It was so helpful!

Hmmm....these are the first three that popped into my head. I'll think some more!

 

[libster06]

Also, either send your transcripts/applications with delivery confirmation, or send them early enough to be able to email/call and confirm that they got there before the deadline. That will save you a lot of stress!

You should also be on them (VMCAS or another application place such as TMDSAS) about whether they have processed your LOR. A&M in their most efficient and infinite wisdom had us send our letters to a completely different facility (located in Washington no less!) than both the school and the application center. I sent in my LOR TWICE because they had issues with it and the second time had it overnighted with confirmation delivery. After several weeks (and within days of the deadline approaching) of calling them about twice a week and them having not updated my profile I called them and they told me they never received it... after I already got confirmation. Apparently they lost it in their offices and after several freak outs from me and about a dozen searches I made them do, they finally found it in their records, but only after my incessant hounding and hysteria. So, you really have to make sure they not only received it but processed it accordingly.

 

[katryn]

Thought of another one, but it may differ from school to school. For some schools extracurriculars/clubs/etc don't necessarily have to be animal related. It's much better to join up with something that you are honest to goodness interested in and can talk about with enthusiasm, than to stick it out in that pre-vet club that you hate going to and are going to give off bad vibes about.

 

[kas9ey]

I was just thinking about this same thing the other day. I would tell pre-vetters that:
1. The application season is long, stressful, and can be really hard on you, especially if you get to comparing yourself to every other applicant. You have to remember to focus on what's great about you and your application. Everyone will have pieces and parts that they could improve but it's the overall picture that matters most. i.e., Just because your best friend has a 3.9 GPA and you have a 3.2 doesn't mean she/he will get in and you won't.

2. Yes, have a few people read your PS and give you tips but make sure it doesn't get edited to the point where it loses your voice. Your personal statement is supposed to showcase you, not the diction preferences of your mom/bf/gf etc.! The most help I got on mine was from someone who'd been on the reading panel before (duh huh) and knew what most schools are looking for; like leadership skills, grasp on reality, that kind of stuff.

3. Like everyone else said, start the process early, it's much less daunting. Get all your transcripts ordered early in case there is a problem. I know UF won't send out transcripts if you've got parking tickets, or a book overdue at the library, or anything else they're not happy about. The community college I used for dual enrollment "lost" mine so I got to play the frantic phone call game. Turns out they were stamped and ready to go out, but a box or something was dropped on top of them on the lady's desk. You never know what could happen!

4. Even if you're only applying to a couple schools (which I don't recommend), write out a checklist of everything that needs done for each school all on the same page and check it off as you go, that way as it gets closer to the first week in October you're not going "oh wait...did I send that in...?!?!" You may also need to write out the dates stuff is due, and write notes for what schools are different, like "don't send transcripts to CSU''.
Ex.
UF: transcripts from so-and-so
GRE score sent
supplemental sent
paid (by CC or check)


Just one comment on what LunaJett said about not having a lot of strictly vet hours. I don't think that's necessarily true about it not being good for the profession. I only had a few hundred "vet supervised" hours, but more than 7000 equine hours. I shadowed at a place that has externs year round and I explained a lot to them about basic horse stuff; handling, industry jargon, types of bits, types of "rain rot", types of wraps/supports and how they're used, little tricks for pulling blood. You get the gist. However, if it's someone who's got 1000 hours of owning hermit crabs and wants to be a vet, then yeah that might be a little sketchy lol 🙂

 

[deleted387118]

When preparing for interviews:

Draw up a list of every type of question that they may ask you and find a way to answer them. That way when you are in the interview and nervous, you have a "bank of experiences" in your mind that you can draw answers from. You'll feel more confident going in. Don't forget the "why do you want to attend/what do you know/like about our program" question.


After the interview:

Consider sending thank you notes to the interviewers. (I sent mine through the Associate Dean after mentioning I wanted to thank them.) Now I'm glad I did as one of my interviewers remembered me and is the adviser for the club that I'm most actively involved in.

 

[that redhead]

Do the research yourself. Instead of taking the word of a pre-veterinary advisor that doesn't actually know about the process, contact admissions departments at schools of interest and other good resources to find all of the information. There are SO many misconceptions and misunderstandings about vet school and it seems like most pre-vet advisors don't know the truth. So being a well-informed applicant is key even if it means doing the leg work yourself.

Make the decision BEFORE applying about whether or not you can handle the debt. It's becoming a bigger and bigger issue for gradauting and current vet students.

And yeah, SDN 🙂

 

[pooter]

As a corrollary to what that redhead said, do the research yourself, but let the VMSAR do the legwork for you. Having those stats and pre-reqs at your fingertips will save you so. many. hours. Which can then be spent finding more creative ways to improve your application rather than rooting around on website after confusing website. If your pre-vet advisor doesn't have one, make the investment. It's totally worth the $30 or however much it is now.

 

[Cautionary Tail]

You should also be on them (VMCAS or another application place such as TMDSAS) about whether they have processed your LOR. A&M in their most efficient and infinite wisdom had us send our letters to a completely different facility (located in Washington no less!) than both the school and the application center. I sent in my LOR TWICE because they had issues with it and the second time had it overnighted with confirmation delivery. After several weeks (and within days of the deadline approaching) of calling them about twice a week and them having not updated my profile I called them and they told me they never received it... after I already got confirmation. Apparently they lost it in their offices and after several freak outs from me and about a dozen searches I made them do, they finally found it in their records, but only after my incessant hounding and hysteria. So, you really have to make sure they not only received it but processed it accordingly.

YES.

One of my applications (non-VMCAS) did not submit properly, and an eLOR got eaten in the process. Because it showed up when I submitted the thing, I didn't think to check the portal and make sure they'd actually received it. They didn't.

Fortunately, they allowed me to resend it at the last minute. Unfortunately, the vet hadn't saved anything and ended up having to do a total rewrite.

 

[2CatMatt]

It's totally worth the $30 or however much it is now.

$17 on Amazon for the 2011 (2012 matriculation) edition.

 

[moosenanny]

I think the advice on here has all been pretty great thus far!

Something I did that I think really mattered was that I didn't solely focus on my Personal Statement when it came to top-notch writing. I meticulously edited every single written response of the application, including the brief descriptions of volunteer positions/jobs/awards and honors, etc. I tried to make those blurbs as powerful and descriptive as possible, while still remaining succinct. Sure you can have a polished PS by working on it for months (heck, I started mine over a year in advance!), but be sure that you keep the same level of professionalism and precision in every aspect of the application. Also in the description of your jobs/duties, don't ever stretch the truth, but do be sure to highlight your strengths and make the experience sound as good and valuable as possible!

I adopted the mentality that I was selling myself with each syllable, and it certainly paid off . . .

 

[AHorseOffCourse]

I didnt have a clue about SDN until I was waiting for my interview invites. Not sure if this was a good or bad thing.

Keep records of all your awards - I listed everything from high school (almost 10 years ago) and thank GOD that my mom had boxed up everything and gave it to me a couple years ago, and then i stored it instead of discarding. I had pages and pages.

Be different. EVERYONE shadows a vet in a clinic. EVERYONE volunteers in a shelter. Do that, but also do someting you love that will make you stand out. I'm a civil war reenactor that does horse drawn artillery, rides 100 mile endurance rides, and play the fiddle....guess what they wanted to talk about?

Grades dont matter as much as you think. I never got asked about my C's in chemistry. Get "good enough" grades and focus on being human.

If you arent a fabulous writer, take every opportunity to practice starting at least 1-2 years before you have to write your PS. One of my goals in starting a blog was to improve my narrative and creative writing - i had a strong technical writing background, but that wasn't what was going to grab the attention of the adcoms.

(btw- i have a fractured elbow and doing this oehanded with my left. please excuse my lack punctuation, capalization and weird spelling errors)

Dont be afraid to take time off after undergrad.

apply to more than one school. this seems obvious now, but since davis was the only school i wanted to go to....i only applied there. Sure i saved money and time but you can bet i was sweating bullets waiting for my acceptance, and i'm not sure that puuting all my eggs in one basket (adcoms could see I onbly had one school listed) hurt my application.

That's it for now.

 

[BeagleVet]

Some things I would reiterate... make a checklist of everything that needs to be done for each school and the deadline-- some schools didn't want a transcript unless they wanted to interview you (Colorado) or even accepted you (Edinburgh), but others needed them by the October deadline. Check over deadlines carefully, ISU required in state applicants to submist everything including the VMCAS a month before OOSers.

Keep track of awards, clubs, animal volunteer hours from high school, and make a summary of it. I actually had a copy of my undergraduate UC application and was able to take a lot of things from that, some of which I could have completely forgotten to mention. I thought it would be enough to keep my pay stubs from previous Vet jobs, but I still had to total all those hours during the application cycle, keeping a centralized spreadsheet would make things a lot faster.

On that note, if you're still getting more hours over the summer, fill out the rest of the application, but wait to finish up your hours experience until late September... there were no rolling admissions, so it didn't really matter if you pressed submit in July or October, as long as you don't wait for everything until October.

Make sure in your Vet experience, that the duties/experiences you listed can describe in more detail and why they were done, and if it was years before review those things before an interview. If you shadow Vets, expecially specialists make notes of your experiences and the procedures you watched and ask questions at the time.

Complete the VMCAS application in stages... I got really annoyed with the part when you fill out your coursework, and would have pulled my hair out if I didn't have time to take a few days breather between stints.

Start your personal statement asap, or at least a draft of something to the effect of how you came to the decision for Vet school (even if the prompt is slightly different, you'll need some portion of that for the PS or essays in supplemental apps). Mine went through at least 5 different complete versions, before I found one I liked, and even that was edited probably 5 more times... this all takes time.

 

[twelvetigers]

Grades dont matter as much as you think. I never got asked about my C's in chemistry. Get "good enough" grades and focus on being human.

Alternately, I wish someone would have told freshman me to not be a total idiot - study more if you aren't doing well. Get a tutor, no shame in that... especially if you can get one for free through the school. If you made a C in chem I, BUCKLE DOWN for chem II. There is a point where you have too many Cs to be ignored, and you will have to crawl your way back out of the hole you've dug before you have a chance. Way easier to do things right the first time.

BUT. Don't worry about making one C here or there - I agree it's not a death sentence. Just don't let it get out of hand.

 

[libster06]

Alternately, I wish someone would have told freshman me to not be a total idiot - study more if you aren't doing well. Get a tutor, no shame in that... especially if you can get one for free through the school. If you made a C in chem I, BUCKLE DOWN for chem II. There is a point where you have too many Cs to be ignored, and you will have to crawl your way back out of the hole you've dug before you have a chance. Way easier to do things right the first time.

BUT. Don't worry about making one C here or there - I agree it's not a death sentence. Just don't let it get out of hand.

Well, I think that would be frowned upon.... I think she means one (or 2?) C's should not be fretted over. 3 or more, I don't know. I think we can all agree that more than a couple of C's shouldn't be what you are shooting for, and should be possible cause for concern.

 

[that redhead]

Alternately, I wish someone would have told freshman me to not be a total idiot - study more if you aren't doing well. Get a tutor, no shame in that... especially if you can get one for free through the school. If you made a C in chem I, BUCKLE DOWN for chem II. There is a point where you have too many Cs to be ignored, and you will have to crawl your way back out of the hole you've dug before you have a chance. Way easier to do things right the first time.

BUT. Don't worry about making one C here or there - I agree it's not a death sentence. Just don't let it get out of hand.

YES. I regret goofing around in undergrad and wish someone had warned me just the kind of grades I would need to be competitive. While I think it's important to be human and that one C won't kill you, I think grades really are something high on the priority list.

 

[twelvetigers]

Well, I think that would be frowned upon.... I think she means one (or 2?) C's should not be fretted over. 3 or more, I don't know. I think we can all agree that more than a couple of C's shouldn't be what you are shooting for, and should be possible cause for concern.

You preachin' to the choir on this one, girl. I had... like, 10 C's? Um. Not good. It took a long time to sort things out and make myself look like I knew what I was doing again.

Hah, fooled 'em good there!

 

[AHorseOffCourse]

I had 3 C's, all of them in various chemistry classes that were prerequites. But overall something like a 3.5-3.6 GPA. Oh and a 4th C is spanish that i took while i was still in high school....

which brings me to another point. EVERY SINGLE GRADE COUNTS. I advise students NOT to take college classes while HS unless they are CERTAIN they can ace them. You can screw up in high school and have it not matter, but those college grades are FOREVER. I was so GRATEFUL when i was filling out my ap that the C in spanish was my only casuality of takeing a CC class in HS ( I did well in the rest of the CC classes, mostly GE).

I just can't reiterate the need to make yourself different enough - even if it costs you straight A's! (b'S are ok but an overwelming anmount of c's arent as pointed out by others earlier) I have a cousin who wants to be a vet. she's in high school. I wince everytime i hear someone tell her that she needs straight A's, or that being in pony club (and acheiving a C ranking or a low B) is a sure bet for getting in. Or that simply volunteering at a local eqine center will be enough.....For example, she draws very funny, very well done equine cartoons. Some publications are starting to ask her about them....so what if she did equine cartoons on the side through college - along with decent grades, vet shadowing etc? I think that makes for a much more interesting candidate than some one that drops cartooning because they've been told they shouldn't be wasting their time on something non-vet related if she's serious about getting in.....

GRRRRR!!!!! i hate one handed typing. i just can't organize my thoughts in the same way!

 

[libster06]

which brings me to another point. EVERY SINGLE GRADE COUNTS. I advise students NOT to take college classes while HS unless they are CERTAIN they can ace them. You can screw up in high school and have it not matter, but those college grades are FOREVER.

We were discussing this in another thread awhile back... a girl was saying she was in high school and wanted to take several college classes and we all advised against it, simply because even the most focused high schooler is not really all that fully mentally prepared to take on college courses. Plus, why rush it? Take a couple that you know you will be good at, but this girl was talking about taking Chem 1 and I'm thinking "Chem 1 was challenging for me at 19 and I had a 3.8 GPA freshman year, I can't imagine taking that in high school!"

I wince everytime i hear someone tell her that she needs straight A's, or that being in pony club (and acheiving a C ranking or a low B) is a sure bet for getting in. Or that simply volunteering at a local eqine center will be enough...

Pony club sounds like the best class ever.... wonder where I could sign up for such a class?

 

[SWells2178]

Budget $$$ for the entire application process. It might seem obvious, but I hadn't quite processed just how expensive sending the same VMCAS application to multiple schools would be, especially when you take into account supplemental application fees and travel expenses for interviews.

WORD! I applied to 12 schools and got invited for 2 interviews. The $$$ adds up FAST- VMCAS, supplementals, transcripts and GRE scores to be sent. I think before the cost of interview expenses I spend about 3K.

Start writing your personal statement in JUNE!!!! and when you finally feel as if you can write nothing better have one last person look at it who has not seen all the transitions it has gone through over the course of your drafts. A fresh pair of eyes was key for me and my statement.

Start your VMCAS as early as you possibly can so you can devote attention to the supplementals. Hate to go the distance only to not put forth your best effort in the final stretch.

 

[katryn]

I just can't reiterate the need to make yourself different enough - even if it costs you straight A's! (b'S are ok but an overwelming anmount of c's arent as pointed out by others earlier) I have a cousin who wants to be a vet. she's in high school. I wince everytime i hear someone tell her that she needs straight A's, or that being in pony club (and acheiving a C ranking or a low B) is a sure bet for getting in. Or that simply volunteering at a local eqine center will be enough.....For example, she draws very funny, very well done equine cartoons. Some publications are starting to ask her about them....so what if she did equine cartoons on the side through college - along with decent grades, vet shadowing etc? I think that makes for a much more interesting candidate than some one that drops cartooning because they've been told they shouldn't be wasting their time on something non-vet related if she's serious about getting in.....

I'm with you on this one. I remember thinking I was a shoe in my first time around just because I had good grades and scores. I find it pretty funny now that my successful interview was spent mostly talking about how much I love video games, and vol'ing at a not fully animal related function.

 

[twelvetigers]

I'm with you on this one. I remember thinking I was a shoo-in my first time around just because I had good grades and scores. I find it pretty funny now that my successful interview was spent mostly talking about how much I love video games, and vol'ing at a not fully animal related function.

Have we gone over this strange, anal-retentive thing I have before? I think it's been addressed somewhere.

 

[libster06]

Have we gone over this strange, anal-retentive thing I have before? I think it's been addressed somewhere.

I am taking that as honestly more of an enlightening fact than a correction. I had no idea... and I googled it and sure enough that is the right way.

 

[twelvetigers]

In that case, I'm happy to have helped.

And anyone else I ever do that to, you aren't allowed to take offense. It's a compulsion. So if you say that something 'peaked' your interest...

*twitch*

...expect to head from me.




Piqued!

 

[LetItSnow]

in that case, i'm happy to have helped.

And anyone else i ever do that to, you aren't allowed to take offense. It's a compulsion. So if you say that something 'peaked' your interest...

*twitch*

...expect to hear from me.




Piqued!

ftfy....... 😉

 

[twelvetigers]

ftfy....... 😉

Hey now. I never said anything about typos.

 

[LetItSnow]

Hey now. I never said anything about typos.

Hehehehe. 🙂

 

[katryn]

Have we gone over this strange, anal-retentive thing I have before? I think it's been addressed somewhere.

I have certain words I'm the same way about. I don't honestly know that I've ever payed attention to the way shoo-in is spelled. In fact, that might be the first time I've ever written it down. At least now I'm not likely to ever forget how it's spelled.

 

[that redhead]

I don't know though. I have a crapload of experience and poor grades and to be 100% legit with you, I would trade the two if I could. I'm not saying ZERO experience of course, but it seems to me (from this end of the pool 🙄) that grades generally have more impact that experience hours. Obviously too heavy on either end is no good, and I did hear of a girl with a 4.0 and no acceptance this cycle, but still. I think I would've given myself a lot more options. And to be honest, it seems like the point of grades is that you'll succeed at the school part of vet school. Everyone learns how to restrain patients and draw blood and all that stuff I learned but there's no "learn to study!" part, obviously.

Just my $0.02 🙂

 

[Tator17]

I don't know though. I have a crapload of experience and poor grades and to be 100% legit with you, I would trade the two if I could. I'm not saying ZERO experience of course, but it seems to me (from this end of the pool 🙄) that grades generally have more impact that experience hours. Obviously too heavy on either end is no good, and I did hear of a girl with a 4.0 and no acceptance this cycle, but still. I think I would've given myself a lot more options. And to be honest, it seems like the point of grades is that you'll succeed at the school part of vet school. Everyone learns how to restrain patients and draw blood and all that stuff I learned but there's no "learn to study!" part, obviously.

Just my $0.02 🙂

I've been sitting here trying to decide whether or not to post my stats on the successful applicants thread. I mean, I used to say, "If I get in, I'm totally posting my stats to encourage others." But now? I feel some shame. My stats... they are not great. (Don't worry TT. I saw your admonition. I'll do it tonight when I get home. Cross my heart and hope to die.)

What I really want to accomplish by posting my stats is to tell people that grades ARE important. They are VERY important. But they are not the only path to gain an acceptance letter. I mean, there comes a time when you've taken so many credit hours that your overall GPA is just not going to budge (much.) And unfortunately, if you're a non-traditional student, that point is right about the time you decide that you want to become a vet. All you can do is take your pre-reqs and do your best. But if you can't compete in grades, you HAVE to stand out in some other area. Something about your application has to make an admissions committee stop on your application (among all the 22 yo/female/3.6-3.8 GPAs) and say, "This looks interesting. Let's interview this one." Something different. Be that some unusual experience, a stellar GRE, a fantastic personal statement or unusual hobbies. And then once you have an interview, you have to sell yourself. You have to have a clear point of view, a goal, a story, etc. (BTW - Civil War reenactment? So cool. I totally would have chosen that application for interview as well.)

That's not to say that you're not going to sweat a bit. But there are things you can do if your GPA is low. You don't necessarily have to take more classes and get a Masters to boost it. You can stand out in other ways. The key is to get an interview and then sell sell sell.

(Um, yes. I have a marketing background. How can you tell?)

So I do think grades are important, but I agree with AHorseOffCourse. Being human counts just as much.

 

[AHorseOffCourse]

(BTW - Civil War reenactment? So cool. I totally would have chosen that application for interview as well.)

.

That's one of the reasons i'm think i'm glad I didn't look at this site too closely until I already had applied - my stats arent the greatest (GPA and GRE wise) and I would have had a mini freak out much earlier in the cycle instead of just before my interview. 🙂

About the civil war thing - the best thing is that it was HORSE DRAWN artillery and its completly based around community service/public education AND I've been doing it for 10 years. So it counted as animal experience. When my parents dragged me into it in high school it was just a way to get more hours on horse back (horse crazy teenager with no horse of her own). Who knew that it was going to be central in my vet application????? Life is hilarious!

 

[that redhead]

I've been sitting here trying to decide whether or not to post my stats on the successful applicants thread. I mean, I used to say, "If I get in, I'm totally posting my stats to encourage others." But now? I feel some shame. My stats... they are not great. (Don't worry TT. I saw your admonition. I'll do it tonight when I get home. Cross my heart and hope to die).

I got in with a really low cumulative. My grades are crap and they embarrass me too. The reason I posted mine in the successful applicants thread is because the people who posted there the year before gave me hope and motivated me and if just one other person with rough numbers can see my stats and get hope from it, my mission is complete. I don't think anyone should be ashamed of their stats because in some way, they made it work. I hope you didn't read my post as bashing people with bad numbers - I'm one of them!

What I was trying to communicate is that life is a whole lot easier if you can motivate yourself to do well the first time around. I wish, in retrospect, that someone had told me that vet school invitations were not handed out on silver platters to people who had always wanted it. Found that out the hard way 🙄 I shot myself in the foot "living life" a little too much and I'd caution people to find a healthy balance between good grades and fun experiences. Again, I'm sorry if I've come across as telling people with less than awesome stats to go cry in the corner, or that all pre-vets should never do anything aside from study. Not my point at all 🙂

 

[SnowyPlover]

I know someone mentioned sending GRE scores early but I would also mention to the students that it takes 10 days just so they have an idea and to make sure they have at least 4 vet schools in mind the day the take the GRE so they benefit from the four free score reports they give you. Also make sure they check if any schools require AP score reports AND if they do double check if college board even sent them. I had to call college board 3 times before they even sent mine. They are so unorganized and made the application process 10x more stressful than it needed to be.

 

[LetItSnow]

HORSE DRAWN artillery

Must... resist.... bad.... pun.....

 

[sumstorm]

I want to echo the advice to have more to your Life than the constant drive to vet med. And share it on your app. It isn't just about having interesting interview topics, it shows work-life balance and the ability to relieve the career stress. These days, burn out & suicide are big topics.

 

[Halebug]

Thanks everyone for the input! I meet with people tomorrow and I will relay all of your advice!