Letters of Recommendation for Vet schools

[Jennifer Mac]

Hi you guys,

I'm very new to this whole "letters of rec", and I don't really understand how the process works. I'm currently an undergrad at UC Davis, and I'm interested in applying for Vet School in the future, but I wanted to know, how or where do we have our professors send our letters of recommendation to? Is there a website to keep all this?

Also, if one were to apply one year and didn't get accepted, could we re-use the same letters of rec to apply the year after?

Please help!!

-Jennifer

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[Leanne]

When you go to apply for vet school, you will use one application service for all your applications (or most of them, if you decide to apply to one of the few schools that does not use it) called Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). You will register your evaluators there (most schools require three, but you can register up to six) and they will be sent an email from VMCAS asking them to submit their letter. It's all electronic, but letters can't be submitted until you are actually in the process of applying. I don't believe you can reuse letters from year to year.

The best thing to do is to stay in contact with the people you would like to ask for letters, so you don't feel awkward asking them later! Keep in mind that for most schools, at least one letter must be from a veterinarian, not just professors.

 

[fromthebox]

Hi you guys,

I'm very new to this whole "letters of rec", and I don't really understand how the process works. I'm currently an undergrad at UC Davis, and I'm interested in applying for Vet School in the future, but I wanted to know, how or where do we have our professors send our letters of recommendation to? Is there a website to keep all this?

Also, if one were to apply one year and didn't get accepted, could we re-use the same letters of rec to apply the year after?

Please help!!

-Jennifer

First. I really recommend the search function as a way of finding the answers you are looking for here from previous posters.

Second - are you pre-vet? Do you have an advisor at Davis who you can talk to about the process? We are helpful but you seem to be at square one and I would imagine they would have staff to help you.

Third - To apply you will use the VMCAS - a common application which most of the vet schools that are AVMA accredited use. It can be found here: http://www.aavmc.org/Students-Appli...nary-Medical-College-Application-Service.aspx and they have a sample you can look at. I also reccommend a copy of the VMSAR - also published by AAVMC, it is a compilation of requirements and past statistics for admission to vet schools that is really helpful to gauge where you fall and what you need to work on to be a competitive applicant.

Fourth - If you apply using the VMCAS, your Letter of Rec writers will be sent a link to fill out the online eLOR form through this system. Usually you will have to have them fill it out each year, though some schools may retain the letters. It would always be my hope that having them write a new letter would help to include the new things you have learned/done with your letter writer in that last year and improve the recommendation.

Finally - Have you spent time in a clinic shadowing or do you have any experience with vet med? This will be an essential part of your application - the average Davis applicant has 3,000 hours. As well as help you discover if Vet med is really for you.

Best of luck! I hope this helps.

 

[NJhopeful26]

Hey,
So I wasn't sure where to post this and I didn't want to be annoying and create a whole new thread. My question is whether vet schools frown upon having a letter of recommendation from an inexperienced vet. I worked in a vet clinic very closely with this vet for the entire summer and felt very comfortable asking her for a letter. My only concern is that shes been practicing for less then a year; however she graduated from the same school I hope to attend. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Bracco Pointer]

NJhopeful, I don't think it would be a problem to have an "inexperienced" vet write you a letter. Of course, it's always nice to have a well-known, highly experienced vet write you a letter, but that's not possible for everybody. Do you think she can write you a cohesive, professional, positive LOR? If so, then I think there shouldn't be a problem. The letter needs to sound like it's from a vet, not a student.

 

[capirinha]

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[Trilt]

Not to hijack the thread, but this goes along with the topic of LOR and I didn't want to start a whole new thread for it:

I am pretty bummed out. Yesterday I asked for a LOR from the manager of the shelter I am volunteering at, they said yes. Today when I went in, one of the Dr's was asking me what I had done with some medicine a recently spayed animal was supposed to be getting. I said I gave the last dose last night and threw away the container. The Dr said that was impossible, as there was supposed to be 2 more days worth of medications, and started to insinuate that I stole the drugs (which were controlled drugs, nonetheless). I was appalled and didn't really know what to say or do. I am so bummed, because I do not want this to negatively affect my LOR, but the Dr was making a huge deal about it (which I understand why) and saying how they are going to have to make huge changes to the volunteer protocol since I "can't read" labels and now he is going to have to make a report to the DEA to file missing drugs, etc. And now the manager (who is writing me the letter) is going to come under attack because he was there when I was giving the medication, so ultimately the responsibility falls back on him. I feel awful, and I don't really have any way to defend myself and I don't know what to do. I should also point-out that I work full time as a vet tech at a fast-paced hospital where I have never made this mistake before, and I have a great letter coming from the veterinarian there. Has anyone else made a mistake and still gotten a decent LOR from it? 🙁

I would talk to the manager ASAP and explain the situation. You seem like a skilled volunteer, and insinuating you stole medication is a pretty piss-poor way of thanking you for donating your time. There are tons of places in the process that medication could have been screwed up that were not your fault... and not only saying you screwed up, but implying you "can't read"? How ridiculously unprofessional. Def talk to the manager about the whole situation.

All my opinion, of course, but that's what I would do.

 

[bunnity]

Did you log your drugs? If everyone has been logging their drugs properly you should be able to show that you didn't do anything wrong.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Did you log your drugs? If everyone has been logging their drugs properly you should be able to show that you didn't do anything wrong.

I have a feeling this is one of those things where a vet or tech or staff member pulled up enough of the drugs to last the animal for the duration of treatment, logged that, and put the doses in a labeled container for the dog... and some of those doses went missing.

I don't know why the vet would assume that it was capirinha that took it. Agreed about talking to the manager ASAP to give your side of the story.

If it makes you feel any better, I've had something like that happen to me at a shelter as well (though it wasn't with controlled substances). It was a super busy time at the shelter and vet services was very much understaffed. It usually took 2-3 hrs to do just sick cat room and another 2-3 hours to do the rest of the shelter for just one round of treatments. I was the only person doing treatments that day... and it was going to be impossible to get everyone done for their BID treatments.

So... one of the techs went to the vet chief of staff and proposed that I go ahead and give both AM and PM doses of PO drugs at once and only do a single round of treatments that day. The vet approved it, so that's what I did. The rational was that we didn't have any drugs that would really harm the animals had we overdosed them... and perhaps the extra dose might help just a little. Another vet saw me initialing off both the AM and PM slots on the treatment sheets and double dosing the animals, and ripped me a new one. She started angrily telling me that I shouldn't make random decisions like that because I had no knowledge of pharmacology, about the half-life of drugs, yadda yadda yadda. I was about to cry... I was so stunned I couldn't even get myself to defend myself. She knew that even when I was a volunteer I was there 3 times a week taking over treatments and staying well past other staff members just to finish them up, so I thought she would know not to assume that I wasn't one to cut corners.

She must've gone to rant about it to the other vets/techs and found out what had happened, because she came back later and apologized. And yes, I got two fabulous LORs from this place! But I know exactly how you feel being blamed for something you didn't do, when you're clearly there to help out the best you can. Hopefully your vet in question just had a lapse in judgement when s/he accused you and will come back to apologize once the whole thing is straightened out. If the drug protocol at the shelter is lacking esp for controlled substances, that's also on them. Unless s/he had evidence that you were the one who "stole" some, none of that frustration should have been dumped on you.

 

[485501]

I haven't had anything that intense happen at the shelter where I volunteered, but I definitely had several different techs and vets at the shelter 'correct' something I was doing when I was doing it under orders from another tech or vet (all of these instances got straightened out pretty quick, and everyone was nice about it). It's just so hectic in shelters that communication and protocols sometimes fall apart.

I agree though that the vet insinuating that you were stupid or lying/a theif is horribly unprofessional - even if s/he believed it, the correct thing to do would have been to ask your manager or the volunteer coordinator to talk to you about it. Maybe s/he was worried because there have been other occasions of controlled substances going missing at the shelter recently?

 

[capirinha]

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[Netanel791]

I have a question regarding LORs (letters of recommendation). I have asked a few professors and veterinarians for LOR and they have all agreed however many of them do not know by which criteria they should go by. They all told me to show them the criteria to which each school is looking for in the letter. I searched through my choices and no school has anything listed in the LOR section a criteria of some sort. The schools only say that LOR need to be submitted through eLOR on VMCAS application.
If anyone has a set criteria that they used and can show me I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[LetItSnow]

I have a question regarding LORs (letters of recommendation). I have asked a few professors and veterinarians for LOR and they have all agreed however many of them do not know by which criteria they should go by. They all told me to show them the criteria to which each school is looking for in the letter. I searched through my choices and no school has anything listed in the LOR section a criteria of some sort. The schools only say that LOR need to be submitted through eLOR on VMCAS application.
If anyone has a set criteria that they used and can show me I would greatly appreciate it.

Zombie thread! 🙂

I think this might be a good question for @VMCASSTAFF ..... I know that when your eLOR people go online they will be presented with a series of "rate this application on a scale of 1-5" kind of questions, along with an essay section, but I don't know if the website describes what sort of characteristics they want evaluated.

In addition to asking VMCAS, I would consider just flat-out calling a few different schools and asking their admissions directors. Something like "What information do you value most highly from LOR writers?" might get you some useful info to share with your LOR people.

In general, I don't know that there are <specific> criteria. I would thing most schools are looking for the typical types of things anyone else would be in an evaluation: your strengths, some insight into the quality of your work, communication skills, willingness/capability to work on a team, evidence of motivation, etc.

 

[Netanel791]

Thank you for the advice 🙂

 

[Gwenevre]

I was just thinking today about what to ask my LORs to write about, instead of just saying "A positive letter." I've been getting into the mindset of having each LOR in different fields of mine focus on one or two specific things. I.e. professor write about academics, work supervisor write about my management ability, vet and vet tech write about ability to multitask and work in a professional team, etc.

 

[LetItSnow]

I was just thinking today about what to ask my LORs to write about, instead of just saying "A positive letter." I've been getting into the mindset of having each LOR in different fields of mine focus on one or two specific things. I.e. professor write about academics, work supervisor write about my management ability, vet and vet tech write about ability to multitask and work in a professional team, etc.

That's not a bad idea. Anther way to look at it, though, might be to think of the entire application as telling a story - and each element should support that story. So rather than having different writers saying different things about you it might be good to have them reinforcing each other and the rest of your application.

Just thinking aloud.

 

[VMCASSTAFF]

I have a question regarding LORs (letters of recommendation). I have asked a few professors and veterinarians for LOR and they have all agreed however many of them do not know by which criteria they should go by. They all told me to show them the criteria to which each school is looking for in the letter. I searched through my choices and no school has anything listed in the LOR section a criteria of some sort. The schools only say that LOR need to be submitted through eLOR on VMCAS application.
If anyone has a set criteria that they used and can show me I would greatly appreciate it.

Here is a link to a sample eLOR that you can give to your evaluators: http://aavmc.org/data/files/vmcas/vmcas2014/vmcas2014_sample_eval.pdf. Regarding "criteria", please remind your evaluators that they are writing one evaluation that will be sent to all the schools you're applying to, so specific school critera is really not necessary. What schools are looking for is for an evaluation that speaks to the type of person you are, not that you're a clinical or academic wiz (your coursework speaks to that). eLORS should talk about your abilities to work in a team, to communicate etc....

Hope this helps,

tw

 

[kieradi721]

When you go to apply for vet school, you will use one application service for all your applications (or most of them, if you decide to apply to one of the few schools that does not use it) called Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). You will register your evaluators there (most schools require three, but you can register up to six) and they will be sent an email from VMCAS asking them to submit their letter. It's all electronic, but letters can't be submitted until you are actually in the process of applying. I don't believe you can reuse letters from year to year.

The best thing to do is to stay in contact with the people you would like to ask for letters, so you don't feel awkward asking them later! Keep in mind that for most schools, at least one letter must be from a veterinarian, not just professors.[/
QUOTE]


When do you think is the appropriate time to resend the email for an elor who hasn't started it yet?