Lots of topics about this app cycle...

[cvt]

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For those of you that arent applying this cycle, how long until you plan on applying? Are you already beginning to prepare?

I've got 2 to 3 years for undergrad, and may decide to do some research work after undergrad before applying to vet school. I am already thinking about it though; Who I can get recs from, what my personal statement should be about, already know what my explaination statement will be, trying to prepare for gre's (so. much. vocab. ), etc...

I'm still behind though because I lack diverse experience, and have virtually zero volunteer or research work (plan on changing that quite soon). Even though I've still got at least a couple of years before I can apply, I feel like there's so much to do and not enough time to do it! Anyone else feel like that?

 

[twelvetigers]

I didn't feel like that but I kind of wish I had... It's better to be thinking about it a bot early rather than a bit late... And I started thinking about it a bit late. So, you know what you need and you can work towards that. It's a good thing!

 

[ckd816]

I was originally planning on applying this cycle but I decided to wait until next year. I've been preparing pretty much since I decided this is the path I know I want to take, which was fairly recently (March 2007). I'll be finishing undergrad this May so I will have some time off... hopefully I get in the first time so it's just one year of a gap between undergrad and vet school.

I decided to wait because I wanted to get more experiences so I feel more prepared when I apply-- better experiences, better LORs (I have no IS so I obviously want to be as competitive as possible). Also I'm just really not in a hurry since I'm pretty young (just turned 21 recently) and I want to focus on my grades for this last year. I just started an internship working in research in July and I plan on getting some exotics and equine/LA experience either next semester or after I graduate. I'll have to take the GRE next summer as well and I'd really like to do a zoo hospital internship or work abroad during my gap year (VIDA or World Vets). This is all starting to stress me out! I know I have a year to get all of my stuff together but that's still scary... I also am not entirely positive about who I'm going to ask to write my LORs and have absolutely no clue about my PS or if I need to do an explanation statement and all of that business! 😱

 

[rileyroo]

This is all starting to stress me out! I know I have a year to get all of my stuff together but that's still scary... I also am not entirely positive about who I'm going to ask to write my LORs and have absolutely no clue about my PS or if I need to do an explanation statement and all of that business! 😱

there is no need to stress about this now, you will be doing plenty of stressing when you're actually applying. planning early can't hurt, especially being aware of potential evaluators, but don't stress now. save that for june 2010. 😀

 

[snapcall]

I'm not applying this cycle and I'm already flipping out a bit, too . However, that might be due more to the fact that I finished my undergrad degree three years ago and didn't decide that I wanted to be a veterinarian until this past June, so I have to play catch-up big time for the next year. I'm back in school full time taking prereqs (since I took almost no hard science as an undergrad originally), shadowing an equine vet, trying to get more SA experience, studying for the GRE, trying to figure out where I should apply other than my IS, and trying not to get too stressed over it all. Of course, I'm getting a bit stressed out anyways, but at least I'm getting stuff done! I think I'm very close to getting a job at a small animal hospital near my house so if that comes through I'll have one less thing to worry about.

So yeah, I totally understand where you're at 🙂

 

[canis13]

I'm also graduating this May, but not applying til next fall (class of 2015). For me, I can't finish my pre-reqs in time...I will be taking biochem and physics after I graduate. But I also wouldn't want to go straight into vet school; I just spent the last 16 years of my life in school, and even though I'll be taking 2 classes, I need some kind of a break.
Even with the extra year, I'm still pretty concerned about not having enough animal experience...finding a small animal job is proving pretty impossible (bad job market + being available only for limited part-time hours). In the mean time, I'm shadowing and volunteering as much as possible and also stocking up on research experience (just starting a year long neuroscience thesis at a primate research center). Hopefully I might start shadowing a large animal vet soon. Hopefully shadowing a large animal vet might be more interesting than small animal - I'm finding that after 7 months of shadowing a small animal vet, I'm starting to get bored because I can't do anything, and only being the incompetent "watcher" can get a bit demoralizing.

GRE, I'm just putting off thinking about entirely until after I graduate. No use stressing about it now.

 

[HopefulDVM]

Even though I've still got at least a couple of years before I can apply, I feel like there's so much to do and not enough time to do it! Anyone else feel like that?

I totally feel like that. I'm working this year, then back to uni next year to do a pre req I'm missing (But I'm going to do a full course load and grab some other courses that may help)-so I'm two years out from school but it is already hurting my head how much there is to do!!! And I'm terribly worried I'll mess something up!