Hi everyone!
So I am 2 academic years away from graduating my undergrad but I have started the vet school application progress (or rather gathering information).
Anyhow, in 2 weeks I have a meeting with the admissions officer at Tufts and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what to ask/do and how to get the most out of this.
I am bringing my transcript and resume but I am not sure where to go from there.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
The people at Tufts are amazingly friendly and helpful and will tell it to you honestly and nicely.
Keep things in mind like its hard for them to say "with this you will get in." You can follow their advice or ignore it and it might not affect your admissions either way. Keep a paper by your desk, document on your computer, or note on your phone at hand so that if you suddenly think of a good question about your application you can record it. Recopy these in a notebook and bring that with you to the meeting, it helps keep you organized, focused, and you can write down all their suggestions as they provide so you don't forget every little thing they say. In addition to your transcript and resume, get a rough count of your experience hours and a projected total for the amount you expect to have by the time you apply.
In addition to questions about how you can strengthen your application, take advantage of your one on one time and ask about the school itself: teaching techniques (tracking vs. non-tracking curriculum), financial aid options (Tufts is a private school and may disqualify you from taking out select state DoE loans), hands-on experience, surgery experience (terminal sx or cadaver sx), and species or field-specific curriculum that you are interested in. Also ask about fun things, like clubs, international opportunities, or some highly specialized courses like acupuncture.
Cruise their website to do a bit of research and ask about things you don't understand. Its ok if you don't understand the inner-workings of veterinary schools, this is your time to learn and use this information to help you decide on which schools to apply to.
Some questions to get you started:
--Would you suggest I obtain more experience hours?
--Should I get more diverse experience hours? (SA, LA, Food, Exotic, etc.)
--Since you are so early in your undergrad, you can ask about what courses they suggest you take now to help your app. (This I could see as being flexible to follow their advice, b/c they will suggest heavy science and vet med courses which might kill your gpa if you are not prepared for them or know your not good in that particular subject. However if you are dedicated and take those courses and get a decent grade [B or above in my opinion] then its good for you)
--I am looking at [insert your interest here] medicine, how large is your department here? How many cases do you see in a year? Is there a large patient base in the area?
--What kind of internship opportunities do you offer students? Do you provide them in other states? (if your OOS)
--How much is tuition for OOS/IS? What would the the annual total/grand total for attending this vet school? (expect these numbers to increase tremendously if our congress fails to raise the debt ceiling).
--Go ahead and ask for a tour of the place if you have time, although I think Tufts is beautiful.
Dress appropriately in business attire, a full suit might not be necessary, but some slacks, collared shirt, sweater, dress shoes will leave a good impression. Be professional, but also relax, its very early in the game for you and this is not an interview yet. Make a connection and feel free to chat with the admissions counselor, be memorable in a good way. Laura and Patty are infamous for knowing each applicant by name, even after a couple years so don't assume that they will forget you if you are blunt, brash, or rude.
ok I will stop talking now. Good Luck and let us know how it goes!
