Tips and Tricks of the Trade

[NStarz]

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Any more insider tips about specific schools? Tufts? Penn?

 

[moosenanny]

I didn't apply to Tufts, but a friend of mine got accepted. She went on this program the summer before submitting her app. Not sure if it helped her get in, but it really made her fall in love with the school (and probably didn't hurt her application 😉)

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/avm/college.html

 

[Lechatnoir]

I have this fear. I attended UF for a short period of time and withdrew for a multitude of reasons, one being that I didn't feel like the school fit me. However, now that I'm looking towards my 2nd application cycle, my parents are suggesting applying to UF. Maybe attending the vet school there would be better suited for me than undergrad was, and the other issues are no longer issues, but I am terrified of having to talk to someone from the school about why I didn't stay there for undergrad.

.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Penn- since you (NStarz) asked, i guess i'll respond although these may not be really big tips lol

- the good thing is that their supplemental is just 1 page and 5 min to fill out. no essays!! you have to pay a fee though like every other school, but at least i didnt have to fill out another essay lol
- they really like research experience, there are a lot of research opportunities in philly...in the vet/grad/and medical school on campus
- during interview day there are students who you meet with in your spare time while you arent in the actual interview, they have input on all of the candidates! MAKE SURE you talk with them and that they know you!! they are all really nice
- all of the admissions people are extremely friendly, Rob, Mr. Keiter, and Ms. Herpen. A year before I applied I wrote the admissions dept...Rob answered me. He wrote me back multiple times and then gave me his phone number and spent about 10 min talking about pre-vet things (# hours etc)
- They are flexible if you need to change your interview date (BE EXTREMELY NICE!) a lot of people take advantage of this because other schools have a "no change" policy. They will change it once for you but not again. Ms. Herpen told me that they rescheduled someone because their IS school was the same day, but then they tried to change it AGAIN for another OOS school and she said sorry no. It makes sense. It is a huge gift they give to students to change their dates, dont get greedy with their flexibility
- On Fridays around 5-530 penn students have a happy hour in the lounge in the vet school. they have beer for 1-2$ and everyone brings their dogs. Plan on going to this if you can. IMO it's worth spending the night at a hotel so you can go to it. The students are really friendly and will answer all of your questions for you. As far as i know, i think penn has all of their interview dates on fridays so you can always go to the happy hour after the interview session.
- there are a TON of nice pennwes on SDN and i've PMed all of them i think lol they are all helpful and you should take advantage of all the advice they can give about penn

 

[StartingoverVet]

Penn- since you (NStarz) asked, i guess i'll respond although these may not be really big tips lol

- the good thing is that their supplemental is just 1 page and 5 min to fill out. no essays!! you have to pay a fee though like every other school, but at least i didnt have to fill out another essay lol
- they really like research experience, there are a lot of research opportunities in philly...in the vet/grad/and medical school on campus
- during interview day there are students who you meet with in your spare time while you arent in the actual interview, they have input on all of the candidates! MAKE SURE you talk with them and that they know you!! they are all really nice
- all of the admissions people are extremely friendly, Rob, Mr. Keiter, and Ms. Herpen. A year before I applied I wrote the admissions dept...Rob answered me. He wrote me back multiple times and then gave me his phone number and spent about 10 min talking about pre-vet things (# hours etc)
- They are flexible if you need to change your interview date (BE EXTREMELY NICE!) a lot of people take advantage of this because other schools have a "no change" policy. They will change it once for you but not again. Ms. Herpen told me that they rescheduled someone because their IS school was the same day, but then they tried to change it AGAIN for another OOS school and she said sorry no. It makes sense. It is a huge gift they give to students to change their dates, dont get greedy with their flexibility
- On Fridays around 5-530 penn students have a happy hour in the lounge in the vet school. they have beer for 1-2$ and everyone brings their dogs. Plan on going to this if you can. IMO it's worth spending the night at a hotel so you can go to it. The students are really friendly and will answer all of your questions for you. As far as i know, i think penn has all of their interview dates on fridays so you can always go to the happy hour after the interview session.
- there are a TON of nice pennwes on SDN and i've PMed all of them i think lol they are all helpful and you should take advantage of all the advice they can give about penn

Couple of other things about Penn.

* They are one of the few schools that doesn't really require diversity of vet experience. They specifically state that they expect the majority of your vet experience to be in your area of interest. This is very helpful for anyone (like me) that lacked ANY diversity at all.

* They interview early (most are done late december and January) and let you know immediately (well a few days later with a call if you are in) so, if you are to get an interview, there is less drama to applying here. Conversely, they drag out the process and if you don't hear from them it can be a looong wait for the final no.

* Their pre-reqs are pretty generic, there is no % completion before applying criteria, and you can complete pre-reqs in the summer. This is much more flexible than a number of schools. So again, if you need to apply with a number of pre-reqs left Penn is your place.

* They are very accommodating about deferrals, and you can gain IS residency that way. Of course IS tuition is still expensive, and once you start you are stuck with your residency status.

* Penn looks for diversity of student body more so than many schools it seems, especially if you are outstanding in some way. I see a lot of admittances to people who have something that makes them really stand out even though other areas aren't up to par, yet people with just consistently good areas don't get in. (This is more personal opinion).

* Penn offers $5k/year grants to people with high GPA and high GRE scores. You are informed after you are accepted. Unfortunately I was not offered one. (Btw, Tufts also offers some grants...)

In general, Penn is a very easy school to apply to, but harder to get a guage on whether you will get in.

Oh by the way, you might note it is pretty darn expensive.

 

[lyndaelyzoo]

I have this fear. I attended UF for a short period of time and withdrew for a multitude of reasons, one being that I didn't feel like the school fit me. Maybe attending the vet school there would be better suited for me than undergrad was, and the other issues are no longer issues, but I am terrified of having to talk to someone from the school about why I didn't stay there for undergrad.

I was in the same situation. I started my undergrad at UF, then transferred to UGA for a quarter, then returned to UF, where I withdrew again and transferred back to UGA, got sick, came home, then went back to UGA where I earned my undergrad degree in zoology. Whew, what a ride it was! Recently I received my MS from UF and will be starting vet school at UF this year!!!!

 

[BlacKAT33]

deleted to make into own thread

 

[libster06]

For ALL applications: get a personal copy of ALL your transcripts. You will need them when filling out the dreaded Classes section of VMCAS. Also, pop in a good movie, because you're gonna be there a while.

An advising (unofficial) copy of your transcripts is a MUST when filling in the tedious coursework hours... getting on your school's course website is just too time consuming.

Secondly-
C's are not a death sentence..... half C's an half B's in a college career are probably not the best, but I have a C on my transcript and several B's and I'm just fine with that. Also, you (and the admissions office) have to take into account the difficulty of the class... my C is in Organic II, which is THE hardest class I've ever taken (please don't hate on me if you aced it!). I feel like if you got a C or D in Math 101, yea they probably won't think too highly of that, but I don't feel like they're completely heartless.

Thirdly- list ALL animal experiences. I didn't list experience with my own pets, but then again I had a lot of veterinary experience from working in clinics. But if you're lacking hours, by all means list pet experiences (don't fabricate or make an ungodly amount, but definitely list!). Also, any animal/vet experience from any labs you've had in classes and any research (if it's a strange animal, even better- they welcome and encourage animal diversity).

 

[HopefulAg]

Oh a bit more on the 'C' thing. I got a C in pharmacology and at the end of my Kansas interview they asked if I had anything else I wanted to say. We were already over time so I asked if we actually had any time, they said yes, so I gave a summary as to why I got a C. Probably spent about 5 minute talking about not wanting to drop the class, to give it my all, and so on and at the end the lady interviewer just looked at me, smiled, and said "we really don't care about one C, to be honest". So ah, don't sweat it. At least not at Kansas. 😀

 

[nyanko]

On a somewhat related note, during my interview at Davis during when I was talking about my prior grades (more C's than the Pacific ocean 😉) and most recent grades and the disparity between the two, I caught myself beginning to try to explain why I got an A- in a class. I stopped myself short and just said "As an example of the change in my attitude, I was literally just starting to explain why I got an A- in a class last year."

That summed it up well, I think.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Any more insider tips about specific schools? Tufts? Penn?

For Tufts, I can't suggest this enough times! Contact Laura Fuller for a file review (pre-application, not post-mortem). If you can go there physically, that would be best, but I'm sure she can help you on the phone too.

You pretty much give her all the info about yourself as an applicant as of now, and she'll be very frank about what your chances are. She goes through your course list and lets you know if you're fine with pre-reqs, etc... She can go through a mental checklist of all the things that she can think of that might get you rejected from Tufts, and will let you know if you should be concerned about any of them. She can also tell you how to best to showcase your application.

Just make sure that you write down as many questions beforehand to ask her. (e.g. should i include this in my app? should i list these as separate experiences or one? for job descriptions, are you looking for this type of info or that type of info? in a PS, is this type of info good to include or not? etc...)

She gave me great insight as to what they're looking for in a PS, and inspired me to come up with the theme for mine. When I talked to her about this new idea, she got really excited and told me that she couldn't wait to see how it turns out. I'm pretty sure if you already have a version done, she'll be more than happy to critique it for you too.

Not only is Tufts admission staff great like that, they really do get to know their applicants and WILL remember you. When I went in for my file review, both Laura and the secretary remembered who I was because of a question I sent them via email over a month before. Then, they remembered me the couple of times I called afterward. And no surprise! They remembered me when I went in for my interview. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if some people on the adcom had an impression of me already as they were reading my app.

Can you tell, I really loved them!? 😍

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info. I'm more than happy to share the two statements I had written for Tufts as well.

Oh yeah! and I think I wrote about this in another thread, but she also gave me info on exactly how many people will read your apps, and how each part of your apps is weighed (which isn't on their website).

 

[Whyevernot55]

Minnerbelle, I wish I'd known to contact them BEFORE applying!

I spoke to Laura once during the application process, and she remembered me when I came to the school to interview, when I called numerous times after the interview/being waitlisted/etc, and did my post-mortem file review with me. I second EVERYTHING Minnerbelle said about Tufts. Everyone in admissions is incredibly nice and helpful - seriously, call them once a week, they'll be thrilled to hear from you. Laura actually told me I was welcome to call to check on the alternate list as often as I wanted. She also basically offered to give me more guidance on what to do in a unique situation, looked up information for me before I had even asked for it, and is always friendly.

 

[NittanyKitty]

Good thread! 🙂

*I applied to Missouri and looking back I think I would have filled out their direct application instead of sending both VMCAS and their supplemental. The supplemental was sooooo freaking long that I doubt I would have spent much more time on the direct, and it would have been cheaper.

*Fill out supplemental apps with essays early if possible (even though, believe me, you won't want to do this). Then set them aside for a week or two before rereading them. You'll find a ton of mistakes and changes that you wouldn't have noticed if you were rushing. I find that looking at something with a fresh set of eyes will be much more effective for proof-reading.

*Make sure you know WHY you are applying to each of your schools. Not only could you be asked to explain in essays and interviews, but you don't want to be stuck with the possibility of attending a school that you're not that thrilled about. Especially if you're left with no other choice.

*Proofread, edit, revise, etc! And get friends and family to do the same if you can.

*Ask for your letters of rec early (June or July if possible). Provide a summary of your experiences, academic work, and reasons for pursuing the field if you think it will help. Also, don't feel too bad about hounding your letter writers if it gets to the end of September and they're still not done. This is your application and your future and getting things done on time is important. Just remember to send a nice thank-you card and small gift when you're done. 😉

*Supplemental apps loooove to ask the question "How will you bring diversity to the class?" "What makes you a unique candidate?" or something along those lines. Nothing wrong with using the old copy-paste method for those. Just tinker with the wording or examples if needed and done.

*Give yourself plenty of time to get everything collected, filled out, reviewed, and submitted. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL SEPTEMBER TO START IF YOU VALUE YOUR SANITY. I had a lot of friends collapsing around me last year as they struggled with school, work, activities, and rushing through their apps. Start early, save often, and submit before October 1st.