Tufts "a year before vet school" essay

[hoodle]

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Hi guys,
Tufts does not have a standard personal statement this year; rather, they ask you to discuss a controversial question (they list a bunch to choose from) and ask this:

"We are interested in learning more about you in realms outside of the animal world. Imagine that you have just been admitted to the veterinary school of your choice. You have decided to pursue other interests for one year before embarking on your chosen career. Money is no object. What would you do and why?"

I have written an answer which I feel good about, but I wanted to see what you guys thought about their definition of "outside of the animal world" and "other interests". Can/should it be slanted at ALL to deal with topics that interest you in veterinary medicine? What do you think? Must it be "what would you do for your dream vacation" (hawaii or the caribbean - a head to head!) or can it be more tailored to the fact that it's a vet school application?

 

[BobDog]

Hi guys,
Tufts does not have a standard personal statement this year; rather, they ask you to discuss a controversial question (they list a bunch to choose from) and ask this:

"We are interested in learning more about you in realms outside of the animal world. Imagine that you have just been admitted to the veterinary school of your choice. You have decided to pursue other interests for one year before embarking on your chosen career. Money is no object. What would you do and why?"

I have written an answer which I feel good about, but I wanted to see what you guys thought about their definition of "outside of the animal world" and "other interests". Can/should it be slanted at ALL to deal with topics that interest you in veterinary medicine? What do you think? Must it be "what would you do for your dream vacation" (hawaii or the caribbean - a head to head!) or can it be more tailored to the fact that it's a vet school application?

I am not writing this one since I am not applying at Tufts but... I have decided to leave the vet aspect out of things on several of my essays. Your experiences, classwork and letters of reference should show schools that you really understand vet med and want to work with animals and all (plus your VMCAS PS should be about veterinary stuff). These types of essays are your chance to show them who you are outside of the animal world. What big project would you love to take on if you had a year to spend just on that project? How would you execute this project? I would leave animals and vet school completely out. You can use this essay to show what else you are passionate about, and maybe even show some critical thinking skills on how you would go about accomplishing your goal. Just my initial thoughts if I had to write something like this.

 

[hoodle]

right... I totally agree, but this is what I mean. I'm very interested in public health and zoonotic disease. What about devising a very specific plan, with lots of critical thinking and passion, that has to do with epidemiology and diagnosis in a developing country? It's not VETERINARY, so that's good... but it's related to what I want to do in vet school. It does show my passions, though!

 

[silverelf]

seriously, just write what you want to. if i had had that question, i would have said that i'm shipping off to scotland for a year to tip sheep and play with border collies. and yeah, to make it less animal-esque i probably would have talked about spending some serious time sitting on the green grass watching clouds go by...because if i had my year in scotland, i'd do that too. in my opinion that would be the best "year off" ever. i wouldn't want to do anything else. don't worry so much about answering the question they way they want you to answer it, just be honest!

 

[david594]

Personally I would avoid any animal slant. I would write about how I would take a trip to south america and live in my vw bus to just experience more of the world. Spend some time in colorado as a ski bum.

 

[Pennvet]

This is the easiest essay question ever.

 

[rexosaurus]

this is just another perspective, but if you really did get to defer for a year and money wasn't a factor in what you'd do, would you honestly be doing all this research and devising and such? you are about to start probably the most rigorous academic setting yet, and you want to do research? if that is what you would really do, then by all means write it. me? i would travel the world, eat lots of food, and forget about time altogether. if i remember correctly the question clearly states that they are not concerned with the vet school stuff in this question, they just want to get to know you as a person; so let them get to know you as a person.

 

[Rebeki]

I'm applying to Tufts this year too and my understanding of the essay is that they want to know about the other things you are interested in besides animals/animal activities. They already know that most applicants love animals.

 

[hoodle]

see, i took a year off in the middle of my undergraduate education and really, what I found is that I'm easily bored... I had 6 months set aside to do nothing but hang out, eat, work on farms, and travel - and I was pretty unhappy until I found myself some structure, some plan, something to DO. Maybe I'm unusual in that I had the luxury of doing EXACTLY what they suggested, and in learning from my mistakes, I'd really rather do something interesting and productive, on my own terms. But that's me, and I'm a nerd, so I guess I should stay true to myself!

 

[BobDog]

this is just another perspective, but if you really did get to defer for a year and money wasn't a factor in what you'd do, would you honestly be doing all this research and devising and such? you are about to start probably the most rigorous academic setting yet, and you want to do research? if that is what you would really do, then by all means write it. me? i would travel the world, eat lots of food, and forget about time altogether. if i remember correctly the question clearly states that they are not concerned with the vet school stuff in this question, they just want to get to know you as a person; so let them get to know you as a person.

I would be careful saying that all you want to do is hang out and be a bum. This may not go over well. Like someone said, hanging out and being lazy is fun for a day or two, but most active, motivated people want to accomplish something with their time. Saying that you want to hang out and eat all day is also very unlikely to separate your essay from the rest of the applicant pool.

 

[chris03333]

So as someone who already finished vet school, I would definately do the things I was not able to do while in school. Travel, spend LOTS of time with family, friends and anyone else important to me. I would also mention my other passions which I would persue (photography...)


I actually took a year off. The difference is that money was the issue. I went to work full time so I could pay for all the vet school application process and save some.😳

 

[rexosaurus]

I would be careful saying that all you want to do is hang out and be a bum. This may not go over well. Like someone said, hanging out and being lazy is fun for a day or two, but most active, motivated people want to accomplish something with their time. Saying that you want to hang out and eat all day is also very unlikely to separate your essay from the rest of the applicant pool.

I had 600 words to articulate exactly what I wanted to do with my time, trust me I didn't say that I wanted to be a bum and eat all day. I was just trying to give an easily understood example. But thanks for your concern.

 

[BobDog]

I had 600 words to articulate exactly what I wanted to do with my time, trust me I didn't say that I wanted to be a bum and eat all day. I was just trying to give an easily understood example. But thanks for your concern.

No problem. Let me know if you need anything else. .

 

[cyrille104]

Write about conservation medicine. Works every time 😀

 

[VelcroSky]

I had 600 words to articulate exactly what I wanted to do with my time, trust me I didn't say that I wanted to be a bum and eat all day. I was just trying to give an easily understood example. But thanks for your concern.

That's too bad. Someone should write that since money is no matter, according to the question, they would buy a giant mansion, hire lots of servants, and get the biggest entertainment system possible. Then spend the whole year lounging about, playing video games and watching movies, all the while your servants serving you martinis and finger sandwiches.

 

[hoodle]

That's too bad. Someone should write that since money is no matter, according to the question, they would buy a giant mansion, hire lots of servants, and get the biggest entertainment system possible. Then spend the whole year lounging about, playing video games and watching movies, all the while your servants serving you martinis and finger sandwiches.

hehehehe

 

[BobDog]

That's too bad. Someone should write that since money is no matter, according to the question, they would buy a giant mansion, hire lots of servants, and get the biggest entertainment system possible. Then spend the whole year lounging about, playing video games and watching movies, all the while your servants serving you martinis and finger sandwiches.

All right, you are all very funny....😳....my only point was that you should make sure that there is some direction to your travels and you indicate why you would be better off after this year. No problem if you want to travel and pursue hobbies, but just make sure the moral of the story is clear 😀.

 

[jfitzpatri8]

If your interest and passion is in public health and epidemiology (which I don't understand, but appreciate in others...)- then ABSOLUTELY tell them that! Everything about it. With the passion in your voice that I hear in the post.

I will edit it for you when you are ready.

J