VMCAS 2008 questions?

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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Stupid question.... but its not possible for one to send their GRE scores or transcripts too early is it?

Im planning to send both of those out in the next week or so and I have some lingering fears a school might say "GRE scores/transcripts from someone we have no other paperwork on" and chuck them in the trash or something crazy like that.
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I sent my GRE scores and transcripts well before I submitted my VMCAS last year. Not to mention that VMCAS doesn't send the apps out to the schools right away either, or at least they didn't last year, so probably everyone's everything will be there before their actual application gets there. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
sooner the better, have no fear.

i understand that using the phone vs. fax or usps is the fastest way to send gre scores.
 
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I took my GRE in mid-August last time and the scores were sent by GRE not too long after the test... there weren't any issues. I'm guessing that when you send something like that to a school... if they don't already have a file for you, they will make one.

Just in case, you can always call the school to ask if they have your scores at some point before the deadline. You can re-send them at any time, though it might cost you... GRE seems to like fees. :)
 
I, too, was told recently by VMCAS to forget about entering my foreign courses into the coursework section. They told me to just have official copies of the transcript sent directly from the foreign school to each vet school, and to have it evaluated by one of the official agencies.

Some of the individual vet schools I spoke to told me it would be okay to forego the agency evaluation if the transcript and grading system is clear. However, the high grade where I studied is a 1.0 and the low grade a 4.0 (basically opposite of here in the US), so that could be very confusing. Therefore, I opted to just have an agency evaluation sent to every school. (As a side note, the evaluation itself is the main cost at about $250, each add'l school beyond the first one is $20).

Hope that helps!
 
Is everyone having their transcripts sent directly to the vet schools, or are you sending them to yourself and delivery conformation from there?

My dilemma - I have a lot of transcripts, from 6 schools, so I figured having them all sent to me and then packaging them individually to each vet school might be the best idea. Tell me your thoughts.
 
meadow36 said:
Is everyone having their transcripts sent directly to the vet schools, or are you sending them to yourself and delivery conformation from there?

My dilemma - I have a lot of transcripts, from 6 schools, so I figured having them all sent to me and then packaging them individually to each vet school might be the best idea. Tell me your thoughts.
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I also had a fair number of transcripts (4) and last year I had them sent directly to the schools with no problem. I had my four transcript-sending institutions send me a copy as well, so it made me feel a little better when I got the copy from them because I knew they'd processed the request and my transcripts were going out. I also followed up with calls to the vet schools to be sure they'd received the transcripts. It worked out just fine. I think I'd originally wanted to send them myself, but I feel like some of the schools I'd applied to didn't want me to do that.
 
Not sure if this applies to anyone else but... I just noticed on the Oregon supplemental that ideally, Oregon wants you to collect all your transcripts and GRE and AP scores, put them in a package with the supplemental and your fee, and send everything in together all at once.

However, because ALL the other schools I am applying to want it done the opposite way (want the transcripts sent *directly* from the college to the vet school) I am not going to do things the "ideal" Orgeon way. Oh well! Hopefully it will not cause too much drama down the road.

I think it's worth it to check what the schools each prefer, my understanding is that if you are having transcripts sent to your own house first, they usually need to be in some kind of official "sealed envelope" before they are sent to the receiving vet school (not sure WHY they make you do this, though!)

The lists I have for what each school requires, and how they each "want" their applications are getting a little out of hand! Why, oh why, can't there be more consistency! Oh wait, that would make applying to vet school easy! :laugh:
 
starlene45 said:
I think it's worth it to check what the schools each prefer, my understanding is that if you are having transcripts sent to your own house first, they usually need to be in some kind of official "sealed envelope" before they are sent to the receiving vet school (not sure WHY they make you do this, though!)
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Any time you request an official transcript from your school it will come in a sealed envelope with usually a stamp over the seal with the schools name and something to the affect of "Official Transcript, Transcript void if seal is broken" or "Contents not Official if seal is broken".

Why? To prevent tampering.

I had each of my schools send me 6 official transcripts so I can send them out myself and they are all the same way. Unless a school specifically requests transcripts be sent directly I am going to send them myself as a package.
 
I keep trying to get to my application and my browser won't even open the VMCAS page. Am I the only one trying to access it at this time on a Sunday? Do they take it down for maintenance or something?
 
Site is definitely down... no idea why though. Give it a day.
 
starlene45 said:
The lists I have for what each school requires, and how they each "want" their applications are getting a little out of hand! Why, oh why, can't there be more consistency! Oh wait, that would make applying to vet school easy! :laugh:
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Amen! This was easily the hardest part about the process for me last year. Ugh.

pyxystyx said:
I keep trying to get to my application and my browser won't even open the VMCAS page. Am I the only one trying to access it at this time on a Sunday? Do they take it down for maintenance or something?
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Not to make anyone panic, because it's probably not late enough for this yet, but last year they warned us until we were blue in the face that there would be issues with the VMCAS site as it got closer to the deadline and more and more people were trying to access it at the same time. One big reason why it's helpful for your sanity to get the app done and submitted a a week to a few weeks early!
 
Ok. I'm not sure if anyone will know the answer to this one....

So, I still have a couple prereqs to take for each of the schools i'm applying to. One school in particular has 4 outstanding prereqs. 2 of the prereqs are needed for other schools, so I'm taking them this fall and spring. However, the other 2 prereqs are only required by this school and none of the others (they are kind of random prereqs ), so I was planning to take it during the 2009 summer semester if it turns out that this school accepts me and I decide to go there etc etc.
So, obviously, I need to list these 2 classes as planned classes for the summer 2009 semester on my VMCAS coursework page.

My question is: Does anyone know if this BINDS me to take these classes even if I get accepted to a different school that doesn't require them and I decide to go there?

i.e. has anyone heard of an accepted student calling the school and asking if their seat is contingent on the completion of the non-prereq classes that were listed as planned courses on their VMCAS?? :oops:
 
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ferral said:
Ok. I'm not sure if anyone will know the answer to this one....

So, I still have a couple prereqs to take for each of the schools i'm applying to. One school in particular has 4 outstanding prereqs. 2 of the prereqs are needed for other schools, so I'm taking them this fall and spring. However, the other 2 prereqs are only required by this school and none of the others (they are kind of random prereqs ), so I was planning to take it during the 2009 summer semester if it turns out that this school accepts me and I decide to go there etc etc.
So, obviously, I need to list these 2 classes as planned classes for the summer 2009 semester on my VMCAS coursework page.

My question is: Does anyone know if this BINDS me to take these classes even if I get accepted to a different school that doesn't require them and I decide to go there?

i.e. has anyone heard of an accepted student calling the school and asking if their seat is contingent on the completion of the non-prereq classes that were listed as planned courses on their VMCAS?? :oops:
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This does not bind you to take these classes for other schools. I would warn you to check that none of your schools limit the number of to be completed pre-req's however. I think PEI required that you only have one outstanding class for the spring before matriculation and doesn't let you take summer classes. I would also double check with the school that needs the random class that they will accept you taking them both the summer before classes start.
 
Angelo84 said:
This does not bind you to take these classes for other schools. I would warn you to check that none of your schools limit the number of to be completed pre-req's however. I think PEI required that you only have one outstanding class for the spring before matriculation and doesn't let you take summer classes. I would also double check with the school that needs the random class that they will accept you taking them both the summer before classes start.
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Thanks :D
very helpful.
 
why do they give us so very long to work on these applications... doesn't 4 months seem a bit excessive? the time only serves to contribute to my mounting anxiousness... :bang:

i guess this is a preview of the coming months... except rather than glued to my computer, i'll be glued to the mailbox.
 
Barnaby said:
i guess this is a preview of the coming months... except rather than glued to my computer, i'll be glued to the mailbox.
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Yep. Try to stay busy with other things because your patience and nerves are going to be stretched wafer-thin over the next 6-7 months.
 
Ok, here's a question for all you non-trads who are working on their "Experience" VMCAS section.

So, I've heard it's bad to have any breaks (even summers) where one is not in school or working or volunteering etc. Thus, it's good to list all of your work experiences, even if they aren't related to vet med.

However, if you're a non-trad, like myself, and have been working for quite some time before/during/inbetween undergrad and post-bac etc. Exactly how much of those work/volunteer experiences should one list???
How far back should we go? At some point, it just seems ridiculous to list all of the crappy retail jobs I had when I was, like 17-22 (some were almost a decade ago).
 
you could edit a bunch of retail experiences in one entry - or not list any under unrelated employment and use some of your valuable explanation statement space to talk about these experiences.
 
Silly question:

Shadowing human doctors- can I put this under vet experience?

The human animal... mwahahaha
 
Barnaby said:
Silly question:

Shadowing human doctors- can I put this under vet experience?

The human animal... mwahahaha
Click to expand...

I was wondering this too .... it's medical experience, but no slot for that. Anyone know where to add "human" shadowing?
 
Community Activities.(which includes extracurriculars)
 
I ran into a snag while entering my coursework into VMCAS. I studied abroad my junior year, and one of the classes was year-long. All of the classes from the year are listed on my undergrad (Berkeley) transcript as "Education Abroad, 2004-2005" instead of being divided into fall/spring semesters. VCMAS wants the coursework to appear exactly as it does on the transcript, but when adding a session, it doesn't offer "year-long" as an option, just winter/spring/summer/interim/fall. Anyone have an idea what to do? Thanks!
 
Community Activities.(which includes extracurriculars) Yesterday 12:35 PM
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Are you sure? Human doctor shadowing seems more valuable than a community activity- you can learn a good deal about the medical approach to problem solving, a lesson totally applicable to veterinary medicine. Is your reply a suggestion? Or have you run across the question before and seen the official VMCAS answer? :confused:

Maybe I'll give VMCAS a call to find out... unless anyone has another idea about where to fit it into the application.
 
Barnaby said:
Are you sure? Human doctor shadowing seems more valuable than a community activity- you can learn a good deal about the medical approach to problem solving, a lesson totally applicable to veterinary medicine. Is your reply a suggestion? Or have you run across the question before and seen the official VMCAS answer? :confused:

Maybe I'll give VMCAS a call to find out... unless anyone has another idea about where to fit it into the application.
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My POV on it is that (at least last year) the directions said that experiences under the direct supervision of a veterinarian or PhD scientist count as vet experiences. So, while not totally dissimilar, it seems that experiences under an MD technically don't qualify. However, it could be that the people writing the directions didn't think through all possibilities of the kinds of experience one could have. So I do think calling VMCAS is a good idea to get the "official" answer. However, something to keep in mind is that even once you have the official answer, you'll find people with the same situation as you (MD shadowing) will enter it into VMCAS differently.

It might also help to call the schools you're interested in, because ultimately, how they view your app is more important than what the VMCAS people say, IMO. I think ultimately, though, you have to balance what VMCAS folks tell you to do and what the schools tell you to do (which may vary from school to school) with what you feel is the best thing, since you don't want to regret how you presented your application.

From what I've seen, the situations where it really mattered where on the app people listed their experiences were the situations where their vet experience got hidden under other sections. For example, they had a job that was vet related, and they listed it under work experience rather than vet experience. That's bad, because you want your vet experience to be really, really obvious to adcoms, you don't want them to have to search for it. I don't think that kind of thing applies here, (I guess I assume adcoms will think MD shadowing is nice, but not the most important thing) but really it has to be what you're comfortable with since it's your app.
 
I don't actually have a question, but I wanted to wish everyone luck that is applying this year!!!! I remember all the questions I had and all the stress associated with applying! Just keep the end in sight!! You can do it!
 
This might seem like a pretty dumb question, but how do you pay? I know I could just send a check, but I would rather pay with a credit card online and it says that you can pay prior to submitting but I can't find the link...
 
Barnaby said:
Are you sure? Human doctor shadowing seems more valuable than a community activity- you can learn a good deal about the medical approach to problem solving, a lesson totally applicable to veterinary medicine. Is your reply a suggestion? Or have you run across the question before and seen the official VMCAS answer? :confused:

Maybe I'll give VMCAS a call to find out... unless anyone has another idea about where to fit it into the application.
Click to expand...

My reply was just a suggestion. What one needs to keep in mind that that section is for more "direct" experience being things one could potentially do with their veterinary degree after they have it. Working with a vet, one sees what they could be doing once they graduate. Research under a Ph.D again is also the type of work a person could do after graduating with their DVM.

On the other hand shadowing an MD in a hospital is unlikely to exposure a future vet to the type of working they could be doing. We will never be doing surgery on humans, practicing emergency medicine for humans or collecting past pertinent medical histories from our human patients. Sure there are MD's doing research with animal models that could overlap with veterinary work but one could find exceptions to everything, and its not possible to list every possibility.
 
On the other hand shadowing an MD in a hospital is unlikely to exposure a future vet to the type of working they could be doing. We will never be doing surgery on humans, practicing emergency medicine for humans or collecting past pertinent medical histories from our human patients. Sure there are MD's doing research with animal models that could overlap with veterinary work but one could find exceptions to everything, and its not possible to list every possibility.
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If I may, I beg to differ. Perhaps the direct daily activities of an MD differ from those of a vet, but conceptually I think there's a ton of applicable overlap that is very useful to the field. For example, you can learn about the mindset or approach to diagnostics (the logic involved), you can learn about sterile technique and pathogenesis. In my shadowing I watched a knee replacement surgery and learned about how they set all the angles to make sure the new knee is calibrated correctly for its user- just the other day I was speaking with a vet about the parallels between that surgery and a surgery he was not looking forward to.

For these reasons, I thought the experience would be best listed under vet experience. It's a philosophical lesson in the practice of medicine. I thought thats what we were after with these experiences- not necessarily the literal practice of medical techniques (that's what vet school is for).

Other arguements? I'm still not totally sure what to do!

EDIT: VAGirl raises a good point- I should be more afraid of them not seeing it then seeing it in the wrong place. I might as well list it under vet experience- what do i have to lose?
 
Barnaby said:
If I may, I beg to differ. Perhaps the direct daily activities of an MD differ from those of a vet, but conceptually I think there's a ton of applicable overlap that is very useful to the field. For example, you can learn about the mindset or approach to diagnostics (the logic involved), you can learn about sterile technique and pathogenesis. In my shadowing I watched a knee replacement surgery and learned about how they set all the angles to make sure the new knee is calibrated correctly for its user- just the other day I was speaking with a vet about the parallels between that surgery and a surgery he was not looking forward to.

For these reasons, I thought the experience would be best listed under vet experience. It's a philosophical lesson in the practice of medicine. I thought thats what we were after with these experiences- not necessarily the literal practice of medical techniques (that's what vet school is for).

Other arguements? I'm still not totally sure what to do!

EDIT: VAGirl raises a good point- I should be more afraid of them not seeing it then seeing it in the wrong place. I might as well list it under vet experience- what do i have to lose?
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Given your argument here, I'd say go ahead and list it under vet experience. Make some of these same points (parallels to vet med, diagnostic approach, sterile technique, etc). You may have to defend it later on, but having a differing point of view and being able to defend it thoughtfully and eloquently are good things to demonstrate.

Just thoughts. Good luck with however you decide to list it.
 
Ok, a little thing has been bugging me with respect to honors/awards and community activities. Would being a member of something like the National Honor Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars be classified as "honors" or "community activities?" Both groups had community service projects around town (food/clothing distribution, etc.) but the titles are fancy. Any suggestions? :rolleyes:
 
I pretty much have the same question. I am in the Mortar Board Senior Honor Society at my school and it is sooooo much more than a certificate and a pat on the back. We have meetings, committees, host tons of events, do community service, etc. So what is it....an honor or an activity?
 
i would say activity, just as being a member or part of a club is an activity.
to me, honors/awards are really that, like honor roll or a scholarship or research award, specifically, things that are GIVEN to you, not honors societies where you are actively participating in something.
 
If you've done research and your name has been mentioned in a paper, does that go in the honors / awards section?
 
This is probably a really stupid question, but do we have to fill out the previous enrollments, institutions attended, and coursework sections for distance courses we plan to take to fill random pre-reqs?

I know you have to input the school in order to get to the coursework section for it, but the previous enrollments section has no pulldown menu to indicate that you plan on taking a class there.
 
Hi All,

My undergrad school does not have a credit system -- you just have to take 32 courses in your 4 years, and every course has the same weight (so lab course is same as language course is same as polisci course). There are no half-courses, etc.

So...in the coursework section on VMCAS, should I enter these courses as 1.00 credits or 4.00 credits? There are no credits at all on the official transcript...

Just wondering if anyone else has had the same question and called VMCAS about it...

Thanks!
 
Whatever you do, I think you'll have to explain that in your explanation section.
 
NoRSquared said:
Hi All,

My undergrad school does not have a credit system -- you just have to take 32 courses in your 4 years, and every course has the same weight (so lab course is same as language course is same as polisci course). There are no half-courses, etc.

So...in the coursework section on VMCAS, should I enter these courses as 1.00 credits or 4.00 credits? There are no credits at all on the official transcript...

Just wondering if anyone else has had the same question and called VMCAS about it...

Thanks!
Click to expand...
My undergrad college was kinda like this. All classes were 1 credit, grading on a 12 pt scale, and untraditional course numbers.

I just briefly explained their system in the explanation system to give schools a heads up for when they receive my transcripts, but when I put all of my information in to VMCAS, I input it as 4 credits per class (as that is what they are equivalent to according to the school).
 
Hey NoR,

My school is the same way: 1 unit per course, 100-300 level courses. I believe I called VMCAS, and I was told to put list credits exactly as they appear on transcript (implying that I ought to put 1 for each course). That's what I did. My school states that the 34 units to graduate is equivalent to a standard 120 hours at any other institution, but the literal translation of that is 1 unit = 3.5 credit hours. That's not right. So rather than deal with that mess, I went with 1.

I haven't yet put anything about it in the explanation section because I feel as though this is pretty common and doesn't necessarily need to be explained. Additionally, they'll have your transcript.

So whether or not you put it in the explanation is your call (I don't think it matters either way), but I personally listed each course as 1 credit.
 
So my friend just called me saying that Kansas and Mississippi want your gre scores sent to them by october 1st and that if you take your GRE late (end of september) that you're automatically disqualified and they throw out your application.

im going to call all the vet schools im applying to tomorrow morning, but i was hoping someone could help me out soon...cuz i'm freaking out a bit. :(

I took the gre last year, and cancelled. and I'm going to take the GRE sept 30th. did any of you have these problems? im thinking that if they wont look at my application, then i might as well take them off my list.

thank you!!!
 
Hi guys,

I wanted to get some opinions on whether these two experiences can be classified as Veterinary Experience:

1) attending a pre-vet conference where several veterinarians, veterinary scientists and veterinary specialists lecture about thier work and about specific medical cases

2) attending lectures about specialty medicine (given by board certified specialists) as part of a Pre-vet club activity?

What do you guys think?
Thanks everyone :)
 
KittyRex said:
What do you guys think?
Thanks everyone :)
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In my mind neither of those would be "experience". You heard what they do, but you didn't actually experience anything.

Plus I just dont see how:
"Lectures from specialty vets as part of pre-vet club - 3 hours"
would really be a big addition to ones application.
 
this was a difficult decision for me. i participated in appx. 40 hrs (which is almost like a full semester of a 3 unit course) of continuing education (directed toward yearlong interns at my hospital) in oncology, dermatology, holistic, internal medicine (scoping/ultrasound/cardiology/biopsy/ thoracocentesis), dentistry, and surgery. the instructions for the animal and veterinary experience clearly state that the experience can:

"include all relevant experiences, whether they are voluntary, paid, or academic experiences, beginning with the most recent."

as far as i am concerned, the experience of listening to board certified specialists has deepened my understanding of many specialties of veterinary medicine, and i would be less informed and exposed to these areas if i had not participated.

then, it occurred to me that many university’s (and in my case the workplace's) recent initiatives have focused on improving and extending the academic experiences which lead most directly to the intellectual growth of students and to their preparation for their careers.

so after deliberation, i included this experience under the animal experience section. while the lectures were "supervised" by a doctor in each case, i did not want to make it seem as though i was trying to pump up my veterinary hours without gaining practical hands on experiences. i give david594 credit in that it is not traditional experience, but even sitting in a classroom is a kind of experience. what is more is that i have read on this board that some people have actually included cleaning cages as veterinary hours as it was technically supervised by a veterinarian. i think the lines get blurry and one must only speak about experiences they can defend and support in front of the committee.
 
efab said:
i think the lines get blurry and one must only speak about experiences they can defend and support in front of the committee.
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I think that answer sums up pretty much every question of "Is it animal or veterinary experience?"
 
david594 said:
In my mind neither of those would be "experience". You heard what they do, but you didn't actually experience anything.

Plus I just dont see how:
"Lectures from specialty vets as part of pre-vet club - 3 hours"
would really be a big addition to ones application.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your feedback, david.
It may not seem like a big addition, but the cumulative exposure to many of these lectures in combination with my clinical experience have inspired me to possibly pursue specialty medicine. Because I work in a general practice private clinic, I wanted to show that my interest in specialty medicine didn't just come from nowhere.

b.t.w. these lectures weren't just "typical day in the life of" lectures. Most were presentations of actual medical cases and lectures on specific treatments, anesthetic and surgical techniques etc.

However, I see Efab's point about not wanting to look like one is just attempting to bump up thier veterinary hours. I'll have to think about this one some more....

thanks guys.
 
KittyRex--I think you should use it if you're very clear about what it is. As in, so no one thinks you're trying to pass it off as something it's not. On my app last year, I included (maybe under the experience section?) a conference that I attended on Agroterrorism. It was only 4-5 days long, and I didn't present or anything, but I have a strong interest in that area backed up by a variety of experiences, of which this was just one, but I thought it was important to include because it helped show that I've seen/experienced several things in that area.

I agree that you need to be able to defend it in front of a committee, but I don't agree that it needs to be a hugely substantive experience that defines you to be a valid inclusion. Also think about it this way...hypothetically if things didn't turn out well with your application, would you kick yourself for having left this experience off? If so, I absolutely say included it. Include anything that, in your opinion, helps distinguish you or put your best foot forward.

Good luck with your choice! :)
 
So i get a letter every quarter (except for 1 quarter) that i got onto the deans list....so i put an entry for every quarter?? or just describe it in the box that i got it every quarter except winter 2007 or something like that?

Thank you!
 
ckgilabert said:
So i get a letter every quarter (except for 1 quarter) that i got onto the deans list....so i put an entry for every quarter?? or just describe it in the box that i got it every quarter except winter 2007 or something like that?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
That's what I did (I thought it would be ridiculous to have 8 entries of the same thing)
 
Thank you!

AND...i was doing the missouri supplemental (i think it was that school)...anyway, they wanted you to enter every class that was considered a requirement. so they said that you need a minimum of 3 units of college algebra or higher....so i took college algebra, statistics, and calculus....should i put all of the classes, or just the college algebra?

and the same situation is happening for the social science requirement, they want a minimum of whatever units...but i have a lot more. should i just put the minimum or all the classes that are considered social science?

you guys are so helpful, i really appreciate it. :)
 
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