Just submitted and kinda want to vomit. Anyways, I have a question. Do we need to do anything specific for LORs? 4/5 of my writers have submitted. Do I need to indicate which letters go where since some schools want 3 and others will accept up to 6? I don't see a place to do that in VMCAS or in the secondary section for the schools I selected. For reference, I am applying to UC Davis, WSU, CSU, and VMCVM at the moment.
There’s nothing else you need to do at this point. Since you’ve already got four eLORs in, even if the fifth doesn’t submit theirs in on time, you’ll be fine because you’ve already surpassed the minimum of three.
You can’t pick and choose which letters are read by which schools, unfortunately. For those schools that will only look at three, they’ll likely just pick the first three that are listed.
What are some things I can talk about for my diversity essays? I’m a little lost... I’m a white cis female from Southern California from married parents and no struggles that would compare to those of others besides my mental health. I don’t want to say anything that could potentially undermine others, and I love that they are striving to support diversity, I’m just not sure what I have to offer in that regard. Any tips are more than welcome
- Are you bi/tri/multilingual?
- Have you done any cool travel things that have changed your perspective?
- Even if you’re cis, are you LGB?
- Do you have any unique or cool non-animal related interests or hobbies (eg. art, writing, programming, a sport)?
- Did you do a “less traditional” pre-vet major, something other than a biology/-animal science/chemistry degree? Something in the liberal arts, especially?
There are other ways to show diversity than just straight demographics. The fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of vet school applicants are white 19 to 23-year-old women coming from middle class (or above) families, so you will have to find something else that will help you stand out.
When I applied several years ago, I leveraged the fact that I had knowledge of several foreign languages (Spanish, Japanese, bits and pieces of Mandarin and Korean), had some tutoring and teaching background, and had travelled abroad and seen how cultures can often differ drastically in how they view and treat animals, particularly in regard to health, and how having that perspective shaped my image of the roles a veterinarian can play within a community. I also briefly talked about my time in robotics and my hobbyist programming.
There are surely at least a few ways you can bring diversity to your class; you may just have to get a little bit more creative.
