VMCAS Questions and Rants c/o 2025

[hkb96]

Hey y'all,

I am working through my VMCAS application and was wondering where others have put any certifications they hold. My undergraduate degree was in athletic training/sports med and I passed my boards to become certified this spring. I was thinking a certification might go under the "achievements" section as either award or honor, but I'm not sure.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or experience with this type of question. Thanks and best of luck to everyone!

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[SkiOtter]

Hey y'all,

I am working through my VMCAS application and was wondering where others have put any certifications they hold. My undergraduate degree was in athletic training/sports med and I passed my boards to become certified this spring. I was thinking a certification might go under the "achievements" section as either award or honor, but I'm not sure.

Let me know if you have any thoughts or experience with this type of question. Thanks and best of luck to everyone!

Experiences

help.liaisonedu.com

 

[Fishy3fishy5]

Hi everyone! Lurker here...but I finally have a question of my own:

Should publications be an achievement (honor)? What about a presentation (and does conference vs poster matter)? I was thinking that would also be an honor but I am not sure. Any pointers? They wouldn't be under research experience, right? (Even though it was the research that led to presentations/publications.) Just feeling unsure about how to break things up. Thanks, guys!

P.s. huge thank you to everyone for all that you do! This thread has been so helpful and has already answered many of my questions!! What a great find

 

[AUhopeful2020]

For those of you who have applied to University of Florida, how did you respond to this essay question? Did you focus on one or two activities you enjoy and why, or did you discuss 4-5 activities and just briefly explain why you enjoy each one? I don't know why I'm struggling with this one! lol!

Please describe to the Admissions Committee any non-extracurricular activities, hobbies or other skills NOT INCLUDED in the VMCAS experiences section. Examples include: arts/music, outdoor or exercise activities, travel or leisure pursuits that you participate in to alleviate stress, promote self-wellness, and personal development.

I personally gave a broad overview of everything I do in my free time. They want to know who I am? They're gonna learn TODAY hahaha

 

[biomajor2019]

I know COVID is putting a damper on literally everything, but are any of you doing anything fun, this summer, besides working on applications?

 

[DVMhopefulof???]

@biomajor2019 COVID ruined all of my plans and I can't see any of my friends :/ I really wanted to go to Yosemite this summer... But I am unfortunately working this summer and prepping for my GRE. I live in a state where it has one of the highest numbers of cases so everything is getting shut down again.

 

[11082017]

Hey guys! Does anybody have advice on what to include from high school? Should I add every award/activity from high school or should I just do the big activities (like being involved in band all 4 years and having leadership roles)? It feels weird talking about things I did 9 years ago when I was 14, especially since my high school activities were not animal/vet med related (heck, I didn't even know what I wanted to do then). I don't want it to seem like I am adding stuff just to add it if that makes sense.

 

[Amanasoul]

Hey guys! Does anybody have advice on what to include from high school? Should I add every award/activity from high school or should I just do the big activities (like being involved in band all 4 years and having leadership roles)? It feels weird talking about things I did 9 years ago when I was 14, especially since my high school activities were not animal/vet med related (heck, I didn't even know what I wanted to do then). I don't want it to seem like I am adding stuff just to add it if that makes sense.

Personally speaking, I would put everything regardless of how important it feels. Did I feel like that little award for my graphic design in art club back in 9th grade was incredibly important? No. Did I think my year of breakdancing classes was vital? Also no, but I still threw it on there. Honestly, you never know what an admissions council might see as interesting or what might catch their eye.

I always thought of it in this way: there really is never too much on an application and the school always has the opportunity to look past it if it's not something they're looking at.

That's just my 2c of course.

 

[EB73674]

I know COVID is putting a damper on literally everything, but are any of you doing anything fun, this summer, besides working on applications?

I am taking a solitary 2 weeks to go veg out by a lake in Vermont with my family and my dog. During which time I will be still studying for the VTNE. And trying to forget about my essays, and probably breaking down and continuing to tinker with them EVEN THOUGH I SPECIFICALLY AM TAKING THIS VACATION TO RELAX.

...this summer may kill me...

 

[biomajor2019]

I am taking a solitary 2 weeks to go veg out by a lake in Vermont with my family and my dog. During which time I will be still studying for the VTNE. And trying to forget about my essays, and probably breaking down and continuing to tinker with them EVEN THOUGH I SPECIFICALLY AM TAKING THIS VACATION TO RELAX.

...this summer may kill me...

I'm currently living in Vermont! ENJOY!!

 

[Viscernable]

Stressing like wild about VMCAS transcript verification deadlines. How long before September 15 do you have to submit to be absolutely sure you’ll have time for them to verify your transcript and for you to make any needed changes? What happens if you submit too late and they don’t complete transcript verification before September 15?

Similarly, what happens if an eLOR isn’t completed by the date you set? I set all of the deadlines for August 31 so that if any writers get tied up at the last minute and can’t finish them by the deadline I set they’ll still have a couple weeks before the absolute deadline - but now I’m worrying that might cause problems.

Lastly, my understanding is that you can’t edit your essays or the descriptions of experiences you’ve entered before submitting, but you can add new experiences. I am planning to work on a farm with goats in August and I’ll be starting a full-time wildlife rehabilitation internship on August 21. Because I’m nervous about schools maybe not seeing them or not giving them as much weight if I add these after submitting, I’ve been planning to hold off on submitting until starting these. Is my concern valid, or should I just submit as soon as I finish my essays?

 

[finnickthedog]

Stressing like wild about VMCAS transcript verification deadlines. How long before September 15 do you have to submit to be absolutely sure you’ll have time for them to verify your transcript and for you to make any needed changes? What happens if you submit too late and they don’t complete transcript verification before September 15?

Similarly, what happens if an eLOR isn’t completed by the date you set? I set all of the deadlines for August 31 so that if any writers get tied up at the last minute and can’t finish them by the deadline I set they’ll still have a couple weeks before the absolute deadline - but now I’m worrying that might cause problems.

Lastly, my understanding is that you can’t edit your essays or the descriptions of experiences you’ve entered before submitting, but you can add new experiences. I am planning to work on a farm with goats in August and I’ll be starting a full-time wildlife rehabilitation internship on August 21. Because I’m nervous about schools maybe not seeing them or not giving them as much weight if I add these after submitting, I’ve been planning to hold off on submitting until starting these. Is my concern valid, or should I just submit as soon as I finish my essays?

Assuming that these things have not changed...

- You don't need to be verified by September 15th. Just submitted. The only reason you'd have an issue is if something went wrong with your verification (ie you had major errors) and it was after the deadline. This generally doesn't happen. I can't recall anybody I know of having this issue. As to how early you would have to submit to absolutely have time to make changes if it were needed... I'm not sure anybody knows the exact answer to that. Verification times are variable but increase the closer you get to the deadline because more people are submitting.

- You eLORs don't need to be completed by the date you set, just the absolute deadline. But it is a good idea to make sure your eLORs are submitted early and not waiting until the last minute so I would just pretend the date you set a hard deadline.

- Unsure of the last question as I never bothered adding new experiences post-submission

 

[Lupin21]

Gonna be soooo very curious to see if they actually have less last minute submissions this year... baahahahahaa

 

[EB73674]

Stressing like wild about VMCAS transcript verification deadlines. How long before September 15 do you have to submit to be absolutely sure you’ll have time for them to verify your transcript and for you to make any needed changes? What happens if you submit too late and they don’t complete transcript verification before September 15?

Similarly, what happens if an eLOR isn’t completed by the date you set? I set all of the deadlines for August 31 so that if any writers get tied up at the last minute and can’t finish them by the deadline I set they’ll still have a couple weeks before the absolute deadline - but now I’m worrying that might cause problems.

Lastly, my understanding is that you can’t edit your essays or the descriptions of experiences you’ve entered before submitting, but you can add new experiences. I am planning to work on a farm with goats in August and I’ll be starting a full-time wildlife rehabilitation internship on August 21. Because I’m nervous about schools maybe not seeing them or not giving them as much weight if I add these after submitting, I’ve been planning to hold off on submitting until starting these. Is my concern valid, or should I just submit as soon as I finish my essays?

I wouldn’t be super concerned about getting things submitted way in advance of the deadline solely for the purposes of verification on the off chance that there’s a major error. If you don’t plan on checking over your application, maybe, but...don’t do that! I submitted literally on September 15th last year, and it took about 2 weeks to be verified, but I didn’t face any issues. It’s not a big enough issue that I would be submitting something like a month in advance. A week or so is just fine!

The one possible thing...leave yourself AT MINIMUM enough literal time (like, 72 hours maybe) to re-type things if you need to. There was a terrifying VMCAS glitch that appeared to have deleted my entire transcript history - it didn’t, but it looked like it did - at 10am on the 15th. If I had to re-type all of it, I may not have been able to finish it in time between all my classes.

 

[SkiOtter]

Gonna be soooo very curious to see if they actually have less last minute submissions this year... baahahahahaa

Doubtful

 

[SkiOtter]

I would definitely recommend submitting by September 10th at the latest just so you don’t have to worry about any last minute vmcas issues

 

[EB73674]

I would definitely recommend submitting by September 10th at the latest just so you don’t have to worry about any last minute vmcas issues

Oh yeah, 1 million percent, don’t do what I do lol, it was immensely stressful. A week seems good!

 

[EB73674]

I'm currently living in Vermont! ENJOY!!

Nice! I shall scream into the ether in hopes that you hear me...

But in all seriousness I want badly to move to VT after graduation, the Northeast Kingdom is my happy place!

 

[WanttheDVM]

Hi guys ! I hope you are all doing good!

I contacted the leading investigator of a research I was volunteering in ( which was canceled due to the pandemic) in order to inform her that the universities may contact. She sent an email in which she stated that she refused to be contacted by the universities, due to her not being able to speak English. I don't know if not letting the universities contact this person can harm my application...and I certainly don't want to eliminate the experience, as I believe it will help me stand out. What could you guys advise me?

 

[Amanasoul]

Hi guys ! I hope you are all doing good!

I contacted the leading investigator of a research I was volunteering in ( which was canceled due to the pandemic) in order to inform her that the universities may contact. She sent an email in which she stated that she refused to be contacted by the universities, due to her not being able to speak English. I don't know if not letting the universities contact this person can harm my application...and I certainly don't want to eliminate the experience, as I believe it will help me stand out. What could you guys advise me?

I marked not to contact a few people for various reasons on experiences that were invaluable to my application and had no issues. I don't know if others have a different opinion, but I think it's probably okay so long as there aren't too many marked "do not reply".

 

[WanttheDVM]

I marked not to contact a few people for various reasons on experiences that were invaluable to my application and had no issues. I don't know if others have a different opinion, but I think it's probably okay so long as there aren't too many marked "do not reply".

Thanks ! You give me such a relief. At least it will be the only experience in which I mark that they can't contact the person

 

[genny]

Hi guys ! I hope you are all doing good!

I contacted the leading investigator of a research I was volunteering in ( which was canceled due to the pandemic) in order to inform her that the universities may contact. She sent an email in which she stated that she refused to be contacted by the universities, due to her not being able to speak English. I don't know if not letting the universities contact this person can harm my application...and I certainly don't want to eliminate the experience, as I believe it will help me stand out. What could you guys advise me?

When I applied, the animal job that I had held for the past half a dozen years kind of imploded. It was a major part of my application, and I asked the schools not to contact them without giving any reason. I still got in just fine. One little thing like that won't tank an otherwise stellar application. So don't worry about it.

 

[calliesmom2014]

Couple of questions regarding matching prereqs in the individual school apps. If a section says "Organic Chemistry" then "Lab not required" underneath, am I allowed to add the lab in anyway since I took it? Or does it mean they do not want the lab included at all? Also, for elective sections it says "Minimum 12 credits", but should I put literally every class not used for something else in there or just 12 credits? Sorry-just don't want to do anything wrong!

 

[Sami_21]

Can you pay for the supplement app fees for each individual school prior to submitting the VMCAS app?

 

[throwaway102]

I'm having a bit of an issue with letters of recommendation. I have 3 letters lined up already (an equine vet I shadowed with for a long time, a professor I've worked closely with, and my pre-vet advisor with a DVM). I asked another vet, a small animal vet, who I've shadowed with for roughly 90 hours. He said he would be happy to write me a letter of recommendation, but he didn't work super closely with me and hasn't known me for long, so he isn't sure if it would be the strongest letter. I'm planning on applying to UGA, NC State, UTK, UPenn, and Tufts. For these schools, is a weak letter better than no letter? Thanks!

Also, dumb question, but I'm taking animal nutrition online at Purdue. How do I enter Purdue's non-degree program into my application so I can include that class? I'm a bit worried about entering in the wrong thing and having issues. Thanks!

 

[battie]

For these schools, is a weak letter better than no letter?

If you already have 3 strong letters, then a weak letter is a poor idea regardless of where you're applying. Several of those schools are very competitive for out of state seats, so dont take the risk.

 

[throwaway102]

If you already have 3 strong letters, then a weak letter is a poor idea regardless of where you're applying. Several of those schools are very competitive for out of state seats, so dont take the risk.

Thanks for the advice! The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that I only have 1 actual vet in there. My experience hours are super lower in general, so I hope my GPA and other stuff pulls me up. Thanks again!

 

[EB73674]

Thanks for the advice! The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that I only have 1 actual vet in there. My experience hours are super lower in general, so I hope my GPA and other stuff pulls me up. Thanks again!

But you do have 2 vets in there, unless I'm not understanding? You have the equine vet and your advisor who is a DVM?

Either way, weak or mediocre letters should be avoided at all costs. If you have the minimum required letters, don't add the other one just to have another letter in there. 3 solid, outstanding letters are better than 5 ho-hum ones.

 

[EB73674]

Can you pay for the supplement app fees for each individual school prior to submitting the VMCAS app?

Do you mean supplemental application fees or individual VMCAS fees? There are sometimes/often both of those. Supplemental application fees are usually paid on the individual school's website. But I don't know about VMCAS fees - contact them and ask! They're incredibly prompt & helpful.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Thanks for the advice! The only thing I'm worried about is the fact that I only have 1 actual vet in there. My experience hours are super lower in general, so I hope my GPA and other stuff pulls me up. Thanks again!

I only had 1 dvm 1 prof who was phd and a lay person. Like everyone else said quality over quantity!

 

[Sami_21]

Do you mean supplemental application fees or individual VMCAS fees? There are sometimes/often both of those. Supplemental application fees are usually paid on the individual school's website. But I don't know about VMCAS fees - contact them and ask! They're incredibly prompt & helpful.

I was referring to the fees on the individual school's website

 

[EB73674]

I was referring to the fees on the individual school's website

Then yes, you totally can! I just paid a few of them yesterday!

 

[WildZoo]

Gonna be soooo very curious to see if they actually have less last minute submissions this year... baahahahahaa

I guess nobody pulls an all-nighter finishing their PS the night before the deadline anymore?

 

[WonderingStudent]

Couple of questions regarding matching prereqs in the individual school apps. If a section says "Organic Chemistry" then "Lab not required" underneath, am I allowed to add the lab in anyway since I took it? Or does it mean they do not want the lab included at all?

To me those instructions seem like the school wouldn't want you to add in the lab section (my thinking for not including the lab section in your course selection is if schools directly calculate pre-req GPAs from the selected classes - but I'm not actually sure). If you really want to confirm if it is alright to include the lab I suggest calling the specific vet school's admissions directly.

All of the admissions officers that I spoke to in the past have been extremely nice and helpful!

Also, for elective sections it says "Minimum 12 credits", but should I put literally every class not used for something else in there or just 12 credits? Sorry-just don't want to do anything wrong!

Going over the 12 credit minimum most likely would be fine. When I selected courses for these types of sections, I stuck to choosing only my highest grades from elective classes so that if the vet school is calculating a pre-requisite GPA then it would be the best that it can be. But again there's always contacting admissions to see if they have thoughts on this.

 

[raegan117]

Couple of questions regarding matching prereqs in the individual school apps. If a section says "Organic Chemistry" then "Lab not required" underneath, am I allowed to add the lab in anyway since I took it? Or does it mean they do not want the lab included at all? Also, for elective sections it says "Minimum 12 credits", but should I put literally every class not used for something else in there or just 12 credits? Sorry-just don't want to do anything wrong!

I read somewhere (I think it was on a school's admissions page) that they only want you to put the minimum number of classes that meet the pre-reqs. So with O Chem you'd only list the lecture course. With the electives, if you have four 3-credit courses listed, they don't want you to add another 3-credit course, but if you have three 3-credit classes and one 4-credit class, that's okay. Just don't put more than you need to. You can always contact your schools to make sure.

 

[Ariel-Li]

That's pretty hefty load there. Is there anything you could do to take summer 2020 classes? It will certainly make the load lighter for you and eliminate any potential issues with outstanding prerequisites.

Definitely ask the schools directly and get whatever they say in writing. It's been several years since my last cycle, so things may have changed.

I have a question regarding outstanding prereqs. There're a couple of prereqs (calculus/micro lab) I'm lacking for a few of the schools I'm applying. My plan was to only take them in the spring if I have their interviews. Shall I put these courses in the VMCAS course section as planned courses? If I ended up not having to take them (say I get in a school that doesn't require them as prereq), will incomplete planned courses be a problem? Thank you!

 

[WonderingStudent]

I have a question regarding outstanding prereqs. There're a couple of prereqs (calculus/micro lab) I'm lacking for a few of the schools I'm applying. My plan was to only take them in the spring if I have their interviews. Shall I put these courses in the VMCAS course section as planned courses? If I ended up not having to take them (say I get in a school that doesn't require them as prereq), will incomplete planned courses be a problem? Thank you!

This sounds like a good plan and exactly what I did . If the school that you end up attending does not need those "planned courses," you are totally fine and don't need to take the course. No one is going to hold you to it unless it is a prerequisite.

 

[biolover27]

Hi! I have one of those animal vs veterinary experience questions... I was a vivarium and laboratory animal assistant and I have currently moved up as the backup vivarium and laboratory animal assistant. Would this be considered veterinary or animal experience? In addition to husbandry, I am involved in restraint and assisting/performing dissections. The facility is supervised by both a PhD scientist and lab veterinarian.

 

[alissa14]

no tea, no shade but are you building futures AND an actual veterinary school and teaching hospital

 

[EB73674]

Two essays down, only 24 to go...*twitch twitch*

MY FELLOW MILLENNIALS, embrace the wondrous nature of the Pop Punk Powerhouse playlist on Spotify while writing, it will shoot you directly back to 7th grade.

 

[EB73674]

Hi! I have one of those animal vs veterinary experience questions... I was a vivarium and laboratory animal assistant and I have currently moved up as the backup vivarium and laboratory animal assistant. Would this be considered veterinary or animal experience? In addition to husbandry, I am involved in restraint and assisting/performing dissections. The facility is supervised by both a PhD scientist and lab veterinarian.

Was this part of a research lab? If so, I would go with research. I think it's too technical to be just animal experience, but you weren't doing any actual medical procedures on the animals (other than dissections). If this was something outside of research, I'm not really sure - I would lean towards listing as animal experience if it's not in a research program.

 

[biolover27]

Was this part of a research lab? If so, I would go with research. I think it's too technical to be just animal experience, but you weren't doing any actual medical procedures on the animals (other than dissections). If this was something outside of research, I'm not really sure - I would lean towards listing as animal experience if it's not in a research program.

Yes, it is in a research lab. Thanks for your advice!

 

[BigCats]

Two essays down, only 24 to go...*twitch twitch*

Ugh, I feel that. Has really helped me narrow down my schools list though lol... do I want to go there badly enough to write three more essays?

 

[EngrSC]

Ugh, I feel that. Has really helped me narrow down my schools list though lol... do I want to go there badly enough to write three more essays?

Last summer I almost didn’t apply to VMCVM because their essays were (are still?) so beastly and the OOS acceptance rate is . But I worked on them a little bit at a time and was very happy with how they turned out. And I’m so glad I stuck with them because I knew it was best fit school for me when I was here for interview weekend. Obviously don’t apply somewhere if it’s not somewhere you can see yourself living, otherwise stick with it because you don’t know which school will like what you have to offer!

 

[BigCats]

Last summer I almost didn’t apply to VMCVM because their essays were (are still?) so beastly and the OOS acceptance rate is . But I worked on them a little bit at a time and was very happy with how they turned out. And I’m so glad I stuck with them because I knew it was best fit school for me when I was here for interview weekend. Obviously don’t apply somewhere if it’s not somewhere you can see yourself living, otherwise stick with it because you don’t know which school will like what you have to offer!

Good advice! It’s just a bummer this cycle in particular because I have no clue if schools will be doing interviews in-person or not (I know some have already declared they aren’t), so I probably won’t be able to visit most of my schools. I’d be more inclined to keep schools I’m questioning if I knew I’d have the chance to visit them, but I’m worried it won’t be very likely this year.

 

[battie]

so I probably won’t be able to visit most of my schools.

For what it's worth, visiting on days like interview day and open houses, you dont really experience the school. The schools are working on selling themselves to hundreds of people at once. So you're going to experience the school in positive and negative that arent normally there. I've been a tour guide for my school for years and think that people benefit way more if they do a personal tour/visit. Still going to be a struggle either way since those arent being offered right now.

 

[EB73674]

Ugh, I feel that. Has really helped me narrow down my schools list though lol... do I want to go there badly enough to write three more essays?

That was fully the reason I knocked OK State off my list, that and the fact that I had to take an extra nutrition course just for that school. I would really like to be done with the random extra courses for single schools this fall!

 

[Kes729]

Wondering where everyone has listed memberships under? For example not a school club/group. I am a member of the North Carolina Association of Veterinary Technicians and the American Society of Animal Science. I'm literally just a member though, I don't go to meetings due to the fact that the one group is based on the west coast, I am on the east coast. But membership gets me cheaper CE for my vet tech license, and free access to JAS. I am just having a hard time figuring out where to put this on my application, because if i choose achievements, I still have to pick a date- I don't really feel like its an award, if I choose experience I can't quantify any specific number of hours... Im at a speed bump

TIA

 

[raegan117]

Wondering where everyone has listed memberships under? For example not a school club/group. I am a member of the North Carolina Association of Veterinary Technicians and the American Society of Animal Science. I'm literally just a member though, I don't go to meetings due to the fact that the one group is based on the west coast, I am on the east coast. But membership gets me cheaper CE for my vet tech license, and free access to JAS. I am just having a hard time figuring out where to put this on my application, because if i choose achievements, I still have to pick a date- I don't really feel like its an award, if I choose experience I can't quantify any specific number of hours... Im at a speed bump

TIA

I think this would be classified as an Honor under Achievements. You're not required to put a date in that section.

 

[snowtzu821]

Hey!
I wanted to get some outside opinions on what the majority of my experience would be classified as.
I’m essentially a lab animal assistant (student worker title) at my schools research animal vivarium. On my application, I classified it as vet experience because I work under the supervision of two lab animal vets.
Here’s my job description

“This position will provide the students with experience in animal science, comparative biology, and veterinary support functions for the campus-wide programs of scientific and teaching support, principally involving laboratory rodents. The incumbents will perform health checks under the mentoring of lab veterinarians, perform cage changes, feeding, cleaning, and room maintenance to assist faculty programs in the centralized facilities on campus. Attending staff meetings to coordinate new projects and participating in the ongoing staff training series in practical laboratory animal science and comparative medicine topics are also components of these duties”
I am not counting it as research because I’m not actively participating in the projects and I’m just responsible for the health and well-being of the animals.

However, for my senior thesis, I am also currently working on an actual research project looking at ways to reduce stress in mice undergoing anesthesia with the vet at my work that is not apart of my job and I’m not getting paid to do. I am counting that as research experience as I have come up with the project, wrote a 20 page prospectus, designed an induction chamber, wrote an iacuc protocol, and will be performing anesthesia trials and collecting data in August .

In your opinions am I right to classify my job as vet experience?
Thanks!