Look up the Casper test on YouTube!! I did some great practice that way. General consensus— consider all sides always. Be willing to take a moral stand when you need to but always try to acknowledge all sides and possibilities.
that is actually so smart thanks!
I actually emailed them earlier this week about this and they said they're working on getting the application finalized with VMCAS and it should be available sometime this month!
Ahh, okay, thanks!
i did not include any hours of hands-on experience gained through classes. i worked with mice at one point and cattle for animal science. since they were technically part of a course and had less than an 3 hours each week with them, i did not count them. i personally would not include those hours, but other can weigh in if they did or didn't.
My university offered animal handling classes taught by veterinarians. We also had barn duty once a week for a semester. Personally, I counted those hours as veterinary experience and animal experience, respectively. That was tons of hands-on time I spent with animals learning castration, dehorning, blood draws, safe handling skills, etc.
Not all schools require a letter from a professor. The school I attended requires three letters, one from a DVM, and that’s the only requirement. If you don’t have one, just apply to places that don’t require it. However, if places you’re looking at applying do *require* it, then either figure it out or don’t apply there…otherwise you’re wasting your money and donating your app fees.
I put it under animal hours, but noted that it was part of *insert course here.* I was pretty low with my LA/equine hours when I applied so I felt it was important to show that I have at least some handling experience. With that said, for my specific class, we had lecture for two hours/week or something, then the lab was on Friday morning for 1-2 hours. I actually kept an accurate log of direct animal hours and did not count hours spent sitting in lecture.
I also got my bachelors in 2021 and ended up having to reach out to two professors who taught me. Thankfully one of them I was a bit closer with, but the other one was a music professor. I told her that while it had nothing to do with my new career, I loved her classes and thought her view of me as a student in a non-science course would be good to have. She was hesitant to do it because she wanted me to pick a science professor but I told her all they cared about was that she taught me and had a good view of me as a student, and she agreed. I had no issues using that letter to get accepted places. I would reach out to your favorite undergrad professors, remind them of who you are, and ask if they would be willing to write you a *good* letter of recommendation. You’d be surprised how many of them might remember you.
I doubt you will get a solid answer to this, but there are a number of free things out there you can try. How effective they are, who knows. If universities have AI detectors in place, my guess is they are paying big fees for the use of these programs and they aren't readily available to students
For me, if a school said in notes to only list up to the upper credit limit, I did that. Otherwise, I picked upwards of 5-6 courses if I could, to show that I had more than met the minimum criteria. As long as they’re all the same grade roughly, and all meet requirements, I don’t think there’s any harm!
Depends on if your two semester sequence course work account for one semester of ochem(rare instance). If it doesn’t, I would only add the first semester or what is applicable.
I had the same question to my Son when he applied last year about not being able to see what his LORs said. His thinking was, what good would come from me seeing them? I cannot change them and an admissions rep may find it odd (even if just a perception) you don’t trust your recommender. The line between acceptance and rejection is razor thin so never do anything that can even marginally make someone question you. In reality it probably does not truly matter but why take the risk for something you can do nothing about. And will probably even make you more crazy during the long dead period after application wondering all the things you did wrong or did not do enough of.
Hello, the Pre-Vet advisor at my school said you must opt out of seeing it because if it wasn't a good one then you could just get rid of it. In my experience some of my recommenders have sent me a copy of their recommendation separately after they submitted it. Not always the case but if you don't have full faith someone will write you a good one then I wouldn't ask them.
I don't think it's as big of a deal as people think. Choosing to be able to read your letters seems like a very unlikely reason for rejection in the grand scheme of things. I never saw the point of VMCAS offering it as an option - either make them completely confidential (like in the match) or don't. With that said, do what you're comfortable with.
Can someone verify if this is actually true? Back in the day, you could delete writers up until the point that they submitted the letter, but I'm pretty sure you couldn't delete someone after that.
My quick search shows you are correct. Once completed and submitted, you cannot edit or delete the LOR. Kind of to my Sons point. You cannot un-ring a bell. But if someone was on attempt 3-4 and was told LORs lacked, I would definitely be asking for copies. LORs are the biggest part of your application that is out of your control and therefore likely causes a fair amount of anxiety. There are some YouTube videos out there on things an applicant can do to help their LOR writer produce a quality document.
I love the doctor I worked with. She cried with me when I got into vet school. She tore my essay apart about six times to help make it better. She was previously part of a big name school's admissions committee. She gave me my letter to read after all of my applications got submitted.
NOOOOOOOO
. It's funny because you ultimately got in. But ugh. How close to the deadline did she submit it?
classic
Such a hard question because it has so many factors that affect an answer. In general, it seems the schools love diversity of experiences. But if your story is you want to do small animal care and this job would close a clear gap you have not obtained in previous experiences, then you could explain that in your app. So kind of a hard question that may draw a lot of diverse responses but probably no truly wrong answer. Just which one is most right for you. Also nearly impossible to truly figure out what admission counselors value from school to school. Good luck to you in your journey and wish you well.
In my opinion, there’s a point where there’s diminishing returns. I don’t feel like there’s a very significant difference between like 3000 and 3300 experience hours (assuming full time 40 hrs/wk for the next two months before school starts, could very easily be less or maybe even more). A 300 hr difference if we were talking 300 vs 600 is very different than 3000 vs 3300. Diversifying experiences at this point would probably be better imo, but everyone will view things differently. You do want to make sure you can maintain relationships for letters of rec too. That doesn’t necessarily mean remaining at the old position, but don’t forget to stay in touch if you do find something different.
If we are looking at the same chart, it's because other schools are still more expensive than that. 55-65k seems to be a rough average for OOS tuition.
Most schools raise tuition like 3-4% or even more yearly. It’s more notable when they don’t raise your tuition. The year after I graduated, they increased it 10% at my school. It doesn’t surprise me that a chart based upon 2023 data is estimating low. More current data should be on the school’s individual websites. When I google the AAVMC chart it shows 216k nonresident tuition which is 54k, and that’s two years of increases behind. Not sure if that’s Canadian or adjusted for American dollars, but exchange rates are something to consider too. Sometimes it’s in your favor as a US student but things can change wildly, especially in the current political climate. It’s at the bottom of the list not because it’s affordable but because others cost even more. They also only take 19 nonresident seats which can now also go to other Canadians, not just non Canadians. Canada’s government subsidizes their students and vet schools a lot more than the US does.
Hello fellow Oiler lol
LOLL I love how we're all immediately identifiable by animal handling
If you’re going on an income contingent repayment plan, your payment amount will be based upon a percentage of your income and would be the same no matter how much you owe. Different plans may calculate your payment differently, but on each plan, you’d pay the same whether you borrowed 300 or 400, because payment is based upon your income not the balance. But the higher your balance, the faster/more interest accrues and thus more gets forgiven at the end. And you owe taxes on everything that is forgiven at the end. So a higher loan balance means you’ll owe more in taxes, so you ll need to save more every month along the 30 years so you’re prepared to shell out six figures in taxes when forgiveness happens.
Wow thank you for explaining that! That helps to put it in perspective
Just do it. I mean technically if it’s optional you don’t have to, but why wouldn’t you take every opportunity to sell yourself to the committee?
There's just a LOT of essays and my brain is getting a little overwhelmed. But of course, you're right. I'll do it!
Split in two- one in animal experience and one in vet experience, and explain your varying roles! I did the same type of things with several different jobs. 🙂
