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!
