VMCAS questions

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I'm pretty sure it was posted earlier, but if you hit "Click here for a chart to understand how to classify specific experiences." it'll show a chart for how to specify experiences. As your work was related to animals, it would fall under "animal experience."


In my application news... how do we feel about listing finalist status in awards/honors? I was a finalist (half of us got it, half of us - including me, obviously - didn't) for a pretty prestigious scholarship at my undergrad. I'm hesitant to put it down just because I didn't end up getting it, but I know I beat out a LOT of people to even get to the finalist stage, so I'm iffy.
 
I'm pretty sure it was posted earlier, but if you hit "Click here for a chart to understand how to classify specific experiences." it'll show a chart for how to specify experiences. As your work was related to animals, it would fall under "animal experience."


In my application news... how do we feel about listing finalist status in awards/honors? I was a finalist (half of us got it, half of us - including me, obviously - didn't) for a pretty prestigious scholarship at my undergrad. I'm hesitant to put it down just because I didn't end up getting it, but I know I beat out a LOT of people to even get to the finalist stage, so I'm iffy.

personally i would put it under awards/honors -- in high school i was accepted to a prestigious internship at the Department of Defense but I chose not to attend but I'm still putting down that I got accepted. I think in your case, along the same lines, I would put down that you were a finalist because you obviously stood out enough to the people who were deciding who would make it to that point.
 
In my application news... how do we feel about listing finalist status in awards/honors? I was a finalist (half of us got it, half of us - including me, obviously - didn't) for a pretty prestigious scholarship at my undergrad. I'm hesitant to put it down just because I didn't end up getting it, but I know I beat out a LOT of people to even get to the finalist stage, so I'm iffy.

I put in something similar. My undergrad had a program (of sorts) where faculty could (anonymously) recommend students for a program aimed at assisting those students with highly prestigious scholarships (Rhodes, etc). It was about 20 students a year. I did include in the honors/awards section some verbiage about being included in that program.

Basically, I don't see any reason NOT to include it.
 
As long as the award reflects positively on you as an applicant (and not, say, "champion booger eater" or "#1 procrastinator") you should definitely include it. The worst that will happen is that AdComs might gloss over it. You should still be selective though(no need to tell them you won that 3rd grade spelling bee.)

/most of my awards listed are research or academic in nature FYI
 
General rule of thumb: if it makes you look good and stand out, include it; if it makes you ridiculous for mentioning it, don't.

I included some non-science related stuff from HS because I thought it made me look like a well-rounded individual.
 
General rule of thumb: if it makes you look good and stand out, include it; if it makes you ridiculous for mentioning it, don't.

More generalized, and the rule I encourage people to follow: If it won't hurt you, include it.

I think people are so focused on emphasizing their science/academic awards that they forget other things. I noted my time working with a soup kitchen, my experience scuba diving and flying, and my multiple music competition awards.

None of those are important/significant alone. But together they give a picture of a more well-rounded individual who is committed to, and active in, his local community. Those are things you want people to think about you, IMO.
 
More generalized, and the rule I encourage people to follow: If it won't hurt you, include it.

I think people are so focused on emphasizing their science/academic awards that they forget other things. I noted my time working with a soup kitchen, my experience scuba diving and flying, and my multiple music competition awards.

None of those are important/significant alone. But together they give a picture of a more well-rounded individual who is committed to, and active in, his local community. Those are things you want people to think about you, IMO.

i agree whole-heartedly with this -- i won several music competition awards in high school with violin + piano and i'm definitely going to include it -- i'm even going to include the youth orchestra i took part in since 7th grade - 12th grade (required a very selective audition process every year) and the district/regional orchestras that i participated in (which also required auditions). i was even section leader a couple years so i'm putting that down to show leadership in areas other than just animal/science/academic related stuff. it shows that i enjoy other stuff other than just science/vet stuff
 
another question -- the school i went to used the semester UNIT system (i.e. one class = 1 unit or 1.5 units, not the typical 3/4 credit hours like at most schools). on VMCAS, are you supposed to convert it yourself or just list it as it is stated on your transcript? i called my school and they were very unhelpful, they strictly said 1 credit = 3 credit hours...but what about classes with 1 hour recitations/discussion sessions each week in addition to 3 lecture hours?

at times like this i really hate the course system at my school.
 
i agree whole-heartedly with this -- i won several music competition awards in high school with violin + piano and i'm definitely going to include it -- i'm even going to include the youth orchestra i took part in since 7th grade - 12th grade (required a very selective audition process every year) and the district/regional orchestras that i participated in (which also required auditions). i was even section leader a couple years so i'm putting that down to show leadership in areas other than just animal/science/academic related stuff. it shows that i enjoy other stuff other than just science/vet stuff

Shoot, I forgot to add that I was scuba certified 🙁. Oh well.
 
another question -- the school i went to used the semester UNIT system (i.e. one class = 1 unit or 1.5 units, not the typical 3/4 credit hours like at most schools). on VMCAS, are you supposed to convert it yourself or just list it as it is stated on your transcript? i called my school and they were very unhelpful, they strictly said 1 credit = 3 credit hours...but what about classes with 1 hour recitations/discussion sessions each week in addition to 3 lecture hours?

at times like this i really hate the course system at my school.

Try contacting any of the premed advising groups at your school. They should have that down to a science since there are def many more pre-meds than pre-vets, and the conversion for the amcas should be the same (i'm pretty sure, but double check...). My UG I think was 1 unit = 4 credits and 1.25 units = 5 credits. So all lab courses with sciences were 5 credits and all other courses were 4 credits.
 
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Try contacting any of the premed advising groups at your school. They should have that down to a science since there are def many more pre-meds than pre-vets, and the conversion for the amcas should be the same (i'm pretty sure, but double check...). My UG I think was 1 unit = 4 credits and 1.25 units = 5 credits. So all lab courses with sciences were 5 credits and all other courses were 4 credits.

i checked the pre-med advising website and under FAQs it says that for AMCAS you should NOT convert units --> credits b/c AMCAS does it for you...

urgh so confusing 😕 some classes at my school that were only 1 unit (i.e. 3 credits according to the 1 unit = 3 credits conversion system) definitely required more than 3 hours of lecture a week...because of mandatory recitations/discussions and i feel like these should be 4 credit hours and not just 3! maybe i'm just whining too much...🙄
 
Hi guys,

So I am relatively new on here, but have been a "lurker" for awhile now....so thought I'd jump in. Everyone on here is so helpful!

My question may be kind of dumb, but it involves application stuff with transcripts. Are we required to send the official transcripts directly from the registrar's office to the schools we are applying for? I ask because I have official copies of my 4 different transcripts that I was just going to send together with UPS tracking...but then I saw that Cornell requires them from the registrar.

Thanks!
 
Are we required to send the official transcripts directly from the registrar's office to the schools we are applying for? I ask because I have official copies of my 4 different transcripts that I was just going to send together with UPS tracking...but then I saw that Cornell requires them from the registrar.

It must differ from school to school, then. When I applied at UMN they only required "official" copies; it didn't matter if you sent it, or the school it came from sent it, just as long as it was an official copy in a sealed envelope.

I hand-delivered all of mine because it gave me warm fuzzies to be certain they arrived. *shrug*

If Cornell says that's how they want them, then that's what you do! 🙂
 
Hi guys,

So I am relatively new on here, but have been a "lurker" for awhile now....so thought I'd jump in. Everyone on here is so helpful!

My question may be kind of dumb, but it involves application stuff with transcripts. Are we required to send the official transcripts directly from the registrar's office to the schools we are applying for? I ask because I have official copies of my 4 different transcripts that I was just going to send together with UPS tracking...but then I saw that Cornell requires them from the registrar.

Thanks!

Letitsnow is correct, veterinary schools require official transcripts to be sent directly to them. As a rule of thumb, in order for a transcript to be considered "official" it is usually sent from the registrar's office at your institution. Occasionally, schools will submit a sealed transcript directly to a student.

However, if you are applying to a school that has a specific requirement, you should honor their request to the best of your ability.
 
I'm flying on memory here, but I seem to recall that when you get into the section where you actually put your classes in, it will only allow you to select from schools to which you indicated you had been admitted.

So if you don't put the schools in there, you won't be able to put in those summer classes in the actual 'class' section. And if those classes were show up on transcripts that you send the vet schools, you'll need them in your application.

So the short answer is yes, I think you ought to put them in there. That said, I haven't looked at how the application may have changed this year.

Make sense? It is a bit of a messy task getting it all in correctly.

So if it was an institution where we didn't actually attend for a degree program, just to take one course to fulfill a requirement, we just say admitted and enrolled and don't check the "completed" box?
 
So if it was an institution where we didn't actually attend for a degree program, just to take one course to fulfill a requirement, we just say admitted and enrolled and don't check the "completed" box?

I actually put a completed date in mine for institutions like that (I had a few)... I just used the end of the last class I took there.

Note: That may not be the *correct* way. 🙂
 
I actually put a completed date in mine for institutions like that (I had a few)... I just used the end of the last class I took there.

Note: That may not be the *correct* way. 🙂

Thanks - obviously your way was acceptable, though!!
 
I feel like I've read this somewhere but, can't seem to find it using the search so sorry if I'm just repeating something that's already been asked!

Is it "frowned" upon to have your two veterinary eLORS from veterinarians that work at the same clinic?
 
I feel like I've read this somewhere but, can't seem to find it using the search so sorry if I'm just repeating something that's already been asked!

Is it "frowned" upon to have your two veterinary eLORS from veterinarians that work at the same clinic?

I don't think it's "frowned upon" per se, but I think it's more like they're likely to say the same things. Obviously, it would be ideal to have two glowing letters from two completely different types of practices, but not everyone is that lucky. If those two are all you have, or they'll be much better than from any other vets, then go for it. Maybe try to steer both into writing about different attributes.

The only vets I'd worked under prior to vet school were at one place. I was pretty sure they'd say similar things, plus the experience was kind of obsolete, so I only wanted to send 1. But since Ohio needed 2 vets, I needed both. I added 2 other eLORs hoping that the other schools that only looks at 3 would ignore one of the vet ones.
 
Obviously, it would be ideal to have two glowing letters from two completely different types of practices, but not everyone is that lucky.

Yeah, I understand. I've worked with other veterinarians but, I feel like they don't know me as well as these two did since I grew up helping at their clinic. I'm going to think about it a little bit more before I finally decide on that last ref.

Also, how descriptive were you guys with your "Description of Duties"? I'm trying to fit everything in so I'm being pretty general about it unless it was something. But, I don't want to leave out things that may stand out..

For example, I worked at a Mixed Animal Clinic. In the duties, I included assisted in surgeries. Should I list what types and with what animals?


Sorry for so many questions - panic mode is setting innn!
 
How did the vet schools feel about the inclusion of prehistoric events?

Well, since the names of anyone who could verify my participation only exists in dusty tomes in the smelly back aisle of underground libraries....... the school had no option but to accept all my ECs.

I presume you were teasing, but still .... there's a bit of truth to it: I felt like it was ridiculous to include things that old. But the school specifically told me to after not getting in the first time (when I didn't include them).


..... punk.
 
I presume you were teasing, but still .... there's a bit of truth to it: I felt like it was ridiculous to include things that old. But the school specifically told me to after not getting in the first time (when I didn't include them).

Do you think that it really helped you? I mean geesh, what kind of high school superstar were you?

I ask because I kind of think it's ridiculous to penalize people for not having been an involved/accomplished teenager... when their teenage years are decades away.

(... :idea: or could it be that UMN adcom members are really into anthropology?)
 
Do you think that it really helped you? I mean geesh, what kind of high school superstar were you?

Nah, I don't think it helped at all. I did it, though, because they said to do it, and there's a time to play ball and a time to post a gripe on SDN. 🙂

Really, though, most of the time people ask "should I include <x>" my first thought is always "What do you have to lose?"

I actually was a pretty active/involved teen. The only reason I didn't include that stuff the first time around was because of how long ago it all was. I mean, I probably should have included the whole thing about watching the dinosaurs die off firsthand, but it just seemed so pompous.

... you people and your age jokes. My lab and study partners would LOVE y'all.
 
We pick on the older guy in our class too. Jokes about medicare and social security seem to be the most frequent, although I may have to toss in a dinosaur one...

ETA: BUT he is an awesome guy and we all like him a lot. 🙂
 
*raises hand*
My evaluator from a clinic I worked at just e-mailed me to ask if one of the other Vets (her husband who I did ambulatory LA with) could write a letter for me as well. I wasn't about to turn them down, so I tried to add him as an evaluator. Unfortunately, they live in the dark ages of Luddite internet, and have just one e-mail address for the pair of them. VMCAS told me, when I tried to add him as an evaluator that I "Had already listed this person" based on the same e-mail. Anyone else encounter this issue? I get the point that VMCAS does not want bogus evaluators added but I'm not sure if the Vet is willing to give me another e-mail for them....
 
How did the vet schools feel about the inclusion of prehistoric events?

If it wasn't for us dinosaurs where would you all get your gasoline come from? Eh!

And I kind of laughed trying to put down phone numbers for my work experiences from high school. I really hoped they tried calling the few I could dig up.
 
And I kind of laughed trying to put down phone numbers for my work experiences from high school. I really hoped they tried calling the few I could dig up.

... So UMN hands out student ids sequentially. It's a 7-digit number. Most of the vet students' numbers start with 4. Mine, because I actually attended UMN briefly back before electricity was discovered, starts with a 1. A fact not lost on my classmates.
 
*raises hand*
My evaluator from a clinic I worked at just e-mailed me to ask if one of the other Vets (her husband who I did ambulatory LA with) could write a letter for me as well. I wasn't about to turn them down, so I tried to add him as an evaluator. Unfortunately, they live in the dark ages of Luddite internet, and have just one e-mail address for the pair of them. VMCAS told me, when I tried to add him as an evaluator that I "Had already listed this person" based on the same e-mail. Anyone else encounter this issue? I get the point that VMCAS does not want bogus evaluators added but I'm not sure if the Vet is willing to give me another e-mail for them....

Create an easy to log into yahoo address that they only have to log into once?
 
... So UMN hands out student ids sequentially. It's a 7-digit number. Most of the vet students' numbers start with 4. Mine, because I actually attended UMN briefly back before electricity was discovered, starts with a 1. A fact not lost on my classmates.

My boyfriend (who I met when he was a fifth year senior, and I freshman), is the same. His ID number was in the 0006*, I was in 009*, and people last year are starting 0010*. He gets "Gramps" from me sometimes. :laugh:
 
*raises hand*
My evaluator from a clinic I worked at just e-mailed me to ask if one of the other Vets (her husband who I did ambulatory LA with) could write a letter for me as well. I wasn't about to turn them down, so I tried to add him as an evaluator. Unfortunately, they live in the dark ages of Luddite internet, and have just one e-mail address for the pair of them. VMCAS told me, when I tried to add him as an evaluator that I "Had already listed this person" based on the same e-mail. Anyone else encounter this issue? I get the point that VMCAS does not want bogus evaluators added but I'm not sure if the Vet is willing to give me another e-mail for them....

So here's the deal. The VMCAS evaluator portal is email driven. That is to say that when you register an evaluator, it uses the email address as the unique identifier in the system to attach to a specific evaluator. Regretfully the only way around this is to enter a unique email address for each evaluator you register.

THANKS!
 
I'm having trouble classifying the animal nutrition course I just signed up for at OSU. They've given me a year to complete the course, so I'm not sure what to put for term or type of term (unit, maybe?). I need to put this on my application for Auburn to see. Has anyone else had to do this? Thanks! Good luck to everyone!
 
I'm having trouble classifying the animal nutrition course I just signed up for at OSU. They've given me a year to complete the course, so I'm not sure what to put for term or type of term (unit, maybe?). I need to put this on my application for Auburn to see. Has anyone else had to do this? Thanks! Good luck to everyone!

I put down the semester in which I was expecting to complete it. I started Animal Science in July 2010 and completed it in June 2011. I figured it'd take me that long so I put down summer 2011 on my VMCAS last year. My rationale was that they won't receive grades from me until that semester.
 
I asked on the VMCAS forum, but haven't gotten an answer yet. So...

I have a metric buttload of continuing education (CE) credits from working as a tech and just for my own personal development. Where the heck do I put these on VMCAS? They weren't through any schools -- mostly either tech associations or vet-related companies.

BTW my explanation statement is already filled up with a lengthy explanation of why I flunked out of college the first two times, so I don't think I'll have room for it there. 😉
 
For example, I worked at a Mixed Animal Clinic. In the duties, I included assisted in surgeries. Should I list what types and with what animals?

I tried to describe what my duties specifically were. For example, when I did said I did surgery assisting, I also said I placed IV caths, got pre-ax ECGs, set up the surgical laser, maintained anesthesia and IV fluid rates, monitored vitals during surgery and recovery, etc. I wanted to emphasize the hands-on stuff, and that I was an active member of the surgery team, so no one thought I was just standing around listening to the monitoring machine beep or whatever. 😉

Definitely don't think there's anything wrong with listing type of surgery and with which animals, particularly if it was experience relevant to your field of interest.
 
Hi guys! Quick question. After you submitted your VMCAS how long did it take for your college designations to say "mailed" next to them? It's making me nervous to sit here and wait for it to flip the notice over to sent... just checking.


Thanks!
 
Hi guys! Quick question. After you submitted your VMCAS how long did it take for your college designations to say "mailed" next to them? It's making me nervous to sit here and wait for it to flip the notice over to sent... just checking.


Thanks!

It took a while for mine to change to mailed but that was because when I submitted only 2 of my eLORs had been sumbitted.
 
Same for me, took a while, but was pretty quick after I had 3 eLORs submitted.
 
I was told definitely yes by the pre-health committee at my UG. Rational being that each LOR will bear more weight if the evaluators are able to write them confidentially. If you ever want to know what an evaluator thinks of you, I think it's a lot more classy if you actually ask them feedback about your performance and what they think of you, rather than peeking at their letter.

Isn't it something really weird like if you don't waive your right, you can only see the LORs if you're accepted, and only from the school you go to anyway? Plus, a lot of LOR writers will even send you a copy if they really want you to see it.

We conducted a poll of all VMCAS schools not long ago, to determine if veterinary schools *REALLY DO* care about whether or not an applicant waives their right to view an evaluation or not. 97% of VMCAS schools stated that it bears NO weight at all. 3% Did, in fact, mention that they felt that a waived right does prompt the evaluator to write a more truthful evaluation.
 
Hi guys! Quick question. After you submitted your VMCAS how long did it take for your college designations to say "mailed" next to them? It's making me nervous to sit here and wait for it to flip the notice over to sent... just checking.


Thanks!

Hey Kmeid: DO NOT WORRY ABOUT "MAILED" STATUS! DO NOT think of "mailed" in terms of being delivered to schools. As soon as your application has met the following: 3 evaluations, application fee, and you completed the application section.... your application is available to your schools via their Admissions Portal. Only a handful of schools request VMCAS to actually print and send paper applications to them -- and even THEY access data from their portals. 🙂
 
Hi all,

I'm second-guessing myself when entering grades for a class that I took twice. I can't find a clear explanation on how to list it on the help section and the choices are different than last year. I did get a grade the first time (I didn't withdraw), it just wasn't a very good grade 😛, so I retook it.

The first time I took the class, I listed it as "complete"
When I retook it, I listed it as "repeated"

Is that correct?

Edited to add that I looked up the answer in the VMCAS FAQ section and it is outdated. Listing a course as "Not Applicable" is no longer an option this year. The relevant options are "Completed course"," Incomplete", or "Repeated".

Q: How do I report repeated courses in the Academic Coursework section?

A: List each time you took the course as it appears on your transcript. When entering the first instance of a class you've repeated, select "Not Applicable" for the Classification Description. Select "Repeated" for the Classification Description for each instance of repeating the class.
 
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Maybe an odd question...

On the application for Experiences, I clicked on Animal from the pull down menu. The very first question asked is "type of experience" do I rewrite animal? I don't understand if that is what the question is asking.

Thanks
 
The first time I took the class, I listed it as "complete"
When I retook it, I listed it as "repeated"

Is that correct?

That's what I did, and I believe I found that answer either on the instructions page, or it was answered on the VMCAS forum by a staff member. I don't remember which one but I remember thinking it was a official answer!
 
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