Volunteer Hours for Vet School?

[hottchoclat]

How can you prove to the various vet schools that you have a certain amount of volunteer hours or experience? Do they ask for proof?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[orca2011]

You list it all on your application and there is a spot for you to put a phone number. If a school does for some reason have questions, this allows them the ability to call. Other schools require you to have a letter of recommendation from each place you are counting for experience. If it's vet experience some schools, like Ohio, require you to have a form signed by a vet and mailed them to them stating that you have worked at least 80 hours with them. As far as I know, none of the schools asked for any other verification besides what I listed on my application. Also, if you get invited to interview, they can kind of get a feel of how much experience you have based on how you answer their questions.

 

[kakurubird]

Other schools require you to have a letter of recommendation from each place you are counting for experience.

As far as I know, Cornell is the only school that requires a letter from each place. (Right?)

 

[orca2011]

As far as I know, Cornell is the only school that requires a letter from each place. (Right?)

I didn't apply there because I was like .5 credits short on Micro...so I can't say for sure, but yeah, I think Cornell is the only one that does that.

 

[PendantWorld]

Quick comment on Cornell: though it is *strongly* encouraged, you do not have to put every veterinary experience on the Cornell application. Here's what they state on their application FAQ site (http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/FAQApplicantsNew.cfm):

You can list all experiences on the VMCAS without a letter, and we do read this as part of your application. Those experiences listed on the Cornell Supplemental Application that have letters will provide a bit more information, so always helpful if you can get a letter from someone at each experience.

 

[kakurubird]

Quick comment on Cornell: though it is *strongly* encouraged, you do not have to put every veterinary experience on the Cornell application. Here's what they state on their application FAQ site (http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/FAQApplicantsNew.cfm):

You can list all experiences on the VMCAS without a letter, and we do read this as part of your application. Those experiences listed on the Cornell Supplemental Application that have letters will provide a bit more information, so always helpful if you can get a letter from someone at each experience.

Interesting. I guess I didn't completely understand how that all works for Cornell. Does this mean they still consider experiences on VMCAS that don't have a letter/aren't on the Cornell Supplemental, but they just aren't considered as strongly?

 

[PendantWorld]

Interesting. I guess I didn't completely understand how that all works for Cornell. Does this mean they still consider experiences on VMCAS that don't have a letter/aren't on the Cornell Supplemental, but they just aren't considered as strongly?

That's my understanding of it. They expect that for your most recent/most in-depth experiences that you will have letters to back them up. However, they won't ignore experiences that don't have a letter, they just won't weigh them as strongly.

To put it another way, having the letters allows you to be a more competitive applicant because they'll have a better understanding of what your responsibilities were, whether the letter writer thinks you would make a good vet, etc. That will stand out a lot more than someone else's experience that doesn't have a supporting letter.