What was on your application? Good & Bad

[NeonMountaineer]

Like just about everyone on here, I want to compare myself to people who have gotten into vet school to see what my chances of getting accepted are. I know my GPA is about average, or close enough that I could get accepted with it, but there's a lot more to getting accepted than just that. I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I think I can do well on it.
What I want to know is, what did your application look like, if you don't mind sharing?
What did you have to show that got you accepted?
Even if you didn't get accepted I'd still like to know what you had, just for perspective.

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[orca2011]

I'd take a look at the several Successful Applicant's threads to get a general idea. I feel like this topic is kind of hard to really go into detail because there are a lot of details we might not have thought about on our application that were huge selling points to an adcom. Also, for many of the schools, it's comes down to how you interview. The application itself only gets you so far.

 

[that redhead]

The other frustrating thing is that so many seemingly similar applicants get quite different results, even within the same year. Unfortunately, even with stats identical to someone who has been accepted, you may not have any success, and vice versa. But yes, the successful applicants threads are really great for this kind of information

 

[DVMDream]

I agree with the above posters the successful applicant stats threads are going to be the best places to start. But don't take anything as any indication if you will or will not be accepted. Some great applicants are rejected every year and people can have identical stats but very different outcomes.

Here are the last 4 years of successful applicants:

Class of 2015:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/successful-applicant-stats-c-o-2015.776924/

Class of 2016:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...ant-stats-class-of-2016.880261/#post-11975572

Class of 2017:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/successful-applicant-stats-of-2017.970957/

Class of 2018:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/successful-applicant-stats-class-of-2018.1044809/

 

[WildVet18]

I agree with orca that it is hard to really address this without knowing exactly what the admissions committee liked/didn't like about your application...even if you got accepted there may be some things on your application that the adcom didn't like that seemed like a big selling point for you, or if you got rejected there may be some things that the adcoms loved! Actually rejected/waitlist students probably have the best idea of what worked/didn't work on their application because the have the opportunity to get a file review.

But just purely from feedback I got at interviews, I can say that I think the schools I applied to liked that I had a lot of experiences/interests outside of vet med or animal fields. I think they especially liked that I had leadership both within the veterinary community and outside of it. They liked that I studied abroad, and specifically that I did research abroad in a different language. Adcoms commented that this showed I could succeed in new/intimidating learning environments, like vet school. Penn in particular (where I am now a student!) really liked my research in general (it was on golden retriever muscular dystrophy), and they appreciated that I brought a copy of my research paper in to the interview. I think that a good interview tip (NOT for MMI format though) is to bring in a resume and reports of any significant research that you have undertaken. Obviously don't come in with a stack of papers and hand it over, a la April on Grey's Anatomy...but I think that a 1-2 page resume and maybe a research paper make you look well prepared. Worse case scenario is that they don't look at it/tell you they don't need it.

Hope that helps some!

 

[LyraGardenia]

I think that a good interview tip (NOT for MMI format though) is to bring in a resume and reports of any significant research that you have undertaken. Obviously don't come in with a stack of papers and hand it over, a la April on Grey's Anatomy...but I think that a 1-2 page resume and maybe a research paper make you look well prepared. Worse case scenario is that they don't look at it/tell you they don't need it.

That's generally good advice, but Mizzou at least specifically tells you not to bring any papers into your interview. So definitely don't ignore any instructions like that that a school gives you! You would think that would be common sense, but one other girl there when I interviewed brought copies of her research even though the interview invitation letters said not to. If the school doesn't specify, at least check with a staff member before you go into your interview (luckily she did!).

(A side note to a side note, Mizzou is also adamant about not sending thank you notes/emails to your interviewers. Go figure? )