Work Experience

[allieoop2714]

How highly do vet schools value work experience outside of vet/animal experience? My mom said she read somewhere that they look at your work history, but I don't remember seeing anything of that sort.

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[SnowyRox]

Colorado likes it.

There was a section on the supplemental asking for how many hours you spent in class, working, or officially volunteering each week. And they cut anyone below a certain number of hours.

 

[ANY2003]

I think it depends on the school and the type of work you did. For example, I used to do behavioral therapy with kids with Autism, and a couple programs thought that was really interesting even though it had nothing to do with vet med. Did it help me get in? Ehh probably not a significant factor. Some schools like to see diversity in what you have done and might ask how your past experiences have prepared you for a career in veterinary medicine.
As mentioned by SnowyRox, Colorado has a section where you indicate how many hours per week you worked, how many units you took, and you GPA by semester/quarter. That tells them what your workload was like, how it may have affected your GPA, and how you are able to manage your time. Schools like Colorado understand that someone who has to work full time during college may not have as good as a GPA as someone who didn't.
Overall, I don't think it matters that much, but there's a section on the VMCAS for other work experiences other than vet/animal. I think you should put it down, but it's probably not going to have a whole lot of influence in the decision process.

 

[squirrelsrule]

I was asked about my electronics job at my interview. My interviewers seem interested in hearing about how I balanced working full time with taking a couple classes and doing wildlife rehab. I don't think it can hurt and any experience is good.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Depends on the school.

I spend a little time as an OChem tutor. The responses I've gotten from vet schools have ranged from "that's amazing!" to "okay, but why would we care about that?"

 

[bunnity]

I put in my PS that I worked 20 hours a week through undergrad plus full time summers and that I was largely supporting myself. I don't know if it helped, but I think it shows an additional level of responsibility if you work as well as doing all the required stuff. It would probably depend on the adcom looking at it - some might not think it was a big deal and some might have gone through the same path of having to work their way through college and know what it's like.

There is a section of VMCAS where you can put in employment that is not related to vet school.