The Student Room Group

Big Thread for Personal Statement Questions

It was only a few months ago i finalized my decision to apply for vet med (well, technically the preliminary/gateway year due to qualifications) and i was trying to prioritize getting work experience at a vets over any other type. Due to many reasons, such as my age (i'm 29 >.>), my qualifications (access course - A level equivilant), health and safety laws, and many many more reasons i've got very little work experience to actually talk about in my personal statement.

I've done 1 day in a cattery so far, i have my lambing experience sorted for next year, and only today managed to pester the last local vet (all others turned me down) into giving me 2 days experience. He said he'd give me more if i get accepted, but i fear i won't get accepted unless i have more to start with =/ I'll try haggle some more days doing slave labour, cleaning, making tea, etc :smile:

So what the fudge do i talk about in my PS? I can't really talk much about work experience if i've only done a few days by the time i send my UCAS off. I'll talk about my motivation to be a vet, and maybe some about my past careers and why/how they guided me to my decision to doing vet med. I honestly don't know what else to talk about though, and it's got to be about 4000 characters long =/

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Reply 1
anybody feel free to correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't the gateway/prelim courses even more competitive due to the small number of places?

i'd have thought that unless you can get at least a few weeks worth of work experience there really isn't much point in applying this year. you could have all the mitigating circumstances in the world but a few weeks is really not that much effort and most people would aim for liverpool's ten week minimum.

maybe you should consider applying next year when you have done your lambing etc. and are able to talk about your work experience in your personal statement. if you can't find work experience in your area try asking in the work experience thread - people are usually willing to share contacts.

why is your age holding you back? i'd have thought it was an advantage in finding work experience!
Reply 2
I phoned up a couple of uni's a while back and got the impression it was pretty much just as competetive as the vet med course, so pretty much 1 vacancy has 10 applicants for it.

My age is only holding me back when i phone up vets and they say "We only take schoolkids aged around 14-15 for work experience". I had the biggest chain of local vets turn me down 'cause they were dubious of my adult education (Access course), too. I'd rather try get in this year, i'm bored of wasting time working an awful job. I'll write up a statement anyway, by the time i send it off hopefully i'll have arranged some volunteer work at a not very local RSPCA centre who have all kinds of animals. Even lots of small/exotics which i am particularly interested in. And i'll harass (nicely of course) some more vets, and hopefully i will have a couple of weeks under my belt with the prospect of me going and doing it weekly.
Reply 3
mmm most farmers would be thrilled to have a 29 year old guy giving them a hand for a few weeks! try yellow pages - ring all the farmers near ya ;p
Advice dog says: Lie, no one will know :smile:
Reply 5
hazelsaurus
Advice dog says: Lie, no one will know :smile:


Don't do this! Yes, there is a chance you may get away with it, but most places (if not all) ask for details of names and addresses of placements and do spot checks. You may be lucky and not be checked, but if you do at the very least it is going to be a problem for applying this year, maybe more. Also, you would come unstuck as soon as you are asked questions at interview.

You obviously do know that you need to keep trying, hard as it is! :smile: I found places preferred me applying as an older student! Made lots of comments about it being nicer not having to worry about 'school kids' and that it is nice having someone who is definate about what they want to do rather than still looking at vetmed through rose tinted glasses! I would go into places and talk to them in person and explain why you are struggling, but that you are if anything better than some younger students as you are more committed, less of a liability etc!

Get as much booked as you can, try and cram some in over the next couple of weeks to list in your PS. Farms generally don't seem that bothered about H&S! Even if they are quiet at this time of year, a couple of days would be good, then get somemore booked later. See if the sheep farm you are lambing at will let you go for a day or two now, even just doing a few bits of foot trimming/rounding sheep up etc would be something. Can you get a few more days at the cattery? Ask vets if you can do a regular one evening a week, might fit in for them better if they already have other students during the day. I guess other stuff in your PS will be trying to explain the catalyst for your late entry into this and so on. Make sure they can see why you are keen, even if you are lacking on other areas.

Whereabouts are you from? There might be people on here who can suggest places.
Reply 6
kookabura
...


you always make me feel bad about my posts because you're so much more supportive than i am!

i am going to use it being early as an excuse for being negative...
Carlito o.O
It was only a few months ago i finalized my decision to apply for vet med (well, technically the preliminary/gateway year due to qualifications) and i was trying to prioritize getting work experience at a vets over any other type. Due to many reasons, such as my age (i'm 29 >.>), my qualifications (access course - A level equivilant), health and safety laws, and many many more reasons i've got very little work experience to actually talk about in my personal statement.

I've done 1 day in a cattery so far, i have my lambing experience sorted for next year, and only today managed to pester the last local vet (all others turned me down) into giving me 2 days experience. He said he'd give me more if i get accepted, but i fear i won't get accepted unless i have more to start with =/ I'll try haggle some more days doing slave labour, cleaning, making tea, etc :smile:

So what the fudge do i talk about in my PS? I can't really talk much about work experience if i've only done a few days by the time i send my UCAS off. I'll talk about my motivation to be a vet, and maybe some about my past careers and why/how they guided me to my decision to doing vet med. I honestly don't know what else to talk about though, and it's got to be about 4000 characters long =/


You can always talk about work experience you have planned. Even though you havent done it yet, you have it organised and you will have done it by the time you start the course (if you get accepted). You can also do some voluntary work elsewhere (not necessarily to do with vets) as well just to boost your chances.
Reply 8
Ahh, personal statements...such a pain. I've read you should only write about work experience you've actually done, and not what you've got planned, how you should write one thing, but not another. Meh, confusing!

I'll ring every vet in this, and surrounding towns, on monday (no head nurses are working the weekend) and i'll book my 2 whole days i've been offered so far for thursday and friday. I'll try wrangle more days out of them by offering to clean, make tea, etc. They only offered 2 days because they're so tiny, they showed me behind the scenes and it's everything crammed into a tiny room. So basically anyone observing is well and truly in the way!

I'm off to a RSPCA tomorrow for a tour and to fill in a volunteer form, hopefully they accept me for work asap. Failing that i'll get any work anywhere :biggrin:

So in my statement i'll simply write a bit about previous careers and why they steered me towards vet med. My motivations to do the course and career, and a tiny bit on the experience i've done by then...maybe a sentence or two on stuff which is planned.


A side question...when i was at college we were all told to include our poor/mature/etc background into our statement for UCAS (i didn't apply back then). This was to get us included in the (i think this is the right name) widening participation selection...thing. Has anyone heard of this? And isn't that like "Oh, you have to accept me 'cause i'm from a poor background, etc", so kind of like someone pulling a predigist card when they don't get a job or something?
Reply 9
Carlito o.O
Ahh, personal statements...such a pain. I've read you should only write about work experience you've actually done, and not what you've got planned, how you should write one thing, but not another. Meh, confusing!


No, definitely write about what you've got planned as well if it's before any possible interviews!
schizopear
you always make me feel bad about my posts because you're so much more supportive than i am!

i am going to use it being early as an excuse for being negative...



Sorry! :biggrin: I tend to type and waffle on with random thoughts that come into my head and then click post and suddenly realise how much I've written.

You weren't being negative - just realistic! Threads benefit from a mix of opinions - personally, I would be inclined to lean towards your POV of applying next year, but I know what it feels like to be stuck working in a job you don't want to do, feeling that you are getting older and older and just wanting to give it a shot *now*!
Carlito o.O
....


Def write about planned stuff!! Saying you have booked obviously sounds better than hoping to do/find. But sometimes people even end up doing that and saying that they are arranging xxx. Obv you can't talk about what you haven't done, but still mention them.

About background etc...as far as I know the gateway/prelims etc will all check you are eligable anyway, so they know you have the criteria there. Personally I wouldn't be inclined to push your background in a this is why you should give me a place way. Explaining your background it one thing, but everyone will have some sort of 'reason' for their poor grades/lack of exp/etc, and it makes it sound like you are coming up with excuses. Eg: I did another degree before vetmed, because my a level grades weren't good enough due to a serious health problem when I was at college. I just talked about how my degree had strengthened my interest in vetmed/allowed me to see more about the field etc, rather than it being a story about how it hadn't worked out. I guess everyone will have personal opinion on this one though...
Reply 12
Maybe try some rescue kennels or horse sanctuary if there are any in your area, they are normally keen for volunteers.
Hi
I applied for vet med this year but was unsuccessful. I am applying again this year but am struggling a little rewriting my personal statement.
I was wondering if some of the people that reapplied this year could give me some advice? How does my personal statment have to differ from my original? what extra things are they looking for in it?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Emily
Were you unsuccessful in getting offers? if so then maybe rewrite your personal statement/ get work experience etc. If you were unsuccessful in getting your place, then retake? Are you planning to apply to 4/5 diff unis this time?
sorry I forgot to be specific! I was unsuccessful in getting offers. I got my grades ( A* and 3 A's ) so no worries there now! (PHEW!) Just not sure how to alter my PS for reapplying.
Thanks
Emily
Reply 16
dramaqueen99
sorry I forgot to be specific! I was unsuccessful in getting offers. I got my grades ( A* and 3 A's ) so no worries there now! (PHEW!) Just not sure how to alter my PS for reapplying.
Thanks
Emily

Pensonally i scrapped everything from my old personal statement because like you i didnt get any offers first time round.
Instead i wrote it in a different structure and wrote far more detail about exactly what i had learned from placements. My firsr ps had a list of what work experience i'd done and i didnt really expand on it enough but this time i talked about what i had learned working on different farms and how the things i'd learnt would help me as a vet.
I mentioned i was taking a gap year and what my plans were but basically talked a lot about work experience
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Personal_Statement:Veterinary_Science_7
hope this helps :smile:
and i'd encourage you to apply to liverpool because they like reappliers but then im kinda biased....lol
Reply 17
Hello i was the same aas you aswell, didnt get any offers first time round btu got the grades.

can i ask wether you got any interviews? and where?
I got 1 intervieew first time at bristol, 2nd time around i got 4 interviews and amazingly 4 offers :woo:

for my personal statement i kept the basis of my first one, changed the begining and ending. I made it very focused on the fact that being a vet was the only thing i wanted to do, not getting a place had made me more detrmined and more focused.

i had LOADS of extra work experience and that in itself improved my statement, hopefully youve gained lots of work exp and have a good gap year full of plans that you can include, im happy to PM you a copy of mine if you want me too just send me a message :smile: although ive read starfalls and its AMAZING so that will help you alot.
Reply 18
definatly write what u have planned, its recomened for gap year applicatants so i would imagine its the same for you!

obviously exp already gained is better because you can say why it was valuable, what you learnt etc but as your lacking experience they would love to see what u have planned otherwise theyll be wondering what the heck your doing in the next year towards your app.

Liverpool send out a form asking for work exp AND planned exp, it does have to be completed by a certain date (which i cant remember) maybe March? :/
Reply 19
and yeh apply to liverpool, they love re-appliers, as do bristol and the scottish Uni's :smile:

tbh most of them do :smile: apart from nottingham :P:

but it depends where you want to apply and the reasons you were rejected, HAVE YOU ASKED FOR FEEDBACK??
i got rejected from RVC first time due to BMAT so decided not to bother with that again, although it is possible t0 improve and get an interview 2nd time if you wanted to go for RVC?!

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