Veterinary Medicine INTERVIEW PREPARATION THREAD

I only just heard back from Edinburgh today, so maybe don't worry just yet! It probably takes a while to get through everyone.

Hey everyone! Has anyone got an interfiew for glasgow dont know what to expect?

Has anyone had an interview at the royal vet college? or a multi mini interview?
Literally have no idea what to expect..

If you havent had yours at rvc already they were all so lovely and friendly. It was one of the better interview experiences that I've had

Did you have to do a role play? I've been stressing about it so much lol

yes I did! But it was completely fine and the interviewer was lovely. It was over in a flash.

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So you've done the hard graft; given your time up for free to work in lambing sheds in the freezing cold, and done more than your fair share of cleaning up cat sick in small animal clinics. You spent ages on your personal statement and may have suffered through the horror of the BMAT. So far it's paid off, and all that that stands between you and a place at the vet school of your dreams is an interview. No pressure! This thread aims to address some applicants' common questions, as well as providing resources to help with preparation.

Note: Posting about specific interview questions is against the rules, as it gives an advantage to people yet to be interviewed. Be aware that universities explicitly ask you not to discuss interviews at least until the admissions process is over, and they do check these forums to see what people post.


🐕 When are they?
Applying for veterinary medicine is a long waiting game. Interviews are held between November and March, with invites being given out at many points during this time. If a university asks for candidates to take the BMAT, don't expect to hear anything until close to/after results are given out. That said, don't expect universities that don't ask for the BMAT to get back before then! No news is good news!


🐈 What's the Format?
Most vet schools now use the MMI, or 'multiple mini interview' format. This involves candidates rotating around a series of stations for the duration of the interview to either answer questions on a specific topic, or carry out a task. Typically interviewees will have between 5 and 10 minutes per station, with some universities providing 'rest stops' in between.

Some universities continue to use the traditional panel interviews, where the interviewee sits in front of the same interviewers for the duration of the interview. Some universities couple a short panel interview with the MMI as their interview process, and other universities include features such as group tasks, or computer tasks.


🐇 What do I Need to Bring?
Upon receiving an interview invitation (which are usually sent by email), universities will also provide you with information about what you need to bring with you when you attend. Alternatively some places may ask that you send information to them, either by email or by post, prior to the interview. Examples of what you could be asked to bring include:

It is imperative that you check, and double check any correspondence you have with universities so that you bring everything you need. If in doubt, contact admissions or bring things you're unsure about anyway.


🐎 What do I Wear?
Many people struggle with this. It's a case of wanting to look formal and like you made an effort, while still wanting to look like you're not afraid to get your hands dirty and would be willing to wrestle a lamb out of a lambing ewe with your bare hands at any moment

You have to make the call. At the end of the day universities care much more about what you say/do than how you're dressed. What you wear should be something you're comfortable in; interviews are stressful enough already without feeling like you look like an idiot. As a general rule I'd say it's better to be overdressed than under, but there's no need to go to town. A simple white shirt with a blazer and dark trousers (school trousers?) and smart shoes is a good shout usually. Heels are fine if you're comfortable in them, but bear in mind that the day may involve a lot of walking, especially if there's a campus tour involved, so flats may be a more sensible option (or at least bring a change of shoes).


🐑 What are the Questions?
Bad question. As mentioned previously, it's unlikely that anyone will tell you exactly what they were asked.

The following are fair game:

Again, these are general guidelines. Please do not ask for, or give out, specific questions.


🐄 How can I prepare?
Better question.

The most important thing you can do is to completely dissect your PS, doing more research on topics you've mentioned to the point where no questions relating to anything you've written about will faze you. Even for Liverpool, which don't read your personal statement, brushing up will help as you can still mention anything that was on there.

Another important area to prepare for is questions about current affairs (especially if anything big in the news can be related to anything you mentioned in your PS). There are a wealth of vetty news websites out there, so go and get reading! It doesn't have to be vet-specific either. General sciencey news is definitely relevant, and advances in human medicine often have veterinary links. Make a point of reading a couple of articles a few times per week. When you're seeing practice, see if you can pick up some copies of the Veterinary Times. The RVC have some free podcasts that may be of interest, as do Farming Today (released free on iTunes daily).

Some examples of some issues to brush up on could include:

This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor should you feel at all obliged to research every single one in detail. It's perfectly okay if you've never heard of some of these before, your interviewers don't expect you to be a vet already!

When discussing controversial issues, it may help to have some knowledge of some of the legislation surrounding them, for example the Animal Welfare Act and the Five Freedoms, the Dangerous Dogs Act and the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.

Some people are fortunate to know people that can offer them a 'mock interview' (for example at college or with a vet they see practice with). If this is an opportunity open to you, take it up!

The calculation part of MMIs is arguably the easiest part to prepare for. Think of maths that vets need to do on a daily basis, then go and find some practise questions online. Practise for human nurses/doctors is just as good for preparation if you can't find much that's vet specific.

Preparation for the practical task is tricky, and I would argue unnecessary. Often it's less about your dexterity (you're not being asked to build a scale model of Hogwarts with matchsticks, here), and more about your ability to follow instructions. If you desperately want to practise, perhaps find instructions online for a craft you've never tried before, and see how well you can teach yourself.


🐀 How Likely am I to get an Offer?
Your chances of getting an offer after being interviewed vary between universities, but are approximately between 65-30%. Some places will give you this information on the day, for others it's available online.

Universities also vary in the way that they give out offers. Some, like Bristol, give out a few every week, after each interview, before assessing the rest of the interviewees later in the application cycle. Others, such as RVC, interview everyone first, giving out interviews in big batches at the end. Some places have a separate number of places for people in different categories (for example Edinburgh have a set number of places available to Scottish and international applicants, and another set available to people from the rest of the UK). In this case one category may be interviewed and offers given out before the other set of people are interviewed. Offers can start to be handed out as early as December, but it may be as late as March.

Bear in mind that even if you get a rejection, that isn't the end of the story! Universities often give out more offers as people begin to firm/decline their places, as they have a better idea of how many spaces are left to be filled. There are many cases of people being phoned up after being rejected, only to be given an offer on the phone. This can happen at any point up to and even beyond results day. Bear in mind, though, that this only applies to people that have been interviewed. Also, universities don't 'snipe' students; if your favourite university rejected you but another gave you an offer that you firmed, you won't get another offer over the phone.


🐍 Tips


🐟 Resources: News, Further Reading and Calculation Practice
Royal Veterinary College - Selection Process
Edinburgh - Veterinary Medicine Interviews
Bristol - Veterinary Science Interviews
Liverpool - Guidance Notes
Nottingham - Admissions Process
Glasgow - Interviews for Entry
Cambridge - Interviews
Surrey - coming soon when their website doesn't constantly die on me....

RCVS - Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, which all registered vets are a member of.
DEFRA - Government department for agriculture and rural affairs. Lots of controversial news.
BVA News - Current affairs from the British Veterinary Association
Vetsonline.com - Vetty news galore! Have an email newsletter you can subscribe to.
Veterinary Practice News - More news from the vet world.
Farmer's Guardian - Wealth of farmy news.
Farmer's Weekly - In-depth and up to date agricultural news.

Merck Veterinary Manual - Great site to research further into cases you may see on work experience.
NADIS - Information on many animal diseases. Includes free webinars.
WikiVet - Requires (free) membership, but an interesting site maintained by veterinary professionals.
The Cattle Site - Fantastic resource for all things bovine.
The Pig Site - The same, but with information on our porcine pals.
The Poultry Site - I’m sure you can guess by now.
The Sheep Site - Baaa!
American Veterinary Medical Association - Insight into the veterinary world beyond the UK.

'What Would You Do?' Case Studies - Veterinary dilemmas from the Animal Welfare Foundation.
Drug Dosage Calculations Booklet - Questions and answers from Nottingham's School of Nursing
'Veterinary Technician's Guide to Practical Math' - A more in depth guide. Warning: includes a lot of info you definitely don't need to know.


🐖 Frequently Asked Questions






Massive thanks to Louiseee_ for help writing this article. If you're a vet student and you have anything to add, please drop me a PM or quote me below and I'll add your input


Last updated 27/07/16

Hi, this is a really great post! I'm currently trying to prepare for an interview at Liverpool. Whilst I know interview questions are kept under lock and key I was wondering if there are any pointers or tips anyone can provide? Maybe new topics or where best to place my focus

Thank you

Jess

As you have pointed out, no one should/will share the question topics with you. From my experience of my Liverpool interview (three years ago, I am old and wrinkly), I will say to consider ethical scenarios aside from the typical vetty ones (i.e. it's not going to be possible to have answers prepared for everything they could ask, so work on your debate skills to be able to discuss everything instead of/in addition to having answers prepared for common questions. Also, know about your work experience in depth and make sure you can expand on a few cases that you have seen (prove that you've done some extra research into them!)

Best of luck for your interview!

Hey! Is there a thread for 2018 interview prep?

@Little Tail Chaser any chance of an update for some more recent issues?