Ask questions about being a vet student at the RVC

Hey! I would like to know why you picked the RVC over other universities? And also how did you prepare for the interviews in general? Thank you :smile:

Reply 2

OP

Original post by Ptsai

Hey! I would like to know why you picked the RVC over other universities? And also how did you prepare for the interviews in general? Thank you :smile:

Hey, thanks for messaging! I got offers from all 4 uni's I went to, but I had an unconditional offer for RVC due to already completing the grades required for the gateway course I applied for (alongside BVetMed). This meant I knew I could get into RVC, and I had always dreamed of going there - but I equally did love Nottingham and Surrey too! I found that the idea of London's social life and opportunities drew me in the most, and I'm soooo glad I picked RVC purely for this reason, as I can't imagine I would have got a fraction of the experience at another university. The academics are incredibly specialist and you do find that you can advance further in the vet field when you have the tag of (no. 1/no. 2 vet school in the world via QS world rankings).

Tips for interviews:
- Practice MMI with friends and family, get them to ask you questions which won't have a yes or no answer and time yourself to see if you can complete it in a certain time limit e.g. 5 minutes.
- Revise over your personal statement and pick out any bits you may need to relook over in case you get asked about any aspects of it in the interview
- Be yourself (they're not there to trip you up or catch you out, they just want to see how you answer their questions)
- Be comfortable in what you are wearing and make sure you get lots of rest and inform everyone around you that you have it coming up so everyone knows to give you some space if required.
- Be confident! They need to see how you deal under pressure or in different circumstances and being confident is a way of showing you are certain of your answers, and if you are not then acknowledge your change in decision-making and explain why (we are all human at the end of the day and we don't always get it right the first time!)

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions xxx

Reply 3

Ptsai

Original post by Danielleegolds

Hey, thanks for messaging! I got offers from all 4 uni's I went to, but I had an unconditional offer for RVC due to already completing the grades required for the gateway course I applied for (alongside BVetMed). This meant I knew I could get into RVC, and I had always dreamed of going there - but I equally did love Nottingham and Surrey too! I found that the idea of London's social life and opportunities drew me in the most, and I'm soooo glad I picked RVC purely for this reason, as I can't imagine I would have got a fraction of the experience at another university. The academics are incredibly specialist and you do find that you can advance further in the vet field when you have the tag of (no. 1/no. 2 vet school in the world via QS world rankings).

Tips for interviews:
- Practice MMI with friends and family, get them to ask you questions which won't have a yes or no answer and time yourself to see if you can complete it in a certain time limit e.g. 5 minutes.
- Revise over your personal statement and pick out any bits you may need to relook over in case you get asked about any aspects of it in the interview
- Be yourself (they're not there to trip you up or catch you out, they just want to see how you answer their questions)
- Be comfortable in what you are wearing and make sure you get lots of rest and inform everyone around you that you have it coming up so everyone knows to give you some space if required.
- Be confident! They need to see how you deal under pressure or in different circumstances and being confident is a way of showing you are certain of your answers, and if you are not then acknowledge your change in decision-making and explain why (we are all human at the end of the day and we don't always get it right the first time!)

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions xxx

Thank you so much for your help!! ☺️

Reply 4

Deltadelta11

1

Original post by Danielleegolds

Hi, I'm currently halfway through my degree at the Royal Veterinary College and have been a member on here since my application for vet school. I have been a RVC student ambassador for a couple of years and I wanted to offer the opportunity to ask some questions what it is like being a vet student at the university and living in London :smile:

Hi Danielleegolds!
I have received an offer from the RVC for Vetmed! I’m super excited!!
My question is what is it like for mature students with kids? I’ll be 30 with 2 kids and feel like I’m going to be a bit isolated. I’ll be travelling in from outer London as can’t move in.
Thank you x

Reply 5

Popsicle_pirate

Original post by Deltadelta11

Hi Danielleegolds!
I have received an offer from the RVC for Vetmed! I’m super excited!!
My question is what is it like for mature students with kids? I’ll be 30 with 2 kids and feel like I’m going to be a bit isolated. I’ll be travelling in from outer London as can’t move in.
Thank you x

Hey, congrats on your offer!
A lot of people come to vet med a bit later in life and RVC has a lot of North American students where veterinary is post-grad for them so many students are mid to late twenties alongside the UK school leavers. I know of several people married with children and they seem to cope just fine despite the course being busy but I imagine it takes good organisation skills and some sacrifices. There is a mature students society which organises meet ups and social events that are family friendly/don't involve copious amounts of drinking so you would probably be able to find some people in a similar situation there. Hope that helps!

Reply 6

OP

Original post by Deltadelta11

Hi Danielleegolds!
I have received an offer from the RVC for Vetmed! I’m super excited!!
My question is what is it like for mature students with kids? I’ll be 30 with 2 kids and feel like I’m going to be a bit isolated. I’ll be travelling in from outer London as can’t move in.
Thank you x

Well done on your offer, I can imagine that you’re overjoyed 🎉🥳 We look forward to seeing you in the autumn term!

Popsicle_pirate has summarised the RVC experience perfectly!!! I also just wanted to echo what they said and state you won’t be treated any differently and you can reach out to the advice centre/your year leaders on anything that you may be anxious about or unsure on ie. if you wanted to have another child during vet school (it is a longggg degree), or maybe even having issues with childcare and fitting in the commute with long uni days etc. I know they may seem like they only deal with university queries but these personal queries shape your university experience, so they’re always happy to help and as you are a mature student a lot of the staff usually find that they can offer advice quite easily as you may be in a similar situation to them as well. The advice centre would be who I would turn to straight away when getting to uni as they are a wonderful team and it’s always good to let them know your situation, especially when it comes to exam season!☺️

Reply 7

Jojolol

5

Heyya, I've an offer for the 4y programme. I imagine first year will be very intense and I probably will only have time to enjoy life when we move to Hawkshead. How do you find the student life in Hawkshead?
I'm also considering bringing my dog with me. Wondering if you have any experience or heard of others that are able to manage caring for a pet during vet school? TIA!

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Jojolol

Heyya, I've an offer for the 4y programme. I imagine first year will be very intense and I probably will only have time to enjoy life when we move to Hawkshead. How do you find the student life in Hawkshead?
I'm also considering bringing my dog with me. Wondering if you have any experience or heard of others that are able to manage caring for a pet during vet school? TIA!

Heya, that is amazing, well done!!! :clap2:

The first year can be very academically intense but luckily there is always an opportunity to join in with societies, clubs and events throughout the year. Hawkshead is a little less eventful as Potters Bar isn't really full of any nightlife opportunities, but being only 20 minutes away from Kings Cross has its perks (when covid isn't an issue..). Luckily all of the sports tend to occur in Potters Bar so both campuses have their advantages, but you will definitely get the chance to enjoy yourself at least once a week on a Wednesday afternoon when all university is closed so that clubs and societies are guaranteed to have time to carry out their activities across all year groups and courses.

Definitely bring your pet(s) if it is not too much of a financial burden, as there are so many vet students in PB with pets who love it and feel a lot less homesick. Not so many students in central London have their pets, but now the gov has made it so that landlords can no longer automatically ban pets in the UK, it will be a lot easier for you to find suitable accommodation in central London. If you need some advice on bringing pets to uni (only in private accommodation, pets are not allowed in university accommodation) then contact RVC during your offer holders day and ask if you can be put in contact with someone who has some specific tips on travelling to London with their pets!

I hope this info helps, let me know if you have any other questions :h:

Reply 9

username5482462

Hi, would it be possible to let me know when RVC do their exams in the year and whether like other vet schools RVC does 'mock exams' throughout the year (during first year) in which don't count towards your grade, in which are just there for you to get use to the new testing style as well as for staff to see where people are going wrong/ if they need more support?

Reply 10

OP

Original post by E91zy

Hi, would it be possible to let me know when RVC do their exams in the year and whether like other vet schools RVC does 'mock exams' throughout the year (during first year) in which don't count towards your grade, in which are just there for you to get use to the new testing style as well as for staff to see where people are going wrong/ if they need more support?

Hi! It may change for future years so don't quote me word for word, but the RVC do 'formative' (i.e. mock exams) prior to the 'summative' exams (the ones that count). The feedback is a lot less individual as it is mainly MCQ (multiple choice question) and PSQ (problem solving question) which means answers are up for less interpretation - but they are really great at going through and explaining the reasoning for each answer. Some types of assessed work are not in examination style, you may have some coursework style assignments which you don't tend to have feedback sessions for, but normally you can submit drafts (it depends on each individual assignment). With the oral exams (ISFs) you get the chance to practice these first and the examiners give you personal feedback and how you can improve for the real sittings! Also with animal handling exams (DOPs) they are great at providing you with feedback too and make sure to support you with additional animal handling sessions if you need them before your next sitting of the exams :biggrin:

RVC tend to do assignments and mini exams in the 1st/2nd term for 1st year of the BVetMed course which count towards 10% (in previous years), and then the main exams are in the summer around early-late June. It differs for each course though so those doing Biovet would most likely have their exams a little earlier on, those on the gateway course have their exams throughout each term etc.

Reply 11

username5482462

Original post by Danielleegolds

Hi! It may change for future years so don't quote me word for word, but the RVC do 'formative' (i.e. mock exams) prior to the 'summative' exams (the ones that count). The feedback is a lot less individual as it is mainly MCQ (multiple choice question) and PSQ (problem solving question) which means answers are up for less interpretation - but they are really great at going through and explaining the reasoning for each answer. Some types of assessed work are not in examination style, you may have some coursework style assignments which you don't tend to have feedback sessions for, but normally you can submit drafts (it depends on each individual assignment). With the oral exams (ISFs) you get the chance to practice these first and the examiners give you personal feedback and how you can improve for the real sittings! Also with animal handling exams (DOPs) they are great at providing you with feedback too and make sure to support you with additional animal handling sessions if you need them before your next sitting of the exams :biggrin:

RVC tend to do assignments and mini exams in the 1st/2nd term for 1st year of the BVetMed course which count towards 10% (in previous years), and then the main exams are in the summer around early-late June. It differs for each course though so those doing Biovet would most likely have their exams a little earlier on, those on the gateway course have their exams throughout each term etc.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!
It’s great that you do get feedback/ have a chance to improve yourself :smile:

How would you say your overall experience at RVC been? What’s the vibe like? Does it get fairly competitive around exams?
^ sorry for the millions of questions :/

Reply 12

OP

Original post by E91zy

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question!
It’s great that you do get feedback/ have a chance to improve yourself :smile:

How would you say your overall experience at RVC been? What’s the vibe like? Does it get fairly competitive around exams?
^ sorry for the millions of questions :/

Happy to help! :h:

Yes they are really good at letting you know what is the right answer, plus you have your tutor groups of ~5-6 people in which your tutor can give you some feedback, plus you can also book 1-1 sessions with university advisers, the support is endless!

My overall experience has been amazing personally, every aspect of RVC is just incredible! The facilities are brand new but you still have parts of the university which are original lecture theatres/very old, so it's a great mix for the course requirements. The staff are like local celebrities, all world-renowned for their specialities and it really is an honour to learn from them and work with them. The campuses are great and both have different vibes, Camden is a lot smaller but feels very centric and you'll always see someone you know in the lightwell (central cafe and chill area). Hawkshead is a lot bigger, grander, spread out (lots of fields and greenery and the QMH is the biggest small animal referral hospital in Europe so the campus has to be pretty big to accommodate for this + the university farm). You can't go wrong with RVC in my opinion, and if you would rather mix with students from other courses, you tend to do this anyway and make friends in all years and courses, or you can enter intercollegiate halls and mix with students from UCL, KCL, LSE etc. - basically you can tailor it to whatever experience you are looking for :biggrin:

At university, you find that the competition seen during A-levels and GCSEs isn't really there, as we aren't all competing against each other to be in certain grade % brackets (the % of pass/fail is fixed at university, so it's up to you as an individual to meet the pass mark and is not determined by the year's overall outcome).

I hope this all helps, university is a great experience wherever you go, just make sure that you are comfortable with the idea of living in central London for a minimum of 2 years, and then moving out to Hawkshead campus (Hertfordshire) for the final 3 years (if you are joining the BVetMed course)!

Reply 13

vetstudent2020

Original post by RVCStudent98

Hi, I'm currently halfway through my degree at the Royal Veterinary College and have been a member on here since my application for vet school. I have been a RVC student ambassador for a couple of years and I wanted to offer the opportunity to ask some questions what it is like being a vet student at the university and living in London :smile:

Hi
Thank you so much for helping us all out! I was just wondering if you know of many people in your cohort who got in from the waiting list? I just want to see if I have any hope as RVC is my dream school but a few months ago I was placed on the waiting list for the four year course :frown:

Reply 14

hollyb04

6

Original post by RVCStudent98

Hi, I'm currently halfway through my degree at the Royal Veterinary College and have been a member on here since my application for vet school. I have been a RVC student ambassador for a couple of years and I wanted to offer the opportunity to ask some questions what it is like being a vet student at the university and living in London :smile:

Hi there, I’m thinking about applying to RVC this year but i’m worried about the social aspects. I live in the centre of England quite far away from London so I’d hope if i got an offer for the RVC i’d get a room in college grove, but if not i’m not sure i’d be able to afford accommodation close by, even so i’m unsure whether it’s easy to make friends with people from other universities? Not being from a city it would be quite new to me and i’m just worried that i wouldn’t make friends and i’d be alone in a big city with a very stressful course? Can you offer any advice? I’ve visited Camden in the day and loved it, is it safe for students?

Reply 15

OP

Original post by vetstudent2020

Hi
Thank you so much for helping us all out! I was just wondering if you know of many people in your cohort who got in from the waiting list? I just want to see if I have any hope as RVC is my dream school but a few months ago I was placed on the waiting list for the four year course :frown:

Hi, I am sorry that you were placed on the waiting list for the accelerated course, it sadly is just so competitive amongst postgrads and international students who have already done 3 years at college. I find that if you apply for the 4-year and 5-year courses you have a better chance of getting an offer or opportunity to go to RVC as they may wait-list you for 1 of the courses but accept you for the other one. I know of loads of people from last year's intake who were let in after being waitlisted so it sadly is just a waiting game. Did you get offers from anywhere else? I know it is nearing the start of uni now so I am wishing you luck!

Reply 16

OP