Starry's GYG- Aspiring Vet medicine Student

Year 12 GYG
Hello, Im currently in year 12 and studying Biology(AQA), Chemistry (AQA), Physics (AQA) for A-level. Im going to apply for Veterinary Medicine, with the desire to study at Edinburgh or Nottingham. :smile:

However, Im not 100% set on what other two vet med University I want to apply to yet.
Im hoping this blog will keep me motivated to revise, and help with my time management skills!

Grades I want to achieve:
A* Biology
A Chemistry
A Physics

Current/Upcoming Work Experience:
-sanctuary farm and stables 3 years 2020-2023
-vet experience small animal December 2022 1 week
-wildlife rescue 1 weeks 2022
-Retail customer work experience 3 years
-Farming cattle/dairy farm 2 weeks 2023 October
-Vets small animal 1 week 2023 December
-Vets small animal and exotic 1 week 2024 February
-Equine hospital 4 days 2024 May

Im trying to get some more, in a lab setting and in lambing, but finding it difficult to find places that will allow people who are 16. Particularly for lambing as most places want someone with previous experience.

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 1

StarryDakota

OP

2

Week 1: November 6th-12th
Monday and Tuesday

I ended up being indecisive again and I've switched my flashcards app from Quizlet to Anki. It's close to 1000 flashcards I had to transferred. I found Quizlet to be a good app especially now that you're able to use AI to quiz yourself. However, I found it really difficult to decide when and which flashcards I was going review them. I already have quite a few decks so I found it hard to manage them. Anki will work better for me because it does scheduled review, so that should help improve my revision!

Wednesday
Today, ended up not doing as much as I would have liked to. I have however, finally understood shapes of molecules after going over it and doing some graded questions from D-A*!

Thursday

I prepared for the required practical on membrane permeability, which I will have to complete next week. I spent most of my time on some physics practise questions as homework on energy levels, and some circuit questions, I did find these a little bit difficult. I think Im starting to understand the style of questions they ask and the rules I should use to solve them.

Friday

I completed my homework on calorimetry calculations, I didn't find them too hard so hopefully I get most of them right! I also had do a practical write up on two enthalpy practicals. Along with doing some pre reading on inhibitors for biology, and some tangents for rate of reaction. For physics I went over some practise questions for electricity and the photoelectric effect, and thankfully Im starting to understand them. I also had quite a few flashcards to make 😕 , as on Friday I have 5 lessons with no free periods.

Sunday and Saturday
Revised my biology flashcards on biological molecules, enzymes, membranes on Anki. As well as some flashcards from cells structure and division, but I haven't quite finished this deck review yet. Hopefully, on Monday I should be able to complete the deck during my free periods. These flashcards are based on active recall method so should be due to review in ether 3 days or 13 days. Im hoping to get have revised all my decks in physics, chemistry and biology by the end of next week so I have a routine for when I have to review them.

Reply 2

StarryDakota

OP

2

Goals For 12th-19th November
-Finish reviewing all of my flashcards for physics, biology and chemistry
-Master the electricity topic and complete more practise questions
-Practise some chemistry calculations to keep my memory refreshed on them

Christmas countdown: 🦌⛄️
43 days

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 3

RambleAmple

17

Hey! I just came across your blog. Well done on being so motivated and planning so much work experience! For lambing have you looked on the NSA list for placements? Quite a lot of farmers actually offer free accommodation and meals (so don't need to be close to any) and you can filter to see if they want people with previous experience or not. If you are willing to travel to Oxfordshire I may be able to put you in contact with a farmer who specifically likes hosting year 12s with no previous experience alongside vet students. I'm a current third year at Liverpool and also have my own GYG blog with some tips for applicants etc on the first page, may be useful to have a read through. Keep up the good work :smile:

Reply 4

StarryDakota

OP

2

Original post by RambleAmple

Hey! I just came across your blog. Well done on being so motivated and planning so much work experience! For lambing have you looked on the NSA list for placements? Quite a lot of farmers actually offer free accommodation and meals (so don't need to be close to any) and you can filter to see if they want people with previous experience or not. If you are willing to travel to Oxfordshire I may be able to put you in contact with a farmer who specifically likes hosting year 12s with no previous experience alongside vet students. I'm a current third year at Liverpool and also have my own GYG blog with some tips for applicants etc on the first page, may be useful to have a read through. Keep up the good work :smile:

Hi! Thank you so much. I actually already follow your blog and it really inspires me to keep going through my studies. I'll definitely check out the the tips on the first page especially because i'm already overwhelmed with which university's I should apply to other than Edinburgh and Nottingham. I have seen the NSA list but I think there was only two farmers that would allow students without experience sadly. However, I would love to do lambing in Oxfordshire it would be amazing if you could possibly put me in contact with the farmer. 🙂
Do you by any chance know if employers care what university vets graduate from, do they prefer well established vet schools over new vet schools like harper and keele? I went to their open day today and liked it there, just wondered wether people would be less likely to employ me because they haven't been around long.

Reply 5

RambleAmple

17

Original post by StarryDakota

Hi! Thank you so much. I actually already follow your blog and it really inspires me to keep going through my studies. I'll definitely check out the the tips on the first page especially because i'm already overwhelmed with which university's I should apply to other than Edinburgh and Nottingham. I have seen the NSA list but I think there was only two farmers that would allow students without experience sadly. However, I would love to do lambing in Oxfordshire it would be amazing if you could possibly put me in contact with the farmer. 🙂
Do you by any chance know if employers care what university vets graduate from, do they prefer well established vet schools over new vet schools like harper and keele? I went to their open day today and liked it there, just wondered wether people would be less likely to employ me because they haven't been around long.

No worries! I will PM you about the farmer. Honestly, vets are extremely in high demand right now and I'd say there is more practices looking to employ a vet than there isn't, obviously a zoo vet or something is more competitive but otherwise. They do not care in the slightest where you graduate from though as long as you have your vet degree, and your experience matters the most which you shape for the most part with your placements and effort you put in etc. So apply where you like the most! Look at their type of campus, facility, curriculum type, how you feel at open days etc to help you choose. And if that doesn't narrow them down enough you could also apply to those you think you're more likely to get in to, obviously all are as hard as each other but there is variation in their entry criteria and how they do their application process - e.g. Bristol don't interview, Liverpool guarantee an interview, Nottingham have an interview and a few questionnaires/SJTs, some do panel interviews some do MMI etc etc so choose which of those play most to your strengths. I'm happy to answer any questions about Liverpool.

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 6

StarryDakota

OP

2

Original post by RambleAmple

No worries! I will PM you about the farmer. Honestly, vets are extremely in high demand right now and I'd say there is more practices looking to employ a vet than there isn't, obviously a zoo vet or something is more competitive but otherwise. They do not care in the slightest where you graduate from though as long as you have your vet degree, and your experience matters the most which you shape for the most part with your placements and effort you put in etc. So apply where you like the most! Look at their type of campus, facility, curriculum type, how you feel at open days etc to help you choose. And if that doesn't narrow them down enough you could also apply to those you think you're more likely to get in to, obviously all are as hard as each other but there is variation in their entry criteria and how they do their application process - e.g. Bristol don't interview, Liverpool guarantee an interview, Nottingham have an interview and a few questionnaires/SJTs, some do panel interviews some do MMI etc etc so choose which of those play most to your strengths. I'm happy to answer any questions about Liverpool.

Thank you. That's good to hear as I was stuck on how to narrow down my choices. Im not hundred percentage sure what may strengths are yet so hopefully further into year 12 I can figure out what parts of the application process Im good at. Ive seen a lot of people talk about Liverpool on here so I will definitely be sure to ask if I have any questions. :smile:

Reply 7

StarryDakota

OP

2

Week 2: 12th-19th November

Monday and Tuesday:

I spent most of my time after school revising biology on the topics I have learnt so far during lessons. So far the membrane topic isn't too difficult, fingers crossed it stays that way! Im also very confident with the biological molecules topic now. I did want to have all the biology flashcards done by now... With a little reflection I see that trying to set a date I have to memorise all the flashcards isn't the most effective way. As I haven't completed my ambitious of trying to memorise all the flashcards with is around 1,200 cards, which is definitely not realistic. Sooo, instead Im going to try and make my goals centred on really embedding my knowledge.

Wednesday:

I spent Wednesday revising for my physics test which I had 1st period on Thursday on electricity. I struggle with applying concepts in electricity, as it's not my favourite topic Im much more of a radiation and particles fan. I focused on practise question sets, and I'm starting to see an improvement on applying and spotting when to use rules like kirchhoff's law.

Thursday:

Today I completed a lot of homework as I have a lot of frees on Thursday: A 6 marker on quantum physics, required practical questions and graphs for membrane permeability, watching a video on the enzyme required practical and making flashcards for the digestion part of the enzyme topic. Particularly, the new content in digestion like how micelles are absorbed in the lumen is a little bit though to get your head around but after going through it a few times I understood the process!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday:

I haven't done a lot over these few days. During the weekend I went to an opening day at a vet school, I really enjoyed it there and it has a nice campus feel to the area. So I didn't spend much time working during that day. However, I did go over my flashcards for Quantum physics and completed quite a few maths questions. I also tried some more electricity questions to try a keep my knowledge fresh.
Hoping to be more productive next week! :smile:

Reply 8

StarryDakota

OP

2

General Goals For 12th-19th November
-Review flashcards for quantum and enthalpy in chemistry and physics (any extra reviewed flashcards is a bonus)
-Complete practise questions for quantum and enthalpy
-Practise some chemistry calculations and any other questions to keep my memory refreshed on them