2014 Veterinary Medicine Hopefuls!

I thought I'd start a thread for all the VetMed hopefuls, as I've spent the last few months or so stalking the 2012/2013 threads, and thought that there should be one for 2014 hopefuls :biggrin:

So yeah, I basically created this thread to meet my (hopefully) future classmates and talk about a career I'm so passionate about :smile:

Holly

(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1

Animal Mad!!!

Hi Holly
I have also been stalking the 2012/2013 hopefuls threads for a while now :tongue:

Thanks for creating the thread it will be nice to meet and talk to people also aiming to get into vet school in 2014!!!

In September I'm taking Biology, Chemistry, Physics and History at Sixth Form.

I have done a couple weeks work experience at a small animal and equine vets which i loved!!! It was amazing!!! Also done weekends at my local city farm plus some lambing which was great!

Reply 2

Nessie162

Hi, Another 2012/13 stalker and 2014 applicant here.
I'm so happy that we have our own thread now. :biggrin:

Except English and Maths I'm also taking Biology, Chemistry, Geography and Spanish at Scottish Highers.
I'm applyng to RVC, Bristol, Liverpool and Edinburgh (Or Glasgow).

I'm having some trouble with finding work experience but I managed to book place at SA shelter at the end of July, and hopefully I'll find some SA vet work for this summer too.

I can't wait till 2014 :biggrin:

Reply 3

KatiexZoe

hi holly,

i'm also 16 and have longed to go into veterinary medicine for as long as i can remember! In September i'm studying Biology, Chemistry, Physics and English Literature; and have got a few veterinary work placements for this summer. Let me know how you get on with GCSE and a levels sometime :smile:

Reply 4

iwishtheskywaspink

Hey guys! I'm glad you've made this thread, I've been a stalker for a while now- any threads in relation to veterinary science really :wink:

I have also wanted to become a vet for as long as I can remember! (soo cheesy I know!)
UnfortunatelyI havn't got any work experience yet- everyone has said No or until I'm 17!?
For A-levels I plan on taking- Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics
I would love to know all of your GCSE results so I know what I'm expected or up against :tongue:

I really hope to make it! And who knows we may be classmates in the near future
if I don't get in 2014, you can bet your butt I'll be applying 2015!

Reply 5

iwishtheskywaspink

PS- I plan to apply to Bristol, RVC, Liverpool and Nottingham, I don't wanna go further- I live in West London and I'm not good enough for Cambridge!

Reply 6

Asamp

I'm doing Maths, Physics, Biology, Chemistry and History at A-level, and I want to go to Cambridge, but I'd be glad to get into any of them! I've done a few weeks at a small animal vets, bit of time at a kennels, anda a week at an equine vet, which was amazing! You're really lucky to have seen a cow caesarean, that sounds amazing! :smile:

Reply 7

BeHappy

You're all stalking us! :ninja:

Reply 8

~*Holly*~

Original post by BeHappy

You're all stalking us! :ninja:

Sorry

You're really lucky to have seen a cow caesarean, that sounds amazing!

I was amazed when the vet asked me to help, and even more amazed when the farmer didn't seem to mind! It was the highlight of my fledgling career so far :biggrin:

The vet was really cool though, one of those rare people who don't constantly mollycoddle students but lets them get involved too. But now he's left :frown:

I didn't really want to start the thread myself in case nobody replied, but now I'm really happy I did (and we can stop stalking the other threads! :wink:

)
I'm a bit worried that I might be at a slight disadvantage by not offering a third science/math A-Level, but on the whole I'm happy with my choices.

Reply 9

Nessie162

When I read how much work ex. you all have I'm like... :eek:

I've sent so many e-mails to vets and almost all of them didn't reply. I think I'll have to start calling them. :s-smilie:

What uni you all want to go most to?
I'm trying not to have any favourites, but Edinburgh FTW :biggrin:

and then RVC :P

Reply 10

~*Holly*~

Original post by Nessie162

When I read how much work ex. you all have I'm like... :eek:

I've sent so many e-mails to vets and almost all of them didn't reply. I think I'll have to start calling them. :s-smilie:

First of all, don't panic! I only have lots because I started early (from the beginning of year 10 and pretty much every school holiday since!) In fact, I've been pretty lazy in booking placements for the summer hols! Here's a few tips that I've found useful:

•

Don't be put off! Keep perservering, now is no time to be shy!

•

Don't be embarassed to keep phoning and/or go into the practice in person (try and go at a quiet time, though - maybe lunchtime or even during "closed" hours - not sure about everywhere, but where I work, there's always a receptionist answering the phone even when their "official" hours say it's closed)

•

From experience, letters and especially e-mails go largely unnoticed/ignored. The best approach, I've found, is by phoning directly. For most of my placements I sent a letter (or several!) but for the kennels I just phoned directly. Usually I hate using the phone, but like I say, now is no time for shyness!

•

It's normal to get only one or even no replies if you've asked lots of places, try again - unless they've got a genuine, valid excuse like insurance, in which case they really can't do anything - usually the only reason vets say no is to weed out the timewasters.

Truthfully, it is very hard to find somewhere good to do work experience, but please don't panic, you will find somewhere. Unfortunately VetMed is one of those careers that seems to attract bucketloads of timewasters who just want to cuddle cute little kittens everyday - I'm pretty sure when the vets first met me they thought I was just a timewaster too! Usually vets are inundated with work experience requests (usually from schools with clueless "careers advisors"!) so try and make yourself stand out. For my first placement (at the vets where I work at now - I was only 14 at the time!) I sent them so many letters that when I finally turned up and handed them a letter - complete with the dates of every school holiday I was available - it must have struck a chord with someone as they phoned me straight back and said October half-term was free. I haven't looked back since, and usually when you get one placement, others quickly follow. I'm fortunate enough that where I work on Saturdays is one of five branches around where I live, and there's a main hospital and also another branch specialising in large animal (where I did 2 weeks and where I'm going again in August).

Sorry for the long post, but I hope it's been of some use - be determined and confident and I guarantee it'll pay off :smile:

Reply 11

Asamp

How many weeks do you have overall? Because I really don't know how much I should aim for - Liverpool seem to want 10 weeks, but I would like to have more than that! :smile:

Also, Nessie162 - if you can't get anywhere with a vets, try going to a kennels or something like that, because they often have contacts with local vets and can recommend you, and also the vets are more likely to accept you if they know you have experience with animals. Other things to get in contact with animals also help, like horse riding. If you put these on the letter as well or mention them in an email, it obviously helps differentiate you from the people who just want to play with kittens and applied to them on a whim!

Reply 12

Nessie162

Thanks Holly :smile:

Original post by Asamp

How many weeks do you have overall? Because I really don't know how much I should aim for - Liverpool seem to want 10 weeks, but I would like to have more than that! :smile:

Thanks. I've got one placement booked at small animal shelter for late July, I've also contacted Dog's Trust about volunteering (I'm waiting for replay) and tomorrow I'm going to my dog's vet and ask them about work ex. personally. So hopefully I'll find something soon.

And as I stalked 2012/2013 threads everybody is aiming for more that 10 weeks.

Reply 13

~*Holly*~

So far I have 8 weeks, with another week booked in August for more large animal stuff.

I'm also going to try and get 1 or 2 weeks lambing, a week at the RSPCA and hopefully if I have time, a bird/wildlife hospital. Currently negotiating a permanent Sunday job at a stables, which should add up to a few more weeks if I do a year or two. Tried (unsuccessfully) to get some lab work at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency (the nearest was Camarthan anyway, which is a bit far). You don't happen to know if they'll accept zoology labs at my local university as laboratory work experience, do you?

By the time I apply, I should have a little bit over 10 weeks - but to be honest, I think the vet schools prefer quality over quanitity. People tend to aim for Liverpool's requirements, but if you're not applying to L'pool, I think most vet schools only ask for 2-4 weeks. Play it safe and aim for 10+, I would recommend, but get the essentials before more "novelty" stuff - I think L'pool ask for at least 2 different small animal practices and a large animal, and also lambing and dairy.

Don't stress over it though, as long as you have the essentials you're pretty much sorted :biggrin:

Reply 14

Asamp

I've got 6 weeks so far, 3 at small animal, 1 at equine, 1 at kennels, and 1 at a raptor and reptile centre - I want to try and get some lambing done soon though, although I've missed it this year for most places! I started riding around 5 months ago, after I'd done the week at the equine clinic, but I'm nowhere near experienced enough at it to even think about trying to get a job there! :L

Reply 15

Nessie162

8 weeks... 6 weeks... oh Jesus :eek:

Reply 16

Leigh303

Awkward moment when you guys have more work experience than me, and I'm a 2013 applicant! :tongue:

Reply 17

ChelsRottie

Good luck guys! You have plenty of time to get work experience, don't worry about not having enough yet. Not only do you have two long summers ahead but you have other holidays in between. Now is the ideal time to start as more places will actually consider you and you hopefully will be better able to remember what you learned by the time you get interviewed.

You've got two very tough years to come but the feeling when you get an offer is absolutely amazing!

Reply 18

ChelsRottie

Original post by ~*Holly*~

By the time I apply, I should have a little bit over 10 weeks - but to be honest, I think the vet schools prefer quality over quanitity. People tend to aim for Liverpool's requirements, but if you're not applying to L'pool, I think most vet schools only ask for 2-4 weeks. Play it safe and aim for 10+, I would recommend, but get the essentials before more "novelty" stuff - I think L'pool ask for at least 2 different small animal practices and a large animal, and also lambing and dairy.

I agree that it should be quality over quantity (Except where Liverpool's concerned - I really didn't like the WEQ and the fact that they seem to almost solely use that to determine who they interview) but the vet school's are pretty silly for stating so few weeks on their admissions requirements. The majority of applicants will have MUCH more than the minimum they ask for, and as such will fill their PS with loads of interesting things they've seen, so they will stand out much much more.

Liverpool's minimum is probably the standard to aim for for all other school's but actually if you apply to Liv they want even more than that! I think there was a poll done of the number of weeks interviewed applicants had on the Liverpool WEQ and most had more than 20, pretty much everyone more than 15.

Edinburgh has quite a nice system with the WES as it not only asks for all of your individual placements, but the length of time you spent there, the number of hours you clocked up and the duties you had. The WEQ counts 40 hours as 1 week, and there is a maximum number of weeks per placement you can enter, so I believe I was more successful with Ed because I had a long-term vet placement which totalled (Roughly) 750 hours, whilst on the WEQ it totalled 4 weeks (The maximum per veterinary placement).

But of course, it depends on the applicant. Obviously people with loads of individual week or two week-long placements that worked quite long days have a better chance with the WEQ.

Reply 19

Kysa

Oh my god you guys have a thread now, I'm so scarily close to applications (2013 applicant), I'd better start panicking now P:
Best luck to all of you!