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Veterinary Medicine 2015 hopefuls!

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Original post by Little Tail Chaser
Seeing as I think everybody else who has responded has misinterpreted what you're asking...

It's true that female veterinary applicants (and indeed students) outnumber their male counterparts. I believe that the RVC in particular has the highest female:male ratio of any UK university. In other fields, where the opposite is true (women are massively underrepresented in physics, for example), admissions tutors apply 'positive discrimination' or whatever it's called to help to reduce the discrepancy. I would hope that this would be the case in the instance of VetMed as well...

Sorry that i left my initial post open to misinterpretation, this is exactly how i intended my question to come across. It's just you hear so much about the large difference in numbers between male and female veterinary students and i wondered if being a guy offered any sort of advantage statistically to getting in. sorry again for any offended
Original post by alwaysalex
I've had three interview invites by email and nothing update on track. Maybe track only updates for offers and rejections?


Original post by possiblevet
Yup. Track only includes offers and rejections. At least, it hasn't updated for any interview for me and only for rejection (:frown:)


My RVC interview updated today but Edinburgh still hasn't changed and Glasgow changed before I got the email! I might email Edinburgh to double check or I might just bring it up at interview.
Original post by Charletitia
Does anyone know if the RVC cover the costs, or at least subsidise the money spent on travelling to and staying in London? It's going to cost me nearly £200 in train and hotel fees and I wondered if they recompense you. Its a long shot but it would be nice:smile:


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You'd have to call/e-mail them. I know they didn't cover costs in the past even if you were from a low income background, but you will have to check, maybe things have changed since I have applied.

On another note, good luck to everyone applying in this cycle. It's a tough waiting game - I didn't get my first offer until February but I know others have waited until March to hear back- remember you only need one offer so sometimes no news is good news.
Original post by Charletitia
Does anyone know if the RVC cover the costs, or at least subsidise the money spent on travelling to and staying in London? It's going to cost me nearly £200 in train and hotel fees and I wondered if they recompense you. Its a long shot but it would be nice:smile:




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I don't think they do I'm afraid. I live in London so the RVC in particular isn't a problem for me but I checked the websites of all the places I applied to and from what I remember the RVC didn't mention anything on their website about subsidies. :frown:

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(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Charlesh
Hi guys, I dont mean to play the gender card but do you think it is at all beneficial to my chances that i'm a guy?


I can sense the unease in the thread... Kidding! I can understand where you are coming from and people tell me this all the time but I don't think it is anything significant, most likely the benefit is near negligible. Of course universities like to create balance and offer equal opportunities for people from all backgrounds; of all races, genders etc. and so would perhaps enforce the "positive discrimination" as quoted by Tails but it does not provide a strong enough benefit for said person to reduce their effort in an interview (after all if a girl is better than a boy at an interview they are hardly going to give the boy the offer due to his gender). This isn't a dig at you by the way, I totally understand what you mean but I can also see how some people might accidentally infer that statement to be slightly misogynistic :tongue:
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Little Tail Chaser

I thought as much! Hey ho, it's worth asking though, oh well:smile:


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Original post by CanineVet
My RVC interview updated today but Edinburgh still hasn't changed and Glasgow changed before I got the email! I might email Edinburgh to double check or I might just bring it up at interview.


Even after my Bristol interview nothing changed on track, all done on email, I'm not sure all unis go through track at the interview stage?
Original post by Georgie14
Even after my Bristol interview nothing changed on track, all done on email, I'm not sure all unis go through track at the interview stage?


They must not then. Ah well, at least there is some sort of confirmation it isn't going to matter I suppose, it just makes me feel more at ease when I see it in Track :redface:
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Avatar for ABC05
ABC05
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Original post by Charlesh
Sorry that i left my initial post open to misinterpretation, this is exactly how i intended my question to come across. It's just you hear so much about the large difference in numbers between male and female veterinary students and i wondered if being a guy offered any sort of advantage statistically to getting in. sorry again for any offended


Ahh no worries, sorry for being so blunt! It's interesting how the gender imbalances of the industry seem to have completely swapped places over the years


ETA: And after reading CV's comment (and going slightly off topic), I personally think the profession should be focusing on attracting a more racially diverse contingent than anything else - would be lovely if we worked on opening doors to a range of people that is not just limited to your typical middle-class white applicant. (of course that is a generalisation and obviously doesn't apply to everyone in the industry, but it does seem to apply to the large majority. Just my observations from work experience/open days etc)
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Charlesh
Sorry that i left my initial post open to misinterpretation, this is exactly how i intended my question to come across. It's just you hear so much about the large difference in numbers between male and female veterinary students and i wondered if being a guy offered any sort of advantage statistically to getting in. sorry again for any offended


No worries :smile: Sorry if my post came across as agressive or anything. I do get where you're coming from :smile:

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Original post by CanineVet
They must not then. Ah well, at least there is some sort of confirmation it isn't going to matter I suppose, it just makes me feel more at ease when I see it in Track :redface:


I know what you mean, and I don't know Edinburgh's case in particular, all I can say is that I didn't show up unexpected at Bristol, it seems they were expecting me so I think email was enough for them :smile:
Anyone got an interview from RVC today? :smile:
Original post by AnimalArk
Why do you think it would be?


I doubt it. Your gender doesn't affect your suitability to a vet degree. Although I imagine that the universities are expected to maintain a certain ratio, and there are fewer guys than girls, I don't think they'll put too much weight on your gender. Just like they can't put too much weight on our ethnic origin or sexuality, even though they're expected to maintain ratios.
Original post by Charletitia
Is there any way I could contact you outside of the student room? (I have the same interview date)


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Yeah, I was gonna ask you the same thing! I've also been wondering about travel costs for this interview as well, £140 for the train and haven't even sorted accommodation yet! Don't really use student room but can you direct message someone?
Original post by Charlesh
Sorry that i left my initial post open to misinterpretation, this is exactly how i intended my question to come across. It's just you hear so much about the large difference in numbers between male and female veterinary students and i wondered if being a guy offered any sort of advantage statistically to getting in. sorry again for any offended

Well I wasn't offended as much as curious because here the ratio is pretty equal if not still more male dominated.



Original post by eleanor032696
I doubt it. Your gender doesn't affect your suitability to a vet degree. Although I imagine that the universities are expected to maintain a certain ratio, and there are fewer guys than girls, I don't think they'll put too much weight on your gender. Just like they can't put too much weight on our ethnic origin or sexuality, even though they're expected to maintain ratios.

I agree though I doubt it conciously runs through their mind about maintaining ratios.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by KatyL88
Thanks :smile: My RVC is the 15th and I've also got Cambridge on the 9th :s-smilie:
Can I ask how you heard from Surrey, was it via email or their portal system - getting paranoid I'll miss it somehow if miraculously I get one (even though i feel I'm constantly checking everything all the time!) I've also applied to Nottingham, what about you?
Good luck for your interviews :smile:


I heard from Surrey by email. There was a link on there to the portal so don't worry about checking your portal, just watch your email :smile:
I've applied to RVC, Surrey and Liverpool and i've got interviews for two, which is pretty good going I think :smile:
Good luck for your interviews too! I've heard that Cambridge is a particularly tough one so extra good luck for that, i'm sure you'll do great!
Original post by Melinda04
Yeah, I was gonna ask you the same thing! I've also been wondering about travel costs for this interview as well, £140 for the train and haven't even sorted accommodation yet! Don't really use student room but can you direct message someone?


I'm on Twitter and tumblr as Charletitia and if you don't have those then add me on facebook if you like! It's Charlotte Havercroft :smile:


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Original post by VETwannabe
Hey, i've recently bought a book by Chris Shivelton Queen about vet school interviews (it's called 'Vet School, Part two'). I've only got through a few chapters but so far it's really good. There's loads of advice on how to prepare for interviews, from how to dress, to body language. There's also examples of interview questions and how to answer them. I think if you want to get any book, then this one is a good bet :smile: here's a link to it: http://vetschoolsuccess.com/shop/vet-school-part-two/


Thanks i'll check that out :smile:
Original post by ABC05
Ahh no worries, sorry for being so blunt! It's interesting how the gender imbalances of the industry seem to have completely swapped places over the years


ETA: And after reading CV's comment (and going slightly off topic), I personally think the profession should be focusing on attracting a more racially diverse contingent than anything else - would be lovely if we worked on opening doors to a range of people that is not just limited to your typical middle-class white applicant. (of course that is a generalisation and obviously doesn't apply to everyone in the industry, but it does seem to apply to the large majority. Just my observations from work experience/open days etc)


The problem with this is the differences in culture. I'm an Arab and a Muslim to boot (about as racially diverse as it gets), and I can count on one hand the number of Arab vets that I know or have heard of. The issue is that vet medicine isn't considered anything important in my culture (because of the mentality that we have too many issues with humans to have time to worry about animals - which is fair enough). The majority of Arab parents push their kids towards studying things that bring high social status such as medicine, dentistry, engineering or pharmacy etc. Anyone who dares to want something else is looked down upon.
I'm lucky in that I have really supportive parents who want me to follow my dreams. Initially though, my community wasn't particularly impressed with me wanting to be a vet, but eventually they came to respect how dedicated I was (and how much I enjoyed working with animals) and now they're fully supportive too. So, we need to break down the stigma attached to certain professions in certain cultures to be able to attract more racially diverse prospective vets. :smile:
Original post by ABC05
ETA: And after reading CV's comment (and going slightly off topic), I personally think the profession should be focusing on attracting a more racially diverse contingent than anything else - would be lovely if we worked on opening doors to a range of people that is not just limited to your typical middle-class white applicant. (of course that is a generalisation and obviously doesn't apply to everyone in the industry, but it does seem to apply to the large majority. Just my observations from work experience/open days etc)


Absolutely :yep: . I think it is a shame that there is such a lack of cultural mix, has anyone noticed on open days and such that a lot of the applicants look the same? :lol: . I think that one reason for the lack of different races could possibly be down to different cultures' and religions' perception of animals, and their view on their position in society, perhaps. I have Muslim friends, for example, that generally like animals but that would feel uncomfortable working with pigs, which would of course be an essential part of the veterinary medicine course. That is a very simplistic view but I definitely agree that perceptions about which sorts of people vets are need to be improved.

Another thing related to the whole 'middle class' aspect, which I think is a sad reflection on people's greed and willingness to prey on desperation is the growing availability of courses/products marketed to help people get into vet school. Now, this is nowhere near as significant in veterinary medicine as it is in 'normal' (human) medicine (understandably so, as the former is the larger group of applicants and therefore the larger group of potential customers :wink: ), but they seem to be growing in popularity nonetheless. By this I specifically mean courses and services, which often have price tags running into the hundreds. Before anybody accuses me of having a go, I myself admit that I have been involved in said courses. I found the cheapest one (which was non-residential) because I was falsely under the impression that it was the 'done thing', so to speak. Yes, the day was fun, but did it really make me a better applicant at the end of it? I don't think so. Even things like the BMAT have fallen prey to people providing services that cost (in my opinion) above and beyond their true value. A quick Google search bought up three BMAT courses, two for £300 and one for £1250 (the latter being private tuition)! While people are perfectly entitled to spend their money as they wish, I feel like these services undermine the system. It would be pretty injudicious to do no preparation at all for the BMAT, however at heart it is supposed to be a test that you can't really revise for (at least for section 1), so if people are paying to be trained to take the exam then it isn't going to end up being a realistic measure of their ability (but people being taught to take exams is another issue entirely). It doesn't just end there. Chris Queen, for example, values his 'Personal Statement Success' package at over £1000, and offers it for 'a steal'(!) at £200. For the record, the package includes access to example personal statements (which are freely available online), and a critique of your personal statement (again, freely available online due to kind volunteers), so I'm really cannot fathom where the £1000 figure came from. None of this is meant to imply that I disagree with anybody that attends these courses or buys these products. After all, if you're lucky enough to have the money then you may as well spend it, life is for living! It is just a shame, that, as always, it is the richer people that can get ahead when they may not necessarily be the best vets.

tl;dr: Tails disagrees with companies providing ludicrously overpriced products, but supports anybody that wants to go ahead and use them.

EDIT: Ahh, a couple people replied before me. That'll teach me to ramble on :wink:
(edited 9 years ago)

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