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Vet School personal statements

I have read many personal statements from people applying to vet school and they all seem so similar to me. Grades can only get you so far, so work experience seems to have a huge impact on who they accept.

However, so many people seem to get the same work experience that nothing makes them stand out that much - a large and small animal vets, stable, kennels, cattery, lambing.

I have contacts to already get this work experience but I want something that’s going to help me stand out that most people won’t get.

Does anyone know what this could be or places where I can try and ask to get something unique? I’d really appreciate the help!
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Avatar for KJ2003
KJ2003
9
Those are the most important ones to get (although I would also put dairy work experience in that category) but if you can then abattoir, lab and zoo work experience look really good too. Or you could get something relating to other species such as different types of wildlife, poultry or pigs.
(edited 2 years ago)
To be honest doing the basic placements, and especially farm like lambing and dairy, are things which they look highly on and you don’t need “special” placements to stand out - as a vet student the basic species you will mostly learn about is dogs, cats, horses, cows, sheep, pigs and poultry, so that’s the species they’d rather you know most about and have experience with. It’s about what you get out of the placement that makes you stand out - not how many complicated operations you’ve seen etc but what skills you’ve learned, like communication, resilience, team work etc - that’s what will help you be a good vet student and henceforth vet.

You could look at niches like I did some work at an alpaca farm, and you could try things like hydrotherapy, farriers, or pigs/poultry which applicants seem to do less of, maybe some sort of wildlife reserve etc. But for example some schools like Liverpool in ordinary years ask for you to specifically do 2 of smalls, horses or farm, and for example alpacas generally count as “other” or exotics, so I would prioritise “normal” placements. Also be aware a lot of the schools do not even read personal statements, or do not use them as a massive portion of their selection process, refer to their individual application guides.

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