The Student Room Group

RVC pre vet summer school

is this summer school worth it
is there anyone appied and have a place sucessfully
it is pretty costly, like 3000 pounds
so i wanna have some advise and views from vet med student thank you

Reply 1

Original post by halohjjjj
is this summer school worth it
is there anyone appied and have a place sucessfully
it is pretty costly, like 3000 pounds
so i wanna have some advise and views from vet med student thank you
Personal opinion - it is not worth it.
From https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7311984#
‘hello!
Im a 2023/24 vet applicant, y13 and an offer holder for the Nottingham 5 year course; id be inclined to say, no, they will not have a positive impact on her application. I say this as I applied to the RVC summer school (I am a contextual student, state educated, but did not receive the scholarship, only the normal offer) and had to ask myself was it worth paying a third of a years tuition for something that won't even help my application? I say...probably not!

Unis consistently say that no favour is given to summer school attendees, and really they're only for fun if A; you're wealthy enough to do it or B; smart/disadvantaged enough to get it for free. really, how much experience will she get in 2 weeks? it's a glorified holiday. No qualification is gained- she'd be much better off getting either a parttime job in a kennels, like I have, or helping at a local farm, shelter, or clinic if you can get it. Fun, absolutely, but not helpful. - Blahajbites.

Try to find in person work experience volunteering during the summer holidays.
From https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/Veterinary-Medicine-and-Surgery-BVM-BVS-with-BVMedSci-BVMBVS-U6UVTMVS.html
You'll need a minimum of 5 weeks work experience. Work experience can be done over varying hours and days and should include:

A minimum of 3 weeks of animal handling

Up to 2 weeks of either customer facing and/or teamwork experience

Up to 2 weeks for the completion of the Virtual Work Experience and Exploring the Veterinary Profession free online course.

All experience needs to be completed within three years prior to application and by the 15 October application deadline. Work experience booked after this date will not be taken into consideration.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

Original post by BankaiGintoki
Personal opinion - it is not worth it.
From https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7311984#
‘hello!
Im a 2023/24 vet applicant, y13 and an offer holder for the Nottingham 5 year course; id be inclined to say, no, they will not have a positive impact on her application. I say this as I applied to the RVC summer school (I am a contextual student, state educated, but did not receive the scholarship, only the normal offer) and had to ask myself was it worth paying a third of a years tuition for something that won't even help my application? I say...probably not!
Unis consistently say that no favour is given to summer school attendees, and really they're only for fun if A; you're wealthy enough to do it or B; smart/disadvantaged enough to get it for free. really, how much experience will she get in 2 weeks? it's a glorified holiday. No qualification is gained- she'd be much better off getting either a parttime job in a kennels, like I have, or helping at a local farm, shelter, or clinic if you can get it. Fun, absolutely, but not helpful. - Blahajbites.
Try to find in person work experience volunteering during the summer holidays.
From https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/Veterinary-Medicine-and-Surgery-BVM-BVS-with-BVMedSci-BVMBVS-U6UVTMVS.html
You'll need a minimum of 5 weeks work experience. Work experience can be done over varying hours and days and should include:

A minimum of 3 weeks of animal handling

Up to 2 weeks of either customer facing and/or teamwork experience

Up to 2 weeks for the completion of the Virtual Work Experience and Exploring the Veterinary Profession free online course.

All experience needs to be completed within three years prior to application and by the 15 October application deadline. Work experience booked after this date will not be taken into consideration.

very useful information ,thank you so much
i will give up if i cant get the scholarship

Reply 3

Original post by halohjjjj
is this summer school worth it
is there anyone appied and have a place sucessfully
it is pretty costly, like 3000 pounds
so i wanna have some advise and views from vet med student thank you

Hello!

I am a 2025 vet med applicant and I attended the pre-vet summer school last summer. I was one of the youngest, most of the students were applying in October 2024, but I have kept in contact with a lot of them and everyone I talked to managed to get multiple offers to study vet med.
Honestly, I absolutely loved my experience there and I would say it has definitely helped me a lot. Obviously I haven't gone through the application process for vet med yet, but I learned so much. Despite being just two weeks long, it was jam-packed with placements, lectures and activities every day. Yes, it is very expensive, however when talking to some of my classmates who had done summer schools elsewhere they had payed a lot more for a lot less experience. We had placements in all of their facilities and got to shadow vets in the hospitals which some of the student ambassadors hadn't had the opportunity to do yet. Being able to see how the senior vets, residents, nurses, student nurses, vet students and other veterinary professionals (such as physiotherapists in orthopedics) interact and work with each other was something you don't get to see in your average clinical work experience. It is also a great way to network and not only meet like-minded people but also talk to staff and students there.
Like most things, it really depends on what you take away from it and for me, my experience at the pre-vet summer school was extremely valuable. If you have any questions, feel free to PM anytime.

I do also want to point out however, this is just my experience. As said by a previous reply, vet schools do not favor summer school students and you can always get the experience you need without doing a summer school. I just wanted to share my positive experience from this summer school for anyone thinking of applying.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

Original post by marti3x
Hello!
I am a 2025 vet med applicant and I attended the pre-vet summer school last summer. I was one of the youngest, most of the students were applying in October 2024, but I have kept in contact with a lot of them and everyone I talked to managed to get multiple offers to study vet med.
Honestly, I absolutely loved my experience there and I would say it has definitely helped me a lot. Obviously I haven't gone through the application process for vet med yet, but I learned so much. Despite being just two weeks long, it was jam-packed with placements, lectures and activities every day. Yes, it is very expensive, however when talking to some of my classmates who had done summer schools elsewhere they had payed a lot more for a lot less experience. We had placements in all of their facilities and got to shadow vets in the hospitals which some of the student ambassadors hadn't had the opportunity to do yet. Being able to see how the senior vets, residents, nurses, student nurses, vet students and other veterinary professionals (such as physiotherapists in orthopedics) interact and work with each other was something you don't get to see in your average clinical work experience. It is also a great way to network and not only meet like-minded people but also talk to staff and students there.
Like most things, it really depends on what you take away from it and for me, my experience at the pre-vet summer school was extremely valuable. If you have any questions, feel free to PM anytime.
I do also want to point out however, this is just my experience. As said by a previous reply, vet schools do not favor summer school students and you can always get the experience you need without doing a summer school. I just wanted to share my positive experience from this summer school for anyone thinking of applying.

Hello! I am a student in the UK right now, hoping to study vet med in uni one day and I have a strong interest in applying for the RVC summer school. I am aware that part of the application needs a personal statement. As a lot of people on here have received offers from the summer school, could you share what you wrote in the personal statement and are there any tips and tricks? I feel frustrated to start my statement, so any help and advise would be greatly useful and appreciated! Xxx<3

Reply 5

Original post by Brainy Birdy
Hello! I am a student in the UK right now, hoping to study vet med in uni one day and I have a strong interest in applying for the RVC summer school. I am aware that part of the application needs a personal statement. As a lot of people on here have received offers from the summer school, could you share what you wrote in the personal statement and are there any tips and tricks? I feel frustrated to start my statement, so any help and advise would be greatly useful and appreciated! Xxx<3


hello! you’ll find more people who got into the summer school and me answering common questions on this thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7481262&p=99496711

As for the personal statement, it’s a great experience to have before writing your actual vet med personal statement without being the actual one so don’t worry too much :smile:
when I did my application there was a list of specific questions we had to answer within the PS, the approach I took is starting with what made me want to study vet med, a little story that develops into showing off skills, use real life examples from activities you’ve done (don’t worry about work experience, I went to the summer school zero clinical experience, although most people had some) looking at tips for vet med UCAS PSs might help you get started, just make sure you’re answering the questions they provide. Show off yours skills and your passion for the career because that’s what they’re looking for!!
If you have any more questions that I haven’t already answered in the other thread, feel free to PM me

Reply 6

Original post by marti3x
hello! you’ll find more people who got into the summer school and me answering common questions on this thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7481262&p=99496711
As for the personal statement, it’s a great experience to have before writing your actual vet med personal statement without being the actual one so don’t worry too much :smile:
when I did my application there was a list of specific questions we had to answer within the PS, the approach I took is starting with what made me want to study vet med, a little story that develops into showing off skills, use real life examples from activities you’ve done (don’t worry about work experience, I went to the summer school zero clinical experience, although most people had some) looking at tips for vet med UCAS PSs might help you get started, just make sure you’re answering the questions they provide. Show off yours skills and your passion for the career because that’s what they’re looking for!!
If you have any more questions that I haven’t already answered in the other thread, feel free to PM me

Hi, I'm an international student from Canada wanting to apply for the RVC pre-vet summer school this year. I'm wondering if you can share anything on the stats and experience you had that got you into the program. I know the grading system in the UK is very different than the one here, but I just want to see if I have a chance of getting in and to see what they're expecting. Any advice will help and be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Reply 7

Original post by lexpiii
Hi, I'm an international student from Canada wanting to apply for the RVC pre-vet summer school this year. I'm wondering if you can share anything on the stats and experience you had that got you into the program. I know the grading system in the UK is very different than the one here, but I just want to see if I have a chance of getting in and to see what they're expecting. Any advice will help and be greatly appreciated, thank you!


well i actually didn’t apply from the UK, I applied from Bulgaria because that’s where I study so the grading system is quite different, I was also a year younger than most students applying so it was a bit difficult for me to evidence my grades, I submitted my school transcript from 9th and 10th grade semester 1 (yr10 and 11) where i had a gpa of 5.98/6 and then my counsellor predicted my IB scores based off of my grades which was around HL: 776 (A*A*A) SL: 776 i think with 7 in chem and 7 in bio, but honestly grades are not something they focus on, they are just looking for grades that are working towards the requirement for their BVetMed course, as long as you have that you will be considered equally to someone with higher grades. As for experience I actually didn’t have any vet related work experience at the time of applying and only got a couple of weeks at a stable right before going, this i’m sure is not the case for most students applying to the summer school but it shows that you don’t need to have it all to get in! You can always use non vet experiences to discuss your skills and show your passion for veterinary medicine through what made you choose it in the first place.

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