Vet school advice

(Scottish student) I have recently been offered a conditional offer for BVMS at Edinburgh uni and I am just wondering what vet school is like? What are some study methods students from this school and others would recommend? How did you find making friends and finding accommodation as well as dealing with the cost of living in Edinburgh? Are there any particular areas of the course that are generally more challenging than others and are there any skills I should try and improve before starting?

Reply 1

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Hi Jen Sha,

This is going to be an amalgamation of info I've gathered from my best friend studying history at Edinburgh, and my cousin studying Vet Sci in Liverpool.

Starting with Vet school, it can be alot. My cousin loves it but sometimes can be overwhelmed by the work. In first year, before she worked out the best ways to study, she was getting burnt out and wasn't sure if she could continue. Now, she and her friends have scheduled study sessions. They book a room in the library that has a whiteboard and they each randomly pick a topic to study individually then teach it to the others. Then finish with practice questions. She says that way it feels more fun and interactive, and can stop the workload from becoming overwhelming. Instead of going into a study session thinking she has four modules of info to learn she can sort of trick herself into thinking she has only one to learn.

The other thing that causes her stress is work placements. She enjoys being on them, (especially because her and her friends often apply together so they can hang out), but finding the right mix of them can be hard (her course requires you get a certain amount of experience with different categories of animals) especially since the entire cohort is looking. So they often branch out from looking just in Liverpool.

As for Edinburgh my friend stayed in the University accommodation first year, but didn't really mesh with any of them. So she found her second year accommodation through facebook. She met with the person advertising the room at a cafe before signing on to the rent. Then when she and her flatmate graduated they asked the landlord if their friends could take over the rent and passed it on to some of the second years from their department.

As for living costs, she said it could be a little expensive but not more than most universities. Meal Prepping and bulk buying are every students friend.

Hope this helps. I know its not first hand experience but I thought it's better you get some form of reply in case an Edinburgh vet student doesn't see this.

Eleanor,
University of Salford Student Rep :grin: