I made these for a workshop I designed for middle-schoolers interested in veterinary medicine, but they are appropriate tips for any pre-vet. Enjoy!
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The personal statement is your opportunity to define yourself amongst the hundreds of other applications the admission committees look at. It is your opportunity to tell them who you are and why you will be an exceptional student, a valuable colleague, and benefit to the field of veterinary medicine. In other words, you get to tell them why they should choose you to be a part of their entering class. Some schools more than others use the personal statement as a major component of the admission formula. In this blog post, I describe the process of how I wrote my personal statement with examples (at the end of the blog post) of its progression from brainstorming to first draft to final draft. Take a look at them for general inspiration, length, things to include, stylistic ideas, etcetera.
NOTE: Not only is it illegal to plagiarize my essay, plagiarism also reveals extremely poor ethics, lack of your writing skills, and lack of veterinary/animal background, all of which will make you a horrible veterinarian. Hey, future class of 2021! I am so excited to be your mentor and future colleague. I am so excited such that I want to share some of the things that really helped me stay on top of my own application last year.
Organization is key to completing a quality application on time. By quality application, I mean all your information is present and correct and done in such a way that makes you look like the most desirable vet student you can be. Check out these 10 tips to help your application process go smoothly!
As previously blogged, I highly recommend all pre-vets to attend the UC Davis Pre-Health Conference this year, occurring this weekend! This year, I plan on attending the following workshops:
Check out http://ucdprehealthvet.weebly.com to find out more about the veterinary workshops offered this year.
Job, lifestyle, and educational funding opportunities like those in the Army Vet Corps make me really want to commit-- to get them to want me for their Health Professionals Scholarship Program (HPSP). I've been on and off about the whole HPSP thing for the past few years-- friends and family bring up a lot of valid points against joining armed forces such as MST (military sexual trauma) and the potential of serving in active war zones. But I'm drawn to it once again. I just met with an AMEDD/HPSP recruiter and I'm talking to the veterinarian at Travis AFB to start shadowing to get a sense of what life *could* be like in a few years. A lot of the California and Hawaii veterinary job descriptions are really appealing. In many cases their vets get to treat an amazing mix of animals. I really think the Vet Corps is looking for the best veterinarians for their excellent positions that make them even better veterinarians with the leadership expected and types of animals they may treat- horses, marine mammals, military working dogs, and pets of service member's families. To top it off, bases have rock climbing walls, outdoor rec programs, fitness centers, preschool and daycare.
Check out this amazing job opp at Hawaii's Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. http://vetopportunities.amedd.army.mil/hpsp/hpsp_dutysites_view.cfm?DutySite_ID=61 If you are pre-vet (or any pre-health professional), I highly encourage you to attend the Pre-Health Professionals Conference at UC Davis this year!
Last year I attended the conference, learned a TON, made new friends (even pre-vets from other states!), and simply had a great time from beginning to end. It was awesome to meet so many other students who were equally ambitious, hard-working, and passionate as I about vet med (shout-out to Amanda C. and Meredith F. !), and am ridiculously excited about attending again this year. You don't have to be a UCD student to attend-- better yet, UCD offers free housing and, in some cases, free transportation to the conference. Right now the ticket is $45 for both days, but rises as the conference date approaches. You can even become a conference volunteer to attend the conference for free (even if you are not a UCD student)! Check out www.ucdprehealth.org for conference info, and read on for some strategic advice for attending getting the most out of the conference. I'm sure you are well aware that veterinary school is going to be expensive, but you may not have realized that the costs actually start with the applications. Application cost may be constraining when trying to select how many, and which, schools to apply to. Though I am only applying to four schools (UC Davis, Colorado State, Washington State, and Oregon State), I was surprised that I've already spent a thousand bucks towards vet school applications. So, this post serves to guide you as you budget and plan your application strategy. This is a summary of what my costs have looked like; it will be slightly different for each applicant. Itemized details follow VMCAS general application: $495.00 Sending transcripts: $10.00 GRE prep: $13.00 GRE exam: $195.00 Sending GRE scores: $27.00 Supplemental applications: $250.00 PPI evaluations: $0.00 Interviews: See more recent post from 1/18/2016 Total= $990.00+ (still to be added are interview costs (transportation/housing/food))
A few overarching goals inspired the start of this personal blog:
1. Throughout college, I have been incredibly busy with volunteering, work, internships, extracurricular activities, outdoor adventure trips, and heavy course loads even through summers. Without a doubt, friends and family will see even less of me in the coming years, as I will be even more deeply immersed in the study of animals, not to mention potentially leaving California for veterinary school. As such, the foremost purpose of this blog is to be a way for family and friends to find out what I'm up to, especially for those family and friends who are not using Facebook. 2. I want a medium where I can provide useful advice for pre-veterinary and veterinary students (based on my own experiences). 3. I want to share my passions and what I learn from experience with anyone. You may be wondering: why "apachegirl"? No, I am not of Native American descent (though I am flattered to get that question a lot!). "Apache" was the name of one of the most wonderful creatures to ever walk this earth. She and Meg, my two sweet, beautiful, intelligent black Labradors whom I essentially grew up with. I actually got to pick Apache out from a litter of Lab puppies when I was five years old. We took her home in a cardboard box in the trunk. Oh, memories. Which I can save for a future blog post. |
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