UC Davis Vet School Admissions – How UC Davis Selects Veterinary Students

After talking to some of my friends that went to UC Davis for undergrad and had presentations from the vet school admissions director, I learned that the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine makes its admissions decisions based almost entirely on your numbers. I was surprised that it was this objective and thought it would Read More …

Q&A: How do you compare schools for what they specialize in?

How do you compare schools for what they specialized the most in, or what type of medicine they offer the most experience in before graduation/residency? Which veterinary school offers the most for food animal medicine, for equine, for zoo medicine. Every school claims to be the best at one thing or another on their websites, Read More …

Q&A: Taking Time Off After Graduation – Are There Time Constraints On Vet School Applications?

I would like to join the Peace Corps at some point, and I believe that after receiving my bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, and before enrolling in veterinary school would be the best time. I was wondering if there were any time constraints on application of veterinary school, such as if I had to apply within Read More …

Should I Waive My Rights to See My Letters of Recommendation?

I absolutely recommend waiving the right to access your letters of recommendation. The way I think about it is that if a student is going to see the letter, the recommender may not be as honest as they would be if you waived your right. The admissions committee may consider such a recommendation to be Read More …

Volunteers Needed for UC Davis 12th Annual Pre-Health Conference

As a follow up to this post announcing the 12th Annual Pre-Health Conference at UC Davis and my participation as a speaker, I wanted to pass on to you that there is a need for volunteers to help with the conference! As a volunteer you will have the opportunity to help out manage speakers, set Read More …

First Day (and Year) as a Vet Doing High Volume Spay & Neuter Surgery

Upon graduating from veterinary school I started working as a high volume spay & neuter (S/N) surgeon one day per week. This was probably one of the best (and yet scariest) first steps I could have made. When I graduated from veterinary school, I likely had more surgical experience than all of my classmates and Read More …

Pre-Health Conference 2014 at UC Davis

The 12th Annual Pre-Health Conference at UC Davis is coming up! This conference is a venue where undergraduate students interested in careers in health-related fields can learn about different health fields and specialties as well as what the admissions process is like for these schools. It’s a lot of very useful information crammed into two Read More …

How Many Vet Schools Should I Apply To?

In the fall of 2013 I received a concerned message from a vet school applicant: I have applied to 13 (10 in the US, 2 in Scottland, and 1 in London), and from what I am hearing, I am starting to regret that decision as it seems that vet schools may look unfavorably upon me Read More …

How To Keep Track of Experience Hours

Keeping track of your veterinary and animal experience is easier than you think! You just need to be diligent about maintaining a log. I recommend that you: Use an excel spreadsheet to record your hours — dates, times, etc. Don’t worry about getting signatures as proof. Record which species you worked Record what your duties/responsibilities Read More …

How To Start Getting Veterinary Experience

The age-old question is: how to start getting veterinary experience if you have no experience or skills to qualify you for a job or even a volunteer opportunity. Just about every vet student nowadays has tackled this conundrum, so you are not alone. Though some vet students are fortunate enough to have a family member Read More …