University of Kentucky Pre-Vet Club

Applying to Veterinary School

Remember:  Auburn and most other schools have gone to the VMCAS electronic application.

Before applying:

○  Be sure you meet all of the requirements for the school(s) you will apply to.

    -Check their website for details and for supplemental applications and their deadlines!

    -Purchase a copy of the Veterinary Medical School Admissions Requirements.

    -If you are applying to a school where you will receive in-state tuition, you must fill out residency forms. These can be somewhat time consuming and require your/your parent's tax information.

Filling out the VMCAS application:

○  There are 20 different sections.  Read ALL the instructions before filling out each section.        

○  Plan on spending 10-15 hours filling out the application.  This does not include typing the essay or gathering information.

○  If you have a lot of activities from high school that you do not remember, start gathering that information as soon as possible.
  ***You need enter the name of the organization/activity, your role (President, Secretary, etc.), the date of your membership, and how many hours you participated.

○  Information is needed for awards you received including the name of the award, the date you received it, and a brief description of the award. High school awards are included in this section, so start collecting your information early!

○  When entering information on experience, be prepared to describe your duties, dates of employment/volunteer experience, average number of hours per week, and the approximate hours for your entire employment.

○  Be prepared to spend the same amount of time on your essay as you would for an important term paper or report.  Going over your essay at The Writing Center is recommended. 

○  You must be sure to send in your Fall transcripts when they are available to the schools you have applied to. Do this early and make sure that you obtain a receipt when you send it, that way you can prove to the Veterinary School that you, in fact, sent it if it gets lost!

Preparing for Interviews:

○  Invitations to Interviews will be sent out in the Spring semester.  Some schools send them as early as January.  Auburn usually sends theirs at the beginning of March.

○  Dress as you would for a job interview.  Women generally wear a suit and men should wear a shirt and tie. Dr. Dwyer's typcial advice is to "dress like a banker".

○  Plan to arrive early.  Allow enough time to account for heavy traffic, a detour, etc.  Waiting for your interview is much better than missing it. Make sure you know what time zone your school is in so that you do not miss your interview!

○  Be prepared to answer questions like these.

○  During your interview, smile, be confident, and above all, breathe!

If you have further questions about the application process or interviews, contact Dr. Roberta Dwyer.