The Application…The Interview…AND…The Acceptance

The Application

Most schools have their primary application submitted through the Veterinary Medical college Application Service (VMCAS). United State schools have their deadline as October 3^rd. I say primary application because many schools have secondary applications.  Why…I have no idea.  They ask the same question as the primary application  but then add another fee. The primary application cost about $75 per school and the secondary applications were anywhere from $50 to $150 PER SCHOOL.  After hundreds of reviews and corrections from various people (THANK YOU TO EVERONE THAT HELPED) I submitted my personal statement and resume of past experience.  I started hearing back from those schools in December but they were all rejection letters saying please try again next year.  (Note to schools…sending a rejection letter 3 days before Christmas was NOT very nice)

I was still waiting to hear back from a few more schools when I knew I needed to get my butt in gear and finish my Ross application. Ross has an entirely different process because they have a rolling admittance (meaning there is no deadline).  You apply to the class you would like to attend and if you are accepted but the class is full, you are pushed into the next class.  Well, after even more drafts of my personal statement, essay questions and even a photo shoot with my dogs (see above), I submitted my Ross Application on January 1^st 2012, and it was a pure waiting game from then on.

The Interview

On January 17^th I opened my e-mail to find a letter from Ross Admissions. I was so nervous to open the email but luckily it was all good news.  They informed me that I was being granted an interview for their school and it would be on Monday, January 23^rd.   Tons of emotions went through my head…I only had 6 days to prepare!!  Thank you to all of my family and friends that helped me with my 40 pages of sample interview questions.  Your advice and encouragement sure paid off.  The interview was in Anaheim (right by Angel Stadium) at 12:15.  Well, I arrived at 10:15, drove around a little bit to kill time and then waited patiently.  Waiting to go into the room was the hardest part.  Many dogs that come into the vet clinic are shaking because they are so nervous, well I now know EXACTLY how they feel.  I could not stop from shaking until I walked into the room. After everything (all the practice and sleepless nervous nights) the interview went GREAT.  I felt that I answered their questions to the best of my ability while simultaneously learning more about the school.  The interview lasted a little under a hour and they told me that I would hear from the admissions board in 3 to 4 weeks. They said there could be 4 possible outcomes…I could be rejected (ugh, not another school), Accepted, Accepted but the class I was applying to was full so they pushed me back to another one OR be admitted as a vet prep.  A Vet Prep would be a 15 week course to prepare you for vet school.  You would live on the island like a regular vet school student and if you passed the classes then you were admitted into the next class as a first semester vet school student.  I thanked them for their time and nervously drove back home.  The next day I sent my interviewer and e-mail again thanking her for her time and then more waiting began.

The Acceptance

Well, the blog would have existed if I did not get an acceptance letter back from Ross.  It took 25 LONG days to hear back from them. Every time my phone rang from an unknown number, I thought it could be them.  Every time my phone beeped for an e-mail I thought I could have been them.  I actually received the e-mail Wednesday night (Feb. 15) but I had turned my phone off so I could get some sleep so I never heard the beep for the e-mail.  Thursday morning I woke up a little late for work so I didn’t not check my e-mail that morning. Well, FINALLY after a long day at work I opened my e-mail and there was the e-mail I had been waiting for!!  I was accepted…I did NOT have to do the vet prep thing either (probably saved me about $30,000).  What was really special was the e-mail arrived the day before my 23^rd birthday. BEST gift I could have asked for.  They said a welcome packet was on its way that will explain everything (health clearances, deposits, flight reservations, etc). 

But the long story short…I will be starting Vet School on the island of Saint Kitts on September 3, 2012, and will be leaving the United States at the end of August.