Admissions

Many people will attest that the hardest thing about vet school is getting in. In the AVS, we have seen various trends over the past years, but each student will have their own individual story of how they managed to get in.

It is commonly known that today there are far more females being admitted to the course, but this is fair as it is representative of the ratio applying as opposed to the preferences of the interviewers! Whilst the number of male applicants has stayed roughly the same over the last decade, the number of female applicants has risen exponentially, and the increasing vet school intakes thus mean that roughly the same number of male students is admitted as in the past, but the number of female students has risen with the application trend.

It is never easy to know exactly what the admissions boards are looking for and it seems to vary from college to college. It is rare for a candidate to receive more than one or two conditional offers from different vet schools and looking back as clinical students it does seem that each vet school tries to pick the students that will fit its course the best; something that as applicants we couldn't predict!
The AVS committee has attempted to come up with some helpful tips to guide you in the right direction:

• The one thing all candidates have to achieve is high grades at A-level or the equivalent and GCSE grades now play a larger part than in the past, as they are thought in some ways to be better indicators of suitability for university. The requirements vary little between each vet school and information of the exact requirements can be found from the university prospectuses.
• Admissions boards also require candidates to have carried out work experience within various aspects of the veterinary and animal industries. This shows you can take initiative to achieve your dream, and we have heard admissions tutors say that applicants' work experience is sometimes the only thing which can differentiate applicants! It may involve seeing practice at your local veterinary surgery or working at stables, farms, kennels/catteries, zoos or abattoirs. All of these not only look good on your UCAS form, but are also advantageous when studying animal husbandry and even in the clinical years at university. Don't forget to get references from your placements, put them in your National Record of Achievement and take them to interview.
• To try and get ahead of the rest of the field most students show a wide range of other activities showing social skills, and a rounded side to you apart from your dedication to veterinary medicine! These may include sports, music, acting and other clubs inside or outside school/college. Never underestimate any hobbies or interests you may have, as you want to be the one that the admissions tutors remember and hopefully offer a place to.

To get offered a place at vet school takes a lot of time and effort. Indeed many students have taken years out between getting their A level grades, and applying again, and more and more have obtained a degree before studying veterinary science/medicine. However, almost all will say that it is all worth it in the end!
In addition there are now several widening participation schemes in place for access to veterinary medicine, so don't despair if you haven't taken the traditional route through A levels! A high level of academic achievement is obviously still needed to cope with the rigorous undergraduate curriculum, but there are many other routes in! The Royal Veterinary College in London is leading the way in this field, so take a look at http://www.rvc.ac.uk/Education/WideningParticipation/Index.cfm
Online prospectuses for the course can be found on all the university websites, but change with each year of admission so make sure you check out all of them! The faculty home pages for each university can be found n the following links:

Bristol
Cambridge
University College Dublin
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Liverpool
Nottingham
Royal Vet College

As well as their online prospectus, some of the other vet schools also have useful pages for school leavers, so take a look at these:
http://www.vetschool.bris.ac.uk/schools/
http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/vetmed/index.html