Wet Cleanup on Aisle 5

Through the Gauntlet (At Least the First Part)

Well, kids, I did it. The vet school application is in with less than 24 hours to spare. I really MEANT to get it done much sooner. *sigh* And I thought the GRE was bad. This application process has reduced me to a driveling mess!

About a year or so ago, I started recording some of my experiences in narrative format, thinking I might be using them someday on my vet school application. Turns out nothing in my application came from those early efforts, but I do think it was a useful exercise, because I’m pretty pleased with the way my essays turned out. (And some of those early essays have turned into this blog.)

So, here are my tips for those of you who are crazy enough to want to go through this process sometime in the future:

1) Don’t procrastinate! (Oh wait, you already knew that!)

2) If you DO procrastinate, work on your application between 5 and 8 am. I tried to log on to the VMCAS application last night, and the thing was basically hosed. Worked great at 5 this morning, though.

3) Ask for your letters of reference well in advance (and if the person is a technophobe, you might want to think again, because all the recommendation letters are submitted online).

4) Get several people to proofread for you.

5) Don’t, if you are a non-traditional student whose ancient stomach cannot handle such things anymore, celebrate the completion of your application by purchasing a cookie and a Snapple. Yeesh, Snapples are freakin’ sugar water. I’m in sugar overload mode right now. But the cookie was good.

Seeing as how I haven’t actually been admitted, I don’t really feel qualified to address the content of an application. That’s running the gauntlet part II, and I won’t hear a thing until February. So I’m just not going to worry about it. Really. I’m not.