VETMED and very upset DS - really need advice and perspective from anyone whose been there please??

[BCBG]

DS has just been rejected by Bristol following interview. Was rejected from Cambridge following three weeks in the Winter Pool, and Edinburgh and Nottingham didn't even offer interviews . He is predicted AAAA at A level, has 10 A* GCSEs, and is a Scholar at his school (independent).His BMAT scores were high and much higher than some of the candidates on the Student Room thread that got an offer. His work experience might be a week point as he just scraped six weeks in total. He is fairly understated as a person, and although his school says he interviews really well, he found the first interview at Cambridge really uncomfortable so maybe that was it. What I would really appreciate is a sense of perspective from anyone who has seen this process before, because DS is holed up in his room saying he only wants to be a vet, he will reapply, but he doesn't know what's wrong with him etc. .......and obviously it is a huge blow to his personal confidence when to be honest he has always succeeded before.

Do vet Med candidates who reapply get treated seriously? Is it ever worth reapplying to Cambridge? He holds an offer from Durham for Natural Sciences but he says that is pointless when he wants to be a vet. He is already 18 so if he takes a gap year he would be 20 when he stared at uni .

He is So gutted, and tbh so am I although I am trying to hide it from him and trying to say the right thing. Problem is I can't believe he failed to get an offer either... .

Sorry, just offloading, I guess.

I have nothing useful to add apart from my condolences. I don't like to say this, but could he have been a victim of universities' anxieties to show that they are favouring state school applicants? Just my daughter's private school (highly academic) have had record numbers of very gifted candidates not getting places this year. Another top-performing school near us also experienced the same thing.

Your poor son. And poor you. I think you need wine and chocolate.

Hopefully someone will give you more concrete advice.

sorry no experience but your poor ds
can't believe he has no offers with those impressive results

My dds friend ahd similar experience applying for medicine with similar exam results. She did a gap yr and reapplied and got 2 offers.

VetMed isn't offered at Oxford, I think.

Sorry to hear your son is so upset, BCBG. 20 is not that old to start a tough degree programme and he could probably do a bit over the summer and early autumn to boost his work experience. Adding that to those top notch grades would surely boost his chances of getting a place next year.

Has he asked for feedback from the universities that turned him down?

Good luck to him - and you.

I hope this is helpful advice, based on my own personal experience of a different vocational career and also knowlege of others experience of reapplying for courses.

I would absolutely say that he should give it another shot, and although now it's disappointing, he needs to look on the bright sides. It means he's got many more months before the next set of applications to build up more animal related work experience - where are you based? It's lambing season and I know many farmers are very welcoming of young people who want to get some experience - just helping with the feeding/watching the sheep to see if any go into labour etc. but it can be hugely valuable experience. It also means that he'll have a gap year to do more work (possibly paid and unpaid) which will help him develop all kinds of skills that will be useful whatever he does as a career, and also potentially save some money that will be useful as a student.

I say all this as I initially trained in a vocation (not as a vet though) and I got in first time and headed to uni at 18. In hindsight it was not the right decision for me and I bore it out, but I was in awe of the slightly older students who'd had 1-2 years out before embarking on a profession. They had so much more confidence and ability in the things that mattered - practical things and communication skills, and they had spent time in related settings which meant they were absolutely sure of their career choice (whereas I'd just picked it as a job because I thought it sounded ok, and I'd enjoyed 4 weeks of varied work experience).

This is a wonderful opportunity for your son to double check it IS what he wants to do, and also assuming it is, gain experience which will help him be an even better vet. He'll also have the advantage next year of applying with his actual grades which will remove the doubt of predicted grades from university's minds.

Also, my friend's brother is a vet and applied twice - was successful the second time, and there were lots on the course who were on their 'second attempt'.

Hope that's helpful. :)

AFAIK VetMed is ferociously competitive.

He could easily spend a gap year doing tons and tons of really useful practical experience, eg on farms as MrsCog says. I would say pay for some Oxbridge interview practice as well, practice really helps. He could do practice ones throughout his gap year till he was really ready to do the best interview possible.

I would try to look on the bright side and say that if he takes a year out, he could still pull off a Cambridge place. It's no bad reflection on him; VetMed is just the pinnacle of competitiveness.

Also, it's deffo worth reapplying to Cambridge, but check which colleges welcome reapplications. And the relative lack of hefty work experience probably was the negative factor IMVHO. So not a bad reflection on him per se.

Not a vet myself but married to one and helped run his practice for the last 7 years so have some knowledge that might help.

Many people who do eventually become vets have gone through the application procedure several times. I know one vet who applied 3 times (unsuccessfully) in this country and eventually completed training in Australia and another who did another degree and then managed to get onto the course at Bristol as a mature student when entry requirements were relaxed. Obviously there is a cost implication to doing this and the mature entrant ended up taking out a 60k loan. St George's university used to send us loads of bumpf about how great their course and we interviewed one of their graduates who was good.

Obviously your son has the academic credentials so he needs to get as much work experience as possible. We used to welcome potential vet students and your son can also get some useful advice regarding applications and interviews which might help him.

Hope that helps.

BIL is a vet. The work experience is absolutely crucial, and they need a range of it. They are vastly over-subscribed with applicants who could easily handle the course, and having experience and demonstrated significant commitment by gaining that experience is what swings it.

Could he take a year out, do something animal-related and build up a range of relevant experience with different animals including farm and domestic?

Also, on the farm experience, as farms tend to be more 'casual'/'less formal', I think there are probably more opportunities to experience things that might not be allowed when work shadowing a vet etc. I know my Dad (farmer with sheep), has shown work experience people how to lamb sheep and then let them have a go with guidance, and how to inject, how to select medication for them etc.

Also, I'd have thought loads of animal shelters would be more than glad of regular volunteers - once the pressure of A Levels is over he would presumably be able to undertake a regular commitment which would give loads of really useful experience.

There are lots of riding stables if he likes the equine side. Lots of money in that side of things - racehorses etc. If you go down that route, the Tack Room here might help.

DD1 tried to get into Vetmed but didn't make it. She was told by one university that she needed a lot of work experience and not just in one Vet practice. She arranged a lot of her own work experience and worked in different types of animal places. She was told it was a very competitive subject and that it is not a good idea to apply again. She ended up doing Zoology at Cardiff which was her second choice. Another thing she was told was not only apply for Vetmed as only a small percentage of students get in.

I totally feel your pain. I went through similar angst witH DS applying for medicine a couple of years ago. Your DS iis so very young and sounds very keen indeed. It is truly so hard for universities to choose between the huge number of applicants. A year out at this stage, hopefully filled with vet related work exp seems like a sensible option.

Thanks for all your support - its so difficult, as reading all the webpages now makes me feel we could have better prepared him by making sure he had references from his work experience placements, took case notes etc, but it is so hard to know when to push and when to stand back, and I guess we all underestimated just how competitive 'competitive' can be

Definitely reapply for Cambridge once he's got his A Level results; it happens all the time. It's actually easier once they can see he's got them in the bag. Also make sure he's taking the right A Levels; he will need Chemistry for sure. And loads of work experience. It is competitive, but it's nowhere near as competitive as Medicine (my DH lectures and admits both medics and vets).

He's taking Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths.

Don't worry about the age/gap year. If spent following their chosen course it will hold them in very good stead.
DD1 took a gap year to boost her skills in the subject she is studying. She did it the other way round and told the Uni to wait.
I feel that she did the right thing and became a more rounded person because she had to fend for herself etc.....but also became quite adept, which gives confidence.

PS 20 in first term and with a lot of others 20 and more.

Also think about Glasgow, which has an excellent department.

Vet wannabes these days need lots of practical experience. Not just in one practice. In shelters, in rescues, on farms, pet shops and they also like some customer care experience, so shop work or anything else that shows they can interact and deal with the general public.
Gone are the days where good grades were enough on their own I'm afraid.

He had two separate weeks in different practices, three days with an equine specialist, 1 week lambing on a big commercial farm and one week on a mixed stock organic farm. Varied, just not enough, obviously.

One of my best friends got rejected by all her choices for Vet Med first time round, but is now in her 3rd year of it at Bristol.

She got turned down on work experience. She'd been at a vets every week for 2 years, a wildlife centre, a farm every Thursday at 5am, lambing and all sorts. She got turned down because she didn't have stable experience. Never mind the 4 weeks shed spent at an equine hospital

Has he tried contacting them for feedback? And 20 is not old to be starting at Uni, especially if it's only after a gap year. I'm a gap year student now, and there's plenty of us, and plenty of slightly older students too!

Budapest? Excellent degree course there.

Lots of people from UK/Ireland do it. It's done in English.

We lived in Budapest for a few years and one of the teachers in DS's school was there while her DH was studying to be a vet. Also used to see lots at the airport.

Try to help him take a long term view of things- if he truly wants to become a vet, he will get there in the end, he certainly has the academic potential which is half the battle. He has a long career ahead of him, what difference does an extra year mean if he gets there in the end?

20 is definitely NOT old to be starting university!! a year out will do him good in terms of building up more work experience for his application- I think with Vetmed that is the crucial factor, regardless of how many A* grades you have.

Good luck!

Just to add- at university, vet students who got in at the first attempt were definitely a rarity.