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.

Plenty of medics and vets make it second or third time round. Somehow he has to dust himself off and do it again; perhaps with more w/experience, a different selection of unis and a superb personal statement.
He got so close this time round that he probably had a good PS but it wouldn't do any harm to give it a tweek.

Cambridge isn't the only place where there are opportunities for choral singing.
DD is in London and is enjoying all sorts of musical activities, including two choirs.

Our local Pets at Home now has a vet's surgery inside the store. Perhaps there is one near you - how about p/t work in the shop including animal care and p/t helping the vet or observing surgery etc? How about animal charities e.g. PDSA? RSPCA or SSPCA? Helping out in the local cat and dog home? Dog Trust, Cats Protection League? Maybe there are small, local charities.

I'm a bit late replying here, but I'm a vet and I've looked at lots of personal statements from applicants from my DD's school, most of whom have got in (but not all), and, to be honest, I have never seen one with only 6 weeks' work experience. I suspect that, given he doesn't come from a disadvantaged background, the limited experience would have rung alarm bells with the universities as to how dedicated he really was (and how much he knew about what being a vet would be like, too!) Most of the successful applicants I've dealt with have done something voluntary regularly for a prolonged period - such as working in a wildlife hospital - as well as 12 weeks or so assorted seeing practice. Most of them have academic achievements similar to your son's, and many of them also have outstanding achievements in other areas such as music. A typical applicant will have at least 8 A* at GCSE, all As at AS, and often grade 8 music or something similar, plus all the work experience. The work requirement has been like that for a long time - I worked in a vet's all through my sixth form and spent time in kennels, stables, etc before my application, and that was 30 years ago. I think your son need look no further than his limited work experience to see why he didn't get a place, which in a way is a good thing, because it's something he can do something about. If he has the determination to try again with more work experience, I think he stands a good chance of getting in next time - as others have said, plenty of people do this and often end up better vets in the long run. It would be worth asking local vets to give him mock interviews, as schools don't know what sort of questions to ask, and, as others have said, to make sure he's up to speed on topical ethical issues. I hope he makes the right decision for him and wish him luck if he decides to try again.