Veterinary School Interviews

1. Veterinary School Interviews All of your hard work has paid off and you’ve been granted an interview, but now what do you do? • Prepared by Ashley Case, President of the Pre-Veterinary Club at the University of Pittsburgh, 2007-2008

2. Background Information The information contained in these slides are based on my personal experiences from my interviews at Kansas State University, University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University, and Purdue University as well as the research I did before my interviews to find information about the type of questions I could be asked. (There is a fair amount of information out there, so that is another resource to help prepare for interviews.) **These are merely my thoughts and suggestions, they may or may not appeal to you, but I found it helpful to ask people questions about their vet school interviews, so I thought it might help some people to hear about my experiences**

3. Background Information • All of my interviews were similar in two basic ways; • First, I always had two interviewers (at least one was a faculty member in the school, and sometimes the other was a vet elsewhere in the community). Also at Penn, one interview knew all of my information and the other didn’t know anything about me, I think this is the only school that I interviewed that did it that way, but there are probably more schools that also do this. • Second, they were all structured similarly. The interviewers asked me questions and then I had the opportunity to ask them questions about the school and the program, etc. All of my interviews were between 30 and 45 minutes long.

4. Interview Preparation • Know the questions you might be asked and have an idea of what you might say. You don’t necessarily need to memorize answers, but be aware of typical questions • You might want to prepare a portfolio highlighting your experiences, activities, etc.When you are asked to describe yourself you can get out your portfolio and not only tell them about yourself but show them too • (Mar Kamal, the president for the 2006-2007 year suggested this, it worked well for her as she is attending Penn now, I made one but did not really use it, but making it was a useful endeavor to review my experiences so I could discuss them when asked) • Research the school at which you will be interviewing.It is a good idea to know about the school in case you are asked why this school? Also you will have the opportunity to ask the interviewers questions to find out if the school is right for you, so you should know something about the program, etc. to ask these questions • Check out Career Services for advice on interviewing and mock interviews www.careers.pitt.edu

5. Sample Questions • The next couple of slides are sample questions that you might be asked on your interview • I was actually asked some of these questions (in which case I indicated that I had been and at what school) • Others are example questions that I found on the internet • These are certainly not all of the questions I was asked or all the possible questions that an interviewer could ask you, but I believe they are a representative sample

6. Personal Questions • Tell us about yourself…(I got this question at multiple schools) • Why do you want to be a veterinarian? (I got this question at multiple schools) • What is the last book you read? • In the veterinary profession you sometimes have to deal with difficult people, describe a situation in which you had to deal with a difficult person and how did you deal with it? (an actual question I got at Purdue) • Vet school is stressful, how do you deal with stress?/Describe a stressful situation and how you dealt with it…(I got this question at Purdue)

7. Veterinary/Animal/Research Experience Questions • Describe (insert your experience)… (I had this question at multiple schools) • What was the most interesting case you observed and why? (I got this question at Penn) • What was the most difficult veterinary situation you experienced and how did you deal with it? • What is the scientific process you go through to set up your research experiments (I got a variant of this question at KSU, I got a lot of questions about my research because it is something I have done for a long time)

8. Ethical Questions • How do you feel about using animals in vet school/research, etc? (I got this question at multiple schools) • Various questions involving euthanasia, especially questions involving clients asking you to euthanize a healthy animal, and the scenario extends from there (I got one of these at Penn) • What do you do if you think the animal you are treating is being abused? • What is difference between/how do you fell about animal rights and animal welfare? (I got one of these at Purdue)

9. Reality Check Questions • How will you pay for this? • How much do veterinarians make? (you can find stats on this topic from the US Dept. of Labor; as of May 2006, they cited the mean wage for vets as $81,490 with a range of $43,350 - $133,150) • What will you do if you do not get into vet school?/ Will you reapply? • What kind of jobs can a veterinarian get?

10. Random Questions • What would the bumper sticker of your life say? (Someone actually got this question as KSU – these types of questions reveal how you think on your feet/how creative you are [in my opinion]) • If you were a dog, what kind would you be? • What type of animal would your friends say you are most like and why? • What do you feel is your best/worst quality?

11. Final Thoughts… • Interviewing can be really stressful and you will probably be nervous but it is really not that bad, and in some ways it can be fun, you get to talk about yourself and your experiences, etc • Be humble, but don’t be afraid to toot your own horn • Most importantly be yourself, your interview is a chance for the interviewers to get to know you and for you to get a feel for the school so that both you and they can determine if you will be a good fit at that school • Getting an interview is an awesome accomplishment, be proud of yourself!!!