To Be Patient or Not To Be Patient???

So......most of you who are applying to veterinary school are probably feeling (and those of you applying in the future have to look forward to) impatient. You started the VMCAS nine months ago and submitted it five months ago. You might have done a few supplementary applications and maybe even a rare interview. Since then all you have been doing is waiting in limbo not knowing which school and for that matter which state (or country) you will be in next year!! Let me tell you, it is tough waiting for that email or letter from the school you applied to. As the estimated date gets closer, you constantly check your email and have mini heart attacks when you get an email from your school but it is just about an update or blog they want you to read.

Stop, relax, and try not to think about it. Time will go faster when you forget that you are waiting for the letter. Soon enough you will get the email/letter and you won't even be expecting it. That is how it happened for my first letter because it arrived a little early. However, these past two letters have been pretty tough because their deadlines were pushed back.

Now, the real question that I had been asking myself is do I just wait around for the letter or do I call them and ask about their timeline. What is the appropriate time frame to give them a call? My patience had held up until today. I called Wisconsin and they were extremely nice and let me know that the letters had actually been sent out in the mail Friday and you wouldn't believe it but two hours later my acceptance letter arrived in the mail. Next I called North Carolina State University and they were a bit shorter with me and didn't give me a good idea of what to expect. However, later that night an email was sent saying the letters were sent today. So here you have a good example with Wisconsin and a questionable example with NCSU.

I would personal suggest trying to be as patient for as long as you can be. If you do get to anxious and have to call them try to do it near or after their deadline if you haven't received any notifications. I have heard from many different applicants and even some close friends, that they didn't hear any news from their schools until they called them way past the deadline and were told over the phone they weren't accepted. So something you will just need to bite the bullet and call them because they might not reach out and contact you. Overall, my experiences with the admissions staff at all of the schools has been very pleasant and helpful so if you do have a question, even about letter deadlines, just give them a call and ask. Maybe they will like your initiative and interest.

Planning Veterinary School with a Spouse

For those of you in a committed relationship, whether it is a boyfriend/girlfriend, fiance, or husband/wife, your planning process for veterinary school will be a little bit different. Unlike single people, your decision will impact someone else's life to varying levels depending on your level of commitment to that person. There are a lot of things that you have to take into consideration depending on your relationship circumstances.

If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, then you might not have much of a difference to worry about. Significant others at this stage are important but at this point in a relationship you must make the right decision for yourself. This might mean going to a school thousands of miles away from your significant other because it is where you want to be or the only school you got into. Long distance can work, but you have to be prepared that it might not work if you don't work hard to keep the connection there.

The best policy during the application process is to be open and honest with your significant other. You need to make sure that they know where your thought process is at and what your end goal is. A lot of people might not realize what it means to go to veterinary school, so you need to make sure that your significant other understands what they are signing on for when they stick with you through veterinary school. Whether it means a long distance relationship or long days at school with long nights of studying, it is going to be a tough time on your relationship.

I know from experience that this can be tough because I am currently engaged and will be married at the beginning of the summer. My fiance and I have been planning where we wanted to end up for veterinary school since my sophomore year. We have always been very open about where our relationship was going and what each of us wanted. We knew that we were going to be together in the long run, so since the very beginning where I was going to veterinary school was about "us" and not "me". We chose locations that were good for both his job outlook and had good veterinary programs for me. He has been by my side throughout the entire process helping to proofread my application and cheer me on as I get acceptances.

Everyone is going to develop their own way to cope with the impending change that veterinary school will have on their relationship. There is no right way and sometimes it is going to be hard. My advice is to be open with communication, take both people's dreams into consideration, and make sure that you are making the right decision for both of you.