#vmrcvm

First off, I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures, everyone! It wasn't the greatest weather and by the time I was done with my interview and relaxed enough to take pictures it was too dark.

Again, I'm only going to talk about some stuff I learned that you wouldn't find on the VMRCVM website. Please don't ask me about specifics on the interviews - I signed a confidentiality form and cannot tell you about the questions. I can tell you that it is MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) format, which means you will be given 8 different scenarios to spontaneously discuss. You have about 2 minutes to read the scenario and jot down some notes, and 6 minutes to talk. If you don't fill up the 6 minutes, the interviewers ask some questions from a series of set questions they have already prepared (they are not allowed to ask you unique questions compared to the other applicants). I can also tell you that pretty much any topic is possible for your scenarios, vet med-related or otherwise. I actually kind of enjoyed myself once I got the hang of it! it was like some weird game (actually, I thought it was a lot like guys auditions for a cappella, where a lot of all-male a cappella groups at Dartmouth have them do silly tasks). Also, once you are called there for an interview, the admissions office basically "forgets" about all your other admission criteria, and from that moment on you are basically evaluated relative to the others JUST based on your interview (which is scored in a certain way). Kinda freaky, but I promise the process wasn't that bad. 

Some tips for the MMI that made my life easier: 

- Dress in a classy way (suit jacket, nice shirt, slacks/skirt, pumps/flats OR basic suit and tie for guys), but have a little color so you don't feel like you're just one random face in a sea of people dressed the same way. For me it was a pretty colorful blue scarf, which went nicely with my white shirt under my navy jacket. 

- Before you start, figure out a quick icebreaker to introduce yourself and start talking in each room - before you give yourself the chance to get nervous. Really, once you break the silence it's easy to begin. In my case, I made a joke about my name every time I walked into a room (I have a very long name with three first names that were on my nametag, so I basically introduced myself and said, "Call me Isa, I have a really inconveniently long name, hahaha.") It makes you appear relaxed - and actually helps you relax. 

- Smile and thank everyone! The interviewers are tired and have been doing this all day. 

- Drink water and pee BEFORE the interviews start. Some people brought a water bottle around but that would have just been too fucking stressful. 

- If you're worried you don't have enough to talk about - state your main point, and then try to connect it to some experience in your own life. And then try to consider it from other points of view and explain why you didn't pick those positions. If all else fails, remember, they have questions for you to keep you talking! Don't stress!

- If you honestly don't know the answer to a question (I can't give an example of why I'm mentioning this), just say "I'm sorry, I really can't think of that one right now / I really don't think I know enough about that," and the interviewer will go on to his/her next question on the list. It's not a problem if you play it cool.

On to the tour / tour guides: 

One thing that's interesting about VMRCVM is how close-knit the community seems. It's a pretty small campus, but I got the impression that you get so close to the student body. You take your classes in the same classroom for an entire year, so first years sort of "moved in" and left some of their belongings (blankets etc) in their classroom - sounds kind of scary but actually gave off a really homey vibe. The student body also assigns "Bigs" and "Littles" like in fraternities/sororities so you have an upperclassman mentoring you and also doing sweet things like giving you a goodie bag the day before a big midterm or something like that. From what our tour guide told us, it seemed like a super supportive environment. 

Lots of students seem to get really cool experience through the student clubs - there's a club for pretty much every veterinary interest and it's normal for people to be involved in multiple clubs. You can do foal watch, be on call in the small animal ICU, or go on field trips to DC through these. Would definitely recommend. Students are also assigned a teaching animal to care for during the year - they walk, train and socialize this dog and adopt it out at the end of their first year, which I think is really cute (and students can adopt the animal as well). 

Blacksburg seems like a great college town, and the food is amazing (multiple people told us this) at the university and in the surrounding restaurants. Lots of outdoorsy stuff to do just minutes away, and if you're into riding, lots of horse people around. 

Overall I seemed to get the impression that this was a very tight-knit community and a great school that tries to do the best for its students on a local scale, taking advantage of what the area has to offer. The students we talk to LOVE this school. If anyone is kind of worried about a lack of diversity (and living in the South haha), we had people from all over working as student ambassadors at our interview, though obviously it was a predominantly white group of people. Everyone is so nice in this town though and I really wouldn't worry about it. 

I think I did okay on my interview, and I got a good idea of what this school is like! Any other questions?