Wondering what your vet school interview questions might be? It doesn’t have to all be guesswork - there are interview questions that come up time and time again, which means you can prepare for them and increase your chances of being offered a place to study Veterinary Medicine! Here at Become A Vet, with years of experience in vet school admissions, we know the common vet school interview questions and how best to answer them (see our Interview Package for a complete guide comprising 150+ past questions). Vet school MMI interview questions are often similar to those asked on a panel, but they are categorised into different topics for each station. Mock vet school interview questions are really helpful when preparing for interview, so we have described the common themes and given an example for each theme below:
Motivation Interview Questions
Why Do You Want to Become a Vet?
This is one question you absolutely MUST prepare for - it’s asked, in some form, at almost every vet school interview. It also happens to be one of the most difficult questions to answer, so make it unique and discuss your own personal experiences. Clichés like “I love animals and science” are unfortunately extremely common and won’t get you far. You want to be memorable, so try to think of a response that other applicants are unlikely to have and prove to the interviewer that you really understand the veterinary profession and what it entails.
Personal Insight Interview Questions
Tell Me About Your Strengths and Weaknesses
This is both an opportunity to sell yourself and show reflection upon your personality/attributes. When describing your strengths, use examples where appropriate to reinforce your point and use the opportunity to demonstrate your best characteristics. When you talk about your weaknesses, identify what you feel is important but don’t be too self-deprecating and discuss what steps you take to improve yourself in these areas.
Work Experience Interview Questions
Tell Me About Something Interesting You Saw on Work Experience
We can’t say this enough - what you have learned from your veterinary work experience is far more important than how much/little you have done! You must be ready for this question - pay attention while you’re doing work experience, ask questions and write down interesting cases you see to jog your memory whilst preparing for the interview. Read into the topic to demonstrate that you have shown initiative and dedication, and you’ll have a very strong answer to this common question.
Teamwork & Leadership Interview Questions
Do You Consider Yourself to be a Leader or a Follower?
Many applicants often decide to pick one of the above before going to explain why. Instead, try to explain how you can actually be both of those things, depending on the situation. Vets often find themselves on a day-to-day basis acting as both leaders and followers. Depending on the situation, vets will act as leaders in some (e.g. head vet), or as a follower in others (when following clinical instructions, as a junior vet etc). It is important to show that you can be both. Briefly touch on examples of things that represent you being a leader and a follower. Try to provide some examples to show that you are a leader or a follower to strengthen your answer even further. The interviewer wants to see that you have a range of experiences, and remember, it is a chance for you to show the breadth of activities you are involved with. This can act as a primer for follow up questions and pick one of the two, and repeat the main reasons why you think that suits you more.
Knowledge of the Profession Interview Questions
What Do You Consider to be the Positives and Negatives of a Career in Veterinary Medicine?
Interviewers want to see that you have really considered the realities of life as a vet - it’s not all just puppies and kittens! Think about what fulfils you and how that applies to a career in Veterinary Medicine. This might be the varied nature of the job, lifelong learning opportunities or the opportunity to make a positive impact on animal health and welfare. Talking about the negatives, though, is also very important as vets suffer from high burnout rates. Consider why this might be - long hours, financial pressure and emotional labour are common themes. Spend time with vets while you’re on work experience talking to them about how they truly feel about their job and you’ll have a good idea of how to answer this question well.
Wider Reading Interview Questions
Can You Tell Us About a Recent Advance/Development in Veterinary Medicine that has Interested You?
This question is actually a real blessing - it means that you get to direct the conversation towards an area that you know well and have a genuine interest in. However, this question is not only wasted but will be actively detrimental if you have nothing to say. For this reason, you must make sure to do some further reading in advance of your interview and be prepared for a question like this. Choose any topic you want, but make sure that your depth of knowledge is strong so you’re ready to answer any follow-up questions the interviewers may have.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but should give you a good idea of what to expect from your vet school interview questions. We don’t recommend that you write and rote-learn answers to anticipated interview questions, but it certainly is a good idea to plan out the structure of your answer and points you would like to make. We also recommend that you try to think of some questions to ask during a veterinary school interview, as at the end of each interview you will be given a chance to ask questions of your own.
Best of luck with your vet school interviews and applications! If you would like to see more past questions that you can prepare for, alongside model answers,
Written by Dr. Rebecca & the BecomeAVet Team
Click HERE to see the packages that we offer, including our Veterinary Interview Guide & Ultimate Package. Please get in touch on 020 3488 5468 or info@becomeavet.co.uk if you have any questions.