INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS APPLYING TO VETERINARY SCHOOLS IMPORTANT NOTE: Some veterinary schools do not accept committee or composite letters. We, therefore, recommend that you request your individual recommenders complete online evaluations through the VMCAS application in order to meet your schools requirements. VMCAS requires you to have a minimum of three requested evaluations and a maximum of six in order to submit your application. It is important for you to review the letter requirements at each of the individual schools to which you are applying to ensure you are meeting their letter requirements. Be aware that if you ask us to submit a letter to VMCAS, VMCAS will send it to all the VMCAS schools to which you apply. Please follow the instructions below to request the submission of your Letter of Evaluation or Dean s Letter to VMCAS or non-vmcas schools. For further questions about this process and how best to proceed with fulfilling the requirements at the schools to which you intend to apply, please schedule an appointment to speak with a prehealth advisor by calling the office at 617-353-4866. INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING A LETTER OF EVALUATION/DEAN S LETTER TO VMCAS Since it may take four to six weeks for your letter to be written and sent to schools, it is important that you allow sufficient time to meet your schools deadlines. Please remember that the VMCAS application deadline is September 15, 2016. Therefore, you should submit your Transmission Form at least six weeks before any of your schools deadlines. Please note: After your Letter of Evaluation/Dean s Letter is uploaded to VMCAS, VMCAS sends an electronic version of the letter to ALL VMCAS schools to which an applicant applies. Before the submission of your VMCAS application: 1. In your VMCAS application, click Supporting Information and then Evaluations. Click the Create Evaluation Request button. Screenshot courtesy of https://vmcas2017playground.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/dashboard
Screenshot courtesy of https://vmcas2017playground.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/dashboard Screenshot courtesy of https://vmcas2017playground.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/supportinginfo/evaluations 2. Under Evaluator s Information, enter Glen Zamansky and gzamansk@bu.edu. For the deadline, enter 12/31/2016. Please note we are using this date solely as a way of filling out the Due Date section of VMCAS. You will have to provide us with more specific information when you submit your transmission form (see information on the following page). In the Personal Message/Notes section, write N/A. Screenshot courtesy of https://vmcas2017playground.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/supportinginfo/evaluations/evaluation
3. Click the appropriate selections regarding the Waiver of Evaluation and Permissions to Contact References, and then click Save This Evaluation Request. Screenshot courtesy of https://vmcas2017playground.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/supportinginfo/evaluations/evaluation NOTE: You should submit your VMCAS application before your Letter of Evaluation/Dean s Letter is submitted to VMCAS. 4. Please be aware that Dr. Zamansky will check off the Not Observed response for each category on the electronic Rating form, and will add an explanation of our policy to students letters. 5. Please be aware that our Letter of Evaluation or Dean s Letter will count as only one of the three required evaluations for VMCAS. Also, some schools do not accept committee or composite letters like ours. It is, therefore, important for you to review the letter requirements at each of the individual schools to which you are applying. It is your responsibility to ensure you are meeting the letter requirements at each of your schools. After the submission of your VMCAS application: 1. Obtain a copy of the Veterinary Transmission Form, available in the Preprofessional Advising Office or online at bu.edu/prehealth/letters/transmission. Although VMCAS will send an email to our office indicating your request for a Letter of Evaluation or Dean s Letter, we will not process your request to have your letter written until you submit your Transmission Form. We have attached a Transmission Form for veterinary schools for you. 2. Complete the top two sections of the Transmission Form, indicating the type of letter you are requesting, the type of programs to which you are applying, and the earliest application deadline by which your Letter of Evaluation or Dean s Letter must be received. 3. Complete the bottom section of the form. 4. Submit the Veterinary Transmission Form to the Preprofessional Advising Office. You may submit this form in person or by emailing a complete, scanned copy to preprof@bu.edu.
EXAMPLE: Check the appropriate box INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING A LETTER OF EVALUATION/DEAN S LETTER TO NON-VMCAS SCHOOLS Since it may take four to six weeks for your letter to be written and sent to schools, it is important that you allow sufficient time to meet your schools deadlines. Therefore, you should submit your Transmission Form at least six weeks before any of your schools deadlines. 1. If you are applying to schools not participating in VMCAS and have decided to have a Letter of Evaluation/Dean s Letter sent to them, you must list each one on the lines provided in the Transmission Form. Write out the full name of each school. NOTE: If you are applying to veterinary schools participating in the TMDSAS application service, please refer to the TMDSAS instructions and transmission form posted on our website, www.bu.edu/prehealth/letters/transmission.
2. List the deadlines by which your letter must be received by each of these schools. Arbitrary deadlines (e.g. ASAP ) will be ignored. 3. If a school listed on the Transmission Form does not use VirtualEvals, create an addressed mailing label (handwritten or typed). You must provide the label(s) with your Transmission Form for each school not participating in VMCAS. Example: Check the appropriate box