This is the story of how a non-traditional Vet School applicant moved from Canada to Grand Cayman, and used scrappiness, grit, and resilience to design his own life.

Next accolade: Specialty Surgeon.

Meet Dillon Scott, DVM.

When Dr. Dillon applied to Vet School, he was not the traditional undergraduate student. He was a Registered Veterinary Technologist, working and taking Prerequisites, and keeping his mind open to all possibilities.

What I loved about talking to Dr. Dillon was how he threw a bunch of darts at the board- he applied to several vet schools, none of which were the Canadian School in his Province, and then surveyed the Vet Schools he got accepted to. He laid them all on the table, with all of their pros and cons.

He chose St. Matthew’s University School of Veterinary Medicine. He up and moved to Grand Cayman, in the Caribbean, as it was the fastest and most efficient route to that DVM degree.

What he encountered there included:

* Getting creative in his transportation. He didn’t have a car but learned to love his bike and other rides!

* Meeting people from all walks of life, and all corners of the world. I will agree: your vet school friends are something special. How cool to have them stationed in Europe, North America and beyond!

* Getting through Vet School in 3.25 years!! They go to school year round, with several two-week long breaks. Shave a year off? YES, PLEASE!

Love learning about Dr. Dillon?! Share to your bestie- maybe one day you’ll both be on Grand Cayman together :)

Some lessons he’s learned along the way:

* Find different ways to learn. Do not limit yourself to books. Get into online textbooks, Notion, YouTube and any free study apps.

* Interview as often as you can. It’s practice for… life!

* Don’t be scared to live life your way. You do not have to follow the recipe. Not everyone has to be “cookie-cutter.” Just do it. Stop worrying about it!

Don’t be a perfectionist. Once you get to Vet School, you will all be the “Top 1%” of your class, and you will all be “drinking water from the firehose.” Let some things go. Not everything will be retained. Learn to let that stuff go now! Great practice for later. We are all recovering perfectionists :)

**Post-interview note: All Caribbean Vet Schools have many years under their belts.

* Ross opened Vet School doors in 1982.

* St. George opened Vet School doors in 1996.

* St. Matthews opened its Vet School doors in 2005.

* (Most of these Universities ALSO have Med Schools, and other Post-Graduate Studies, and these all opened at various times, making this easy to be confused!

Need a Mentor? One-on-One Guidance?

Click here!

Energizer bunny! Surgeon! Beekeeper!

Lindy and I met when we were in the same vet school class. She’s one of those friends that I may not talk to for YEARS, but can call *in surgery* and she will talk me through.

Lindy is the real deal.

When I first met her, I was in awe of her CONFIDENCE. (I need to talk to her and her mom about how they cultivated and encouraged the growth of confidence in a “southern lady” without the often-paired annoying side effect of only talking about oneself. ) I digress.

I really encourage all of my readers to listen or watch this episode. She may give you an idea, a pat on the back, or open your eyes to all that’s out there in Vet Med.

A few takeaways:

* Arkansas is getting TWO vet schools?!?!

* Use your in-school externships to get a feel for different types of jobs for after graduation.

* Working at a few different clinics after graduating is NOT a bad thing.

* Design the life you want for yourself.

* Be a go getter. Don’t be afraid to tell people what you want. Make a plan to get it. Stick to that plan.

And for some of the best Insta content out there…

follow @theycallmedrlindy ! and her BEE CONTENT!! @bd.bees !!

Some other awesome things about Lindy:

She’s not afraid to use her voice. And she wants you to too! Lindy is an AVMA Delegate for the state of Arkansas as well as a National Delegate!

She takes time out of her BUSY schedule to volunteer for these positions, and what they do makes a difference in the daily lives of both pet owners and vets. Pretty incredible.

Some of Dr. Lindy’s FAVE THINGS:

* I LOVE my Aura strap for my Apple Watch. It tracks all my fitness deets, and I’m a sucker for stars. 

* My fave scrubs: FIGS! I love the colors that are a bit unexpected.

* Stethoscope: the Littman Classic III, it’s an oldie but goodie. The sound is perfect and not too heavy on my neck. Comes in lots of fun colors, too! 

* Clothes: I love Anthropologie! But my fave athleisure is Lululemon.

THANK YOU DR. LINDY!! YOU ROCK!!!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed getting to know Dr. Lindy. Feel free to share with a friend!

Meet Lysa Selli, Director of Recruitment and Admissions at St. George’s University!

Lysa has been doing this for 10 years!

She wants each of you to succeed!

Here are some things I learned:

* St George’s University is on the island of Grenada. (see map)

* St. George’s has more than just a Vet School. They have a Med School, a School of Graduate Studies and a School of Arts and Sciences.

* Like any other Vet School, SGU is 3 years of class, 1 year of clinics. But their year of clinics… can be anywhere. You can apply to spend your last year (closer to 1.5 years) at any other vet school, in the states or abroad!

* SGU is accredited and their students have to take the NAVLE (like any other school). Their NAVLE pass rate (averaged over the past 5 years) is 89%. Like anywhere else, you get out of it what you put into it.

More cool stuff:

* They truly are holistic in their application assessment! They interview every single student. There is no minimum GPA. They look at the student as a whole, see if their grades have been trending up, if they are mature enough, if their experience is diversified.

* They start classes for incoming students in August and Jan!

* You can apply through VMCAS and through them directly!

* Their Vet Students start to get hands on experience earlier than the “clinical year”, they are active on the local farms immediately.

They have a Med Vet Summer Leadership Program.

10 days. In the Caribbean. On campus. Hands on experience. Next one: June 2025.

Check it out here.

One for High Schoolers, and a separate one for Undergrad Students.

I learned a lot from this interview. It gave me hope that the leaders in the Vet School world are truly trying to give people a fair and honest chance! They really do want well-rounded and passionate Vets out there!

I can’t thank Lisa Selli enough. She is the real deal.

Contact her by email: [email protected] and find her on insta @lysaselli_sgu

Introducing… Brenna Saunders!

Brenna is a professional editor, author, ghostwriter, and dear friend of our little community! She is generous enough to share her ideas and proven methods for:

* How to get past the dreaded blank page (getting started!)

* How to connect with your audience (hint: the readers of your Personal Statement are HUMANS!)

* Some big DO NOT’s

* and more!

3 TIPS:

* Storytelling/ Visuals!

* Write a ton. Edit it later. Don’t start writing having that max character count in mind!

* Don’t wait til the last minute to get started!

BONUS:

Here is some reading that will help you along the way:

Stay focused on what brings you happiness.

BRENNA’S NEWSLETTER is just that.

Some books that might help get the juices flowing, bring you happiness, or impact your writing:

Inspiration, from the best. Trust me on this one.

Keep your life (and writing) light! This one is worth a read:

The Ultimate Writer’s Block (and life!) HELP BOOK:

Thank you for reading The hardest part of vet school... is GETTING IN. If you were inspired, helped, or gleaned any nugget of knowledge today, please send to a friend!

No need to read a thing. LISTEN UP!

*Available wherever you like to hear stuff! Listen by clicking the link to the video above or by hitting the Spotify, Apple, or Youtube links below.

Wondering what to do this summer to increase your chances of acceptance to Vet School? Trying to figure out what you want to do next year?Listen to my interview with an incredible guy who was denied… but worked hard and is applying again this September!

Welcome Nick Vaccaro!

Some tips for if you’ve been denied:

* Keep your chin up.

It’s not as bad as you think. Trust me… I've seen worse GPAs, more rejections, worse applicants. Just keep truckin’.

* Take more classes. What you take can be a nuanced answer but take more classes. You don't have to be enrolled “in pursuit of a degree”. You can take a class online or at a college/ comm college just to take it. Science classes (esp upper level science classes) will impact your GPAs more. But any A will help you!

* Open your eyes and look outside the box. Find some vet that needs help. Find a dog shelter or animal clinic that needs a kennel tech on weekends… You can keep you 9-5 job or student access and get experience (and your foot in the door with a vet) at the same time. You will have to get uncomfortable. You will have to show up in person and ask for a job. But this is where the growth happens. It’s better on the other side. Even if it’s just for a few weeks, you may meet someone who will lead to your next step!

If any of you need one-on-one help, feel free to reach out and I’ll see what I can do!

Hit this button to get talking!

Stay tuned for more, as next week we dive into:

And please share to anyone that you think will enjoy!