Getting Good Reference Letters For Veterinary School

• These are very important, and probably quite stressful, as you have to make sure that the referee sends the letter of reference on time to the veterinary schools that you ask them to send to.
  
  
• Spend time cultivating your referees. Choose referees who are good letter-writers and who know you well enough to write a glowing letter of recommendation for you.
  
  
• Give your referee plenty of notice so that they’re not in a bad mood when writing the letter of recommendation for your veterinary school application.
  
  
• Give them a sheet containing all the details of  any information that they will need to help you write your reference letter. On that sheet, remind them to sign the form and also to sign across the seal on the back of the envelope. Give them a deadline on that sheet too. It would be good to give them an earlier deadline in case anything goes wrong. Any other information on that sheet that help them write the letter for you should also be included. A c.v. would help. Any other useful information would also help, such as including your application essay. Just tell them to read it if they want to so that they do not feel like you are giving them piles of work.   Finally, remember to give your referees envelopes and stamps too.
  
  
• Some schools require specific forms to be filled out, so remember to ask your referees to use those instead of a reference letter if such forms are required.
  
  
• Double check with your referee on the day that you wanted the letter to be sent out in order to check whether he or she actually did. Also check in due time with the secretary on the receiving end to see if your veterinary school letter of reference actually arrived.

• Send or give them a “thank you” card for their efforts after they are done
  
  
• Whether or not you get accepted, tell your referees what happened to your veterinary school applications. Remember to also keep in touch with them. You may need another reference letter sooner than you think!