There’s this website which I suspect a few of you have heard of called ‘The Student Room’, which is basically a massive online forum for people to ask anything and everything about student live, studies, universities, health, best cheap grub etc etc… Anyway, there’s a Veterinary Science forum, which is interesting to look through, and see where everybody else is up to in their applications. Especially useful for someone like me who is applying as an individual. But still, it stresses me out looking at it!! Everyone is comparing themselves to everyone else (albeit understandably) regarding amount of work experience, how they did at interview, what grades they’ve got etc. It all seems amicable and supportive, but I don’t want to be comparing myself to everyone else who’s in the same boat!! I guess it’s probably not quite so bad if you know people on there already too! So while I do have a look on there from time to time (e.g. to see if people have been offered interviews yet), I try to avoid it as much as possible – chicken? Perhaps. But I think what is important for me is focussing on my own strengths and the positive and unusual parts of my application, rather than going ‘eeeeeeeeeek, such and such has worked at 24 farms, 52 vet practices, owns 19 horses, a zoo and plays volleyball, hockey and water polo for Team GB!!’ (hmm, OK I can be prone to exaggeration from time to time).
Calm, Liz, calm. Reminder to self: don’t compare yourself to everyone else. Go in there with confidence, realising that you have just as good a chance as anybody else in the room. The only reason you’re fretting is because you want it so badly and believe you can get it, so go show that to them! Raaargh. 
