I thought it would be helpful to share my personal process for reading an internship application. This is a highly personalized process- please don’t assume that others go through the same process. Nonetheless, I thought it would be helpful to share what goes through my brain, so here it is:
First, the internship application through the match is organized like this: standard application information (entered when you apply through the VIRMP), letter of intent, CV, transcripts, letters of recommendation.
From the standard application, I scroll down to the veterinary education section. I notice if they went to school at an AVMA-accredited program or an uncredited program. I note the class rank and graduation date. I glance at the references to get an impression of what sorts of letters they have. Very little hard decisions are made at this step- it’s just collecting data.
The letter of intent is where I begin to apply some discrimination. Is it more than one page? If so, I probably won’t read it unless it appears to be an _incredibly_ unusual applicant. If it’s more than one page, I will review the rest of their materials to decide, “Is this person even worth considering?” The vast majority of the time, the answer is “no”, so my job is done and I move onto the next. If the letter is one page or less, I skim it until I find an interesting, useful, unique piece of information, then read that segment in detail. I also read for grammar and spelling errors. I consider how they structured concepts and what I learned about the applicant. The letter is extremely important to me and I will start to put the applicant into one of three bins- not rankable, rankable good, rankable OK.
For the CV, I check to see if they have any obvious gaps in professional progression not addressed in their letter of intent. If so, this is a problem flag. Have they done research- if so, what was their role? If they were the first author on a submitted publication, great. Otherwise, I don’t think much of research experience. Did they have an officer role in a club? What is interesting about their experience? Did they travel? How will I summarize this person in my Excel file where I track all applicants (see below)? The CV is not a major deciding factor for me but helps fill in the picture of the applicant.
The transcripts are fluff for me. I skim them briefly to see if there are any “D” or “F” grades and, if so, what they are in. If not, I spend no time on the transcripts unless they are from international applicants. In that case, I review them carefully to get an idea of what academic material this person has studied.
The letters of recommendation, with the letter of intent, form the greatest portion of my evaluation. In the letters, I look at the qualifications of the letter writer, are they from the applicant’s current institution, how many interns they have worked with, and their connection was with the applicant. I then skim the ratings of clinical & technical skills and professionalism to see if there are any particularly low marks. Most of my time is spent reading the qualitative data provided in the remarks section.
In the qualitative remarks, I primarily look to see if the person is easy to work with, eager to learn and accept feedback and act in a positive, professional manner. If the letter is not very detailed, that is also flagged as concerning. I will also look for indications of humility, eagerness to work, and emotional intelligence. It is rare to read a letter which is not laudatory, so I need to read between the lines. Remarks which focus on the intelligence of the applicant, without mention of them being easy to work with, are flagged as problematic.
Once I have read through everything, I will go back and make notes in an Excel document which has the following column headings: name, class rank, education/experience, letter, clubs, miscellaneous, research, references, score. I make short notes for each of these and then make a determination of placement: do not rank, rank in bottom third, rank in the middle third, rank in the top third.
So, that’s the process. This forms the basis for some of my advice, and it may differ among evaluators. Maybe some people care a LOT about research, maybe others ONLY consider the objective data provided in letters of recommendation. However, in discussion with dozens of colleagues, most of them follow a similar process to that described here. So I think this is a helpful start for you to review.