Even though med school is a path I could take, I plan to go to Vet school. however, i'm at the end of my sophmore year and i have no animal experience. during high school i volunteered at a local hospital for 384 hours only . i've done a few calculations and i've found out reaching 2500 hours of animal experience is going to be really hard to come by if i do not want to sacrifice my gpa. (currently at 3.6, bad i know i am trying to raise it).

btw i attend UCSD (university of ca, san diego) and i am currently in an insect behavior lab at the moment.

so for those who are IN vet school, which one do you attend and how many hours did you have when you applied to your vet school?

Even though med school is a path I could take, I plan to go to Vet school. however, i'm at the end of my sophmore year and i have no animal experience. during high school i volunteered at a local hospital for 384 hours only . i've done a few calculations and i've found out reaching 2500 hours of animal experience is going to be really hard to come by if i do not want to sacrifice my gpa. (currently at 3.6, bad i know i am trying to raise it).

btw i attend UCSD (university of ca, san diego) and i am currently in an insect behavior lab at the moment.

so for those who are IN vet school, which one do you attend and how many hours did you have when you applied to your vet school?
I am at Western, I had over 4000 hours (but most was with research animals).

There are many people who have only little experience. So It really depends on a lot of things. You have plenty of time to get experience, just remember that Quality is usually better than quantity. Vet Schools in general want to know that you know what you are getting into. They like to see a variety of experiences(meaning not just small animal or large animal, etc. Also some schools require that req letters come from at least one or two vets so you want to have enough experience to get good letters.
;) Good Luck
Chris

I had several offers, but I will be attending A&M this fall. I had around 1500 hours. I agree with Chris, quality is much better than quantity, as is diversity: small, large, mixed, zoo, equine, shelters, petting zoos, research, specialists - all good sources. I think the purpose of the animal experience is to obtain experience to show vet schools you know what you are getting into and to gain knowledge about the vet field. Also, its a great source of recommendations. But overall, don't sacrifice your grades. If you look at most of the vet school admission formulas and how much they weight different aspects of the application, you will see that the emphasis is on grades. If you can maintain or strengthen that 3.6 (esp. your sciences) - and get good, quality experience - you are good to go.

Darla