How old is everyone? Non-trads?

I'm 26 and just applied for the first time - so I'll be at least 27 when I start. I did the same thing as you - I got a French degree, then did the pre-reqs for Vet School. I don't know yet whether or not I got in.

My dad is a vet and he didn't become one until he was in his 30's. One time I was complaining to him that I'd be "so old" once I became a vet. He pointed out that in 5 years I'll be 31 either way. I can either be a 31 year old vet, or a 31 year old something else - might as well go for it now to not look back when I'm 31 and say "gee, I really should have done that".

At least you realized your dream early enough to do something about it! And I think there are more and more non-trads.

Courage!

Saluki313 said:

I'm a non-trad, and I often feel like I have wasted so much time in the workforce- always animals of course, and now getting through on my bachelor's in social work (I have only one of my math/science pre-reqs) that I feel incredibly discouraged and late. For some support, are there any other non-trads who are a bit late on this journey to veterinary medicine also? Words of hope? Sometimes I feel so wayward in my late revelation. Oh, I am 27 and a junior at Stony Brook University. I still have many math/sci courses to take after I complete my bachelors.

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Hi - I'm 23, but I just started pursuing veterinary school. I just got accepted into Columbia and Stony Brook's PostBacc program. It'll probably take me 2.5-3 years before I get into Vet School, so I feel really behind also

Saluki313, mind if I PM you to ask you a few questions about Stony? I'm having a hard time deciding where I want to go.

I'm old too... I'm 25 and will start vet school at 26. Spent some years trying to get into med school and figured i don't want to waste more time. People are all getting married and stuff.....

I'm 35, and if I get in this year, I'll start just before my 36th birthday. I WISH I was 26 - my body recovered much faster back then and nothing ached for days. Now, I'm old, cranky, and tactfully candid - sometimes more candid than tactful, but whatever.

Armymutt25A said:

I'm 35, and if I get in this year, I'll start just before my 36th birthday. I WISH I was 26 - my body recovered much faster back then and nothing ached for days. Now, I'm old, cranky, and tactfully candid - sometimes more candid than tactful, but whatever.

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We sound like the same person! I'm also 35, if I get in, I will be starting right before my 36th birthday too.

Everything definitely is achy now and it never seems to go away. I have no patience, am cranky and really not very tactful.

I'm 31, will turn 32 three months after graduation. Keep going! You can do it!

Armymutt25A said:

I WISH I was 26 - my body recovered much faster back then and nothing ached for days.

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Agree with this. I tried snowboarding for the first time last winter (after years of skiing) and learned that pain feels much worse after 40.

You're all kids to me. I'm mid-forties. This is very much a second career for me. I have a step son older than most of you. If I get interviews next year, people are going to be wondering which of the youngsters brought his/her dad to the interview.

25 old?!? HA!!

I'm 36.

30. And continually inspired by my friend's mom, who graduated in 2007 when most of her classmates were the same age as her daughter. A year after she became a DVM, she became a grandmother.

I'm 30, going on 31 in a few weeks. If I get in (please oh please oh please let me in!), I will be 35 when I graduate. This is a true second career for me, as I spent 5 years teaching high school math only to realize that I was never going to make it to retirement. I didn't love what I was doing and I was miserable. I LOVE what I'm doing now and don't care how long it takes me to get in. I will be a veterinarian! I don't regret the path I took to get here, I'm just really glad to be here.

In the same club as LMMS-36!

My roommate's mom graduated from my school only a few years ago. So both he and his mom will have become vets within 8 years of each other!

there are people in our class ranging from 21 to 40ish

i just turned 25 last month, blahh only downhill from now til 30. Then back uphill at 30! lol

Pretty close to 30. I'm -- I think -- in my junior year, working on my first undergrad degree. I've switched schools several times and taken a few breaks, so it's really hard to tell exactly what class level I'm at.

lareinesoleil said:

My dad is a vet and he didn't become one until he was in his 30's. One time I was complaining to him that I'd be "so old" once I became a vet. He pointed out that in 5 years I'll be 31 either way. I can either be a 31 year old vet, or a 31 year old something else - might as well go for it now to not look back when I'm 31 and say "gee, I really should have done that".

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+1

I will be 27 in a few weeks, and will be at least 28 by the time I get into vet school. I feel like this is the perfect time for me, because I am still quite young, but I have matured a lot in the past few years. At 22 or 23 I never would've had the study skills or time management abilities to make it into or through vet school. Then again, I feel like I still have plenty of time in the event that I decide to put off vet school for a bit longer. I'm really not in any kind of hurry

I'm 31, 2nd year of vet school. while it doesn't always seem like it, that real life experience will help you. You will have some different perspectives. You hopefully will have more of an idea of who you are. don't think of it as wasted time...it was time that prepared you to get here now.

30.

Life isn't a race.

I'm hoping that right out of vet school my not so "baby-face" appearance will help ease clients' worries about a new grad. Hah!

I'm 32 and will turn 33 just before starting vet school (if accepted).

While touring a vet school a few years back, I was told that the oldest student they had was in her late 40s and that a few years prior, they had a graduate in her late 50s. I always keep that in mind!

sumstorm said:

that real life experience will help you. You will have some different perspectives. You hopefully will have more of an idea of who you are. don't think of it as wasted time...it was time that prepared you to get here now.

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If only the admissions committee will see it that way. Still nervous about the whole GPA thing. I realize that it's a big factor, but then, it's just about the only thing most applicants have to separate themselves from the pack. Hopefully they can look past a GPA and notice that there are much greater accomplishments.

I'm 20, and I really admire all you nontrads who went back to school to complete prereqs to chase after our common dream.

Thank you so much for starting this thread!

I'm 28 and feel so old and worry that I'm too late - so great to hear there are so many of us out there changing our minds and heading back to school.

Good luck to everyone!

BlacKAT33 said:

there are people in our class ranging from 21 to 40ish

i just turned 25 last month, blahh only downhill from now til 30. Then back uphill at 30! lol

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When Blackat says 40ish she is talking about me, 44, the senior elder of our class.

I'm 24... hoping that this is the year. I don't really fall under the traditional student classification but I don't think I'm truly a non-trad (since I honestly haven't gone longer than 6 months without some form of collegiate involvement since my sophomore year of high school), I don't know... all I know is that in all of my Masters courses, I've bonded more with my non-trad classmates than I have with those younger than myself.

I will be 25 in a few weeks.

No one is "too old" to pursue their dreams.

33 and going on 23 (I wish!!)

110% agree that nobody is too old to pursue their dreams ... sometimes people use that as "convenient" excuse.

Good luck everyone!!!!

I'm 25.

I was told today at a motivational speaking event to "let your inner voice be that of a 6 year old". So I think I will do that. ;-) Excet when I have to fill my head with BioChem... then I'll have the inner voice of a 25 year old.

I just turned 25!!!! If I get in the first time I will be 29 when I graduate! It's never to late!

sumstorm said:

I'm 31, 2nd year of vet school. while it doesn't always seem like it, that real life experience will help you. You will have some different perspectives. You hopefully will have more of an idea of who you are. don't think of it as wasted time...it was time that prepared you to get here now.

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sumstorm and I do not agree on much, you know, but I definitely agree with her on this one.

I suspect our divergent life experiences are helping us in rather different ways, but this holds true for me too. Having lived with myself for 30 years, I am so much better able to predict what things will give me trouble, recognize when I need to change something and adapt accordingly, both academically and in adjusting my life around school.

I'm 30 and a 1st year vet student, jsyk.

I'm 37 and will be 38 if I get in this round. Finishing a 2nd bachelor's in the spring for biology.

Just trying to stay busy and positive now.

StartingoverVet said:

When Blackat says 40ish she is talking about me, 44, the senior elder of our class.

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lol yes but we have 3 people total over 40 right?

ps-i better see u more next semester!! i barely got to see u this semester also, i miss ur wife!! she is soooo nice

I just turned 20! I'm glad that there will be older, more knowledgeable people in vet school to keep me in line!

I turned 28 just as I started Vet school this past september. AGE is only a number! We have a diverse age range in our class up to their 40s; and I think that is awesome!

I'm 23 and in my third year of my bachelor's degree, and sometimes feel like I'm in between a trad and a non-trad. I didn't have another job before this. It just took me awhile to figure things out. I went to university to do journalism straight out of high school. Did a year, but realized by the end of freshman year that it wasn't what I wanted. Took a year off to figure things out, figured out I wanted to work with animals. Did a 1 year vet assistant course, at which time my vet asked me why I wasn't just going to go to vet school. I realized I didn't have an answer for that, and figured out my path in life! Went back to university, and that's where I am now. So I'm slow on the uptake, but don't have anything to show for it.

If I get accepted this cycle, I'm going to defer to finish my BSc, which means I'll be 29 when I get my DVM.

marcwood said:

AGE is only a number!

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Slam yourself into the ground at about 12 mph, 30 times, and then come back and tell me it's just a number...it's also joint degeneration and cartilage calcification.

27 and loving it

I'm 27 and up until I read this thread, I was worried about my age. I took a few years after undergrad to work in a hospital and take some vet tech classes to boost my GPA after applying unsuccessfully the first time around. I feel like a totally different person since the first time I applied and I know that the time I spent in the hospital and in tech school was priceless. I needed those couple of years to blossom into maturity.

I'm 28 and hoping to start vet school before I turn 29.

My MIL just became a pharmacist this year, so she's definitely inspiration that you're never too old.

And I don't really regret anything I've done over the years (other than things like not doing better than I did in certain classes, of course). All of my jobs have taught me things that I can use. And certainly I don't regret starting my family first...my three kids give me an amazingly different perspective on life. I honestly think I'll do better in vet school and make a better vet afterward because I'm more mature and responsible at this point.

39.....and holding....until cinco de mayo!

I went to college in order to go to vet school...didn't even apply. I am much better suited to be doing this now and would not have appreciated it near enough had I gone straight to vet school. btw, I'm a first year.

I'm 29. If I get in this year I'll be 30 when I start vet school.

I'm 25 and I will be 26 when I apply next fall. It will be more of a trial run since I will be finishing up my last pre-reqs. Hopefully the fall of 2012, my remaining classes will solidify my application. Then I will be 27.

I graduated from college and was working for two years before realizing that I wasn't 100% happy. I decided to pursue vet school last fall. Hopefully if get in within the next two cycles, I will be in my early 30s when I graduate.

Sometimes I feel like I am old, but there are other SDNers who are older and making their dream happen. Think about the big picture, and how we will all be vets eventually and have many happy years of practicing veterinary medicine.

A lot of people and my friends around this age to their mid-30s are pretty unhappy with their career situation, but at least we were all brave enough to take this plunge to change our lives.

I'm the oldest in my class at 41 but I don't feel it. I am glad I waited for a few reasons: had kids already so don't worry about starting a family and a career, wasn't confident enough in myself when I was young, and technology is so much more advanced than when I was in my 20s. Life is good.

Armymutt25A said:

Slam yourself into the ground at about 12 mph, 30 times, and then come back and tell me it's just a number...it's also joint degeneration and cartilage calcification.

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LOL. I have to agree with that. But it's trade offs, not negatives. I do believe many schools have some appreciation for experience, particularly military. We have quite a few former military folks in our school (all former military, going into military, and spouses of military.)

I'll be 25 in January (eek, feels like such a landmark), so I consider myself non-traditional. It's a little weird because I'm in such a different place in life than a lot of my friends (still in the student mentality, taking out loans instead of having an income, stressing about homework and tests, no idea where I'll be living next year).

I do want to mention that my mentor (and i mean this in the sense of he is my hero, he has set an unbelievable example for me of how to live life to the fullest and be committed to your family, career, and community, of how to be kind, sincere, honest, determined...i could go forever, but i'll spare you) become a teacher after college and worked in that field for 10 years before going to vet school, and has since gone on to build a very solid career and own his own practice. so for those of you who feel like you're getting a late start, there is no such thing! you might be on a different schedule than others, but you can still accomplish anything and everything

I turned 29 last week. I applied this year and if I get accepted I will graduate vet school shortly before turning 34. Honestly, I feel younger and more satisfied with life than when I was in my early 20s. I had been dreading 30 (like most of us do) for quite some time, but the closer I get the more I'm looking forward to it... the years just keep getting better and better for me and I wouldn't want it any other way!

I'm 43 and NO ONE has EVER said anything negative about my age. I have actually gotten more support and even more jobs because of my age (maturity thing).

HANG IN THERE NON-TRADS!!!!!!

LMMS said:

25 old?!? HA!!

I'm 36.

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36 old?! HA! I'm 43 and just about finishing my first semester, so don't talk to me about how you feel behind and it's so tough being non-trad.

OP, if it's your dream and you want it bad enough, you make it happen, screw "old." I have a totally unrelated BA, gave up a good career/stability/income/etc. to go back and start almost at square one in a new challenging career. If I can do it at my age (and believe me, I was never never a stellar student), you sure can.

Seriously, I don't mean to sound harsh, I'm more saying this jokingly, but really, you people in your late 20's are NOT old. Seriously. IMHO, late 20's is the ideal time to be going to vet school. You're a little more mature, a few years of life experience under your belts, profs will take you more seriously, and you will be taken more seriously and granted more assumed respect as a clinician in the real world if you at least look old enough to drink and shave.

KSU has an early admit program, so there are people in my class who did not even have to finish undergrad, like 20-21 yrs old. And in a way my hat's off to 'em - I wish I had been so motivated at that age. But a lot of these people have never lived on their own, paid their own bills, budgeted, voted, worked and dealt with bosses/coworkers/staff, really never been responsible for anything beyond getting good grades, and it's hard to take them seriously as future doctors. 'Course, there's a lot of time to grow up over the next few years.

My point is, if you're a non-trad embrace the experience you have that has gotten you where you are. It makes you a more rounded person, and that will only help you in vet school and in practice.

lunajett said:

My point is, if you're a non-trad embrace the experience you have that has gotten you where you are. It makes you a more rounded person, and that will only help you in vet school and in practice.

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Excellent words of wisdom. Giving myself and my years of real world experience a great big hug!

lunajett said:

.... You're a little more mature, a few years of life experience under your belts, profs will take you more seriously, and you will be taken more seriously and granted more assumed respect as a clinician in the real world if you at least look old enough to drink and shave.

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Yep, I'm definitely getting old enough to shave. The moustache is starting to come in nicely now!