Career changers

[mht2k3]

I went into engineering and found it wasn't what I wanted to do until retirement - so I've been working towards vet school, one class at a time, for the last several years while working full time. I've had the discussion about how I'm going into crazy debt to make less than I do as an engineer more times than I can count in the process. But, I'll be 28 when I officially enter the class of 2017, and I'm quite excited! I think switching careers is definitely worth it - but you just have to make sure you've really investigated your next career so you know what you're getting yourself into.

I volunteered in with an animal rescue organization, volunteered at an animal hospital, shadowed at an animal hospital, and finally got a part-time vet assistant job at a SA clinic. Life gets a little crazy with 2 jobs, class, and volunteering, but if you can do all that at once and still be motivated to go on toward your new career... you've made the right decision.

Reviving an old thread, but this is basically me as well. Went to school for computer science and math and have been working as a software developer for the past 10+ years. Realized it wasn't what i wanted to do the rest of my life so about 3-4 years ago started on the path of taking pre-reqs, getting hours. Its been a pretty long/difficult journey since i'm also working fulltime and we had a daughter in 2015, but i'm applying this year and really looking forward to starting vet school!

Curious how many of the people on this thread actually ended up in vet school? And if not what were their reasons. A lot still say pre-vet. I guess its possible that they got into school and never came back to the forums.

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[LetItSnow]

Reviving an old thread, but this is basically me as well. Went to school for computer science and math and have been working as a software developer for the past 10+ years. Realized it wasn't what i wanted to do the rest of my life so about 3-4 years ago started on the path of taking pre-reqs, getting hours. Its been a pretty long/difficult journey since i'm also working fulltime and we had a daughter in 2015, but i'm applying this year and really looking forward to starting vet school!

Curious how many of the people on this thread actually ended up in vet school? And if not what were their reasons. A lot still say pre-vet. I guess its possible that they got into school and never came back to the forums.

Dunno if I posted in this thread previously. And I'm too lazy to go look. But I actually went back and am now out in practice.

So, uh, at least 1?

 

[mht2k3]

Dunno if I posted in this thread previously. And I'm too lazy to go look. But I actually went back and am now out in practice.

So, uh, at least 1?

awesome! Do you mind me asking how old you are / how old you were when you started vet school? Did you feel like there were any issues with being a nontraditional student while in vet school? Do you think it was harder to land a job?

 

[CalliopeDVM]

Me as well......started needing to get some high school credits in order to get into the university courses I needed for pre-reqs, then in to vet school. It had been almost 12 years after I got my BA that I started back to school, and I've been in practice over 15 years now. I was 38 when I graduated.

 

[LetItSnow]

awesome! Do you mind me asking how old you are / how old you were when you started vet school? Did you feel like there were any issues with being a nontraditional student while in vet school? Do you think it was harder to land a job?

I started vet school at ... um ... 41? Went back to school several years earlier and did the "couple classes / semester" thing because I was the only income in our growing family, so managing work, school, and the ever-popular "gaining veterinary experience" was an interesting exercise in time management.

I hadn't been in school in .... I dunno. 15 years?

 

[lianali]

I started vet school at ... um ... 41?

I so needed to hear this. I'm facing awful decisions while I sit on the waiting list for 1 vet school, and trying not to beat myself up too hard for not making it on my first try. I'll be 36 this year, and if I had made it in, 40 when I graduated, 43 after completing a vet path residency, and 46 after getting the PhD. Although, I could have been employable at 43 if I got boarded. If I got in to vet school at all.

And that was the short list compared to going back for my PhD in the hard sciences! (5-8 years to get the PhD, 3-6 years in a miserable post doc positions, and THEN I'd be employable.)

I love diseases and studying them and how to prevent them and how to treat them. Epidemiology is looking like my back up plan, but I gotta figure out how long I'm willing to reapply to vet school.

 

[ROXY7699]

I just got accepted at 47. I sometimes wake up at night wondering what the hell I'm doing. I have to give up a home, two horses, an awesome job and let my accounting degree go by the wayside. But, it's what I have wanted to do since I was a little girl and I finally got the opportunity. Believe me when I say..... life is waaaayyyy too short to not chase your dreams and passions. I can only pray I've made the right decision.

 

[Posey]

I just got accepted at 47. I sometimes wake up at night wondering what the hell I'm doing. I have to give up a home, two horses, an awesome job and let my accounting degree go by the wayside. But, it's what I have wanted to do since I was a little girl and I finally got the opportunity. Believe me when I say..... life is waaaayyyy too short to not chase your dreams and passions. I can only pray I've made the right decision.

Congratulations! Out of curiosity, which school will you go to?

I'm almost 37 and gave up a career in finance. It's definitely tough to completely leave my old life behind, but I'm looking at it as an adventure. Besides, if I don't do this, I'll spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been, just like I spent over a decade wishing I'd done this in the first place. Completely agree that life is too short!


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[ROXY7699]

Congratulations! Out of curiosity, which school will you go to?

I'm almost 37 and gave up a career in finance. It's definitely tough to completely leave my old life behind, but I'm looking at it as an adventure. Besides, if I don't do this, I'll spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been, just like I spent over a decade wishing I'd done this in the first place. Completely agree that life is too short!


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I was accepted at LSU. It's my IS school. I figure we bring diversity to the class!!! Have you been accepted somewhere or are you in the middle of the application cycle?

 

[Posey]

I was accepted at LSU. It's my IS school. I figure we bring diversity to the class!!! Have you been accepted somewhere or are you in the middle of the application cycle?

I'm also accepted to and plan to attend LSU! I'm an OOS student.


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[ROXY7699]

I'm also accepted to and plan to attend LSU! I'm an OOS student.


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Awesome!!!! We'll be classmates!! Let me know if I can help you with anything.

 

[Posey]

Awesome!!!! We'll be classmates!! Let me know if I can help you with anything.

Thanks and likewise.


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[mht2k3]

when you all applied how far back did you go with employment history? I've entered all my jobs since graduating college (which was in 2003). I feel like going back any further would just be overkill? I could add in my summer internships during college and all my high school jobs but it just seems weird to do that since it was so long ago.

 

[lianali]

when you all applied how far back did you go with employment history? I've entered all my jobs since graduating college (which was in 2003). I feel like going back any further would just be overkill? I could add in my summer internships during college and all my high school jobs but it just seems weird to do that since it was so long ago.

Honestly, I left out the irrelevant job information. Nobody cares whether or not I worked as a waitress at Benihana for a summer or worked at Macy's for 1.5 years.

However, I did talk about things like high school internships that convinced me that I wanted to be a chemist (6 months at USGS) and not an engineer (3 months at Texas Instruments). Keep in the relevant things that shaped your decisions and career path. Leave out the irrelevant information. Standard resume practice is to list your employment history for the last 5 years.

 

[flameshock]

when you all applied how far back did you go with employment history? I've entered all my jobs since graduating college (which was in 2003). I feel like going back any further would just be overkill? I could add in my summer internships during college and all my high school jobs but it just seems weird to do that since it was so long ago.

I was in a similar situation but I included every job I held on my application. I don't know how much adcoms care but for jobs I've been cautioned multiple times to avoid or limit 'activity gaps' in my resume. To me it seemed to make more sense to give the committee as thorough a look at my life as possible. If they're not concerned about certain jobs, they can disregard the info.

 

[deleted676737]

Honestly, I left out the irrelevant job information. Nobody cares whether or not I worked as a waitress at Benihana for a summer or worked at Macy's for 1.5 years.

You'd be surprised.

My work as a restaurant manager and crew member actually came up several times during interviews. I was never able to attain a paid vet or animal-related position, so I had to work multiple similarly entry-level positions in combination with 16-20 credit hours of courses, shadowing vets, research, and extracurricular/community service, and schools seemed rather impressed by the fact that I was able to juggle so much at one time and thought that, in spite of a below-average GPA, it spoke well to my ability to handle the sheer volume of the vet med curriculum. Additionally, there were other skills I was able to speak to (customer resolution, communication, dealing with emergency situations involving customers, etc.) that also arose as points of discussion.

It isn't as irrelevant as you might think.

when you all applied how far back did you go with employment history? I've entered all my jobs since graduating college (which was in 2003). I feel like going back any further would just be overkill? I could add in my summer internships during college and all my high school jobs but it just seems weird to do that since it was so long ago.

Go for it. It won't hurt you one bit and it may actually help. The absolute worst that happens is that a school doesn't care and just disregards it.

 

[BrownSwissCows]

Honestly, I left out the irrelevant job information. Nobody cares whether or not I worked as a waitress at Benihana for a summer or worked at Macy's for 1.5 years.

I strongly disagree with this. Veterinary medicine isn't just about animals, you have to deal with people too. Customer service experience is definitely a plus. In my file review, Wisconsin actually said that they wished I had talked more about my 2 years at Walmart than what I had.

 

[lianali]

You'd be surprised.

My work as both a restaurant manager and crew member actually came up several times during interviews. I was never able to attain a paid vet or animal-related position, so I had to work multiple similarly entry-level positions in combination with 16-20 credit hours of courses, shadowing vets, research, and extracurricular/community service, and schools seemed rather impressed by the fact that I was able to juggle so much at one time and thought that, in spite of a below-average GPA, it spoke well to my ability to handle the vet med curriculum. Additionally, there were other skills I was able to speak to (customer resolution, communication, dealing with emergency situations involving customers, etc.) that also arose as points of discussion.

It isn't as irrelevant as you might think.


Go for it. It won't hurt you one bit and it may actually help. The absolute worst that happens is that a school doesn't care and just disregards it.

You bring up a relevant point which is it's unique to each person's situation - and how you are able to relate that job experience to a new area. If those skills are related to the new area you want to pursue, then list it. If not... 10+ years of experience is a pain in the ass to list if it's not needed. The application doesn't have the space limit that is recommended for resumes, so there is room to expand upon everything.

If the goal is to make the cut for interiews/admissions requirements, then I'm of the "keep the eye on the prize" variety and talk about the things an admissions committee wants to hear about (what makes you a good vet school candidate) and leave out the noise. I've heard from various admissions offices in various colleges that they hate the application weeding out process, because there's so much crap to wade through. Make it easy for the admissions committee to see why you're a stellar candidate. I'm also a non-traditional candidate with a low undergraduate GPA. I made up for it with strong research experience and secondary authorship on multiple publications. I also went back to get my MPH (3.91 GPA) to demonstrate I can study well at a graduate level. The feedback I received from the veterinary college where I am wait-listed was not to change a thing about my application - my personal statement was strong, my GRE scores were good, my application was strong enough to make the first cut. I just needed to get over my nerves at the interview process.