Could I become a veterinarian?

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eventer4ever

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Hi, I'm new here!

I'm a 10th grader with a 3.75 GPA. I know that my GPA isn't very good, but I'm prepared to work as hard as necessary to improve. Because of my family's financial situation, I'm planning on attending community college, and then transferring to a four-year university to complete my bachelor's degree.

What are my chances of being accepted into a veterinary school? I've heard that they're incredibly competitive, so I'm afraid that they only accept students who got perfect grades in high school and attended an Ivy League college for four years, or something like that. :depressed:

Thanks for reading! I'd really appreciate advice.

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Hi, I'm new here!

I'm a 10th grader with a 3.75 GPA. I know that my GPA isn't very good, but I'm prepared to work as hard as necessary to improve. Because of my family's financial situation, I'm planning on attending community college, and then transferring to a four-year university to complete my bachelor's degree.

What are my chances of being accepted into a veterinary school? I've heard that they're incredibly competitive, so I'm afraid that they only accept students who got perfect grades in high school and attended an Ivy League college for four years, or something like that. :depressed:

Thanks for reading! I'd really appreciate advice.
I don't know if this makes you feel better or no but they do not look at high school. Try your best in college to keep above a 3.5 and gain experience.

I attend a state school and have had a few interviews so they do not just choose people from Ivy League schools.
 
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Hi, I'm new here!

I'm a 10th grader with a 3.75 GPA. I know that my GPA isn't very good,

:lol:



Sorry, but that is a good GPA. Actually, that is a really good GPA. Also, high school grades mean crap for vet school admission, they don't even ask about them.

And no, you don't need to attend and Ivy League school to get accepted. You need to take your pre-reqs, do well, do well on the GRE and gain breadth and depth of vet experience.
 
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I'm jealous of your GPA, just saying.
I truly believe that anyone can become a veterinarian, as long as they have a certain level of intelligence (that you clearly have) and a strong work ethic. No one can predict yet though if you could get into vet school, because you're not even in college yet. So don't stress about it! But I have no doubt you can as long as you keep working like you are. Just volunteer with animals and once old enough, try shadowing a veterinarian to see if MENTALLY you could be a veterinarian.

And vet schools care more about your grades than the college you attend for undergrad. So you do not need to go to an Ivy League, and you honestly probably shouldn't because vet school requires lots of money. And like mentioned, they don't care about your high school grades.
 
I'm jealous of your GPA, and I'm a graduating senior in college.
If you're dead serious about wanting to pursue this profession, start looking for volunteer/shadow experiences underneath veterinarians. When you decide to apply, you'll want a good amount and variety of hours. Spend time with a small animal vet, food animal, equine, at a zoo. Anywhere you can find a new and exciting experience. Getting those experiences can help you find vets and individuals who will write you a very strong letter of recommendation for school.
That's not to say that grades aren't important. But don't dive into college thinking you'll have to be a 4.6 student to gain acceptance into vet school. I know a few of my peers who were very separated from that high of a GPA, and they're doing fantastic in vet school.
 
Hi, I'm new here!

I'm a 10th grader with a 3.75 GPA. I know that my GPA isn't very good, but I'm prepared to work as hard as necessary to improve. Because of my family's financial situation, I'm planning on attending community college, and then transferring to a four-year university to complete my bachelor's degree.

What are my chances of being accepted into a veterinary school? I've heard that they're incredibly competitive, so I'm afraid that they only accept students who got perfect grades in high school and attended an Ivy League college for four years, or something like that. :depressed:

Thanks for reading! I'd really appreciate advice.

First of all, you need to calm down. You aren't even in college yet and are already freaking out about grades. A 3.75 is a very good GPA.

Also, just so you know, your high school grades mean nothing to vet schools. NOTHING. You do not put them on the application. They do not ask for them. They want your college grades, especially those in the prerequisit science and math classes. The only thing high school grades matter for is getting into a decent college.

We can't even begin to tell you your chances until you start doing some college work. Right now I would focus on exposing yourself to the field via shadowing and volunteering if you have not already.
 
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Thank you for all of the answers! :love:

All of your advice was really helpful. I have some experience shadowing/assisting veterinarians, but I definitely want to get a lot more! :)
 
First of all, you need to calm down. You aren't even in college yet and are already freaking out about grades. A 3.75 is a very good GPA.

If I ever go into teaching I'm going to be that jerk teacher who grumbles about how a C is supposed to be average, and a perfectly acceptable grade, and only the very rare and exceptional student should get an A. I'll be universally despised, but it will be so worth it.
 
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If I ever go into teaching I'm going to be that jerk teacher who grumbles about how a C is supposed to be average, and a perfectly acceptable grade, and only the very rare and exceptional student should get an A. I'll be universally despised, but it will be so worth it.
you mean we arent supposed to do that?!
 
Yes, yes you could.

Echoing what has already been said, high school is irrelevant once you get accepted into an undergraduate program. No one cares about it anymore. VMCAS does say to write about high school extracurriculars on the application, but they are still not that valuable (unless you have been doing, say, Habitat for Humanity for 7 years). I find it hard to believe that a vet school would care that I played soccer for 3 years in high school. It teaches valuable lessons, sure. But so does World of Warcraft, which I also spent a lot of time playing in high school....

Another piece of advice: I've seen 4.0 high schoolers fail out of college, and I've seen those who barely made it out of high school turn out to be 4.0 college students. It's all about the amount of effort you put in. High school and college are hugely different. I had a GPA similar to yours in high school, and I honestly can't remember a time when I studied. To get a 3.75 in college, you'll be studying 3-6 hours a day, and even more when you have tests coming up. Some students study less than that and still do just as well, but it depends on the individual.

Curious...but why do you think a 3.75 isn't good? Did someone tell you that, or are you aware that it is a good GPA and are just looking for validation?
 
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Yes, yes you could.

Echoing what has already been said, high school is irrelevant once you get accepted into an undergraduate program. No one cares about it anymore. VMCAS does say to write about high school extracurriculars on the application, but they are still not that valuable (unless you have been doing, say, Habitat for Humanity for 7 years). I find it hard to believe that a vet school would care that I played soccer for 3 years in high school. It teaches valuable lessons, sure. But so does World of Warcraft, which I also spent a lot of time playing in high school....

Another piece of advice: I've seen 4.0 high schoolers fail out of college, and I've seen those who barely made it out of high school turn out to be 4.0 college students. It's all about the amount of effort you put in. High school and college are hugely different. I had a GPA similar to yours in high school, and I honestly can't remember a time when I studied. To get a 3.75 in college, you'll be studying 3-6 hours a day, and even more when you have tests coming up. Some students study less than that and still do just as well, but it depends on the individual.

Curious...but why do you think a 3.75 isn't good? Did someone tell you that, or are you aware that it is a good GPA and are just looking for validation?

Thank you for answering!

To answer your question about my GPA, I think that it mostly has to do with my social group. Most of my friends are exceptionally good students, and it's hard not to compare myself to them. I really didn't mean to come off as attention-seeking, so I apologize if I did.
 
Thank you for answering!

To answer your question about my GPA, I think that it mostly has to do with my social group. Most of my friends are exceptionally good students, and it's hard not to compare myself to them. I really didn't mean to come off as attention-seeking, so I apologize if I did.
My little sister is in high school, so I like to keep up on the loads of crap they force feed you whipper snappers.

If you're having difficulty being confident in your own talents now, brace yourself for college. You will be amongst other students who have the same goals as you and the same GPAs. Not everyone has classmates as annoying as I did (I also have low patience....), but there was a lot of "Oh, I aced the test, what did you get? Only an 88? Wow." Particularly in upper level courses when you are in a group of students that are mostly pre-something.

Word of advice: break the habit of comparing yourself to others now. The vet schools will do that for you. Just try to get by and put in your full effort, and then some.
 
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Hi, I'm new here!

I'm a 10th grader with a 3.75 GPA. I know that my GPA isn't very good, but I'm prepared to work as hard as necessary to improve. Because of my family's financial situation, I'm planning on attending community college, and then transferring to a four-year university to complete my bachelor's degree.

What are my chances of being accepted into a veterinary school? I've heard that they're incredibly competitive, so I'm afraid that they only accept students who got perfect grades in high school and attended an Ivy League college for four years, or something like that. :depressed:

Thanks for reading! I'd really appreciate advice.

Due to family and financial reasons (first generation of immigrants), I have attended mostly community colleges as well, then transferred to a 4-yr college. I did get two interviews so far this cycle, although I am a RVT and have a lot of experience.

So no, school/grade is not everything they are looking at, especially high school grade. It's not in the application.

But you do want to have very good grade at community college to guarantee your transfer. I transferred to a state university but the program I transferred to is top in that state university.

Wish you good luck and it's amazing you are already planning your future this early. Keep going and you will get there sooner than you think. :)
 
If I ever go into teaching I'm going to be that jerk teacher who grumbles about how a C is supposed to be average, and a perfectly acceptable grade, and only the very rare and exceptional student should get an A. I'll be universally despised, but it will be so worth it.
I made this claim on day 1 of my class. The waitlist disappeared by the next class.
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My little sister is in high school, so I like to keep up on the loads of crap they force feed you whipper snappers.

If you're having difficulty being confident in your own talents now, brace yourself for college. You will be amongst other students who have the same goals as you and the same GPAs. Not everyone has classmates as annoying as I did (I also have low patience....), but there was a lot of "Oh, I aced the test, what did you get? Only an 88? Wow." Particularly in upper level courses when you are in a group of students that are mostly pre-something.

Word of advice: break the habit of comparing yourself to others now. The vet schools will do that for you. Just try to get by and put in your full effort, and then some.

Thank you for the kind advice. :)
 
So no, school/grade is not everything they are looking at, especially high school grade. It's not in the application.

But you do want to have very good grade at community college to guarantee your transfer. I transferred to a state university but the program I transferred to is top in that state university.

Okay, I'll keep that in mind! :) Thank you so much for answering.
 
Thank you for answering!

To answer your question about my GPA, I think that it mostly has to do with my social group. Most of my friends are exceptionally good students, and it's hard not to compare myself to them. I really didn't mean to come off as attention-seeking, so I apologize if I did.

Gotcha.

Don't worry about them. If you know you did well be confident in that. If you think you can do better then work at doing better. But do it for yourself.

Where you are doing so well in school I'd see about getting some experience somewhere.

I'm a licensed vet tech and we have high schoolers shadow sometimes. I love to show them slides and explain what we're doing. They usually follow the vet for a while then the techs for awhile. It's a good place to start getting exposed to the field.
 
Gotcha.

Don't worry about them. If you know you did well be confident in that. If you think you can do better then work at doing better. But do it for yourself.

Where you are doing so well in school I'd see about getting some experience somewhere.

I'm a licensed vet tech and we have high schoolers shadow sometimes. I love to show them slides and explain what we're doing. They usually follow the vet for a while then the techs for awhile. It's a good place to start getting exposed to the field.

Thank you for answering! This was really helpful. :)
 
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