HELP!! Not sure what route to take

[fefe6149]

Hi everyone! I am new to the site. I am 32 and have decided to go back to school for vet medicine. I have a B.S. degree in Finance and ended with a GPA of 3.25 (not good in vet school admission terms). I received my degree 10 yrs ago. I have finally decided to pursue my passion but I am not sure what degree I should pursue. I am looking into 2 choices. The 1st would be to major in agriculture with an animal science concentration at Prairie View A&M. With this option I would have to take a LOT of extra classes just to get my pre req's for vet school. I like this option because it would give me experience with large animals (not counting being raised on a farm surrounded by large animals for 20+years). Only downside is that it is an hr away and I would have to drive everyday.
My other option is University of Houston and major in biology. This option would give me most of my pre req's without having to take a lot of classes not in the degree plan. The only problem with this option is that this school does not offer the animal science class that is needed to apply for vet school. I would have to take this class at PV A&M.

I guess my questions are:

1. Which seems to be the best option as far as choosing a major?
2. Does living on a farm for 20+ years, surrounded by cows, pigs, horses, etc count as large animal experience for getting into vet school?
3. How did you all get experience working with vets if you did not have documented animal experience? All the jobs I see says that I must have experience or be licensed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know this will be a long hard road but I am ready to put in the work and know that it will pay out in the end.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Gwenevre]

Right off the bat I'd do the University of Houston. You can quickly get your prereqs and you don't necessarily have to have a degree to apply to vet school (though some schools give you more points for one). And maybe take the ANSC class at PV A&M over the summer?
The farm is great animal experience, but you really really need veterinary experience. Shadow or work at a vet clinic or hospital. Diversify your experiences across large, small, exotics, anything and everything.
And again, shadowing is the most common way to get experience. Volunteering your time in a clinic. If you're looking for a job in the field to get experience, that may be more difficult.

 

[WillowLeaf]

Welcome to SDN!

Like Gwen said, not all schools require an undergrad degree. You already have an undergrad degree anyway, so I'm not sure there's any reason to get a second degree unless you want a biology or animal science degree as a back up plan in case vet school doesn't work out. Check with vet schools though - I'm not sure whether the ones that do require a degree would accept one that's from 10+ years ago or not.

Yes that counts as large animal experience, but not vet experience. LA experience is great but you definitely need some vet experience by the time you apply.

Try asking to shadow for a day. Dress professionally and go in person to ask, tell them that you're pre-vet and see if they'll let you observe for a day. Then act professional/responsible/enthusiastic/friendly when you shadow, and at the end of the day ask if you can come back and shadow again.

If you want a paid job, try finding kennel assistant positions. Sometimes those positions don't require veterinary experience. Sometimes they do require previous animal care experience though. I'm sure your farm experience would be helpful to show that you know how to take care of animals, even if it's a different species. You can also mention your shadowing experience on a resume/cover letter, to show that you have some idea what the veterinary field is about and what it might be like to work in a clinic.

Some vet assistant/exam room assistant/doctor's assistant positions will also train a new person with little vet experience, but I never had much luck finding positions like that.

 

[EngrSC]

Ditto what everyone else said. Just wanted to mention that taking prereqs as a post-bacc student is tough! I'm not sure what the school system is like in Texas (I'm in California) but post-bacc students that aren't in a graduate program get bottom of the barrel registration which makes getting into popular biology classes a struggle. If you enroll as a degree-seeking student you'll get better registration, just know that you don't have to finish the degree to get into vet school.

I was lucky to get a part time job in a vet hospital with only maybe a week's work of veterinary shadowing experience prior and with a wealth of rescue experience. My hospital gave me a shot because they thought I would mesh well with the team and were confident I would learn quickly. Experience is a lot but it isn't everything

And there are vet schools that focus more heavily on last 45 credit GPA and prereq GPA than on cumulative GPA.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Do some schools require animal science courses then? Hm. I was a Biochemistry major and never took an animal science class in my entire undergrad....got all my prereqs done fine.

 

[Felixor90]

Do some schools require animal science courses then? Hm. I was a Biochemistry major and never took an animal science class in my entire undergrad....got all my prereqs done fine.

Not sure what the complete list is but UF requires Animal Science and Animal Nutrition. Michigan requires just Animal Nutrition.

 

[Frozenshades]

Do some schools require animal science courses then? Hm. I was a Biochemistry major and never took an animal science class in my entire undergrad....got all my prereqs done fine.

TAMU used to require both animal science and nutrition. Changed it a year or two ago and just nutrition now.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Huh. Interdasting.

 

[Museum Nerd]

Do some schools require animal science courses then? Hm. I was a Biochemistry major and never took an animal science class in my entire undergrad....got all my prereqs done fine.

Can't remember the entire list but when i made my cheat sheet several years ago but there were 6 or 7 that required Animal Science and 6 or 7 that requried Animal Nutition and of those several required both.

 

[fefe6149]

Thanks everyone. I applied to both but I think I am now leaning more towards UH since its closer. I applied as a transfer student since according to the admissions dept that is what I am. I feel so old going back to school at 32. I was in grad school but decided it was time to do what I really wanted to do. I will definitely look into shadowing a vet and also look into kennel positions. It would be great to find something that qualifies as experience and also pays since I am going from working full time to being a full time student. Kind of scary! Now when taking classes I heard the schools also look at the class load. Do you all think 15 credit hours would look good or should I shoot for 18? I will concentrate on my pre regs more than the bio degree plan but I don't want the vet school to think I can't handle the load. I really want to go to tamu but I will apply to lsu also when it's time. Thanks for all the information. It definitely helps!

 

[Gwenevre]

Course load does factor into some schools decisions, I think. If you're going to be taking all science/difficult pre-reqs at 15 hours, I personally don't see it as an issue, but shoot for higher if you feel you can handle it. Or take 15 to start, then move up to 18 your next semester once you get your bearings and study habits down.

 

[LetItSnow]

Do some schools require animal science courses then? Hm. I was a Biochemistry major and never took an animal science class in my entire undergrad....got all my prereqs done fine.

I had one "animal biology" course ... but even that wasn't required.

I'm under the impression (and I really don't know how accurate it is) that it's becoming more common for vet schools to require some animal science courses.

 

[pipab]

Hi, you got very good advice from everyone here. If you are going to apply to Texas A&M, you can look at the pre-req list here.
http://vetmed.tamu.edu/dvm/future/prerequisites

Unfortunately, TAMU will not accept any classes that are more than 10 years old at the time you apply to vet school. You may have to look at the pre-req of each school you are going to apply. For instance, TAMU doesn't require humanity classes, so I never take it but some other US schools require those classes. TAMU doesn't mention about Animal Science but you will need to take it because it is pre-req for Animal Nutrition or Feeding and feeding.

And hey, you are not old. I'm older than you when start taking pre-req and I have to retake 73+ credit hours. I decided to go for vet med when I was 34 (in 2010). I took 4 years to complete the pre-req (specifically for TAMU) - work part time and have a kid(18 months old). Now I'm applying for c/0 2019. I never have animal/vet experiences before. As you may guess, I'm not American so English is my weakness. Besides all other requirements for vet school, I have to practice speaking/writing English too. Anyway, I started at community college for most of my pre-req. Then I transferred Texas A&M at Commerce to complete the prevet pre-req (65 miles from my house). I commute 1.5 hours to school at least 3 days/week. While I was raising my daughter, working part time in the evening, going to school in the morning, in between that I volunteer and shadow the vet. My case can be good example (I hope). Next March I can tell you more if I can make it to vet school or not when the admission result reveal .

So, again, you are not old, and you will make it. You can PM me if you have any specific question about TAMU pre-req.

 

[pipab]

Oh, I do all pre-req as post-bacc.