Should I pursue a Masters before applying to Vet School?

[alpaperart]

I recently switched from pre-health to pre-vet and I have one more year of university to go. The requirements are pretty similar for both schools, so the switch isn't going to affect my academics too much, although now I'm trying to fit in more biology and animal courses, and Statistics if I can fit it into my schedule. I have a good GPA, 3.8, and am hoping to keep it for the final year, although I'm worried about Biochemistry and Anatomy and Physiology.

I have very little experience with animals, other than my pets. I'm volunteering in a research lab that works with mice and have worked with handling them and observed different techniques and procedures. I'm not happy in the lab and will probably not continue into the academic year. I volunteered at a cheetah conservation center for 2 weeks, gaining 80 hours, and I'm interested in an internship with Big Cat Rescue in Florida, and if I am able to get the internship, that will be for 12 weeks, for 600 hours.

I know research experience is important to have, I keep coming across it as I look through websites detailing how to get into vet school. This may a silly question, but is it possible to get into vet school without research experience?

I'm thinking about pursuing a Masters before applying to vet school, still not sure whether it would be coursework only or coursework plus research. During this time, I would be able to take more animal science courses, and I would show that I can handle graduate courses. I would also be able to get more experience in farms, shelters, and veterinary hospitals.

Sorry, this turned out longer than I had expected.

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[orca2011]

You can definitely get into vet school without research experience ( I had none) but you CANNOT get in without vet experience. And from what you've described, it sounds like you only have animal experience, which is great but won't cut it.

I'd recommend taking your remaining breaks to shadow in vet offices and maybe a gap year to gain more experience depending on how much you've accumulated in the next year.

As for the Master's part, most people on here have said to no pursue it unless you're truly interested in the research or the field it's in otherwise you'll be miserable. Since you have a great GPA, I don't think it's worth the extra debt. I'd just focus on getting the hours.

 

[WildZoo]

I recently switched from pre-health to pre-vet and I have one more year of university to go. The requirements are pretty similar for both schools, so the switch isn't going to affect my academics too much, although now I'm trying to fit in more biology and animal courses, and Statistics if I can fit it into my schedule. I have a good GPA, 3.8, and am hoping to keep it for the final year, although I'm worried about Biochemistry and Anatomy and Physiology.

I have very little experience with animals, other than my pets. I'm volunteering in a research lab that works with mice and have worked with handling them and observed different techniques and procedures. I'm not happy in the lab and will probably not continue into the academic year. I volunteered at a cheetah conservation center for 2 weeks, gaining 80 hours, and I'm interested in an internship with Big Cat Rescue in Florida, and if I am able to get the internship, that will be for 12 weeks, for 600 hours.

I know research experience is important to have, I keep coming across it as I look through websites detailing how to get into vet school. This may a silly question, but is it possible to get into vet school without research experience?

I'm thinking about pursuing a Masters before applying to vet school, still not sure whether it would be coursework only or coursework plus research. During this time, I would be able to take more animal science courses, and I would show that I can handle graduate courses. I would also be able to get more experience in farms, shelters, and veterinary hospitals.

Sorry, this turned out longer than I had expected.

I second what orca said. Vet experience is much more important than research experience, so that is where your focus needs to be. Big Cat Rescue is a great place to get an internship, but it is husbandry based and you will get little if any exposure to the veterinary side of things. So you really have to weigh how much time you have. I had to make that decision this summer - instead of going for a zoo or wildlife internship that I would have loved, I chose to find work at a private practice clinic, because I needed the veterinary hours more than animal hours. What you need to do is find a way to volunteer, intern, or work under a vet for probably at least 500 hours. Most vet schools also want to see some diversity in your vet experience, so at least a few hours in various areas - small animal, exotics, zoo, large animal, food animal, etc - even if most of your hours are only in one, will be beneficial.

 

[that redhead]

From what you've described, I would suggest against doing a Masters. Your grades don't need improving, which is what a good number of people use the Masters for. Take the time to get veterinary hours and you should be good to go.

 

[hygebeorht]

I agree with everyone. I did a one-year master's program, but I needed another year to take pre-reqs and wanted to have a degree in the sciences. You have a scientific background and a good GPA. Get vet hours instead to make yourself more competitive.

 

[Fly Racing]

Working full time at a vet clinic would do your application 1000x more than a spending a year doing a masters. The masters would likely get only a passing glance to be honest.

 

[alpaperart]

Thanks everyone for the input. I've been planning on taking a gap year, even before I switched from pre-med to pre-vet. I'll probably end up taking 2 years off as I'd like to fit in as much experience as possible to get a better idea of what veterinary school entails and to get an idea of what exactly I want to do. How would it look to a vet school if most of my experience is crammed in 2 years? I'm kind of worried about that.

How do I go about shadowing vets? I've been looking through this forum, and I see some people with thousands of hours. Do vets usually let you shadow them for a long time? Like 4 hrs x 3 times a week for weeks or months? I'm really new to all this, and I'm curious as to how they were able to accumulate so many hours. Do people become vet assistants? Could someone describe that to me? I've been looking at different vet hospitals, and some of the vet assistants appear to be fresh out of college.

 

[WildZoo]

Thanks everyone for the input. I've been planning on taking a gap year, even before I switched from pre-med to pre-vet. I'll probably end up taking 2 years off as I'd like to fit in as much experience as possible to get a better idea of what veterinary school entails and to get an idea of what exactly I want to do. How would it look to a vet school if most of my experience is crammed in 2 years? I'm kind of worried about that.

How do I go about shadowing vets? I've been looking through this forum, and I see some people with thousands of hours. Do vets usually let you shadow them for a long time? Like 4 hrs x 3 times a week for weeks or months? I'm really new to all this, and I'm curious as to how they were able to accumulate so many hours. Do people become vet assistants? Could someone describe that to me? I've been looking at different vet hospitals, and some of the vet assistants appear to be fresh out of college.

I think there are probably plenty of people who acquire their experience in a shorter time frame. The bulk of my experience will be in the past year, though I had some of it before then. I don't think it will be a problem as long as you can demonstrate your dedication to and understanding of the field.

As far as finding someone to shadow, I would find the contact info for the clinics, shelters, and even zoos in your area. Call or drop them an email to see if they would be willing to let you come in to shadow for one day. It's best to start out small, so it isn't a huge commitment for them to make. Try to make a good impression, and ask if you can come back. Eventually you might be able to make it into a regular thing, and it could lead to a job. There are a lot of ways to get experience, you just have to be open to it. If a clinic has a job opening in their kennel, it could be worth it to take that job just so you can still be in the veterinary setting. Most of what you are doing will be more husbandry type stuff, but you should be able to see the more medical side of things from time to time if you take the initiative.

A lot of people do become vet assistants. I am one right now, I'm still in undergrad, but I was able to get a job at a clinic for the summer. I already had some vet experience in a variety of settings though, so you might want to build some of that before you go looking for a job assisting (or teching...it's weird being in a state where certification isn't required).

 

[Fly Racing]

Thousands of hours coming from working at a vet clinic. If you think about it, a year of work is 2,000 hours, so hours add up much quicker than shadowing gigs. Some schools only require 150 hours, while Davis needs 3,000 to be an average applicant. In general, I found 800-1,000 hours will allow you to apply to most schools successfully with otherwise good stats. I would apply during your gap year or before if you can get 300 hours in and good letter writers. Don't wait 2 years because then it is a minimum of 3 years before you could start school (unless you prefer to wait).

 

[Cyndia]

Thanks everyone for the input. I've been planning on taking a gap year, even before I switched from pre-med to pre-vet. I'll probably end up taking 2 years off as I'd like to fit in as much experience as possible to get a better idea of what veterinary school entails and to get an idea of what exactly I want to do. How would it look to a vet school if most of my experience is crammed in 2 years? I'm kind of worried about that.

How do I go about shadowing vets? I've been looking through this forum, and I see some people with thousands of hours. Do vets usually let you shadow them for a long time? Like 4 hrs x 3 times a week for weeks or months? I'm really new to all this, and I'm curious as to how they were able to accumulate so many hours. Do people become vet assistants? Could someone describe that to me? I've been looking at different vet hospitals, and some of the vet assistants appear to be fresh out of college.

Vet schools really won't care if it your experiences are crammed into 2 years, it just matters that you've been exposed to enough of the veterinary field to know what you're getting into. As for how to shadow, basically just contact any clinics or vets in the area and ask them, most are pretty understanding of the need to get hours for applications. It's far better if you go in person to ask, and dress nicely/act professionally. Some clinics may prefer not to make a long commitment, so it's better to just ask to shadow for a day or two, attend, then ask them to continue shadowing. Some clinics may agree to longer amounts of time straightaway though - for example I did nearly all of my small animal vet experiences in one summer in Australia. I emailed around to a bunch of clinics saying I was a current pre-vet student who would be spending three months in Sydney, and asked if I could shadow a few days a week for most of the summer, and had a pretty good response. After I went in person and checked out the clinics, I chose two that were different enough operationwise, and spent three full days at one and two full days at the other, which let me rack up a ton of hours by the end of summer. They both also started letting me do more and more since they got to know me well.

Vet assistant jobs are ideal since you can rack up quite a lot of hours while still getting paid, rather than trying to fit in volunteering hours around a separate job, so if you get the opportunity to do it, I'd say definitely go for it! However, it can sometimes be tough to find a job like that, especially if you don't have much experience in a clinic. But if you're shadowing, it gets your foot in the door, so you'll have a much better shot if a position opens up.

By the way - I actually did the internship at Big Cat Rescue, it was a fantastic experience. The downside is that there is no veterinary experience, as like wildzoo said it's purely husbandry. It was helpful for me since I wanted some exotic experience on my application to diversify it a bit. You should definitely prioritise getting veterinary experience since you simply won't be accepted to veterinary school without it, but if you're planning to take a year or two before applying, you'll have plenty of time so consider the internship. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about it, feel free to PM me.

 

[inupdateeve]

Most vet schools also want to see some diversity in your vet experience, so at least a few hours in various areas - small animal, exotics, zoo, large animal, food animal, etc - even if most of your hours are only in one, will be beneficial.

 

[alpaperart]

Fly Racing, I still have senior year to go, and then I'll be graduating Spring 2015. I was initially thinking about taking a gap year, Summer 2015 to Summer 2016, but then if I took two years off... that would be Summer 2015 to Summer 2017, I would end up applying Fall 2017 for Fall 2018? Is that why you're saying 3 years? Would that look bad because I've been out of schooling for 3 years? I would like to apply Fall 2016, but it really depends on how much experience I can get in. I think I could get husbandry hours in, but I'm worried about the vet hours, especially if I want to be a competitive applicant.

When I go in person to ask about shadowing, should I ask for a specific vet and ask them if they would allow me to shadow them a few hours one week? And then if it goes well, I'll ask if I can continue shadowing them for the rest of the semester, or should I say "Can I come back next week?" before turning it into more a commitment for the vet? What happens if the vet I ask is not interested, would it be rude to ask another vet in the same clinic?

 

[horse doc hopeful]

Yes, if you wait two years to apply (oct 2016), you could start school at soonest in 3 year. This is not bad if that's what you want to do, but the application will require you explain any "gaps" where you are not either in school or working full time. For example you will have to explain your self if you spent a year just shadowing. On the other hand, there is little reason not to apply to at least your instate school as soon as you become eligible (which may be this application cycle if you are finishing all of your classes and spend the rest of the summer shadowing for hours and letters). Some believe being a 2nd time applicant actually gives you an advantage with possibly adcoms, as well as fully understanding the complete process and being able to complete a file review if you are not successful.

Just another thing to think about!

 

[Minnerbelle]

Some believe being a 2nd time applicant actually gives you an advantage with possibly adcoms

Who says?

 

[DVMDream]

Some believe being a 2nd time applicant actually gives you an advantage with possibly adcoms,

If only....

I know a lot of people here that would have had some serious bonus points with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc time applying.

 

[dovelover]

How would it look to a vet school if most of my experience is crammed in 2 years? I'm kind of worried about that.

The vast majority of my vet experience occurred in the 9 months before I submitted my application. While I don't recommend that approach, it won't kill you if you are getting a lot of hours in that time and they are good quality hours. I got something like 1000 vet hours and 600 animal hours during that time, not to mention a glowing recommendation and lots of fantastic material for my PS and interview answers. If you start now and are able to dedicate yourself full time or close to full time to getting vet & animal hours, you will probably be in a pretty good place to apply in two years (for fall 2017 matriculation). That gives you about 1.25 years of open time after you graduate college to fit experience into. 40 hours a week for 1.25 years will give you about 2600 hours. And if you manage to get paid vet experience that you can support yourself on, you can probably pull off getting more than 40 hours a week by doing weekly volunteering at an animal shelter, or shadowing a LA vet, etc. to add variety to your hours. Assuming the majority of those hours are vet experience, and are good quality with some variety, you'll probably be a competitive applicant with your good GPA.

 

[LyraGardenia]

How would it look to a vet school if most of my experience is crammed in 2 years? I'm kind of worried about that.

As others have said, I don't think it would reflect badly on you at all, but especially if you explain in your personal statement that you recently switched to being pre-vet, it's understandable.

This is not bad if that's what you want to do, but the application will require you explain any "gaps" where you are not either in school or working full time.

I'm not trying to be nitpicky, but actually the VMCAS app asks "Has there been any interval longer than 3 months during which you were not enrolled as a student or employed? (This does not apply if you were out of school for summer break.) If yes, provide an explanation including the duration and how you spent the time." So yes, you would need to explain if you spent a year just shadowing, but if you have a job (either full or part-time) during that year, be it vet-related or something else to support yourself while you're shadowing, you don't need to click "yes" there. Basically, schools want to see that you're dedicated and haven't spent a year just sitting on your couch.

Who says?

I've heard (probably on this forum) that some adcomms like to see that you've stuck with it and didn't give up after getting rejected once, but I don't know how true that is. I like to think it's true because I'm reapplying this cycle myself , but I would think the most common response after getting rejected would be to take the time to improve your app, whether that's the summer or a full year, and apply again. I haven't heard of many people who got rejected once from vet school, and decided to give up and go another path.

I agree with @horse doc hopeful that there is a negligible advantage to being a reapplicant in that, yes, you're familiar with how the application process works, and you've hopefully taken the opportunity to do file reviews and apply that advice in order to approve your app. However, if you think it would take you a year or two to get enough vet experience hours to be competitive, I would say wait to apply. Applying to vet school is expensive (VMCAS fees, supplemental application fees, fees for sending transcripts, taking the GRE/sending GRE scores to schools, traveling to interviews, etc.) and mentally and emotionally taxing, so I wouldn't recommend going through it if the odds are slim to none that it will pay off. However, it's up to you to weigh those odds.

You can create a VMCAS account during any application cycle and look over the app/practice filling it out (if you never hit submit, schools will never see it), and you don't necessarily need to be a rejected applicant in order to talk to admissions staff and get their advice, so I see no need to apply just to gain the two advantages horse doc and I mentioned. I worked with one veterinarian who got into vet school on her first try, but said that she wished she had been able to take a gap year between undergrad and vet school in order to gain more experience. Some more food for thought.

 

[alpaperart]

"Has there been any interval longer than 3 months during which you were not enrolled as a student or employed?"

In regards to that, I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a job, but even if I don't, I am planning on taking a few more courses because I can't fit them into my final year: animal science courses, nutrition courses, and statistics. Would that count as being a student? I'd probably be part time for one semester if I can find the right college.

 

[LyraGardenia]

"Has there been any interval longer than 3 months during which you were not enrolled as a student or employed?"

In regards to that, I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a job, but even if I don't, I am planning on taking a few more courses because I can't fit them into my final year: animal science courses, nutrition courses, and statistics. Would that count as being a student? I'd probably be part time for one semester if I can find the right college.

I would say that counts as being enrolled as a student. If schools notice on your transcript that you had a light semester and ask about it, I think saying you were finishing up prereqs while gaining experience hours would make it understandable, especially if you've had a full load every other semester.

 

[dovelover]

"Has there been any interval longer than 3 months during which you were not enrolled as a student or employed?"

In regards to that, I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a job, but even if I don't, I am planning on taking a few more courses because I can't fit them into my final year: animal science courses, nutrition courses, and statistics. Would that count as being a student? I'd probably be part time for one semester if I can find the right college.

I had to check that box. The world didn't end. And I did, in fact, spend 7 months sitting on my couch. And well, road tripping and hiking and taking people's dogs for long walks on the beach and discovering myself while living in a foreign country... but there was a lot of sitting on my couch. How did I get into vet school?