Switching to Pre-vet

[jadefire94]

Hi - so I'm kinda new to this, but here goes:

I'm a Junior at WashU in St. Louis, and for the longest time I was pre-med, even though deep down I wanted to be pre-vet (family pressure and stuff). I've finally decided to go my own way and go pre-vet! But I'm at a loss for what's next. I currently volunteer at an animal shelter, and I've reached out to some animal hospitals and clinics to see if I could shadow or intern there. I'm completely new to this pre-vet thing, and I'd like some advice.

Also, I struggled with a medical condition for my first two years of college, so my GPA is currently 3.25. I plan on raising it this year and senior year, now that my condition is under control, and I also plan on taking a gap year, because I'm not sure I have enough science courses to go to vet school (I'm a Spanish major, with a bio minor). But I'm still really worried, because I know that vet school is even more competitive than med school admissions...

Any suggestions on where to go and what to do next?

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[pinkpuppy9]

Hi - so I'm kinda new to this, but here goes:

I'm a Junior at WashU in St. Louis, and for the longest time I was pre-med, even though deep down I wanted to be pre-vet (family pressure and stuff). I've finally decided to go my own way and go pre-vet! But I'm at a loss for what's next. I currently volunteer at an animal shelter, and I've reached out to some animal hospitals and clinics to see if I could shadow or intern there. I'm completely new to this pre-vet thing, and I'd like some advice.

Also, I struggled with a medical condition for my first two years of college, so my GPA is currently 3.25. I plan on raising it this year and senior year, now that my condition is under control, and I also plan on taking a gap year, because I'm not sure I have enough science courses to go to vet school (I'm a Spanish major, with a bio minor). But I'm still really worried, because I know that vet school is even more competitive than med school admissions...

Any suggestions on where to go and what to do next?

Hi!

I think you're off to a good start by looking for places to get experience. You need that veterinary experience to be considered for admission and to make sure this is the right career for you.

As for your GPA, it's on the lower side but certainly not terrible. Raise it as much as you can (upward trends make you look good). If you were pre-med, you may very well have some pre-reqs completed already. For the most part, med and vet pre-reqs are pretty similar. Look into a few schools you'd like to attend and look at their pre-reqs to see what you are missing. If you have to repeat any courses (say, if you didn't do so well in intro bio), ace it. Do really well in any upper level science courses as well.

As for the competition, I've always thought that veterinary school is more competitive just based off of statistics alone. There are fewer seats in the country when compared to medical school. However, veterinary schools seem to take a better (IMO) approach to admissions and consider more than just grades. Some med school admissions seem pretty unforgiving when it comes to that. You can have a lot of experience and only average/below average grades and be admitted to veterinary school. I was admitted with ~3.5 and a lot of experience. A gap year sounds like a good idea so you can have time to amp up your experience and finish your pre-reqs. Good luck!

 

[LadyOtheFarm]

Look at schools you are interested in. They all have pre-requisite lists. That should help you decide which classes to take.

Study for and take the GRE, and if you aren't 100% on vet med, you may want to take the MCAT still.

Shadow, volunteer, and work as much as you can in many different parts of vet med. See what you like and what you don't.

Then, you get to apply and hope, but only if you decide this is really what you want. Best of luck to you!

 

[that redhead]

Hi - so I'm kinda new to this, but here goes:

I'm a Junior at WashU in St. Louis, and for the longest time I was pre-med, even though deep down I wanted to be pre-vet (family pressure and stuff). I've finally decided to go my own way and go pre-vet! But I'm at a loss for what's next. I currently volunteer at an animal shelter, and I've reached out to some animal hospitals and clinics to see if I could shadow or intern there. I'm completely new to this pre-vet thing, and I'd like some advice.

Also, I struggled with a medical condition for my first two years of college, so my GPA is currently 3.25. I plan on raising it this year and senior year, now that my condition is under control, and I also plan on taking a gap year, because I'm not sure I have enough science courses to go to vet school (I'm a Spanish major, with a bio minor). But I'm still really worried, because I know that vet school is even more competitive than med school admissions...

Any suggestions on where to go and what to do next?

Find a place to get veterinary experience. For many places, showing up dressed respectably with a resume in hand and a smile on your face is going to go a lot further in getting you a chance than emailing or even calling. Make an effort to get some large animal experience, even if it's only for a day or a week.

Your GPA is salvageable, especially if you have more courses to take. Look up your in-state school (if you have one) and a few other schools that like good last-45-GPA (Minnesota, KSU among others) and see what courses they require. Compare to what you've already taken. If you only have a few left to take, consider retaking any Cs in pre-reqs.

Also, vet school is not necessarily more competitive than med school, just different. There are far fewer schools but also far fewer applicants. Vet schools want a lot more experience hours in the field than medical schools but quality hours can do a lot more to mitigate a lower GPA than in the med world. So all in all I think it balances out Good luck!