Advice for a Pre Vet Hopeful

[PreVetHopeful]

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I'm starting my undergrad this fall and am hoping to go into veterinary medicine. Is their any advice on what types of perequisites, electives, and volunteer programs I should take and/or look into before I apply? What are some questions should I anticipate for my interview when the time comes?

 

[starryradiowaves]

I say, work in the field and get as much experience possible to make sure that this is the right field for you. Get a realistic outlook while doing the coursework at a manageable pace. If you can, even starting in reception or as a doctor’s assistant can help open doors to tech work. Look at all of the schools you want to/can apply to and contact each admissions department to see what courses they’ll accept from your institution for each prerequisite. This means emailing the admissions with a course number and course description from your institution for every prerequisite. Those two goals alone will help clarify what is the best path. Even if you pursue your DVM and eventually d on’t practice in a clinic, getting your feet wet will help you understand the industry.

 

[WonderingStudent]

I recommend looking up specific vet schools that you would possibly apply to in a few years (ie state school) and make sure you take those classes. Most schools have a lot of overlapping prereqs with other schools but not always.

For extracurricular, just get involved with what matters to you and maybe find veterinary related jobs/experiences (ie vet assistant/receptionist at a vet hospital, shadowing, working on a farm, work with vets in governmental areas, animal related research). There’s a lot of possible choices out there especially in the veterinary world. Diversify your experiences (ie gain a combination of experiences like Large and small animal experiences, specialty veterinary not just GP vet clinic). Good luck!

 

[starryradiowaves]

Every school has different prerequisites and requirements. Some require a bachelor’s, some don’t. If you ONLY take prerequisites at a full time pace, you can apply to some schools for as soon as fall 2023/2024. Again, this is highly dependent on where you want to apply. I think most important is working the day to day of the industry so you know what you’re getting into, assessing how long it’ll take to qualify, and coming to terms with the hundreds of thousands in debt you are committing to.

 

[cheesin121]

If you're school has a pre-vet club, definitely get involved in that! It's a great resource for opportunities and for making fellow pre-vet friends to rant to down the road. As everyone else is saying, get as much experience as you can!! Definitely shoot your shot to as many veterinary clinics as possible (do veterinary assistant jobs if possible as most will train on site). These will definitely get you a good idea as to everything that veterinary medicine entails. That, and try to diversify as much as possible, as everyone else is saying.

In terms of classes, it can definitely be overwhelming to figure it all out, in terms of what schools want, etc. Most of the time a biology major will cover the pre-requisites (at least in my experience). If you're anything like me, try to plan out what courses you need to take over the next few years in a general few-year plan, ie write out what you need semester to semester basis. If you have an in-state, plan most of the courses around the courses they need, but definitely take a peek at some other schools of interest just to get an idea of what they're looking for.

 

[PreVetHopeful]

I say, work in the field and get as much experience possible to make sure that this is the right field for you. Get a realistic outlook while doing the coursework at a manageable pace. If you can, even starting in reception or as a doctor’s assistant can help open doors to tech work. Look at all of the schools you want to/can apply to and contact each admissions department to see what courses they’ll accept from your institution for each prerequisite. This means emailing the admissions with a course number and course description from your institution for every prerequisite. Those two goals alone will help clarify what is the best path. Even if you pursue your DVM and eventually d on’t practice in a clinic, getting your feet wet will help you understand the industry.

Thank you. This is really good advice. I have been working as a Licensed Technician for 3 years now and I love it, but I want to further my career. I like the advice about emailing the course list to potential schools to see if they except them.

 

[PreVetHopeful]

If you're school has a pre-vet club, definitely get involved in that! It's a great resource for opportunities and for making fellow pre-vet friends to rant to down the road. As everyone else is saying, get as much experience as you can!! Definitely shoot your shot to as many veterinary clinics as possible (do veterinary assistant jobs if possible as most will train on site). These will definitely get you a good idea as to everything that veterinary medicine entails. That, and try to diversify as much as possible, as everyone else is saying.

In terms of classes, it can definitely be overwhelming to figure it all out, in terms of what schools want, etc. Most of the time a biology major will cover the pre-requisites (at least in my experience). If you're anything like me, try to plan out what courses you need to take over the next few years in a general few-year plan, ie write out what you need semester to semester basis. If you have an in-state, plan most of the courses around the courses they need, but definitely take a peek at some other schools of interest just to get an idea of what they're looking for.

Thank you, I will definitely find out if my school has a Pre-Vet club for sure and I will also write out the necessary courses for several different schools.

Every school has different prerequisites and requirements. Some require a bachelor’s, some don’t. If you ONLY take prerequisites at a full time pace, you can apply to some schools for as soon as fall 2023/2024. Again, this is highly dependent on where you want to apply. I think most important is working the day to day of the industry so you know what you’re getting into, assessing how long it’ll take to qualify, and coming to terms with the hundreds of thousands in debt you are committing to.

Yeah, the debt will be daunting, but I do have a wonderful support system. In definitely trying to diversify my skills as a technician by working a full time GP and doing some side relief work. I've applied for a bachelor's degree and will be starting in the fall. Do you have any advice for the interview process and what questions I should be prepared for?

 

[PreVetHopeful]

I recommend looking up specific vet schools that you would possibly apply to in a few years (ie state school) and make sure you take those classes. Most schools have a lot of overlapping prereqs with other schools but not always.

For extracurricular, just get involved with what matters to you and maybe find veterinary related jobs/experiences (ie vet assistant/receptionist at a vet hospital, shadowing, working on a farm, work with vets in governmental areas, animal related research). There’s a lot of possible choices out there especially in the veterinary world. Diversify your experiences (ie gain a combination of experiences like Large and small animal experiences, specialty veterinary not just GP vet clinic). Good luck!

I sincerely appreciate all of the input you've given and I will definitely be researching specific prerequisites to the schools I'm interested in for the future. Would you also have any advice on what types of questions I should anticipate for my interview?

 

[battie]

what types of questions I should anticipate for my interview

You're so far from this point that you're better off looking into this in 2 to 2.5 years. Schools change interview type/style, and some schools don't interview at all. Then each school has different questions or policies about questions. My school considers sharing interview questions to be an honor code violation.

During your bachelor's, have fun. Do clubs/activities you like. Major in what you would do if you're *never* accepted to vet school. Utilize the AAVMC and school specific websites to tailor your class schedule for prerequisites so you're taking the appropriate classes for your application. With being a tech for several years, don't worry about the number of hours you have; focus on gaining new experiences, even if theyre only 50 hours or so. Keep your grades up; there are schools that don't value grades as much, but better grades keep more doors open for you (for example, schools with a low number of OOS seats or an obnoxious number of OOS applicants will be more competitive for OOS students).

 

[that redhead]

I agree with @battie. I would emphasize the need for you to diversify your vet experiences - get some large animal, equine, etc. ER hours have value but as someone who already has a few years experience with small animals, you want to demonstrate that you understand the breadth and impact of the field. However, like battie mentioned, keeping your grades up is important.

No need to prepare for interview questions yet. Just do things that you enjoy that will contribute to your ability to speak about yourself as a well-rounded person and applicant.

 

[Polocrosse2017]

I agree with what everyone else has said. Don't worry about interviews yet, diversify your background, see if your school has some research you can get involved with, join pre-vet clubs. Otherwise get some non-animal experience. Do some work with people (your job as a vet will deal with people a lot). I worked as a camp counselor teaching riding but also living in a cabin for a month with 12 little kids, I also volunteered at a hospice. The vet schools liked that I could deal with people in stressful circumstances. Join clubs you like and get a leadership role, even if it has nothing to do with animals. I was president of a large fraternity (ok, maybe that does have something to do with animals).

One piece of advice I have is to make a list of all the courses you need, then make a list of all the prerequisites each class needs. After that make a list that maps out what you need each semester til graduation trying to get the vet school prerequisites done as early as you can. With that list you can then make quick decisions if your plan gets messed up by a course not being available. You can't always wait for an advisor to help you. My advisor didn't always agree with my plan but it worked well. I started vet school after my junior year. Just have a backup plan in mind, thing hard about the debt issues, and enjoy undergrad. Do NOT go into vet school overstressed. Don't take a massive course load just to do it. Good luck.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

Lots of good advice on here so far.
I didn't read everything in depth so this may be a repeat but I will emphasize that there is no "cookie-cutter" vet applicant. Sure, a lot of applicants may have high grades and lots of small or large animal hours and this could be enough to get in, BUT building your application around something that makes you unique is not a bad approach either. It sounds like you may be non-traditional so spend some time thinking about how your choices in life so far will ultimately aid you in your career. DEI is really an important topic in vet med right now. It's not something you should force if you aren't interested, but if you'd like to explore DEI more it could definitely be advantageous. This might look like volunteering with the homeless or low-income, or working in a low-cost vet clinic (I personally was a mentor to east African refugee children). And, when I applied to vet school this was actually related to one of the essay prompts.