Advice from vet students please?

[Kara31191]

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Hello, my name is Kara, and I'm a junior in High School, I just started my junior year. I've been working for our family avian/exotics vet for about 7 months and I have about 600 hours of veterinary experience so far. I'm applying to Adventures in Veterinary Medicine this year at Tufts. So here's my question:

How should I pick a school for undergrad?

So far, I'm been Looking at University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of New Hampshire, and possibly Worcester Polytechnical Institute. I'm trying to keep the cost to a minimum though!

I know I'm looking for Biology and I printed out all the admission requirements for a few vet schools I'm interested in : University of Florida, Louisiana State, University of Georgia, Tufts University, and Cornell so far. I will probably also print out University of Tennesee and their requirements, as well as University of California... Then I think that's about it. 😀

So basically, how do I narrow down my search? Where did some of you go to school for undergrad? Is Umass Amherst a good school? How about University of New Hampshire? Thank you, Kara.

 

[david594]

First off, almost any school you go to will offer the courses you need to meet the course requiremnts of nearly all vet schools.

The umass amherst animal science program is top notch(or atleast thats what they claim). They do offer lots of opportunities for you to get hands on experience with large animals(sheep, goats, cows, alpacas) as part of their program.

 

[soxbox]

kara,

wow, you are very prepared 🙂

I thought I would chime in since I actually went to Worcester Polytechnic Institute... I am from NY and ended up at WPI because of their program with Tufts (I think they have stopped it now though)... but it was the one when you are a senior in high school you are accepted to both WPI and Tufts... you did 3 years at WPI and then 4 at Tufts... well I actually missed the application deadline, but ended up going to WPI anyways...

Once there I ended up doing biomedical engineering and sort of put vet school on the back burner... I then did their accelerated program and got my Masters in biomedical engineering... WPI has a lot to offer, but I really think that if you are looking for a strong biology program you might want to look somewhere else that is a little cheaper. WPI is fantastic for engineering or even biotechnology... but if you want straight ol biology, I think you would be better off at a place like UMass Amherst...

I just checked WPI's tuition... its insane... its worse than some vet schools!! Tuition alone is $34,000... then their estimated total expenses comes to $47,000!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am paying that for CSU tuition... I did have great scholarships while there, but still ended up with $50,000 in tuition (for all 5 years)... It would be so nice to have started vet school with no debt!

I am sorry this is so long but just wanted to let you know my thoughts... if you have any specific questions, please PM me 🙂

-Lauren

oh yeah... I also worked at Tufts and dealt a little with their AVM program... so again, any questions, just PM me!

 

[pressmom]

I guess the only word of caution I would give you is UGA and UC Davis are really hard to get into out of state. Each of them only accept 1 or 2 non-instate, non-contract people.

And just out of personal bias 🙂, things are great here at TN, especially if you're interested in exotics. You get your hands on animals first year (I've already learned to do a PE), and you even get your hands on avians, too. My friends got to get in on a surgery one a bald eagle the other day! By the time you're ready to apply, we'll probably have a class of 85 (instead of 70) and accept even more than the 20 out-of-state we accept now.

 

[Angelo84]

Hey Kara,
I also did the AVM program at tufts in high school. As far as schools to go to for undergrad you can get the required sciences at basically any school (chem, organic, biology, physics, biochem etc). I would pick a school based on your interests. If you want a fair amount of hands on stuff with animals animal science is a good choice I would go to a state school (private schools don't usually have farm animals on campus) UMass, UNH, UConn all have good animal science programs and they are considerably cheaper than WPI. If you are dead set on biology then you could go other places as well. Keep in mind it is also possible to major in art and get into vet school as long as you do the prereqs!

I personally went to UConn (animal science) and greatly enjoyed it if you have decent grades you can get scholarships that will bring your tuition down to in state so for me it was a better choice that UMass or UNH.

If you have questions feel free to PM me as well.

 

[silverelf]

i've heard not so stellar things about umass - not really the program which is apparently pretty decent, but the living situation there blows...parties all the time, no where to study ever, a bunch of burnouts from high school...etc etc etc. i think if you're really motivated you could probably get through okay (you NEED to get into the honors dorms on the hill) but i've heard really mixed bag stuff about it.

UConn and UNH have great ansci programs, don't know about biology (but animal science might really be a major for you to look into, i loved it!) and you might also want to consider UVM. when i applied i also looked a lot at UDelaware and really liked that too. basically, if you want to stay on the cheaper side of life, look more at state universities, and less at private institutions...even out of state, they are cheaper than private schools. plus if you do well in high school, you'll get scholarships at state schools...they seem to hand a lot out.

good luck!!

 

[bostonpet]

so i went to umass amherst and graduated in 2003. i belonged to the commonwealth college, the honors program, and had a great experience there. to say "high school burnouts" go there is exaggerated and too general a comment to say about the school. a "high school burnout" could end up at any college....i can think about some mediocre private colleges that don't have the same reputation as umass, but i'm sure don't offer as much to choose from. please have a little more respect when commenting on a school with which you don't have first-hand experience.

as a umass graduate, i'm incredibly happy i went there. i don't have very much college debt (which is extremely helpful now that i want to go back). the honors classes i took were much better than the classes i took lecture style with the non-commonwealth college students. the classes were smaller, demanded more work, and the professors kept a closer eye on the students' work. when i was looking at colleges, i looked at uconn, unh and uvm. in 1999, uvm was the most expensive state school in the u.s. i wasn't so fond of uconn's campus because stores, ct. didn't seem to be near as many colleges umass was close to, and i didn't see the point in paying a few extra grand to go to another state school when my state school offered the same program at a cheaper cost, with a few added bonuses (such as the consortium or grad programs i was interested in at the time). i had the chance to go to penn state, but i chose umass and i'm really happy i did.

as far as places to study, there is a 26-floor library with cubes everywhere that give you the privacy and silence a student would need. a year i was having difficulty focusing on my studies, i was able to get a key to a private cube on a floor with just computer labs and other cubes, so i was able to get an incredible amount of work done in a day, with no interruption because i had this small office-like cube to work in alone. friends on my crew team studied at the amherst college library often or there are several coffee shops to pick from main st. in amherst. i always loved to sit outside beside the pond in the fall and spring to read for upcoming classes. to say there's no place to study is just an excuse not to study, for anyone, anywhere.

another benefit umass offers is the consortium with 4 other schools in the area, which happen to be some of the best private schools in the country (amherst, mt. holyoke, hampshire...)

i think it really depends on your initiative and drive when you attend umass. because it's such a large school, it's easy to get lost in the crowd. if you decide to go there, i'd definitely recommend trying to room in orchard hill, the dorms on the hill. the northeast residential area is quiet too, but a couple of friends lived there said it was almost too quiet. sylvan is quiet, but it's set off to the side of the campus, so some friends who lived there felt left out. central has the reputation for a lot of drugs (whether or not it's true, i'm unsure) and southwest is known for the loud parties. a lot of honors kids live in orchard hill, so if you decide on umass, i'd recommend living there your first year.

i was a humanities major and while i'm glad i studied what i did then, the sciences at umass are much stronger. as with any school, you just need to find your niche early and get off to a good start. get tutors, communicate with the professor and study hard, and i'm sure you'll do fine.

personally, i loved umass for so many reasons. there's good and bad to every school. but for me, the cost-benefit ratio was worth it for me. i've been looking at the animal science program, and may go back there in a year or two for a second bachelor's degree before applying to vet school. they do have a program associated with tufts so sophomores can be accepted into the DVM program early...it looks like a great deal to me, if that's really what you want to do.

if you have any questions about umass in the future, feel free to message me and i'd be happy to answer any questions...

 

[bakaduin]

Heres my personal opinion, and I think its a pretty good one. =P.

It really isnt going to matter too much what undergrad you go to when it comes to vet school. Yeah some schools like Cornell may give you points for going to IVY league or what not but in the long run if you have a good GPA coming out of your undergrad thats what matters. What I think is important in picking an undergrad though is cost. Your going to be spending A LOT of money for vet school and be in a lot of debt. So why add to it with an expensive undergrad?

I go to the University of Florida (and consequently would like to go there for Vet school). But the reason I go to UF is because I am a Florida resident and going to UF is free. I certainly had the grades in high school to go out of state but why bother when I can get a top public school education for free?

So if your state has a similar program, or even discounted rates for going in state, thats what Id recommend.

 

[Kara31191]

Thank you Bostonpet! I may apply to the other state schools. From what I see now, I will end up at Umass Amherst. It doesn't seem like there's much of a possibility I wouldn't get in, and there's a large campus also, which would probably mean there is a lot to do.

Here's my question: How much total in savings would you say is the minimum in cash you would need to bring? I need to really start saving. I have been saving, but then I paid for a summer class on study skills, driver's education, and car parts, and all of that was the 1,000 dollars I've earned this summer.

I'm so happy you liked the experience at Umass Amherst that much. It seems like you have quite the life there. I'm going to take a tour of the school soon.

Another question. Do state schools have more of a variety of classes available than some of the schools with a smaller population? It seems that Umass Amherst will be my top choice for college, as well as my safety school. I will probably apply to the others and see what financial aid I can get.

Another thing, does anyone know of anywhere else I can start looking for scholarships? I went on scholarshipexperts.com and scholarships.com and looked at some of those, and I'm going to check with my school and see what they can help me with.

Thank you for all your help!

Oh yeah, did you all take more science courses than were required for the vet schools you were applying to? Does High School seriously make that big of a difference by my GPA as long as I get into a good school, and learn good study habits?

 

[sofficat]

1- pick undergrad for $. it is not going to make a huge difference where you go for undergrad. do your best to stay out of debt in undergrad. it is pointless wasting $ and getting into debt now. i went to a community college then a state school pretty much for free and had no probs with vet school.

2- high school really doesn't matter. haha... i mean, it does to an extent. for me it was very impt because the grades i got in high school paid for my undergrad. but overall, vet school doesn't look at high school stuff.
(it's kinda like how middle school doesn't matter in high school even though they tell you how impt it is to get great grades in m.s. b/c the h.s. looks at those.... then h.s. doesn't matter after you got into a decent undergrad.... then where you went for undergrad doesn't seem to matter once you are in vet school.... then the vet school you graduated from doesn't matter once you are a doctor and working.... see what i mean 🙂)

3- a lot of students get some kind of degree before vet school. you don't have to, but majority do. for me it was a back up plan to have my BS in biology in case it took a while to get into vet school. Taking more then what is required helped me out a lot because the first 2 weeks of vet school was all stuff i had seen at some point in my undergrad.

you are already totally ahead of the game. being able to say that you have been working with vets since you were 16 is going to be a great advantage! a lot of the students i am in vet school with didn't figure out until they were 20-40 yr old what they wanted to do. good luck!

 

[hoodle]

most importantly, whereever you end up, make sure you do well and take hard classes. They'd rather see you challenging yourself and succeeding than enrolling at Princeton and slacking off.

and of course, get a diversity of experiences - lots of species, lots of situations, both small and large, domestic, zoo, and lab, etc.

 

[bostonpet]

Hi Kara,

I couldn't say how much cash you'll need to take in for school...I'm not the best person to ask. I have to admit, I'm quite the shopper, and I worked at a swanky restaurant during college summers so I probably had about 2 or 3 grand to support me through the school year. But with food plans and boarding paid for, I don't think you'll need that much to get by in Amherst. There is public transportation (not as great as the metro Boston area's, which isn't saying much) that goes around the campus and even into Northampton or the surrounding colleges.

Some colleges offer deals where you can work to pay for some of the school (if I remember right, it's called work-study aid), and UMass was very good about scholarships with me, I think a few of my semesters were even paid for through academic and athletic scholarships. I also think that they give free tuition to valedictorians of graduating high school classes in Massachusetts. I'd suggest contacting the UMass Financial Aid office and request information on potential scholarships, or work study programs. I bet they'd even have positions open at the farm where they keep their livestock. But, I wouldn't suggest looking for a job until you feel settled in with your classes. I'd even recommend taking 4 classes your first semester rather than the standard 5, just to give yourself a chance to settle into the new atmosphere and adjust to college life. (One more tip, look at the deals colleges offer you very closely. I've had friends who decided on a particular school because of the deal they got for freshman year, but they couldn't afford their last 3 years because the college didn't grant them as much aid as the first year. If possible at all, I'd try to find statistics on aid offered to second, third and fourth year students.)

I think the best thing to do, is talk to your h.s guidance counselor about local scholarships that are offered to graduating seniors. I'd also go to the library and look up books just on scholarships. There are a ton out there, you just have to be diligent in finding them. It sounds as if you're more than well on your way...Just remember to have fun while you're doing all of this 🙂

 

[david594]

personally, i loved umass for so many reasons. there's good and bad to every school. but for me, the cost-benefit ratio was worth it for me. i've been looking at the animal science program, and may go back there in a year or two for a second bachelor's degree before applying to vet school.

Thats currently what I am doing. I'm currently taking courses through continuing ed and should be a matriculated student come spring semester. Overall it seems to be working out fairly well. Advisors I have met with have been helpful in planning our course work and to help me get into the classes I need.

One of my biggest regrets is not going there for my undergrad. Amherst and Noho are absolutely awesome towns.

 

[Kara31191]

This is just so informative for me. I can't thank you enough. I'm really focused on doing this. I like to talk to people to assure myself that in a few years there won't be any problems. I'm trying to make life easier for me later. I still have two years of High School left, so quite a long time to plan and apply. I'm pretty sure I'd go to Umass Amherst... But I'm going to see where else I get in anyways, because it would be stupid to just apply to one school.

😀 Well, I guess this whole college process is not something I'm doing blindly.

I recently took a study skills class (this past summer 2007) and it is ALREADY helping my Science grades a ton!

This is a completely random question, but if I were to try to find some sort of experience with Reptiles, what would I do for that? Are there "Herp vets"? My vet treats them, but so much is unknown, like their doses and such, and I actually really would love to work with them too. I don't know though. Is it a field that is still being researched, or are their reptile vets? (I know, weird question).

I'm constantly challenging myself in High School. AP and Honors courses, as well as a few advanced.

Thank you for all your advice. Anyone else who wants to jump in and let me know about their experience, I'd love it! 😀

 

[pressmom]

If you live in a big enough city/town, there may be a vet who only sees exotics. I got to shadow a couple of all-exotics vets last year before I applied, and I would've applied to work there but I moved about 4 months later and already had another job. Anyway, as far as just herps, I'm not sure. If you live in a big enough metropolitan area there may be one. I'd listen through the veterinary grapevine and look in the yellow pages under animal hospitals and veterinarians (some places are cross-listed, others aren't).

As an aside, one of the reasons I chose Tennessee was that someone was running a pain management study on beardies when I was there for my interview. How cool is that?!?!

 

[Kara31191]

If you live in a big enough city/town, there may be a vet who only sees exotics. I got to shadow a couple of all-exotics vets last year before I applied, and I would've applied to work there but I moved about 4 months later and already had another job. Anyway, as far as just herps, I'm not sure. If you live in a big enough metropolitan area there may be one. I'd listen through the veterinary grapevine and look in the yellow pages under animal hospitals and veterinarians (some places are cross-listed, others aren't).

As an aside, one of the reasons I chose Tennessee was that someone was running a pain management study on beardies when I was there for my interview. How cool is that?!?!

WOW. I heard Tennessee is a great school for exotics from quite a few people I've talked to! I love beardies! I have two leos. I have two eggs in the incubator now!

Hey, and should I record how many clutches of leos we raise? This is our second clutch. The first two dried out because we didn't know what we were doing and our vet was at the Avian conference. Now the second clutch is in the incubator and they look fine right now! =)

 

[spikey]

i don't think i can be of very much help to you, but i'll tell you what i did.

i did not want to be a vet going all the way up to my junior year in college (undergrad). when i picked my college, i went to the one who offered me the classes and teaching style that i wanted for my degree of choice: BS in biology. it was a small liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere.

but once i did decide to apply to vet school, i needed prereqs. thank goodness i chose a well rounded school that had all the classes that i needed for UPENN. i made sure i took those, and i got involved in research there as well.

to be honest with you, i feel undergrad matters little to the admissions comittee, as long as you get the courses you need before applying. i don't think they look at names of colleges, cause if they did i should not have gotten in.

bottom line: choose the school that fits you (and you'll know it does) and can help you grow the most intellecutally.

 

[pressmom]

Yeah I think you should keep track of that. Anything above and beyond your usual pet ownership (ie things like breeding and showing) can go on your application when you're ready.

What I recommend starting now is getting a spiral notebook and putting it somewhere safe and convenient and making a page/section for each experience and when you get done for the day write the number of hours in it. For example, if you spend 4 hours Saturday working at the vet's office, write that on one page, or if you spend 1/2 hour Wednesday tending your eggs, write that on its page. This will give you a more accurate estimate of your activities when it comes time to fill out your VMCAS in a few years.

Good luck!

WOW. I heard Tennessee is a great school for exotics from quite a few people I've talked to! I love beardies! I have two leos. I have two eggs in the incubator now!

Hey, and should I record how many clutches of leos we raise? This is our second clutch. The first two dried out because we didn't know what we were doing and our vet was at the Avian conference. Now the second clutch is in the incubator and they look fine right now! =)

 

[Kara31191]

That's what I've been doing, but I will start keeping track of the leopard gecko breeding time once they've hatched, because I really don't do anything until they hatch. I basically go, "oh that egg's grown, it must be fertile!".

This may sound stupid. But I can't handle cats. I love birds, dogs, reptiles, anything. Would a "Cat rescue" be a good place to go you think? Or is that a bit risky? I don't know if anyone would let me do anything anyways at my age... besides my vet, but I was thinking of starting to volunteer at Salem Animal Rescue League!

Anyways, thank you for all your advice everyone! =D

 

[ShelterGirl]

This may sound stupid. But I can't handle cats. I love birds, dogs, reptiles, anything. Would a "Cat rescue" be a good place to go you think? Or is that a bit risky? I don't know if anyone would let me do anything anyways at my age... besides my vet, but I was thinking of starting to volunteer at Salem Animal Rescue League!

A rescue or shelter is a good place to get acquainted with species (like cats!) that you aren't familiar with. Generally shelters have volunteers who socialize animals, and sometimes they also have volunteers that assist the medical staff. If you can get the latter, it's a much better experience in terms of gaining veterinary (vs. animal) experience; however, the former might be better to get you comfortable with unfamiliar critters.

p.s. I'm a total cat geek, so PM me if you have any specific questions!

 

[Kara31191]

A rescue or shelter is a good place to get acquainted with species (like cats!) that you aren't familiar with. Generally shelters have volunteers who socialize animals, and sometimes they also have volunteers that assist the medical staff. If you can get the latter, it's a much better experience in terms of gaining veterinary (vs. animal) experience; however, the former might be better to get you comfortable with unfamiliar critters.

p.s. I'm a total cat geek, so PM me if you have any specific questions!

Thank you! I'm really just "uncomfortable" with them, do you know what I mean. It's like how cat/dog people feel about reptiles or something. Not scared, but not confident... Just I don't know. I like them, but I can't really "know" them yet!

 

[david594]

Thank you! I'm really just "uncomfortable" with them, do you know what I mean. It's like how cat/dog people feel about reptiles or something. Not scared, but not confident... Just I don't know. I like them, but I can't really "know" them yet!

Once you start handling them you will realize they arnt that bad. I would take a cat any day over a similiar sized dog.

 

[Electrophile]

I'm going to throw in my dos centavos. Have a back up plan, have a back up plan, have a back up plan. It's totally awesome to have a dream, but there is a fairly good probability you may totally change your mind, you may get totally burnt out on organic chemistry and biochemistry, and end up a business major. Dum dum DUM! 😀 Seriously though, I was in a pre-med freshmen interest group at Mizzou when I was an undergrad and there were so few people that actually went to med school out of our group. Stuff changes, priorities change, so do your best to get a well rounded education without sinking into a huge mound of debt.

I have 11K of debt from undergrad, nothing from grad school, and will end up around 75K in debt from my instate vet school. There's no sense in going somewhere god awful expensive. My brother was all gung ho about being a biomedical engineering major at Wash U and now he's likely changing his major to business/pre-law many many thousands of dollars in debt later. The thing you have to keep in mind is, doctors can afford to go that far in debt because the rate of their return is pretty good, so as long as they aren't buying $1 million mansions, have 25K in credit card debt, and are driving Porches, they're probably okay. Vets just don't have that luxury, but the costs of vet school are similar. It's great to have a dream, just keep loose and be flexible.

 

[david594]

There's no sense in going somewhere god awful expensive.

Its the only option for some of us. In MA we have Tufts at 30k/year plus living expenses. Everywhere else we pay out of state rates. Most of the people in states without instate vet schools have similiar situationss.

Once I get in, I would be happy to get out with less than 150k in loans, but dont really expect to.

 

[Electrophile]

Don't states without public vet schools have partnerships with states that do? Or is that only for admission and not for tuition? If it was going to be that huge of a difference, I'd probably take a year off from school, move to where I wanted to apply to to get residency, and do it that way. Otherwise, it's too much money. If what you say is true, all the more reason NOT to go overboard on a very very pricey undergrad institution.

 

[david594]

Don't states without public vet schools have partnerships with states that do? Or is that only for admission and not for tuition? If it was going to be that huge of a difference, I'd probably take a year off from school, move to where I wanted to apply to to get residency, and do it that way. Otherwise, it's too much money. If what you say is true, all the more reason NOT to go overboard on a very very pricey undergrad institution.

Most(all?) states without vet colleges have contract seats at other schools and it seems that most of the contract seats are at state subsidized rates that are below the regular OOS rates.

Maybe its just MA that is wierd as it is. I think MA is the only state that only has a private vet school. The in state tuition rate is roughly 30k, which is a 15% discount off their regular OOS rate. Because we have a school, MA has no contracts with other states. So the options are the high instate or the high OOS rates at other schools.

 

[OSJ]

Since your in MA, you could try Angell in Boston for some exotic experience. They have a vet there that only does exotics. While I don't know her personally, a lot of the vets there have no problem with someone spending time shadowing to gain experience. There are actually alot of interns and externs at the hospital so it's not uncommon at all to have alot of people around just to learn. They are located in Boston (Jamaica Plain.) It's a huge hospital with just about everything so it would be a good experience!

 

[nyanko]

Maybe its just MA that is wierd as it is. I think MA is the only state that only has a private vet school. The in state tuition rate is roughly 30k, which is a 15% discount off their regular OOS rate. Because we have a school, MA has no contracts with other states. So the options are the high instate or the high OOS rates at other schools.

New York (Cornell) and Pennsylvania (UPenn) are also private vet schools and the only ones in their respective states. I don't know if there are others, but these are off the top of my head. (Western doesn't count because UC Davis is public and in the same state)

 

[david594]

New York (Cornell) and Pennsylvania (UPenn) are also private vet schools and the only ones in their respective states. I don't know if there are others, but these are off the top of my head. (Western doesn't count because UC Davis is public and in the same state)

Cornell is actually half public. Like their entire school of agriculture is publicly funded and I think there might be a few other parts. From the cornell website: "The College of Veterinary Medicine, part of the State University of New York at Cornell University, is located on the Cornell campus in Ithaca, New York, in the heart of the Finger Lakes region."

So I think its technically part of the public side.

Forgot about Upenn though.

 

[Kara31191]

Since your in MA, you could try Angell in Boston for some exotic experience. They have a vet there that only does exotics. While I don't know her personally, a lot of the vets there have no problem with someone spending time shadowing to gain experience. There are actually alot of interns and externs at the hospital so it's not uncommon at all to have alot of people around just to learn. They are located in Boston (Jamaica Plain.) It's a huge hospital with just about everything so it would be a good experience!

I live about 45 minutes away from Boston, so I'm thinking that maybe one summer during college I would work or volunteer down there full time, and maybe live closer to there while I'm doing it! I'm really curious about everything.

Also, I kind of have a back up. If I couldn't get in to vet school, I would not mind being a knowledgable Avian Veterinary Technician.