Animal Science major vs. Biology major for undergraduate studies

[seekingvety]

How would you compare Animal Science major with Biology major? Which one would you say is easier? Also, does an animal science major give you a little more edge for getting into Veterinary School?

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[honeypot999]

Your major doesn’t matter much for vet schools as long as you get your prerequisites done.

 

[VeggieTrex]

How would you compare Animal Science major with Biology major? Which one would you say is easier? Also, does an animal science major give you a little more edge for getting into Veterinary School?

This is really hard to answer, especially without knowing which undergrad you're talking about. As long as you have the prerequisites done you can have any major. I was a Psych/Italian major.

 

[supershorty]

Your major won't matter at all, just your prereqs. One major being "easier" than another won't matter since the prereqs are universal and likely not housed within either of the majors you mentioned.

Major in what is most interesting to you. My biggest regret from undergrad is majoring in what I thought I should major in (which, for me, was animal science/pre-vet) over what I was more interested in (genetics). Would have taken the same courses either way when it came to going to vet school, but I think I would have enjoyed undergrad a lot more if I'd allowed myself to explore my interests instead of rigidly tunnel-visioning what I thought would get me in.

 

[supershorty]

I should I should

Why did multiple of you react to this post and not comment on this

 

[WSUalumDVMhopeful]

It depends on what your “back-up plan” is/what you would be interested in otherwise. I majored in Animal Science but wish I’d gone for genetics or biology. This is because I’m not interested in farming or animal production, so my career prospects are pretty limited. Had I majored in genetics, biology or zoology even, I’d have a lot more back-up paths to take. I like that animal science was the more hands-on major and I enjoyed it, but I don’t think it was the best choice for me.

 

[theservicepaws]

You can cover the pre-reqs with both majors, as others have said.
Would you prefer the rest of your classes for your degree to cover heavy science material in a formal lab setting (i.e. Protein Methods, Ecology, etc.), or more livestock-based material — potentially on the farm depending on your school’s program — (i.e. Livestock Evaluation, Meat Science, etc.).

 

[battie]

What would you do if you never got into vet school, or got into vet school and failed out? That's what you should major in.

 

[VeggieTrex]

What would you do if you never got into vet school, or got into vet school and failed out? That's what you should major in.

Pairing with this, I would warn against thinking you *have* to do one of these two because that's what pre-vets do. Your transcript and major will tell their own story about you.

 

[WonderingStudent]

As others have said, your major does not matter for vet school. Majoring in something you enjoy will make college better and will mean better grades because you actually care about what you're studying. Plus, it can provide you with a backup plan or finding a way to incorporate vetmed into something you enjoy. Studying biology or animal science in college doesn't mean anything in vet school - we all struggle with classes the same.

 

[Jess Monster]

I really liked Animal Sciences at my university and the classes were definitely easier than those in the biology/zoology route (GPA sparing if you will), though the upper level coursework in the latter better prepared me for the vet school curriculum (molecular genetics, histology, virology, immunology, etc.).

Choose what you want. You can always change majors if you don’t like something.