Any Non-Traditional Students Out There?

Started by annie800
Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
annie800

annie800

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Just wondering if there are other non-traditionals out there?
Are we as desireable as the traditionals?

What makes you a non-traditional? Did you complete other degrees, have kids, work in a different field, travel, took time off, become a vet tech or had another animal-related job, decide later in life?
What is your story? 🙂

I will be almost 29 if/when I get accepted for c/o 2015. I lost a parent, took time off, graduated a little late, worked in health care, and just realized what I was passionate about later than most people. I am one of those non-traditionals without real vet experience as of yet. Just started volunteering through a horse rescue. 😀
 
Last edited:
I am a non trad. and I just got accepted to North Carolina as OOS so I think that it can be a good thing to be non-trad 🙂. I am almost 26 and have a bachelor's degree in opera. I started working as a vet assistant to supplement my singing and it kind of took over. For many of the schools I applied to, it seemed to be a plus. The supplemental for Florida was about what you can contribute to the school other than the animal/science stuff. NC state asked a similar question. I think it depends on what the school is looking for. Good luck with everything!!
 
There are tons of us out here!

I think we are more desirable than the traditionals, because we have to make a bigger effort, more of a commitment, to come back to school and pursue our dreams. It's easier when you are 22 years old and don't have "adult" responsibilities yet (and I don't mean to offend anyone by that, but most traditional undergrads don't have a mortgage, job, +/- kids, etc.) I felt like the adcoms and my interviewers felt the same way.

I graduated in 1995 with a degree in Theatre that I never used, but only got because I had to get a degree in SOMETHING. Worked a variety of non-intellectually-stimulating jobs (retail, menial office jobs) and answered an ad for a veterinary assistant in 2000. After working there for a couple of years I decided that I could, in fact, be a vet (something that I had considered as a teenager, but decided at the time that there was no way I could do it). Started taking prerequisites part time (one class at a time) at a local branch campus, applied in 2006, got accepted and started vet school in 2007. Now I'm a third year - can't believe it, it has gone by so fast - and will be starting clinics in less than 2 months. 😱

ETA: I'm 36 years old now, and there is at least one guy over 50 in our class, as well as several others my age.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
cowgirla said:
But yeah, LOTS of non-trads here, and I certainly dont think any of them are at a disadvantage for having taken the roundabout way of getting here.
Click to expand...

Lots and lots! I'm non-trad because I had a previous degree and career, but there are many who are married, have kids, served in the military, etc.

Vet school seems to be VERY non-trad friendly, in my experience.
 
I just turned 39, and this is the first time I've applied to vet school. I was in the Navy for 9 years, moved to TN 10 years ago so I could go to UTK. Started working 2 jobs while taking my first few college courses. My sister decided she didn't want to be a mom (but evidently couldn't figure out how to STOP having kids) so I stopped going to school to help my parents raise my nieces. Fall of '07 I started back at school taking anywhere from 16-20 credit hours, and here I am, finishing up Biochem and hoping for great news from UTK in the next few months. I figure, as a non-trad I know who I am, and have worked hard to get where I am. I know I'm a better student now than I ever would have been in my early 20's. So, personally I think that makes me much more desirable, instead of less😀
 
I started at UTK when I was 41. I am in my 3rd year and will be 45 at graduation. I had a career as a college administrator and then a realtor, home educated my daughters, who are currently 15 and 19, and never lost my dream of becoming a veterinarian.

I have another classmate just 2 years my junior who spent several years in law enforcement.
 
I will chime in as well. I am 37 (about to be 38!) and am on my second attempt applying to vet schools. I graduated with a degree in fine arts and did artsy and odd-jobs for many years, settling on web design in the late 90s and early 00s. After doing that for a few years I realized I wanted to do something more with an early passion of mine, animals....So I started volunteering and was hooked. I did whatever I could to get more experience and I started taking bio classes at the University where I worked as a designer and took all my necessary classes there. I have since acquired 2 kick-butt laboratory animal positions at that same University and am now excited to be interviewing for school...so....yea. I do have some pangs of regret that I didnt think about starting this earlier, but-I can't change my past decisions. And I'm really excited about my future...oh, I also have a husband, no mortgage or kids though...
 
I have a degree in English but worked in Vet Med for 12 years. Aside from a few other jobs it's all I've done. A couple of years ago I decided to finally take the plunge and apply. I'm 32 with a husband and toddler. My understanding is that the school's like to see diversity so basically anything that doesn't look like the typical vet student ( young, white, female, biology major, etc) helps. At least that's what I've been told. Good Luck!
 
I'm 30 at NCSU and there are quite a few of us non-trads. I think admissions is somewhat non-trad friendly at some schools..... the actual 'program' not always so much. IE I will be forced to sit through a business class that includes most of a day on writing rsumes, or the discovery that a professor has arranged their exam (including practical) to extend 40 minutes past the regular end of the day which can make childcare problematic, or, my favorite, a selective where they don't tell you till the first day that you probably won't get out on time (defined as 5pm) and that very day you don't get out till 9pm. However, having said that, I do think they are some what responsive when non-trads bring up these points. It might not do ME any good, but it might help the next class.
 
I'm also a non-trad student. I got my undergrad degree in English and was planning on going into journalism. And then in senior year I changed my mind after working with my equine vet. Then I started at a small animal vet where I've worked for nearly 3 years.
 
Another one here - I graduate college in 2002 with unrelated degrees, worked for a number of years, and realized what I really wanted to do with my life. If I get in this cycle I'll be 30 in the fall when I would start. Maybe it's because I am one, but I think non-trads add some interesting life experiences and a little different look on life to the classes.
 
sumstorm said:
I'm 30 at NCSU and there are quite a few of us non-trads. I think admissions is somewhat non-trad friendly at some schools..... the actual 'program' not always so much. IE I will be forced to sit through a business class that includes most of a day on writing rsumes, or the discovery that a professor has arranged their exam (including practical) to extend 40 minutes past the regular end of the day which can make childcare problematic, or, my favorite, a selective where they don't tell you till the first day that you probably won't get out on time (defined as 5pm) and that very day you don't get out till 9pm. However, having said that, I do think they are some what responsive when non-trads bring up these points. It might not do ME any good, but it might help the next class.
Click to expand...

Good to hear sumstorm - I've applied to NCSU as my IS. I'll be one month shy of 29 *if* I get in this year. Do you have a child? On one of the information nights the admissions woman said that it's pretty common for a few students per class to get pregnant or start vet school with a child at NCSU. Is that true? Since this is a hot topic for us at the moment.....

I graduated in 2004 with a BS degree in Equine Studies. I only realized that I wanted to pursue a career in vet med when I became a learn-on-the-job small animal tech in 2002. Although, I actually didn't get around to doing anything about it until last year because of living in expensive cities that don't cater to those wanting to do low-paying vet tech jobs and go to school for pre-reqs, plus getting married etc.etc. Finally, I'm full throttle towards vet school and really crossing my fingers that I get in...I think maybe telling everyone I know that I was applying may have been a mistake 😉
 
Yup, there are tons of us. I'm 28 and a first year student at UC Davis. I'm so non-trad that I don't even have a degree in anything 😛 I went to Virginia Tech right out of high school, had mediocre grades and just got bored and dropped out in my second year. Then I traveled a ton, worked all sorts of crazy jobs that were completely unrelated to vet med, and one day realized I was kind of wasting my life. I completed my pre-reqs at a community college (minus genetics, at a nearby university) and applied last year to be accepted on my first try. I also got married about a year and a half ago, and we live 6 hours apart. It sucks, but we make it work!

I honestly think the ad coms looked favorably on all of my varied life experience, and my perseverance to return to school full-time while working full-time.
 
Tech2Vet said:
Good to hear sumstorm - I've applied to NCSU as my IS. I'll be one month shy of 29 *if* I get in this year. Do you have a child? On one of the information nights the admissions woman said that it's pretty common for a few students per class to get pregnant or start vet school with a child at NCSU. Is that true? Since this is a hot topic for us at the moment.....
Click to expand...

True. We have at least 4 students in my class with 2+kids apiece. Pregnancy isn't common, but does happen and I was told by staff, professors, advisors, and upper class students that the school is very supportive of how the parents decides to manage pregnancy, birth, leave, etc.

I do know you can't be in anatomy lab if preg/breast feeding (however, I believe if you purchase the ventilator systems lab folks who develop allergies wear, an exception can be made.)

I know people have taken 0 days off (vacation births) to 1 year. I was told one woman returned 4 days post birth (only attended labs/lectures useful to her.)

Edit: realized I didn't answer part of the question. I do not currently have children. I am a foster parent who took infants and teens in special circumstances, but we have requested to be 'held in reserve' for extremly pressing situations while I am in school just because the transitions are difficult, and with infants, health/drug dependence/feeding can all be unknowns.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Another non-trad here. I'm 37 and in my second year at Michigan State. I worked in IT for many years and realized that my job was going to be outsourced. I decided to do what I had always wanted to do and started my pre-reqs at a community college. Finished them up at 4 year college and only applied to Michigan State - I was accepted the first time I applied.

It's been an adjustment for my husband and I. I live at school during the week and come home on the weekends. He's had to get used to me spending the vast majority of my weekend studying and the stress level that goes along with exam. It does suck at times but it's possible to make it work! I think our marriage has actually become stronger because of vet school. 🙂
 
It is starting to feel traditional to be a non-trad! I will be starting school at 35 if I get in next cycle (will be my third round of applications, although even I admit I should not have applied 2 years ago... just didn't have enough to prove my transition was complete to the ad coms.). I have undergraduate degrees in chemistry and physics, a master's in physical chemistry, worked in the computer industry as a chemist, and now teach high school.

One thing that has been slightly tricky with my non-traditionalness is that I actually took most of my pre-reqs in college, but that was 12-16 years ago now. So I have been in a battle to take even more classes trying to show current proficiency without retaking all the lower division stuff. So far I have had good luck with the schools that I have contacted about not retaking classes, even if they have a published "age limit" on pre-reqs. Still have a few more schools to contact for the next application cycle. Up until now I have only applied to my IS school, but clearly that plan isn't working for me so now I have to worry about being eligible to apply to more schools!

I have also been busy picking up experience where I can. I've been working upwards of 7 days a week between my paying career and the nonpaying volunteer vet experiences for the last 2 years. It is tiring but fun! I do worry about how much longer I can maintain this life, but hopefully things will work out sooner than later.

So apparently I am not a poster child for non-trads being "more desirable," but hey, I still like to think I would be an asset to any program and a great vet too!
 
Like others - 30 years old here, in my first year. There are quite of few of us non-trads at MSU. If I had to take a guess, i would say 30% or so are over 25, more then I suspected.

I don't think all the non-trads are all that surprising. Vet Med for most of us, is a passion, and I just don't think many of us would be happy doing anything else, therefore we are willing to stick it out longer even if our first (or 4th) try doesn't pan out.

Me, I had bad undergrad grades, traveled a lot (not apologizing for that!), and had to take time off every now and again for work and financial. I think it took me 6+ years to graduate with my BS, and my GPA wasn't that hot.

But persistence > all else, IMO

Good luck to you!
 
So cool to learn that there are many of us! 🙂 nice to hear everyone's stories, so much diversity too. Very cool.
 
I'm 42, and if everything goes smoothly I will be here two years hence, sweating out the wait along with all the other UC Davis applicants.😀 If accepted on my first try, I'll matriculate at age 45.

I just keep telling myself, "I'm not old--I'm an outlier!"

I'm starting from absolute zero--I have to take all of the prereqs, plus gain several hundred experience hours, in a little less than two years. That I am self-employed is a huge advantage; I can arrange my schedule around the demands of school, volunteering and shadowing. I also don't have a spouse or kids to worry about.

My age and life experiences are huge advantages. They are things that will make me a much better vet than I would have been had I followed the normal schedule. I used to regret that my teenage self gave up on her desire to be a vet, but now that I've decided to pick up where she left off 25+ years later I don't have any more regrets, or feel like I've lost time.
 
Another non-trad, here. I turned 35 the first week of vet school. I have three children. I did some undergrad, had a family, got my kids school ready, did a lot of retail, then went back to school to get the requirements ready for vet school.

It took a lot of effort to get experience that I needed, because I didn't have the traditional undergraduate schedule with which to contend. The no prior experience part didn't help, either.

The faculty and staff have been very supportive with offering assistance, but I haven't had to take them up on it, yet. I know of another 7 or so of us in the class. I think Illinois picked more non-trads on purpose, because of the new curriculum. Or, they really like us.

I think I'm seeing my husband more often then I have in the past few years. (I worked a lot of overnights.) It's been a time management bear, but I think it's going as smoothly as it can.
 
I'm pretty non-traditional, I'd say. Got a CS degree, worked for less than 3 months programming at a clearing firm for stock brokerages (booooring), worked at a vet clinic, went back to school and got a second degree in Molecular Biology and Microbiology, fell in love with genetics and research, got rejected from UC Davis the first time, am completing a MS and applying again this cycle. Yuup....

edit: If I get in this year I will turn 30 a month and a half into my first quarter. :meanie:
 
Last edited:
rustysmom said:
Another non-trad here. I'm 37 and in my second year at Michigan State. I worked in IT for many years and realized that my job was going to be outsourced. I decided to do what I had always wanted to do and started my pre-reqs at a community college. Finished them up at 4 year college and only applied to Michigan State - I was accepted the first time I applied.

It's been an adjustment for my husband and I. I live at school during the week and come home on the weekends. He's had to get used to me spending the vast majority of my weekend studying and the stress level that goes along with exam. It does suck at times but it's possible to make it work! I think our marriage has actually become stronger because of vet school. 🙂
Click to expand...

I'm rustysmom's West Coast doppelganger - 35 (soon to be 36), in my 2nd year at UC Davis, and also worked in IT before vet school. I live 90 minutes away from my partner but we visit each other on weekends. Thankfully he understands that I still need to spend time studying on the weekend & has other hobbies 🙂

It was hard to get enough experience to apply, so I ended up quitting my IT job to work in vet med. I think it's probably doable to get the experience part-time, but that would have taken forever - plus I was concerned that adcoms wouldn't think I was 100% committed to the field if I didn't make the jump (my perception, nothing explicitly stated).

There are a ton of non-trads in my class, and I think sometimes that it can be an advantage because you can bring pretty unique experiences to the table. Best of luck to those considering it!
 
I'm 37, work as an RN in a Level I trauma center ER and also as a flight RN on a helicopter and still go back to wanting to be a vet. I'm now back in school doing prereq's for vet school. . working full-time. I worked for a vet for 3 years in my 20's who said I'd be better off going to medical school "vets make no money." To me, it's not about the money.
 
Yay for the nontrads!!!!! I am almost 40 and finally decided to apply to vet school this year after many years of thinking about it. I have been teaching forensic science and zoology at a public high school for ten years, all the while thinking "what if I had applied to vet school?" I have had enough of the what ifs and decided to apply this year. My main concern was that there would be some statute of limitations on courses or experience, but found that most schools did not have one, so I went ahead and applied. Got interviewed and one and still waiting to hear from two more schools, so hopefully I have a chance of getting in this year. I feel that as a nontrad, I know what I want now, whereas when I just received my undergrad degree, I thought about vet school, but wasn't completely sure that is what I wanted to do. I am now completely convinced that this is what I am supposed to be doing for the rest of my life and feel that I would be a much better vet student because of it. 😀
 
Nontrad as well-35-and it's not looking good for round 2, so on to round 3! Finishing my masters, starting my PhD, and keeping my fingers crossed!
 
(Okay Marsala, I said I was in my mid 30's...but I just turned 38 a few months ago!! 🙂 )

So I am 38 years old....and the typical career path now that I want to change. However, I have never been married and I do not have kids. I had a four relationship that ended about 3 years ago....we learned we were going to be heading in different directions. I worry about this everyday...still being single. I feel I wear this invisible scarlet letter ('er statement rather) "I am single and 38...yes it is true". I am attractive, fun, and bike and run regularly and stuff like that...well I am active I mean. I am starting to feel like something is wrong with me 'cause I am still single...blah blah..... so if I am fortunate enough to find that right person and have a child (which by the time that happens I will be in my 40's so it would really be in the hands of god at that point) that would be great. I am make good money so I it hard to think that I will soon quit my job (if accepted of course....the job I don't like....b/c I have loved animals since I was little....and how wound up deviating and taking the realllllyyyy long path now I can't even remember.🙂 But anyway KUDOs to the older not trads....you ROCK!! For following your heart and not fearing to do so later in life. I felt liberated when I decided to embark on this adventurer despite it being a bumpy and unpredictable and hard ride!!!!
 
Don't stress about being single, Tambotie. I've never been married, no kids (just fur children😀), and firmly believe that good things happen, usually when you aren't looking!
​
 
Thanks Marsala. You are right about things happening when and how you least expect. I have a large fur child who keeps me quite busy and entertained!! 🙂
 
Fellow non-trad here. I'm 30 years old, finishing up my pre-req's and will be applying this upcoming cycle. After teaching high school math for 5 years, I discovered I was never going to make it to retirement....either the kids were going to kill me or I was going to kill them! I had always loved animals growing up but hadn't really considered being a vet. During my teaching misery, I adopted a puppy to bring some much-needed joy in my life. After only having her for 3 weeks, she died from distemper. I was kinda bit by the vet bug after that. I've been working at a SA hospital for the past year, still working on getting some LA experience.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Tambotie said:
(Okay Marsala, I said I was in my mid 30's...but I just turned 38 a few months ago!! 🙂 )

I had a four relationship that ended about 3 years ago....we learned we were going to be heading in different directions.
Click to expand...

I thought for a second you were telling us something else that was non-traditional about yourself because I read this as I had four relationships 😳. I know a few people who are poly or in open relationships but I though it was an interesting play on non-trad. Then I reread it and understood it was a typo.

I worry about this everyday...still being single. I feel I wear this invisible scarlet letter ('er statement rather) "I am single and 38...yes it is true". I am attractive, fun, and bike and run regularly and stuff like that...well I am active I mean. I am starting to feel like something is wrong with me 'cause I am still single...blah blah..... so if I am fortunate enough to find that right person and have a child (which by the time that happens I will be in my 40's so it would really be in the hands of god at that point) that would be great.
Click to expand...

I feel like your story resonates with me in that I had a long relationship that didn't work out and now I feel strange to still be single at a stage in my life where I thought that wouldn't be the case. I tend to over think things like if I met someone at this age, graduated this age, I would be this old when I would have a kid.....it will drive you crazy. I just take it one day at a time and/or one admission cycle at a time.

Anyways, I am a non-trad. I felt like my grades would never be competitive enough to get into vet school but I knew I wanted to at least get some sort of professional/graduate degree. I decided to go ahead and apply and got wait listed. It gave me hope so now I will keep applying every chance I get😀1
 
Another non-trad here. I got a liberal arts degree and studied mostly foreign languages. I loved school, loved to travel, loved to have fun, and didn't know what I wanted to do but was considering foreign service and academia... After graduation I took more intensive language courses, got a certificate to teach ESL, and moved to Central Europe for three years to be with my ex and have an adventure. I later decided I needed to have a career for myself--one that satisfied some of the urges I had--to have a profession where I could support myself, to work with animals, and to be in the sciences. I returned home and began pursuing the vet thing. That was five years ago. I took three years studying and volunteering in shelters, and the past two working full-time in one. ((To get my pre-reqs I ended up having to get another degree, so I got another Bachelor's in Biology.))

At the moment I am waiting to hear back from my other two schools. The only doubt I have still about the vet school thing is student loan debt. I'll be 35 when I graduate and the potential for debt in the six figures (maybe even $200K) really concerns me.

Nevertheless, I do think I have proven to myself that I would be a great vet--and at the moment I am challenging and preparing myself even more by managing people and budgeting. I think the experience will really help me if I do decide to take up the schools' offers.

Lately I am getting the craving for something new--maybe a return to Europe or back to NYC... not sure, but I have a bug in my ear telling me it is time to move. I do hope it is for vet school, too!
 
Pouches Rock thanks for sharing! I totally do the math in my head...if I do this by this age, this by this age and so on...it'll all just be perfect. Right!? Not! Nothing ever happens like this I know. When I lament my friends are even like shut up with that stuff. 🙂 Oh well, by nature I seem to like to worry about one thing or another. I am feeling better about being non-trad after reading through this thread. And I have read some really cool stuff about other applicants/students/aspiring vets. Thanks!!!!!
 
Also a non-traditional here. I am going to be 27 this year and I wont be able to apply until next year.. so I will be 28. I do have a BS in Business Management with a minor in finance. It has to be said though that I really didn't care about my grades... 10 page paper due in a week, I would wait until the night before and get a C on it instead of an A if I would have started earlier. Overall, I graduated and have around a 3.0 average. After saying that I will say that I am glad that I am older and applying. I do have a husband, 2 kids and too many animals however this is what I want. I want to study and get good grades as well pay attention in class because I want to do this. I also volunteer and I am hoping that by getting better grades and my ability to volunteer will shine through.

Also, I don't have the challenges that so many do of zero financial support and the overhead burden of debt. Through scholarships, GI Bill and etc. I am able to pay for a LARGE portion of vet school. My husand is our only income and we are on a budget however we have great life. I am able to apply as a more mature student, w/o the need of LARGE loans, w/o worrying about how to pay my bills while in school and lastly because my husband is military I can apply to 3 schools as an IS student!! We are from MO but live in AL and all schools in those states fall under the military umbrella of IS tuition. OVerall, I am glad that I am non-traditional.

Sorry this is so long!
 
I never really thought of myself as non-trad, but I suppose I am. My first application was senior year of college, and due to a lot of weird circumstances and bad luck, I didn't get accepted until five years later. For most of that intervening time, I have been working as a Microbiologist - first in a veterinary diagnostic lab, and now in a teaching hospital - and reapplying every year. I'll be 27 when I finally start school - it really snuck up on me! 😱
 
Hi guys! I have mostly lurked and read everything possible on here but thought I might chime in on this subject.🙂 I will apply for the first time in the next cycle (for 2011). I am 36 YO, married with children and many fur kids. I have always worked with animals in some fashion except for a brief stint in HS. I was initially on this path then but had a crappy hs chemistry teacher and saw an animal (horse) euthanized for the first time when I was 17. I didn't think that I was smart enough or could handle that aspect. Honestly, maybe at that time, I couldn't but I know now that I am smart enough (although some brain cells have burned away) and can handle euthanasia. I definitely believe that when you are a non-trad, you do have certain advantages. That said, the younger group has advantages that we may not. I for one can NOT go without sleep anymore!:laugh:
 
Another serious non-trad here. I'll be 39 when i start in the Fall. I grew up wanting to be a vet, got a degree in Biology, was married to an a-hole in college and threw my dreams to the side. Played 3 sports in college and had mediocre grades (by vet med standards).

I divorced the a-hole, had a career as a pilot and in the finance industry as well. With everything going down the tubes last year, I decided at the last minute that it was time to go for it and apply. I missed the US deadlines and only applied in the Caribbean. I got accepted and then Edinburgh opened up a late app cycle in the spring. I applied and was accepted. I had to defer a year in order to get my life in order first. I have zero recent vet experience, but plenty of life experience. I didn't even have a vet to write a LOR, it was my present and previous employers. I also have majorly old pre-reqs with the exception of two recent classes. So, it CAN be done!

I cannot wait to start vet school and wish all the non-trads much success!
 
I'm considering going back to school again as well. I graduated a few years back with a BS in Software Engineering... knowing that it wasn't the right field for me.

In my early middle and high school days, I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist. I loved the concept of getting to go scuba diving and studying marine wildlife. Then I learned the truth... you spend endless years in school, only to graduate with boatloads of debt with salaray no higher than a burger-flipper, and if you can find a job it'll likely be spent studying slime in a river somewhere not tropical. So with high school graduation nearing, I was left to choose a career path that I thought I might like... computers, I liked playing with them, I knew how to use them at an expert level, I aced my programming classes without even opening a book.

Off to University I went, with deluded dreams of being a professional hacker, game programmer or tester... thank you Hollywood. Only too soon did I realize the grim reality of the life. After taking class after tedious class, being bored out of my skull, and grades slipping into oblivion as I became increasingly disenchanted with the whole thing. Somehow I managed to graduate, with a piss-poor gpa of 2.4 and managing to squeeze my way into an entry-level developer position.

Interestingly enough, with the misguidings of Hollywood I had going in to college, I had never expected one movie to be as accurate as it really was. Office Space has become my life. While the pay is relatively decent, sitting behind a desk and 'playing' on a computer all day long is no longer the fantasy it once was. Spending my days staring at a screen and turning into a coding zombie is more than I can take. Soon after I graduated college, I took a couple of classes at a community college with the aim of going to Pharmacy school, I figured it was a science that I like, but eventually realized the only difference between a software developer and a pharmacist is that one sits and one stands... but they're both stuck behind a desk.

Another couple of years go by, and here I am, just two years away from paying off my school debt. I'll be 28 when I am completely debt free. And I want to be a zoo/aquarium/exotic animal veterinarian. So now I have 2 years to figure out a plan of how to get into vet school. I know my BS won't get me anywhere with my GPA as poor as it was... I'm probably going to go back and redo a large number of the pre-requisite courses so I can at least hope to gain admission into a vet school.

So props to you all who have made those steps to a wonderful career! Hopefully I'll be there someday too!
 
Though I'm not yet a student, as legally defined, I would be considered non-traditional. I'm a 34 y/o Army captain in the Signal Corps - means I plan and execute missions that have anything to do with communications, and sometimes anything running on electricity (I will not fix toasters ever again). I guess I'm a non-traditional officer as well, being that I was an enlisted infantryman 5 years before commissioning. Come to think of it, I've been non-traditional since 2000 - most people don't enlist in the infantry with a BS in Ani Sci. I've been down the path of vet school applications before, the highest success being wait listed at Purdue in '99 - I flubbed the interview. Looking back, it's probably a good thing I didn't get in. I can say I was emotionally unprepared at the time - very shy and had a hard time talking to people I didn't know. Now I can brief GEN Petreaus (and have) on a small base in the middle of the desert with no issues. The downside to being out of the field for 10 years is that I have forgotten all of my animal experience. The vet experience is mostly accounted for, which is good. I'll refresh my non-vet animal experience over the next year or two. If all goes as planned, I'll be graduating just before birthday number 42.
 
We will get there!!!
My friend says it just may not be how you want or when you want but you will get there if it is what you want.
 
I'm still young, but I left a graduate program in psychology to start this journey at the beginning of 2008. I started my pre-reqs in January, 2008 and here I am - a first year student at Davis. I did what I had to do to get the classes in and experience in and it worked.

Before I left grad school I was involved heavily in psychology and research - I took time off after college to work, I travel internationally a lot, and I've had jobs since I was 15, all different areas (restaurants, lifeguarding, research, etc).

My story is quite random -- too long a story to write here right now, but a lot of it is written about on my blog (link in signature).



Good luck with your journey! Make sure you have fun and enjoy every minute!
 
annie800 said:
Oh, that is so cool!!!! I live in Deerfield! 🙂
Click to expand...

WOW!!! Small world!! I saw that you are going to apply next year. If you don't mind me asking, do you know where you want to apply? Maybe since we live so close we could meet up sometime to discuss the chances of nontrads in vet school!!!! 😀
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Quick post here. There are 7 people over 30 in my first year class here at UMN. CSU has two over forty in their 2013 class that I know of, and they graduated a 61 year old a few years ago, who hung around and got boarded in radiology after that (3 more years). Of course we all know that FlyHi is soon be the oldest vet student in history, and will still not be a Dr, when she graduates, two years after I am a Dr. for real. 😛 Who loves ya baby! 😍

If vet med is your dream, you are never too old to do it. Remember, whether you do it or not you will still be the same age four years later. Go for it, this is my idea of an early retirement, and ad coms like to have some older class members in the mix. We get to be the older brothers and sisters to everyone else, and have no problems fitting in socially and academically.
 
Of course we all know that FlyHi is soon be the oldest vet student in history, and will still not be a Dr, when she graduates, two years after I am a Dr. for real. 😛 Who loves ya baby! 😍


Hmmm I was kind of offended your comment. You come across as elitist and arrogant as if your only reason for going to vet school to become veterinarian is so that you can have 'Dr.' in front your name, eh?? I think it shows disregard for programs that might not be structured as those in U.S. This is just how I read it...I can't speak for interpretation by others.
 
Tambotie said:
Of course we all know that FlyHi is soon be the oldest vet student in history, and will still not be a Dr, when she graduates, two years after I am a Dr. for real. 😛 Who loves ya baby!


Hmmm I was kind of offended your comment. You come across as elitist and arrogant as if your only reason for going to vet school to become veterinarian is so that you can have 'Dr.' in front your name, eh?? I think it shows disregard for programs that might not be structured as those in U.S. This is just how I read it...I can't speak for interpretation by others.
Click to expand...


Last I heard, Minnesota WAS in the US...and is a structured program??

Leave CR alone, he was just making a joke...From what I've gathered, he and Flyhi have been joking around with eachother for a long long time...it wasn't a slight on anyone.

Internet = hard to translate tone
 
Yes, cowgirla, I know Minnesota is in the U.S....I thought I read a thread where Flyhi was going to be attending Edinburgh and the Dr. vs. not Dr. seemed to be a ding....that is how it read anyway.

My sincerest apologies to have ruffled anyone's feathers.

Kind regards.
 
Tambotie said:
Yes, cowgirla, I know Minnesota is in the U.S....I thought I read a thread where Flyhi was going to be attending Edinburgh and the Dr. vs. not Dr. seemed to be a ding....that is how it read anyway.

My sincerest apologies to have ruffled anyone's feathers.

Kind regards.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it was a ding. CR isn't always the most aware of social graces. (i.e. I'm sure they have this conversation all the time but posting about it here can step on toes) Not saying you shouldn't call people out on that stuff, but CR is a (self-admitted) lost cause 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
WAMC - non-traditional application, upward trend of grades
Replies
3
Views
775
Fishy_Applicant
Fishy_Applicant
F
WAMC: 2nd time applicant, low GPA non-traditional
Replies
2
Views
655
katiemcat
katiemcat
futuredogtorD
Hawai’i WICHE Students
Replies
3
Views
495
battie
battie
malkat
ROSS 2026 Accepted Students
Replies
21
Views
4K
bigred123
bigred123
S
WAMC: 4th time Applicant Non-traditional. Low cum, high last 45
Replies
5
Views
1K
Imbridus
I