Becoming a veterinarian

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Moonlette

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I'm in a pre-vet program at my highschool and im not doing as well as i should. this has started to make me womder if im not cut out to become a vet.
So i'm wondering if any vets on hear will be will to tell me how they became a vet, from high school to now. What courses did you take in high school and collage? Did your gpa drop? did you go straight to university or did you go to community collage first? What is your vet student/studies story?

I really need to know cause i'm so lost now as a sophmore in high school
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You're young and way too worried. Although I'm going into medicine, your academic track will be similar to my own through undergrad. I wasn't even certain about medicine until I started graduate school. My HS grades were nothing to write home about, but that can change drastically as you get older. I'm sure you'll find your way in college.

Take home: stop stressing, you'll live longer
 
It kind of depends on where you live. If you're in the USA, you don't even need to be worried right now, other than getting decent grades to get into the college you want to go to. Then you start worrying about which classes to take and gaining experiences and GPA and all that noise.

If you're not in the USA and in a country that goes straight from HS to vet school... well then I have no idea.
 
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kcoughli said:
It kind of depends on where you live. If you're in the USA, you don't even need to be worried right now, other than getting decent grades to get into the college you want to go to. Then you start worrying about which classes to take and gaining experiences and GPA and all that noise.

If you're not in the USA and in a country that goes straight from HS to vet school... well then I have no idea.
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I am going to guess they are in the US since they used the term sophomore. That really isn't used in any other country that does high school to vet school, at least that I know of.

OP, I agree with what everyone has stated so far, high school grades aren't looked at when applying to vet school. If you find that you are struggling with certain classes, then see if you can get some additional help with a tutor.

Also, I urge that you try to get some experience shadowing a vet to be sure that you really do want to become a veterinarian.
 
When you say you're not doing as well as you should, what do you mean? Do you mean that your grades aren't good in various academic courses in the maths and sciences? Or that you're not enjoying the animal- or science-related programs or courses? Or are there practical animal- or science- related labs that you can't manage?

If it's about grades, don't worry -- high school grades don't count for anything when it comes time to apply for vet school - your college or university grades will be what is considered. However, if it's about what you like or how your mind works, then it might make a difference -- if your mind simply can't grasp various scientific or mathematical concepts, or if you're not enjoying working with an analytic approach to problem solving, then it really might not be for you. If it's about a physical inability to deal with certain lab or practical problems, that can probably be managed in various ways (adaptation, practice, finding helpful tools).

If you can (where you live), ask a vet if you can "shadow" them and see what it is they do with their day. Another thing that might interest you is a free online course about being a vet taught by the vet college in Edinburgh (https://www.coursera.org/course/edivet). It started last week, but don't let that stop you. It's free to register and free to take (you can even do it anonymously), and you don't even have to do any of the quizzes if you don't want to.
 
Moonlette said:
I'm in a pre-vet program at my highschool and im not doing as well as i should. this has started to make me womder if im not cut out to become a vet.
So i'm wondering if any vets on hear will be will to tell me how they became a vet, from high school to now. What courses did you take in high school and collage? Did your gpa drop? did you go straight to university or did you go to community collage first? What is your vet student/studies story?

I really need to know cause i'm so lost now as a sophmore in high school
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But my folks say high school grades do matter. so they DONT???
 
Moonlette said:
But my folks say high school grades do matter. so they DONT???
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They don't matter as far as applying to vet school. Now if you're thinking about what undergrad college you want to go to, or (more importantly) what kind of scholarships you're able to get, then they do matter.

That being said, working hard on your classes will/may help you be more prepared for undergrad and make getting better grades then come easier.

You mentioned the community college/large university question. My opinion is to get the classes where you can and not to spend extra money where you don't have to. I did a local university for my undergrad and didn't go to a large university. There were also less distractions (extracurricular) at the smaller university. That being said there were also less pre-vet related opportunities associated with the college. It will depend upon what you want out of your experience.
 
WhtsThFrequency said:
They are incorrect.

Your high school grades matter for college. Veterinary schools do not ask for your high school grades.
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Nechochwen said:
They don't matter as far as applying to vet school. Now if you're thinking about what undergrad college you want to go to, or (more importantly) what kind of scholarships you're able to get, then they do matter.

That being said, working hard on your classes will/may help you be more prepared for undergrad and make getting better grades then come easier.

You mentioned the community college/large university question. My opinion is to get the classes where you can and not to spend extra money where you don't have to. I did a local university for my undergrad and didn't go to a large university. There were also less distractions (extracurricular) at the smaller university. That being said there were also less pre-vet related opportunities associated with the college. It will depend upon what you want out of your experience.
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ok
 
Moonlette said:
I'm in a pre-vet program at my highschool and im not doing as well as i should. this has started to make me womder if im not cut out to become a vet.
So i'm wondering if any vets on hear will be will to tell me how they became a vet, from high school to now. What courses did you take in high school and collage? Did your gpa drop? did you go straight to university or did you go to community collage first? What is your vet student/studies story?

I really need to know cause i'm so lost now as a sophmore in high school
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As an aside...is English not your first language?

I ask because this above is chock full of pretty atrocious captialization, spelling, and punctuation for someone in high school. I would work on that before even thinking about vet school. If you can't even spell "college" correctly as a sophomore in high school, you have bigger worries than whether you should consider community college.
 
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WhtsThFrequency said:
As an aside...is English not your first language?

I ask because this above is chock full of pretty atrocious captialization, spelling, and punctuation for someone in high school. I would work on that before even thinking about vet school. If you can't even spell "college" correctly as a sophomore in high school, you have bigger worries than whether you should consider community college.
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I was wanting to say something about this, but didn't want to come across as being an dingus.. You put it better than I ever could have.
 
DVMDream said:
I was wanting to say something about this, but didn't want to come across as being an dingus.. You put it better than I ever could have.
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I was typing fast and didn't care about my grammar and such at the moment.
 
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Don't worry, it's just the internet. Nobody is out to get you. Your high school grades are not going to make or break your veterinary career. Like the others have said, start asking around for opportunities to experience what life as a veterinarian is like and if you think you would enjoy it, go for it.
 
Doktor Timo said:
Don't worry, it's just the internet. Nobody is out to get you. Your high school grades are not going to make or break your veterinary career. Like the others have said, start asking around for opportunities to experience what life as a veterinarian is like and if you think you would enjoy it, go for it.
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I've been volunteering at a Vet office near my house for the past two years
 
Well if you think you would enjoy the work based on the experience you have, then go for it and don't let your high school grades change your mind. How you do in high school is not a good indicator of how you will perform in college or vet school.
 
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