Career change from Finance in NYC - Help!

[SanjNYC]

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Hi everyone! I know I must be one of millions of people in Finance right now looking for a career change. I started my undergrad at the University of Stony Brook in the pre-medicine program. I completed 2 years and did pretty well in Bio, Organic Chem, etc. I was an English major. I transferred to Fordham when I moved back to the city and completed my English degree. I funded my degree by working full time at an Investment Bank, so when I graduated with my English degree I ended up staying in Finance. That was 4 years ago and I am ready to return to my original passion.

I'm getting a little discouraged as there do not seem to be any pre-veterinary programs in NYC. The program at CUNY Hunter has been shut down. I called them and they told me I need to look outside the city.

Does anyone have any advice for getting started? Should I volunteer first? What schools should I look into? Where would be a good place to get my post-bacc? I'm 27 years old and I am hopeful I can make this happen at this late stage. Any advice you can give me would be very helpful!!! Oh, and it would also be helpful if whatever I needed to do would fit around my daytime work schedule, as I need to pay rent, etc. Is it possible to chase this dream while working full time doing something else??

 

[No Imagination]

I'm getting a little discouraged as there do not seem to be any pre-veterinary programs in NYC. The program at CUNY Hunter has been shut down. I called them and they told me I need to look outside the city.

You don't need a pre-vet program. CUNY Hunter is an excellent school (least it was, for the biological sciences).

All you need to apply to vet school are the pre-req (differ from school to school), but can be summed up as:

1 yr. English
1 yr. gen. chem
1 yr. Physics
1 yr. Organic Chem
1 yr. Biology
1 semester biochem
typically add Micro, Anatomy, Physiology, Nutrition, and a writing class.

Every vet school has slightly different req. so you would have check, but I think the ones I listed are the general (all require) classes.

Again, you don't need a formal pre-vet program.

Lot of vet experience, great GPA, good GRE, and the above classes...

I made it through the CUNY system - Loved it. Hunter used to have a great Micro program, not sure if they still do.

 

[SanjNYC]

When I called Hunter they discouraged me against it, saying that they were not able to provide relevant coursework for admittance to most schools. I'm waiting for a call back from their Science department to see if the courses I need are offered. They seem to think that I need more rural/livestock experience. Has anyone done this in NYC recently? I'm trying to do as much pre-vet work with having to leave NYC, as I work here.

 

[vnair2]

When I called Hunter they discouraged me against it, saying that they were not able to provide relevant coursework for admittance to most schools. I'm waiting for a call back from their Science department to see if the courses I need are offered. They seem to think that I need more rural/livestock experience. Has anyone done this in NYC recently? I'm trying to do as much pre-vet work with having to leave NYC, as I work here.

Having large animal experience is good, but by no means necessary. I am a New Yorker as well, applied with no LA experience this year and was accepted, so it is possible. You should start getting experience as soon as possible. Schools like to see that you actually understand what being a vet is all about. Try to get as varied experience as possible, not just SA. LA is tough in the city, but research is a possibility, as is exotic & avian.

As for Post-baccs: I am a post-bacc at NYU. Im not officially in their post-bacc program, though, so I can't speak much about it (everyone I speak to seems to like it though). I know most of their classes are during the day and therefore not ideal for someone working full time. My brother is an official premed post bacc at Columbia and likes it. All his classes are at night, so if he wasn't so lazy, he could in theory work full time. They also have good advising. The downsides to both NYU and Columbia, of course, are that they gauge you for every penny possible.

Personally, I wanted to take my post-bacc work through CUNY, but found it nearly impossible to do unless I enrolled in their post bacc program, which they wouldnt let me do, because I only needed like 3 classes.

Anyway. Hope that helps, PM me if you have any questions. I can't bring myself to study these days, so I am happy to answer questions.

 

[SanjNYC]

This is very helpful! Thank you! I'm looking at an unofficial transcript and it seems like I have more than the required for the UPenn program ( I just chose that one randomly). I definitely need a ton of experience and also need to take my GRE's. Any advice for GRE pre in NYC? I'm hoping my only option is not shelling out dough for Kaplan or a similar program. Does CUNY offer anything in this regard?

 

[No Imagination]

When I called Hunter they discouraged me against it, saying that they were not able to provide relevant coursework for admittance to most schools.

I dont know if Hunter changed a lot since I was there - but you may be dealing with people who just don't know what they are talking about. I love CUNY, but lets be honest, they have some of the most ill informed/incompetent registra offices of any university i've ever dealt with.

Now I know for a fact that both CSI and Brooklyn College offers all the classes you need for the vast majority of vet schools, so I'd find it hard to believe that the CUNY that was once renowned for their micro/bio program couldn't offer you the classes you need.

With that said, you may end up having to take Animal Nutrition or Comp. Physiology elsewhere, but your in NYC, you can take those 2-3 extra classes anywhere.

GRE: Buy 2 $20 books, relearn the math - Its easy math that they make hard (I mean really easy, and they make it VERY tricky). The GRE is more about studying for the test then learning the material IMO (you should already know the material) - Do a few practice exams see if you can crack 6-700 on Quant (Math). If you are well read and competent, the verbal should be a piece of cake. I have no idea how to study for that section, I just kinda did it.