Chemistry/Math Requirements

[Integralpix]

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I've been doing some reading in regard to vet school lately. As a teacher with a liberal arts, BA degree, how much trouble do you think I'd have with the science and math pre-reqs, as well as the vet school program? I somehow managed to skate through college having to take only one college algebra class. 🙂

How much chemistry and math is utilized once a student transitions into vet school and beyond?

 

[pressmom]

The chem series (inorganic, organic, and biochem) is definitely important when you get to vet school. There are classes that deal directly with it, like pharmacology, but they also expect you to have a good understanding of the cellular level in your medicine-based classes (like physiology and the systems courses). I'd recommend you take inorganic chem 1 and introductory biology and see how you fare. But how difficult these classes are varies by school and by professor. I made a B in inorganic 1, but As in the rest of my chem classes, so by all means don't let a B stop you.

As far as math, the requirements vary by school. I had to take calculus for a couple of schools and physics (which all schools require) is math-based. I didn't do much math first year of vet school, but second year it seems like we need a calculator for every test. Some of it is simple high school Algebra 1, but a lot of the math for pharmacology is more advanced algebra (probably a lot like the college algebra you've already taken).

 

[kimoolos]

Depends on the school too. I took Pre-calc in undergrad and I feel it was more than I needed (other than the fact it was a pre-req). The math in vet school typically isn't hard, you sometimes have to be able to do it on the fly, but I think most of all you have to understand the concepts behind the calculations and know why you are punching in certain numbers in your calc. Pharm does require organic/inorganic chem knowledge, and overall the pre-reqs you do in undergrad are very helpful in vet school. That said, you don't have to have a degree in science to do well either. I know a few in my class who are psych, theater majors, and do fine. I agree with the previous post, but think your answer really depends on the school.

 

[laurafinn]

Chemistry in one form or another underpins the majority of what you learn in vet school. I'm not saying that as someone who initially liked the subject much; I majored in History. I think most people come to think of themselves as science-y people in vet school, even if they didn't start out that way.

Math, on the other hand.... I don't think I've used anything past algebra. There are a few things where Calculus lent some insight, but I would imagine that the cost of taking it post-bac outweighs any benefits.

 

[CookieBear]

I was an English major and have a B.A.

If you can look at GRE math and get decent at it, you should be OK. Most schools offer a non-calculus based Physics, which purists think is watered-down, but most vet schools don't care. Even though it's non-calculus based, if it's a general Physics I and II, i.e., a year, it should suffice. If in doubt, ask the department. I saw some schools would offer General Physics I and II, non-calc based, and then they'd have a Physics that was for Physics/science majors that WAS calc-based.

In vet school, so far, you need to be able to calculate dosages - varying degrees of simple to complex. Once you practice them, or if you've seen it done in practice, it becomes somewhat second-nature. If you're calculating a dose of drug for use in a cattle herd.. well, for someone like me that came from small animal -- it's weird, but, again, you practice the problems and get better at them.

I started my pre-req's in 2002 by taking Pre-Calculus, and that was nice, because you get to re-familiarize yourself with things like logarithms.

IMO, you won't be needing calculus too much. Only a few vet schools in the U.S. required it last I knew.

Don't let the math and physics scare you... it scared me for a long time before I just went for it, because I wanted this so badly.

 

[Integralpix]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I was an English major and have a B.A.

Don't let the math and physics scare you... it scared me for a long time before I just went for it, because I wanted this so badly.

What I needed to hear. 🙂

 

[CookieBear]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.





What I needed to hear. 🙂

I somehow forgot to mention chemistry in there... . It may sound like it's the cheesy way to go, but a tutor, if you're having trouble, IMO, is worth it.

I had an organic chem tutor that met with a group of us weekly, and it was like boot-camp. But I learned organic very well (forgot alot of it by now, but still have the basics) and wish I had known about him for general inorganic chem, because I would've gotten much better grades.

I graduated college in '97, so it took me this long to overcome that fear of not being smart enough, or not being a 'science person'. I also took the pre-req's one at a time while working full-time. I'd recommend you ease in slowly, or do it that way, because if you take-on Bio and Chem together, it may be enough to send you running - if you're working full-time at the same time.

For those who will say, well, get used to it, because vet school is way intense, true, it's intense. But I honestly find the material easier (sometimes) to assimilate so far, than some of those pre-req's. I'm putting in 150%, and more time than I ever did (due to working) previously, but since it's now my 'full time job' I feel I can get through it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. I feel I've rambled here. Good luck. It's a long path, and a tough one, but ... if it were easy... everyone would do it, as I've heard said before.

 

[pressmom]

Oh, and BTW, I was a political science major in undergrad. I went back and took all my pre-reqs a few at a time. The only two science classes I had to take for graduation in my undergrad were

drumroll

The Biology of Dinosaurs
and
Earth and Ocean Sciences

I was a major/double (almost triple) minor in arts/social sciences, but yeah....

You can totally go back and do well in science.

Undergrad GPA (granted I went to a top school) --> 3.64
Pre-req GPA --> 3.88

 

[projekt]

Most schools offer a non-calculus based Physics, which purists think is watered-down, but most vet schools don't care.

Well, this purist doesn't think it's watered down... I think Physics without calculus is much harder and makes less sense. I can't think of a good analogy, but remember that the calculus was created to explain physics.

 

[CookieBear]

Agreed, but unless the OP wants to take Calculus, or needs it for the particular school(s) he/she wishes to apply to, it's one more, or one less, pre-req to take.

I wanted to point out that there is sometimes the two different offerings (calc-based or non-calc based) because not everyone may know.

A specific veterinary school doesn't come to mind, but something tells me that one of the schools in the U.S. specifies wanting calc-based physics but doesn't specify calculus itself as a pre-req...? But I may be wrong on that. It's going back too far for me to recall now.

 

[No Imagination]

I'd recommend you take inorganic chem 1 and introductory biology and see how you fare...

Probably late, and you'd (OP) would figure it out, but by inorganic chem 1, he means General (or some variation there of) Chemistry I.

Most schools, least mine, inorganic chemistry was not the same a general and not something to trifle with.