Community College prerequisite courses and veterinary experience Qs

[GellaBella]

Hi guys,

So I am thinking of applying to vet school next fall. I will be a non-traditional student since I'm doing a PhD (Microbiology and Molecular Genetics) now and will be graduating next summer. In undergrad, I only had to take one math course (calculus), so I will need to take another course before I apply. Do vet schools generally look down on community college courses used to fill prerequisites? I'm thinking I would probably be taking a statistics course.

Also, I'm trying to figure out how to get veterinary experience. As of right now, I am shadowing an exotics vet twice a week for about 8 hours a day. However I don't really get to "DO" too much. I really am only shadowing. It is hard for me to do any more than this because I am in lab doing research from 10am-8pm the 5 days a week. I have done research under a DVM, PhD advisor at the University of Cambridge, but that was about 5 years ago now, and I don't really think that I can go back and ask him for a recommendation, simply based on the period of time that has elapsed since I worked with him.

I guess my question is that I have seen in some posts that people have said you can list research experience in different ways, can I list the time I was at Cambridge even though I won't have a recommendation from it? Does my current research count as vet experience even though it has nothing to do with animals? (I've read some people say it does).

I'm trying to find ways to have animal/vet experience without my PhD advisor killing me! Any help/suggestions would be great!

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[LVT2DVM]

Cant give you advice on the research, I'll leave that up to someone else. But as far as the vet experience. Adcoms want to see you have a BROAD range of experiences (small, large, food animal, exotics, lab, zoo, industry, academia, and research are just some suggestions) but the reason they want you to have those experiences has to do more with understanding the options that you will have as a vet later and the differences among species, ect... They are less concerned with what you can do "technically", since your goal is learn at school all things you need to be a vet. So dont worry as much about doing, as much as what types of observations you have. Look into some of the others I suggested and before you ask, unless the school specifies, there isnt a min/max number of hours you should spend at any one site. Just try to get a good sense of what each type of experience has to offer. Does that make sense? Im sure some others will have additional advice to add.

 

[HopefulAg]

Do vet schools generally look down on community college courses used to fill prerequisites? I'm thinking I would probably be taking a statistics course.

I can only speak for A&M but I know that they grade schools based on a scale of what they consider Academic Rigor and some schools have a higher multiplier than others do (such as Blinn, our community college, would have a much lower multiplier than A&M).

But as to whether they look 'down' upon it, I can't say. I can tell you that a guy who worked at our vet clinic and went to community college back home did get into vet school, so it's certainly possible.

but the reason they want you to have those experiences has to do more with understanding the options that you will have as a vet later and the differences among species, ect...

Also to get rid of all the people who think veterinary medicine is just playing with puppies and kitties all day or who don't want to put in the hours necessary.

 

[pupsforseeing]

for what it's worth, i was accepted on my first try to penn and davis and had filled some of my pre-req's (stats, gen chem, and calc) at a community college. i took those courses while simultaneously in high school, so i'm not sure if that changes anything or not. but, at my interviews when we discussed when/where i took various courses (the timeline of my education is pretty screwed up and complicated), i never got the impression that taking those courses at a community college was a strike against me.

i have a feeling it would be a bigger deal if you hadn't proven you are capable of upper division science coursework. but, if you're about to complete a micro/genetics phd, i'm going to go out on a limb and say that won't be a factor 🙂

 

[tealamutt]

it really depends on what you want to do with your degree. if your goal is to do research then your experience doesn't need to be wide and varied or even very extensive. The best thing to do is to contact schools of interest and schedule a meeting with the Dean of Admissions or at least be in email contact. There is a ton of mis-information (albeit very well intentioned) on this board and since none of us make admissions decisions, it is best to get the scoop from someone who does. For what it is worth, we have people in our class who have insane amounts of experience and people with next to none. This is why I say get the info from the horses's mouth, so to speak.

 

[starlene45]

for what it's worth, i was accepted on my first try to penn and davis and had filled some of my pre-req's (stats, gen chem, and calc) at a community college. i took those courses while simultaneously in high school, so i'm not sure if that changes anything or not. but, at my interviews when we discussed when/where i took various courses (the timeline of my education is pretty screwed up and complicated), i never got the impression that taking those courses at a community college was a strike against me.
🙂

Interesting that you mention Penn... I had an admissions advising meeting w/Roseanne Herpen there over the summer. She SPECIFICALLY mentioned to me that the ad coms there do "not like to see pre-requisites taken at Community College." She encouraged me to refrain from taking any further pre-reqs at CC's (I did gen bio and physics w/calculus there, both a full year). I thought this was a weird attitude. So I'm very glad to hear that it didn't seem to be a negative when you got to your interview!!

I know that Oregon State doesn't seem to mind pre-reqs at CC's and Davis certainly doesn't seem to mind either.

Honestly the physics and now 2nd sem o-chem that I'm taking at CC's have been absolutely as challenging as any class I've taken at UC Berkeley or Berkeley Extension.

 

[nyanko]

Well, what do you want to actually DO with a DVM after getting a PhD? There are some people here who have gone that route and been asked that question in an interview. It's really what you should be asking yourself when thinking about what sort of experience you will want to have. If you've got a PhD in Micro and your research is in microbial genetics, but you want to be a clinical vet when you get out, you definitely need to get some clinical experience as well (large animal/small animal/whatever). If you want to do research on microbial genetics post-DVM you probably should be able to justify why you seek a DVM to interviewers. Basically you need to kinda ask yourself your reasons for doing it, and seek experience accordingly.

(and as tealamutt says, as ALWAYS, talk to admissions people at the schools you're interested in, many of them have very good advice for you) 😀

 

[pupsforseeing]

Interesting that you mention Penn... I had an admissions advising meeting w/Roseanne Herpen there over the summer. She SPECIFICALLY mentioned to me that the ad coms there do "not like to see pre-requisites taken at Community College." She encouraged me to refrain from taking any further pre-reqs at CC's (I did gen bio and physics w/calculus there, both a full year). I thought this was a weird attitude. So I'm very glad to hear that it didn't seem to be a negative when you got to your interview!!

interesting! it may be that i had taken those courses while in high school and not over the summer or something while i was enrolled at a 4-year school (in which case it may seem like i was trying to get out of taking a more difficult class), who knows. oh well, either way, i'm glad they didn't hold it against me!

 

[sambone]

For just one math class, I think a community college is fine. Especially if you did well in your science courses as a 4 yr school.
However, it's definitely not a good idea to take the bulk at a CC unless you back it up with many tough classes at a more rigorous school. At the Cornell info session, a girl asked about this and the Admiss Dir. said very candidly that they don't give CC classes much value in the admission process.

 

[starlene45]

At the Cornell info session, a girl asked about this and the Admiss Dir. said very candidly that they don't give CC classes much value in the admission process.

So apparently it's not just Penn

Pupsforseeing-- I actually think since you took your CC classes during high school it might have helped you!!! And I'm still glad you didn't get any negative responses during interviews.

I just get so frustrated when I hear CC's put down. There are plenty of 4-year schools with not-so-hot academics, and plenty of CC's with decent teachers/curriculums. And, for a non-traditional applicant like myself, on a small income and with huge time constraints due to the exciting other facets of vet school application (aka thousands of jobs & volunteer activities) sometimes CC is the only viable option! It's like, why put someone down because they can't afford to pay $750 for a 4-unit class at Berkeley Extension, or $1400 for a 5-unit summer session class at UC Berkeley?? (those are actual prices that I paid for a couple of my pre-reqs!!) I understand you shouldn't have your entire transcript from a Jr College but I think it's ridiculous to act like CC classes are worthless.

Sorry, rant. It's out of my system now.

 

[pupsforseeing]

starlene, i totally hear you. i went to a very competitive 4 yr school, but i still had some CC classes that were just as difficult as the ones there. granted, those were the exception, but they definitely existed. so, when people make comments about CCs being such a joke/second rate, whatever, it ruffles my feathers 🙂 second semester gen chem was hands down one of the most difficult science classes i've ever had. also taught by one of the most amazing profs i've ever had. and i took it at a CC.

 

[critterologist]

I took OChem at a big 4 year university with the hardest (there was no disagreement on this by anyone) prof in the department. He also happened to be the same prof that taught me general chem 1 and 2 as well as intro chem (equivilant to highschool chem) at the local CC. ...just to throw in my 2 cents as to why CC are commonly underrated

I didn't actually finish highschool, so I am hoping that the adcoms will see that is why I took so many CC courses before transfering to a four year college. I am also counting on them looking at the rigorous upper division/graduate courses I took and taking that into account. I hope.

I think CC is such a great option for so many people, and I think it is too bad that it is so undervalued. Though in fairness, I think I got a better then average education at the CC I went to, and I realize that is not the case everywhere.

 

[starlene45]

critter-- you're in the bay area, did you go to CC around here? was it, by any chance, one of the peralta community colleges?

 

[critterologist]

Actually, I went to school in Austin- kind of random I know. I just kind of ended up there and figured I'd try college. Lucky for me they have a great school. Is there a similar chem professor here in CA? That would be kind of funny!