Concentration vs Major

[Coquette22]

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Some of you know I was planning on deferring this year to finish my Biology major. Since I was called off the waitlist though, I didn't have that option. It was either accept, or re-apply. Because I'm not an idiot, I accepted.

This has left me just short of a major. I have 4 classes I still need. My BSc Major in Biology has been kind of a long time coming, and I'd really like to have the piece of paper that says I put in the work. But I have enough classes for a BSc Concentration in Biology. I'm seriously considering changing from a major to a concentration so I can graduate without any further undergraduate. My question is this: If I were to want to go on to further study after my DVM, is anyone going to care that I have a 15 credit BSc instead of a 20 credit BSc?

 

[jmo1012]

i highly doubt it. when i was struggling to complete analytical chemistry for my chem minor this semester, my advisor said to me who do you think actually cares that you will have a chemistry minor. it doesnt go on your diploma, you dont get recognized for it, and it only gets buried somewhere on your transcript where no one will ever look. drop it, get rid of the class that you hate/are doing poorly in, and call it a day! he then said that when he was in school they didnt offer a chem minor so he put chem concentration on his resume since he'd taken a bunch of chem classes.

i would get the degree that you will be happiest with and wont regret because at this point YOURE GOING TO VET SCHOOL! and undergrad kinda ends up being totally irrelevant (depending on what you do in life). the other thing you might look into is whether or not you can transfer vet school credit back to round out those last 5 credits (the bio program at VT will let you transfer credits back as long as you have completed all the core requirements and just have electives left)

ETA: oops-for what its worth i ended up being to stubborn to drop the minor (which was really a bad decision) but I ended up being able to do pretty well in the class in the end because of how the final exam was (so I got reallllllly lucky haha)

 

[breenie]

Short answer: No. 🙂

ETA: full disclosure, I am not graduating and going to vet school in the fall, so maybe I'm biased

 

[Alhazred]

It seems unlikely anyone will care about your undergrad education once you have a DVM. Go for the concentration!

 

[jmo1012]

Short answer: No. 🙂

ETA: full disclosure, I am not graduating and going to vet school in the fall, so maybe I'm biased

eh i did graduate and i tend to tell people that my degrees are worthless (which gets funny looks) at which point i explain yes while having degrees in biology and psychology is nice and people do great things with them and i learned a lot, i am not able to go do what i want to do with my life by having them. i cannot right now go be a vet without going to school more. on the other hand, my friends who have degrees in things like engineering and accounting graduated and now have nice jobs doing what theyve always wanted to do. a funny way to look at it, i know.

 

[Coquette22]

the other thing you might look into is whether or not you can transfer vet school credit back to round out those last 5 credits (the bio program at VT will let you transfer credits back as long as you have completed all the core requirements and just have electives left)

I am looking into this too, to see if Dalhousie will let me transfer some of my first year vet school classes, since they're more or less the same as upper year biology classes offered at Dal (parasitology, anatomy, immunoloy, etc).

 

[StartingoverVet]

I can't imagine anyone caring in vet med. If you don't make it through vet school someone might care then though.

But honestly, in the end, it is a little bit of an ego thing. You put in the work, you want to get the credit. Who would blame you. jmo's idea is kind of neat, or maybe you can take a summer course or 2, or get independent study credits?