course load question?

[Pigsfoot]

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to new vet students from a prevet-
how are you finding the course load? Is it 'manageable', or are any of you barely making it? or are all of you sailing through acing everything? i have a friend right now in the first semester of vet school and they say they are having an extremely hard time with the amount of information they are required to learn, and that they are barely making it by the skin of their teeth. if that. So now i'm scared to even get in! is anybody losing their mind with stress? I want some honest opinions-I'm not saying you're doubting your choice, or that I will doubt mine-I just want a realistic idea of what to expect once in vet school. how many hours stuying after classes during the week and on the weekends? tell me! please?

the foot

 

[julieDVM]

i think its fair to say that the volume of information you are expected to assimilate is pretty phenomenal.

that said - many people say they worked harder in undergrad than they did in vet school. I found first year to be the easiest year in terms of time demands. Second year was by far the worst - and third year was similar to second. when exams were looming i worked very hard (maybe 4 hours of sleep a night), however during the rest of the year i found my schedule to be quite manageable.

 

[AuburnPreVet]

The amount of info is tremendous... or phenomenal as the above poster said. Nothing is really "difficult" - at least so far... but it is like attempting to drink from a fire hose. We're in class until 4 or 5pm then we get to go home and memorize, memorize, memorize, memorize.... It sucks to be honest....such is life... sigh...

 

[pressmom]

I wouldn't go so far as to say you have no life or that it sucks, but it is the VOLUME of information thrown at you, not the quality of it. For example, I have an immuno exam tomorrow, but I'm taking a break for watching TV and posting on the internet. I still have a little work to do, but I generally get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. (Even tonight I'll go to bed at 11 and get up around 6:30.) I still go out one night a week. (As opposed to both weekend nights like I did before I started vet school.) The key is to stay ahead from the beginning because about mid-way through the semester (like now) you're studying from test to test. So far I'm running As in two classes and a B in another. So I'm far from a bad student. At orientation they told us to study four hours a night and I do. Today I studied 5 already today. It's a lot of work, but study groups are fun and make it seem like less work.

 

[Angelo84]

Hi,
I would say it is managable. You are in class from 8 or 9 to 4 or 5 most days. If you read for the next day it will take you several hours. So if you go to bed early (like me at 10) you will spend all of the time you have until then studying (with a break for dinner). So the material isn't harder than undergrad it just comes at a faster pace. An example is p-chem we do two chapters a day in undergrad we did one chapter a day-you get the idea. That all being said I haven't found the exams to be harder then they were in undergrad--of course my first anatomy test is in a week and a half we'll see it that is still true after that!

So its doable just be willing to work hard. And try to stay away from SDN. I am now going to read about the development of body cavities in the fetus and then go to bed!

 

[Pigsfoot]

thanks for the honest answers. Is there anyone out there who didnt have a science background before? (outside of the prerequisites we had to take). and if so-are you finding it difficult because of that fact?

keep your answers comin! i can live vicariously through you guys for now!

 

[pressmom]

I don't have a science background and just took the pre-reqs I needed for the 6 schools I applied to. My BA is in political science and the only sciences I had in undergrad were an Intro to Earth and Ocean Sciences and some biological anthropology. Anyway, I feel I'm doing pretty well here in vet school. It's difficult in some classes like immuno when a lot of the class (1/3-1/2) has already had it. But, fortunately, a lot of them are really nice and glad to share what they know. A fair portion of the class has also had human physio and anatomy and even a few have had histology. But it doesn't seem like those people are the ones who are necessarily doing the best. (Maybe because they get complacent?) It's totally doable, but as I said in my last post, it is essential to keep up with your classes and meet with your professors when you're not doing well. Try not to freak out...I was worried before I got here, but once you get there, you meet the people a year or two above you and then you're like, "Well so-and-such did it and so can I!"

 

[JIKJen124]

Non-science background-er here too. Like Pressmom said, I don't find it particularly "hard" (once I learned the language of anatomy), it's just a TON of it. Here at OSU, so far my routine is rise at 6:30, class from 8-3 or 4, break until about 6-6:30 and then books until about 11:30. I've been a bit under the weather this week, and I'm still handling it OK. I'd like more sleep (and that's probably stopping me from getting better) but such is life. Maybe this weekend...

Speaking of memorizing... I really ought get back to it!

 

[silverelf]

i think the hardest thing that kid with non-science backgrounds (or those who are non-trads and don't remember what they learned in college) is the biochem/physiological chemistry. as long as you have a pretty good handle on that stuff, you'll get through it. also, if you're not a memorizer, start getting used to that. a LOT of that.

 

[Electrophile]

There comes a point where you have to just say, I've got to put the books down because stuffing any more into my brain just ain't gonna work. 😀 Which is okay! I went and got my masters in biology first and I'm not going to lie. Vet school is harder than grad school academically. My day to day is get up at 7 AM, class from 8 AM to 4 or 5 PM everyday but Friday, and then study for anywhere from 1-2 hours to 4-5 hours a night. I'd say 2 hours is about right for me and I'm passing just fine (grades are mostly Bs with Cs and As sprinkled in). I'm not real obsessed with getting As since Cs are fine with me as long as I feel I have a good grasp on the material. No worries. There are some people already pulling crazy hours and to be honest, they may get slightly better grades, but what are they going to retain? How burned out are they going to end up? There's a give and take. I've been trying to leave at least one day on the weekend where I don't pick up any study material, if it all possible.

 

[sofficat]

There comes a point where you have to just say, I've got to put the books down because stuffing any more into my brain just ain't gonna work. 😀 Which is okay! I went and got my masters in biology first and I'm not going to lie. Vet school is harder than grad school academically. My day to day is get up at 7 AM, class from 8 AM to 4 or 5 PM everyday but Friday, and then study for anywhere from 1-2 hours to 4-5 hours a night. I'd say 2 hours is about right for me and I'm passing just fine (grades are mostly Bs with Cs and As sprinkled in). I'm not real obsessed with getting As since Cs are fine with me as long as I feel I have a good grasp on the material. No worries. There are some people already pulling crazy hours and to be honest, they may get slightly better grades, but what are they going to retain? How burned out are they going to end up? There's a give and take. I've been trying to leave at least one day on the weekend where I don't pick up any study material, if it all possible.

perfect reply post!!! that is exactly what i am doing.... AND I LOVE VET SCHOOL!!! i have gotten from good A's to high C's and i still have time to join and participate in many clubs, go out to the farm and play with horses (twice this week!) and volunteer at the rapture center.. and hang out with my hubby! accept vet school for what it is (awesome 😛) and do well, but realize that life outside of studying is important, too.
hey- auburnprevet... wanna take me up on that offer for this weekend now? 😀

 

[Electrophile]

perfect reply post!!! that is exactly what i am doing.... AND I LOVE VET SCHOOL!!! i have gotten from good A's to high C's and i still have time to join and participate in many clubs, go out to the farm and play with horses (twice this week!) and volunteer at the rapture center.. and hang out with my hubby! accept vet school for what it is (awesome 😛) and do well, but realize that life outside of studying is important, too.
hey- auburnprevet... wanna take me up on that offer for this weekend now? 😀

LOL, aww man, that's almost just like me! I joined a number of clubs (including the raptor rehab project, which was a little out of my comfort zone, but it's now so cool handling the birds!). Plus I'm married and I can't neglect hubby too much either. Or my dogs! I'm not saying party party party, but life as a vet is an open book test to a degree and even one of the head residents in the teaching hospital in orthopedics say they go back to their books every single day. I'd hate to be the vet out of vet school that knows the TCA cycle backwards and forwards, but is scared to handle a snake or even a parrot. 🙄

 

[sofficat]

LOL, aww man, that's almost just like me! I joined a number of clubs (including the raptor rehab project, which was a little out of my comfort zone, but it's now so cool handling the birds!). Plus I'm married and I can't neglect hubby too much either. Or my dogs! I'm not saying party party party, but life as a vet is an open book test to a degree and even one of the head residents in the teaching hospital in orthopedics say they go back to their books every single day. I'd hate to be the vet out of vet school that knows the TCA cycle backwards and forwards, but is scared to handle a snake or even a parrot. 🙄

the best advice i've ever taken in from (many!) vets who said to chill out in vet school, do well in class and HAVE SOME FUN! and that is exactly what i am doing!!!
so yeah... the course load is a TON- but it's fun to learn. plus it really helps when your professors relate what they teach back to vet med. it's like.... oh yeah... i'm in this to be a vet! also- take time to hang out with live animals your first year. it keeps you in a good mind set with your eyes on the prize!

 

[mochavet]

I think it depends on where you go as to how much work you put in. I am a first year at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia and the program here is great. Each semester we have 12 weeks of class with a week long study break every four or so weeks of class. This is a five year program too, so that means our work load is spread over a larger time frame than the schools in the US. Right now I am taking Anatomy, Physiology (with histo), and Bioethics. It is a very manageable work load and the study breaks are great and allow you to catch up. I'd have to say though, I still spend about 3-4 hours per day studying for anatomy. We just took our first anatomy theory and our first anatomy prac exam last week. I guess I'll know if I need to study more after I get the exam scores back. Oh, and I have an undergrad degree from Iowa State University in Animal Science and I'd have to say that it prepared me very well for vet school. A lot of the classes I am taking now I've had before, just not in as much detail.

 

[vegternarian]

...volunteer at the rapture center..

Lol, when I first read that I thought "well that's an interesting synonym for church!"

 

[sofficat]

wow... see how smart us vet schul studants is? let me correct myself.... raptOR