Do vet schools like art students?

[shirelady]

I'll be applying to vet school in Fall of 2017, but I'm pretty nervous about my chances. My GPA isn't phenomenal, currently a 3.2 although I'm trying to improve it, and my hours aren't great either. I've got several hundred animal experience hours because I work at a horse farm and volunteer at another horse farm, but that's about it. This summer I'm interning at a Shire horse farm and the woman I'm interning for is also a small animal vet so I'll be going with her to work 3 days a week all summer, but those hours probably won't be all that impressive. I'm going to try to get as many as I can the following summer before I apply as well though.

Anyway, back to the point of this thread, I started off as an art student before I started studying animal science. I attended Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles for a semester, decided it wasn't for me, and then transferred to Mizzou to study Animal Science. I did Animal Science for about a year and then flip flopped back to all Art for another semester (I'm a professional portrait artist in case anyone is curious as to what I do) but after that semester I decided for sure that I wanted to study animals and pursue being a vet. I want to know if all those art credits will be doing me any favors. I've had a few professors here tell me that vet schools will really like how different I am because most of their applicants don't have art stuff like me, but then I've also had professors who look at me like I wasted so much time and I'll look like I'm not really sure what I want to do. Any advice?

If it matters at all my top choices are Texas A&M and Mizzou.

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[LadyOtheFarm]

I know it used to be part of Tufts tour that they accepted several art students. A vet I have worked with recently was a professional photographer or photo journalist (?) before heading back to school, getting all her pre reqs, and going to vet school. She's a CSU grad if it matters.

I think if you meet the reqs, any school might take you, but you might have a better chance to grab attention with a unique background if you can use it to your advantage.

 

[KCgophervet]

No idea how vet schools look at it, but I had a studio art minor and my former roommate was an art major from undergrad. So at least UMN didn't look negatively at it.

 

[Ashgirl]

I'll be applying to vet school in Fall of 2017, but I'm pretty nervous about my chances. My GPA isn't phenomenal, currently a 3.2 although I'm trying to improve it, and my hours aren't great either. I've got several hundred animal experience hours because I work at a horse farm and volunteer at another horse farm, but that's about it. This summer I'm interning at a Shire horse farm and the woman I'm interning for is also a small animal vet so I'll be going with her to work 3 days a week all summer, but those hours probably won't be all that impressive. I'm going to try to get as many as I can the following summer before I apply as well though.

Anyway, back to the point of this thread, I started off as an art student before I started studying animal science. I attended Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles for a semester, decided it wasn't for me, and then transferred to Mizzou to study Animal Science. I did Animal Science for about a year and then flip flopped back to all Art for another semester (I'm a professional portrait artist in case anyone is curious as to what I do) but after that semester I decided for sure that I wanted to study animals and pursue being a vet. I want to know if all those art credits will be doing me any favors. I've had a few professors here tell me that vet schools will really like how different I am because most of their applicants don't have art stuff like me, but then I've also had professors who look at me like I wasted so much time and I'll look like I'm not really sure what I want to do. Any advice?

If it matters at all my top choices are Texas A&M and Mizzou.

When applying to vet school, what you major in doesn't matter, as long as you get the pre-reqs in. I definitely don't think having an art background will be any sort of disadvantage, and it could definitely work for your benefit in your overall application, as long as the rest of your application is solid .

The two big things Mizzou loves to emphasize in an applicant (based on personal experience): Academic score (40% of your application!) and diverse vet/animal experience. Your last 45 credits GPA, cumaltive GPA, GRE, and the amount of credits you take each semester will be all be looked at. As for experience, the more diverse (horses, equine, research, large animal, zoo, etc), the better!

 

[503372]

My first degree was in Studio Arts. I'd say just make sure you have all the requirements for your particular vet school and a amount good work experience with animals. (It's probably not as unique as you think... Although the vast majority of students will probably have a degree in Animal Science or some science.)

 

[Osudairy]

As already stated, there are many vet students with art degrees. There is even one I know with a degree in history. As long as you meet pre-req's you are able to apply. However, I do encourage you to get your GPA up a little more. I am not sure how they look at overall GPA when you are non-traditional and what the take into consideration versus a full science degree GPA. How does your science GPA look? I know they will look heavily at that. I would also suggest you get as many animal and quality vet hours as you can. Your experience in art will definitely diversify your application and make it stand out from the traditional students. However, since you did a lot of flip-floping with majors, some adcom members may see you as uncertain. That is why I would stress in your personal statement that this is what you want to do over an art-related field and why.

 

[vetmedflutist]

I have two music degrees and I definitely felt like my non-trad experiences helped my interview! It seemed like my interviewer had a lot of unique questions specifically for music, and my experiences just allowed for a really nice discussion between the two of us, a conversation I can guarantee she didn't have with anyone else.

I think it's more than fair to not be sure of exactly what you want to do when you start and go through college. As long as you feel confidently about your career choice by the time you apply to vet school, I don't think you will be hurt by the time you spent choosing between the two. That's the point of vet/animal experience hours. By the time you apply, they want you to be sure that you have experienced various parts of the field and are now certain that this is what you really want to do. Basically none of my hours were from during my undergrad, they were mostly all accumulated after I graduated and was completing my post-bacc.

As far as having non-trad degrees help you before the interview phase, I've heard and experienced different things. I was told, like you, that I was going to drastically stand out from everyone and that I would be fine. That being said, I was waitlisted at two schools that don't do interviews, waitlisted for an interview at one school, and offered interviews to two schools! There are a lot of parts to the application, and your undergrad major and non-vet experiences are just a small part of it. Each school is looking for different things, and while you might be the perfect candidate for one school, another school might be looking for something completely different. I advise you to research the schools you want to apply to, know exactly what they want to see in an application, and aim to give them just that.

Good luck as you continue working towards your goals! It is definitely possible to be accepted with an art degree!!