Extended time between undergrad and vet school

[Polar Opposite]

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I just wanted to get a few opinions...

I got my undergrad in 2003...and, although I have been working in the field of vet med since, I haven't had any coursework since (except I took Biochem last fall for pre-req)...

I applied for the first time to my IS this cycle and am currently on the waitlist...

I'm worried that because of the time lapse between my undergraduate and potential entrance to vet school that I might have a hard time...

any thoughts?

 

[BlacKAT33]

As long as you were doing something productive i dont think it should matter. There are a lot of adults who apply later in life and I know some people who got in and they are older than 30 so I would assume most of them got their undergrad degrees a while ago. I think it becomes a problem when you take time off and you aren't working and you're just sitting around lol

edit: someone did mention in the file review thread that one school didn't like how their animal experiences were all from a long time ago. Is your animal/vet experience recept or back in 2003? that may be a problem ?

 

[moosenanny]

Also just be careful that your GRE scores don't expire. A lot of schools want them to be from within the last 5 years, but some may have even stricter policies . . . Although since you just applied this last cycle, it doesn't seem like this would be an issue for you for at least a few additional years.

 

[jpeterman13]

Also just be careful that your GRE scores don't expire. A lot of schools want them to be from within the last 5 years, but some may have even stricter policies . . . Although since you just applied this last cycle, it doesn't seem like this would be an issue for you for at least a few additional years.

Also, some schools have an expiration date on pre-reqs

 

[Polar Opposite]

someone did mention in the file review thread that one school didn't like how their animal experiences were all from a long time ago. Is your animal/vet experience recept or back in 2003? that may be a problem ?

My animal experiences (other than just being raised around animals) started in 2003 and I have worked full time concurrently as a zookeeper, vet tech and animal diagnostics lab tech since so that shouldn't be an issue...

Also, some schools have an expiration date on pre-reqs

My IS does have an 8 year limit...but, luckily, my pre-reqs were all within the expiration date...I will have to retake some if I don't get in this cycle...should know beginning of June...

I guess my true concerns were that since its been quite awhile since I took the pre-req courses that I may have lost some of that knowledge. I'm just wondering if the new information I *hopefully* will be learning in vet school is going to be harder for me to retain given I don't have a recent undergraduate base...

 

[fargeese]

I graduated in '96 and started vet school in 2008, and it has not been a problem, because what I lacked in recent scientific knowledge I more than made up for in study habits. Going back to school after all those years working was hard, but I am much more mature and able to focus on what is important now than I was as a 22 year old. Personally I think everyone should have to take off a year from undergrad before going to vet school if only to see the world outside of academia and rest up mentally before the deluge to come in vet school 🙂

 

[Polar Opposite]

Thanks everyone for all of your input!

I graduated in '96 and started vet school in 2008, and it has not been a problem, because what I lacked in recent scientific knowledge I more than made up for in study habits. Going back to school after all those years working was hard, but I am much more mature and able to focus on what is important now than I was as a 22 year old. Personally I think everyone should have to take off a year from undergrad before going to vet school if only to see the world outside of academia and rest up mentally before the deluge to come in vet school 🙂

It's good to hear that I am not alone 🙂 And, I totally agree with taking at least a year off bt undergrad and vet school...it certainly does give you a sense of who you are and how the world is...

Did you take any classes between working and starting vet school?

 

[sumstorm]

It has been hard for me, but less a 'loss of knowledge' and more of an issue with having to sit in a classroom an tolerate passive learning of details that I know I will never remember (and will be inaccurate) in 4 years. I have had to relearn some of the basics (krebs cycle type of stuff.)

I graduated 2001, now in class of 2013.

 

[Polar Opposite]

It has been hard for me, but less a 'loss of knowledge' and more of an issue with having to sit in a classroom an tolerate passive learning of details that I know I will never remember (and will be inaccurate) in 4 years. I have had to relearn some of the basics (krebs cycle type of stuff.)

I graduated 2001, now in class of 2013.

well, that's good to know...i think i could be in the same boat if i ever get the chance to attend...

do you find yourself having to relearn a lot of the basics or just an occassional review here and there?

 

[sumstorm]

well, that's good to know...i think i could be in the same boat if i ever get the chance to attend...

do you find yourself having to relearn a lot of the basics or just an occassional review here and there?

The stuff I knew well only required a brief review. The stuff I didn't did lower my grades (but really only from low A's to, at most, low B's.) The reason was because the classes are so intense and info heavy that I didn't get enough time to review adequatly. At the same time, Idon't think reviewing before school would have helped.

 

[BlacKAT33]

well, that's good to know...i think i could be in the same boat if i ever get the chance to attend...

do you find yourself having to relearn a lot of the basics or just an occassional review here and there?

i ALWAYS have to relearn the basics lol every time i need to know the krebs cycle i always look it up again and study it. i mean, maybe its just me and my short term memory lol but does anyone actually remember the whole cycle and the steps?!?! if i had 1 yr or 10 yrs between schooling id still have to relearn things 😳

 

[sumstorm]

i ALWAYS have to relearn the basics lol every time i need to know the krebs cycle i always look it up again and study it. i mean, maybe its just me and my short term memory lol but does anyone actually remember the whole cycle and the steps?!?! if i had 1 yr or 10 yrs between schooling id still have to relearn things 😳

hmmm....yes, but I think the quantity of things may increase. IE, mabe I forgot 1 or 2 parts, but now I have forgotten all the parts.

What I have been told (and find this true for me) is that non-trads do better in clinical settings. While they may not do as well in the first two years (not failing, just not top of the class) they tend to shine when material has to come together rather than be regurgitated.

 

[fargeese]

Well I guess it depends - I am not first in my class but I am doing pretty well, so I am not sure that non-trad = lower grades. I hope that being older does translate to being better in clinics, I am certainly looking forward to being done with memorization for tests!

I went into the Peace Corps a month after graduation and traveled the world for a few years before coming back and teaching middle school and then high school science. I did have to take a few classes for various schools - an easy math class to get enough math credits for VaMd, and a bunch of physics classes -bleah!- that I did not take in college because I hated physics then and still hate it now - but nothing too onerous. I took most of them on-line or at community college so it was not too awful. I was teaching science, albeit very basic science (what is DNA? let's do a Punnett square! type stuff) so that might have helped in bringing me up to speed. After the first semester and certainly after the first year I think we are all on a level playing field since no one had had anesthesia etc. before.

 

[Polar Opposite]

Thanks guys! You've definitely helped boost ne back up 🙂

 

[sumstorm]

After the first semester and certainly after the first year I think we are all on a level playing field since no one had had anesthesia etc. before.

I will agree more with that, as long as you got the basics down in first year. Actually, we have parasitology next semester, which some of my classmates have had before. I guess I don't really believe there is ever a truely level playing field (otherwise I wouldn't have had to work through undergrad...or every other student in the country woul be!) but I did feel much stronger in the second semester of first year, and I am more comfortable with the dynamics going into second year. Also, there are some things that I have an advantage at; I understand zoo and business better than some classmates. I still despise passive learning, but such is life. I think passive learning bothers me far more now than it did a decade ago. I also find petty stuff more obnoxious now then I did in my previous college life. But all and all, it is doable.