General School Advice?

[Shad0w]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey there I just graduated from high school last March(been home-schooled since middle school) and have been wanting to become a veterinarian for quite some time. I don't have a whole lot of people to advise me on how to go about pursuing this so I was hoping to get some feedback here.

Here's my situation thus far:

My mother insisted I start at a local community college so I enrolled in several summer courses: a humanities,a social science, and General Biology 1(All of which will transfer to the university I'm looking at and are pre vet required). While talking to a friend of mine he said I should have not taken the Biology course and gone with a different course and take the biology course at whatever school I plan on transferring to. Apparently there's still time to drop the class and replace it... should I?

Also the way it looks like so far is that I'll be at this community college getting as many pre-requisites before transferring to a university... Is this the way to go?

I don't really know what I'm doing here.... Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[deleted266066]

From what I've seen, intro bio doesn't seem to vary that much from school to school (even when comparing to friends that are in community college vs ivy leagues). Of course the rigor is tougher at a non-CC school but you'll still get all the information and material you need to succeed in upper level bio classes later, IMO. I have seen, though, that the "harder" schools tend to MAKE you learn the material backwards and forwards in order to obtain good grades, while an "easier" school might really only emphasize memorization of important concepts rather than utilizing them and still give you an A for this. So I do think if you're starting in a less rigorous program you can succeed fine later, just make sure to do more than the bare minimum of work. (Some CC's are way harder than others... but as a generalization I think that's accurate).

Additionally, vet schools seem to be fairly understanding of the strategy to save some money by beginning at a CC, so you wouldn't be punished much for taking this route. However, it's quite important to later show you are capable of handling a more difficult course load by later taking the upper division sciences (think molecular bio, genetics, micro bio, etc.) at a university after you have transferred.

One thing I would be careful about though is splitting up a sequenced course... so for example, if you need a whole year of intro bio (or gen chem, or eventually orgo, etc.), you might want to look into either taking both semesters at the CC, or both at the university. This is just because schools do often vary with which material they teach and when, under the assumption that the majority of students who need the full sequence will be exposed to all the necessary information however they break up the material, at least in my experience.

 

[Nechochwen]

I was in a very similar situation to yours.

I was at a satellite branch of the main university though. I did all of my prerequisites at the branch. Admissions never mentioned anything about the classes not being adequate

Since it is only the freshman Biology 1 course, I don't see any problem with taking it at the community college. From what you've said, I assume the credits will be acceptable to whatever university you will be transferring to. That is important, as well as if they will be acceptable by whichever vet schools you may have your eye on.

As has been said elsewhere, the whole point of community college is to take the lower level classes without having to move to an expensive university right away. Upper classes might be more respected from a larger university, but I don't know.

Were you home-schooled from middle-school on or just in middle-school?

 

[Shad0w]

I've been homeschooled since middle school.

Just for reference:
The school I'm currenty enrolled in is Southwest TN Community College. I planned on trying to get into the University of TN's veterinary program.(I've read that you're more likely to get into your own state's veterinary college... true?) Not sure where I want to transfer to get the upper classes out of the way at this point.

Thanks for the replies so far, they've been very informative!🙂

 

[Willowhand]

From another homeschool alum, welcome to SDN and to the journey to and through vet school!

If I were in your position, I would call the admissions offices of various vet schools I might eventually be interested in applying to. The advisors are there to help you, and they would be able to tell you if taking Gen Bio at a CC might hurt your chances. I know that one school I applied to this cycle (PEI) did not accept any pre-reqs that were not taken as part of a full-time courseload (at least 12 credits), and some schools require that pre-reqs be taken at a 4-year college/university and not a CC. Many schools take "academic rigor" into account, and taking pre-reqs at a CC might take a few points away from that score. Anyway, my point is not to advise you either way in this case, but to bring to your attention the importance of being in touch with schools early in the process. The admissions offices will be able to give you solid answers to important questions like this one!

Kudos on staying on top of things from the start, and good luck in the process 🙂

 

[Willowhand]

(I've read that you're more likely to get into your own state's veterinary college... true?) 🙂

Many schools have a certain number of seats reserved for in-state (IS) students while the remainder (which is often a smaller number) are open to out-of-state (OOS) applicants from anywhere else. Since there are generally far fewer IS applicants than OOS applicants, a higher percentage of IS applicants are accepted. So I suppose if you just look as those statistics, you are more likely to be accepted.

But the thing you have to keep in mind is that different schools might be more or less likely to accept individuals based on other factors. For example, some schools give more weight to GPA, others to experience, etc. With that in mind, it is harder to predict IS vs OOS application success... I'm a good example of this: I applied to 4 schools this cycle, and the only place that rejected me was my in-state school!

 

[heylodeb]

Also homeschooled (K-->12!).

I took my first year of Bio, first year of Gen Chem, and statistics at my local community college. When I spoke to Davis and WSU neither of them cared at all where my classes came from. (I specifically mentioned the CC courses)

General consensus seems to be that as long as your lower division courses are the level which allows you to then take upper division bios at your 4 year university, you're just fine.

You're on the right track - good luck while working on your pre-reqs!

 

[gilch]

Wow, so many homeschoolers on SDN! Count me in!


I did similar stuff--I actually got an AA at a CC. I took Gen Bio, Gen Chem, Gen Phy, and Pre/Cal at the CC. VMRCVM does not care. I'd ask UT because some schools take the rigor of every class into account (Ohio?).

 

[skittles12]

I've been homeschooled since middle school.

Just for reference:
The school I'm currenty enrolled in is Southwest TN Community College. I planned on trying to get into the University of TN's veterinary program.(I've read that you're more likely to get into your own state's veterinary college... true?) Not sure where I want to transfer to get the upper classes out of the way at this point.

Thanks for the replies so far, they've been very informative!🙂

I may be a little biased, but I would say consider UTK for your upper division undergrad, if you can. The animal science program has a high rate of acceptance for those who apply, and the classes allow you to get some hands on experience. Also, the pre-vet club often has good opportunities to shadow in the vet school departments.

As far as taking pre-reqs at the community college, I wouldn't see a problem with it. I know freshman biology courses at UT often have 300+ people, which can be a little overwhelming. And I would definitely recommend taking organic at a community college. I know many people who have done that and said that it is a lot easier.

 

[Shad0w]

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, I really should call the school to ask some questions; I don't know why I thought I had to figure it out by myself, haha.

Good to see their are other homeschoolers on here pursuing a veterinary career. 🙂

Edit: Just called, looks like the person I need to talk to is not going to be back until June 1st... guess I'll take my chances and continue with the courses I signed up for at the cc and call them next week