Hey! Lots of silly questions...:)

[thepidog]

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Hey everybody, I've read a lot from this board, but I finally took the plunge. This fall I'll be starting as a freshman in college, and I'm planning on majoring in Biomed Sciences with a prevet concentration. However, I'm apprehensive after reading about the difficulties on the road to vet school. I'd like to think I'm pretty academically ready (I won a full-ride scholarship to my school, have research experience, and went to a half-day science school and dual enrolled myself to near sophomore status), but I worry about gaining the vet experience.
I worked for a vet's office as kennel staff for a year previous to this summer, but had to quit due to summer conflicts and I worked about once a month anyways. I'm pretty sure I have about 100 hours of "animal experience" from it... When should I start looking to get another job? Should I try to shadow first? Did you gain a majority of experience in summers or during the school year?
Also, I dual enrolled credit in General Chemistry 1 and 2, Precalculus and Calculus, Statistics, and another unimportant class. Those credits didn't go onto my high school transcript, so they're fair game in this vet application business, right?
Sorry for such a long post... I'm looking at move-in day in less than 2 months, and I want to be ready for everything!
Thanks!

 

[charismarl]

You'll be fine...and fyi it's too early to stress out about how hard it is to get into school. You work really hard to get in, and you work really hard to get out. What you did up until this point doesn't really matter except that it shows you have an aptitude for science. Your DE classes are fair game to vet schools and will be factored into your academic profile. It seems like you are well on your way to having plenty of animal experience hours but make sure it's varied (ie research, small, large, exotic, etc.) but also make sure you get involved in other things throughout college that aren't animal related. Vet schools want real people to go to their school...not just a science nerd who spends all their time walking dogs for the local shelter (although that is an awesome thing to do). Get as much experience as you can and get a job when you can (it's never too early- but remember school is your top-priority). Get involved in sports, volunteer at the local old folks home, organize back sales to free tibet, whatever, but at this point don't worry too much about how hard vet school is...if you want it, you'll get there...it will just happen. And be forwarned, a 'C' in Gen Chem will not blow your chances. Eight C's in a bunch of classes doesn't look good.

Enjoy college...don't stress out. Remember the last 45 hours are the most important but the first few years are the easiest.

Breathe in...breathe out...don't you feel better already?

 

[cscip]

It's never too early to start working in a clinic or start making connections with vets and professors. If they've known you for a couple of years they can write a way better LOR than someone who only sorta knew you briefly.

School is tough and you need pretty decent grades, but one of the things that helped me in undergrad was taking classes that really interested me along with the ones that were required. If you don't cram the night before exams, make connections between classes, and actually try to enjoy learning the material... the good grades will come 🙂

Research the schools you want to apply to early and start factoring their requirements into your schedule. Good luck with undergrad! Enjoy it because it goes by SOOO fast!