Hi

[Rebecca1122]

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Hello,

I just joined this forum as a result of my interest in becoming a veterinarian. I am a freshman (9th grade) attending a private high school in New York City.
Can anyone give me any advice on what to do in order to keep my future career in reach?

As of now, I am trying to find a local veterinarian to shadow and/or to find a local veterinarian (office) in which I can volunteer and help out in. I have not be successful so far, but if anyone knows or is one, please let me know.

For my standings, grade wise, I am currently taking Biology as a required science course as well as Honors Algebra II as a choice. I also have As in those classes. Next year, I am required to take Chemistry, and if all goes well in Algebra II this year, I will be taking Honors Pre-Calculus. In the future, I plan to take AP Biology and an AP mathematics course.

If you have any advice, tips, comments, etc., please do not hesitate.

Thanks!

 

[twelvetigers]

Your high school grades will not be super important aside from getting into the undergraduate university of your choice. However, the things you learn in chemistry and biology will provide a foundation for classes you will take in college, so it's good to do well in them.

Getting started with shadowing and veterinary experience is definitely a good idea. 🙂

 

[GermanShepMom]

Hello,

I just joined this forum as a result of my interest in becoming a veterinarian. I am a freshman (9th grade) attending a private high school in New York City.
Can anyone give me any advice on what to do in order to keep my future career in reach?

As of now, I am trying to find a local veterinarian to shadow and/or to find a local veterinarian (office) in which I can volunteer and help out in. I have not be successful so far, but if anyone knows or is one, please let me know.

For my standings, grade wise, I am currently taking Biology as a required science course as well as Honors Algebra II as a choice. I also have As in those classes. Next year, I am required to take Chemistry, and if all goes well in Algebra II this year, I will be taking Honors Pre-Calculus. In the future, I plan to take AP Biology and an AP mathematics course.

If you have any advice, tips, comments, etc., please do not hesitate.

Thanks!

My advice would be to take your time... your high school GPA will be important in getting into your choice University for undergrad, but Veterinary Schools will pay no mind to it. Also, make sure you explore many avenues of veterinary medicine, you may know what you want to specialize in, but there is no harm in dabbling in everything the industry has to offer. And, that will make you a well rounded applicant when vet school roles around, you will appear to have a strong understanding of what lies ahead. As far as getting work experience, I would focus on getting some volunteer experience at this point in your studies. Visit your local animal shelter, zoo, anywhere with animals that will allow you to be involved with them. You will have plenty of time to gather experience in a Clinic once you begin your undergrad work, but volunteer experience never looks bad either! For myself, I raised two Guide Dogs for the Eye Dog Foundation and the lessons I learned were invaluable to handling all different kinds of dogs once I made it to a Clinical setting.

Of course, everyone on the forum may not agree with me, but don't let yourself stress too much through the process! Just take your time and stay focused on what you want for your future; but, don't rush through your high school and college years, vet school will come when you are ready for it. Good luck with your studies and have a wonderful Holiday season!

 

[twelvetigers]

One more thing to add...

When it comes time to choose a university, don't pick the super fancy OOS school with the huge tuition. It won't make that much (if any) difference to vet schools where you get you pre-requisites and/or degree from as long as it's an accredited, 4 year university (and you may also take some courses at a community college if you want). Don't go into vet school with a lot of debt already. It would suck.

But you have a lot of normal stuff between now and then. Just enjoy highschool (I snorted out loud at this - I didn't especially enjoy high school until maybe senior year) and don't worry *too* much about your future.Plenty of time for that later.

 

[Rebecca1122]

One more thing to add...

When it comes time to choose a university, don't pick the super fancy OOS school with the huge tuition. It won't make that much (if any) difference to vet schools where you get you pre-requisites and/or degree from as long as it's an accredited, 4 year university (and you may also take some courses at a community college if you want). Don't go into vet school with a lot of debt already. It would suck.

But you have a lot of normal stuff between now and then. Just enjoy highschool (I snorted out loud at this - I didn't especially enjoy high school until maybe senior year) and don't worry *too* much about your future.Plenty of time for that later.

Thanks! I'll take your advice and enjoy life now. Just wondering, if you or anyone might know, how can you quote more than one person at a time in a reply?

 

[Rebecca1122]

My advice would be to take your time... your high school GPA will be important in getting into your choice University for undergrad, but Veterinary Schools will pay no mind to it. Also, make sure you explore many avenues of veterinary medicine, you may know what you want to specialize in, but there is no harm in dabbling in everything the industry has to offer. And, that will make you a well rounded applicant when vet school roles around, you will appear to have a strong understanding of what lies ahead. As far as getting work experience, I would focus on getting some volunteer experience at this point in your studies. Visit your local animal shelter, zoo, anywhere with animals that will allow you to be involved with them. You will have plenty of time to gather experience in a Clinic once you begin your undergrad work, but volunteer experience never looks bad either! For myself, I raised two Guide Dogs for the Eye Dog Foundation and the lessons I learned were invaluable to handling all different kinds of dogs once I made it to a Clinical setting.

Of course, everyone on the forum may not agree with me, but don't let yourself stress too much through the process! Just take your time and stay focused on what you want for your future; but, don't rush through your high school and college years, vet school will come when you are ready for it. Good luck with your studies and have a wonderful Holiday season!

Thank you! I am trying to find somewhere to volunteer in, but I may be too young. Still, I am trying, and hopefully an opportunity will arise. Do you know of anyone willing to help?

 

[GermanShepMom]

Thank you! I am trying to find somewhere to volunteer in, but I may be too young. Still, I am trying, and hopefully an opportunity will arise. Do you know of anyone willing to help?

Sorry, I am a bit far away and don't know many people in that area... just keep at it, and if they think you are too young then take a year or two and try again. Trust me, you are already ahead of the game in your planning, you will be just fine when it comes time to pursue vet school!

 

[K9DANE]

I agree with enjoying yourself now. I have a son in the 9th grade, so I'm going to assume here that you are both about the same age. Depending on the labor laws of your state, that may be why you're having difficulty finding a job/volunteer position. Where we are, he cannot work until he's 15 and must have a license to do so even then. Our local humane society gladly accepts young volunteers, but also with restrictions based on age. For example, to volunteer on your own you have to be 16, ages 10-15 must have their parent with them and are unable to walk dogs, and any volunteer under 18 must have parental consent. So each facility may have similar rules. Keep in mind, their rules are in place to protect everyone involved. There are still opportunities out there, you just have to find them and be flexible to their rules.

Good luck!

 

[twelvetigers]

Thanks! I'll take your advice and enjoy life now. Just wondering, if you or anyone might know, how can you quote more than one person at a time in a reply?

Hit the "MULTIQ" button on the first message(s) you'd like to quote, then for the final one, just hit "QUOTE" like normal. They will all show up in there. Just keep all the stuff in the brackets intact and in place, and all the quotes should work fine.

 

[PetPony]

Hit the "MULTIQ" button on the first message(s) you'd like to quote, then for the final one, just hit "QUOTE" like normal. They will all show up in there. Just keep all the stuff in the brackets intact and in place, and all the quotes should work fine.

Thank you! I was wondering that too. I always opened a few tabs and just copied and pasted. lol

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Thank you! I was wondering that too. I always opened a few tabs and just copied and pasted. lol

Sadly, I did that for years 😎

 

[zoovet]

don't go to a super prestigious undergrad school. many of them are significantly harder than lower tier schools, and at all but a couple of vet schools, undergraduate institution "rigor" doesn't count for much.

i (perhaps mistakenly) went to a famously rigorous top 15 university and although i had the opportunity to do amazing research and was published, my grades are weaker than many that went to state schools. had i chosen to pursue a phd, i would've been golden... but vet schools care mostly about numbers.

one vet school that hosted a counseling/admissions info. session said almost verbatim, "we'd rather have an applicant go to a community college, and not even get a bachelor's degree, and just take the required pre-reqs and get A's, than go to, say, Harvard, and get B's...."

SO FRUSTRATING.

 

[tawee]

To add on to zoovet: If you're serious about vet school, and you're not rolling in money, pick the cheapest decent undergrad institution you get into. (I'm not saying go to community college necessarily, because going to a good 4-year institution will open up a lot of other personal enrichment opportunities, though they may not all have to do strictly with pre-vet.) I picked a top university with no financial aid over a not quite as prestigious but still great school that offered me a substantial merit scholarship... I don't regret my decision except for the money factor (at the time I was not planning on vet school or any other kind of expensive professional school), but you can bet that will be a huge issue for me a few years down the road. So yeah, long story short - money should matter more than prestige when choosing schools 😉