High school pre vet help

[mm2020]

I'm pretty new to this website but I was hoping maybe some of you guys could give me some advice! I am a high school sophomore and I am very interested in going to vet school. I am lucky enough to have a program at my school that allows me to start college classes in the fall so that I can graduate high school with my associate of arts degree. (Stressful but it seems to be worth it ) I was wondering if there are any things that I can start doing now that will better prepare me for pre-vet school and maybe have better chances of getting accepted to vet school. I have been reading a lot of these threads and I was also wondering if there are any things that you guys wish you would have done or would have known before applying and attending pre-vet and vet school.
Thanks in advance!

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[SkiOtter]

Find a vet to shadow at regularly if you haven’t! The more quality experience you can get the better and since you’re still in high school you have loads of time to build up experience, even if it’s only in the summer. If you’re already shadowing somewhere, find someone in a different veterinary field to shadow as well so you can get some different experiences.

 

[Coffee<3Cats<3&Ratties<3]

Defintely focus on getting a variety of experience. You have so much time to take advantage of and get loads of veterinary hours. Once you start undergrad, try to gey involved in clubs or activities to diversify yourself. Research undergrad universities that can offer you a solid pre vet education. I go to UMass Amherst and we have a ton of hands on farm animal classes that I cpuld get involved in and it really benefitted my application. The only other advice I could give is to really focus on grades. You can always get more experience but its very difficult to improve a bad GPA. Hope this helps !

 

[LamJams]

Take AP science classes!
AP Bio, Chem, Ochem, Physics, Math, and English (For english proficiency requirement) will definitely help you have a better grade in those courses and better your chances since they are prereqs for every veterinary school!

 

[SkiOtter]

^^or the non-AP equivalent at the community college. but definitely make sure that the specific courses you're going to take would be accepted by vet schools you're interested in applying to. Nothing like taking classes thinking they'll qualify only to find out they don't. I'd also recommend checking not with just your in state school, but other vet schools you may apply to because the requirements can differ greatly on what they'll accept

 

[mmmdreamerz]

1) Finding a vet to shadow early on would be beneficial. You really can’t know if vet med if for you until you spend some time in a clinic.

2) Taking AP classes in high school can be helpful. I’m not convinced they prepared me for college classes necessarily, but they definitely saved me a large chunk of money in the long run. Just make sure you take the tests seriously and pass the exams (particularly for AP) or it’s not worth it. Definitely worth thinking about if AP/college classes are offered to you.

3) Perhaps most importantly...Definitey don’t start stressing about getting into vet school while you’re a sophomore in high school. Take classes you like, do well in them, enjoy life. There are many years and many classes between you and vet school and it’s way too soon to be stressed about grades Plentyyy of time for THAT in the future (trust me).

 

[battie]

Go to the cheapest undergrad you can. I was wait listed for vet school and had two gap years as a result. Did not need to pay back any student loans during those two years cause I didn't have any I needed to pay back.

The undergrad you go to does not specifically matter. What you do with your time in undergrad is what matters.