High school student looking for an advice

[Blue74]

What have you done in high school that set you apart and made you competitive compared to other pre-vet applicants?

Any advice on what I should do in high school as a future vet. school applicant?

How important is research in high school if I want to get into a top undergraduate program as a pre-vet?

Thanks.

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[matthirten13]

Didn't even know I was pre-vet while going through HS tbh, and I was not even thinking vet for most of undergrad. No research in HS either. It is not required to have it all mapped out before HS.

But, if you are very interested, I would advise you to look into seeing if any local clinics would let you shadow or work there, especially over the summers. And look into whatever vet school your state has or is closest to you, as some of those have HS programs.

To reiterate: I absolutely do not think it is necessary to be totally one-tracked onto pre-vet in HS. If you get solid grades and participate in things outside of school (vet or non-vet), you should be fine when applying to undergrad imo. To add, you also don't have to be in a true pre-vet program in undergrad to get into vet school. But I think if you're really set on it, getting some experience should help you determine if you want to continue to pursue the field beyond HS.

 

[genny]

What have you done in high school that set you apart and made you competitive compared to other pre-vet applicants?

Any advice on what I should do in high school as a future vet. school applicant?

How important is research in high school if I want to get into a top undergraduate program as a pre-vet?

Thanks.

So the best thing you can do in high school is work on having goody study habits to keep your grades high. Knowing how you study best will help you do well in college, and that’s really what matters for vet school applications.

There is plenty of time for shadowing veterinarians or working as a vet receptionist/assistant once you get to college, so don’t worry if you get turned away for being too young at this stage. You can get the vet experience hours needed for an application in college. Of course if you get a “yes” then take that opportunity to learn!

Good grades in high school can lead to college scholarships that can lessen your overall cost of attendance. Debt is a big problem in this industry, so anything you do that decreases the amount of student loans you need to take out is a good thing.

 

[max_wildlife]

In addition to what everyone else has said, make time to do something that you are passionate about, that makes you genuinely happy - not just animal-related. As much as vet schools look at grades and such, they’re also starting to look more at what makes you unique, and what you as a person can bring to the table. All three of my interviews asked about my time with the women’s ice hockey team at my high school, and I was 28 when I applied.

I was in a different career when I applied, too. There were plenty of other things they could have asked me about. They asked about the hockey team.

 

[mpon]

You could also look into schools that offer early admissions programs such as Purdue that I believe you apply to when applying to undergraduate programs

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

In addition to what everyone else has said, make time to do something that you are passionate about, that makes you genuinely happy - not just animal-related. As much as vet schools look at grades and such, they’re also starting to look more at what makes you unique, and what you as a person can bring to the table. All three of my interviews asked about my time with the women’s ice hockey team at my high school, and I was 28 when I applied.

I was in a different career when I applied, too. There were plenty of other things they could have asked me about. They asked about the hockey team.

Woot. I picked it up later in life, but best sport I've ever played.

 

[max_wildlife]

Woot. I picked it up later in life, but best sport I've ever played.

I feel the same way. There’s such a magic to it. I’ve been keeping up with pond hockey a little during school, which is fun, but not the same without a team ya know?

 

[battie]

Honestly, enjoy being a teenager. I was someone who had a great high school experience. Swim team, horse back riding, Friday nights staying up all night playing videogames with my friends. Just awesome. Still friends with a lot of those same people and went ahead and even married one of them 🤣 The experiences you have outside of school can and will still influence your application by showing you different things you might love.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I feel the same way. There’s such a magic to it. I’ve been keeping up with pond hockey a little during school, which is fun, but not the same without a team ya know?

One of my students is actually a referee at the rink I play at. Super nice kid. When he refs any of our beer league games I'm all pretend tough like "So you gonna put Dr. WTF in the box this game or do you want an A ?!" (he has indeed put me in the box twice over the course of the season and was so sheepish about it the first time lmao). One of the times being for roughing, and now the whole class thinks I'm a goon and they absolutely love it, made even funnier by the fact I am 5'4"at best hahaha.

 

[Polocrosse2017]

In high school I knew I wanted to be a vet. I set myself up for early admit programs by doing our school's veterinary program which had classwork and work at a veterinary clinic to get my CVA. With this I had lots of clinical hours. I also played polo and polocrosse. In interviews they liked that I worked summers as a camp counselor (lived in cabin with 6 year olds for a month, taught horseback and helped care for the horses) and that I volunteered at a hospice during the school year. They liked I had experience with people in difficult situations and not just animal experience. Plus I had most of my leadership through the camp. I also worked full time for a travelling equine vet during the summer after my senior year. Other than that keep your grades up and do well on the SAT/ACT. I got in early admit and took a lot of pressure off my years in college so the 3 years I had undergrad I had a lot of fun and kept my grades up.

 

[DVMDream]

My advice for a high school student thinking about veterinary medicine is to please, please, please keep an open mind. Don't put on blinders and only think about veterinary medicine. Take the time to explore other subjects, careers, jobs, hobbies, etc. High school is still very young to have fully decided what you want to do as an adult, take your time to be sure you are jumping into the right career for you.

I say this as someone who decided I wanted to be a veterinarian at 6-7 years old, I used to go to the library and read books to research veterinary schools, how to apply, what to do to get into veterinary school, etc. This was before computers, internet and google were big things, we had to go to the library to do research or look things up. I started volunteering at an animal shelter at 12 years old. I got my first job at 17 years old, in a veterinary clinic. I really only worked in veterinary clinics all the way through high school and undergrad. I only focused on getting experience for veterinary school. I didn't really think about anything else or any other careers. I am now a veterinarian and looking back on it all, I wish I had taken the time to explore other interests, hobbies and careers. I may very well still have ended up in veterinary medicine, but I have put myself in a box. All of my experience, volunteer work, work experience, etc is centered around animals and I am stuck as far as career goes. If I decide at any point I want to leave veterinary medicine, I have to start over, completely over, with entry level job salary, which I can't do because I have $400k in student loan debt.

Don't shove yourself into a singular box.

It is fine to get some animal experience in high school, do some volunteer work, maybe shadow a vet, but please keep your mind open. Be well-rounded, find more to do than just animal experiences and veterinary experiences. I am fairly confident the reason it took me 3 years to even be accepted to vet school is because I only focused on animal and veterinary experiences and didn't pay attention to any of the other things I enjoy that make me, me. I didn't take the time to get any other life experiences. Take the time.

 

[JaynaAli]

In addition to what everyone else said, go to an affordable undergrad school. Apply for scholarships and do your best to graduate undergrad debt free if possible. There are infinitely more scholarships available to undergrads than there are for vet students. Undergrad is often a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of vet school but it can add up if you go to a pricey school. You don’t really need to choose that fancy private undergrad or a “top undergrad” over a state school…where you went to undergrad has very little impact on your vet school application, they mostly just care that you took the prerequisite classes and did well. (Obviously that’s ignoring other aspects of the app, but I’m just talking specifically about coursework/grades/institution name here). Sure, going to a big name school is great, but not if you don’t do awesome or it costs a lot and you’ll be paying loans for forever. Take the SAT/ACT a bunch of times if needed to increase your score…I took the ACT nine or ten times before I finally got the magic score for a full ride undergrad scholarship (and the new car my parents promised me if I earned said full ride). I actually made money going to undergrad because I had other smaller scholarships too. Some even went towards first year of vet school because they were four year awards and I just did 3 years of undergrad. It helped a lot.