How valuable IS research experience?

[choroid88plexus]

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[Nechochwen]

If you don't like analogies I'd wait. The old GRE is full of them and ,come to think of it, taking one version and then another may throw you off some. I guess it depends on how well you do with standardized tests.

I would imagine, just guessing, that the vet schools will still be taking the old test for however long GRE scores are good for (5 years for LSU). Preparing for applications though, I would email whichever vet school admissions your interested in.

As for the research, BlackKat could probably tell you; she is very experienced as far as lab animals go. She can tell you more.

I'm only good for the random questions.🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

hello 🙂

I agree with Nechochwen about the GRE advice. If you feel the new type could boost your score I'd take the new one. However, the new one lets u use a calculator so the quantitative will probably be a lot harder. When I took the old version, i was really scared about not being able to use a calc because for the SATs i could. But i ended up doing really well because ijust practiced my basic math a lot lol. So you may want to take both if you have the time/$. I'm not sure, it's really your opinion that counts lol If I were you, i would take both. Just because I'm not a good standardized test taker, so if i have 2 shots at the same thing i'd do it. You're actually pretty lucky you have a choice to choose which version you'd want!!!

Your research will definitely help!!! Of course, it won't make up for the clinical experience you should have, but you are planning ahead for that so you have it covered!! I'm honestly not sure I would have gotten into vet school without it. I basically focused all my time on research and lab animal experience and just did SA interning/volunteer on the side (whenever i could squeeze it in on the weekend or after work). The only thing i could think of for if this wouldnt help you is if you stated you didnt want to go into research at all. They may wonder why you did so much of it in the first place. But either way, it definitly won't hurt your application. I really think the 2 best things to help your app stand out are research and LA experience, a lot of it. Because sooo many people lack research and LA experience (this includes me for LA!! lol glad i had research to make up for it)

 

[jpeterman13]

I'm honestly not sure I would have gotten into vet school without it.

Same here 🙂

 

[racccjlm]

Your research will definitely help --- it sets you apart from the applicant pool and will give you something to expand on in your personal statements, etc. Granted, there are many applicants that have research experience, but they're not uniform in the sense of working SA, LA, etc. Except for about 25 hours built up between kindergarten and now, I have no clinical experience --- just a lot of animal/research experience. So don't worry too much about being behind in gaining vet experience! Keep doing what you're doing and when you apply, emphasize how your other experiences will help you make a great vet 🙂

 

[david594]

Research experience is definitely helpful. But one of the first things you will get asked is why Veterinary school over Medical school. If you say you want to do small/large/food animal/ equine your research experience won't be as beneficial since it doesn't really go towards demonstrating your understanding of your desired career field.

If your plan is to pursue a research oriented career then it will be much more applicable. You will need to come up with a good answer of why a Veterinary degree will be more valuable than an MD or PhD for your desired goals though.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Research experience is definitely helpful. But one of the first things you will get asked is why Veterinary school over Medical school. If you say you want to do small/large/food animal/ equine your research experience won't be as beneficial since it doesn't really go towards demonstrating your understanding of your desired career field.

If your plan is to pursue a research oriented career then it will be much more applicable. You will need to come up with a good answer of why a Veterinary degree will be more valuable than an MD or PhD for your desired goals though.

this is true, i mostly got asked why not PhD though, not med. But either would be questions to look out for

 

[choroid88plexus]

Yeah, I was worrying about that question (why not PhD?) I mean, I'm doing a thesis for departmental honors, isn't that enough of a reason? I like research because it emphasizes independence and really introduces you to the process of trial and error. I feel like those particular qualities are beneficial for any graduate school. I mean, I don't want to be stuck in a lab coat working in a windowless lab with cell cultures for the rest of my life, but I need to find a better way of phrasing it. I like interaction.. and animals.

As far as med school goes, I still have to work on that one as I'm not sure if I've completely ruled it out yet.. 😛

 

[lalzi22]

Just so you know also, vet school doesnt 'require' a lot of vet experience hours, however, generally (please notice the bold, there are obviously exceptions, but the average, general vet school applicant is what I mean here) vet applicants have many more hours shadowing/volunteering/working needed to gain acceptance than med students. Most med students I've met have like, MAYBE two hundred shadowing hours, tops, but pre-vet students will have many hundreds, if not thousands of hours in a number of fields. Your research will help you out with this a LOT, however, I would try to get in some serious vet experience hours while you can this summer and your year off. Good luck!

 

[sumstorm]

I did some work in a neuro lab using cuttlefish. I have an interest in behavior and neurology in general, and the experience with an invert was very helpful to my application (focus area is zoo med.) It wasn't a problem for me, but in the space to fill in info about experience on the VMCAS, I explained the connections to vet med.

 

[Roxysocks]

I was research oriented in college and I've just spent the last year doing vaccine research at NIH. I had SA and LA clinical experience to put on my app, but I'm certain that it's the stuff I've been doing in the lab that set me apart during the application cycle. So, to answer your question, YES research is a great thing to have on your app because it sets you apart from other applicants! If you can get published or go to professional conferences with a poster or something, that looks even more impressive. Plus, if you think about it, all of these vet schools have faculty or other grad students doing research because it is very lucrative and a good research program = solid funding and support.

So, even if you're not looking to do lab animal medicine, having a vet degree and going into research is extremely valuable. I've heard from my colleagues that research institutions are always looking to hire research oriented vets.

 

[choroid88plexus]

I was research oriented in college and I've just spent the last year doing vaccine research at NIH. I had SA and LA clinical experience to put on my app, but I'm certain that it's the stuff I've been doing in the lab that set me apart during the application cycle. So, to answer your question, YES research is a great thing to have on your app because it sets you apart from other applicants! If you can get published or go to professional conferences with a poster or something, that looks even more impressive. Plus, if you think about it, all of these vet schools have faculty or other grad students doing research because it is very lucrative and a good research program = solid funding and support.

So, even if you're not looking to do lab animal medicine, having a vet degree and going into research is extremely valuable. I've heard from my colleagues that research institutions are always looking to hire research oriented vets.

This is good news, and I think I might be first or second author on a paper coming out within the next year. Glad to know it means something since my hands-on LA and SA experience is depressing. Thanks!