I don't know where to start.

[miss_n3rd]

Hello and thank you in advance for reading this thread.

The Questions: What do I need to do or who can I talk to about starting an application for Vet School? Is it worth trying with my circumstances? Where can financial aid of this magnitude be found/searched for? What is step 1?!

Background:
I have a BS in Biology, concentration in Environmental Science. My GPA was only 2.75 and I graduated back in May 2012. I thought that I read somewhere that college credits after so many years are no longer valid when applying for graduate school. I am not the best at test taking and I wasn't the most serious college student in the past, but when it comes to learning on the job and application I am awesome. I've worked at a vet clinic for the last year and it's made me remember how much I always wanted to be a Veterinarian growing up as a child. I've volunteered and worked at animal shelters growing up. I really don't want to be just an LVT, no offense meant to anyone, but I just know that it is not what I want. I'm a problem solver and a thinker.

I never took any pre-veterinary courses in undergrad. I want to apply to a veterinary program but I really have no idea how to start that process or where to look. I don't even know if my low GPA would be accepted anywhere! I know vet school is very expensive, I looked at a thread posted for average 4 year costs for different schools. I have ~12,000 in college loan debt already, and increasing that number seems terrifying. It will be financially all on me, I help my family out financial as things stand. Has anyone else had these or similar circumstances and made it? Is it worth taking such a huge financial risk on my own and is it possible to juggle school with working to support myself?

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[that redhead]

Hello and thank you in advance for reading this thread.

The Questions: What do I need to do or who can I talk to about starting an application for Vet School? Is it worth trying with my circumstances? Where can financial aid of this magnitude be found/searched for? What is step 1?!

Background:
I have a BS in Biology, concentration in Environmental Science. My GPA was only 2.75 and I graduated back in May 2012. I thought that I read somewhere that college credits after so many years are no longer valid when applying for graduate school. I am not the best at test taking and I wasn't the most serious college student in the past, but when it comes to learning on the job and application I am awesome. I've worked at a vet clinic for the last year and it's made me remember how much I always wanted to be a Veterinarian growing up as a child. I've volunteered and worked at animal shelters growing up. I really don't want to be just an LVT, no offense meant to anyone, but I just know that it is not what I want. I'm a problem solver and a thinker.

I never took any pre-veterinary courses in undergrad. I want to apply to a veterinary program but I really have no idea how to start that process or where to look. I don't even know if my low GPA would be accepted anywhere! I know vet school is very expensive, I looked at a thread posted for average 4 year costs for different schools. I have ~12,000 in college loan debt already, and increasing that number seems terrifying. It will be financially all on me, I help my family out financial as things stand. Has anyone else had these or similar circumstances and made it? Is it worth taking such a huge financial risk on my own and is it possible to juggle school with working to support myself?

Basic requirements for vet school include prerequisite courses, experience, letters of recommendation and a GRE score.

To start the process, you will need to take pre-reqs. These differ amongst schools but in general include biology, chemistry (general and organic), biochemistry, physics, etc. Since you have a weaker GPA (competitive is usually ~3.5 and higher), you need to ace these courses. Some schools do offer grade "forgiveness" but it's usually a lot further out than three years; best to just do well in these classes now and make a pitch that you've become a stronger student and can handle tough sciences. Continue to gain veterinary experience hours, fit the GRE at some point and then look at applying. (The website for the application is www.aavmc.org/vmcas/vmcas.htm)

This is a pretty general outline and a lot more detail can be found by searching old threads. Welcome to SDN

 

[LyraGardenia]

Where can financial aid of this magnitude be found/searched for? ... Is it worth taking such a huge financial risk on my own and is it possible to juggle school with working to support myself?

Is it possible to juggle working to support yourself while taking prerequisite courses? Probably, many people have done it before. Is it possible to work to support yourself during vet school? Probably not. Some vet students will work part time (say 10-15 hours a week) to cover a portion of living expenses, but it would most likely be impossible to work enough to completely pay your way through vet school. Save up as much money as you can beforehand in order to minimize the amount you have to take out in loans. There are some scholarships available depending on the school, but "full rides" like in undergrad are rare, if they exist at all. Most vet students take out loans, or rely on family/spousal support. Carefully consider whether or not the increased debt is worth it, especially if you'll need to take out loans to take prerequisites. Even though you never took any specifically pre-vet courses, it's possible you may have your prerequisites covered with the courses for your biology degree. But definitely research and talk to the schools you're interested in to see if you would need to retake any of your older courses. If you got below a C in any prerequisite courses, you will most likely need to retake them.