Impact of vet tech program on vet school admission

[Cocoa85]

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I am a non-traditional student who thought it would be great to go the route of vet tech to gain experience before applying to vet school. Since I started, I have struggled in the program (have been dealing with depression;,the stress of moving across country less than a week before program started didn't help either). The worse I did in my courses, the more I lost motivation. And with a D in one of my classes, I am now out of the program. From what I understand, my instate says VMCAS requires transcripts from all schools even vet tech programs (even though those courses don't count towards prereqs) so I can't just sweep this under a rug. I'm just wondering if not making it through a tech program is something that results in schools automatically closing the door on someone applying and if I should just forget about vet school.

 

[scatter.brained.dvm.stud]

If you asked the school, they would say no that doesn't automatically withdraw your application. But admissions is based on an individual reviewing your application/ folder. It is up to chance and I don't want to make you feel worse but it is probably not likely that you will be accepted unless you had a good undergrad gpa and gre score, as well as experience.


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[Pugsforlove2014]

You might want to look into taking a break for a couple of years and sorting yourself out. I don't mean to be discouraging but given the troubles you had in tech school they would only be multiplied in vet school. So take a step back and see whats really important to you.

 

[scatter.brained.dvm.stud]

I agree with Pugs. Vet school is extremely stressful and if you are having a lot of personal issues you may not want to put yourself through it right now. Best of luck to you


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[Cocoa85]

I appreciate the advice and it's good to maybe take a step back and figure where the issues are coming from. My overall undergrad GPA back when earning bachelors degree for first career path way back when was a 3.3. Years later I took two years of math and science at a four year from 2013-2015 with a 3.8. I am just missing year of physics, semester of genetics and an upper level physiology course that I need to look into taking at four year school in my area. My gre scores were 155 for both math and verbal. I could see taking again to improve. I don't feel I have enough experience to be a complete applicant so won't be applying anytime soon. I'm just not sure if I should jump into a different program and forget vet medicine since I can't even pass a basic vet tech class or just give myself a break, get my head on straight, and try to get animal/vet experience outside of the program.

 

[MassDVMMPH]

If your ultimate goal is not vet tech work, then I wouldn't bother pursuing a vet tech degree. It's a waste of money. You would be better off just working as a vet assistant and shadowing while taking the remainder of your pre-reqs. Get your depression and any other problems sorted out first of course. If you need to increase your GPA, just take some upper-level or graduate courses in subjects that would have some applicability to veterinary work, such as animal behavior or parasitology to show that you have the ability to do well in those types of classes. You would probably have to explain what happened to you in your vet tech program, but if you can explain why it won't happen again (you got treatment, counseling, etc.), and you do well in courses you take later on, I don't think it would stop you from getting accepted to vet school all by itself.

 

[Osudairy]

If your ultimate goal is not vet tech work, then I wouldn't bother pursuing a vet tech degree. It's a waste of money. You would be better off just working as a vet assistant and shadowing while taking the remainder of your pre-reqs. Get your depression and any other problems sorted out first of course. If you need to increase your GPA, just take some upper-level or graduate courses in subjects that would have some applicability to veterinary work, such as animal behavior or parasitology to show that you have the ability to do well in those types of classes. You would probably have to explain what happened to you in your vet tech program, but if you can explain why it won't happen again (you got treatment, counseling, etc.), and you do well in courses you take later on, I don't think it would stop you from getting accepted to vet school all by itself.

This. I found a vet (who I am still working for) that hired me as an unlicensed vet tech or "vet assistant" and I got on the job training that helped immensely towards vet school. I agree, the vet tech degree when you ultimate goal is a waste of money. You can get experience like that just shadowing a good vet that is willing to teach you.

You will want to have a way to explain the vet tech school situation and why you were dismissed. It also would not hurt to have documentation of you depression and other issues that affected your performance. I think you need to do some soul-searching to see if this is really what you want to do and take some time to get things figured out before diving back in. Good luck!

 

[Cocoa85]

Thank you all for your responses and advice. I am taking it all in and feel like given time and soul searching, I can work on getting myself to a better place.