In Vet Tech school - finals week - How can I make it????

[The Cat]

Just asking for a little advice, everyone knows how hard VT school is.

I had a very full load this semester, about 9 classes. I am struggling the most with one class, and it is among the first of the many finals I must take (just my luck). Since this particular class has been troubling me out of all my classes I've been studying for it a little way before finals but I've discovered it just isn't enough...(lots!!! of information, very thorough) and my instructor said the final will be huge...she wouldn't give details, either - "just study everything, expect anything" she casually said. The final is Thursday and here it is being Sunday (I started Friday) and I am about 55% through all the material for this semester. I've been using the SQ3R method of studying. I read through the power points, write down questions as I am reading, then once I am finished, I go back and answer the questions. I go over it a little during my breaks (I take one every 2-3 hours). Is this a good strategy?
*PLEASE INCLUDE STUDYING TIPS DURING FINALS WEEK, THIS CLASS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG AND I NEED ALL THE HELP THAT I CAN GET!*

I feel like I am doing okay...(?) but something inside me just tells me I'm going to crash and burn on the rest of my classes. I just want to know how you guys survived finals week with the grades you wanted? I think this is the hardest semester I have ever experienced and I have huge, huge, huge anxiety.

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[Ashgirl]

Just asking for a little advice, everyone knows how hard VT school is.

I had a very full load this semester, about 9 classes. I am struggling the most with one class, and it is among the first of the many finals I must take (just my luck). Since this particular class has been troubling me out of all my classes I've been studying for it a little way before finals but I've discovered it just isn't enough...(lots!!! of information, very thorough) and my instructor said the final will be huge...she wouldn't give details, either - "just study everything, expect anything" she casually said. The final is Thursday and here it is being Sunday (I started Friday) and I am about 55% through all the material for this semester. I've been using the SQ3R method of studying. I read through the power points, write down questions as I am reading, then once I am finished, I go back and answer the questions. I go over it a little during my breaks (I take one every 2-3 hours). Is this a good strategy?
*PLEASE INCLUDE STUDYING TIPS DURING FINALS WEEK, THIS CLASS IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG AND I NEED ALL THE HELP THAT I CAN GET!*

I feel like I am doing okay...(?) but something inside me just tells me I'm going to crash and burn on the rest of my classes. I just want to know how you guys survived finals week with the grades you wanted? I think this is the hardest semester I have ever experienced and I have huge, huge, huge anxiety.

First of all, take a deep breath. Panicking will not help the situation, and can make studying even harder than it already is.

Second of all, know that everyone learns differently. What works for me may not work for you. The biggest advice that helped me was 1) Figure out how you learn best. Are you a visual learner? Then get a whiteboard and draw out pathways, write out the drugs that help with X disease, etc. Try flashcards, memory tricks, recalling, etc. Are you an auditory learner? Then listen to lecture again, or talk out loud/teach someone (even if it is your dog). Whatever you end up doing, don't learn it passively!! (don't just read the material!) If you think the SQ3R method is really working then stick with it. If you think it's working but you don't have enough time to do it you might have to switch to another method. The other tip was 2) Make sure you take breaks. I can personally only study for 40-50 minutes before I HAVE to take a break, otherwise I'm just sitting there reading the same thing for an hour. For you it might be 2 hours, or 30 minutes. Just don't bulldoze through 12 hours of studying- it's a recipe for major burnout.

 

[rockatiel]

I went halfway through a vet tech program. I was never a vet technology major but I balanced (read:tried to) it with other classes. You're not kidding, it's rough. But you're doing great with the studying. Keep that up but remember to take breaks. I'm sure the test will be much easier than you imagined!

 

[Starry-chan]

For curiosity's sake, how hard is vet tech school compared to vet school? Is it like nursing school? I knew a guy who got an associates in nursing and he said his stack of textbooks was taller than him (and he was 6 foot tall.)

 

[rockatiel]

For curiosity's sake, how hard is vet tech school compared to vet school? Is it like nursing school? I knew a guy who got an associates in nursing and he said his stack of textbooks was taller than him (and he was 6 foot tall.)

Haven't gone through vet school yet, but I'd say from my experience that they could be comparable in difficulty. The classes you take for tech school are pretty rigorous and you need to be knowledgable, especially since the VTNE covers multiple species like the NAVLE. Where I went there were no clinicals, rather you were hands on from day one, starting with care and husbandry and progressing to an internship with a clinic. With all of this said, I haven't gone through vet school, so I don't know if it's harder or not.

 

[dyachei]

For curiosity's sake, how hard is vet tech school compared to vet school? Is it like nursing school? I knew a guy who got an associates in nursing and he said his stack of textbooks was taller than him (and he was 6 foot tall.)

not really, but it's *really* pretty different. This is from having taken classes in vet school and teaching vet techs in a local (well-known) program. The information that is needed for a vet tech is pretty different from what we learn in vet school. It's also usually a 2 year program (which you can make 4 years in order to get your bachelor's degree).

 

[LetItSnow]

Haven't gone through vet school yet, but I'd say from my experience that they could be comparable in difficulty. The classes you take for tech school are pretty rigorous and you need to be knowledgable, especially since the VTNE covers multiple species like the NAVLE. Where I went there were no clinicals, rather you were hands on from day one, starting with care and husbandry and progressing to an internship with a clinic. With all of this said, I haven't gone through vet school, so I don't know if it's harder or not.

I've never been to Finland, but I'm sure it's just the same as Brazil, where I have lived!!!!

 

[LetItSnow]

I've also never done a lung lobectomy, but I'm sure it's just like doing a splenectomy, which I have done!

 

[dyachei]

I've also never done a lung lobectomy, but I'm sure it's just like doing a splenectomy, which I have done!

I want you to test this one out

 

[LetItSnow]

I want you to test this one out

Nope nope nope. The closest I get to chest surgery is slamming a tube in there, sewing it up, and crossing my fingers.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

Nope nope nope. The closest I get to chest surgery is slamming a tube in there, sewing it up, and crossing my fingers.

I read that too quickly and pictured you sewing your fingers to a cat.

 

[rockatiel]

I've never been to Finland, but I'm sure it's just the same as Brazil, where I have lived!!!!

Ooops I did a thing. I'm not trying to make brash assumptions (though I guess I kind of did oops) but that's just off of my knowledge. I wasn't meaning to say I knew what vet school would be like! Or could even guess it. I feel like a small handful of us have actually been to both vet school and tech school, so I was giving him one side of the experience, and wanting someone to fill in the gaps. I wasn't trying to extrapolate my minimal experience exactly as far as I think you're alluding lol

 

[dyachei]

Haven't gone through vet school yet, but I'd say from my experience that they could be comparable in difficulty.

I wasn't trying to extrapolate my minimal experience exactly as far as I think you're alluding lol

I think maybe you don't understand the comparison you're making.

 

[rockatiel]

I think maybe you don't understand the comparison you're making.

My mistake-I wrote this in a hurry earlier on and didn't realize that I had included that, it's definitely not what I meant! I only included the standardized tests because I know they need the same basic knowledge of the species (or my program did) but I know for sure vet is a far more advanced level. By no means do I mean the cirriculums, or anything is similar. It wasn't really my goal to make a comparison since I do only know a single side, but my earlier post did come across that way.

 

[The Cat]

Well, to anyone who is curious...lol I passed my clinical practical this tuesday with an 81....passed my radiology exam with an 82...I took another exam today that I wasnt feeling very confident about at all (material was so huge, I couldnt get through it all in addition to studying for my other exams....so who knows what I got some of us didnt even finish it and we were given 2 hrs )....onto microbiology....can't wait until this is over...I feel so dumb and inadequate.

and for the folks who were curious about vet tech school. lets just say I initially wanted to become a veterinarian...but after my first semester of VT I just figured I would go no further after becoming a VT. lol VT school is hard enough...I know for a fact vet school would be 1000x more difficult. Kudos to you incredible DVMs/VMDs out there!