Income during vet school

[MouseWrangler]

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Even though I'm not in vet school yet, I have a second, side job tutoring on tutor.com. It's fun - students sign on to ask a question and most sessions last about 20 minutes. There's no real schedule if you don't want it, I pretty much sign on whenever I have downtime and tutor for an hour or two. The pay isn't bad - especially if you tutor an upper-level subject. I'll probably keep that job if/when I'm accepted into vet school. It certainly won't be enough to live off of, but it's a nice little supplement and it's fun.

 

[Lady_Koolaid]

I have about a year and a half to two years to save before I apply to school so I'm trying to save as much as I can. But things come up unexpectedly. I figured a lot of it will come from loans, which is scary. I'm the type of person that needs to focus solely on school. I'm starting my biology degree and working full time. I'm curious to see how this will work out.

I know this is an old post, but maybe you'll reply??

I'm having the same problem right now except as an undergrad 🙁 I'm an Animal Sciences major. How do you work, get the grades to apply for something like Vet School, AND do the volunteer work that most grad schools require?? Because I'd really love to get a job for some extra money, and I know there are people who do it, but I don't know how...it's like they have a time-turner or something.

 

[orca2011]

I know this is an old post, but maybe you'll reply??

I'm having the same problem right now except as an undergrad 🙁 I'm an Animal Sciences major. How do you work, get the grades to apply for something like Vet School, AND do the volunteer work that most grad schools require?? Because I'd really love to get a job for some extra money, and I know there are people who do it, but I don't know how...it's like they have a time-turner or something.

It's honestly dependent on you. I was one that had this kind of schedule and worked part time on campus (although I sometimes put in more hours than I was supposed to) because I do better when I'm constantly busy. The minute I have free time, it all goes to hell and I get nothing done. This has even held true in clinics for me. The busier the rotation, the more I do research on my own time and am involved more..the slower it is, I slack off and put in less extra work.

Now, I will say that I did not make straight A's and my GPA was fairly average (3.5ish), but I would not have done anything differently (except maybe get vet experience earlier on)

 

[cloverbug]

I'm probably the odd man out in this group, but I work as a delivery driver 20-30 hours a week. I'm also the treasurer of two clubs and volunteer in the wildlife clinic. It gets crazy, and I lose time to study for sure but I don't want to be in serious debt when I get out because I had to take out more just to live off of. Right now I'm making between $300-400 a week doing it. It pays the bills decently well.

 

[battie]

I'm probably the odd man out in this group, but I work as a delivery driver 20-30 hours a week. I'm also the treasurer of two clubs and volunteer in the wildlife clinic. It gets crazy, and I lose time to study for sure but I don't want to be in serious debt when I get out because I had to take out more just to live off of. Right now I'm making between $300-400 a week doing it. It pays the bills decently well.

Do you listen to lectures or recorded notes while you drive?

 

[pp9]

I know this is an old post, but maybe you'll reply??

I'm having the same problem right now except as an undergrad 🙁 I'm an Animal Sciences major. How do you work, get the grades to apply for something like Vet School, AND do the volunteer work that most grad schools require?? Because I'd really love to get a job for some extra money, and I know there are people who do it, but I don't know how...it's like they have a time-turner or something.

I managed to hold down two jobs (I probably averaged 40 hours a week with both) and a volunteer position at a rehab center that was like 45 minutes away. I had an average GPA (in terms of vet school applicants), but I really don't think cutting down on my hours would have made a huge difference. Each person is very different, but I found it better to work under the pressure of 'Ok, I have two hours between jobs tonight. I need to get ______ done." I don't have a job in vet school (yet), and I've already caught myself thinking 'Eh, I have a whole week before that quiz' and I'm the type of person that cannot pull all nighters or cram sessions.

It helps tremendously if your job works around your classes (aka on campus jobs). Plus, in my experience, it was pretty easy to trade/give away shifts when you needed more study time or whatever. You could try looking for jobs that allow you to make your own schedule, too. It may or may not be available near you, but home pet-sitting services are getting popular and are usually pretty good student jobs. Think sleeping over in some pretty nice homes (at least for the service I worked for) with pets, all while you study.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Pet sitting or finding people who need help giving SQ injections for their old cats and stuff as a vet student is a good way to make some easy extra cash.

I pay anywhere from $20-30/day for vet students to pet sit my cats who just need some loving, get fed twice, get fresh water and have their litter scooped. Takes maybe 30 min of their time per day, and they can continue to do everything else they would otherwise be doing. The only requirement is that they're responsible and actually do the minimal care necessary and are on alert should my babies get sick (unlikely). Surprisingly, there are a number of vet students for whom these minimal requirements for some reason seem too much, which is baffling to me.

 

[cloverbug]

Do you listen to lectures or recorded notes while you drive?

I didn't, no. I'm in rotations now so still no listening to lectures lol. I basically crammed all my stuff on my days off.