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Welcome to pre-vet!
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Well I'm a nontraditional student being that I'm 37 yrs old. I was I. The military for five years then got out and became a civilian contractor for the military. Took classes at a community college but had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Was laid off then worked for two doggy daycares and went back to school. Still had no idea what I wanted to do but took gen ed classed as well as subjects that interested me (Russian, French and Spanish classes simultaneously and I got A's).
I got into horse training thanks to a psychiatrist at the VA hospital who referred me to a PTSD program for vets.
Because of that program, my whole world was back on track and I was finally able to think about a career that I wanted to do. I wanted to work with animals.
It was my pet ferret, Sophia, that reignited my desire to become a vet. She went through a costly $1000 surgery for intestinal blockage and thank god she is still alive! The intestinal blockage was that unhealthy "ferret food." I've changed that as well as dived into the world of ferrets. A visit to The Wildlife Sanctuary here in Colorado also helped narrow my focus as to what I would like to specialise in...becoming a wildlife vet. CSU vets get to help the resident vet out out there!
Anyways being a vet was something I wanted to be since I was a kid but my parents and I had no idea how to afford college so I gave up and joined the military instead.
30 years later, it's still something that I have to devote the rest of my life to.
I'm a biology major at the University of Colorado-Denver,
GPA: transferred in with 3.7
Planning on applying to CSU. If I don't make it in the first time then I'll apply to their Vet Start Program since I definitely meet all the criteria. :-/
GRE: Studying!
Animal Experience: 6,000 + Volunteered at the human society when I lived in Alaska. Worked over two years in doggy daycares. Ridden and competed in hunter jumper and started horses under saddle for 3 years. Hoping to volunteer at our local reptile rescue center.
Vet Experience: since some of schools consider vet experience as working under a vet, I don't have any. :-/ Currently trying to make of list of vets to shadow! I pray that I could at least spend a day at the Wildlife Sanctuary and shadow the vet that lives there (that would truly make my day even if it were for two hours lol).
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I got into horse training thanks to a psychiatrist at the VA hospital who referred me to a PTSD program for vets.
Because of that program, my whole world was back on track and I was finally able to think about a career that I wanted to do. I wanted to work with animals.
It was my pet ferret, Sophia, that reignited my desire to become a vet. She went through a costly $1000 surgery for intestinal blockage and thank god she is still alive! The intestinal blockage was that unhealthy "ferret food." I've changed that as well as dived into the world of ferrets. A visit to The Wildlife Sanctuary here in Colorado also helped narrow my focus as to what I would like to specialise in...becoming a wildlife vet. CSU vets get to help the resident vet out out there!
Anyways being a vet was something I wanted to be since I was a kid but my parents and I had no idea how to afford college so I gave up and joined the military instead.
30 years later, it's still something that I have to devote the rest of my life to.
I'm a biology major at the University of Colorado-Denver,
GPA: transferred in with 3.7
Planning on applying to CSU. If I don't make it in the first time then I'll apply to their Vet Start Program since I definitely meet all the criteria. :-/
GRE: Studying!
Animal Experience: 6,000 + Volunteered at the human society when I lived in Alaska. Worked over two years in doggy daycares. Ridden and competed in hunter jumper and started horses under saddle for 3 years. Hoping to volunteer at our local reptile rescue center.
Vet Experience: since some of schools consider vet experience as working under a vet, I don't have any. :-/ Currently trying to make of list of vets to shadow! I pray that I could at least spend a day at the Wildlife Sanctuary and shadow the vet that lives there (that would truly make my day even if it were for two hours lol).
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Welcome to SDN. It's nice to see another fellow veteran and nontrad applicant. Funny - I took Russian, German and Old/Middle English simultaneously at the same time (brought to you by the Office of Redundancy). Languages are fun, but there are very few career options with them that make enough money to live on unfortunately. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions though and good luck with the process.
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It's kinda cool to go to the early pages of this thread and see some of the long-time SDNers as pre-vets! Look at how far you've all come.
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Oo I did not see this before! So I'll definitely add to it 🙂
Nontraditional, 28, female, Maine resident. Two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in Animal Science, the other in Wildlife Biology. Long story short, the original plan was always vet school, but I needed the time to figure things out and to become more experienced. My gpa from my first degree is a 2.96 (why does the rule of rounding not apply to these???) and my second degree is a 3.72. I have a steady upward trend and hoping to continue that as I finish the pre reqs which I will be starting in January. My goal is to apply next cycle, 2016, for C/O 2021! Still early to think about, but, I'd rather be as prepared as possible before the actual app cycle begins, that way I'm not stressing as much 🙂
GRE: waiting to hear back from the fin. aid office for the fee reduction waiver before I sign up. Trying to cut costs where I can. Hoping to take the GRE sometime in the winter/spring. I took the old version back in 2011 and tanked it but I was by no means prepared. I'll be using Magoosh and I bought some of the prep books. I've heard good things about Magoosh, so hoping I can come out with decent scores.
My experiences so far:
Veterinary experience
~1600 hours lab animal. I worked in a medical lab at UVM (my first undergrad) after I graduated. I did mostly cage washing, stocking, dealt with the carcasses etc. I also did basic husbandry of the animals during weekend and holiday shifts or if someone called out. The head of this lab was the college's veterinarian.
~338 hours wildlife and continuing. Might be on a white-winged scoter project in the near future where I can observe/assist a couple of wildlife vets with implanting transmitters!
I also have an interview this week with a local vet clinic, so hopefully I can start racking up clinical hours before I start to apply next summer, here's hoping!!
Animal experience
~320 hours large animal, specifically cows. I worked the summer after high school at a dairy farm milking cows.
~128 hours companion, specifically greyhounds. I was a volunteer in college for Volunteers in Action: Pets Helping People. We would go to a local greyhound rescue every weekend during the school year to walk the dogs and to also bring them to local nursing homes.
~168 hours mixed/exotic. I worked one summer at a summer science camp that actually had over 100 species of animals and the counselors were required to help take care of them during the summer.
~1240 hours wildlife: Common Loons. Past two summers I have been working as a field biologist surveying loons and monitoring their nesting activity.
~480 hours wildlife: raptors. Spent a summer conducting raptor point count surveys
~1320 hours wildlife: songbirds. spent a few different summers working with a variety of songbirds and conducting surveys, nest searches, etc.
Nontraditional, 28, female, Maine resident. Two Bachelor of Science degrees, one in Animal Science, the other in Wildlife Biology. Long story short, the original plan was always vet school, but I needed the time to figure things out and to become more experienced. My gpa from my first degree is a 2.96 (why does the rule of rounding not apply to these???) and my second degree is a 3.72. I have a steady upward trend and hoping to continue that as I finish the pre reqs which I will be starting in January. My goal is to apply next cycle, 2016, for C/O 2021! Still early to think about, but, I'd rather be as prepared as possible before the actual app cycle begins, that way I'm not stressing as much 🙂
GRE: waiting to hear back from the fin. aid office for the fee reduction waiver before I sign up. Trying to cut costs where I can. Hoping to take the GRE sometime in the winter/spring. I took the old version back in 2011 and tanked it but I was by no means prepared. I'll be using Magoosh and I bought some of the prep books. I've heard good things about Magoosh, so hoping I can come out with decent scores.
My experiences so far:
Veterinary experience
~1600 hours lab animal. I worked in a medical lab at UVM (my first undergrad) after I graduated. I did mostly cage washing, stocking, dealt with the carcasses etc. I also did basic husbandry of the animals during weekend and holiday shifts or if someone called out. The head of this lab was the college's veterinarian.
~338 hours wildlife and continuing. Might be on a white-winged scoter project in the near future where I can observe/assist a couple of wildlife vets with implanting transmitters!
I also have an interview this week with a local vet clinic, so hopefully I can start racking up clinical hours before I start to apply next summer, here's hoping!!
Animal experience
~320 hours large animal, specifically cows. I worked the summer after high school at a dairy farm milking cows.
~128 hours companion, specifically greyhounds. I was a volunteer in college for Volunteers in Action: Pets Helping People. We would go to a local greyhound rescue every weekend during the school year to walk the dogs and to also bring them to local nursing homes.
~168 hours mixed/exotic. I worked one summer at a summer science camp that actually had over 100 species of animals and the counselors were required to help take care of them during the summer.
~1240 hours wildlife: Common Loons. Past two summers I have been working as a field biologist surveying loons and monitoring their nesting activity.
~480 hours wildlife: raptors. Spent a summer conducting raptor point count surveys
~1320 hours wildlife: songbirds. spent a few different summers working with a variety of songbirds and conducting surveys, nest searches, etc.
Last edited:
- Joined
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- Veterinarian
Here are my experiences so far. I'm a Sophomore but will be getting my Bachelor's in Animal Sciences so I will be applying next fall. Purdue is definitely number one (IS).. not sure on where else I will apply to yet.
GPA: 3.7
Vet Experience
Farm vets - 150
Purdue LA VTH Volunteer - 150
Purdue VTH Oncology - 60
SA clinic- 180 (ongoing)
Purdue VTH Radiation Assistant - 10 (ongoing)
Foal Watch - 25
Animal Experience
Leader Dog - 350
Humane Society-50
Purdue Small Animal Animal Caretaker - 40 (ongoing)
4-H beef cattle - 400
4-H horses - 200
4-H swine - 125
Farm Cattle - 400
4-H Dog - 350
ANSC 245 - 50 - animal management class
Lab Animal Caretaker - 45 (ongoing)
Other Employment
Subway - 300
Histology lab - 400 (ongoing)
Haiti study abroad -
Research
100 - gait analysis
Extracurriculars
Pre vet club and Heifer International
Future plans: Hoping to grow hours in my jobs.. hopefully be able to shadow a pathologist and work on a research project with a PI next summer.
GPA: 3.7
Vet Experience
Farm vets - 150
Purdue LA VTH Volunteer - 150
Purdue VTH Oncology - 60
SA clinic- 180 (ongoing)
Purdue VTH Radiation Assistant - 10 (ongoing)
Foal Watch - 25
Animal Experience
Leader Dog - 350
Humane Society-50
Purdue Small Animal Animal Caretaker - 40 (ongoing)
4-H beef cattle - 400
4-H horses - 200
4-H swine - 125
Farm Cattle - 400
4-H Dog - 350
ANSC 245 - 50 - animal management class
Lab Animal Caretaker - 45 (ongoing)
Other Employment
Subway - 300
Histology lab - 400 (ongoing)
Haiti study abroad -
Research
100 - gait analysis
Extracurriculars
Pre vet club and Heifer International
Future plans: Hoping to grow hours in my jobs.. hopefully be able to shadow a pathologist and work on a research project with a PI next summer.
- Joined
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Oh, I would've made my first post here if I'd known it existed!
My name is Devery, I'm 23 and I've wanted to be a vet since i was a wee baby blah,blah. I'm from south Texas but went to LSU for undergrad on full scholarship, I majored in Animal Science and graduated a semester early in December 2013. Have spent the time since then on taking/retaking a few prereqs in prep for applying (this is my first attempt).
When I was 12 my family moved from central TX suburbs to our current home out in the country so I've had a lot of experiences with various animals. Currently the pets that are "mine" and will travel along with me if possible are my mini aussie Axl, my kinkalow munchkin Mimi, and guinea pig Ricardo. I am a huge fan of poultry (chickens in particular), I raised turkeys for FFA in high school and did many of my Animal Sci electives in the poultry sci field.
😍
I like going on the internet (too much), drawing, games, and music (big fan of classic and Celtic rock). I love all things Ireland and Scotland (actually got to tour Scotland and London on a high school summer trip in 2008) but haven't tried applying to Dublin/Glasgow/Edinburgh yet because I'm unsure of the costs of living overseas.
My stats...
Cumulative/Sci GPA: 3.33 / 3.27 thanks to rocky 1st and 6th semesters. But there is a clear upward trend culminating in a 4.0 7th/final semester at LSU, and I have not gotten lower than a B since (I retook biochem last year and am retaking bio 1 now)
GRE: 310 (161 V / 149 Q) taken in February
verbal was actually a 163 on the unofficial result screen but was curved down once I received official scores
Experiences (not bothering with hour estimates here)
-Small animal: Spay days at LSU SVM (before it went from surgery prep to limited interaction), general pet ownership (medication, vaccination, first aid, etc.)
-Large/food animal: LSU poultry judging team for 2 separate semesters/8th overall individual in 2012 national competition, Animal science farm courses/labs (general beef/dairy/swine, small ruminants, poultry), husbandry/ownership (poultry, goats, equine), first aid/medication/vaccine/worming etc., goat breeding experiences (have assisted with births/neonate care in years past, literally fixed a prolapsed uterus 2 years back...)
-Exotic/wildlife: raptor rehab workday at LSU, semester of volunteering at a wildlife rehab center, a wildlife rehab basic skills course (for certification as a licensed rehabber in state of Louisiana, I did not pursue full licensure), intern volunteer at exotic/wildlife educational program for a year
-Vet/clinical: shadow local vet for entirety of senior year of high school as part of a class. That's all I have for now, I've spent this year seeking employment with no success 🙁 there have been few openings around here that weren't for LVTs.
Employment: student aide job at LSU Dairy Sci dept., short stint as a work-from-home customer service rep for a hatchery earlier this year
Extracurricular: LSU pre-vet club, the wildlife society at LSU, Potters Anonymous club at LSU, was active on the quidditch team up until my Jr. year
I am obviously in need of more clinical experience (be it through employment or shadowing) and I am hoping my sci GPA can be bolstered by current/future prereq courses I'll be [re]taking (plan on doing Ochem lab and possibly physics II next semester so I can widen my possible choices for next cycle). I want to go into exotics/wildlife or large animal medicine (found my time capsule from freshman year of high school and I had written that I wanted "marine or exotic vet", LOL)
My name is Devery, I'm 23 and I've wanted to be a vet since i was a wee baby blah,blah. I'm from south Texas but went to LSU for undergrad on full scholarship, I majored in Animal Science and graduated a semester early in December 2013. Have spent the time since then on taking/retaking a few prereqs in prep for applying (this is my first attempt).
When I was 12 my family moved from central TX suburbs to our current home out in the country so I've had a lot of experiences with various animals. Currently the pets that are "mine" and will travel along with me if possible are my mini aussie Axl, my kinkalow munchkin Mimi, and guinea pig Ricardo. I am a huge fan of poultry (chickens in particular), I raised turkeys for FFA in high school and did many of my Animal Sci electives in the poultry sci field.
😍I like going on the internet (too much), drawing, games, and music (big fan of classic and Celtic rock). I love all things Ireland and Scotland (actually got to tour Scotland and London on a high school summer trip in 2008) but haven't tried applying to Dublin/Glasgow/Edinburgh yet because I'm unsure of the costs of living overseas.
My stats...
Cumulative/Sci GPA: 3.33 / 3.27
thanks to rocky 1st and 6th semesters. But there is a clear upward trend culminating in a 4.0 7th/final semester at LSU, and I have not gotten lower than a B since (I retook biochem last year and am retaking bio 1 now)GRE: 310 (161 V / 149 Q) taken in February
verbal was actually a 163 on the unofficial result screen but was curved down once I received official scores
Experiences (not bothering with hour estimates here)
-Small animal: Spay days at LSU SVM (before it went from surgery prep to limited interaction), general pet ownership (medication, vaccination, first aid, etc.)
-Large/food animal: LSU poultry judging team for 2 separate semesters/8th overall individual in 2012 national competition, Animal science farm courses/labs (general beef/dairy/swine, small ruminants, poultry), husbandry/ownership (poultry, goats, equine), first aid/medication/vaccine/worming etc., goat breeding experiences (have assisted with births/neonate care in years past, literally fixed a prolapsed uterus 2 years back...)
-Exotic/wildlife: raptor rehab workday at LSU, semester of volunteering at a wildlife rehab center, a wildlife rehab basic skills course (for certification as a licensed rehabber in state of Louisiana, I did not pursue full licensure), intern volunteer at exotic/wildlife educational program for a year
-Vet/clinical: shadow local vet for entirety of senior year of high school as part of a class. That's all I have for now, I've spent this year seeking employment with no success 🙁 there have been few openings around here that weren't for LVTs.
Employment: student aide job at LSU Dairy Sci dept., short stint as a work-from-home customer service rep for a hatchery earlier this year
Extracurricular: LSU pre-vet club, the wildlife society at LSU, Potters Anonymous club at LSU, was active on the quidditch team up until my Jr. year
I am obviously in need of more clinical experience (be it through employment or shadowing) and I am hoping my sci GPA can be bolstered by current/future prereq courses I'll be [re]taking (plan on doing Ochem lab and possibly physics II next semester so I can widen my possible choices for next cycle). I want to go into exotics/wildlife or large animal medicine (found my time capsule from freshman year of high school and I had written that I wanted "marine or exotic vet", LOL)
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I mean, I knew you were cool because your avatar's a guinea pig, but this just confirms it.
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Just another reason why you're my favorite noob
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That's a pretty awesome EC to have!
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- Joined
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You would bff's with a girl in my class. She has played Quidditch since college and is on a national team and travels for games all the time.
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LOL, thanks everyone for all the quidditch love 😍
I was really sad when I started drifting away from it my Jr year :\ I'd been very active prior to that (maybe TOO active in my freshman year, trying to get into too many things at once is part of why I tanked so hard in my first semester), I traveled to NYC for the 2010 and 2011 World Cups (first as a player, then as a volunteer). But by 3rd year I was living off-campus commuting by bike most of the time and had tougher classes, so having to come over for practices and all when I didn't even actually play much by that point was just not working anymore. Glad that it's such a conversation starter though cause that could really help in interviews, hah! I still have my jersey and everything.
There were actually 2 girls on the team while I was there (twins), who are in LSU SVM now!
I was really sad when I started drifting away from it my Jr year :\ I'd been very active prior to that (maybe TOO active in my freshman year, trying to get into too many things at once is part of why I tanked so hard in my first semester), I traveled to NYC for the 2010 and 2011 World Cups (first as a player, then as a volunteer). But by 3rd year I was living off-campus commuting by bike most of the time and had tougher classes, so having to come over for practices and all when I didn't even actually play much by that point was just not working anymore. Glad that it's such a conversation starter though cause that could really help in interviews, hah! I still have my jersey and everything.
There were actually 2 girls on the team while I was there (twins), who are in LSU SVM now!
Hi there. I've been lurking on this forum for years and it's been years since I posted anything. But it occurred to me that I should post again and re-introduce myself. 😉
I have a huge interest in veterinary medicine but decided a few years ago that being a DVM isn't for me. I have a lot of respect for vets and vet students, though. As a mere mortal, I look up to and admire you super humans! You're amazing for making it through that tough schooling! Heck, you're awesome for just getting in! And it's really neat getting to hear about your journeys from pre vet, to vet student, to vet!
Anyway, it occurred to me today that if I find veterinary professionals so interesting, maybe I should interact with them more. So here I am! Hello out there!!! 🙂
I have a huge interest in veterinary medicine but decided a few years ago that being a DVM isn't for me. I have a lot of respect for vets and vet students, though. As a mere mortal, I look up to and admire you super humans! You're amazing for making it through that tough schooling! Heck, you're awesome for just getting in! And it's really neat getting to hear about your journeys from pre vet, to vet student, to vet!
Anyway, it occurred to me today that if I find veterinary professionals so interesting, maybe I should interact with them more. So here I am! Hello out there!!! 🙂
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- Pre-Veterinary
Hi! 23 year old, first time applicant this year. Interested in cancer biology and a career as a veterinary scientist (for now, may very likely burn out since it's a longggg path 😛) I'll keep my stats to myself for now but have a decent last 45 and gre scores. Some of the things I enjoy doing are bouldering, hiking, music, and eating 😛
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I just realized that I didn't really mention any of my hobbies, just vet related stuff 😛. I'm an outdoorsy person through and through:, camping, hiking, snowboarding, kayaking, etc. I'm also a bit artsy, I enjoy painting and drawing, have dabbled in stained glass and sculpture here and there. On those lazy days, I can definitely be found with a good book or on a netflix binge.
Hello! I'm super new to this community- an 18 year old freshmen. I only recently switched my major from nursing to biomedical in hopes of getting into vet school someday. My GPA is technically 3.85, but i've only taken two pretty easy summer classes. I've been volunteering with a clinic that offers discounted veterinary services to low income people and spays and neuters feral cats (The clinic potentially offered me a job last week. yeeee!) I live in Florida, but I don't go to UF..... My dream vet school right now is Wisconsin (I was born in Madison 🙂 but that's also the only school I've visited....
I'm also involved in the marine bio club, and the vegan/vegetarian alliance (been vegetarian my whole life and vegan for a couple of years) That's pretty much it! I like to go camping and backpacking a lot right now..... that's pretty much the only hobby in my life I've left time for....
I'm also involved in the marine bio club, and the vegan/vegetarian alliance (been vegetarian my whole life and vegan for a couple of years) That's pretty much it! I like to go camping and backpacking a lot right now..... that's pretty much the only hobby in my life I've left time for....
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Introduction time!
Female, 27 years old, wise.
Two degrees, AS in Biological Sciences, BS in Marine Science. No more school for me until professional school. Or should I say, no more exorbitant amounts of cash spent on education, for now.
I plan to establish the only after-hours emergency veterinary clinic in my area. I love critical care and I love a good challenge. I work as a treatment technician right now for a small animal practice. Although I love my job, I can't do it forever. I need to advance my education and keep pushing ahead with my objectives.
I have a lot of experiences involving school, work, research, NOAA internship, community service, non-profit shelters, etc. So I will only note a few of my primary ones here.
Veterinary clinic for over a year -worked at kennel technician, veterinary assistant, and more recently, lead treatment technician. Responsible for opening practice after hours and treating hospitalized patients, communicating with doctors, etc.
Spay/Neuter clinic veterinary technician for years- perform anesthesia, supervise volunteer staff, pre-op and post-op surgery monitoring, administer antibiotics, etc. Lots of community involvement.
College has been a source of a lot of experiences. I've done a lot of hands-on work with marine animals, worked as teacher's assistant, and had coursework in small boat operations, navigational training, and other oceanography classes. I also have a lot of research experience in cool stuff like underwater video fish sampling and bioelectrical signals. College was awesome!
I also have years of working with various animal shelters, foster, local zoo volunteer experience, etc. I have a bunch of foster cats right now, and two awesome dogs of my own. My family is wonderful.
Stats since they will often be used to define my core being:
GPA: 3.71
GRE 162 V, 151 Q, 4.0 A
Other interests: collecting more animals, reading, learning. I'd say diving, cliff jumping, and sky diving, but who has time for that anymore. This forum is pretty cool, I've been enjoying reading your posts and experiencing general camaraderie among such a competitive profession.
Female, 27 years old, wise.
Two degrees, AS in Biological Sciences, BS in Marine Science. No more school for me until professional school. Or should I say, no more exorbitant amounts of cash spent on education, for now.
I plan to establish the only after-hours emergency veterinary clinic in my area. I love critical care and I love a good challenge. I work as a treatment technician right now for a small animal practice. Although I love my job, I can't do it forever. I need to advance my education and keep pushing ahead with my objectives.
I have a lot of experiences involving school, work, research, NOAA internship, community service, non-profit shelters, etc. So I will only note a few of my primary ones here.
Veterinary clinic for over a year -worked at kennel technician, veterinary assistant, and more recently, lead treatment technician. Responsible for opening practice after hours and treating hospitalized patients, communicating with doctors, etc.
Spay/Neuter clinic veterinary technician for years- perform anesthesia, supervise volunteer staff, pre-op and post-op surgery monitoring, administer antibiotics, etc. Lots of community involvement.
College has been a source of a lot of experiences. I've done a lot of hands-on work with marine animals, worked as teacher's assistant, and had coursework in small boat operations, navigational training, and other oceanography classes. I also have a lot of research experience in cool stuff like underwater video fish sampling and bioelectrical signals. College was awesome!
I also have years of working with various animal shelters, foster, local zoo volunteer experience, etc. I have a bunch of foster cats right now, and two awesome dogs of my own. My family is wonderful.
Stats since they will often be used to define my core being:
GPA: 3.71
GRE 162 V, 151 Q, 4.0 A
Other interests: collecting more animals, reading, learning. I'd say diving, cliff jumping, and sky diving, but who has time for that anymore. This forum is pretty cool, I've been enjoying reading your posts and experiencing general camaraderie among such a competitive profession.
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- Non-Student
Alright, I guess here goes:
I lived all over the country as a kid, first because my father was a Marine and then because of my mother's own issues. Pets were stability for me and I dreamed of living the farm life. Family issues kinda screwed me through undergrad and I chose to just push through to graduation even though my grades weren't great while working over 40 hours per week, taking full credit loads and homeless for part of school. I was naive and thought the schools could recognize a great student even in a bad situation, after all, my professors and the vets I worked for did...
My fiance went to Texas A&M and got his Master's and I stayed in MT to work. I was placed on the alternate list for WSU and while they didn't tell you how far down, I was told "to be very optimistic." So we moved to Pullman and I worked at another great vet clinic. Flat rejected the next year, but my file reviewer at CSU was very flattering and pushed me back to school to fix my "one flaw." I took a Master's style course load, but no sponsor, so no degree, in repro and endocrinology and a lot of dairy work with a 3.9 GPA.
I moved to CO, started a small farm with goats and chickens and worked at a dairy lab until I gave birth to my first daughter who has Down Syndrome. (She is freaking awesome by the way, but a little rough on the heart strings with medical problems) I took 2 years off of vet work for her but increased my farm with a cow, more birds, some horses... I volunteered at some horse rescues and taught people how to AI their home dairy cows and goats and then went back to work at a vet clinic. This place stunk and didn't use me well so I also volunteered at some local spay/Neuter clinics and was hired by one as a surgical tech a few minutes after walking in the door. I applied to vet school again and was denied. This time my reviewer at CSU was not as nice and said classes elsewhere didn't count. I angrily and sarcastically looked at the MS-B offerings and discovered a new repro program. I LOVE REPRO! I got into the program and discovered that I was pregnant just as classes began. (Yes, I know how it happens. We were kinda trying, but kinda stopped when I got into school, and it was too late... oops!) I had a 3.6 first semester and a 3.8 in the second despite giving birth over Spring break. I am officially an embryologist and nearly went to work in a lab but got talked into staying to apply for a PhD program and what the heck, we'll try vet school one last time too.
So this is it. I'm 30 with 2 kids and a farm and I'm making one last attempt at making my dream of being a veterinarian come true.
Rough stats because I'm on my phone and not gonna look them up:
Undergrad: 2.73
Post Grad: 3.8 L45: 3.7
GRE V 163 Q 157 A 4.5
Vet experience: SA/LA/exotics/ER/low cost clinic tech work 7 years of heavy overtime work.
Animal experience: Zoo internship, raised a therapy dog that worked with the elderly and 2 autistic boys, own a farm, managed a horse boarding facility, worked at friends' beef ranches, volunteered at stables, rescues, dairies, raised orphaned wildlife, feral cats and injured animals through several vet clinics (totally want a pet squirrel now) and a ton more stuff.
I used to backpack and teach people how to do it including winter camping competitions, mountaineering, kayaking, rock climbing...
Now I mom. I guess I make cheese and bake and sew and paint and fish and read a ton and draw and build chicken coops and horseback ride and I'm teaching my heifer to draft and I plan on riding her too. I lost my mastiff mix a little over a year ago and am looking for the perfect replacement. My fantasy goal is to get a goat and a dog hitched as a team to drive the same cart. It's totally gonna happen!
I lived all over the country as a kid, first because my father was a Marine and then because of my mother's own issues. Pets were stability for me and I dreamed of living the farm life. Family issues kinda screwed me through undergrad and I chose to just push through to graduation even though my grades weren't great while working over 40 hours per week, taking full credit loads and homeless for part of school. I was naive and thought the schools could recognize a great student even in a bad situation, after all, my professors and the vets I worked for did...
My fiance went to Texas A&M and got his Master's and I stayed in MT to work. I was placed on the alternate list for WSU and while they didn't tell you how far down, I was told "to be very optimistic." So we moved to Pullman and I worked at another great vet clinic. Flat rejected the next year, but my file reviewer at CSU was very flattering and pushed me back to school to fix my "one flaw." I took a Master's style course load, but no sponsor, so no degree, in repro and endocrinology and a lot of dairy work with a 3.9 GPA.
I moved to CO, started a small farm with goats and chickens and worked at a dairy lab until I gave birth to my first daughter who has Down Syndrome. (She is freaking awesome by the way, but a little rough on the heart strings with medical problems) I took 2 years off of vet work for her but increased my farm with a cow, more birds, some horses... I volunteered at some horse rescues and taught people how to AI their home dairy cows and goats and then went back to work at a vet clinic. This place stunk and didn't use me well so I also volunteered at some local spay/Neuter clinics and was hired by one as a surgical tech a few minutes after walking in the door. I applied to vet school again and was denied. This time my reviewer at CSU was not as nice and said classes elsewhere didn't count. I angrily and sarcastically looked at the MS-B offerings and discovered a new repro program. I LOVE REPRO! I got into the program and discovered that I was pregnant just as classes began. (Yes, I know how it happens. We were kinda trying, but kinda stopped when I got into school, and it was too late... oops!) I had a 3.6 first semester and a 3.8 in the second despite giving birth over Spring break. I am officially an embryologist and nearly went to work in a lab but got talked into staying to apply for a PhD program and what the heck, we'll try vet school one last time too.
So this is it. I'm 30 with 2 kids and a farm and I'm making one last attempt at making my dream of being a veterinarian come true.
Rough stats because I'm on my phone and not gonna look them up:
Undergrad: 2.73
Post Grad: 3.8 L45: 3.7
GRE V 163 Q 157 A 4.5
Vet experience: SA/LA/exotics/ER/low cost clinic tech work 7 years of heavy overtime work.
Animal experience: Zoo internship, raised a therapy dog that worked with the elderly and 2 autistic boys, own a farm, managed a horse boarding facility, worked at friends' beef ranches, volunteered at stables, rescues, dairies, raised orphaned wildlife, feral cats and injured animals through several vet clinics (totally want a pet squirrel now) and a ton more stuff.
I used to backpack and teach people how to do it including winter camping competitions, mountaineering, kayaking, rock climbing...
Now I mom. I guess I make cheese and bake and sew and paint and fish and read a ton and draw and build chicken coops and horseback ride and I'm teaching my heifer to draft and I plan on riding her too. I lost my mastiff mix a little over a year ago and am looking for the perfect replacement. My fantasy goal is to get a goat and a dog hitched as a team to drive the same cart. It's totally gonna happen!
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- Pharmacist
Hello! I'm a 26 year old non-traditional student. I am a hospital pharmacist currently. Why the desire for a change to vet med? Temporary insanity? Possibly. You know the story, wanted to be a vet since at least the third grade, if not earlier, etc. etc. Grew up around horses and a large variety of small animals. Was active in FFA, raised and showed sheep and poultry, worked in a feed store, on others' farms working livestock, and so on. Even shadowed a vet a little. When it came time to look at colleges, was told I shouldn't do it and couldn't do it by a professor on a college tour and the lovely additions of financial fears (from home life and cost of school) and pressure from parents, I didn't have the confidence and courage to pursue it. I settled with pharmacy and graduated about 2 1/2 years ago. Did a very brief stint in horrible big-box retail and managed to land a job in a hospital (which is much more agreeable). I love medicine, especially emergency medicine and critical care, but pharmacy isn't a very stimulating occupation - very hands off. I also miss ag dearly. I am hoping to be able to pursue vet med in the future, I just finished my first online course, took the GRE this fall, and am looking to shadow/volunteer with a vet (hopefully at least a couple) soon. My hopes are dependent on an acquired chronic illness though, but I (and my specialist) are still hopeful that it could completely resolve. I can't stand the idea of sitting idle waiting though so I'm moving forward anyway 
and trying to knock out the student loans I already have in the mean time. I love the idea of working in academia around/in a large clinic, but we'll see. I love hiking, kayaking, archery/shooting sports, attending the occasional livestock show, movies, and reading.
Stats
Cumulative GPA 3.36
Core GPA 3.73 (I lack genetics, animal nutrition, and physics II)
GRE V 161 Q 157 A 3.5 (Probably gonna retake for the writing component, I swear I can write)
Animal Experience - a fair bit
Vet Experience - a work in progress...
Thanks for reading!
and trying to knock out the student loans I already have in the mean time. I love the idea of working in academia around/in a large clinic, but we'll see. I love hiking, kayaking, archery/shooting sports, attending the occasional livestock show, movies, and reading.Stats
Cumulative GPA 3.36
Core GPA 3.73 (I lack genetics, animal nutrition, and physics II)
GRE V 161 Q 157 A 3.5 (Probably gonna retake for the writing component, I swear I can write)
Animal Experience - a fair bit
Vet Experience - a work in progress...
Thanks for reading!
I didn't know this was a thing it's so fun learning about the people who post a lot haha welp here goes
Hi! I'm a 21 year old female from a major city in Nevada. My parents are both different ethnicities and immigrants so I always struggle with checking a box for myself heh. Anyways I worked my first semester after high school instead of being in college because I was struggling with finances and didn't know what I wanted to major in or how to pay etc and while in a dead end office type job at a message therapy school someone mentioned animal massage and thought that was so fascinating and then my boss asked me if I ever considered being a vet and I got really excited about that idea and went to college the next semester as a bio major because I realized that I am more cut out for studying than a min wage office jobs and of course my relationship with my rescue pitbull played a role 😍 I now have two pitbulls as you guys can see from my avatar and they seriously mean everything to me and it angers me to no end that they are discriminated against constantly 🙁 my personal statement did include a few sentences about my dog and how giving up things for him changed me (even though some vets told me not to be another girl who likes her pet sigh) So of course one of my long term dreams (along with my fiance) is to have a pitbull rescue or rehabilitation center (like cesar milan hehe) or something to that extent!
Moving on.. so I'm in my university's Honors college and applied after my junior year. I have finished all vet school pre-reqs and my last year is just completing other honors and upper division bio classes for my degree.
Stats: GPA-4.0 GRE 162 V 160 Q 4 A (Edit: sorry put 4.5 the first time woops)
Employment- worked in admissions for the job training school and as a chiropractic assistant for that first semester and have been a private high school tutor for 3.5 years at about 8 hours a week for the same family and a couple others.
Research experience- I started recently so on my application was about 100 hours in. It's through a school professor and we are studying the hibernation of a newly-ish discovered species from Madagascar called tenrecs. So I have hands on experience dealing with them for experiments and helping create new animal care protocols since almost no one has studied them before.
Vet experience- I shadowed two small animal clinics my second year of college for about 170 hours then started volunteering at a specialty clinic in the rehabilitation and surgery centers for almost year which was almost 200 hours. I was able to perform rehab exercises with the animals and be in the underwater treadmill and scrub in to watch surgeries. I also am in a national pre health organization that runs volunteer events so Ive been the chair head of a local feral cat clinic event for two years and that happens once a month. I have about 150 hours from that and I organize the volunteers and keep records of the cats and we help prep cats for surgery. Overall I guess my hours are pretty low actually but I tried to fit in as much as I could with school and tutoring to not completely burn myself out plus I took full summer school (with upper division science classes) for 3 summers so I couldn't fit in much more then.
Other stuff: I also volunteer through that pre health organization in non animal events that help feed and clothe local kids in poverty. I also have 5 scholarships through my university one including one from the biology department and two from the honors college where one involves me in a program where I help mentor first year honors students throughout their transition into college etc. In terms of hobbies if I'm not laying in bed with my dogs I do like to watercolor and craft! I'm not athletic at all but I try to be healthy in other ways that interest me like I really enjoy making green smoothies/juices and using essential oils. That said, I absolutely love eating and trying new restaurants and different cuisines. I'd say my favorite is Thai food because I love the variety and the spicy/tangy flavors. I also like reading and obsessing over typically fantasy themed tv shows/movies haha like my bookshelf is almost fully covered in funko pop figures 😛
I guess that's it! I'm excited to get out of a major city but I don't know what field I want to go into because I feel like I'm a really curious person and until I properly see and understand my options I don't want to choose! Right now I'm leaning against small animal general practice but who knows
Hi! I'm a 21 year old female from a major city in Nevada. My parents are both different ethnicities and immigrants so I always struggle with checking a box for myself heh. Anyways I worked my first semester after high school instead of being in college because I was struggling with finances and didn't know what I wanted to major in or how to pay etc and while in a dead end office type job at a message therapy school someone mentioned animal massage and thought that was so fascinating and then my boss asked me if I ever considered being a vet and I got really excited about that idea and went to college the next semester as a bio major because I realized that I am more cut out for studying than a min wage office jobs and of course my relationship with my rescue pitbull played a role 😍 I now have two pitbulls as you guys can see from my avatar and they seriously mean everything to me and it angers me to no end that they are discriminated against constantly 🙁 my personal statement did include a few sentences about my dog and how giving up things for him changed me (even though some vets told me not to be another girl who likes her pet sigh) So of course one of my long term dreams (along with my fiance) is to have a pitbull rescue or rehabilitation center (like cesar milan hehe) or something to that extent!
Moving on.. so I'm in my university's Honors college and applied after my junior year. I have finished all vet school pre-reqs and my last year is just completing other honors and upper division bio classes for my degree.
Stats: GPA-4.0 GRE 162 V 160 Q 4 A (Edit: sorry put 4.5 the first time woops)
Employment- worked in admissions for the job training school and as a chiropractic assistant for that first semester and have been a private high school tutor for 3.5 years at about 8 hours a week for the same family and a couple others.
Research experience- I started recently so on my application was about 100 hours in. It's through a school professor and we are studying the hibernation of a newly-ish discovered species from Madagascar called tenrecs. So I have hands on experience dealing with them for experiments and helping create new animal care protocols since almost no one has studied them before.
Vet experience- I shadowed two small animal clinics my second year of college for about 170 hours then started volunteering at a specialty clinic in the rehabilitation and surgery centers for almost year which was almost 200 hours. I was able to perform rehab exercises with the animals and be in the underwater treadmill and scrub in to watch surgeries. I also am in a national pre health organization that runs volunteer events so Ive been the chair head of a local feral cat clinic event for two years and that happens once a month. I have about 150 hours from that and I organize the volunteers and keep records of the cats and we help prep cats for surgery. Overall I guess my hours are pretty low actually but I tried to fit in as much as I could with school and tutoring to not completely burn myself out plus I took full summer school (with upper division science classes) for 3 summers so I couldn't fit in much more then.
Other stuff: I also volunteer through that pre health organization in non animal events that help feed and clothe local kids in poverty. I also have 5 scholarships through my university one including one from the biology department and two from the honors college where one involves me in a program where I help mentor first year honors students throughout their transition into college etc. In terms of hobbies if I'm not laying in bed with my dogs I do like to watercolor and craft! I'm not athletic at all but I try to be healthy in other ways that interest me like I really enjoy making green smoothies/juices and using essential oils. That said, I absolutely love eating and trying new restaurants and different cuisines. I'd say my favorite is Thai food because I love the variety and the spicy/tangy flavors. I also like reading and obsessing over typically fantasy themed tv shows/movies haha like my bookshelf is almost fully covered in funko pop figures 😛
I guess that's it! I'm excited to get out of a major city but I don't know what field I want to go into because I feel like I'm a really curious person and until I properly see and understand my options I don't want to choose! Right now I'm leaning against small animal general practice but who knows
Last edited:
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Bump for the funzies for new people and laughing at the old. haha
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Still
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Weird... I never knew this thread existed.
Oh well, you all found out who I was anyways, right? 😉
Oh well, you all found out who I was anyways, right? 😉
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Oh how things have changed since I posted this. it feels like a lifetime ago haha
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muahahahaha! Wait til you are five and ten years+ out!
for real. I can't even begin to imagine what my life will be like by then haha. I just transfered to this university this semester- i can't even say what my life will be like in two weeks haha- although i can confirm there will be a lot of chemistrymuahahahaha! Wait til you are five and ten years+ out!
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- Other Health Professions Student
I am Julie Walker, a proud educated minority. I strongly believe in education, good morals and values and the power of God. I don't have a fiber of bitterness, hate and jealousy in me. I believe in working hard to achieve.
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Are you a pre-vet/vet student/vet??? If not that's cool, just making sure you realize what forum you're posting in.
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Look at where we are, look at where we started. The fact that we're alive is a miracle...
UPDATE: my name is still Cephal0pod.
I will legitimately buy you donor status if you change to Cephal0potato. 😛
edit: Cephal0potato.
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With that said, I actually asked the help desk about buying donor status for people a couple months ago and never ever got a response... kind of like my verification request I think. :c
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