Is it time to pull out of pre-vet?

[Gurame21]

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I'm a third year bio major at FSU and quite frankly I'm really tired of the "hard" science classes. I am capable of performing in them, I'm just really tired of taking them. I decided to work towards becoming a physician because my interest in anatomy, physiology, medicine and of course, my love for animals. However, I'm slowly starting to realize that It's probably much better to be awesome at something you like rather than be mediocre at something you're passionate about. I came to the realization that I have very little in common with my peers and that I do not have the right personality to go into medicine. None of my friends are hard science majors and half the time I'm envious about what they're studying and doing with their lives. I'm very well rounded, creative, and excellent with people so I thought that I should look into marketing or maybe advertisement. My problem is that I feel like it's too late and that I've already put a lot into becoming a vet. I'm three years into a bio degree and I have an amazing vet tech job at a very sought after animal hospital. Getting into vet school would be hard (my grades are slightly above mediocre) but still possible. Should I be throwing that all away for undergrad blues? Or should I follow my gut and take my interests into another field? Thanks!

 

[krist]

Blunt and to the point, but if you are sick of taking "hard" science classes in undergrad, vet school would be a loooooong 4 years for you. All vet school is is hard science classes, and notice I did not put parentheses around hard in vet school. Think 4-5 hard classes at a time, it is non stop studying, all the time. If you aren't 100% sure you want to be a vet, and are sick of "hard" classes already, I would strongly urge you to reconsider because I think you would be miserable in vet school, and probably as a veterinarian, too, because there's some hard science stuff involved in that, too.

 

[StartingoverVet]

What Krist said about vet school.

And as far as being too late to change, that is really not an issue.
Even if you want to graduate on time, there are few jobs (especially the ones you mentioned) that have required undergrad majors.

Having a science major is no problem. And if you don't want to complete your science classes, then switch now. Maybe it will take you an extra year to graduate, but so what. You will be working for 50 years or so. 1 year out of your life is hardly going to matter in the scheme of things (although it probably doesn't feel that way).

GET OUT NOW! You already know the answer.

 

[EngrSC]

I was in your shoes a few years ago. I studied aerospace engineering and realized it wasn't where I wanted to be in the last 1-2 years of school. I was so close to finishing that I made the decision to suck it up and stick with it. I graduated and have been working as an engineer for 2 years now. IT IS PITIFUL and not where I want to be.

I've been very involved in the rescue community the last 4 years and work part time in an animal hospital on top of my full time job. I'm also going to night school to work on my prerequisites. It's stressful but I have never been happier in my life!

My advice to you is to do what makes you happy. It is NEVER too late to change careers! If I could go back and do it again I would have switched to biology from aerospace engineering even though I was close to finishing. It's much more difficult to go back to school as a post-bacc student.

Good luck!

 

[capirinha]

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[Lissarae06]

When I read the title of this thread, the first thing that popped into my mind was "that's what he said"

On a more serious note, I think you should really go with your gut. Vet school is nothing but hard science classes. But on the other hand, maybe what you need to do is take some time off. Travel a bit, clear your head, and then dive back into it if you are still passionate about it.

 

[StartingoverVet]

When I read the title of this thread, the first thing that popped into my mind was "that's what he said"

.

Ok, I thought about that too, but didn't think it was an appropriate response to the OP. Bad lissarae. Bad bad bad!

 

[LetItSnow]

When I read the title of this thread, the first thing that popped into my mind was "that's what he said"

Lissa, we need to co-mod another WW game. We think too alike.

OP: I disagree slightly with the others - vet school classes aren't really hard. They're just tediously overwhelming. It's vaguely like somebody said "here's a beach. go count the sand."

If it's the difficulty of the subject matter that's bothering you, then there's no reason to give up. It doesn't get conceptually harder. I think 'difficulty'-wise, things maxed out somewhere between biochemistry and orgo and whatnot.

If it's the amount of material, or the thought of having to dramatically increase your study time, or being in school for that many more years ..... then yeah, I'd change course now. In that sense, vet school is so much more difficult than undergrad that it's not really easy to convey. About all I can say is that when people gripe about how hard their undergrad classes are and they're taking 4 or 5 ... inside I just laugh and roll my eyes.

 

[DVMDream]

Lissa, we need to co-mod another WW game. We think too alike.

OP: I disagree slightly with the others - vet school classes aren't really hard. They're just tediously overwhelming. It's vaguely like somebody said "here's a beach. go count the sand."

If it's the difficulty of the subject matter that's bothering you, then there's no reason to give up. It doesn't get conceptually harder. I think 'difficulty'-wise, things maxed out somewhere between biochemistry and orgo and whatnot.

If it's the amount of material, or the thought of having to dramatically increase your study time, or being in school for that many more years ..... then yeah, I'd change course now. In that sense, vet school is so much more difficult than undergrad that it's not really easy to convey. About all I can say is that when people gripe about how hard their undergrad classes are and they're taking 4 or 5 ... inside I just laugh and roll my eyes.

I tend to agree with this. I haven't found anything to be anymore difficult than undergrad yet, just at a faster pace and the volume of information is greater. My 200-level human anatomy course in undergrad was just as difficult as anatomy has been in vet school. I still had to know origins, insertions, innervations, parts of bones, etc, etc even for a sophmore level undergrad class.

 

[squirrelsrule]

If your doubting it, I'd highly recommend taking some time off and exploring your options. I'm only in week 5 of vet school and I am worn out and I went in refreshed and excited after taking 7 years off school. The amount of material covered is insane 😱. I took 23 credit hours a semester in undergrad as a post secondary student and that was nothing compared to vet school. You're in school 8 hours a day not including the extra time spent in the lab or working on group projects and then there is a TON of studying to do. It's like you go to class to get the list of things to learn and it takes 3 times as long to learn everything as class was and there just aren't enough hours in the day. It is crazy and if you feel like you've had enough now, don't jump right into vet school or you'll get burnt out. Take a break for a while and check out all your options and see if something gnaws at you to come back to pre-vet. If it does, go for it, if not well then don't.

 

[Emiloo4]

Out of curiosity OP, what vet hospital do you work at that's so sought after? You can PM me if you'd rather not say it on here. Just curious bc I went to FSU and worked at an amazing animal hospital there as well.
And I will echo a few others... if you've lost your desire to be a vet in undergrad... it will only be harder to hang onto that desire in vet school. I took all the same classes as you at the same university and if they were -standing in the pouring rain- hard, then vet school is -drowning in an ocean with someone continually pushing your head under water before you can even take a breath while sharks circle you- hard. It is never too late to change your career path. Think of it this way... you can either look at it as you "wasted" three years in undergrad, or you will be wasting your whole life in a career you don't love. Because even when you get through vet school, your education doesn't just stop. You have to have lots of continued education in this profession.
There is no shame in changing your mind. It may not seem like it right now, but you are young, and 3 years is such a small amount of time.

 

[bannanababy146]

You can still change your career path! Every year I hear about one or two students at my IS vet school that are forty+ years old...at least you aren't changing your mind that late in the game! I did the opposite thing of you, switched into prevet my senior year. It is a good thing you have a biology major, that definitely gives you more options. I would explore what you are passionate about, whether that be another medical field or something completely unrelated. Work hard your senior year to try different things, take a year off, apply to grad school, etc. If you have any questions about other medical fields I've looked into them ALL so feel free to PM if you have questions about grade requirements, tests, extracurriculars etc.

 

[LetItSnow]

Every year I hear about one or two students at my IS vet school that are forty+ years old...

OMG, no kidding. That's, like, practically dead.

 

[Lissarae06]

You can still change your career path! Every year I hear about one or two students at my IS vet school that are forty+ years old...at least you aren't changing your mind that late in the game! I did the opposite thing of you, switched into prevet my senior year. It is a good thing you have a biology major, that definitely gives you more options. I would explore what you are passionate about, whether that be another medical field or something completely unrelated. Work hard your senior year to try different things, take a year off, apply to grad school, etc. If you have any questions about other medical fields I've looked into them ALL so feel free to PM if you have questions about grade requirements, tests, extracurriculars etc.

 

[bannanababy146]

I did not mean to phrase that in way as if to refer to them as "practically dead". It is simply much harder to change your career after you have already established yourself in another field. For example, you have to completely retake science classes because they don't accept classes that are older than five years. It is also harder to go back to school after being out in the work force for a number of years. I think it is commendable that they are following their dream. I was just giving the poster perspective, it is better/easier to change your mind now than five, ten, or twenty years from now. But hey, I like your meme?

 

[Lissarae06]

I did not mean to phrase that in way as if to refer to them as "practically dead". It is simply much harder to change your career after you have already established yourself in another field. For example, you have to completely retake science classes because they don't accept classes that are older than five years. It is also harder to go back to school after being out in the work force for a number of years. I think it is commendable that they are following their dream. I was just giving the poster perspective, it is better/easier to change your mind now than five, ten, or twenty years from now. But hey, I like your meme?

You said it like it was a bad thing. There are several (ok like 2) grumpy old men on this forum. I had to have their back.

 

[CalliopeDVM]

I'm one of those who went back to school to become a vet, graduating vet school when I was 39.....I did have to take some undergrad courses again, and I even had to take a high school credit I needed. It took a lot of perseverance and a big adjustment to get used to being a student again, but the up side is that I had savings to help pay for school.

I agree that vet school is hard because of the volume and the pace moreso than the difficulty of the material, but it is about science and there are a lot of straight science courses.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is about being a clinical vet, not about vet school: You describe yourself as "very well rounded, creative, and excellent with people" as if that's better suited to some other field of study, but the truth is that those are excellent qualities for a veterinarian. The vast majority of being a clinical vet (as opposed to research or government, for example) is about working with people - staff and clients. As much science and medicine as we know, it's all for nought if we're not well rounded and good with people.

I'm not suggesting you stick with it just because being a vet requires good people skills, but I just wanted to give you a reason to look at being a vet a little differently - doesn't change vet school, though.

 

[dvmdreamer]

I want to say that I am a senior in a biology program currently, and at the beginning of last year I felt like you. Lower level biology and all the chemistry classes seemed so disconnected from my interests I really lost sight of the point of taking them. Finally, this year I am taking six upper level/graduate level classes in really specific, health related fields (Immunology, Bacterial Path, Cellular Basis of Disease, etc). We read new research in every class, talk about current events in the field, etc. Though the classes are much more intense, I don't feel that fatigue I used to feel about studying, because its not just memorizing the glycolysis cycle or chemistry mechanisms.

So I would say, definitely explore other areas you are interested in- taking marketing/advertising classes will not be a waste of time if you end up wanting to be a practicing vet (or get research published for that matter!). But also have faith that so far in biology you have only learned the building blocks that will allow you to understand the fun stuff later.

And I disagree about it being better to be good at a field you merely like. Not being the best at organic chemistry in undergrad is not going to have any correlation to the amount of clients and success you have as a veterinarian. Your passion and dedication will be what brings you that success.