Is this a bad idea?

[Laurren]

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Well, since I'm getting a full ride scholarship to a local school, I'll be attend here for a few semesters. I originally wanted to go to Berry College (for Pre-Veterinary Medicine/Animal Science) since they have 90% of applicants that are accepted on the first veterinary school application, and 100% accepted on the rest, but I simply can't afford it and I've already declared to attend this school here, Truett-McConnell College (I start the 16th).

The science program is very new and the advisor knows what classes you're supposed to take for pre-veterinary, but nothing about veterinary. The school isn't that well known, however, UGA CVM said they had some applicants for c/o 2016, but the person I talked to said they didn't recall if they were admitted or not, so UGA CVM (my state school and where I want to attend) knows the school name, even though it isn't that popular. I plan to go through the summer semester here, as well.

If I take general education classes, such as psychology, English, history, etc. and general chemistry, physics, general biology, etc. would that hurt my chances to get into veterinary school? The UGA CVM rep. said that it doesn't matter where you take the pre-veterinary classes, but I still feel that it does.

Any suggestions? (btw, I have 1,500+ hours of work under a veterinarian's supervision in a clinic, so I'm good on my experience for small animal clinic...I think, lol)

 

[dizzledog92]

As long as you complete the prereq's required for UGA's DVM program, you should be fine. Taking extra science classes should help, if they are offered at your school, but I'm sure they also look at case load and diversity of experience, etc. You're going to be paying for 4 years of school after your undergraduate career anyway, so I think saving money by avoiding Berry may be a good idea. However, if you feel that the program isn't for you after a semester or so, transferring is always an option.

 

[Lissarae06]

Well, since I'm getting a full ride scholarship to a local school, I'll be attend here for a few semesters. I originally wanted to go to Berry College (for Pre-Veterinary Medicine/Animal Science) since they have 90% of applicants that are accepted on the first veterinary school application, and 100% accepted on the rest, but I simply can't afford it and I've already declared to attend this school here, Truett-McConnell College (I start the 16th).

The science program is very new and the advisor knows what classes you're supposed to take for pre-veterinary, but nothing about veterinary. The school isn't that well known, however, UGA CVM said they had some applicants for c/o 2016, but the person I talked to said they didn't recall if they were admitted or not, so UGA CVM (my state school and where I want to attend) knows the school name, even though it isn't that popular. I plan to go through the summer semester here, as well.

If I take general education classes, such as psychology, English, history, etc. and general chemistry, physics, general biology, etc. would that hurt my chances to get into veterinary school? The UGA CVM rep. said that it doesn't matter where you take the pre-veterinary classes, but I still feel that it does.

Any suggestions? (btw, I have 1,500+ hours of work under a veterinarian's supervision in a clinic, so I'm good on my experience for small animal clinic...I think, lol)

It really doesn't matter where you go. Your grades are more important. If I got a full ride to undergrad, I would stay there until I graduated/got into school. You will rack up enough debt in vet school. Stay as debt free as possible.

As for what classes to take, each vet school should have a lit of pre-reqs you need to fulfill. If something isn't exactly what your school offers, call the vet school and see if they will accept a similar class.

 

[squirrelsrule]

I say definitely stay at the school you have a full ride scholarship at as long as possible 👍. I went to a small college and even did my O. Chem requirement at a community college and I was accepted the first try to my in state school. I'd take as many upper level science courses as you can and do well in them and you should be well prepared for vet school and have a good chance of getting in.

The school you attend factors into maybe 5% of the decision at most vet schools. I'd look at the decision process for the schools you want to attend and make sure it's not a big deal, but I don't think it will even matter which you attend, so if one is free, definitely go with that 👍

 

[Siomai]

Had the same fear as you. I am a non-traditional though but I ad to take classes to the school near my work which is not known nor have strong pre-vet academic foundation. I did most of the legwork to ensure I complete all pre-requisites AND some! I focused more on my grades and trying to get DIVERSIFIED experience!

THis is my fist cycle and I got into three schools and I am giving feedback to the school so they can have a better pre-vet group support. So its not the school, it will depend on you. High Grades. HIGH GRE. As such, stay where you get that full rise scholarship so you can reduce your loan.

 

[pooter]

Yeah, the adcoms genuinely don't care where you do your pre-reqs so long as you do well in them. That's not to say there aren't challenges associated with going to a small school, but the trouble comes mainly from lack of guidance/advising rather than the academic reputation of the school (keep in mind that many pre-vets start out at community colleges to save money). At my school, I had three "pre-health" advisors over four years. These profs were in charge of pre-vet, pre-med, pre-dent, and pre-nursing. I had to educate the last two on the application process. The only literature we had on vet school admissions was a VMSAR from 1998. I had to self-educate and self-advocate a *lot.* But, I graduated debt-free and got into my top two choices for vet school. It can be done.

 

[Museum Nerd]

I agree it doesn't matter where you do your pre reqs as long as you do well. A solid GRE will go a long way to back up taking your pre reqs if you are worried about how small the school is!

 

[that redhead]

Doesn't matter where you go- if you've got a full ride somewhere, go there.

Also, you may want to check out the forum's search function since a few of your questions have been answered before 🙂

 

[RadRadTerp]

Does Berry College also have a "Creation Research Center"?

 

[BGoodl]

I would go with less debt. I go to a school with a pre-veterinary medicine and animal biosciences major. I do really like it, but in retrospect I should have gone with with a cheaper option considering the debt. I do however like the support I get from my program. The advantage is that you can bounce ideas off people with similar interests and make connections for jobs and internships, but I don't think that is worth the thousands and thousands of dollars of a difference in schools.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I originally wanted to go to Berry College (for Pre-Veterinary Medicine/Animal Science) since they have 90% of applicants that are accepted on the first veterinary school application, and 100% accepted on the rest

Be very wary of these kinds of statistics. Usually, these types of things mean that the school cherry picks who gets their pre-health committee support to apply to vet/med school. As in, they actively discourage those who don't have excellent chances from applying in the first place. It's not like any ho-humdinger can apply and get in to vet school just because they went to Berry College.

Also, I personally think it's a bad idea to major in "pre-veterinary medicine" anyway since it doesn't give you any advantage over other majors that require similar courses (animal science, biology, etc...) and it doesn't look very nice if you end up not going to vet school. I mean, you can major in studio art and vet schools couldn't care less. I personally would not want "pre-veterinary" written on my transcript anywhere though. So who cares if this other school doesn't offer it. My UG had neither animal science nor pre-vet majors, and a very high percentage of people get into vet school on the first try.

Sure, I agree with you that it's naive to believe that your UG has no bearing on vet school admissions. BUT, I think its effect is small enough that you shouldn't have to pick your UG because of it esp if you have other reasons (namely, $$$) that makes another school more attractive.