Law School --> Vet School

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jumpingqueen1793

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Hi all, I am looking for some advice! Basically here is my story:
I just graduated from undergraduate in 2015 with a Classics major. I didn't really know what I wanted to so I decided to go to law school, got in to a pretty good one, and I'm about to finish my first year. However, I am not really happy and I don't think I'm going to be a happy as a lawyer if/when I become one. The thought of just "living for the weekends" when I get to do any real passion is kind of a depressing one, to be honest.

When I was in undergrad, I really wanted to go to vet school for my first two years. I shadowed with a vet between my freshman and sophomore years and really loved it. He specialized in small animal orthopedic surgery and some of the surgeries I got to see I can still remember as being the coolest things ever. I probably have ~200 hours of vet experience from that. My sophomore year, I kind of overloaded myself with pre-reqs and elective courses and my grades suffered and I decided I did not want to go to vet school. Now I'm looking back and regretting my choice. I'm thinking of taking the next two-ish years to work on my pre-reqs and apply. My IS is Auburn, so that's where I am looking to go. The pre-reqs I completed in undergrad are the following:
General Chemistry I
Organic Chemistry I (my school had a weird Chemistry rotation)
Physics I
Biology I & II
Genetics
Comparative Animal Morphology
GPA: 3.3 with an upward trend
Science GPA: haven't calculated but probably quite a bit lower
~200 hours of vet experience (know I need to get more)
haven't calculated animal experience but I've had dogs my whole life plus been around horses pretty constantly for 13 years
I would take the rest of my pre-reqs probably at the local community college plus Animal Nutrition and Biochem online.
Honestly, I don't want to look back 10, 20 years from now and regret that I went to law school (since I am already starting to feel that way), and I just wanted to get some advice if I should do this? What are everyone else's thoughts? Anyone else have this experience?

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There is a senior at my school who did graduate law school, and now is in his senior year of vet school. Also I have a classmate who after graduating vet school is planning on going to law school. Seek your passion, life is fluid.
 
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There is a senior at my school who did graduate law school, and now is in his senior year of vet school. Also I have a classmate who after graduating vet school is planning on going to law school. Seek your passion, life is fluid.
Our class also has someone who practiced law, for 6 or so years. He also did a year or two in medical school before ending up in veterinary school. If you already regret going to law school, you may want to at least take time off from everything and really figure out what your passions are and where you want to end up (and not pay tuition while figuring this out). Did you leave the vet med path just because you had bad grades/didn't think you'd get in or because law pulled you away? What stopped you from pursuing veterinary school?

I don't recommend attending multiple professional schools just to leave because you find might like something else better. However, life is life and you have to try your best to be happy. Take some time to figure everything out. Get more experience than just a surgeon (maybe more GP, large animal, etc.) if you can. If you want vet med, you can do that. If you want law after all, you can probably go back.
 
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I graduated with a classics major in 2009 and started law school that same year. Left after one year when I decided that vet med was it for me and haven't ever looked back. I had a chem minor but no biology so I had a lot of classes I needed to take; I ended up taking them at about 7 different schools for convenience. I'm two weeks away from starting my final year of veterinary school...it can definitely be done. I don't regret it one bit; the market is even more horrible for lawyers right now that for veterinarians. However, I'm also very very lucky and my parents are completely paying for my school, so that made my decision much easier. I'm originally from NC but ended up at Ohio State because the area is better for my husband and (since I'm married) I get in-state tuition here too. I'm about four years older than anyone else in my class because of my "do-over," but its not too bad. Definitely a personal decision, but one that was absolutely right for me.
 
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If you don't love law school, don't continue. Friends who went through law school talk about how tough the job market is and how high their loans are (sounds like vet med!). They work long hours.
My dad is an attorney. He worked long hours and weekends. He missed out on family time. He enjoys his work and finds it meaningful.
Seems like a profession that is either invigorating or soul crushing. There's no reason to continue if you don't love it.
Your decision about whether to continue law school is independent from whether or not you pursue vet school. You don't have to have a plan if you leave law school. You can take time to figure things out.


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We have a kid in our class who did a year at law school then left..honestly seems to be a bit of a trend haha. So, weirdly enough you wouldn't be unique if you decided on the move apparently!
 
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I'm a lib art major and a number of professors seem to pressure the kids in my department to go to law school if they dont know what they want to do with their degrees. I'll never understand why. Then again, these are the same people who told me that I should easily be able to pay off vet school debt with my starting salary and they're not sure why I'm worried.
 
What are everyone else's thoughts? Anyone else have this experience?

I would continue to shadow veterinarians to get more variety in your exposure - whether or not you leave law school in that time is up to you. You'll need more hours to apply successfully anyway, so the more the better. You will also need to make sure you get As in those last prerequisite courses as your GPA is on the lower side of average for admissions.

I don't want to say that I absolutely "live for the weekends" (50% of the time I only get 50% of a weekend) because I do derive some level of fulfillment from what I do, but I also never really understood the whole life-calling idea and that I would be completely content working all of the time because it was my ~*passion*~. When you go to write your personal statement, be sure your reason for leaving law to go into vet med is compelling and not just that you love animals or whatever. Good luck :luck:
 
I went to law school and practiced law for almost 7 years, then quit to pursue vetmed. I wish I had realized I was on the wrong track as a 1L, I would have saved myself a lot of money and angst! But of course, not everyone is the same. I would put a lot of time and thought into this big decision, make a concrete plan for how you would take the steps to fulfilling your prereqs and applying to vet school, and discuss with as many friends, relatives, advisors, etc as possible. I'd be happy to discuss further, so if you have any questions, feel free to send me a private message.
 
I would continue to shadow veterinarians to get more variety in your exposure - whether or not you leave law school in that time is up to you. You'll need more hours to apply successfully anyway, so the more the better. You will also need to make sure you get As in those last prerequisite courses as your GPA is on the lower side of average for admissions.

I don't want to say that I absolutely "live for the weekends" (50% of the time I only get 50% of a weekend) because I do derive some level of fulfillment from what I do, but I also never really understood the whole life-calling idea and that I would be completely content working all of the time because it was my ~*passion*~. When you go to write your personal statement, be sure your reason for leaving law to go into vet med is compelling and not just that you love animals or whatever. Good luck :luck:

Yeah dude, I love my job and all. But by thurs I'm like done and am struggling to get by til the weekend. It's exhausting, this line of work.


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Sounds like there's a bunch of people who were in the same dilemma! This is why I love SDN. :biglove:
 
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Hey all, thanks for the responses! I'm so glad I found this forum and found I'm not the first one to go through this! :happy:
 
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