Non-Traditional Student: 42F, long-term planning for application

[2ndchancevet]

Hello all! I'm posting here to get suggestions on planning for a second chance at being a large animal vet! I'm a 42F who should have pursued my dreams of being a large animal vet 20+ years ago. I've decided to go for it when my son graduates high school and will be applying to start vet school Fall 2028. I feel confident I would have been accepted had I applied as an undergrad and I'm hopeful I can still get in!

I graduated with a bachelors degree from Texas A&M in 2004 (I have two associate's degrees from junior college as well) with GPAs all over 3.5. But all of my credits are too old! So I'll be retaking all the prerequisites for the programs I apply to between now and when I apply. My husband is active duty Air Force so I will likely be doing these at a community college based on where he gets assigned over the next 5 years before he retires.

I'm primarily interested in large animal/food animal veterinary work with a preference for dairy over beef. I have all kinds of experience but again, it's from the distant past... I'm looking for the best advice anyone can offer me on how to spend my time and energy over the next 5 years to maximize my chances of getting into vet school. I'm currently planning to apply to Texas A&M (resident) and NC State but will apply to anywhere I think I can get in!

Ready, set, go! Hit me with your best suggestions on how to build the best vet school application anyone has every seen. 😉

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[JaynaAli]

I think it’s the general advice we give anyone…do as well as you can in your coursework and maintain as high of a GPA as you can, and also spend time shadowing or working for a vet. You don’t mention if you work in vet med or if this is a career change, but regardless I’d try to shadow in multiple areas of vet med. If you’re going to say you want to do food/mixed animal and especially dairy, be sure to have spent time with this type of vet. But also spend time in small animal or other practice as well, because the fact is, that many people who intend to do large animals end up doing smallies down the line because the pay is better and it’s less physically demanding. So investigate as many aspects of the career as you can. If you’re a career changer, be sure you can articulate why the change and why now (/2028). Your age will add diversity and valuable life experience to your app, but that won’t usurp the need to show experience in the field and academic abilities.