Opinions Wanted On My Options

[Iain]

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I am gearing up to go back to college to fulfill my pre-vet requirements. I already have my Bsc (hons) in business, which I gained when I was 19, unfortunately I took zero science classes, so I will be pretty much starting from a clean state.

Career wise things have gone well for me - I worked in finance; investment banking (selling debt initially, then as an M & A advisor), until recently where I got a job working for a recruitment agency. Currently I am the division manager overseeing the department that specializes in placing IT staff.

Animal experience is currently quite average. I grew up in the English countryside, and have done practically everything with horses - played polo around the world, hunted in the English countryside, involved in racing, driving, eventing, PC. We also raised 8 charity dogs, and I spent significant time at the local kennels. Also as a High School student I spent a number of mornings at the veterinarians observing surgery. I know and plan to increase this experience.

My dilemma lies in going back to school - the way I see it I have 2 options. The first option I could go to a local community college, gain some impressive marks, continue working (saving money to the point where I could probably need no financial assistance for vet school), gain experience with local veterinarians.

My second option is to go to Oregon State as a non-degree student. The move is slightly more complicated then just going to school – it would drain me financially, and I could find myself up there without a job, which would be incredibly hard. Also I am likely at a certain point to struggle getting into certain courses delaying the plan of action. Also currently my horse is lame, which translates into she is costing me a fortune – so money might be a bit tight for this option.

Be advised I am not one of these students who needs to go to top name schools, I would be happy with any school (including Caribbean) that will put me on track to practice in the US.

I guess my real question, will attending community college be frowned upon? Or with exceptional marks, a good GRE score, good professional work experience, and animal experience outweigh it?

Correct me if I am wrong - but I believe their concern is not being able to handle the increased work load once you have gained admittance, considering I gained my bachelors degree in 2 years, and while I am enrolled in these classes I will be working full time at the management level (at aged 22) provide enough assurance I will be able to handle the course load?

Thanks!!

 

[Cygnet]

The problem as I see it is not about whether they will think that a CC is "good enough" for admissions, it's that you will not be able to fulfill all of the requirements at the CC level. Most schools require upper division level courses along with the basics. I don't have my list in front of me, but I know that after you complete the basic bio year-long course, you also need to have one or two upper-division level bio courses. Genetics is usually upper-div, and my CC did not offer a year-long course in organic chem, nor did it offer the biochem with lab that is usually required. So you can certainly get some of the pre-reqs met by going to a CC, but eventually you will need to transfer to a four-year university. Many many people can get through the lower division work that is the mainstay of a CC, but start choking when they get to the upper division stuff - vet schools need to see you get through that without going under to be sure you can handle the real deal. Most people that I know that got degrees in other fields and now need to complete their pre-reqs are doing the post-bacc route - OSU has one in animal sciences that you may want to look into.

HTH!

Alis
Oregon State - Class of 2009