Overwhelmed!

[pupsNponies]

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So, I'm "new" to the pre-vet world and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'll give a little background, and any advice is very welcome!!

I've known I wanted to be a vet since I was very young, but around 13 years old, we had to put a horse down and I decided I couldn't be a vet. I changed my life plans, and becoming a vet just got put in the back of my mind somewhere until recently, last year, my freshman year of college. I couldn't find something fulfilling to work towards, and decided on being a bio major (thank goodness!), when it hit me as I was wrapping my horse's lame leg. Duh! I still wanted to be a vet. It was a great feeling, finally knowing for sure what I wanted to do with my life.

Now here's the problem, I feel so behind! I have just recently started shadowing a vet (which i cannot get enough of, I want to go every day!) and I have hardly any experience. (aside from working on a farm for 4 years.. but I don't even know if that matters?) I have applied to volunteer at the local animal shelter, I'm in the pre-vet club, and I'm almost done with my sophomore year as a bio major, and I have between 4 and 10 more classes to take (depending on which school, of course) before I can officially apply to vet school, but that time will fly by! I'm also planning on taking the GRE over the summer for the first time. I'm getting really overwhelmed with everything.

My question is.. is it too late? Am I too far behind in experience to get accepted? lol I'm really worried that my own ignorance to what I really wanted to do has hindered my ability to actually do it now. :/ Any advice/opinions would be great!

 

[NStarz]

So, I'm "new" to the pre-vet world and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'll give a little background, and any advice is very welcome!!

I've known I wanted to be a vet since I was very young, but around 13 years old, we had to put a horse down and I decided I couldn't be a vet. I changed my life plans, and becoming a vet just got put in the back of my mind somewhere until recently, last year, my freshman year of college. I couldn't find something fulfilling to work towards, and decided on being a bio major (thank goodness!), when it hit me as I was wrapping my horse's lame leg. Duh! I still wanted to be a vet. It was a great feeling, finally knowing for sure what I wanted to do with my life.

Now here's the problem, I feel so behind! I have just recently started shadowing a vet (which i cannot get enough of, I want to go every day!) and I have hardly any experience. (aside from working on a farm for 4 years.. but I don't even know if that matters?) I have applied to volunteer at the local animal shelter, I'm in the pre-vet club, and I'm almost done with my sophomore year as a bio major, and I have between 4 and 10 more classes to take (depending on which school, of course) before I can officially apply to vet school, but that time will fly by! I'm also planning on taking the GRE over the summer for the first time. I'm getting really overwhelmed with everything.

My question is.. is it too late? Am I too far behind in experience to get accepted? lol I'm really worried that my own ignorance to what I really wanted to do has hindered my ability to actually do it now. :/ Any advice/opinions would be great!

I decided my junior year that I wanted to be a vet. So I would say, no, you're not too late 😉

 

[Whyevernot55]

If you take a look around, you'll notice that there is a HUGE percentage of non-traditional students applying to vet school. That means those of us who went into other careers after college and came back to vet med, or realized REALLY late (like, say, halfway through senior year of college) that we wanted to be vets. Being "behind" is not really a thing that exists. 🙄

I was an English major in college, which I loved, but decided halfway through senior year, while working for my equine vet, that going to vet school sounds like a good idea.

Yes, it's overwhelming. Spend some time reading old threads, especially things like the successful applicant stats, to get a sense of what other people have done and get ideas for what you should be doing now.

 

[pupsNponies]

That is so great to hear! Thanks guys. All the pre-vet students here at FSU are just so far ahead of me, hearing about how much experience they all have makes me want to sit in the fetal position in a corner and suck my thumb. lol Working with a vet lately has been really motivating though.

Also, as far as GPA goes, I've looked at the APVMA site and different school's requirements, but what is considered a low GPA for applying to vet school?? (Sorry for all the questions!)

 

[Zany Tiger]

Lol I decided in my late 20s early 30s that I could be a vet. I always thought it was out of reach but I soon learned that with passion and perseverance I can do this, its never to late. Just remember to have patience and keep pushing towards your dreams. 😀 Ohh I still have three more years till I can really think about applying to vet school and I still have eggs that I need to put in my basket, but now that I know I can do this there is nothing that will stop me. 😛 Ohh to answer the low gpa question, I do believe to stay competitive it would be ideal to be above a 3.2. I may be wrong though. 😛

 

[pupsNponies]

^^ That's great that you are so driven!! I'm excited to be really motivated for the first time in a long time. 🙂

A 3.2, phew, I was thinking someone was going to tell me I'm screwed with a 3.6.

 

[NStarz]

^^ That's great that you are so driven!! I'm excited to be really motivated for the first time in a long time. 🙂

A 3.2, phew, I was thinking someone was going to tell me I'm screwed with a 3.6.

A 3.2 won't make you over the GPA minimum at some schools (Washington comes to mind). I would say a 3.5 is safer.

 

[Ricegrad]

Also, as far as GPA goes, I've looked at the APVMA site and different school's requirements, but what is considered a low GPA for applying to vet school?? (Sorry for all the questions!)

Texas A&M requires at least a 2.9 overall, or a 3.1 for the last 45 hours. I think that if you aim for about a 3.5, you'll be in a pretty good shape. Try not to feel overwhelmed (easier said than done, I know!). You sound like you're on the right track to have a great application. Your experience working on a farm will count toward the "animal experience" hours. I would recommend shadowing more than one vet at more than one clinic, if you can. Are there any veterinary specialties around you that you could shadow, like dermatology or oncology? A lot of programs like to see that you've experienced a wide range of veterinary fields.

 

[pupsNponies]

Thanks guys! I'm at about a 3.6 GPA right now, hopefully I can keep it there :/

I'm trying to get some volunteer hours at a canine rehab clinic, would this be a good choice?? And I'm shadowing a vet that has a mixed practice doing large and small animals. It's good to hear that I'm on the right track!

What about shelter medicine? Do you think maybe shadowing the vet at the shelter would make for a more diverse application??

 

[hunterjumper12]

Nope, it's not too late! I decided in January of my junior year that I wanted to pursue vet med (had previously been a bio major with pre-med intent), and I applied that September. Granted, I worked my butt off to get experience hours throughout the spring semester and over the summer, but I got into 5 schools this cycle, including my IS, so it can be done. Your GPA sounds like it is pretty good, so I would work hard at getting a lot of experience. I actually addressed my late switch to vet med in my personal statement and had a few interviewers ask me about it. Welcome to the boards and good luck! 🙂

 

[hunterjumper12]

Thanks guys! I'm at about a 3.6 GPA right now, hopefully I can keep it there :/

I'm trying to get some volunteer hours at a canine rehab clinic, would this be a good choice?? And I'm shadowing a vet that has a mixed practice doing large and small animals. It's good to hear that I'm on the right track!

What about shelter medicine? Do you think maybe shadowing the vet at the shelter would make for a more diverse application??

I would definitely try to get a lot of diverse shadowing experience, and I've heard that admissions committees prefer to see >100 hours in the areas. As for me, I think what really helped my application stand out is that I had a lot of food animal experience. At all of my interviews, the first question the interviewers asked me about was my food animal experience, what I did there, etc.

 

[Whyevernot55]

Adding to what I said earlier, I would start looking into what schools you might want to apply to starting now. Make sure you meet requirements, and also look at what things they value in their applicants - some schools LOVE research experience, some want really solid, in-depth experience in your area of interest, some want at least 100 hours in at least 3 fields of vet med, etc. You can look around here in the school specific threads to get more info on the specific programs.

 

[that redhead]

So, I'm "new" to the pre-vet world and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'll give a little background, and any advice is very welcome!!

I've known I wanted to be a vet since I was very young, but around 13 years old, we had to put a horse down and I decided I couldn't be a vet. I changed my life plans, and becoming a vet just got put in the back of my mind somewhere until recently, last year, my freshman year of college. I couldn't find something fulfilling to work towards, and decided on being a bio major (thank goodness!), when it hit me as I was wrapping my horse's lame leg. Duh! I still wanted to be a vet. It was a great feeling, finally knowing for sure what I wanted to do with my life.

Now here's the problem, I feel so behind! I have just recently started shadowing a vet (which i cannot get enough of, I want to go every day!) and I have hardly any experience. (aside from working on a farm for 4 years.. but I don't even know if that matters?) I have applied to volunteer at the local animal shelter, I'm in the pre-vet club, and I'm almost done with my sophomore year as a bio major, and I have between 4 and 10 more classes to take (depending on which school, of course) before I can officially apply to vet school, but that time will fly by! I'm also planning on taking the GRE over the summer for the first time. I'm getting really overwhelmed with everything.

My question is.. is it too late? Am I too far behind in experience to get accepted? lol I'm really worried that my own ignorance to what I really wanted to do has hindered my ability to actually do it now. :/ Any advice/opinions would be great!

No, it's certainly not too late to work toward vet school. It sounds like you have some good grades and animal experiences. I would advise you to study hard for the GRE (good idea to take it a bit early so you can retake if needed) and accumulate as much vet experience as you can. While volunteering is great, experience with a veterinarian is really important so hopefully they have a regular shelter vet you can shadow and the animal shelter.

The one thing that I wanted to bring up is: are you now OK with euthanasia? If it deterred you before it's definitely something you need to reflect on before going any further. Good luck!

 

[pupsNponies]

No, it's certainly not too late to work toward vet school. It sounds like you have some good grades and animal experiences. I would advise you to study hard for the GRE (good idea to take it a bit early so you can retake if needed) and accumulate as much vet experience as you can. While volunteering is great, experience with a veterinarian is really important so hopefully they have a regular shelter vet you can shadow and the animal shelter.

The one thing that I wanted to bring up is: are you now OK with euthanasia? If it deterred you before it's definitely something you need to reflect on before going any further. Good luck!

This is something I've definitely taken into consideration, and being that I was at a fragile/dramatic age during that experience, it deterred me at the time. I am definitely fine with euthanasia now, it's just one of those things.. sad, of course, but necessary under certain circumstances.

Thanks again everyone, you are all making me feel a lot more at ease with everything!

As far as schools go: I live in FL so definitely applying to UF, i'll probably also apply to UGA, NCSU, Tuskegee, and Texas to start..
If anyone has any helpful info or experience on applying to any of those schools, feel free to post!! 🙂

 

[Minnerbelle]

hearing about how much experience they all have makes me want to sit in the fetal position in a corner and suck my thumb.

hey i do that all the time, but more so after talking to my friends who have accomplished so much in their lives after graduating college ('08) and having babies and getting married and saving lives, and making a difference in the world. it's a good coping mechanism! but i think the better way to handle it is NOT to compare yourself to others.

You're definitely NOT too late. We have a 52 year old in our class, as well as several people in their 40's and an explosive population of people in their 30's. I'm turning 26 this year, and I feel like a baby.

And you're crazy to think that your farm experience doesn't mean anything. Understanding ag and production puts you so far ahead of lots of people. i had to ship myself out to texas just to get some husbandry exp with farm animals. (and being interested in this stuff will make vet school sooo much more enjoyable. i'm have 0 interest, and that makes several of my classes really awful for me).

 

[pennyonthefloor]

but i think the better way to handle it is NOT to compare yourself to others.

👍👍👍👍👍

Everyone is different. I know I don't have the stats of many of my peers but I've also been through life-changing situations that they haven't (and that I'd never wish what I've been through upon anyone). There will always be someone that's done something better than you have-- and that's something that a lot of people struggle with (including myself).

Seriously, though, your stats (from my perspective) look good-- focus on improving what you can-- increasing experience can only help you. Change it up a bit if you can, but if you can't, learn everything about what you do (the ins and outs--- it matters. They look to see if you are trying to learn or just trying to go through the motions-- example: if you clean kennels, don't be content just with knowing that you clean the cages with x solution-- know why... parsites, disease transmission... ask questions and take steps to increase your knowledge-- so when you're asked these things in an interview there will be less 'deer in the headlights' looks and more confidence). Don't slack off and keep striving to make yourself the best candidate that you can be.

Best of luck!