PhD before vet school?

[ColoGirl]

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Hello everyone,

I have been lurking for the past few weeks around here, and have been helped so much with all the information! I am applying to vet school this round and have a few questions.

I am completing a PhD in microbiology this coming spring. I worked as a vet assistant for 2 years about 10 years ago, and I decided then I would like to go to vet school. I completed a BS double majoring in Animal Science and Microbiology. While I was an undergrad I started working in a Micro lab and discovered how much I liked research. Upon graduation, I still was unsure which path to take, grad school or PVM. I was offered a great fellowship position and decided to pursue my PhD. Well, here I am, graduating, and I still want to go to vet school! Don't get me wrong, research is wonderful, and I see myself doing some clinical work, but mostly vaccine development and/or researching viral veterinary pathogens. Soooooo, I have THOUSANDS of hours of veterinary experience with my PhD work and with working at the clinic. I have undergrad GPA of 3.94 and graduate GPA 4.0, and GRE V490 Q700. With that said, here are my questions.

Should I explain somewhere in my application why I did not go into a combine program at the onset?
Do the admissions committees take PhD work into consideration during this process?
Should I put into my personal statement (or somewhere else in my application) information regarding the nature of the research I was doing?

I am applying to Colorado State (my in state school), Cornell, and UC Davis at this point. I would like a fourth school as well, but am struggling to decide at this point. I would like a school that is very serious about biomedical research, where I can work in a lab during the vet school process. Any thoughts on this last school?

Any input at all would be great! As you can probably tell I am a little stressed about this whole thing 😉 I am almost done with my applications, and am waiting on eLORs at this point. Just need to figure out these little nuances.

Thank you everyone!!!!

 

[GellaBella]

Wow, you and I are twins!

I too am finishing up a PhD in microbiology and am now applying to veterinary school and I'm also applying to Cornell, CSU, UC Davis amongst others. although, unlike you I am not quite in love with research anymore. 5 years of academia has brought me down 🙁 maybe a different scene would change some things but as of now I can see myself being involved in research, but I can't see it being my full time life/career.

I don't think you need to explain anything in detail, it is going to come up in interviews whether or not you put it down in the application. I do mention some of my research in my personal statement and I do discuss briefly (like seriously one sentence) why the change to vet med, but I know that my research and the 'switch' are going to probably dominate my interviews (should I get any) so I'm not spending too much time on it.


As far as a 4th school (I am also interested in schools with strong biomedical research programs, not only for myself, although I do want to continue to work in a lab at least some times, but also for my fiance who is doing a post-doc) I am looking at UPenn (their medical school is in the same area so lots of good lab opportunities), and UFlorida (the rest of the campus is right there, so again, lots of good diverse lab opportunities).

Good luck finishing up your dissertation! And good luck this application cycle (to both of us!)

 

[ColoGirl]

Hi GellaBella!

I will take a closer look at UPenn too. I have heard great things about the research there.

CSU is no longer conducting interviews for in state students! and if I am correct, Cornell doesn't interview either. I was actually kind of bummed out when I heard about CSU's new policy, as I was going to take the interview oppurtunity to discuss what type of research I have done and am interested in doing after vet school, and also my decsion process on schooling thus far. Now I am not going to have that luxury.

Thanks again for the feedback, and good luck with the dissertation!!

 

[Shanomong]

Hi GellaBella!

I will take a closer look at UPenn too. I have heard great things about the research there.

CSU is no longer conducting interviews for in state students! and if I am correct, Cornell doesn't interview either. I was actually kind of bummed out when I heard about CSU's new policy, as I was going to take the interview oppurtunity to discuss what type of research I have done and am interested in doing after vet school, and also my decsion process on schooling thus far. Now I am not going to have that luxury.

Thanks again for the feedback, and good luck with the dissertation!!

Hi ColoGirl,
I want to second (or third?) Penn as a great choice as far as research schools go. And as far as the application, I think (based on the feedback I received after my first application) the admission committee, Penn's anyway, would want you to use your personal statement in large part if not in its entirety to explain your interest in vetmed, how you know it's the career for you, how your past experiences have prepared you, etc... I would also use the explanation statement to explain briefly the switch (which I'm not sure I would even call it a switch... more like a gradual realization of something you knew was quite possible) if it's not covered already in the personal statement. Your stats are very impressive, though it may be worth taking another stab at the GRE if a score increase is possible.
That's all just my opinion, but the surest way to know what you should be doing is to ask the admissions committees themselves. I can only speak from experience with Penn, but I found contacts in the admissions office to be extremely helpful and kind during the application process. Best of luck, I honestly think you'll have no trouble gaining admission to vet school, especially since your interests continue to lie in research. Your PhD is going to be seen as a very big positive, it's just too bad you didn't figure out you wanted both degrees when you could have used the one to get both for free 😀

 

[HandD42]

Nnot much to add to this discussion except look into Univ of MN or Univ of WI. They both have strong research emphasis and at least for MN many of the labs would be right next to the vet school. There are tons of post doc opportunities and something may be a good fit for you. I realize I am biased being from MN but I currently work in a lab that is kind of affiliated with the Univ and there is some great work going on!

 

[ColoGirl]

Hi Shanomong! Thank you for the kind words and the advice. My GRE scores are a couple years old, I was on the fence about retaking them, maybe I will....

I am going to give CSU's admissions office a call today and talk with them a bit. I'm glad you told me that. I guess it never occurred to me to ask them, haha! I am also going to try and take my completed application to the application workshop being held on Sept 8th.

Also, I looked up UPenn, and little to no supplemental application! Big bonus for me right now as I am in full science/dissertation mode.