Pre-vet major, but not planning on vet school...

[pre-vet-peyton]

So, I'm planning on attending Penn State next fall and majoring in Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences. That's considered their "pre-vet" major... BUT, I'm not planning on vet school. Animals are where my heart is but some of the harsh realities that come with being a vet are just not what I want my life to be about. I just want to use the degree Penn State offers to do graduate-level research in animal diseases and genetics, and possibly get a master's. Considering that PSU is one of the only universities with this major, there isn't a ton of information on what careers (other than veterinary medicine) graduates have gone into. I was just wondering if anyone on here was in the same situation - planning to major in this veterinary & biomedical science degree and focusing more on the research opportunity than planning to apply to vet school. Thanks.

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[orca2011]

I'm sure this is something you can talk to your advisor about once you start. I have several classmates who went to PSU (not sure if they did the pre-vet track or just something else in the Ag school) but they're all doing very different things, even within the vet school. Some are small animal focused, some are food animal and some are interested in dairy medicine/research. And once you get there, I'm sure you'll find several other classmates who also aren't looking to pursue the vet med path.

Quick search has this http://agsci.psu.edu/futurestudents/academics/majors/vet on their website, which really doesn't give you too much detail, but definitely suggests some different options, including the research you seemed to be interested. I'd definitely attend any sort of alumni events and just talk to as many people once you're at the school to get a feel as for what is out there. PSU has a great alumni network from what I've heard, so I'm sure people would be willing to talk with you about the different paths they took.

Sorry I'm not super helpful, but you have plenty of time to figure it all out and PSU is definitely not short of opportunities.

And welcome from a fellow Pennsylvanian!

 

[pre-vet-peyton]

No, that's actually very helpful to me! Thank you so much, fellow Pennsylvanian! 😉 About speaking with my advisor... is there any way I could talk to someone sooner? I'm on the fence of doing this and just going into nursing, but nursing is a major that is REALLY hard to transfer into. If I wouldn't be able to do anything but go into vet school with this degree then obviously it isn't the one I want to go in with. Know what I mean?

 

[orca2011]

No, that's actually very helpful to me! Thank you so much, fellow Pennsylvanian! 😉 About speaking with my advisor... is there any way I could talk to someone sooner? I'm on the fence of doing this and just going into nursing, but nursing is a major that is REALLY hard to transfer into. If I wouldn't be able to do anything but go into vet school with this degree then obviously it isn't the one I want to go in with. Know what I mean?

From what I've read online, I really don't think it's that limiting of a degree. My brief look at the academic plan (cause I definitely didn't do any of this when I applied to PSU...whoops) made it seem like it was a lot of you general pre-vet requirements, yes, but many of those courses are required to take upper level classes in subjects that can probably go other ways. I'll be honest that I didn't look too closely. You could probably contact the department chair and see if he can put you in touch with anyone.

 

[pre-vet-peyton]

Good idea! Thanks a ton. 🙂

 

[Country_roads]

I was pre-vet major, now in grad school and going to have my master's in biomedical science this May. If you have any questions about the research field I may be able to give you some answers. Feel free to PM me