Pre-Vet Options...

[mmb103]

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Hello! Im currently a junior in high school and my dream has always been to be a vet. Im trying to decide what colleges to apply to and Im not sure what path is going to increase my chances to get into vet school the most... Is it better to go to a smaller liberal arts school and major in biology or go to a larger, state school where i'd major in animal science? Coursework wise, i'd think i'd enjoy animal science more because anything involving animals makes me happy, yet i think i'd be much happier socially in a smaller school environment where i could get more individual attention/help from professors. I feel really torn between the two options...
also, if i was to go the bio route, can you still get enough animal experience (compared to those in an animal science program in a school with a wide range of activities involving animals)...I'd probably volunteer at a small animal clinic near the school and then during the summers get equine/wild/food animal experience...Im just not sure how non-animal science people can compete with others from a smaller school.

what do you think the best option is?

 

[BlacKAT33]

This is really a personal decision. I'll just lay some info out for you and then my own personal opinion.

You can get accepted into vet school no matter what school or major you choose, as long as you do well in the pre-req courses you'll be fine.

I was a bio major in college, it did not affect how much animal experience i got. and in general, if you are an animal sci major you won't be counting only class experience as animal experience. you will still have other clinic/lab/research/wildlife experience that you need to get outside of class because just being an ANSC major is not enough, it also won't provide you with vet experience.

The small or large school doesnt matter. I personally would choose a bigger one because you will have more opportunities and class selection. If you really dont think you'd like the environment you can choose the small school. I would look at their class lists first and make sure they offer a good amount of science classes so that you're not limited.

In the end, i would pick the school that provides the most opportunities as a pre-vet major. In terms of the major you choose, it really doesnt matter. You dont HAVE to choose ANSC at the big school, but if you think you'll like it better than bio than go ahead! 😀

edit: i should also mention, although i was a bio major...i still took some animal science classes that i found interesting. so w/e major you choose...it doesnt limit which type of classes you can take. feel free to explore all different areas. i think it was nice to get a sense of both the ansc and bio courses

 

[moosenanny]

I agree with what BlacKAT has said, but I'd like to throw my $.02 in too . . .

I'm just now graduating from a small-ish, private school that has no animal-science majors, nor do we even have a single Pre-Vet Advisor! There are only three pre-vets in my entire senior class! I was accepted to three of the four schools to which I applied, though, so this definitely hasn't hindered me. I just needed to be extra pro-active and not depend on anyone for information but the internet and emailing/calling schools directly. I majored in Environmental Studies, and none of my ~2,400 animal or vet experience hours are at all related to school. I volunteer at the St. Louis Zoo vet hospital during the academic year, but otherwise I got all of my experience over summers, as you indicated you'd be able/willing to do.

If I were you, I would go where you will be most happy. Admissions Committees like diversity, and don't want to admit 100 animal science majors. As long as your desired liberal arts school offers almost all of the required courses, then you should be fine, and you can major in whatever you want. Check out the requirements on vet schools' webistes (careful - they differ quite a bit from school to school, so don't make any assumptions). If there are one or two classes that the liberal arts school doesn't offer (like perhaps Animal Nutrition), you could take it over a summer at a bigger state school, or you could do it online as a correspondence course. I never ran into this issue because my school isn't that small, but it could be an option for you . . .

Good luck with your decision, and be sure to keep your GPA up as high as you can!🙂

P.S. The common vet application, VMCAS, lets you list experiences and honors from high school. So if you at all want to start working with a vet before college, you can start this summer or this upcoming school year. That way, you can start accumulating hours and build a strong relationship with a vet, who may let you return in the future! Just be sure to record your hours carefully in some sort of excel spreadsheet - you'll thank yourself in five years when you need to remember what you did, the number of hours, the vets' contact info, etc. 😉

 

[mmb103]

Thank you both so much! It gives me a lot to think about, and i'm happy to hear that i can acheive my goals either way, just as long as i work hard and am pro-active about the whole thing 🙂

 

[moosenanny]

Glad we could help! And I think being pro-active is one of the important traits that helps students get into vet school (it certainly helped me), so by practicing now, you'll be a pro by the time applications roll around 😉

 

[BlacKAT33]

Glad we could help! And I think being pro-active is one of the important traits that helps students get into vet school (it certainly helped me), so by practicing now, you'll be a pro by the time applications roll around 😉

definitely true! you could go to an ivy league school with a pre-vet program and everything at your finger tips but if you're not pro-active it wont matter!!

 

[Chill1818]

I absolutely agree with the other 2 posters, it's a personal decision big time. Personally, I think it's more important to go somewhere that you are going to love than going to a school that you pick just because you think it's going to increase your shot at vet school. You want to enjoy your undergraduate years because that is what's going to help you in the long run.

For me, I applied to 19, yes 19, undergraduate institutions since I had no idea where I wanted to end up. I chose UCSB because I loved the location, was accepted into the Honor's Program, they had a pre-vet club and a triathlon club, I was inspired by the research the faculty was conducting there and my family was a few hours away, so they weren't next door but I could go home on the weekends if needed, and financially it wouldn't kill my parents. I majored in Biological Sciences, minored in Anthropology and spent 6 months studying abroad in Australia (I took PoliSci, Art Hist. and an Anthro course). When I signed-up for courses every quarter I made sure I was meeting the requirements for my major, which also matched almost all the requirements for vet school, and then picked a course or two that I thought looked interesting and was outside my normal area of fucus (Detective Fictions, Science Fiction, African Art, Evolutionary Psychology etc.), this helped me to to remain a bit sane during the quarters when everything else was science, science, science.

Anyways, I'll stop rambling. I guess my biggest piece of advice is to enjoy your undergraduate years. There is nothing else like it and I absolutely miss it. Good luck!!!

 

[katryn]

I would also suggest not ruling out schools simply on the basis of size, but research their department sizes as well. Here at UT, the Animal Science department typically only has 30-50 students per "grade" (what do you call it in college anyway?). So even though UT is huge, the Animal Science classes are very small and personal.

 

[BlacKAT33]

I would also suggest not ruling out schools simply on the basis of size, but research their department sizes as well. Here at UT, the Animal Science department typically only has 30-50 students per "grade" (what do you call it in college anyway?). So even though UT is huge, the Animal Science classes are very small and personal.

u mean class? c/o 2010 etc.. lol

 

[cowgirla]

Go to whichever one won't put you in debt. Vet school will be enough of a financial burden

 

[katryn]

u mean class? c/o 2010 etc.. lol

probably....