Pre-veterinary Studies or A Specific Major ?

[jwitchard]

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1. What are the best majors to take into becoming a veterinarian?
2. What did your major do for you when applying for veterinary school ?
3. What major did you feel had the less course work if you are not good at math? (easier math courses)
4. What is a better, in your experience Pre-veterinary studies or a major in biology, zoology, animal science?

*These are all questions I am asking based off your experiences you have had, me knowing I currently have none, not judgement.

 

[Animal Midwife]

It's best to pursue a major you're interested in and just take the requisites for vet school additionally. GPA is higher when doing things you enjoy and it doesn't harm your future application in the slightest.

 

[deleted676737]

1. What are the best majors to take into becoming a veterinarian?
2. What did your major do for you when applying for veterinary school ?
3. What major did you feel had the less course work if you are not good at math?
4. What is a better, in your experience Pre-veterinary studies or a major in biology, zoology, animal science?

1. Your major doesn't matter when it comes to getting into vet school. Most people do something along the lines of biology, zoology, chemistry, or animal science because major requirements align well with the pre-reqs. It's your performance in the pre-reqs, not the name/subject of your actual major, that demonstrates your ability to succeed in vet school. I recommend majoring in a subject that you a) enjoy (and so presumably would do well in) and b) will allow you to pursue another decently paying career should vet med not work out for whatever reason.

2. I majored in biology, which was the bog standard pre-vet major at my undergrad. In retrospect, I would have majored in something else; I ended up leaving vet school partway through and that degree honestly hasn't done much for me in terms of finding other work. It's only now, two years on, that I've managed to snag a job where I've needed the degree and am being paid a somewhat livable wage.

3. I'm not sure I understand this question. You need to take some level of math to get into most (if not all) vet schools. Even if the schools you're looking at don't explicitly state a math requirement, you'll almost definitely have some math prerequisites for your chemistry and physics classes, which are required universally by vet schools. Calculus is probably overkill, but you need to be comfortable with at least a college algebra/trigonometry level of math. Taking a statistics class at some point is also a really, really good idea, even if it's not required. As a veterinarian, you are a scientist. Part of being a scientist is being able to properly interpret different kinds of data and statistics for significance and understand the scope of any conclusions being drawn from them.

4. Again, it doesn't matter. Study a subject that you like and will open up other opportunities for you in case your career plan doesn't pan out; don't worry about the "best" major for getting into vet school.

 

[jwitchard]

It's best to pursue a major you're interested in and just take the requisites for vet school additionally. GPA is higher when doing things you enjoy and it doesn't harm your future application in the slightest.

Thank you!

 

[jwitchard]

1. Your major doesn't matter when it comes to getting into vet school. Most people do something along the lines of biology, zoology, chemistry, or animal science because major requirements align well with the pre-reqs. It's your performance in the pre-reqs, not the name/subject of your actual major, that demonstrates your ability to succeed in vet school. I recommend majoring in a subject that you a) enjoy (and so presumably would do well in) and b) will allow you to pursue another decently paying career should vet med not work out for whatever reason.

2. I majored in biology, which was the bog standard pre-vet major at my undergrad. In retrospect, I would have majored in something else; I ended up leaving vet school partway through and that degree honestly hasn't done much for me in terms of finding other work. It's only now, two years on, that I've managed to snag a job where I've needed the degree and am being paid a somewhat livable wage.

3. I'm not sure I understand this question. You need to take some level of math to get into most (if not all) vet schools. Even if the schools you're looking at don't explicitly state a math requirement, you'll almost definitely have some math prerequisites for your chemistry and physics classes, which are required universally by vet schools. Calculus is probably overkill, but you need to be comfortable with at least a college algebra/trigonometry level of math. Taking a statistics class at some point is also a really, really good idea, even if it's not required. As a veterinarian, you are a scientist. Part of being a scientist is being able to properly interpret different kinds of data and statistics for significance and understand the scope of any conclusions being drawn from them.

4. Again, it doesn't matter. Study a subject that you like and will open up other opportunities for you in case your career plan doesn't pan out; don't worry about the "best" major for getting into vet school.

Thank You ! I greatly appreciate your knowledge.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

I majored in microbiology. In my experience

-Microbiology will expose you to certain concepts that you'll need to learn in vet school and for this reason makes a good foundation, at least with regards to immunology, epidemiology, virology, etc
-Microbiology opens up a number of job opportunities, but mostly in large cities/places with research facilities.
-Microbiology was not an easy major, in the slightest, and did result in a lower GPA than I probably would've had with another major.
-Microbiology didn't itself require any extra math? But my university has a requirement of a certain level to graduate

 

[jwitchard]

I majored in microbiology. In my experience

-Microbiology will expose you to certain concepts that you'll need to learn in vet school and for this reason makes a good foundation, at least with regards to immunology, epidemiology, virology, etc
-Microbiology opens up a number of job opportunities, but mostly in large cities/places with research facilities.
-Microbiology was not an easy major, in the slightest, and did result in a lower GPA than I probably would've had with another major.
-Microbiology didn't itself require any extra math? But my university has a requirement of a certain level to graduate

Sounds interesting, thank you for your comment.