Starting to apply for vet school...HELP!!!! NEED ADVICE!!!

[CountryGirl92]

I need to know everything possible about when to apply to vet school, how to prepare, what to do to prepare??? Any advice anyone can give would be great!!!

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[twelvetigers]

Girl, slow down. Take a deep breath. And then just read. Scroll through and find the threads about applying. Use the search function. You have a while yet before everything is due for this year.

Here is the short version: GPA in required classes that differ from school to school so it's your responsibility to look at schools and make sure you have what you need. General GRE scores which have deadlines that also vary by school. Veterinary and animal experience logged by total hours and description. Other work experience, logged the same way. Awards, activities, and hobbies. Three or more letters of recc, one of which must usually be from a vet. And finally, the app includes a personal statement.

General questions get general answers. I think you should spend some time here reading and that will help a lot.

 

[MommaFox]

Dont forget to breathe! You're in the right place. Look around and read!

 

[OSUPreVet]

I'm all creepy when it comes to knowing what I need - I stalk the heck out of admitted student profiles on the Vet college website - I look at the average GPA, GRE, volunteer experience (i then go and apply to those places ) and research -- my goal then is to top all the numbers. Every year it gets harder and harder but it'll be worth it.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I'm all creepy when it comes to knowing what I need - I stalk the heck out of admitted student profiles on the Vet college website - I look at the average GPA, GRE, volunteer experience (i then go and apply to those places ) and research -- my goal then is to top all the numbers. Every year it gets harder and harder but it'll be worth it.

That is a crazy strategy, and you are going to burn out in life like this really darn quick.

Vet school is not all about the numbers, and insane attitudes like this can get you recognized quickly the wrong way.

OP, don't listen to this kind of advice.

 

[StartingoverVet]

OP, start with this thread that is a sticky on the top of the forum

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=372972

Then if you have a single question, search the forum for past threads..not only will you likely find the answer, but you will find you are not alone, and their are plenty of people who have the same questions, problems, confusions, etc.

If you need further advice on that subject, then you can post your question or input.

People are more likely to help when they see you have some specific need (beside being neurotic... that is unfortunately common, and understandable)

 

[BlackDog17]

I'm all creepy when it comes to knowing what I need - I stalk the heck out of admitted student profiles on the Vet college website - I look at the average GPA, GRE, volunteer experience (i then go and apply to those places ) and research -- my goal then is to top all the numbers. Every year it gets harder and harder but it'll be worth it.

That is a crazy strategy, and you are going to burn out in life like this really darn quick.

Vet school is not all about the numbers, and insane attitudes like this can get you recognized quickly the wrong way.

OP, don't listen to this kind of advice.

Not to mention that you should be pursuing experiences that will enhance YOUR application and that are of interest to YOU. Starting your own career based solely off of someone else's interests and achievements is rather pathetic.

OP, you should be able to find the answers to most, if not all, of your questions by looking up the websites for the specific vet schools you're interested in. The VMCAS and AVMA websites and the VMSAR book are also excellent resources. I do hope you are not planning to apply during this cycle though, as you'll be getting an extremely late start!

 

[devyn]

I'm all creepy when it comes to knowing what I need - I stalk the heck out of admitted student profiles on the Vet college website - I look at the average GPA, GRE, volunteer experience (i then go and apply to those places ) and research -- my goal then is to top all the numbers. Every year it gets harder and harder but it'll be worth it.

Hey everyone... we have a future gunner here.....


watch the feck out


also seriously calm the feck down.... stop obsessing.... get normal experience... stop caring what others are doing...

 

[ChittyBang]

I'm all creepy when it comes to knowing what I need - I stalk the heck out of admitted student profiles on the Vet college website - I look at the average GPA, GRE, volunteer experience (i then go and apply to those places ) and research -- my goal then is to top all the numbers. Every year it gets harder and harder but it'll be worth it.

I now have that Eric Church song, "Creepin'", stuck in my head... :what:

 

[OSUPreVet]

That is a crazy strategy, and you are going to burn out in life like this really darn quick.

Vet school is not all about the numbers, and insane attitudes like this can get you recognized quickly the wrong way.

OP, don't listen to this kind of advice.

It's not exactly what I meant, I just like to know what the "average" is, and honestly it helped me find some great place to volunteer cause I had no idea where to even start when I decided I wanted to go to vet school. Do my numbers match/top those averages? No, will they? probably not. Am I going crazy doing EVERYTHING? No. Yeah the way I wrote it did some extreme and crazy and its my mistake - I should have worded it better. I do what I'm passionate about and use the profiles as a way to just know what's going on. I've found my comfort zone and my limit and I have not burnt out, I'm quite happy actually.

 

[OSUPreVet]

Honestly everyone I'm disappointed with how mean you're being? Is it necessary to call me a "gunner" and post those nasty comments? You may not know me and I'm sure it makes it easier for you to be a little cruel. How about some advice? I don't copy the profiles, I use it as a way to know whats going on. I have done a lot of things on my own THAT ARE NOT on the admitted profiles, I've discovered what I LOVE and that's what I continue to do.

I thought this was a place to help one another?

 

[Conflagration]

Honestly everyone I'm disappointed with how mean you're being? Is it necessary to call me a "gunner" and post those nasty comments? You may not know me and I'm sure it makes it easier for you to be a little cruel. How about some advice? I don't copy the profiles, I use it as a way to know whats going on. I have done a lot of things on my own THAT ARE NOT on the admitted profiles, I've discovered what I LOVE and that's what I continue to do.

I thought this was a place to help one another?

Well, it wasn't intended as rude as much as it was intended to tell OP that she doesn't need to have the attitude conveyed in your post to be successful.

IMO, your original post did come off as a bit unnecessarily competitive at best, and at worst, it came off as aspiring for the right to be arrogant. I'm not saying that to be mean, but the bolded clause does come off as a bit gunnerish.

As for the OP, welcome to the forums and welcome to the vet field.

First thing's first- SHADOW. Notice how that's all in caps. It's that important- how are you going to tell schools you want to be a vet if you haven't spent a day in one's shoes? This is "Veterinary Experience" in VMCAS, and there's other ways you can get hours here too- doing research under Ph.D's is something that comes off the top of my head. Try to go to a variety of practices to be sure that you'd be happy- small animal, large animal, exotics, and so on. As for the hours you need, it really depends on your application. I'll hit this later.

Another thing- Animal Experience! Sadly, pet ownership isn't enough. This is where volunteering comes in: ASPCA is a good way to get this. Working for a pet store, like PetSmart or Petco, are also good things to keep in mind(and get paid!). It's my understanding that if you're handling something fuzzy/scaly/squishy and a vet/Ph.D wasn't there, it's animal experience. So volunteering at a zoo or a wildlife retreat also counts.

Please though, for your own sanity if nothing else, have a few other activities out there too. Play an intramural sport or join a club. Do some charity work if you want- a Relay for Life team, study abroad. You can be a pre-vet and not kill yourself in the process: there's no need to. I mean, vets before us weren't robots, right?

The nitty-gritty: the grades. Grades are super important- vet school is four years of hard science and clinical experiences and vet schools can only afford to have so many seats. They want to be sure you can graduate- when you do well professionally, the school enjoys getting some renown as well. Prerequisites will depend on the school, but they usually include 8 hours of Basic/Intro Biology, 8 hours of General Chemistry, 8 hours of Organic Chemistry, 8 hours of Physics(usually calculus based, some don't require that), 3-4 hours of Calculus, and higher level courses. These can vary; these are classes like Biochemistry, Microbiology, Genetics, Animal Nutrition, Statistics, and more.

You'll also have to take the GRE, which to my understanding is like the SAT on crack. I'm not familiar with the scoring as much, so forgive me if I'm a little shaky in that department.

Aspire for the highest GPA you can manage; a 3.5 is pretty competitive to my knowledge. The science GPA (Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Math) should be in that ballpark as well. Some schools will look at the last 45 credits, which should be at least the same as your GPA if not higher. Hours-wise, I think it'd be reasonable shoot for about 500 in veterinary and 150 animal. Obviously, the more the merrier. GRE- a 160 in Verbal and Quantitative and a 3.0+ Writing should be good. Have around 2-3 out-of-field ECs, and the folks you've been harassing to amass the veterinary hours should be able to write you a letter of recommendation. You'll want 3-5 of those.

If you're lacking in one department, you should try to get a better value in another category. Like, if you have a lower GPA, you should try to get more hours.

I hope this helps! And somebody who knows better than me feel free to critique/add to my post!

 

[OSUPreVet]

Well, it wasn't intended as rude as much as it was intended to tell OP that she doesn't need to have the attitude conveyed in your post to be successful.

IMO, your original post did come off as a bit unnecessarily competitive at best, and at worst, it came off as aspiring for the right to be arrogant. I'm not saying that to be mean, but the bolded clause does come off as a bit gunnerish.

It was not my intention I'm sorry -- I'm not the person I portrayed in my post, poor use of words.

 

[Jess Monster]

From my experiences, it's probably not best to be completely unconcerned about what other people are doing and how they are performing. You have to establish where the bar is set because when you apply, you get compared to all these other students and ranked. While obsession is never good, an awareness of your pre-vet peers is necessary to succeed. That's how I was interpreting most of what OSUPreVet was saying.

One of the things I think is really important in preparing for vet school is to remember that it's more than just an application process. I don't know about other people, but I always felt that most of the emphasis is put on getting in. I've never been to a pre-vet information session that goes over, in detail, what is expected from students enrolled in vet school. Nothing about the curriculum, clubs, competencies, course load, etc. That's kind of important but, in my experiences, tends to get glazed over. Doing your own research and talking to current vet students is a must.

Working your ass off to get the excellent stats, experiences, and that much coveted acceptance only to find out that you absolutely HATE vet school is a possibility and does happen to some people.

 

[OSUPreVet]

From my experiences, it's probably not best to be completely unconcerned about what other people are doing and how they are performing. You have to establish where the bar is set because when you apply, you get compared to all these other students and ranked. While obsession is never good, an awareness of your pre-vet peers is necessary to succeed. That's how I was interpreting most of what OSUPreVet was saying.

Your words worked better

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I need to know everything possible about when to apply to vet school, how to prepare, what to do to prepare??? Any advice anyone can give would be great!!!

If you can't take the initiative to look through be countless threads here regarding the application process....not to mention each school has prerequisite information on their websites...etc.....

Just sayin.

I hate it when people make posts like this, because it reeks of being lazy and wanting other people to take time out of THEIR day to give long, complicated answers to something the OP could get a pretty solid initial understanding of with a couple dozen mouse clicks and thread searches. I have no problem giving advice, but not to someone who doesn't appear to be being proactive.

Then again, I'm grouchy and hate spoon feeding

 

[OSUPreVet]

If you can't take the initiative to look through be countless threads here regarding the application process....not to mention each school has prerequisite information on their websites...etc.....

Just sayin.

I hate it when people make posts like this, because it reeks of being lazy and wanting other people to take time out of THEIR day to give long, complicated answers to something the OP could get a pretty solid initial understanding of with a couple dozen mouse clicks and thread searches. I have no problem giving advice, but not to someone who doesn't appear to be being proactive.

Then again, I'm grouchy and hate spoon feeding

Honestly, from the pre-vets I've spoken to ... some of them do not have a clue. I'll ask them things like Oh where do you volunteer, they say "what do you mean/" the only thing they're doing is getting straight A's .. which is great but it won't get you into vet school. I've helped a lot of other pre-vets to get a basic understanding of what they need to do -- Im still shocked they called themselves pre-veterinary students

 

[twelvetigers]

Honestly, from the pre-vets I've spoken to ... some of them do not have a clue. I'll ask them things like Oh where do you volunteer, they say "what do you mean/" the only thing they're doing is getting straight A's .. which is great but it won't get you into vet school. I've helped a lot of other pre-vets to get a basic understanding of what they need to do -- Im still shocked they called themselves pre-veterinary students

If you don't have a good adviser and you haven't found this site yet... sometimes you just don't know. I was pretty clueless the first time I applied, and I had the resources available - I just didn't realize how much I was missing.

You should definitely take those opportunities to point them in the right direction and help them out. It's good karma.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Honestly everyone I'm disappointed with how mean you're being? Is it necessary to call me a "gunner" and post those nasty comments? You may not know me and I'm sure it makes it easier for you to be a little cruel. How about some advice? I don't copy the profiles, I use it as a way to know whats going on. I have done a lot of things on my own THAT ARE NOT on the admitted profiles, I've discovered what I LOVE and that's what I continue to do.

I thought this was a place to help one another?

Don't understand your response. You admitted your OP came off wrong....
Your following post was much more reasonable.
People can only judge you on what you write, and if the tone is off... hard to complain about the response.

Having said that, some people need a kick in the butt from time to time, and that is not mean... just a reality check...

But..... I think your explanation is reasonable, and it is time to move on.

 

[LetItSnow]

I've found my comfort zone and my limit and I have not burnt out

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

 

[Falina]

She HAS moved on. That post was 2 days ago. Like Jess Monster, I understood what OSUPreVet meant in her first post (that she's simply figuring out where she needs to be in order to be competitive).