Stuck between two summer options...

[cliffordthebigreddog]

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I'm a sophomore biology major and hopefully a French double major. My current GPA is about 3.3 and I have 400 hours of clinical experience from a small animal internship last summer. So I'm currently in the position where I need to both raise my GPA and gain lots more clinical/animal experience.

I'm trying to decide between two options for what to do with my summer.

1. Live at home, work part-time for partial pay at the vet clinic I interned at last summer (would end up being about 150-175 hours total), and take an organic chemistry lab course at a nearby college to free up my fall schedule. I might also take a French class and/or work part-time at my high school job
2. Volunteer/shadow at the same vet clinic for first few weeks (would be about 90 hours). For the rest of the summer, I'd live on my school's campus as a summer college RA, which would only allow me 10 hours of outside work each week. I would either continue working in the research lab I'm in now or I could look for some volunteer work to get more veterinary/animal experience (would only be 90 hours total). I could also take a few courses online (probably animal nutrition and a French class) but there are no applicable courses on-campus except biochem which I should probably take during the school year.

Does anybody have any thoughts/opinions on which option would be better in preparation for vet school? The first option seems objectively better in terms of academic/experience preparation, but I'm really excited about the summer college RA position so I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to miss out on the clinical hours and getting orgo lab out of the way.

 

[Hopeful_DVM]

I'm a sophomore biology major and hopefully a French double major. My current GPA is about 3.3 and I have 400 hours of clinical experience from a small animal internship last summer. So I'm currently in the position where I need to both raise my GPA and gain lots more clinical/animal experience.

I'm trying to decide between two options for what to do with my summer.

1. Live at home, work part-time for partial pay at the vet clinic I interned at last summer (would end up being about 150-175 hours total), and take an organic chemistry lab course at a nearby college to free up my fall schedule. I might also take a French class and/or work part-time at my high school job
2. Volunteer/shadow at the same vet clinic for first few weeks (would be about 90 hours). For the rest of the summer, I'd live on my school's campus as a summer college RA, which would only allow me 10 hours of outside work each week. I would either continue working in the research lab I'm in now or I could look for some volunteer work to get more veterinary/animal experience (would only be 90 hours total). I could also take a few courses online (probably animal nutrition and a French class) but there are no applicable courses on-campus except biochem which I should probably take during the school year.

Does anybody have any thoughts/opinions on which option would be better in preparation for vet school? The first option seems objectively better in terms of academic/experience preparation, but I'm really excited about the summer college RA position so I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to miss out on the clinical hours and getting orgo lab out of the way.

Take orgo Lab and get it over with.

 

[love2hunt]

I'm a sophomore biology major and hopefully a French double major. My current GPA is about 3.3 and I have 400 hours of clinical experience from a small animal internship last summer. So I'm currently in the position where I need to both raise my GPA and gain lots more clinical/animal experience.

I'm trying to decide between two options for what to do with my summer.

1. Live at home, work part-time for partial pay at the vet clinic I interned at last summer (would end up being about 150-175 hours total), and take an organic chemistry lab course at a nearby college to free up my fall schedule. I might also take a French class and/or work part-time at my high school job
2. Volunteer/shadow at the same vet clinic for first few weeks (would be about 90 hours). For the rest of the summer, I'd live on my school's campus as a summer college RA, which would only allow me 10 hours of outside work each week. I would either continue working in the research lab I'm in now or I could look for some volunteer work to get more veterinary/animal experience (would only be 90 hours total). I could also take a few courses online (probably animal nutrition and a French class) but there are no applicable courses on-campus except biochem which I should probably take during the school year.

Does anybody have any thoughts/opinions on which option would be better in preparation for vet school? The first option seems objectively better in terms of academic/experience preparation, but I'm really excited about the summer college RA position so I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to miss out on the clinical hours and getting orgo lab out of the way.

I agree with @Hopeful_DVM get your orgo class done (and do very well in it).

Also, if you want to raise your GPA, you might consider dropping the French double major. It might (might) make you stand out on an application, but seems to me like you're unnecessarily overburdening yourself and harming your GPA if you're serious about vet school. I think a better GPA is more important to your application than a double major.

 

[cliffordthebigreddog]

The French major at my school actually isn't very demanding, and because I can get an A in a French course with much less work than a science course it's actually been helping my GPA. I'm not set on double majoring but I'd just do it because I like French, not so much to boost my application.

Do vet schools dislike it when students take orgo lab during the summer? I know it's generally discouraged to take science prerequisites over the summer, so that's why I'm hesitant. I sent emails to some schools with the requirement to double check that it counts so hopefully they don't have a problem with it.

 

[Hopeful_DVM]

The French major at my school actually isn't very demanding, and because I can get an A in a French course with much less work than a science course it's actually been helping my GPA. I'm not set on double majoring but I'd just do it because I like French, not so much to boost my application.

Do vet schools dislike it when students take orgo lab during the summer? I know it's generally discouraged to take science prerequisites over the summer, so that's why I'm hesitant. I sent emails to some schools with the requirement to double check that it counts so hopefully they don't have a problem with it.

I’ve never heard of any vet school not counting a pre-requisite because it was taken during the summer. As long as it’s taken at an accredited institution(4 year institution in some cases), you are fine. Several of my chemistry classes were taken during the summer. I had several interviews and I am now in vet school.

 

[SkiOtter]

Do vet schools dislike it when students take orgo lab during the summer? I know it's generally discouraged to take science prerequisites over the summer, so that's why I'm hesitant.

Says who? I don’t know of any school that would have a problem with it being over the summer as long as you meet their requirements (if the schools you’re applying to require it at a 4 year university, etc)

 

[cliffordthebigreddog]

Says who? I don’t know of any school that would have a problem with it being over the summer as long as you meet their requirements (if the schools you’re applying to require it at a 4 year university, etc)

That was what the pre-health advisor at my school told me.

 

[Hopeful_DVM]

That was what the pre-health advisor at my school told me.

Take everything you hear from your “pre-health” advisor with a grain of salt. People outside of the veterinary community tend to not know what they are talking about when it comes to vet school.