super conflicted on my future - advice?

[bpop]

Hi guys,

So, I have a few questions that I'd like some input/advice on.

I have recently decided to go the full DVM route (I was thinking vet tech, but I want to be a DVM more than anything). I got a job a few days ago at a pet hospital in my town, so I'd be getting experience in the front desk/receptionist aspect of it, as well as them possibly teaching me some tech duties, so possibly the more medical side of it as well.

My real problem is my current degree. I have 4 months left and I will be a Certified Medical Assistant. I will have put myself $40,000 in debt for an associates degree. I'm really worried that I'll never use this certification once I graduate, and therefore $40,000 down the drain in debt, on top of my undergrad and veterinary school studies. Is it worth it if I drop out now and go straight into pre-vet studies and get experience at my new pet hospital job, or should I stick it out as a "back-up plan" like my parents put it?

I'm just so conflicted about my future endeavors, so anything will help. Thank you!

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[PrincessButterCup]

Hi guys,

So, I have a few questions that I'd like some input/advice on.

I have recently decided to go the full DVM route (I was thinking vet tech, but I want to be a DVM more than anything). I got a job a few days ago at a pet hospital in my town, so I'd be getting experience in the front desk/receptionist aspect of it, as well as them possibly teaching me some tech duties, so possibly the more medical side of it as well.

My real problem is my current degree. I have 4 months left and I will be a Certified Medical Assistant. I will have put myself $40,000 in debt for an associates degree. I'm really worried that I'll never use this certification once I graduate, and therefore $40,000 down the drain in debt, on top of my undergrad and veterinary school studies. Is it worth it if I drop out now and go straight into pre-vet studies and get experience at my new pet hospital job, or should I stick it out as a "back-up plan" like my parents put it?

I'm just so conflicted about my future endeavors, so anything will help. Thank you!

Dropping out doesn't make sense to me. You have 4 months left - why quit now and be 40k in debt for a degree you didn't even finish?

How many prerequisite classes are you missing? I imagine your degree will have given you bio, chem, and maybe physics?

Have you shadowed or worked in vet med before taking your current job? How much experience do you already have? I'd make sure that this career is really something you want to pursue before taking on any more educational debt. Why have you changed your mind about being a medical assistant? You could work with your certificate for a year/few years and pay back some of your debt before going after vet med if you're conflicted about what to do right now, so you don't jump into an entirely new career plan without being confident it's what you want.

 

[bpop]

Dropping out doesn't make sense to me. You have 4 months left - why quit now and be 40k in debt for a degree you didn't even finish?

How many prerequisite classes are you missing? I imagine your degree will have given you bio, chem, and maybe physics?

Have you shadowed or worked in vet med before taking your current job? How much experience do you already have? I'd make sure that this career is really something you want to pursue before taking on any more educational debt. Why have you changed your mind about being a medical assistant? You could work with your certificate for a year/few years and pay back some of your debt before going after vet med if you're conflicted about what to do right now, so you don't jump into an entirely new career plan without being confident it's what you want.

Thank you for your reply!

I am missing all of my prerequisites. The school is a technical school, so I'm only training on the job specific aspects of being a Medical Assistant. So I have none of them as of right now.

I have shadowed in my past, as well as I took a veterinary assisting high school program in high school (I dropped out the first semester due to the stress of graduating high school and college at the time time... didn't work). I am also planning on shadowing a veterinarian or two at the veterinary teaching hospital in the town next to mine (I live near the CSU CVM).

That is actually a really good idea. Thank you for opening my eyes. I will probably work as a CMA for a while, while also working maybe part time at the veterinary hospital I just got the job at, and go from there. I think it'd be a good idea to get some debt (if not all) out of the way before I pursue my further education.

I changed my mind about being a MA for a few reasons. I have always had a passion for veterinary medicine (even though I did drop out of my high school program). I really only went to my current school (MA program) to get a job quickly so I could go to art school (I was a senior in high school when I thought of this, and just went for it). I would still love to attend art school, but after a lot of research and whatnot, veterinary medicine is where I am very passionate about. I am just worried that the adcoms (when/if I get an interview for veterinary school) will ask me why I switched from human to veterinary medicine, and I'll freeze. It's nervewrecking to me, personally.

 

[SkiOtter]

I am just worried that the adcoms (when/if I get an interview for veterinary school) will ask me why I switched from human to veterinary medicine, and I'll freeze. It's nervewrecking to me, personally

Well, why DID you switch?

 

[bpop]

Well, why DID you switch?

Well, I went in (as I stated above) for a career before going to art school. My mom has been a MA for over 10 years, so I thought it'd be good to follow in that route. Well, I do love human medicine, it's fascinating, but my heart is set on veterinary medicine. I guess I really just regret it and wish I didn't go this route. I'm choosing to go into veterinary medicine because it's been my calling since I was little, and I really did enjoy my high school vet assistant course... it was really just a stupid decision to go the human medicine route when I could've gone the veterinary route, but it was a stupid high school student decision to go human medicine, I guess.

 

[DVMDream]

Well, I went in (as I stated above) for a career before going to art school. My mom has been a MA for over 10 years, so I thought it'd be good to follow in that route. Well, I do love human medicine, it's fascinating, but my heart is set on veterinary medicine. I guess I really just regret it and wish I didn't go this route. I'm choosing to go into veterinary medicine because it's been my calling since I was little, and I really did enjoy my high school vet assistant course... it was really just a stupid decision to go the human medicine route when I could've gone the veterinary route, but it was a stupid high school student decision to go human medicine, I guess.

Why is veterinary medicine your "calling"?

 

[bpop]

Why is veterinary medicine your "calling"?

I've always had a love for animals since I was really young. I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was about 10 years old, but the more I grew up to look at it and the requirements, it became "scary". I was in high school when I was choosing between a CNA program or veterinary assistant program for the college pathways my senior year. Ultimately, I chose the veterinary one to see how it was. When I began the course and was learning everything, i LOVED it. It was the best semester I'd ever had. I wanted to do veterinary tech when I graduated, but I didn't have the money or the resources (just like with art school) to move to a bigger city to attend a vet tech program. So, from there, I chose to go the MA route. I've enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but in the back of my mind I've always had veterinary medicine in my mind. I have thought about vet tech again, though I'd like to be investigative. Don't get me wrong, vet tech's are AMAZING, but being a veterinarian has always been the dream. I don't have anyone in my family who is in veterinary medicine, though when I was about 13/14, my grandfather gave me a book called "The Practical Stock Doctor", which has been passed down from generation to generation in my family. I just feel like, for my love of animals, and now the realization my love for medicine and science, I think that being a veterinarian would be the most ideal situation for my future.

 

[bpop]

You're currently $40k in debt for your associate's degree, you'll (presumably) have to take out even more loans to take vet school pre-reqs, and then you'll have the vet school loans on top of that. It sounds like your IS school is CSU, where total IS CoA is currently listed at $217k on the VIN Cost of Education map (VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map). Tuition and fees are only likely to increase even more over the next few years.

That's a minimum of $257k for all of your education, and that's the low-end estimate not really taking interest, inflation, capitalization, or even however much you spend on undergrad into account. This all to enter a profession where you'd be very fortunate to make $80k coming out of school. That's a debt to starting salary ratio of at least 3:1.

I know that you mentioned in your OP that you've already shadowed a bit, which is great, but you need to spend an extensive amount of time around vets---talking to them, asking them about the positives and negatives of their work, and if they would do it all over again, etc.---and make sure that you grasp what you're taking on by choosing to enter the profession. I don't mean to sound cold, but it's too large a financial commitment to switch without having a really compelling reason for doing so.

Shadow more. Vet school acceptance requires at least several hundred hours worth of experience working directly with vets, anyway, and it will help you determine whether or not this is truly a passion that you're willing to pursue fully. If you do decide, after gaining substantial experience, to plow straight ahead, I would at least seriously consider either applying to cheaper OOS schools (such as NCSU) or moving to and establishing residency in a state with a vet school that charges less in tuition. You will still be in debt, but it will be considerably less.

I completely get where you are getting with that. The financial investment is huge, and I have no help from any family. I would really love to be a vet, but I'm also worried about how much the financial debt I'd be in to be getting a portion of pay as a starting veterinarian, to how much debt that is. I will definitely do more research on it, but now that I think about it - especially with raising costs of living and the like - that it may not be such a smart idea, in terms of the fact that I am only 19 and already in a huge amount of debt.

I think I should shadow some vets, get a feel for it, get my new job underway so I can get a feel for the profession, and choose from there. Who knows, I may still want to be a veterinarian, or I may want to be a vet tech. I'm just so worried about the future and me barely able to scrape by as a MA currently... it just worries me. Would being a MA for a few years, then going for vet tech be more realistic in terms of the future, or would it be better for me to be in loads of debt for 80k/year as a veterinarian?

Thank you so much for the eye opener!

 

[DVMDream]

I think I should shadow some vets, get a feel for it, get my new job underway so I can get a feel for the profession, and choose from there. Who knows, I may still want to be a veterinarian, or I may want to be a vet tech. I'm just so worried about the future and me barely able to scrape by as a MA currently... it just worries me. Would being a MA for a few years, then going for vet tech be more realistic in terms of the future, or would it be better for me to be in loads of debt for 80k/year as a veterinarian?

I agree with this you should shadow a few veterinarians and get a feel for the profession. A love of animals isn't enough to pursue this career, it can be brutal. I'm glad you recognized this is a career focused on medicine and science. This career is much more human focused and science focused than it is animal focused. Yes, we are learning about animals, their anatomy, their physiology, etc, you will spend much more of your career communicating with and interacting with humans than you will with their pets as a vet. The techs do much more work with the animals as far as treatments, giving medications, etc. The vet is spending more of her/his time talking with the owners, creating treatment plans, adjusting treatments, ordering diagnostics, interpreting those results than she/he is with the patient.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I agree with this you should shadow a few veterinarians and get a feel for the profession. A love of animals isn't enough to pursue this career, it can be brutal. I'm glad you recognized this is a career focused on medicine and science. This career is much more human focused and science focused than it is animal focused. Yes, we are learning about animals, their anatomy, their physiology, etc, you will spend much more of your career communicating with and interacting with humans than you will with their pets as a vet. The techs do much more work with the animals as far as treatments, giving medications, etc. The vet is spending more of her/his time talking with the owners, creating treatment plans, adjusting treatments, ordering diagnostics, interpreting those results than she/he is with the patient.

Yup. Kinda like being a pediatrician. You may love kids, but you spend the most of your time interacting with the parents. Which can be....challenging.

 

[JustPaws]

Yup. Kinda like being a pediatrician. You may love kids, but you spend the most of your time interacting with the parents. Which can be....challenging.

Great description

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Great description

Kids also slobber and bite and can't tell you what's wrong

 

[nyanko]

Kids also slobber and bite and can't tell you what's wrong

smell bad too

 

[EngrSC]

Kids also slobber and bite and can't tell you what's wrong

smell bad too

Germ bags. Nope

 

[that redhead]

I think I should shadow some vets, get a feel for it, get my new job underway so I can get a feel for the profession, and choose from there. Who knows, I may still want to be a veterinarian, or I may want to be a vet tech. I'm just so worried about the future and me barely able to scrape by as a MA currently... it just worries me. Would being a MA for a few years, then going for vet tech be more realistic in terms of the future, or would it be better for me to be in loads of debt for 80k/year as a veterinarian?

Thank you so much for the eye opener!

Absolutely the right plan. You're only 19 - you have plenty of time to get some real world experience, get some veterinary experience and form more educated plans from there. Good luck with everything

 

[VFStudentDebt]

I am missing all of my prerequisites. The school is a technical school, so I'm only training on the job specific aspects of being a Medical Assistant. So I have none of them as of right now.

I have shadowed in my past, as well as I took a veterinary assisting high school program in high school (I dropped out the first semester due to the stress of graduating high school and college at the time time... didn't work). I am also planning on shadowing a veterinarian or two at the veterinary teaching hospital in the town next to mine (I live near the CSU CVM).

I entered veterinary medicine as a career changer. I had to take additional pre-requisites in order to meet the application requirements to CSU. I did that part-time while working at a veterinary practice trying to get more of a feel if this was the right career path for me.

If you do decide veterinary medicine is your career path, I think you can do it. However, with $40,000 of current student debt, I think you need to be much more careful about how you do it.

While you're finishing your CMA and using that as a way to earn a living, I would be doing some extensive research on the lowest cost veterinary education you could receive and how you can satisfy the minimum pre-requisites for those schools in the most inexpensive manner possible.

I saw someone mentioned the VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map -- that is a great place to start to see which schools will be your least expensive. CSU might be your in-state school, but you might also find that a couple of other schools are less expensive options. For instance, as a Colorado resident, NC State and Washington State can be less expensive options for you. That's because they allow you to switch residency after the first year and their in-state tuition and cost of living are less expensive than CSU -- which is why they can come out less than the estimate for your in-state CSU option.

Knowing that I would then move to the VIN Foundation Pre-Reqs Map on the Vet School Bound initiative. Look at the Pre-reqs listed for each of those three schools and see which are going to be easier/cheaper to obtain.

If you find that it's going to be much easier to satisfy the pre-reqs for a school other than CSU, you might consider moving to that state and establishing residency before you apply. We know from the admission stats that it's much easier to obtain admission to your in-state school than applying as a non-resident.

I know all of this seems like a lot just to apply to veterinary school, but with the student debt to income ratios we see for starting veterinarians, it's a necessity. Your future self will thank you a thousand times over if you put this kind of work in up-front. As a DVM, your options for managing $300,000+ are fewer than managing $200,000 or less. That can only happen by applying to schools where it's even possible to do that.

If you have any questions about the resources available on VIN Foundation, please do not hesitate to reach out! We're here to help with just this sort of thing

 

[bpop]

I entered veterinary medicine as a career changer. I had to take additional pre-requisites in order to meet the application requirements to CSU. I did that part-time while working at a veterinary practice trying to get more of a feel if this was the right career path for me.

If you do decide veterinary medicine is your career path, I think you can do it. However, with $40,000 of current student debt, I think you need to be much more careful about how you do it.

While you're finishing your CMA and using that as a way to earn a living, I would be doing some extensive research on the lowest cost veterinary education you could receive and how you can satisfy the minimum pre-requisites for those schools in the most inexpensive manner possible.

I saw someone mentioned the VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map -- that is a great place to start to see which schools will be your least expensive. CSU might be your in-state school, but you might also find that a couple of other schools are less expensive options. For instance, as a Colorado resident, NC State and Washington State can be less expensive options for you. That's because they allow you to switch residency after the first year and their in-state tuition and cost of living are less expensive than CSU -- which is why they can come out less than the estimate for your in-state CSU option.

Knowing that I would then move to the VIN Foundation Pre-Reqs Map on the Vet School Bound initiative. Look at the Pre-reqs listed for each of those three schools and see which are going to be easier/cheaper to obtain.

If you find that it's going to be much easier to satisfy the pre-reqs for a school other than CSU, you might consider moving to that state and establishing residency before you apply. We know from the admission stats that it's much easier to obtain admission to your in-state school than applying as a non-resident.

I know all of this seems like a lot just to apply to veterinary school, but with the student debt to income ratios we see for starting veterinarians, it's a necessity. Your future self will thank you a thousand times over if you put this kind of work in up-front. As a DVM, your options for managing $300,000+ are fewer than managing $200,000 or less. That can only happen by applying to schools where it's even possible to do that.

If you have any questions about the resources available on VIN Foundation, please do not hesitate to reach out! We're here to help with just this sort of thing

Thank you so much for your reply! I recently got a job at a veterinary hospital in my town and I absolutely LOVE it. Honestly, my aspirations to become a veterinarian is so much higher than it was before.

I haven't looked at many out of state CVM's, but I have looked at options and - unfortunately - a lot of the places I've looked at that would be cheaper, was overseas. I will definitely lookat the VIN Foundation at my other options!

I wasn't even aware that I could gain residency in another state for cheaper veterinary school alternatives. I am definitely going to look into other schools other than CSU to see about the options. Should I possibly go to undergrad in a state with lower vet school tuition, or would it be better for me to stay in Colorado while I do my undergrad? I know a lot of vet schools want you to have a bachelors degree, and while I am all for doing that, I'm just worried about how much money I will owe after I'm a DVM. The debt-to-income ratio really scares me, but I don't see myself doing anything else!

Thank you everyone for all of your information and advice for me! I do regret doing my CMA, though I'm sure it'll all work out in the end (I hope).

 

[LyraGardenia]

Thank you so much for your reply! I recently got a job at a veterinary hospital in my town and I absolutely LOVE it. Honestly, my aspirations to become a veterinarian is so much higher than it was before.

I haven't looked at many out of state CVM's, but I have looked at options and - unfortunately - a lot of the places I've looked at that would be cheaper, was overseas. I will definitely lookat the VIN Foundation at my other options!

I wasn't even aware that I could gain residency in another state for cheaper veterinary school alternatives. I am definitely going to look into other schools other than CSU to see about the options. Should I possibly go to undergrad in a state with lower vet school tuition, or would it be better for me to stay in Colorado while I do my undergrad? I know a lot of vet schools want you to have a bachelors degree, and while I am all for doing that, I'm just worried about how much money I will owe after I'm a DVM. The debt-to-income ratio really scares me, but I don't see myself doing anything else!

Thank you everyone for all of your information and advice for me! I do regret doing my CMA, though I'm sure it'll all work out in the end (I hope).

I would look into the residency requirements for other schools that you might be interested in, some require that you live and work in the state for at least a year, and moving there for undergrad wouldn't count for the purposes of changing your residency, unfortunately. Definitely try to keep your costs down for undergrad, go somewhere cheap or where you can get a good scholarship. Community college is a great option, but make sure the vet schools you apply to will accept any CC courses you take, some require that upper level sciences be taken at a 4-year university. I think only UC Davis requires that you have a bachelors degree, so you can apply to most schools whenever you have the majority of your pre-reqs done.

 

[cdo96]

Kids also slobber and bite and can't tell you what's wrong

luckily you shouldn’t really have to express kid’s anal glands, so I guess that’s a pro pediatrician perk