Things that make a bad pre-vet

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LetItSnow said:
Subcategory: Pre-vets who say "I'll <NEVER> euthanize <insert type of patient here> like horrible Dr. X."
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Or say, "I'll never <insert anything here>!" It's tough to play ivory tower doctor when you are "in the trenches." Sometimes we do things as veterinarians that are not ideal or not what we learned. Sometimes I cringe as I do something that my vet school professors would have growled at me about. But my priority is helping the patient and sometimes that means working outside the realm of idealism. (Of course all within the bounds of the law, ethics, etc.)
 
Foxhunter said:
wanting to do a duel degree program

*definitely don't have regrets*
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A duel degree, you say?
duel-e1436883753805.jpg

Still better than a thesis.
 
LetItSnow said:
Subcategory: Pre-vets who say "I'll <NEVER> euthanize <insert type of patient here> like horrible Dr. X."
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Ooooohhhhhh! When I was studying social psychology, I found out why people fall into this type of thinking!!!! 😀 As a species, when trying to understand the cause of someone else's behavior, we naturally place great emphasis on personality characteristics and ignore the role of the situation. This is called the fundamental attribution error, or FAE. This type of thinking is thought to have aided our ancestors survival. Well anyways, this is why people tend not to realize that situations are POWERFUL influences.

Just how much influence can a situation have? Well, after World War II, everybody thought the reason the Germans went along with Hitler was because something was inherently wrong with the German personalities. They got labeled as having "authoritarian personality disorder." American's aren't like that, everybody thought. Stanley Milgrim proved that wrong.

He did an experiment on American people that showed that if an authority figure plays their cards right, they can persuade most people to do anything--even kill.



So anyways, when somebody thinks that only horrible people will do x action, they are making the FAE, because when a situation is compelling enough, we could do almost anything. If they end up in the same situation, they could find themselves doing the exact same thing!
 
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Starry-chan said:
Ooooohhhhhh! When I was studying social psychology, I found out why people fall into this type of thinking!!!! 😀 As a species, when trying to understand the cause of someone else's behavior, we naturally place great emphasis on personality characteristics and ignore the role of the situation. This is called the fundamental attribution error, or FAE. This type of thinking is thought to have aided our ancestors survival. Well anyways, this is why people tend not to realize that situations are POWERFUL influences.

After World War II, everybody thought the reason the Germans went along with Hitler was because something was inherently wrong with the German personalities. They got labeled as having "authoritarian personality disorder." American's aren't like that, everybody thought. Stanley Milgrim proved that wrong.

He did an experiment on American people that showed that if an authority figure plays their cards right, they can persuade most people to do anything--even kill.



So anyways, when somebody thinks that only horrible people will do x action, they are making the FAE, because when a situation is compelling enough, we could do almost anything. If they end up in the same situation, they could find themselves doing the exact same thing!
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Social Psychology was my favorite class in undergrad. Very seldom does just sitting in a classroom make someone a better person but I totally walked out with an open mind and better understanding of people and myself.
 
FeenyFee said:
Social Psychology was my favorite class in undergrad. Very seldom does just sitting in a classroom make someone a better person but I totally walked out with an open mind and better understanding of people and myself.
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*high fives* Exactly what it did for me! 🙂

It made me feel better about myself, too. For example, now that I know it is my human instinct to be judgmental, I don't beat myself up when I catch myself making a snap judgment. I just remind myself to resist that urge.
 
dyachei said:
pre-vets that want sunshine and rainbows from the people with experience, despite their potential experiences. People who think they are going to be the first pre-vet that doesn't do something that most do (like handle the work load easily and without stress because they've taken a full class load, had jobs, etc). Yes, it may happen, but the odds are against you.

People who post What Are My Chances outside the thread 😉
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Too bad the pre-vet forum can't have subforums. We could have a "What Are My Chances?" board and if somebody doesn't post their thread there, it could just be moved there.
 
Starry-chan said:
Too bad the pre-vet forum can't have subforums. We could have a "What Are My Chances?" board and if somebody doesn't post their thread there, you mods could just move it.
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I do move them into the thread. It would just be better if people could search or read before posting
 
dyachei said:
I do move them into the thread. It would just be better if people could search or read before posting
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Huh? You can do that? You can merge a thread into anther thread?
 
Starry-chan said:
*high fives* Exactly what it did for me! 🙂

It made me feel better about myself, too. For example, now that I know it is my human instinct to be judgmental, I don't beat myself up when I catch myself making a snap judgment. I just remind myself to resist that urge.
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Yes, definitely! 🙂 I've always struggled with anxiety and low self esteem (+pity+) and that class was like a giant therapy session every week!
 
FeenyFee said:
Yes, definitely! 🙂 I've always struggled with anxiety and low self esteem (+pity+) and that class was like a giant therapy session every week!
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Yeah! It's a lot harder to think lowly of yourself when you realize you're fighting against natural human instincts, not some flaw that is unique to you and only you.
 
Minnerbelle said:
Prevets saying they'll care more than current vet students about all subject matters in vet school (and be happier) because I will finally be stuff they're interested in.
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This is too real.

I thought I was going to finally enjoy school/studying for once.

L~O~L
 
pirateyoho said:
This is too real.

I thought I was going to finally enjoy school/studying for once.

L~O~L
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I am passionate about several things, like anatomy and learning to read Japanese, but if I am studying the same thing for hours a day, every day, it gets where I want to do anything but. Concentration becomes extremely difficult. If I want to get it back, I have to literally stop and remind myself of why I study this stuff and what the benefit is. Because I forget!
 
Starry-chan said:
I am passionate about several things, like anatomy and learning to read Japanese, but if I am studying the same thing for hours a day, every day, it gets where I want to do anything but. Concentration becomes extremely difficult. If I want to get it back, I have to literally stop and remind myself of why I study this stuff and what the benefit is. Because I forget!
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Yep. Love lectures, hate studying. The first time is for learning, and that's the exciting part. The second, third, fourth, and fifth times through are just for memorization and are nowhere near as fulfilling.
 
pirateyoho said:
Yep. Love lectures, hate studying. The first time is for learning, and that's the exciting part. The second, third, fourth, and fifth times through are just for memorization and are nowhere near as fulfilling.
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Yeah if only memorization did not require seeing the same stuff over and over again. First time is a huge high. Second time is still cool because I feel great every time I recall something. After that it's like...dangit brain! Learn faster! I wanna start the new stuff!
 
Might be somewhat along the lines of "gunners", but people who are.....that way, to the point of being arrogant. It's hard to explain, but sometimes after seeing groups of pre-vets (both online and IRL) I got this vaguely uncomfortable feeling of exclusivity or pretentiousness, like not only with regards to academic competitiveness but in having specific views on the "best" way to be (e.g. "only bio/biochem/chemistry are rigorous/worthy majors, good luck finding a job with a worthless Animal Sci degree!" or "you'll NEVER be a vet if you can't [x thing not directly related to vet med] right now") and, I don't know, those kind of people almost made me worried that if I got into vet school it would turn out to be elitist-cliquey and I wouldn't "belong." An arrogant/condescending pre-vet is def a bad one and also ties into a lot of the other problems listed in this thread.

Of course, I did not have this problem with my pre-vet animal sci classmates in undergrad and reading SDN has shown me that the vet med community nothing like that at all 🙂 everyone is so welcoming and willing to advise, even to new freshmen pre-vets worried their stats have been wrecked by a couple Bs 😉 makes me anticipate getting in somewhere and meeting classmates.
 
In my experience, I've found pre vets to be less annoying than pre meds/dents/etc. but that's another thread. However, one additude I don't enjoy from pre gets would have to be that it's an "easier route". Or that vet med is a 9-5 job and it's puppies and kittens. It's sad how many upperclassmen pre vets I see with this additude!
 
rockatiel said:
In my experience, I've found pre vets to be less annoying than pre meds/dents/etc. but that's another thread. However, one additude I don't enjoy from pre gets would have to be that it's an "easier route". Or that vet med is a 9-5 job and it's puppies and kittens. It's sad how many upperclassmen pre vets I see with this additude!
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That's just stupidity
 
rockatiel said:
In my experience, I've found pre vets to be less annoying than pre meds/dents/etc. but that's another thread. However, one additude I don't enjoy from pre gets would have to be that it's an "easier route". Or that vet med is a 9-5 job and it's puppies and kittens. It's sad how many upperclassmen pre vets I see with this additude!
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LOL! It's so funny to me that people think vet school is easier than other post grad professional school... I overheard a premed student talking about how they would just go to vet school as a "back up" if they didn't get into med school on the first try. I was like, "oh rly?" People really have no idea :laugh:

Also, how are people upper classmen pre vets and have no idea about what the profession is really like? I guess just because they never work at a clinic? Talk about a rude awakening once they figure it out...
 
Devastating said:
Might be somewhat along the lines of "gunners", but people who are.....that way, to the point of being arrogant. It's hard to explain, but sometimes after seeing groups of pre-vets (both online and IRL) I got this vaguely uncomfortable feeling of exclusivity or pretentiousness, like not only with regards to academic competitiveness but in having specific views on the "best" way to be (e.g. "only bio/biochem/chemistry are rigorous/worthy majors, good luck finding a job with a worthless Animal Sci degree!" or "you'll NEVER be a vet if you can't [x thing not directly related to vet med] right now") and, I don't know, those kind of people almost made me worried that if I got into vet school it would turn out to be elitist-cliquey and I wouldn't "belong." An arrogant/condescending pre-vet is def a bad one and also ties into a lot of the other problems listed in this thread.
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Hahahahahahahaha. Those people have either never been to SDN or they didn't listen when they were here lol
 
Ah I could make such a long list! I guess one of the things that irks me the most and seems most harmful are the pre-vets who only make themselves familiar with one part of vet med and then look down on you for not knowing everything that they do. You know, "omg cows are so smelly I don't ever wanna work with them so why should I bother learning about them but I can't believe you can't name every cat disease that's ever been discovered!"
 
Oh, I thought of something to add to this list. I had a friend who went pre-vet and she was failing her intro biology class because she would never study. She still thought she was gonna get into vet school. I didn't say anything. I just let her stay in that blissful ignorance. But it bothered me. It really bothers me sometimes when people believe things that I know absolutely not to be true and could disprove easily.....but I don't do it because the stress of the confrontation doesn't seem worth it.
 
dyachei said:
pre-vets that don't understand that GPA or GRE is not the only area schools look at when they look at your application. All the other stuff they make you do isn't for their own perverse pleasure.
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Reminds me of a pre-vet from my undergrad who was flipping out after getting rejected/no interview from OSU. She had a 4.0 but almost no vet experience and very few (if any) extra-curricular stuff. She didn't understand why people with lower (but still decent) GPA's and tons of experience and other extra stuff got picked over her.
 
Stb1473 said:
Reminds me of a pre-vet from my undergrad who was flipping out after getting rejected/no interview from OSU. She had a 4.0 but almost no vet experience and very few (if any) extra-curricular stuff. She didn't understand why people with lower (but still decent) GPA's and tons of experience and other extra stuff got picked over her.
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there were a few of those that posted that kind of thing here.
 
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hazelmoo said:
LOL! It's so funny to me that people think vet school is easier than other post grad professional school... I overheard a premed student talking about how they would just go to vet school as a "back up" if they didn't get into med school on the first try. I was like, "oh rly?" People really have no idea :laugh:

Also, how are people upper classmen pre vets and have no idea about what the profession is really like? I guess just because they never work at a clinic? Talk about a rude awakening once they figure it out...
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Yeah I need to learn to just keep my mouth shut when people say that kind of thing. I get super offended. I lived in the pre-health dorm freshman year, so I heard it all the time when people found out I wasn't pre-MED, they would look down on it, call it their back-up plan, "isn't that a 2 year program" "why are you here why didn't you just apply straight there from high school"

*explodes* :rage::boom:
 
heyyimhayley said:
Yeah I need to learn to just keep my mouth shut when people say that kind of thing. I get super offended. I lived in the pre-health dorm freshman year, so I heard it all the time when people found out I wasn't pre-MED, they would look down on it, call it their back-up plan, "isn't that a 2 year program" "why are you here why didn't you just apply straight there from high school"

*explodes* :rage::boom:
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Wow, what kind of idiot thinks vets go straight in out of high school? I mean, UVA can be pretty snooty and almost all of my fellow bio majors were going for med school, but they all held vet med in high esteem.
 
jcc3sa said:
Wow, what kind of idiot thinks vets go straight in out of high school? I mean, UVA can be pretty snooty and almost all of my fellow bio majors were going for med school, but they all held vet med in high esteem.
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A biology major in my senior thesis class said that just this year! I think she was pre-med too? Not sure but I was so offended. There was another girl in my group who said she used to be pre-vet, but decided she wanted to do animal welfare/advocacy instead because it's so expensive...so anyway she was able to stand up for me how hard what I'm trying to do is and all that.
 
Question: It's common to hear "Vet school is more competitive than medical school." Is that simply due to the sheer number of medical schools compared to veterinary schools, or are there other reasons?
 
wheelin2vetmed said:
Question: It's common to hear "Vet school is more competitive than medical school." Is that simply due to the sheer number of medical schools compared to veterinary schools, or are there other reasons?
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It's kind of like comparing apples to oranges.

Vet school - there really aren't safety schools, you have to be a pretty competitive applicant to get interviews and acceptances. But our entry test is the GRE, not the MCAT. There are under 50 AVMA accredited schools.

Med school - different tiers of med schools in both MD and DO degrees - there are some that act more like safety schools than others. You don't need experience hours in the 100's to 1000's to be accepted. You have to take the MCAT. There are hundreds of med schools in the US alone.
 
hazelmoo said:
I overheard a premed student talking about how they would just go to vet school as a "back up" if they didn't get into med school on the first try. I was like, "oh rly?" People really have no idea :laugh:
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This lights my fire quicker than anything. I've heard this too.
 
rockatiel said:
In my experience, I've found pre vets to be less annoying than pre meds/dents/etc. but that's another thread. However, one additude I don't enjoy from pre gets would have to be that it's an "easier route". Or that vet med is a 9-5 job and it's puppies and kittens. It's sad how many upperclassmen pre vets I see with this additude!
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EXACTLY!! I have heard this from some prevet students before too and I get so confused and frustrated! What a terrible mindset to have before going into a profession like that you are choosing it because its "easier" than something that you may think is better? I don't get it at all.
 
hazelmoo said:
LOL! It's so funny to me that people think vet school is easier than other post grad professional school... I overheard a premed student talking about how they would just go to vet school as a "back up" if they didn't get into med school on the first try. I was like, "oh rly?" People really have no idea :laugh:

Also, how are people upper classmen pre vets and have no idea about what the profession is really like? I guess just because they never work at a clinic? Talk about a rude awakening once they figure it out...
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You'd be surprised. I can count on both hands the number of pre-vets here who tout how rich they're going to become after graduation and/or exclaim that they will absolutely 100% refuse to euthanize any animal ever and so all of their clients will love them. I just ignore it. Most of them have very little to no vet experience so their chances of actually being accepted are pretty low, anyway, I'd imagine. Especially with that sort of attitude. 🙄
 
ketoone said:
You'd be surprised. I can count on both hands the number of pre-vets here who tout how rich they're going to become after graduation and/or exclaim that they will absolutely 100% refuse to euthanize any animal ever and so all of their clients will love them. I just ignore it. Most of them have very little to no vet experience so their chances of actually being accepted are pretty low, anyway, I'd imagine. Especially with that sort of attitude. 🙄
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That's why I'm going into the profession. And the fact that I'll get so many ladies. "Can I get a ride on your lap Dr. w2vm?" I can hear it now.
 
Starry-chan said:
Hahahahahahahaha. Those people have either never been to SDN or they didn't listen when they were here lol
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This was long before I came to SDN (I only started viewing threads here from time to time maybe a year ago), so probably the former...a pre-vet would totally get shut down if they came on here today with such a pretentious gunner attitude, lol

hazelmoo said:
LOL! It's so funny to me that people think vet school is easier than other post grad professional school... I overheard a premed student talking about how they would just go to vet school as a "back up" if they didn't get into med school on the first try. I was like, "oh rly?" People really have no idea :laugh:
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the whole "vet school as a back up" mindset always bothered me too, but I don't think I ever heard it from other pre-health people, who (usually) have some knowledge/respect for the field. I've only come across that kind of attitude among people on forums who were in other fields, already out of undergrad, and were like "Vet school? Oh yeah, I could totally go back to school and get a DVM" as if it's just like getting another degree on the side... 😵 (I mean think about it, would you say the same about med school??)
Until someone brought up what they'll need to do if they're serious about switching to the vet med path, the competitive standards of admission, and another 4 years of tuition/schooling (can't believe so many people still don't get this part), then they'd be like "Oh. Can't/won't do that. Never mind then" 😛
 
Devastating said:
This was long before I came to SDN (I only started viewing threads here from time to time maybe a year ago), so probably the former...a pre-vet would totally get shut down if they came on here today with such a pretentious gunner attitude, lol


the whole "vet school as a back up" mindset always bothered me too, but I don't think I ever heard it from other pre-health people, who (usually) have some knowledge/respect for the field. I've only come across that kind of attitude among people on forums who were in other fields, already out of undergrad, and were like "Vet school? Oh yeah, I could totally go back to school and get a DVM" as if it's just like getting another degree on the side... 😵 (I mean think about it, would you say the same about med school??)
Until someone brought up what they'll need to do if they're serious about switching to the vet med path, the competitive standards of admission, and another 4 years of tuition/schooling (can't believe so many people still don't get this part), then they'd be like "Oh. Can't/won't do that. Never mind then" 😛
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The prevet I know with this mindset unfortunately has been working for a vet who owns a clinic and told her that he became a vet because he "threw in" an application last minute with his medical school applications and got in. This was obviously 20+ ago so this story should be considered useless/outdated but its sad he would say that to a prevet who may not know that nowadays there would be no way of that happening if your resume is tailored to med school like you have no animal experience? Its annoying to me because it reinforces the idea that veterinary school is just "easier" to get into etc.
 
bluenose said:
The prevet I know with this mindset unfortunately has been working for a vet who owns a clinic and told her that he became a vet because he "threw in" an application last minute with his medical school applications and got in. This was obviously 20+ ago so this story should be considered useless/outdated but its sad he would say that to a prevet who may not know that nowadays there would be no way of that happening if your resume is tailored to med school like you have no animal experience? Its annoying to me because it reinforces the idea that veterinary school is just "easier" to get into etc.
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Ooooohhhh I'm fuming
 
pinkpuppy9 said:
I started knowing I would hate doing another four years, and I think that attitude made it worse. The lucky people are somewhere in the middle 😛
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I don't feel like I hate school, I do however have strong feelings against studying all the time. 😀
 
jcc3sa said:
Wow, what kind of idiot thinks vets go straight in out of high school? I mean, UVA can be pretty snooty and almost all of my fellow bio majors were going for med school, but they all held vet med in high esteem.
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Well, some pretty intelligent people think that because you actually can. If I'd followed a traditional route and hadn't started college when I was 16, I could have just gone home to Australia for vet school and started right after high school. A lot of other countries have that as an option. I'm not sure if foreign students are able to start straight after high school in these countries, however.
 
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