Thinking about going to veterinary route...

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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j306c954

j306c954

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Hello all! So, I have been thinking about going to veterinary route a while now, but was a little unsure. So far, I have been on the path of medicine, however I am beginning to reconsider.

A little about myself...I have loved animals all my life, and have always found them interesting (was always the weird kid going to nature camps as a kid). I have a BS degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and graduated with a 3.9 GPA.

I really don't know much about applying to veterinary school (and I am going to do my research), but I wanted to see if I could get some feedback here first for a couple questions I have!

1. Do most of you genuinely love all animals?
Now I really do like all animals, however I am not crazy about some. For example, I know in veterinary school, you would be learning about all different kinds of animals. But there are some animals my interest in is very neutral (like fish). I don't know if that makes a whole lot of sense...

2. Have any of you applied with an MCAT score in place of GRE?

3. What specifically made you choose the veterinary route?

4. What kind of extracurriculars would be good for applying to veterinary school?
The only animal-related volunteer work I have done is at shelters in my area (walking dogs, fostering, etc). Not really "vet" related. I am, however, EXTREMELY interested in and passionate about canine nutrition, and people I know often come to me for advice.
 
Hi! Welcome to pre-vet on SDN. Lol. Well, first off I will just say that I LOVEEEE all animals. Seriously. Even bugs and anemones and weird things. But, this doesn't really matter in vet med. If you like horses and large animals, great. If you like cats and dogs, that's great too. You can kinda decide where you want to specialize in after you are done learning the basics for everything. As a normal small animal vet in a clinic or hospital, I highly doubt that you will ever have to see a fish. But it is always good to have basic knowledge over multiple species so you can be a well rounded veterinarian.
As far as MCAT goes, I am not really sure. Some schools might still require the GRE. That is something I would check on a school to school basis.
As far as my personal reasons for becoming a vet, I love animals. I love people. I love science. I love medicine. And I have wanted to be a vet since I was 3 and never faltered in that choice. I have worked at a pretty large veterinary clinic for 2 years, and have experience at a smaller clinic as well. I know what it is like. Before making the leap to vet med, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting experience in the field to make sure you like it. It goes beyond loving animals... You have to have passion for the field and be willing to accept all of the bad things that come along with it.
Extracurriculars. Anything animal or leadership related, really. Actually, any extracurriculars can make you look diverse and desirable to the admissions people. BUT to even be considered, you need vet experience. Like, I would start calling around tomorrow to see if you can shadow anywhere. Even better, see if anywhere is hiring. I think technician work is very important and valuable experience wise... You really get a taste for the field and can better understand what it's like. But shadowing is good too.
 
All schools require the GRE. Only a few actually accept the MCAT at all.

It's normal IMO to like animals, but not like others. Grasshoppers freak me the **** out, but some people love saving bugs. To each their own. As long as you can treat all species with respect and give them quality care (even if you don't like them), it shouldn't be a big issue.
 
1. I definitely don't love ALL animals. I love dogs and cats. I think small ruminants are cute. I hate birds. Pigs are too smelly. Horses and cattle are meh. Pocket pets/exotics aren't really my thing. Good thing I'm a small animal vet lol.
2. I only applied to OVC and they required the MCAT at the time, so yes. This year is the first year they don't require the MCAT.
3. I love science and medicine and I wanted to help animals and their people.
4. Vet and animal experience are a must. Research experience is often a bonus.
 
hazelmoo said:
Hi! Welcome to pre-vet on SDN. Lol. Well, first off I will just say that I LOVEEEE all animals. Seriously. Even bugs and anemones and weird things. But, this doesn't really matter in vet med. If you like horses and large animals, great. If you like cats and dogs, that's great too. You can kinda decide where you want to specialize in after you are done learning the basics for everything. As a normal small animal vet in a clinic or hospital, I highly doubt that you will ever have to see a fish. But it is always good to have basic knowledge over multiple species so you can be a well rounded veterinarian.
As far as MCAT goes, I am not really sure. Some schools might still require the GRE. That is something I would check on a school to school basis.
As far as my personal reasons for becoming a vet, I love animals. I love people. I love science. I love medicine. And I have wanted to be a vet since I was 3 and never faltered in that choice. I have worked at a pretty large veterinary clinic for 2 years, and have experience at a smaller clinic as well. I know what it is like. Before making the leap to vet med, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting experience in the field to make sure you like it. It goes beyond loving animals... You have to have passion for the field and be willing to accept all of the bad things that come along with it.
Extracurriculars. Anything animal or leadership related, really. Actually, any extracurriculars can make you look diverse and desirable to the admissions people. BUT to even be considered, you need vet experience. Like, I would start calling around tomorrow to see if you can shadow anywhere. Even better, see if anywhere is hiring. I think technician work is very important and valuable experience wise... You really get a taste for the field and can better understand what it's like. But shadowing is good too.
Click to expand...
It was my childhood dream to be a vet too! I also love animals, science, and medicine. And for a vet tech job, don't you have to be certified? I am actually on the hunt for a second job 🙂 And thank you for the detailed response!
 
SocialStigma said:
1. I definitely don't love ALL animals. I love dogs and cats. I think small ruminants are cute. I hate birds. Pigs are too smelly. Horses and cattle are meh. Pocket pets/exotics aren't really my thing. Good thing I'm a small animal vet lol.
2. I only applied to OVC and they required the MCAT at the time, so yes. This year is the first year they don't require the MCAT.
3. I love science and medicine and I wanted to help animals and their people.
4. Vet and animal experience are a must. Research experience is often a bonus.
Click to expand...
I do have a lotttt of research experience in the behavioral sciences. I definitely need to get some vet experience though.
 
hazelmoo said:
Well, first off I will just say that I LOVEEEE all animals. Seriously. Even bugs and anemones and weird things.
Click to expand...
Me too, man. Definitely not the norm. For some reason I meet a lot of vetties who hate birds 😛
 
j306c954 said:
It was my childhood dream to be a vet too! I also love animals, science, and medicine. And for a vet tech job, don't you have to be certified? I am actually on the hunt for a second job 🙂 And thank you for the detailed response!
Click to expand...
This is state dependent. Here in FL you don't have to have any kind of certification to work as a tech. I've worked at 2 clinics with 10 or so techs, and only one was certified. None were licensed.
 
dyachei said:
but probably many more evil ones...
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I think there was only one bird at the national aviary that I would have called evil (a little call duck) and she was so darn cute I didn't even care. The penguins were occasionally rude. The rest were great!

Canada geese are super evil though. I've met a lot of those.
 
j306c954 said:
It was my childhood dream to be a vet too! I also love animals, science, and medicine. And for a vet tech job, don't you have to be certified? I am actually on the hunt for a second job 🙂 And thank you for the detailed response!
Click to expand...

You're welcome! In some states, you have to be certified. In others you don't. Thankfully in my state you don't have to be registered. However, you can also get a job as a tech assistant or vet assistant and see a lot of the same things.
 
BTW
BIRDS ARE SO COOL!! And so smart! And adorable!!

giphy.gif
 
I like working with birds, but I have grown to dislike raising ducks. They're super cute, but they just **** everywhere. After a while, you can't get that nasty sour smell out of your nose.

I think my favorite birds to work with are probably seagulls or crows. Not sure why
 
OMG I know what you mean about zoo birds.. Penguins can be so feisty! But I still love them.
 
WildZoo said:
This is state dependent. Here in FL you don't have to have any kind of certification to work as a tech. I've worked at 2 clinics with 10 or so techs, and only one was certified. None were licensed.
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True, but you're also not supposed to call yourself a technician without a certification or a degree 😉 While I constantly called myself a technician, just for ease of conservation, I was not -- I was a veterinary assistant.
 
Rwwilliams said:
True, but you're also not supposed to call yourself a technician without a certification or a degree 😉 While I constantly called myself a technician, just for ease of conservation, I was not -- I was a veterinary assistant.
Click to expand...
it depends on the state.
 
Rwwilliams said:
True, but you're also not supposed to call yourself a technician without a certification or a degree 😉 While I constantly called myself a technician, just for ease of conservation, I was not -- I was a veterinary assistant.
Click to expand...
Indeed. I almost included that in my post. Veterinary assistant is on my resume, but everyone calls the position a tech position.
 
pinkpuppy9 said:
I like working with birds, but I have grown to dislike raising ducks. They're super cute, but they just **** everywhere. After a while, you can't get that nasty sour smell out of your nose.

I think my favorite birds to work with are probably seagulls or crows. Not sure why
Click to expand...

I love ravens. They are so smart. I also work a lot with owls and other raptors and I really like them. Pelicans are fun too!!
 
hazelmoo said:
I love ravens. They are so smart. I also work a lot with owls and other raptors and I really like them. Pelicans are fun too!!
Click to expand...
Pelicans are fun until you wake one up from anesthesia in your arms and proceed to get covered in mites. Or until you are almost shoulder deep in one, force feeding it. That's also a rather lingering smell :barf:

I've only worked with one pelican though 😛
 
hazelmoo said:
I love ravens. They are so smart. I also work a lot with owls and other raptors and I really like them. Pelicans are fun too!!
Click to expand...
CAWWWW 😛

Penguins are jerks. Seagulls are awesome, and I liked treating/rehabbing them way, way more than penguins. Raptors are also really fantabulous - I like only having to dodge claws and not finger crunching beaks (I'm looking at you, macaw in the back ward...) My favourite birdie patient was the albatross I treated, though - just an insanely huge bird!
 
WildZoo said:
Right? Such attitude.
Click to expand...

OMG So I have a funny story from the zoo I used to work in.. We had 20 penguins. 10 boys and 10 girls. They all had their prospective mates and they tend to keep the same mates for a long time so everyone was happily married. Then, for whatever reason, we got another penguin so there were 21. The 21st penguin (male) straight up STOLE one the other penguins mates and it was so sad. The male whose mate was stolen was so upset and confused 🙁 It was horrible. But anyways that's my story about penguins
 
Trilt said:
CAWWWW 😛

Penguins are jerks. Seagulls are awesome, and I liked treating/rehabbing them way, way more than penguins. Raptors are also really fantabulous - I like only having to dodge claws and not finger crunching beaks (I'm looking at you, macaw in the back ward...) My favourite birdie patient was the albatross I treated, though - just an insanely huge bird!
Click to expand...

In my physics class, my professor was really old and weird. He said if we ever DIDN'T understand what was happening in class, to yell out "ALBATROSS". So now whenever I hear that world it gives me horrible flashbacks from physics...
 
hazelmoo said:
OMG So I have a funny story from the zoo I used to work in.. We had 20 penguins. 10 boys and 10 girls. They all had their prospective mates and they tend to keep the same mates for a long time so everyone was happily married. Then, for whatever reason, we got another penguin so there were 21. The 21st penguin (male) straight up STOLE one the other penguins mates and it was so sad. The male whose mate was stolen was so upset and confused 🙁 It was horrible. But anyways that's my story about penguins
Click to expand...
We have very different definitions of humor lol
 
hazelmoo said:
OMG So I have a funny story from the zoo I used to work in.. We had 20 penguins. 10 boys and 10 girls. They all had their prospective mates and they tend to keep the same mates for a long time so everyone was happily married. Then, for whatever reason, we got another penguin so there were 21. The 21st penguin (male) straight up STOLE one the other penguins mates and it was so sad. The male whose mate was stolen was so upset and confused 🙁 It was horrible. But anyways that's my story about penguins
Click to expand...
This just made me think of the gay penguins from Parks & Rec
 
dyachei said:
it depends on the state.
Click to expand...
WildZoo said:
Indeed. I almost included that in my post. Veterinary assistant is on my resume, but everyone calls the position a tech position.
Click to expand...
Yeah, sorry. Was talking about Florida specifically, since that's where I went to school and worked prior to vet school and that was what WildZoo mentioned.
A girl in my class made kind of a post on FB recently about how some vets don't appreciate their RVTs and another RVT chimed in to say that nowhere in any vet school curriculum is a vet student taught about what they can do -- but I feel like that wouldn't really be all that relevant considering the state differences.
 
Rwwilliams said:
Yeah, sorry. Was talking about Florida specifically, since that's where I went to school and worked prior to vet school and that was what WildZoo mentioned.
A girl in my class made kind of a post on FB recently about how some vets don't appreciate their RVTs and another RVT chimed in to say that nowhere in any vet school curriculum is a vet student taught about what they can do -- but I feel like that wouldn't really be all that relevant considering the state differences.
Click to expand...
Like what skills they have? I was always under the impression that students learn quite a lot (and get quite a lot of help) from techs during clinics
 
I'm not too fond of cats haha...I like cats that act like dogs 🙂 but the ones that kind of just do their own thing and watch me from a distance creep me out
 
hazelmoo said:
OMG So I have a funny story from the zoo I used to work in.. We had 20 penguins. 10 boys and 10 girls. They all had their prospective mates and they tend to keep the same mates for a long time so everyone was happily married. Then, for whatever reason, we got another penguin so there were 21. The 21st penguin (male) straight up STOLE one the other penguins mates and it was so sad. The male whose mate was stolen was so upset and confused 🙁 It was horrible. But anyways that's my story about penguins
Click to expand...

Ohhh, Penguin stories! I have a few. We had a gay pair and they unfortunately had to build their own nest since they couldn't produce offspring and therefore weren't given a nest box (I interned at a place that does a lot of breeding). They were a very cute pair.

And then a not so funny story, but we had a mated pair, but then one day the female penguin decided she kind of wanted to flirt with another male that apparently had try to court her. Well, bonded male got really pissed off and came over slapped her with his wing and they dragged/chased her away from the other male. We actually stepped in to stop that one.

Other than that, I got stabbed a few times by penguins that hid in the way back of their nest box so that I couldn't see them and then would attack when I got too close during cleaning. They were also really good about getting just above your boots so that they got the back of your knee. Oh and they mated...a lot.

But juvenile penguins are the best. 😍
 
I loved helping with the baby penguins. And watching them grow up. Favorite part of the job.

orca2011 said:
They were also really good about getting just above your boots so that they got the back of your knee.
Click to expand...
I was warned about this frequently
 
hazelmoo said:
I love ravens. They are so smart. I also work a lot with owls and other raptors and I really like them. Pelicans are fun too!!
Click to expand...

So we went to lake alcova in Wyoming for family vacation the same weekend Harry Potter seven came out (book version). I was so mad because I pre-ordered it on new years. We transferred the pre-ordered to the nearest bookstore and picked it up that day it came out. I spent the day reading it and then my dad read it. There was a pelican that hung out with a bunch of ducks. Once my dad finished the book, he looked at the birds and said, in dad voice, "Check out Pelimort and his Death Ducks." One of his best dad moments ever.
 
pinkpuppy9 said:
Like what skills they have? I was always under the impression that students learn quite a lot (and get quite a lot of help) from techs during clinics
Click to expand...
I didn't ask but I assumed she meant what they could legally do. Like, how in some states they can perform dental extractions.
 
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Cephal0pod said:
I like to think of Canada geese as the feathered embodiment of sass.
Click to expand...
They give no ****s. Around here they know most* cars will stop for them, so they just start crossing the road in front of traffic.

* "most" being the operative word, and the reason I've met quite a few of these lovely creatures
 
DVMDream said:
The appropriately and correctly hate birds, because birds are evil, vicious creatures.
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omg, how could you all, chickens are the best 😢 :chicken:😍:eggface:

and raptors are so dang cool...macaws/cockatoos/any larger parrot are freaking intimidating though. I attended a workshop on bird physicals for the wildlife education place I interned at and had to restrain the macaw rather than one of the smaller Eclectus or something :scared:
Especially intimidating given that one of my coworkers/classmates who worked with the birds A LOT got severely bitten by one of the cockatoos, think it broke her finger.
 
Devastating said:
omg, how could you all, chickens are the best 😢 :chicken:😍:eggface:

and raptors are so dang cool...macaws/cockatoos/any larger parrot are freaking intimidating though. I attended a workshop on bird physicals for the wildlife education place I interned at and had to restrain the macaw rather than one of the smaller Eclectus or something :scared:
Especially intimidating given that one of my coworkers/classmates who worked with the birds A LOT got severely bitten by one of the cockatoos, think it broke her finger.
Click to expand...

I am honestly more scared of parrots type birds than I am raptors. Anything with a nut breaking beak IS A B**CH to get bit buy!
 
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