Thinking of going to vet school

[doggirl11]

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking of finally fullfilling my dream and going to vet school. I am in the business world, with an MBA and bachelores in Business. So i have to start going to school to full fill pre-reqs, while keeping my full time job as a Controller.

While researching schools, it seems SMU is a great option for me. I live in MIami, and it is an hour flight from there. And it seems easier to get in then the state schools. I don't think I can get into University of Florida which is the closest school to me.

I also have to start getting experience as I have none. I am 27 years old, and hoping to get married soon and start a family as well..But I can't imagine continuing to work in the business world, as I am hating it more and more every day.

Can anyone share some advice on what I'm about to embark upon...I feel very overwhelmed and feel as if this might be impossible to do.

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[cowgirla]

First things first, you should get veterinary experience and make sure this is what you really want to do. It's a big financial investment, even more so if you might change your mind in the future. If you have no vet experience, how can you be sure this is the career path for you? Can you handle euthanasias? can you handle owners that have no money and cant afford their animals? You should at least get some exposure to vet med to make sure nothing like that will scare you off.

SMU is not accreditated, so you should also do some research into that, and what extra hoops you will have to jump through in order to practice in the US.
I dont know why you already think you cant get into a state school if you havent even started your prereqs yet. Work hard, do well in them, get some experience, and you'll at least have a shot. A state school will save you money over a Caribbean school. Your MBA will be a plus too.

 

[jemappellejane]

I agree. You have no idea how you will perform in your pre-reqs, since you haven't taken them! Don't get down on yourself already. There's no telling if you will get into a state school or not at this point. You have a lot of work to do before even considering where to apply

Vet experience is a must. The more hands on the better, but since you are so new to this, even shadowing a Dr. is a great place to start. Make sure you keep track of every hour!

Oh, and good luck

 

[doggirl11]

Thank you guys...I will take your advice..and I will just begin my pre-reqs and start getting some experience. I'll take it from there. One step at a time!!! It is hard to remember this, and get easily overwhelmed by the whole process.

 

[doggirl11]

Hi Guys,

Another question, does it matter if I do my pre-reqs at a community college or a university??

Does this make a difference on the application?

 

[jemappellejane]

Hi Guys,

Another question, does it matter if I do my pre-reqs at a community college or a university??

Does this make a difference on the application?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends a lot on the school you apply to, but I would go ahead and say that taking classes at a 4 year school will look better. Especially for the science and math classes. Maybe not so much for English, communication, etc.

 

[Chinola]

I lived in Miami for 5 years before starting at UF this fall. If you have any questions about getting started with experiences down there or taking classes at UM feel free to PM me!

 

[LetItSnow]

Another question, does it matter if I do my pre-reqs at a community college or a university??

Nope! What matters more is how well you do.

There may be a tiny bit of stigma left with the whole CC thing, but it's on its way out. And the significant amount of money you can save at a CC more than makes up for any of that nonsense.

CCs are ramping up: their teachers are more and more cross-teaching at universities, and many of them are partnering with 4-year programs to allow people to do 4-yr degrees all at the CC. I took my orgo class from a teacher who also was teaching orgo at the university. Same teacher, same text, same lectures, same tests: all at half the cost. When you look at it that way, it makes going to the university a poor financial decision, and I think people are starting to recognize that.

The CCs are succeeding because they don't carry a lot of extra fat in the way of facilities, faculty, unnecessary student programs, etc.

With regard to marriage/family ... obviously you recognize that it's tougher to do this with a family. No matter what you do, there is more demand for your time than most of your classmates will experience. There's not much getting around it.

I did what you're talking about ... going to school to do the pre-reqs while working full time. I just limited myself to 2 courses a semester and managed some pretty wild scheduling with my employer to make it work out.

 

[bunnity]

The CC thing honestly depends on the school. For some reason Penn cares a decent amount about where you went to undergrad (one of the main reasons my friend was rejected from them on her first try was b/c of her undergrad school). I would recommend checking with the schools you would probably apply to first, just because it would be better to find out now rather than later.

 

[libster06]

Nope! What matters more is how well you do.

There may be a tiny bit of stigma left with the whole CC thing, but it's on its way out. And the significant amount of money you can save at a CC more than makes up for any of that nonsense.

The CC thing honestly depends on the school.

Both are true in different ways.

It really does depend on the school you want to go to. In regards to upper-level science courses, there really are some schools (Texas A&M) that does care about where you take them at. I was advised by my undergrad (a 4-year university) not to take Organic Chem at a community college because they don't look highly on that, but then others on here have had different experiences and say that it doesn't matter. English, communication, etc., no usually those are fine to take at CCs.

I wouldn't just brush off the community college thing as a "myth", because I'd hate to potentially take courses at a CC and then have them not count somewhere. If you're considering a course, I would call the schools admissions' offices where you want to apply and see how they feel about it.

 

[jemappellejane]

I know Western U has an online database of which courses you can take where. I was going to apply there this year until I found out that one of my science classes was taken at a CC and it wasn't "approved" by their standards. All upper level science courses have to be done at a 4 year. So just be careful...

 

[libster06]

I was going to apply there this year until I found out that one of my science classes was taken at a CC and it wasn't "approved" by their standards. All upper level science courses have to be done at a 4 year. So just be careful...

Egggggzackly. Thank you for posting this and backing me up.... the last time I mentioned my thoughts on this everyone acted like that it was a preposterous suggestion and that in this day and age CC is as good as gold...

 

[Trilt]

Egggggzackly. Thank you for posting this and backing me up.... the last time I mentioned my thoughts on this everyone acted like that it was a preposterous suggestion and that in this day and age CC is as good as gold...

I think a lot of the people who are super oorah about CC courses being equivalent are from California, where the CC system is really widespread and campus associations and matriculation agreements with four year universities are more common. I had friends who took college courses at my local community college during high school, and the rigor just isn't even close to my state university. My boyfriend also took >20 hours of CC courses before university, and his 4.0 -> barely passing definitely states something about the difficulty level.

But with that said, I'm also taking statistics this semester online through one of our CCs and it is the EXACT same course offered at my university, using the same online content manager and questions/assignments. It was also about ~$200 vs. ~$600, which is the main reason I signed up for it. So it goes both ways, I suppose.

I will just echo the suggestion to be really careful and make sure that you take courses defined to be upper level at a four year university - don't let this happen to you.