To double-major or not?

[gotsoy]

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I'm currently a sophomore at a four-year university, majoring in anthropology with a minor in LGBT studies. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian but didn't pursue it because of my low self-esteem, believing I wasn't intelligent enough. By the end of my freshman year, I decided with a 4.0 GPA, I was definitely not unintelligent - and if I didn't at least try to get into veterinary school, I was going to end up regretting it in the future.

I know major doesn't matter. I'm considering double-majoring in anthropology (which I love & will be my back-up plan if all else fails) and biology (pre-vet track.) This would take a little more time, as I'm already behind in meeting my prerequisites for veterinary school (as a transfer student, I wasn't able to register for classes until mid-August & all the science classes were full.) Do you think a double-major would be worth it in the long run? I'm hoping it would show what a hard worker I am, while providing me with valuable resources (pre-vet adviser, who I would not otherwise have access to.)

I also have some questions regarding veterinary experience, specifically "food" animal & research. As a vegan, I don't feel comfortable working with "food" animals or taking part in research. Would this seriously damage my chances? I plan on getting experience working with equines, wildlife, shelters, & more small-animal experience.

If it's of concern, I plan on applying to Va-Md (in-state,) PSU, and CSU. Thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[jkq202]

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[charismarl]

I don't think a double major will help you, especially if it is going to be extra work which may or may not decrease your chances of having the highest possible GPA. About half of the students accepted at my school have a major other than biology and I think the most important thing is to major in something that you know you like and will do well in. As long as you have the pre-reqs, you are not discriminated against for having a non-biology major; however, it will give you a stronger science background. I majored in Biology because I figured once I took all the pre-reqs I pretty much had 3/4 of my a bio degree completed so why not just continue...plus I liked it. So do what you love.

As far as the vegan thing goes I can't imagine a school NOT seeing that as a bad thing and I imagine it would hurt your chances of getting in but I really have no idea. I would recommend you emailing the dean or the admissions coordinator at schools you are interested in and seeing what they say. I guess you can always just not mention it and then deal with it when you get to school...although be prepared for them to say, "don't be silly, deal with it."

I was a vegetarian for the majority of my life but I would never not complete a required part of school because of it. I figure you don't have to do it as a career but just do it in the pursuit of knowledge.

 

[nyanko]

I also have some questions regarding veterinary experience, specifically "food" animal & research. As a vegan, I don't feel comfortable working with "food" animals or taking part in research. Would this seriously damage my chances? I plan on getting experience working with equines, wildlife, shelters, & more small-animal experience.

Are you aware of the importance of research to health related fields? I agree with charismarl, if you mention these things on your application or in an interview it will likely damage your chances of getting in, as they want people who are going to complete the entire curriculum, and I do believe that at almost every school you are required to at least do some work with large animals/poultry. Don't you think that even if animal rights is what you believe in, that it's important to get a foundation in these things, if for no other reason so that you can back up your arguments and be well-informed?

Oh, and PSU doesn't have a vet school. I assume you mean UPenn?

 

[gotsoy]

I don't think a double major will help you, especially if it is going to be extra work which may or may not decrease your chances of having the highest possible GPA. About half of the students accepted at my school have a major other than biology and I think the most important thing is to major in something that you know you like and will do well in. As long as you have the pre-reqs, you are not discriminated against for having a non-biology major; however, it will give you a stronger science background. I majored in Biology because I figured once I took all the pre-reqs I pretty much had 3/4 of my a bio degree completed so why not just continue...plus I liked it. So do what you love.

As far as the vegan thing goes I can't imagine a school NOT seeing that as a bad thing and I imagine it would hurt your chances of getting in but I really have no idea. I would recommend you emailing the dean or the admissions coordinator at schools you are interested in and seeing what they say. I guess you can always just not mention it and then deal with it when you get to school...although be prepared for them to say, "don't be silly, deal with it."

I was a vegetarian for the majority of my life but I would never not complete a required part of school because of it. I figure you don't have to do it as a career but just do it in the pursuit of knowledge.

I would be willing to participate in large animal classes in veterinary school; however I would prefer not to participate in large animal / research settings for my experience unless it's necessary.

Thanks for the input. 🙂

 

[nyanko]

I would be willing to participate in large animal classes in veterinary school; however I would prefer not to participate in large animal / research settings for my experience unless it's necessary.

I think if you have small animal and equine experience, that's at least showing some breadth. A lot of people don't even have access to large animal experience before vet school so I wouldn't worry too terribly much about it. You could go and read the successful applicants thread from this cycle (just search for it) to see what kinds of experiences people who got into your target schools had.

 

[gotsoy]

Are you aware of the importance of research to health related fields? I agree with charismarl, if you mention these things on your application or in an interview it will likely damage your chances of getting in, as they want people who are going to complete the entire curriculum, and I do believe that at almost every school you are required to at least do some work with large animals/poultry. Don't you think that even if animal rights is what you believe in, that it's important to get a foundation in these things, if for no other reason so that you can back up your arguments and be well-informed?

Oh, and PSU doesn't have a vet school. I assume you mean UPenn?

Of course, but I don't believe it's ethical, which is another discussion altogether. As I replied to charismarl, I would be willing to participate as part of the curriculum, but I am hesitant about participating if a lack of experience in these fields won't hurt my chances.

As for animal rights, I'm an abolitionist, not a welfarist. I believe that animals aren't ours to use, rather than arguing about how they're treated.

And thank you! I did mean UPenn. I really should be in bed. 🙂

 

[Electrophile]

Of course, but I don't believe it's ethical, which is another discussion altogether. As I replied to charismarl, I would be willing to participate as part of the curriculum, but I am hesitant about participating if a lack of experience in these fields won't hurt my chances.

As for animal rights, I'm an abolitionist, not a welfarist. I believe that animals aren't ours to use, rather than arguing about how they're treated.

And thank you! I did mean UPenn. I really should be in bed. 🙂

Ruh roh! Danger, Will Robinson, danger!

At Mizzou, they ask us on the application "How do you define animal rights versus animal welfare? Do you support either, both, or neither?" They do this intentionally to weed out the hardcore PETA folks because you all will have a very rough time in vet school from the moment you walk into the gross anatomy dissection lab and there is a dead dog and cat on the table that probably came from a shelter. You don't have to agree with "conventional" agricultural practices (which have only been around 50 or so years, so it's not really conventional at all) and I sure don't. That's why I try to be a responsible omnivore who buys almost all her meat, eggs, and milk from local farmers who humanely pasture raise their animals. That's also why I'd like to be a resource for those folks in the future.

However, I'm not sure what kind of medicine you want to practice that you think the human/animal "slavery" isn't going to apply. I would suggest doing some major shadowing before you get too far into it so you can ask yourself some hard questions about how you are going to deal with many, MANY issues, euthanasia and advances in medicine because of biomedical research in particular.

To answer your question on double majoring, I double majored in biology and religious studies and minored in history in four years with no credit coming in from AP classes or anything like that. Senior and sophomore year sucked in particular (I had to take both semesters of physics the summer after sophomore years), but I was glad I did it.

 

[gotsoy]

Ruh roh! Danger, Will Robinson, danger!

At Mizzou, they ask us on the application "How do you define animal rights versus animal welfare? Do you support either, both, or neither?" They do this intentionally to weed out the hardcore PETA folks because you all will have a very rough time in vet school from the moment you walk into the gross anatomy dissection lab and there is a dead dog and cat on the table that probably came from a shelter. You don't have to agree with "conventional" agricultural practices (which have only been around 50 or so years, so it's not really conventional at all) and I sure don't. That's why I try to be a responsible omnivore who buys almost all her meat, eggs, and milk from local farmers who humanely pasture raise their animals. That's also why I'd like to be a resource for those folks in the future.

However, I'm not sure what kind of medicine you want to practice that you think the human/animal "slavery" isn't going to apply. I would suggest doing some major shadowing before you get too far into it so you can ask yourself some hard questions about how you are going to deal with many, MANY issues, euthanasia and advances in medicine because of biomedical research in particular.

To answer your question on double majoring, I double majored in biology and religious studies and minored in history in four years with no credit coming in from AP classes or anything like that. Senior and sophomore year sucked in particular (I had to take both semesters of physics the summer after sophomore years), but I was glad I did it.

Thank you so much for you input! To be honest, seeing dead animals or people doesn't bother me, nor does dissection or euthanasia. I'm able to detach myself when I need to quite well. I would prefer to avoid working in research or agriculture settings - my interest is in small animals & either exotics or wildlife (I haven't had any clinical experience with exotics right now, but I'm really enjoying wildlife rehabilitation.) I don't think of companion animals or wildlife rehabilitation as "slavery" because these situations serve the animal's interest, with the exception of breeding.

Anyways, thanks for your advice. It's nice to be able to come here and get some input. 🙂

 

[david594]

As for animal rights, I'm an abolitionist, not a welfarist. I believe that animals aren't ours to use, rather than arguing about how they're treated.

You do realize that almost every animal you treat will consume some other form of animal? Being a vegan will that place you under some moral dilemma when you have to place an animal on a prescription diet that animals had to be killed to produce?
Or how during surgery some of the suture materials you will be using are made from the intestines of other animals?
Or when an animal is in need of insulin, at some point you are going to have to prescribe it insulin that comes from a pig somewhere?
Or when an animal necessitates a blood transfusion, another animal will have to unnecessarily suffer having a catheter placed for the collection of that blood?

Somehow veterinary medicine does not seem to be one of the more vegan lifestyle friendly fields.

 

[gotsoy]

You do realize that almost every animal you treat will consume some other form of animal? Being a vegan will that place you under some moral dilemma when you have to place an animal on a prescription diet that animals had to be killed to produce?
Or how during surgery some of the suture materials you will be using are made from the intestines of other animals?
Or when an animal is in need of insulin, at some point you are going to have to prescribe it insulin that comes from a pig somewhere?
Or when an animal necessitates a blood transfusion, another animal will have to unnecessarily suffer having a catheter placed for the collection of that blood?

Somehow veterinary medicine does not seem to be one of the more vegan lifestyle friendly fields.

Yes, I do realize this and no, it doesn't.

 

[chris03333]

Since we are having the animal rights/vegan debate in another thread, I will spare you that here😀

Do not double major to look more hard working. Your GPA is one of the most important aspects of your vet school application. If by double majoring you will take a lower GPA, only do it if both of the majors are really interesting to you. You do not have to be "pre-vet" or biology or animal science to get into vet school.

 

[Electrophile]

Moved my response to this thread:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=7047793#post7047793

 

[projekt]

I second that. Take interesting science classes that you will get straight A's in for the last 45 hours before the fall of the year you apply. Super duper important.

Treat your pre-reqs like they are the coolest classes you've ever taken, especially if you're taking them your junior/senior year.

Don't do foolish things to "look good". You will impress any vet school by getting a 4.0, having a 1600 GRE, and 4000 hrs of mixed veterinary experience.

I don't know if veganism and animal rights are a black flag that will get you thrown out of the pile. We have at least one vegan/AR person starting at UGA. She is comfortable enough with the animal models we will use, justifying them as necessary to save lots more animals. Like you, she's interested in wildlife.