To get a Masters degree before applying?

[flipflopper]

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Hey,

I was planning on applying this application cycle and pretty much have everything ready. I just graduated from undergrad this past May and my previous research advisor just emailed me and offered me a spot in the Masters degree program which I would not have to pay for and actually get a little teaching salary. Should I put off applying to vet schools for 2 years until after I have a Masters degree? Does anyone know how much a masters degree would help in getting accepted to schools? I currently have a good GPA but am lacking with my GRE scores. I have proven to be a pretty bad standardized test taker 🙁 I just don't know what to do. Should I take my former advisor up on the offer and get a masters and publish some more papers or should I just apply this time around with the possibility of not getting accepted and then having to wait another full year before applying again...

 

[twelvetigers]

Do you have good animal/vet experience?

Are you actually interested in getting a master's, or are you only considering it because you think it will help for vet school?

Spending two years of your life working on a master's that you aren't 110% dedicated to (and interested in) would be torture, I think.

 

[nyanko]

Are you actually interested in getting a master's, or are you only considering it because you think it will help for vet school?

Spending two years of your life working on a master's that you aren't 110% dedicated to (and interested in) would be torture, I think.

That is the most important question you should ask yourself, in my opinion. Considering that you've done research for this person before, you obviously know at least some of what you'd be doing. However, graduate level research (even for "just" a MS) is at a different level than what most undergraduates are doing. And I can tell you first-hand that research + teaching + classes is VERY demanding, and you better love what you are doing your research in or else you will burn out rather quickly.

Did you actually apply to the Masters program? It seems a little odd for someone to call you out of the blue and ask you to do a funded Masters starting presumably within the next month (if I understand you correctly) if you haven't applied. If you applied, then what were your motivations for doing so? That might help you to make a decision.

 

[DreamDVM]

Hi!

This is a toughie. I actually wrestled with a very similar decision. I was offered a PhD program without applying at my undergraduate institution (nyanko: this is not weird). I knew a year into it that I was going to quit and go for a DVM, but I really struggled with whether or not I should stay on for another year to get a paid Master's beforehand.

On the one hand, yes, a Master's does help, and it doesn't matter what the field is. Providing you do well and get good grades in your classes, etc, having a Master's will help show you have the capability to handle a post-undergrad degree. I'm not saying it's the ticket to vet acceptance, but it sure as heck ain't going to hurt you any.

Whether the two years is worth it... that's a very personal question. My answer ended up being no, even though I only had one year left. I am 24 and I wasn't interested in putting it off any longer -- I decided to take the time off and rack up hours instead. Also, nyanko astutely pointed out that if you aren't committed in your heart and mind to your Master's, you may well burn out before your two years was up. That was another factor in my decision: I was burnt out and I was very much ready to move on and do something I was passionate about in my life.

Best of luck!
LeAnne

dreamdvm.blogspot.com

 

[nyanko]

This is a toughie. I actually wrestled with a very similar decision. I was offered a PhD program without applying at my undergraduate institution (nyanko: this is not weird).

Pretty sure it's kind of weird, at least for any sort of selective programs, and particularly in August of the year you would be beginning. I've certainly seen professors encourage people to apply and promise funding and such (which will pretty much get you in), but without applying, at least here, nobody can be formally admitted as a student, and the absolute application-has-closed deadline for such here is around June 1 IIRC (I ran into the situation last year where I had to apply very late and had a prof who agreed to take me and all that jazz, but I still had to be accepted by the graduate group & go through the formal crap with grad studies office).