To Master's Degree or not to Master's Degree?

[katryn]

So, this will be my third application cycle, and I'm trying to decide whether I want to also apply to masters degree programs at the same time I apply to vet school. I'm not getting my hopes down or anything, but I don't want to spend another year stagnating at someone else's vet clinic if I don't get in this time either.

My worry is, if I don't get in, and decide to pursue a masters degree, but then do get in before I finish the masters degree, will it suck to have half of a masters degree hanging around? I'm looking at doing either Public Health or Comparative Medicine at University of Tennessee (both of these have duel path options with the vet school but can be done without being in vet school). Is it crazy to think of completing the rest of the masters degree in vet school, or just dropping the masters all together--keeping in mind that I wouldn't bother pursuing either of those master degrees if I get accepted this time around?

Anyone else in the same boat?

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[No Imagination]

MOST vet schools will not take you while in a graduate program (although it does happen). That said, i wouldn't expect a great LoR from your PI (or any faculty) while your still working on completing it (unless you will be done before you enter vet school (in other words, you can still app as long as you will be done before you start vet school, ok, I'm being redundant and receptive now).

Keep in mind as well - definitely let your PI know that you intend to apply to vet school (you will need their support for you LoR and not good to surprise them).

Finally, Most THESIS base masters tend to take >2 years to complete... so either do a non-thesis, or check the average graduation times from people in that prof. lab (if most people get out in 2 years, thats an excellent indication, but you will still have to work hard to finish).

 

[katryn]

Second crazy idea to throw out for opinions.....I'm considering the fact that part of what draws me to vet med is that I LOVE councilling people to make decisions concerning their pet or through the tough times that pets can bring. It's that that draws me to doing general practice instead of some medically facinating specialty. Anyone think it would help/hurt if I went back to get a second batchelors in social work/councilling, considering that this aspect is going to be a chunk of what I talk about in my personal statement?

 

[No Imagination]

Couldn't hurt, but don't go so far as to have them question your dedication to the field (esp. the real science aspect of it)

 

[cozycleo]

FWIW, I am looking at doing the same thing. Because my interest is in veterinary public health, I am applying for a masters program at the same time as vet school. I am not confident that I'll get into vet school the first time anyway, and from what I've heard it may help my case for vet school as well. But my interest is not in clinical medicine so much as research and field epidemiology, so in my case I think it is definitely beneficial.

 

[DVMhopeful]

I considered this path as well, even went as far as finding a project and a professor who was willing to take me on. However, if you apply to both at the same time keep in mind you usually hear back about a masters program sooner, so you would either have to accept the masters, and assume you werent getting in to vet school, or hold off and wiat, and risk losing the project. Also, the school, professors, and finanical backers put a lot of time and money into masters projects, if you go and drop out mid project they lose that finding, and it's next to impossible to find another student to come in and finish. It's not just your career you have to consider, you need to look at the negative impact dropping out of your masters would have on the professor who was willing to take you on.

 

[jglovicz]

When I applied to vet school the first time, I also applied to grad school because there wasn't anything special about me as an applicant and I knew I wouldn't be competitive (3.35 GPA, 1170 GRE). When I accepted my position as an MS student, I had to sign a waiver that I would complete my MS before moving on to vet school. If I were you, I would not start an MS if you won't finish it...you would really be putting your PI on the spot for a project that is likely already funded...there are some non-thesis MS programs that some people on SDN did and seemed to be successful. If you are interested in doing a research/thesis based MS you would just take 1 year off from applying to vet school (the year flies by) and if you're lucky you can publish your work! Good luck!

 

[nyanko]

^^I absolutely concur that the year between the rejection and having to apply again totally flies by!


It is highly unethical and will cast a very bad light on you if you go into a thesis-based MS with the intention of leaving before you complete it. I can't imagine any PI being okay with writing you a rec letter to skip out early on the research they are counting on you to do, and that certainly defeats a lot of the purpose of doing it in the first place. If you want to do a thesis MS you need to commit yourself to it entirely. It sounds a lot to me like a non-thesis one would be a better option for you.

I don't really think a second bachelors in a completely unrelated to science field is going to help your cause a whole lot, either, to be honest. What are your application weaknesses? Have you done post-mortems at the schools you haven't gotten into?

 

[bunnity]

As someone above mentioned, there are one year, non thesis master's programs that are actually designed to make you a stronger applicant for vet school. Caninerepro did one at CSU, and Drexel in Philadelphia has two such programs. I'm sure there are others out there. That seems like a much better option if you want to re-apply without waiting that extra year for a two year program.

I would definitely not get a degree in something totally unrelated because I think it would look weird or like you didn't know what you wanted. You could get involved with some volunteering that used both animals and talking people through stuff. I'm thinking working with therapy dogs in a hospital (or even a campus, my undergrad had therapy dogs come visit during exams - awesome), or working in a pet loss support groups (often run through shelters). I know Penn has a department of veterinary social work with a number of programs; maybe a school in your area has something similar:

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/PennVet/Pe...PetBereavementServices/tabid/255/Default.aspx

 

[Caninerepro]

To add to that, I found out that CSU actually has TWO one year MS-B programs. I want to say the other is in epidemiology, I know it is in the college of environmental and radiological health. http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/erhs/epidemiology.htm A friend of mine from my anatomy class days did this one and liked it.

The one I just finished last week was a straight anatomy/physiology/heavy neurology based program whose classes pretty much mirror first year CVM classes. I loved my program is about all I can say, I think it really will make next year a lot easier for me. I wasn't quite as fond of it when I was struggling through all the human neuroanatomy stuff, but that was just me and my lack of interest. I'm still glad I did it -- bring on that vet school stuff!

 

[katryn]

Wow! Thanks for all the input. I think I'll definitely pass on a thesis based two year masters....I don't really want to hold off on applying again.

Does anyone know of any one year science based masters done at Tennessee or that could be done on-line (does this even exist?)?

The biggest weakness from my post-mortem was that I am a horrible interviewer. Achidemically I'm a strong enough candidate that I will always be offered an interview unless the application pool is just crazy rediculous.

I don't really need to improve myself achidemically, I'm just getting to the point where I feel like I'm not learning anything from working in vet clinics anymore and my study/brainpower is going down the tubes. If I have to sit around for another year after this app cycle, I want to be furthering my education somehow.

 

[bunnity]

If you decided to do a few post-bacc classes over the next year instead of a full blown master's to keep your mind occupied, you could always take public speaking - it would probably be a good way to work on interviewing skills.

 

[sumstorm]

Consider finding a local Toastmasters organization

 

[katryn]

Lol. The funny thing is I took public speaking and did great, I usually have no problem talking to people, especially about vet school. >< The durned ad coms just made me so nervous I couldn't see strait. So I'm recruiting some of my parent's friends who own businesses and such that are used to seriously interviewing to sit down with my info and a pot luck of suggested questions and grill the heck out of me. Hopefully it will help.

 

[kiki1983]

I'm praying this Master's degree helps strengthen my application! I am starting a Master's in Veterinary Public Health at OSU this fall...I turned down my acceptances to vet school this year (western, rvc, ucd...all very expensive). The good thing about OSU is if you plan on also pursuing a DVM, they try to tailor your courses for the master's degree to help make you a stronger, more-rounded applicant...and with how it is set up, I can start my DVM next year while also finishing up my master's. Hah, I hope it all goes according to plan...I would love to finish in 5 years and get 2 degrees...but I will go through 6 years of school if needed (2 separate years for master's and 4 years for DVM).

I would do a master's if you feel it will make you a stronger applicant...and a better-prepared and well rounded applicant. Don't do it if you only feel it is a stepping stone to get you into vet school. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[firelily]

I'm also trying to figure out whether to apply to grad school as well (this year will be my 2nd time applying to vet schools).

Does anyone know of any other 1 year masters programs out there aside from the ones already mentioned? If I could do it quicker than a normal thesis program, that would be much better!