typical day?

[purplepup21]

I'm currently in the application process for the class of 2014, and I was just wondering if anyone could describe a typical day in (first year) vet school? I'm just curious to hear it from actual students and not admissions people, so I thought I'd wander away from the Pre-Vet forum and ask.

Thanks!

edit: feel free to move this over to pre-vet if it seems more appropriate there!

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[Angelo84]

The 'typical day' doesn't really exist. I can give a very general idea though. First year you most often start class at 9 or 8 and go to 3 or 4 occasionally until 5pm Tuesdays you are off at noon because the afternoon is reserved for 'selective' time which is time to shadow/volunteer at a place of your choosing either within the hospital or at an outside hospital, lab etc. Exams are spread out we don't have mid terms all in a chunk we just have a single exam most weeks. As you continue through the years classes change more towards a 8 to 5 schedule with an exam pretty much every week and you lose the tuesday afternoons off but you get occasional tues/wed mornings off instead.

Unlike undergrad where you have a given class on MWF at 2pm your classes can be at anytime and on different days in a given week. But all your classes are together in a day so you just go to class and the professors switch but you don't get a break between classes except lunch and the last 10 minutes of each hour.

So clear as mud? You used to be able to access the schedule as a guest on the TUSK system so you can try to go there and look at the schedule.

 

[Vaga70]

so i guess it really depends on what school you go to. I know of other schools (Cornell) that also have different schedules every week (Monday is different each week), but we have a pretty regular schedule. AT UW-Madison we go from 8:50-5:20 every day, and get out a little early most thursdays (around 330pm). We also have flex periods, where they can add in supplemental lectures or clinical correlations or something, but they are usually filled....it's not like you really get "free periods". We also have lab every day, anatomy TWR and histology MTF. I think you also have to consider that if you spend less time in classes during the year, you usually have a longer school year. For example, we have class until about 5pm everyday, but we also get three months for summer break which really allows you to do research or externships and still have time to relax. I would suggest looking online at the different schools' websites, because they usually have some type of course schedule so you can estimate your available free time (or more like lack thereof). Hope this helps.

 

[Caninerepro]

http://www.cvm.umn.edu/education/currentstudents/courses/home.html

This is the fall schedule for years 1, 2 and 3 at MN. As you will notice no two days are exactly the same.. ever. Also notice that many classes only last 4-6 weeks, then another one starts. After 8 weeks we are done with two (radiology and a LA cases class for 1st year.)

 

[sumstorm]

I am in class from 8am-4:30pm most days (out at 3:30pm on Tuesday, and not till 6:00pm on Thursday.) Lunch from 12:15-1:30pm often consumed during a lunch meeting on a special topic, or at rounds, or listening to cases. On average, once a week I participate in a wet lab after hours until 7:30pm or so. And on weekends I participate in wetlabs/trips/ER rounds, etc for 2-6 hours. I also have occasional overnights on colic or foal team, or morning/afternoon treatment assignments in turtle or carnivore team.

I tend to come home, take care of my dogs, work out for 30 min while dinner is cooking, eat while studying, spend a couple hours studying or head back into the lab to study (I live ~10min from school.) Weekends are divided between family/friends and studying.

For the remaining 3 weeks of class, I have Friday mornings off. And we have some buffers built into schedules so that we occasionally have an hour off during the day. Our schedule can be found at: http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/academicaffairs/calendars.html
It doesn't include electives.

Also, after each semester we have 2 weeks of selectives which are special topics like avian medicine, clinical research, equine dentistry, etc.

I can't tell you how often it seems never ending and frustrating, but it is also amazing and fascinating. I might have a horribly stressful day where it seems nothing goes right all day long, consider skipping that last 4-6 class (its an elective anyways) or that late wetlab, and then it all turns around as all that info turns into understanding of an pathology presentation on a great ape or translates into the application of an ultrasound on an enlarged heart.

 

[purplepup21]

thanks guys

 

[CBRGrl]

Hey guys. So I thought I'd put in a word on my experiences thus far at CSU. As another poster stated, our schedule varies from day to day and is nothing like it was in undergrad or even my master's program. Some day's we will have a class 2-3 times, and other days we will only have it once. Our day starts at 8:00am and goes to between 2:00-4:00 depending on the day. We usually have some kind of lab in the afternoons, either physiology or anatomy, and get an hour for lunch at noon.

So far it has been a whirlwind...more information than I've been physically able to process, but you learn to go with the flow, learn all you can, and try to stay on top of the material. I really like the classes so far but I am leery of people who say they absolutely adore every minute of vet school and havent found it that difficult. Bottom line is that it is difficult, sometimes you want to throw your miller's book against the wall...but the payoff later makes it all worthwhile. The classes are hard, especially for people who havent taken them yet (my advice? take as much anatomy and physiology as you can before you start...you'll be much better off), but its nothing you cant get through with a little determination and a lot of coffee haha.

We usually have exams every other week or so in different classes. So far we've had three anatomy exams, two physiology exams, three radiology exams, and two immunology exams. Our other classes, like perspectives/research and anatomy recitaion have ~weekly assignments and physiology lab has weekly quizzes. Some professors assign homework in some of the classes, but they are usually 1-2 question multiple choice take-at-home questions. Nothing big. As another poster said, you spend your whole day in one classroom while the professors rotate through.

We dont get much time for things other than studying, but there are a lot of clubs you can join that have cool activities and wet labs throughout the week. It can be frustrating sometimes but it is also rewarding. Try to keep the big picture in mind and you'll do fine. Dont stress about the minute details unless you're a gunner, and dont forget to balance work, play, and sleep as much as you can

http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/cvmbs/pvmschedule.pdf

 

[sumstorm]

Oh, just wanted to add...if you have been out of school for a couple of years....and took most your prereqs early, consider getting some refreshers in...even if it is just auditing a cc course in physio. I find that on average, nearly 10 years out and I have to 'learn' 15-30% more than my classmates because I don't have the base material anymore...especially not the details (like kreb's cycle, hormone control, etc.)...and things change a lot in a decade! Not saying it isn't possible..I am surviving, but it does make it more stressful...and I often feel dense because I am really digging for the stuff that the majority (75%) of the class knows cold. I make up for it in random comparitive animal knowledge, but it doesn't help my scores/GPA!

 

[Armymutt25A]

Oh, just wanted to add...if you have been out of school for a couple of years....and took most your prereqs early, consider getting some refreshers in...even if it is just auditing a cc course in physio. I find that on average, nearly 10 years out and I have to 'learn' 15-30% more than my classmates because I don't have the base material anymore...especially not the details (like kreb's cycle, hormone control, etc.)...and things change a lot in a decade! Not saying it isn't possible..I am surviving, but it does make it more stressful...and I often feel dense because I am really digging for the stuff that the majority (75%) of the class knows cold. I make up for it in random comparitive animal knowledge, but it doesn't help my scores/GPA!

Where do you find night courses that you can take or even audit? The problem with my work schedule is that calling it a schedule is a little misleading. I only know when I will begin, not when I will be done - could be as early as 4 or at late as 7 AM the next day. I'm going to try to talk to someone at NCSU while I'm home for my two weeks of leave - I'll be heading back to the desert right before the Open House, unfortunately. Hopefully they can give me some ideas. Right now, it looks like I'm just going to have to dust off the old books and do a personal refresher. I wish I had the same grasp of the importance of seemingly random information 12 years ago.
BTW, do you happen to have the questions from the supplemental application? Also, do you know of anyone who was accepted under the "alternative eligibility" program?

 

[sunshinevet]

I must say armymutt, I have utmost respect for you! It seems like this path is going to be harder for you than most, with your commitments, and yet you eagerly perservere anyway!!! I truely do wish you the best of luck!

 

[Armymutt25A]

Thank you. I wouldn't be able to do it without the support of my wife. Right now, the hardest part is wasting a year when I could be doing something. Trying to Google around to re-learn bits of information that I've forgotten. I wish I had been this industrious back in college - probably wouldn't be here now. Oh well, it's been a good learning experience and I've improved a lot of qualities that were lacking before.

 

[Armymutt25A]

Thank you. I wouldn't be able to do it without the support of my wife. Right now, the hardest part is wasting a year when I could be doing something. Trying to Google around to re-learn bits of information that I've forgotten. I wish I had been this industrious back in college - probably wouldn't be here now. Oh well, it's been a good learning experience and I've improved a lot of qualities that were lacking before.

 

[philomycus]

Like a full time job. Be prepared for a 8:30 to 4:30 "shift" in classes.

 

[sumstorm]

Where do you find night courses that you can take or even audit? The problem with my work schedule is that calling it a schedule is a little misleading. I only know when I will begin, not when I will be done - could be as early as 4 or at late as 7 AM the next day. I'm going to try to talk to someone at NCSU while I'm home for my two weeks of leave - I'll be heading back to the desert right before the Open House, unfortunately. Hopefully they can give me some ideas. Right now, it looks like I'm just going to have to dust off the old books and do a personal refresher. I wish I had the same grasp of the importance of seemingly random information 12 years ago.
BTW, do you happen to have the questions from the supplemental application? Also, do you know of anyone who was accepted under the "alternative eligibility" program?

If you are relatively disciplined...I think picking up an AP or GRE subject review book and going through it would do the trick. I think the GRE ones are more detail than you need...AP might be about right for getting the basics 'refreshed.' It is really the feeling of sitting there going 'I knew this stuff....wow...a decade ago....its in there somewhere, I have fuzzy memories of it' and really not being able to pull it out and having to go look it up just to even get a mental image again.

I don't have the supplemental questions, I am sorry. They change each year.

I do know of people who have been accepted under alternative eligibility. The ones I know either had an extenuating circumstance that damaged a semester/year of grades (but had proven themselves through other upper level courses) or had low GPA early on (say first year) and really hiked it up or did poorly in school 4 years ago, but really shined when they went back to classes for the past year or 2 years or really shined in the pre-reqs.

 

[GellaBella]

BTW, do you happen to have the questions from the supplemental application? Also, do you know of anyone who was accepted under the "alternative eligibility" program?

Armymutt25A, I posted the NCSU supplemental questions the last time you asked in the pre-vet forum, under the Supplemental Regrets thread. They're all there!

Nevermind! I saw that you responded in the other thread! haha sorry!

 

[Armymutt25A]

If you are relatively disciplined...I think picking up an AP or GRE subject review book and going through it would do the trick. I think the GRE ones are more detail than you need...AP might be about right for getting the basics 'refreshed.' It is really the feeling of sitting there going 'I knew this stuff....wow...a decade ago....its in there somewhere, I have fuzzy memories of it' and really not being able to pull it out and having to go look it up just to even get a mental image again.

I don't have the supplemental questions, I am sorry. They change each year.

I do know of people who have been accepted under alternative eligibility. The ones I know either had an extenuating circumstance that damaged a semester/year of grades (but had proven themselves through other upper level courses) or had low GPA early on (say first year) and really hiked it up or did poorly in school 4 years ago, but really shined when they went back to classes for the past year or 2 years or really shined in the pre-reqs.

I've been looking through various GRE prep sites. One thing I've noticed is that I have a lot to remember when it comes to math. Some of it is just a matter of remembering the various formulas; some of it is the fact that I manage to multiply 8 by 7 and come up with 63. How is the computer based version compared to the paper one? Is the interface mouse or keyboard? Mouse makes the most sense, but I keep seeing references to keyboards. At least my vocabulary has expanded in the past decade. Need all the help I can get.

 

[crittergal]

I've been looking through various GRE prep sites. One thing I've noticed is that I have a lot to remember when it comes to math. Some of it is just a matter of remembering the various formulas; some of it is the fact that I manage to multiply 8 by 7 and come up with 63. How is the computer based version compared to the paper one? Is the interface mouse or keyboard? Mouse makes the most sense, but I keep seeing references to keyboards. At least my vocabulary has expanded in the past decade. Need all the help I can get.

I understand. I struggled remembering the minute math details I learned in high school a million years ago. The verbal was easy for me. As far as interface, it's mostly mouse and comes complete with "hold your hands" instructions beforehand. There are, of course, keyboard requirements for your essays and other typing.

 

[twelvetigers]

"This is how you scroll. This is how you click. Now practice scrolling... good! Practice clicking... good! You may proceed."

If only the rest of it were as easy.

 

[Crazy Hippos]

Out of curiosity...do you get a summer & winter break in vet school?

 

[twelvetigers]

Usually, for years 1-3. Then you usually start clinicals the summer of your 4th year.

There are some places that do quarter systems, and that might be a bit different, at least in the length of your breaks. Also, I know that Ross just keeps going - I think you get 2 week breaks and that's all.

 

[Crazy Hippos]

LOL is there anything you don't know twelvetigers?

 

[CookieBear]

Two summers... at least for us.

1st year starts end of August, and you get the following summer off.
2nd year starts end of August, and you get that summer off.
3rd year starts end of August, but @ end of spring term we only get a brief (days not weeks) off, and then we enter clinical rotations.
4th year continues until mid-May when you graduate.

So here, the mantra is, when you're done with 2nd year.. it's your "last.. free.. summer.. EVER..."!

 

[twelvetigers]

What cookiebear said was mostly what I was talking about... by '4th year summer' I meant the summer right before starting 4th year. Which, like we said, isn't really a summer at all, because you go ahead and start 4th year instead.

Lol. Makes perfect sense.

I'm interested to hear how the schools with two years of clinical rotations do it, though.

Crazy Hippo, it's just immersion, not experience. Don't be too impressed.

 

[Mistoffeles]

on the other side of the atlantic . . .

4-6 lectures per week, usually no more than 2/day, with an hour in between each one. we've done a week on each of the systems so far (with 2 on musculo-skeletal). next term is mostly the GIT/animal husbandry and handling, while third term is almost entirely devoted to the nervous system, with introductory immunology and virology thrown in for good measure.

Usually at least 2 directed learning sessions per week (1-2 hours each) on a specific subject (for example, yesterday was the histology of the GIT) where we work in small groups of 6. dissections and practicals about once or twice a week, again in small groups of 6.

so, figure 20 "contact" hours per week. we're expected to spend about the same amount of time in self-study. wednesday afternoons are set aside for competitive sports, and since i don't play any, i practice competitve page turning.

semesters seem relatively short . . . this first term is 11 weeks long, then a 3 week break. then a nine week term, with six weeks off, and then a six week summer term followed by five weeks of studying and exams. the second year is similar . . . although the third term is mostly lecture free, mostly focusing on a research project. but we're also expected to complete twelve weeks of animal husbandry studies during this two year period, and write papers on them, which can eat a lot of the breaks.

third year starts the clinical years, and we get into microbiology, parasitology, and all the things we previously learned as normal in their clinical and pathological settings. fourth year finishes the "teaching portion" in the first half of the year. The next 1.5 years are clinical rotations, 26 weeks of extramural clinical studies, and 8 weeks of a research project/thesis.

 

[Armymutt25A]

on the other side of the atlantic . . .
wednesday afternoons are set aside for competitive sports...

Had to laugh about this point. Only in the UK! I did a year of high school in a British school and we had a similar thing. Would love to go to school in Scotland, but I don't think the Army would pay for it.