Vet school chances

[liliep]

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Hello!

I am new to the forum and so far it has been very helpful to gather information and make plan so THANK YOU to all of you who take some of their time to listen and give advice!

I am making a HUGE career change. I am still reeling from the decision and thinking of the many consequences; to understand I have to give a little back story.

I am from a small country in the Caribbean, career choices are small and to say you want to be a Vet is cause for scorn and laughter (in a impoverished country few find money or time to care for pets, sad and heartbreaking).

I decided to go to Law School since it was an "acceptable" career choice but never enjoyed it, everything I did was just to "do it" never enjoy it. Right after graduating I started a LLM in Corporate Law and worked as a Jr. Attorney for a medium sized law firm.

Since good job opportunities are few and nepotism rules everything I decided to move to US. I also decided to go back to law school, it was expected of me of course (law systems are different). As soon as i moved here I volunteered at the local SPCA and I almost applied to vet school then...but once again family and friends' expectations were stronger and I ended up never submitting the application.

I finally got admitted to a great law school but once again my heart was not in it; away from everything I knew, different culture and language, no friends or family and stuck once again studying a career I did not truly enjoy and a debilitating depression got its hold on me. Tried treatment but had really bad reaction to the medicine so it was down to regular therapy for me.

I eventually got better but by that point it was too late; I flunked Law School, not enough to guarantee permanent dismissal but enough for them to ask me to come back in 1 year and start from scratch.

And this, I feel, was the switch or signal; I can't do this anymore, I can't continue on a career that will guarantee my unhappiness for the rest of my life and so I decided to make a drastic career change and finally follow my dreams.

My problem is this: what are my chances getting into Vet School with a Law school dismissal and a wholly legal education background? I did take biology, chemistry and math in undergraduate (and I'm willing to go to community college to get those pre-requisites again) I am volunteering at the local SPCA, also do some work at a horse rescue and I am trying to find a job as a vet assistant or at least shadow a vet.

Again, what are my chances? Should I go for it? any advice? HELP!!!

Thank you!!!

Pd. sorry for the long post

 

[Cyndia]

You might be better off posting this in the pre-veterinary forum, it tends to get more traffic. There are a couple of non-traditional applicants that frequent that board, I'm sure they'd have some good advice for you.

So I have to ask - what are your finances like after going through time in law school? You should be aware that it is extremely expensive to attend veterinary school, most students rack up a lot of debt and don't earn all that much after graduation, so it can take a long time to pay it off. It can take quite a toll on you, particularly since you've already had issues with depression, and veterinary school is very stressful itself.

But, all that aside, if you genuinely want to pursue veterinary medicine, have exposed yourself to clinic life/shadowed a vet and are sure of what you're getting yourself into, then it is possible. It will be tough and may take a few years to gain acceptance, since a lot of schools place a large amount of emphasis on GPA, but with your varied background they might like you. Some schools prefer more mature applicants, and you may be able to get some of your poor grades ignored depending on how long ago they were taken (some schools offer a grade forgiveness option where they may ignore some grades from a certain amount of time ago) and schools do evaluate you based on a couple of GPA calculations (an overall GPA, your overall science GPA, and your last 45 credits GPA). Your law related grades would be left out of the science GPA and your last 45 GPA once you take your prereqs, so it will only really lower your overall GPA (which is weighted differently at different schools).

You'll need to take all of your pre-reqs and make sure you do really well in them, and then try to do well on the GRE, and get as many varied experience hours as possible. The SPCA and horse rescue work is a good start, but you definitely, definitely need to spend some time in a clinic or shadowing a veterinarian. Not just for the application, but so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into as a veterinarian. On the vet school applications, they count your experiences in different categories (animal, veterinary, research, etc), so you need to try your best to get experience in most categories.

Lastly, I'd have to say plan your applications very carefully. Do your research thoroughly on each school, because every school has their own formula for evaluating applicants, so you want to focus on applying to schools that will look at you in the best light. For example, some schools automatically ignore applicants below a certain GPA, so don't bother applying there. Focus on schools that place slightly more emphasis on GRE or experiences. You may also want to consider the caribbean schools (SGU and Ross). They're accredited in the US so you'd be able to practice here after if you desired, and if you're from a country in the caribbean, it means you'll be closer to your family and friends.

So yeah, it won't be easy, so you need to make sure you are 100% committed to this, think hard about all the factors involved. But good luck!!