Vets and vet students, how long did it take for you to complete your prerequisites for vet school?

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FutureVet96

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I'm trying to see if I can complete mine within 3 years. How long did it take you? Did you decide to get a bachelors degree?

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I'm trying to see if I can complete mine within 3 years. How long did it take you? Did you decide to get a bachelors degree?

I'm 2 years out of HS, still have 3 prereqs to complete. I'm a few classes shy of a bachelors but decided to apply for this cycle anyway. I will continue with my bachelors depending on the answers I receive this cycle. I would recommend ultimately going for a bachelors as a back up plan!!
Everyone has their own pace at which they complete courses, some have to work full-time but only do school part-time, etc. It'll depend vastly on our capabilities and experiences. I worked full-time in this past year, but had 2 part-time jobs in my first year of college.
It'll also depend on the work load you can handle, taking several science classes at once may be hard on some, but easier on others. Ultimately it's about finding what works best for you and remembering to pace yourself!
 
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I finished all my prereqs in 3 years, think my last prereq was completed in the fall semester of 3rd year. I went to vet school after 3 years of undergrad. My program allowed me to still finish with a BSc, I just didn't have a BSc (Honours) since I didn't complete a 4th year thesis project.
 
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I'm working on completing mine in 3 years. My mentor (1st year student) did it and is helping me make sure I get everything done. If I do that I will get a BS in Veterinary Science after I finish my second year of vet school. (I'm early admit so as long as I keep my grades up I can petition to enter after my third year).
 
If you focus on nothing but pre-reqs, you can finish the ones needed for most programs in 14-17 months (4 semesters, including at least one summer semester).

I started taking pre-reqs this spring and had enough of the pre-reqs complete to apply this fall. I will be complete with all basic pre-reqs plus a few extra science classes this spring (total time for me to complete pre-reqs: Jan 2017-May 2018)

If you start with that mindset on Day 1 of college you could theoretically apply to programs at the beginning of your sophmore year (you won't necessarily get in, but you will meet the bare minimum requirements for at least some programs).

But, also, don't rush to complete pre-reqs if taking 16 science credits at a time will be too difficult for you to do well. You'll just end up tanking your GPA, which isn't helpful.

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Britzen has some really good points.

If you're really just trying to do the bare minimum pre-reqs, you can easily do it within three years. However, keep in mind the "what ifs": What if you don't get into vet school? What if you decide you want to do something else at some point? What if (god forbid) you fail out of vet school, or decide it's too much/isn't for you once you start?

At least for me personally, finishing a B.S. in biology gave me reassurance that I had a backup in case something bad happened. It becomes exponentially more difficult to find an alternate path if you just have the pre reqs for vet school done and no degree or anything else to show for it.

On the other hand, finishing the pre-reqs super fast means spending less on tuition and ultimately could mean graduating with a DVM a little less in the hole of debt. It's ultimately your decision to weigh the pros and cons, but going a full four years and picking up a B.S. was what I felt fit my life (and anxiety of the unknown) best.

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Second what Sportponies said.... You should have some alternate career plans in life, and hedge taking other classes / your potential major based on other things you might like to do if vet school doesn't work out in the end, either because you choose 1. not to do it, 2. to leave school for any number of reasons, or 3. don't make it through.

You can always go back and finish a BA/BS later, even if you say, got into vet school with the minimum pre-reqs and then dropped out, although that would probably be more difficult and painful that just finishing a degree before applying in the first place.

The pre-reqs are heavy on biology and chemistry, would you be happy in, say, the pharmaceutical industry? Maybe gear yourself toward the chemistry side of things. More interested in public health? Spend more time on the bio-side of things. Industry sound fun to you? Maybe take some classes in business, marketing, communications, etc. Lots of companies and non-profits are looking for people with science backgrounds to do technical writing, sales, management, consulting, etc.

I should also add that I already have a bachelor's and a master's in non-science subjects. Part of the reason that the super accelerated pre-req program programs are feasible for many students is because they are done as post-baccalaureate programs. So, the students in them already have their time management and most effective study habits figured out.

Not saying that doing well right off the bat as a college freshman is impossible, but just something to have some introspection about. I was overly ambitious as a freshman and my grades from that year are on average at least 0.5 GPA points worse than any other year I have been in school. That type of grade improvement happens for a lot of people, so keep that in mind when you build your schedule, especially the first few semesters.
 
I'm trying to see if I can complete mine within 3 years. How long did it take you? Did you decide to get a bachelors degree?

I think it's feasible to complete the pre-reqs within that time frame.

I took five years to get my Bachelors - mostly because in my junior year I realized I'd been slacking big time and really questioned both my ability to get into vet school as well as my desire to go to vet school at all. I took a partial course load that semester - 6 credits, I think - and worked on my on-campus job as a lab animal tech. At that point I was trying to decide between moving forward with my application to vet school versus pursuing something else, like being a lab animal tech. Once I decided to move forward with my application, I had some GPA repair to do and was fortunate enough to be accepted even with a weak GPA.

I would recommend you get a degree if at all possible as something of a safety net. What if you don't get into vet school and need to apply to other jobs? It's important to have a solid, thorough back-up plan.
 
I agree with having a backup plan. While I am planning my prereqs in 3 years I'm also making sure I have what I need for my degree so if I decide to stay for a 4th year it will be feasible to get my degree. I can also go back and finish it if for any reason vet school doesn't work out. I have no problem staying a fourth year if I need to but it would sure help financially not to, particularly because I'm OOS.
 
I finished prerequisites/my degree in three years. Best decision ever.
 
I took 5 years to complete my bachelors. I switched my major second semester to Animal Science, so that set me back a little, but I also stayed for the opportunities that the school could offer. My school had a farm with horses, cattle, sheep, and chickens. I stayed the extra year so that I could work with the animals and get tons of animal and veterinary experience. I was able to take some weird animal science classes with lots of hands on work and to work with the vets that came to treat the animals. I firmly believe the unique stuff I did in undergrad with the animals helped me get into vet school. It also counted for some credit in my vet school :)

If you already have tons of animal experience or you can get it outside of school, then three years for a BS would be do-able; but being a student offers a lot of opportunities, including independent studies and research projects that you may not be able to get without the schools connections. I would recommend taking advantage of connections your school may have, because those weird experiences are the ones that make you stick out to an admissions board!
 
I did three years of undergrad, no degree. Was maybe 6 hours shy? Could've finished it in one more semester, but I had multiple offers, so to me it made more sense to just start vet school. Plan on graduating though; if you get admissions offer(s) then make your decisions. Obviously it can work, but just keep in mind life happens and there are many reasons people choose to or are forced to take a break from vet school or withdraw for good.

If you already have tons of animal experience or you can get it outside of school, then three years for a BS would be do-able; but being a student offers a lot of opportunities, including independent studies and research projects that you may not be able to get without the schools connections. I would recommend taking advantage of connections your school may have, because those weird experiences are the ones that make you stick out to an admissions board!

Since VMCAS is due almost a year before you start, I essentially applied my second year of undergrad. I had done a small amount of animal related volunteer work, but had never set foot in a veterinary clinic until winter break my first year of undergrad. I managed to rack up a few hundred hours of animal and vet exp in those two years, and did research one semester, so it's all plenty doable. I'm sure in those cases with less experience it especially helps to have a strong GPA though.
 
Depends on the school's requirements. I completed a BA and MA before deciding to do vet med when I was in my mid-late 20s. I had the pre-reqs to apply to CSU within 8 months (but I was taking a full load plus a full summer class courseload, and I used CLEP testing to get out of things like Bio 101 and Chemistry - went straight to O Chem). To apply to 6 other schools, it took another year.
 
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