Hey, not sure if I’m posting in the right forum but I’m looking for advice as a prevent student, looking to apply to WCVM in 2022, I AM TERRIFIED TO APPLY. being a vet has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, and I’ve been working on my undergrad and vet experience hours seriously for about a year and a half now, but I hear so many “horror stories” about life in vet school I’m worrying I’m not cut out for it. Do you have time for your relationships in vet school, (I’ve been in a serious relationship for 7 years now), friendships, and family relationships (very worried about these two as my bf and I will be relocating to Saskatoon if I get in, from BC) and your hobbies/interest? This migh seem strange but I’m pretty serious about my “spiritual practice” and I’m worried the demands of vet school will make me put it, and my life ,on hold for 4/5 years and look back and realize my relationships with my partner friends and family and self suffered because vet school is so consuming. Do you have any free time on a daily basis? Or only once every few weeks? Is it really that stressful? Is there anyway I can best prepare? Thank you for any one with advice that read through all this lol.
In regards to your relationship:
It is up to you to put your relationship as a priority, and you can certainly make it work. That being said, vet school is a pressure cooker and I know a ton of long term relationships in my class that have ended since August when we started. However, most (if not all) of those were people who were not living together; everyone I know of that lives together are still together.
You can make time for anything, it just depends on how you prioritize and what you are okay with your grades being (6-0 and go! is a common saying at the school lol). I personally hate studying and have a fairly active life outside of school (several intramurals, go out with friends frequently, go to every wet lab and opportunity I can, attempt to play the dating scene, etc) and that has been a lifesaver for my mental health. You absolutely do not have to (and should NOT) be studying for endless hours every single day. That is also not a requirement to get good grades, if you decide that those are important to you (which to a point I discourage).
Typically I don't study much unless we have an exam. This week I studied 3 hours yesterday and 2 hours today (which is probably a record for not having an exam this week) and that is the first studying I've done since we got back to class at the beginning of January (with the exception of 1 day/8ish hours I spent studying for a different midterm) Next week I'll probably be studying 3+ hours per night because we have a phys midterm Thursday. Before the 1st phys midterm I studied probably 30+ hours over 2.5 days. So it really just varies depending on what's going on. Sometimes you will have no time free time, sometimes you'll have lots of free time.
You will make new friends, too. I've made some incredible friendships that I have faith will exist through the rest of my life, and those relationships to me are just as valuable as those I have with my friends from home and family. In that regard I don't think you are putting life on hold for vet school, you are just entering a different stage of life with different people and a different environment.
I love vet school, but we all have days where we hate it (particularly during exams lol). So yeah, parts of it will suck, but that doesn't mean the entire thing will suck. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions, I'm always happy to chat.