What is/was everyone's undergrad degree? Any career-changers?

[laurafinn]

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BA in History and Russian Studies. Worked as a non-profit administrator, a computer programmer, a web developer and a university employee.

Went through Massey's pre-selection semester and now in my 1st year of vet school there. The pre-selection semester is great for career changers in terms of time -- your pre-reqs are completed in 4 months -- but oy, the stress, the drama, the competition.

 

[RuralMedicine]

I started in Wildlife Eco/Cons, was booted out. Worked at a clinic for a bit, then went to the local Comm College. Changed jobs in 2001 to accomodate school and JUST finished my AA last spring. I have one semester to go for my BA in Healthcare Administration while finishing up pre-reqs. If vet school fails me this first year (hopefully it won't!) I'll be applying for Phys Asst. School while I wait to get in to vet school.

Interesting.....I'm just curious if your final aspirations are DVM then why pursue PA rather than Vet tech (or working with your BA in HA---which may be difficult but I would think you could find something?)?

 

[UpstateNY27]

Hi Everyone:

For my undergrad I have a BS in chemistry and a BA in anthropology. After undergrad I briefly worked as a chemist for Perrier. While working for this company I realized how much I missed research and learning about science and physiology and decided to get a PhD in molecular toxicology (poisons) at a NY med school. While completing this degree I had the chance to work with a variety of laboratory animals and became fascinated with their biology and the various pathologies that some of these animals suffer from. After I complete my PhD (I am aiming for summer of '07), I hope to enroll in vet school. My ultimate goal is to become a veterinarian specializing in research animal veterinary medicine.

 

[imagine21]

I have a BS in biology and math with a computer science minor. I always wanted to be a vet-I was in the pre vet club at my college. I have traveled on the horse show circuit since age 10, incl riding in New Zealand so could never imagine wanting more than to work with horses for the rest of my life. My sr. yr in college I surprized everyone (even the profs I got my recommendations from) by applying to dental schools instead of vet schools. I was thrilling my dad cause he is a dentist with a large practice that I would be earmarked to take over. I guess you could call me a career change for that reason. Although I did not actually have the career yet in dentistry, I was physically in school and even had the practice waiting for me. During my freshman year, I had a stroke which forced me to take a medical leave of absence from my classes and come home to my parents for care and rehab. I am totally better now-but the time off & entire experience made me examine where I was going in life and why. It made me realize I was not happy with my prior decisions. (nothing like a scare like that to make you realize lots of things & be grateful for alot too) My dad is ok with my decision to leave dentistry and I am happy to be following my original dream of trying to become a vet. I work for a small animal and a large animal vet currently and am in nail biting mode like everyone else right about now waiting to hear from schools.

 

[LuckyJo]

I started out college in Biology, and then found out that I really enjoyed my microbiology classes, so I switched to Micro. I'll graduate in May with BS in Microbiology with an Animal Science minor. I'm thinking about doing a public health/infectious diseases master while in vet school. Any one else going for a masters while in Vet school?

 

[wildfocus]

B.S in Wildlife Science. Worked in a e-hospital throughout college, did invasive species research after i graduated for a few years, and have since been working as a wildlife rehabilitator.

I, too, have a BS in Wildlife Science (and a BA in English). Have you found vet schools NOT to be interested in wildlife major??

 

[Iain]

Bsc (hons) in Business - now I am 23 on a post-bacc course. I worked in finance for a bit (M&As and capital management), in staffing, and spent 6 months living the playboy lifestyle playing polo in Australia. I currently have my first animal job, driving a horse and carriage on tours around the city. I have done a fair amount with animals, from training charity dogs, working in a lab, to you name it with horses - horses are my main interest, I am spending a week at a farm in KY this Spring, and a week in January in FL with probably the best horseman training thoroughbred right now!

 

[bellai]

Started as a bio major, got frustrated and changed my major to the social sciences. Working for a for profit, nothing to do with veterinary medicine.

 

[ebrewha]

I am also in high pursuit of a career change...

I received my BS in Aerospace Engineering in 2002 and have been a full-time engineer at NASA for about 5 years. I love the space program but my interest in vet med has only deepened since I've been here. So...I decided to pursue my dream last year...and now I am awaiting responses from about 10 schools. So far I've heard back from Glasgow and I have an interview in March. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the other schools.

We engineers are definitely the minority when it comes to the applicant population but I really do think the two careers could be cohesive. Engineering is a great foundation for any career.....well, except maybe acting or something...but, I think that there are many critical thinking scenarios found in vet med that engineers would just eat up. We are dorks.

So, good luck to all you career changers out there!!!

 

[RazorDoc2010]

I definitely agree ebrewha...although we engineers are pretty uncommon in this field, I think we have a lot to offer with the background we come from. And it's true...all engineers are dorks for this critical thinking stuff. Good luck to you!

 

[InfiniVet]

Yea but the GRE has no sciences on it. Im pretty good at science but as math and english goes I'm terrible. Also why is there a VCAT then if no one takes it?

Exactly. Exactly, exactly...and whats worse the GRE only tests your ability to take the GRE. I think schools use it to gage how you will do your 1st year, but isnt that what they look at GPA for? I heard that the GRE will be phased out in terms of importance in the future but for the meantime we have to take it =) Its not that difficult of a test either. All you have to do is do well on the first bunch of questions (because those are weighted the most)...but its adaptive so the more you get correct, the harder the next question is! But really, it doesnt test you over stuff more advanced than 10th grade algebra, and whether or not you can read a passage and figure out what the key points of the passage is. But yeah, no relevance to a science and math based field if you ask me =)

 

[HorseyVet]

All you have to do is do well on the first bunch of questions (because those are weighted the most)...but its adaptive so the more you get correct, the harder the next question is!

I remember taking one of the Princeton Review's practice tests....I answered like 13 questions and then something came up and I left my comp and it timed me out. It scored like 700 something because those first questions were correct, even though the rest were zeros.

lame

 

[su_grad2007]

I will graduate with a BS in animal behavior in may

 

[4theanimals]

I'm a non-trad student. I June I will receive my BS Animal Science, Psychology Minor. However, I worked as a paralegal for many years before deciding to return to school.

 

[ShelterGirl]

I'm a non-trad too - undergrad degree in chemical engineering and an MBA. Once I realized that I got much more fulfillment from volunteering at animal shelters than at my job (no matter what job, what company, or how much money I made), I decided to pursue a DVM. I'd been thinking about it for oh, about 7 years before I finally did something about it 🙂

 

[RazorDoc2010]

Excellent choice getting the hell out of ChemE! haha.. and again on choosing vet. med!

 

[dglotus]

I'm a career changer myself. I have a BA in Political Science and worked in the Construction industry for several years, managing condo building projects. I've only just decided to try for vet school, so I gave up my job (and the money!) and got a new job as a Vet Assistant at an Animal Emergency Hospital while I take the pre-req. classes at night.

I just hope my background doesn't knock me out of the running since I have no real experience in animal care yet.

 

[philomycus]

BS Marine Biology, MS Biology. Currently teaching AP Bio and adjuncting at the community college. Thought having a MAster's would give me an edge during applications, but now I see there are NASA engineers in the pool....geez, I'm in trouble 😉

 

[jomiel]

BA in History and Russian Studies. Worked as a non-profit administrator, a computer programmer, a web developer and a university employee.

Went through Massey's pre-selection semester and now in my 1st year of vet school there. The pre-selection semester is great for career changers in terms of time -- your pre-reqs are completed in 4 months -- but oy, the stress, the drama, the competition.

I'm interested in how many people you had to compete against in your class, since on Massey's website it says there are only 8 spots for the first year. And do most people who applied to study for that one semester get in?

Edit: I think I found my answer (http://futurestudents.massey.ac.nz/...ssey/interest.cfm?interest_id=300&mode=progs), but is it really ~220 people competing for only 8 spots? That is pretty crazy, although I suppose it's almost the same competition applying to vet schools in the regular fashion in the US, only it's 4 months vs years of preparation.

 

[bclover]

I have a BS in Ag (Ag Communication) and have been a sales specialist for 19 years. I am now going back to get the last few pre-req's before applying to vet school later this year.

I am wondering... my cumulative GPA with my BS was 3.41 (sci GPA 3.05), but since I have returned to get my pre-req's complete - including taking a few refresher chem courses - my cumulative GPA has only modestly grown to 3.47 (sci 3.37). Now, the cumulative GPA in the classes I have been taking the past year is 3.73 and sci is 3.83. Any thoughts? Will the better numbers now help to offset the very average numbers from before??

 

[laurafinn]

I'm interested in how many people you had to compete against in your class, since on Massey's website it says there are only 8 spots for the first year. And do most people who applied to study for that one semester get in?

Massey divides the semester 1 selection pool into 2 groups: subsidized (Kiwis only) and full-fee-paying (international). There were about 25 people competing for the 8 full-fee-paying spots. The process is explained at http://vet-school.massey.ac.nz/selection.asp.

Only a few of the full-fee-paying spots last year were earned by people doing all 4 of the standard-4 pre-reqs - the rest of the full-fee-paying spots went to people who came in with some, but not all, of the pre-reqs. Also, one person got in on his second try, and a couple of Kiwis who couldn't get into the subsidized spots in prior years applied for the full-fee-paying spots and were accepted.

This was the first year Massey filled all the full-fee-paying semester 1 spots. The year before, they only had 4 people qualify - get a B average and a decent STAT score. The grading system here is different, and somewhat confounding. 😳 There were a couple of people who worked their asses off, and who I was sure would get in, but didn't.

(There are many, many people competing for the subsidized (Kiwi) spots - most of the people who ended up getting the subsidized spots had taken several semesters of university before getting in - very few Kiwis get in after only semester 1.)

 

[soxbox]

BS in biomedical engineering with a concentration in mechanical engineering... minors in spanish and international studies.... then I got my Master of Engineering degree in biomedical engineering... Now I am taking the pre-reqs that I never got around to taking when I was an undergrad... (organic chem 1 and 2, biochem, and genetics) At least they are half over! only one semester left... 🙂 oh how i wish i would have taken them years ago... hind sight is 20/20 i suppose!

 

[ratbandit]

I'm a Junior at an agriculture school majoring in Zoo Science - so glad I found this program. I have worked at an animal shelter for 2 years, and now I intern at a museum with an exotic/wildlife live animal center. I also love music and play the viola professionally in an orchestra. Thought about music as a career but would never go back to working w/o animals.