What's your back up plan?

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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PreVetGator

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I'm currently a junior in undergrad, and let's just say I've had a rocky few years. I want to be a vet, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it. Everyone keeps asking me what my back up plan is, and I don't have one. I figured I would handle that when I got there, but I don't want to graduate with nothing in mind. I know I want to work with animals (I wish there was more jobs with dogs) and I used to be a zookeeper (can't do that forever) and I don't know what other options there are. I've considered other paths, but I'm worried that I'll regret not continuing to try to be a vet but I'm also worried that it's just never going to happen for me (I just transferred to a different university because I had a rough start my first time around, I left with a 3.3 GPA but withdrew from 2 classes and failed a course). While I am off to a slightly better start, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I'll be getting A's in orgo, biochem, and physics in the next few semesters. That's just not realistic for me, personally.
Thanks!
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No easy advice, sorry, but a few thoughts:

1) Getting A's is realistic. Don't talk yourself out of it. Apply yourself, don't give up, and you can - and should - do better.

2) Sometimes you just need to get out in life, take a job, and find out what you want to do. We're not all wired to grow up knowing what we want to do, going out and doing it, and being satisfied with it. A lot of us bounce around from a few jobs. Don't beat yourself up if that's you.

3) Consider doing non-job types of activities with dogs. One of our vets does drug-detection with her dog as a side gig and loves it. That sort of thing - there are plenty of opportunities.
 
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PreVetGator said:
I'm currently a junior in undergrad, and let's just say I've had a rocky few years. I want to be a vet, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it. Everyone keeps asking me what my back up plan is, and I don't have one. I figured I would handle that when I got there, but I don't want to graduate with nothing in mind. I know I want to work with animals (I wish there was more jobs with dogs) and I used to be a zookeeper (can't do that forever) and I don't know what other options there are. I've considered other paths, but I'm worried that I'll regret not continuing to try to be a vet but I'm also worried that it's just never going to happen for me (I just transferred to a different university because I had a rough start my first time around, I left with a 3.3 GPA but withdrew from 2 classes and failed a course). While I am off to a slightly better start, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I'll be getting A's in orgo, biochem, and physics in the next few semesters. That's just not realistic for me, personally.
Thanks!
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Other ideas with animals: laboratory animal technician, dog trainer, park ranger/national forest service, police officer with with specialized k9 unit, pet sitting company, fundraiser/public outreach coordinator for animal rescue organization, animal husbandry technician for zoo or aquarium...

There are many careers that allow you to work with animals outside of being a veterinarian. There are also many careers that give you fixed hours and a steady income that would allow you to work with animals in a volunteer capacity - fostering animals, therapeutic riding center volunteer, etc. Being a veterinarian requires getting through veterinary school, which is an exercise in academic rigor. I'm someone who really struggled with pre-reqs and made it in to vet school and passed my vet school classes; it CAN be done but it certainly isn't for everyone nor is it actively enjoyable to get good grades :laugh: I think I could have been very happy continuing my job as a lab animal technician - sure, less income overall but also zero debt and a satisfying job.
 
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I applied for VMCAS as c/o 2022. I however am also in an MPH One Health program at the University of Arizona. If I don't get in this year, I will complete my MPH and likely go to work for Fish and Wildlife (either in AZ or elsewhere). I also plan on applying next year if I don't get in to my top 5 schools (I only submitted apps to these 5 this cycle). Back up plans vary depending on the person. I wanted to do something animal related and I love public health. This was my compromise, and my way to stay within an animal related field but also make more money than just a vet tech or a kennel assistant.
 
I was just talking to my mom about this tonight. I think I would switch over to a Biology degree and then go on to grad school. I would either work in Biology research or do some shadowing (during grad school) and think about human medicine. Right now I don't feel as though I would be happy with either of those options but I'm only a freshman now. I have all A's except English (and I think i can bring that up) and feel I'm on a good path for vet school. We agreed that it does pay to think about backup plans.
 
Current backup plan is getting into biology field work (particularly getting more experience bird banding since many jobs involve either banding or bird surveys), although at this point I'm not sure interested in going to grad school. Luckily getting the field experience has cross over as animal experience for vet school, so I've been able to justify spending a lot of time chasing this hobby.

My degree is biology/geography so well matched to my backup plan (just out of sheer luck, really), and I also really like GIS which is quite useful for the field.

However, it is certainly a plan B and in a perfect world I will be a vet but do some volunteer work on the side to get my fix of research and field work.
 
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I'll be (god willing) graduating with a master's in animal nutrition in May. If I don't get into vet school this cycle, I'm hoping to get a job with a pharmaceutical or feed company. I'm actually not 100% sure that this isn't my plan A now, but we'll see how I feel when decisions come around. I've always wanted to be a vet, but I'm 25 now, and the idea of actually having a career and making money when I finish my master's is sounding very appealing these days...
 
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Alternate life plans if vet school doesn't work out:

1. Win the lottery (most preferred)
2. Stay-at-home dog mom (doubtful acceptance from spouse)
3. Audiobook narrator for trashy romance novels (definitely happening)
4. Find a real job or something (with great reluctance)
 
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DVMDream said:
No, no, I'm trained to be a dragon vet, I'm a unicorn who treats dragons.
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Do your hooves get in the way, or does your magic make up for the lack of hands?

Good on you, following your dream. You're my hero DVMD.
 
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britzen said:
Alternate life plans if vet school doesn't work out:

1. Win the lottery (most preferred)
2. Stay-at-home dog mom (doubtful acceptance from spouse)
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These are also some of my options but i would need to find a spouse for #2

option 3 is to live with @finnickthedog and have tons of dogs and horses and maybe a goat and a sheep and she'd have a clinic down the street and maybe I could be her clinic manager or a tech if the whole vet school thing doesn't work out (if it does, option 3 becomes Plan A but with both of us being vets at said clinic)
 
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SkiOtter said:
These are also some of my options but i would need to find a spouse for #2

option 3 is to live with @finnickthedog and have tons of dogs and horses and maybe a goat and a sheep and she'd have a clinic down the street and maybe I could be her clinic manager or a tech if the whole vet school thing doesn't work out (if it does, option 3 becomes Plan A but with both of us being vets at said clinic)
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Hubz did agree that I can do #2 on the condition that he becomes an astronaut. So I guess option two should actually be "stay at home dog mom / astronaut wife"

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britzen said:
Hubz did agree that I can do #2 on the condition that he becomes an astronaut. So I guess option two should actually be "stay at home dog mom / astronaut wife"

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I feel like astronaut wife is a sci fi movie in which the husband came back from space and had been infiltrated by an alien lifeform, causing many unpleasant things to happen. Is this right? I think that is right.
 
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3rd time applicant here so if I do t get in this round I may have to give up :( Backup plans that have crossed my mind: Something with my zoology degree (government work or zoo keeper perhaps), Do something with my animal nutrtion certification (perhaps return to Disney and work my way up from where I was), or my favorite throw my animal focuses to the breeze and get an MD at some island school so I can work in the morgue, I like people but death is interesting. Life works itself out its a journey :) But I better get into vet school this round...
 
Lupin21 said:
I feel like astronaut wife is a sci fi movie in which the husband came back from space and had been infiltrated by an alien lifeform, causing many unpleasant things to happen. Is this right? I think that is right.
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Oh yeeeeeah, totally forgot about that. The wife ends up knocked up with alien spawn... Sounds like back up plan #5 to me!

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greeneyegal92 said:
3rd time applicant here so if I do t get in this round I may have to give up :( Backup plans that have crossed my mind: Something with my zoology degree (government work or zoo keeper perhaps), Do something with my animal nutrtion certification (perhaps return to Disney and work my way up from where I was), or my favorite throw my animal focuses to the breeze and get an MD at some island school so I can work in the morgue, I like people but death is interesting. Life works itself out its a journey :) But I better get into vet school this round...
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When were you at Disney?!
 
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I have a better idea. I'll let my gf get her MD and I'll be a SAHD, breed and sell horses and play polo with her money! (Hmmm somehow I don't think she will like this idea ...).
 
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Polocrosse2017 said:
I have a better idea. I'll let my gf get her MD and I'll be a SAHD, breed and sell horses and play polo with her money! (Hmmm somehow I don't think she will like this idea ...).
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I like this idea. Can your girlfriend get her MD and let me be a stay at home accessory that breeds (sport)ponies and events with her money?
 
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SkiOtter said:
YOOOOOOOO I went a tour that went through there during that time frame. Was end of April or beginning of mayyyyyy
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WHAAATTT small world!! I worked the meat station alot haha
 
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Lupin21 said:
This made me actually type in prostitute and the variants that came up in thesaurus to find a solution. Sadly, laminitis lectures called before I found a substitute for you. :thinking:
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Before I read this, I was also thinking of one. I like “Creepy old man- don’t get in his van”
 
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LetItSnow said:
It occurs to me that you could have fixed it to:

LeTitsNow, Male Cow

That at least rhymes. Totally different connotation - and maybe even more creepy - but ....
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LetItSnow, gigolo

If you want a rhyme, I like this one. I know it uses the wrong name, but it has a certain appeal.
 
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Be a doctor! If you can't get into Vet school being an MD might be a far shot, but getting into DO school is totally plausible. You'll just have to get a lot of experience hours put together and then take the MCAT.
 
dallasboy622 said:
Be a doctor! If you can't get into Vet school being an MD might be a far shot, but getting into DO school is totally plausible. You'll just have to get a lot of experience hours put together and then take the MCAT.
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DO school is just as difficult to get into. It is not a lesser degree or "easier schooling" or a lesser Doctor.

Also, if you would be happy being a human doctor, why are you applying to vet school when the debt to income ratio is so much lower in human medicine.
 
SkiOtter said:
DO school is just as difficult to get into. It is not a lesser degree or "easier schooling" or a lesser Doctor.

Also, if you would be happy being a human doctor, why are you applying to vet school when the debt to income ratio is so much lower in human medicine.
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I don't mean to say that being a DO is lesser than an MD. In some cases people prefer DO school! Its requirements are just often a little less intense (perhaps more hands on hours but usually your MCAT doesn't have to be as high and your GPA doesn't have to be quite as pristine. Only downfall to DO school is higher debt, but the education is just as good!) . I enjoy veterinary medicine quite a bit more, hence it being my first choice. My father is a veterinarian and that's what I've always known. It's a great career! But if this path doesn't work out human medicine is often a feasible option.
 
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