Zoology or Pre-veterinary major?

[lavender19]

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I'm currently a freshmen and I've decided to get my AS degree in nursing and AA degree to major in either zoology or pre-veterinary medicine. I know vet school is the most competitive field to get into. I have a cumulative GPA of a 3.75. Does anyone know what major has a better probability getting accepted into vet school. I know volunteering with animals is a major plus also.

 

[BlacKAT33]

major doesnt matter. you could be an english major and have an equal chance of getting in if you take the required sci courses

 

[cowgirla]

major doesnt matter. you could be an english major and have an equal chance of getting in if you take the required sci courses

^^
Read above.


Also, it generally takes more than just volunteering with animals. Many competetive applicants have worked with a variety of species, or in a variety of fields (research, large, small, zoo, wildlife, lab, etc). You need to prove to the adcoms that you know what the field is about, you've seen more than just the "cute puppy and kitty" side of it, and still feel that it is your life calling. It's not all about your GPA and whether you can handle the rigor of an intensive science curriculum.

Nursing classes probably wont transfer to any science degree, let alone zoology or animal science. You do realize that you'll be basically starting from scratch to do the vet pre-reqs?

If you want to go into veterinary medicine, why are you bothering with the nursing at all? Yes, they are both health fields, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends.

 

[Marsala]

Pick a major that you are interested in. I'm in entomology. And even though you may have your heart set on being a vet, you absolutely need to have a back-up plan. Plus, in the reviews that I had on my application when I first applied last year, all of the schools said that they liked that my BS was different than most of the others.

So it doesn't matter what you pick, you can fit in the prereqs with most any degree.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I'm currently a freshmen and I've decided to get my AS degree in nursing and AA degree to major in either zoology or pre-veterinary medicine. I know vet school is the most competitive field to get into. I have a cumulative GPA of a 3.75. Does anyone know what major has a better probability getting accepted into vet school. I know volunteering with animals is a major plus also.

I don't think any of the above majors will help you get accepted into vet school per se. That being said... I wouldn't do pre-vet major. What will you do if you decide not to go to vet school with a degree in pre-vet? At least with zoology, you can decide to go to grad school (with out a )

Plus, vet schools like to see uniqueness and know that you're a person outside of your pre-vet persona... so starting with a non-pre-vet major might be a plus. Try to have other things in your life so that you don't define yourself completely as pre-vet.

I agree with others about the nursing thing. That might confuse adcoms a bit....

 

[nohika]

I'm with Cowgirla.

I originally was going to go for nursing as well, because it's what my mother wanted...but I finally protested enough and am now hoping to finish up my vet-school pre-reqs in three years. Figure out if vet is really what you want to do. If it is, go for it with all of your being.

Volunteering isn't enough, as others said - you should at a minimum shoot for both SA and LA experience. Research is a definite plus, as are exotic experience, public health...tons of different places to find vets.

Best of luck with your path! Feel free to PM me if you'd like! 🙂

 

[lavender19]

As far as I'm concerned, you can get into any bachelor's program with an Associates degree. I'm doing nursing (an AS degree) along with that for a back up plan. I thought majoring in something that I liked (animals of course!) might get me into the vet program. On top of test scores, grades, volunteering, and school clubs. I will look at other programs besides interning with a vet before I even apply to vet school.

 

[nohika]

As far as I'm concerned, you can get into any bachelor's program with an Associates degree. I'm doing nursing (an AS degree) along with that for a back up plan. I thought majoring in something that I liked (animals of course!) might get me into the vet program. On top of test scores, grades, volunteering, and school clubs. I will look at other programs besides interning with a vet before I even apply to vet school.

I think maybe just doing the pre-reqs for nursing might be a better idea? That way, you can use them if you /don't/ get in to vet school? Typically a back-up plan is used when one fails.

To be honest, I'm knocking out A&P this coming year just in case I don't get in to vet school over the next several years. It condenses the rest of my pre-reqs to one semester, if I do choose to change back. So maybe you can just do that? An AS in nursing takes an additional two years over the pre-requisites, and typically it's not recommended taking any classes in addition to the nursing classes.

ETA: Oh...forgot to mention, if you look at people on here, some of them have /thousands/ of hours of experience. While clubs and volunteering are nice and stuff, if you don't get a wide/diverse base of experience, that may hurt your chances in itself. Starting picking up volunteering/shadowing hours /now/, to make sure you want to go for this.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I originally was going to go for nursing as well, because it's what my mother wanted...but I finally protested enough and am now hoping to finish up my vet-school pre-reqs in three years. Figure out if vet is really what you want to do. If it is, go for it with all of your being.

Wow, congrats on figuring that out! I'm really happy for you! I think we all kind of saw that's what you wanted to do, and just needed a bit of nudging to get you going. woohoo!

 

[lavender19]

Yeah that's what I'm doing! It's insane how competitive the veterinary field is, but I will just keep trying and applying until I get accepted because that's what I always wanted to do. I kind of have a head start in the AA program because I was dual enrolled last year, oh and I'm taking more classes than usual. Plus, I was thinking doing college over the summer too, get finish more pre-reqs. What are you majoring in??

 

[nohika]

Wow, congrats on figuring that out! I'm really happy for you! I think we all kind of saw that's what you wanted to do, and just needed a bit of nudging to get you going. woohoo!

😀 Thanks very much! All of you guys are absolutely amazing. 😍 It'll be rough, but fun at the same time...I hope. 🙄 Ah, life is life.

To OP: I try not to think about the competition too much. I know it exists, but at the end, things always seem to work out, you know? I'm technically about 16 credits away from my transfer AA, but I'm trying not to finish it until summer (trying to knock some stuff out here). I love my CC. I'll be taking 20 credits a quarter for the next three (maybe). At least fifteen - all lab sciences. I'd recommend knocking out bio and genchem where you are now, maybe physics, but take the rest at a four-year.

I'd like to major in zoology, because I've always loved exotic/zoo animals, but I'm considering other things as well. I'll have to see what really strikes my fancy when I transfer (hopefully) this coming fall.

Again, feel free to PM me if you have any questions. 🙂 Kind of a been-there, done that for me, as others on this board can attest to. 😉

 

[cvt]

I don't think any of the above majors will help you get accepted into vet school per se. That being said... I wouldn't do pre-vet major. What will you do if you decide not to go to vet school with a degree in pre-vet? At least with zoology, you can decide to go to grad school (with out a )

Plus, vet schools like to see uniqueness and know that you're a person outside of your pre-vet persona... so starting with a non-pre-vet major might be a plus. Try to have other things in your life so that you don't define yourself completely as pre-vet.

I agree with others about the nursing thing. That might confuse adcoms a bit....

I dont know how other schools do it, but at mine Pre-vet isnt really a major. Your major is biology, with a concentration in pre-vet, which can still get you into grad school for things other than veterinary medicine.

Some of your nursing classes may count towards a BS in biology, but check with your school, though if veterinary medicine is the path that you want, reconsider nursing. If you are set on both nursing and vet med, try double majoring. Or, if there is something else you are interested in that is unrelated to science, try it. I'm double majoring in Biology and Art... which doesnt make sense to most people, but I love both and think that it makes me a unique science student.

 

[lavender19]

I will take that into consideration. I will talk to my advisers and see if I could double major 🙂

 

[nohika]

I will take that into consideration. I will talk to my advisers and see if I could double major 🙂

From my understanding of BSN programs, it would be incredibly difficult to work science coursework around the nursing coursework - unless you knocked out most of the bio classes the first two years of school. BSN programs, while typically four years in length, tend to only have two to three years of actual "nursing" coursework. With the nursing coursework, you have clinicals, etcetc, and apparently, least in the colleges around here, you don't get to pick your schedule - they assign it to you based on what they think you "need".

Out of curiosity, what state do you live in?

 

[lavender19]

Well as of right now I have general biology I and II, and Microbiology finished. I'm taking anatomy/physiology along with chemistry next semester. And I will be taking additional courses in the summer. I'm completing all my general pre-reqs and science courses before I even enter the nursing program. I know it may be difficult but I'm not trying to go for my bsn in nursing. I'm trying to get only my AS in nursing. Then major in zoology because I'm completing the AA degree with the AS. I live in FL. I talked to the nursing instructors, and I only need A&P I and II. Human Biology.. which counts for general bio, college algebra or stats, psych., and human growth/dep., and microbio. I just need the a & p classes and then I could apply.

 

[nohika]

Well as of right now I have general biology I and II, and Microbiology finished. I'm taking anatomy/physiology along with chemistry next semester. And I will be taking additional courses in the summer. I'm completing all my general pre-reqs and science courses before I even enter the nursing program. I know it may be difficult but I'm not trying to go for my bsn in nursing. I'm trying to get only my AS in nursing. Then major in zoology because I'm completing the AA degree with the AS. I live in FL. I talked to the nursing instructors, and I only need A&P I and II. Human Biology.. which counts for general bio, college algebra or stats, psych., and human growth/dep., and microbio. I just need the a & p classes and then I could apply.

You'll get the same RN license whether you do BSN or ASN, so it all works out. 😳 Just make sure you have a good, well-thought out explanation for the adcoms when you're ready to apply to veterinary school. Best of luck to you!

 

[Minnerbelle]

I dont know how other schools do it, but at mine Pre-vet isnt really a major.

it isn't at my undergrad either (only bio...no zoology, no ecology, no nothing else... just bio).

but there are schools out there that actually have majors called "pre-vet" or "pre-med"

 

[nyanko]

If you're in FL, be wary of the Microbiology requirement if your intended BS has one. I know at UCF, Microbiology taken as part of an allied health curriculum or at a community college was lower division and they would not transfer the credit to the upper division General Microbiology course if you needed it to fulfill degree requirements. Vet schools that have it as a requirement may be more lenient on it, but just letting you know to be aware of that.

 

[lavender19]

Thanks everyone 🙂 I'm taking general microbiology but at a community college.. it sure doesn't feel like a lower division class to me.

 

[August24]

My suggestion: you're very early in the process. if you KNOW all you would ever want to do is be a vet, than go to the AAVMC website and look at all the schools and their requirements. look at them critically-look for similarities, differences, etc. go to all of their websites-look at the states, GPA, GRE, etc. Do you test well? choose heavy GRE schools to apply. Is your GPA out of the water? Apply to a high GPA school. Have you done research? think land-grants.
And consider this if you are fooling around with a nursing degree and then trying to fill prerequisites, will you have time to shadow for hundreds, if not thousands of hours? You need experience, you don't need a nursing degree. If you think you could be happy being a nurse and not a vet, maybe that's an ok route though it seems like an aweful lot of expensive, difficult, and time-consuming work and headaches to make yourself a competitive applicant for vet school.
I am an animal science major with a pre-vet concentration. I am also in the honors college of my school. If I could go back, I would have been a biology or microbio or biochem or zoology major instead because, with honors, my Animal Science is 137 credits to graduate as opposed to 120 like the other majors. I could have squeezed in more animal experience to get me further. So, think about your major and what will allow you to get the most competitive application.

 

[lavender19]

I'm going to be a vet.. no matter how long it takes. I am very determined and I can fulfill other degrees with that if I want. I think honestly an AS degree is smart just for back up and nursing makes a decent amount of money. I previously interned with a vet before, I have the month off and I will be volunteering at the local animal shelter and do more vet interning along with that. I called the University of Florida and yeah I will have to retake Microbiology but, at least I have an advantage. I decided that I will be majoring in Zoology, a very interesting major in my opinion. But first, I will become a registered nurse and receive an AA degree as well to transfer! 😳