I want to be a vet. Do I NEED to take pre-cal in high school?

[muscovy94]

Hey everyone I am a junior in HS and have wanted to be a vet ever since I can remember. I make pretty good grades and am in Honor Society. The maths I have taken so far are: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Trig, and Advanced Algebra. Do you think I should take it in high school? Is calculus even required in college to get into vet school?

Thanks.
sincerely, a junior who is freaking out right now.

 

[mulewagon]

You need to contact the vet school you want to apply to and get their pre-requisites.

 

[rancher hicks]

I can't say except that you should take all the math and science classes you can in high school and save alot of money. Check with your College to see what you need to take to get your degree and take what ever you can in high school to make college cheaper.

You have no idea how many kids I saw who had to take Non credit courses (English , Math and Science) and pay for what they should have learned in high school.


I wish you success,

Rancher

 

[chickenology]

This is from the Mississippi State Veterinary School website, prerequisites needed for entrance. Take the calculus, it will pay off later. You can also talk to your guidance counselor about this.

http://www.cvm.msstate.edu/academics/entrance_requirements.html#academic

 

[muscovy94]

Quote:
Thank you for this. I've been on this website looking for this but I never could find it. Would you happen to know what it means when it says "college algebra is minimul level" ?

And thankyou to everyone else who has commented.

 

[swampcat]

I think they mean that Intermediate or advanced algebra is the bare minimum to be able to apply. If you are a mathy person, take it. Calc will be very very helpful for physics, even if its algebra-based physics (which I took and still ended up using calc). I agree with Rancher Hicks... get everything you can out of the way now because it is much cheaper. Also, if money will be an issue down the road, think about community college to knock out all your pre-reqs and co-reqs before applying to vet school. You will have to take pre-vet classes no matter what, so might as well make them cheap! Best wishes!

 

[welasharon]

You also should check to see how tough it is to get in the school. I had a student tell me her senior year she wanted to go to school to be a vet yet had not only done nothing to check on requirements, she had also piddled around in school and made mediocre grades. The school she wanted to go to only accepted a third of the applicants that applied. They also looked at what experiences you have had...such as volunteering at veterinary offices or animal shelters. You should check into those things also.
sharon

 

[FlaRocky]

Check with your school and local community collage to see if as a high school student you get discounted or free classes. Here in Florida in my county, a HS student can take free classes @ the CC while in high school. Also what kind of vet do you want to be? Large, small or what? Do you have a vet that you like for your animals? Ask if you can round with him or her, or shadow at the clinic. Find out what collage your vet attended, see if it is one you would like to attend. Apply for a job with your vet.


Not to hijacked your thread. My friends 12yo dd wants to be a vet. So I schedule all my vet farm calls so she can be here. He has his tech with him, but let's my friends 12yo. assist him and act as his tech. She has got to do the palpitating for preg. check on mares. Help with teeth floating , shots, wound care, you name it. He has given her vet manuals all kinds of books. This summer she will get to do some farm calls with him. He quizzes her on all kinds of stuff. Told her she has to show him her report cards. If she sticks with it he will write a letter to the vet school for admission.

Just to let you know some things you can do to maybe help get into vet school.


Please keep us up to date.

Good Luck,
.

Maye

 

[woodmort]

As a former math teacher I'd suggest you take as much as you can at the HS level. In my experience those of my students that took calc--I taught AP Calc--were never sorry when they got to the next level. Vet school is going to be competitive and the more smarts you show and the better your academic record coming out of HS, the better change you have of getting accepted. Good luck.

 

[Southernbelle]

I have a pre-vet degree from PSU. Calc was indeed required for me to complete my undergrad. I'd taken AP Calc in high school and passing college calc was a breeze. I got an A.

A LOT of my classmates were struggling terribly with calc because it was new to them and at the college level the professor goes fast, fast, fast. They have to cover everything in 4 months that you'd usually spend a whole year on in HS, so it really helped to have seen it all in HS at a slower pace.

I'd take high school calc, if I were you.