Hey Serama Hen!
I was just accepted to Cornell University's veterinary medicine program and will be starting (As long as all my financial stuff works out) in August. I actually just officially accepted the offer of admission today and I am very excited that I was chosen on my first try applying to such a wonderful school. It's been a long road to get to this point, and a longer one yet waiting for me in the future. So far though, all the hard work I have put into building my career has been worth it, and my love of animals and medicine should hopefully mean I will be fufilled once I am working as a veterinarian. It is not easy to find a job one truly loves!
Anyway, I will give you some pointers that have helped me get to this point. My first bit of advice (and probably most important) to you is to try and find a job working as a veterinary assistant in a clinic. I did this hen I was a sophmore and I got a good feel for the life of a veterinarian. I was able to view surgeries, to help hold animals for procedures, among a range of other experiences. I was lucky that I also got paid for it! If you can't get hired at a veterinary office, try looking for volunteer opportunities. While vet schools don't really look a hig school grades, they DO look at highschool animal experience. Get as much as you can as early as you can. Also, try to look for opportunities to work with a range of different animals. Having a backgroun in everything from wildlife and exotics, to horses and livestock animals will make you stand out from others applying to schools. These experiences will also help you determine if vet is a good option for you. Most vet hospitals are more than willing to hire people interested in pursuing vet school, so be sure to tell them that is what you are working towards. I worked a variety of jobs from kennels to exotic bird sanctuaries to gamebird farms. I was also involved in horse and poultry 4-H clubs and later ran a club of my own. I also got involved as a certified pullorum teste for my state (I found out this is very impressive for committees to read on applications!)
In highschool, it is important to keep good grades so that you can get into college. However, think of it as practice for college and try to get the best grades you possibly can. Like I mentioned before, vet schools don't look at highschool grades, but good college gades are important. However, if your grades ar still lower than you would like in college, don't over-worry. You can enhance your application by participating in a range of animal related activities gaining experience. Also, research experience in college is VERY important. You can get that through working with a professor or internships during the summer. I recommend doing both. I got lucky with my research project in college and I'm so glad I did. That project has saved my butt so many times for pre-requisites! In college, you want to try and stay at a 3.4-3.5 GPA. But remember, higher is better.
For college you will have to take the SAT, so make sure to study for that. The better you do there, the more scholarships you can get in college. Before vet school, you will have to take the GREs, which are similar. It is even more important to study for these because schools include them in choosing candidates for admission.
As far as college goes, you can certainly look into doing two years at a community college if you are not yet sure about going away to a four year school. A lot of my friend did this and I think it helped prepare them for their final two years.
Once in college, you want to take pre-vet courses. Look at vet schools you may be interested in and see what classes they require. Then take them. Some schools require things like statistics and animal science classes and other schools do not. I also recommend taking a literature course, a writing course, and a variety of liberal arts classes like arts, history, etc, in addition to your regular science classes. Most all vet schools require four semesters of chem, two semesters of physics, one of calc, one of biochem, four semesters of biology, genetics, and microbio. Most of these courses are included in pre-vet biology majors, but some are not. I have to make sure I took a statistics course because I was not required to take one to graduate. You could also major in biochem or chemistry as long as you meet the pre-requisites for each vet school you apply to. A minor in business is also helpful.
I am still learning about life as a veterinarian and I have a longgg way to go, but you will not get rich as a vet. Vet schools ae VERY expensive, and many vets pay a couple thousands of dollars in loans after they graduate in addition to the already high cost of living. For a job that one loves, this is worth it, butyou will have to evaluate that on your own. Personally, I am willing to struggle a bit to do something I love. I also have very supportive parents helping me along. The key is to try and go to undergraduate college for as little as possible. Try to get scholarships or go to community college. If you can minimize your debt out of undergrad college, you have a better shot of being able t afford vet school. Personally, I was able to get a full tuition scholarship to college, and this helped tremendously!
Another bit of advice - throughout life, you will meet a lot of people. Try to make lasting contacts with people because you will always need references and letters of recommendation for any type of internship, job, or schooling application you do. Start thinking now about who you can use for college letters of recommendation. For vet school you will need one vet, a professor in the sciences, and one other person to write letters for you.
Oh, another thing. Vet schools are very, very difficult to get into. I was shocked that I got in my first time applying. The average is about three rounds of applications before a person is accepted.So just keep this in mind and plan for it so that you won't get discouraged. You will still need to work out of college while applying to vet schools. Personally, I worked for a year while applying, rather than applying during college. I'm glad I did this, because applying was expensive and I was also able to save up a good chunk of money!
If you have any other questions, please ask. I did most of the process myself with little help from others, so if I can prevent others from having to go through it alone, I would love to.
I was just accepted to Cornell University's veterinary medicine program and will be starting (As long as all my financial stuff works out) in August. I actually just officially accepted the offer of admission today and I am very excited that I was chosen on my first try applying to such a wonderful school. It's been a long road to get to this point, and a longer one yet waiting for me in the future. So far though, all the hard work I have put into building my career has been worth it, and my love of animals and medicine should hopefully mean I will be fufilled once I am working as a veterinarian. It is not easy to find a job one truly loves!
Anyway, I will give you some pointers that have helped me get to this point. My first bit of advice (and probably most important) to you is to try and find a job working as a veterinary assistant in a clinic. I did this hen I was a sophmore and I got a good feel for the life of a veterinarian. I was able to view surgeries, to help hold animals for procedures, among a range of other experiences. I was lucky that I also got paid for it! If you can't get hired at a veterinary office, try looking for volunteer opportunities. While vet schools don't really look a hig school grades, they DO look at highschool animal experience. Get as much as you can as early as you can. Also, try to look for opportunities to work with a range of different animals. Having a backgroun in everything from wildlife and exotics, to horses and livestock animals will make you stand out from others applying to schools. These experiences will also help you determine if vet is a good option for you. Most vet hospitals are more than willing to hire people interested in pursuing vet school, so be sure to tell them that is what you are working towards. I worked a variety of jobs from kennels to exotic bird sanctuaries to gamebird farms. I was also involved in horse and poultry 4-H clubs and later ran a club of my own. I also got involved as a certified pullorum teste for my state (I found out this is very impressive for committees to read on applications!)
In highschool, it is important to keep good grades so that you can get into college. However, think of it as practice for college and try to get the best grades you possibly can. Like I mentioned before, vet schools don't look at highschool grades, but good college gades are important. However, if your grades ar still lower than you would like in college, don't over-worry. You can enhance your application by participating in a range of animal related activities gaining experience. Also, research experience in college is VERY important. You can get that through working with a professor or internships during the summer. I recommend doing both. I got lucky with my research project in college and I'm so glad I did. That project has saved my butt so many times for pre-requisites! In college, you want to try and stay at a 3.4-3.5 GPA. But remember, higher is better.
For college you will have to take the SAT, so make sure to study for that. The better you do there, the more scholarships you can get in college. Before vet school, you will have to take the GREs, which are similar. It is even more important to study for these because schools include them in choosing candidates for admission.
As far as college goes, you can certainly look into doing two years at a community college if you are not yet sure about going away to a four year school. A lot of my friend did this and I think it helped prepare them for their final two years.
Once in college, you want to take pre-vet courses. Look at vet schools you may be interested in and see what classes they require. Then take them. Some schools require things like statistics and animal science classes and other schools do not. I also recommend taking a literature course, a writing course, and a variety of liberal arts classes like arts, history, etc, in addition to your regular science classes. Most all vet schools require four semesters of chem, two semesters of physics, one of calc, one of biochem, four semesters of biology, genetics, and microbio. Most of these courses are included in pre-vet biology majors, but some are not. I have to make sure I took a statistics course because I was not required to take one to graduate. You could also major in biochem or chemistry as long as you meet the pre-requisites for each vet school you apply to. A minor in business is also helpful.
I am still learning about life as a veterinarian and I have a longgg way to go, but you will not get rich as a vet. Vet schools ae VERY expensive, and many vets pay a couple thousands of dollars in loans after they graduate in addition to the already high cost of living. For a job that one loves, this is worth it, butyou will have to evaluate that on your own. Personally, I am willing to struggle a bit to do something I love. I also have very supportive parents helping me along. The key is to try and go to undergraduate college for as little as possible. Try to get scholarships or go to community college. If you can minimize your debt out of undergrad college, you have a better shot of being able t afford vet school. Personally, I was able to get a full tuition scholarship to college, and this helped tremendously!
Another bit of advice - throughout life, you will meet a lot of people. Try to make lasting contacts with people because you will always need references and letters of recommendation for any type of internship, job, or schooling application you do. Start thinking now about who you can use for college letters of recommendation. For vet school you will need one vet, a professor in the sciences, and one other person to write letters for you.
Oh, another thing. Vet schools are very, very difficult to get into. I was shocked that I got in my first time applying. The average is about three rounds of applications before a person is accepted.So just keep this in mind and plan for it so that you won't get discouraged. You will still need to work out of college while applying to vet schools. Personally, I worked for a year while applying, rather than applying during college. I'm glad I did this, because applying was expensive and I was also able to save up a good chunk of money!
If you have any other questions, please ask. I did most of the process myself with little help from others, so if I can prevent others from having to go through it alone, I would love to.
