I went on a tour of UVA last week, and the tour guide said that his friend went to vet school after majoring in French! She just took the required classes and the MCAT. He said vet schools always just get bio majors and that you might as well do a unique major.
I thought it sounded kinda crazy (but cool) so I wanted other opinions. Could I maybe minor in Bio and major in something else like international relations or writing?
The tour guide is correct. As long as one completes the prerequisite coursework any major is fine.
A friend of mine majored in Latin before Vet school.
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that his friend went to vet school after majoring in French! She just took the required classes and the MCAT. He said vet schools always just get bio majors and that you might as well do a unique major.
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Pre-vet students do not take the MCAT. That is for medical school.
Pre-vet students take the VCAT
Pre-dental students take the DAT
Vet applicants take the GRE; the VCAT was discontinued over a decade ago. A couple of vet schools accept the MCAT, but most don’t.
Yes, certainly. That said, keep in mind that vet schools expect several hundred hours of animal handling and veterinary experience, preferably with exposure to both small animals (cats, dogs, parrots, etc.) and large animals (sheep, horses, etc.). You may want to favor colleges with animal science programs for this reason even if you don’t plan to major in the subject.
If you are thinking about vet school and do not already know someone in the field, then there is a lot to learn. Here is an interesting newsletter:
http://aavmc.org/Students-Applicants-and-Advisors/VSES.aspx
Some examples:
http://vetschool.createsend.com/t/ViewEmailArchive/d/6CA5C4C2D83E580D/C67FD2F38AC4859C/
http://vetschool.createsend.com/t/ViewEmailArchive/d/B5F3188744CEA39B/C67FD2F38AC4859C/
Good luck!
thanks so much guys! I’ve been really debating because I’m not a big science person but I am a HUGE animal person, and I know once I (hopefully) get to vet school and get to focus on animals, I will find it really interesting.
So majoring in something unrelated won’t hurt my chances at all as long as I get lots of hands-on experience?
Take a look at one vet schools requirements that I listed below. Consider the several hundred hours of direct animal care that is also required, (working in a pet shop or shelter does not count). Then consider if you have the time to major in an unrelated area. Do you live in a state that has a vet school? If not, your chances for admission to an out of state school drop considerably unless you have a very high GPA and great GRE scores. There are only 28 vet schools in the US. I certainly don’t want to discourage you, but rather encourage you do do some research. The following specific undergraduate coursework (or its equivalent) is required as part of the preveterinary medical requirements for admission:
General Biology or Zoology with lab: one year
General Chemistry with lab: one year
Organic Chemistry with lab: one semester
Genetics: one semester
Biochemistry: one semester
Physics with lab: one semester
Math (Calculus, Computer Science, or Statistics): one semester
English: one semester
Most schools also require nutrition courses.
I live in California with a high school uw gpa of 4.0, so ideally UC Davis would be a great vet school for the future. Could I still get in-state tuition for Davis if I do my undergrad OOS?
@ECmotherx2
Yes if you do not do anything to give up your California residency. But vet school is extremely competitive. Browse the admission stats and you will see. You will also see that most admits are from Davis itself, then other UCs.
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/students/admissions/ClassOf2019Statistics.cfm
I believe their is a prevet forum here look under the grad school listings.
thanks so much! @BrownParent
You should consider membership in the American Pre-Vetinary Medical Association. As far as I know, one of the organization’s chief purposes is to guide students with questions such as yours.
@merc81 I’ll definitely check it out, thanks!
I’ll correct that spelling now (#11): Veterinary.