I’ll start off with I don’t know what I’m doing this might be the wrong thread if it is I’m sorry. It’s like 20 questions so one of them is bound to apply to this, right?
Both my girlfriend and I are seniors in high school, and interested in attending college together. Before I go on, I should mention that I’m not asking for suggestions about how to deal with the relationship or anything because it’s a strange situation, and even more so when you’re looking on from the outside.
I would like to pursue zoology, and she would like to pursue a veterinary career. We both plan on attending a 2-year program before going to a university so that we can take some gen eds and get our grades up, as well as take time to really decide if the animal sciences/biology type degrees are what we want to do. We both love animals, she wants to work with all types of reptiles mostly, and I would like to do the same within a zoo conservation setting, but specifically turtles and tortoises, although I’ll take what I can get.
Obviously both of those degree choices are close to useless without some sort of masters/doctorate studies, and we both understand that. So I have a couple questions about all this.
- Zoology or Animal Science? I see both as undergraduate programs, but animal science is by far more common within graduate programs. Could I get a bachelors in zoology and then continue to grad school for animal science? I don't know enough to know if that's acceptable, but I do know that a lot of people say they're pretty much the same thing, but I don't know.
- What types of majors serve well as a pre vet school degree? I assume things like biology and such, but I've read you can sort of do whatever you want as long as the pre requisites are achieved.
- Should I attend a 2 year transfer program, or a liberal arts apporach? I can go to my local community college for free, so I could take liberal arts and get lots of math and science out of the way, and then go to a university for 4 years, or I could just do a transfer program.
- Are online graduate programs even worth it? Obviously my girlfriend as a veterinary student would have to go to physical school, but I would like to work in a zoo, or at least do an internship, whilst earning my masters/doctorate.
- Can community college be something of another chance? I did ok during high school, I got 90s mostly but I didn't push myself to take challenging classes, and I feel I need to do so to do well. My girlfriend was very uninvolved in school, and she didn't really care much until 10th grade when we met. She does pretty good in school now, 80s-90s, which are clearly not good enough for vet school. She has a hard time with math, shes not good at the quick mental side of it, but I'm willing to help her get better, and she could get a tutor if need be. Despite her past in education, she is very very good with time management and has good work ethic, especially if it's so she can do things with animals. I'm not just saying that cause I love her, she really is a hard worker. So if we help each other through to get better grades and do well with what we need to, will it help? I mean I've talked to people and read that colleges will assess your performance in community college if you decide to attend that before university, so I feel confident, but I always need second opinions. By the way, I feel I should mention that I'm completely aware that you shouldn't just blow off high school and rely on community college, but sadly that's what I did, and she had a hard time due to personal things and lack of motivation and such, so this is what it is.
Any help would be great. I know I have years to decide and think about all this, but I’m an extremely anxious person. I understand that it’ll be a lot of school, but both of us would find great joy in working with animals, and to me that’s worth it, despite the awful amount of debt we will find ourselves in. Also, we aren’t guaranteeing that we will always be together or anything, we just feel it’s stupid to let go of something you like just because there’s an obstacle, and it’s been close to 2 years so it’s not just some infatuation bullshit. We will have time in community college to make decisions about our relationship as well, I think if we want it, it’ll work. Sorry for the length, I feel better already though, anyways, thanks.