I’m a freshman in high school right now, and I currently live in America. I want to study veterinary medicine at Royal Veterinary College and become a veterinary technician.
I guess I’m a pretty good student, but lately my grades haven’t been very good in a few of my classes, mainly because my father recently got very ill recently and I’ve been neglecting my schoolwork and classes to take care of him.
I’m pretty decent in my classes that are necessary for my schoolwork. I’m also planning on volunteering in a local animal shelter and local veterinary office during the summer if my father is in better shape by then. I also know quite a bit about veterinary medicine anyways (like certain medicines, what their effects are, and when to use them). Based on all that, and if my grades improve during my sophomore, junior, and senior years, what do you think are my chances of being accepted?
And also, if you have any tips or anything for improving, applying to college, etc., please let me know.
Thanks in advance~
Vet techs do not make very much money. Typically training would be at a community college. This does not sound like a good plan.
I know all that; my goal is to attend Royal Veterinary College because it has been named one of the best colleges to study veterinary medicine. I also want to attend for the chance to travel out of the country. It’ll also give me an excuse to study British Sign Language, as it may be useful when I travel.
Start here - entry requirements for US students. Keep in mind that admission is very competitive and you want to have more than the bare minimum outlined below.
http://www.rvc.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/bachelor-of-veterinary-medicine#panel-international-and-e-u-applicants
Do you want to be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or a Vet Tech?
Sorry, I usually get the names mixed up; I meant to say I want to be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
The AP scores are what are important; your HS grades ony insofar as they are an indicator to your academic reference who will be expected to provide predicted AP scores if these are pending.
You will also need to be able to pay full international fees, currently £33K pa for 5 years plus living expenses.
Compared to undergrad plus vet school in the US that’s dirt cheap.
Welllll…yes for most students, it is a good price. UCL is 5 years instead of 8, which is a big savings. On the other hand, it is in London, which is expensive.
Using round numbers, and not adding anything in for transport, books/materials or staying in the UK for summer placements, in addition to tuition costs, living costs are a minimum of $15K per academic year - and even if you could live on less than that, the visa requires that you have that much available.
So, UCL Vet would be ~$50Kpa x 5 years = $250,000. The only direct loans / cost mitigation available is FAFSA loan.
Pulling just a state that I know, a NC resident going to NC State for both undergrad and vet would pay:
$23Kpa x 4 years = 100 + $40Kpa x 4 years = $260,000. In addition to FAFSA and Stafford loans, there are scholarships (not a huge number, but there are some) available at both undergrad and grad level.
So not exactly a long way away from the UCL price- with potentially more ways to mitigate the costs.
In California, our state vet school (Davis) is $58,524 a year for residents!