Some vet schools are very fuzzy about animal hours requirements. Ohio State in its FAQ in terms of how much veterinary experience is required:
“Around over 1,000 hours” makes me laugh. Over 1,000? Approximately 1,000? Other schools offer similar guidance.
And you have to look at averages for what they are. Similar to when you see quartiles of admitted students for undergrad. Those include people who had other ins. Same is true of average GPAs/average science GPAs which many vet schools publish.
At @saillakeerie said they can be very fuzzy. Some state a minimum GPA but depending on the year and the quailty of the applicants they may not look at anything below some other number just to narrow down who they look at. Same with veterinary hours, etc. One year it could be one number and the next something totally different. Unless there is a direct statement saying you must have at least XX hours or at least XX GPA you have to do the best you can. When it is said explicitly then make sure you try to go over those numbers if possible.
Thanks. I feel like we could use some prayers. The insurance company has been so horrible that I feel like this has been the worst two weeks of my life ever. I used to be a Sr. Workers’ Comp Adjuster and I am astounded by how unethical the health insurance company is. Today, they sent us new insurance cards. What a joke. The letter says to present the cards when getting a prescription. Our prescriptions are covered by a different company, so presenting that card would do nothing. They also did not put information on the card that states the in-network out-of-pocket maximum that the new No Surprise Billing Act that was in effect Jan. 1st required them to include on the card.
They spent approx 10 days telling me verbally that they don’t pre-auth Chemo , the prescription company does. At last minute, Supv calls me back and says info they gave me was wrong- can’t do Chemo until it is Preauth by both companies… The list goes on and on…
Anyway, I am just going to have to sit back and be patient and watch EVERYONE do everything incorrectly and send us $40K bills that have to be corrected. Unnerving, to say the least. The silver lining in all of this is that the prognosis is good for my husband right now.
As for Vet school… I think my daughter really needs to focus on acquiring as much experience with animals as possible. I am pretty sure she wants to focus on small animals as opposed to larger farm animals. Her aunt had a practice in San Francisco focussing on cats and I am sure my daughter would love to do that. The Aunt did very well financially and was able to retire in Hawaii. Nice… but it sounds like times are different now…
So, she will put the GRE on the back burner as you suggested. She might revisit that once she has more experience working with animals. In general, I think she does not like those tests, but seems to excel on those tests once she sits down to take the test. She only took the SAT once and got a near perfect 1580 with no prep courses or anything like that. She did not consider taking it more than once because she would have likely lost her front row spot in dances if she missed a Saturday rehearsal more than once. I am not sure that an excellent GRE score would make her a better applicant. I would think that her GPA reflects that she is an excellent test taker. And being a Vet, like dance, requires a lot of hard work and not just talent for being a quick learner.
I did see that Vet schools like to emphasize collaboration and cohesiveness within the graduating cohort. I think that would be one of her strengths. School comes easy to her and she is used to being a leader and helping others be successful as well. Perhaps she could find a Vet school that likes students who intend to pursue a specialization like surgery or allergies? Not sure if there are any Vet schools that look for that.
Although I don’t know where she is going with this (what area she might want to specialize in), I can say that I could picture her having a part-time practice with small animals, spending some time each year with wildlife preservation, perhaps developing a skill level/ specialty in Vet Medicine, and also teaching a class at the Vet school. One unique trait she has is that it seems she needs less sleep than most people do and therefore has extra time to allot to pursue a variety of things.
@saillakeerie
Yep. My daughter noticed the wide variation in what the Vet schools say they are looking for. With the vague language, it seems to be a mystery whose meaning would ideally be figured out before applying to Vet school.
Thanks to everyone for their input. Maybe I can figure out exactly what the coded language means with everyone’s comments…
She will probably have to take a genetics class. She is looking for an online Genetics class for summer or fall. If anyone knows of a college that offers this course online for a reasonable fee, please let me know. Thx!
I am wishing the very best for your husband. We also have had some issues with an insurance company dragging their feet on approving tests and/or treatments that were obviously medically appropriate. Fortunately in our case the cancer that someone we know is dealing with is exceptionally slow, so a month’s or two delay really does not matter (in some other cases of course it might matter). It is maddening, but should perhaps be the subject for a different thread.
When the insurance companies let them do it, what the doctors are capable of doing these days is quite amazing.
This sounds exactly right to me, with a significant part of this experience being in a veterinary situation. To me it sounds like there is no hurry here, but instead she can just put in the time and effort working with animals and veterinarians.
By the way, my daughter did, after graduating with her bachelor’s degree, take one course at a community college that was a prerequisite for some DVM programs that she was planning on applying to. She liked the course so much that she then took the next course in the sequence. This seemed to work well and be accepted by the DVM programs that she applied to.
When looking at vet schools, you can look at their course offerings for electives. Some will have concentrations on large/farm, avian/exotic, small/companion, research/food supply, tropical, etc. This may help with decisions on where to apply.
Hope things go well with your husband. I agree she should concentrate on getting animal experience. Some community colleges have genetics and I have heard most (not all) vet schools accept Doane Academy courses and a lot of vet students have taken their missing classes through them. I would call and check with vet schools she is interested in that whatever class you choose is acceptable. Better to ask than be surprised.
Most vet schools don’t accept you based on what you want to specialize in after vet school. Exception are a couple that really want large animal specializations. The reason for this is so many students change during vet school. My son started sure he wanted to be an equine vet or surgeon, then wanted to be a small animal surgeon, then opthamologist, then do research and get a Phd too. Now it is cardiology or radiology and he is just finishing his second year!
a neighbor’s daughter was on track to be a Physical Therapist - was in an excellent undergrad program and decided senior year she wanted to be a vet. She took a year off between undergrad and vet school - worked full time at a specialty animal hospital - took a couple of pre requisite courses on line - her GPA was 3.7 from a small regional college - she got into 5 vet schools - so I do not think your daughter is at ANY disadvantage for changing her mind at this point. Good Luck!
On the flip side, I know several kids in college who want to be vets but who are taking PA classes in the event they do not get accepted into vet school.