I am about to be a senior in high school and have taken no honors science classes up to this point. This upcoming year I am taking Honors Anatomy but I’m not sure of it deals with animals or not. I am not in the medical science academy at my school but I love animals(specifically dogs) and want to spend my life helping them. I got an 1130 on the SAT and my goal is a 93.8( our school doesn’t calculate it on 4.0 scale) should I wait until the middle of the year when I would be in the middle of taking the anatomy class to apply for pre-vet? Any other advice? If I was to apply at this point do you think I could still get into college for pre-vet(not a top-notch school)?
You should understand that veterinary school is a very long, tough, and expensive road to take, which leads to a job that doesn’t pay well enough to pay off the college loans. Thus you need to be very smart, very hardworking, a very strong student, and have a very good source of funding to help you pay for the trip. Veterinary school is as hard or more likely harder to get into than medical school, and just as expensive or perhaps more expensive. There are a very large number of students in the USA who love animals and would like to be veterinarians (for obvious reasons). Many of these are very strong students.
There are other options such as veterinary technician. There are also degrees in animal sciences, although to be honest I don’t know what job follows a degree in animal sciences other than working on a farm or an animal shelter or working as a veterinary technician (possibly with more training).
Did you do much SAT preparation? If not then you might consider doing more SAT preparation and retaking the test. Also, have you volunteered at an animal shelter or other animal-centric location? This would be quite valuable for your interests.
There are a lot of very good universities in the US. We see many questions on CC about the top 20 or so, but in fact there are hundreds of very good schools and thousands of good schools. I think that if you can get your SAT up a bit (or probably even if you can’t) you should be able to get in somewhere that has a decent pre-vet or animal sciences or veterinary technician program. For affordability reasons the obvious first place to look is likely to be your in-state state universities and colleges. Apply early or at least on-time, they will see your list of courses for senior year and will know that you are taking Anatomy.
If you want to have any chance of going on to veterinary school, then you need to have very good grades in undergraduate school and also try to avoid debt as much as you can.
My son is planning on being a veterinarian he will be starting in the fall and has already been accepted into an early admission program. He is lucky and we should be able to help him come out of school close to debt-free. Most schools do not have pre-vet programs. You can major in anything as long as you take the prerequisites for veterinary schools. Schools will accept you just as any other student.
Most pre-vet students major in Biology, Chemistry, or Animal Science but also many other majors. You need to be strong in science. Go to your most affordable option undergraduate. Most veterinary colleges don’t pay as much attention to where you went as to how you did. Strong grades are a must, particularly in the classes that are prerequisites. You have to do well on the GRE also.
It is difficult to get into veterinary school. Your experience is the most important. Next year try to shadow a veterinarian. This will give you a better feel for whether you want to do the job. My son’s first day they had him making memorials (paw casts) for clients whose pets had passed away. You have to be able to handle things like this as much as helping dogs. In vet school you will learn about all types of animals. You will have to deal with cows and horses as well as dogs and cats. Volunteer at your local shelter. You need as much animal experience as you can get and it is time to start getting it now, even this summer.
You should get your SAT up or take the ACT and see if you do better on it. My son did much better on the ACT. It is a long road and you need to be sure it is what you want to pursue.
Excellent advice from the two previous posters. I’ll add a few things to consider. Most states have community colleges that offer associate degrees in animal sciences and certified vet tech. Look at the AVMA website to see what is available in your state. This may be one option to explore. It would give you experience in the hard sciences that would be required by vet schools and you would graduate with certification to work as a vet tech in a clinic, rescue center, zoo, etc. You would have little or no debt. If, during that time you do well in the sciences, you could transfer to an instate 4 yr program. Vet schools are difficult to gain admission to, (there are only about 30 in the US, and have limited spots), they want to see at least 3.7 GPA or higher in required undergrad. courses, a high GRE score, a large number of hours of direct animal care, (they don’t count animal shelter work), and want to be certain that the applicant has a clear understanding of what a veterinarian does. Vet school will cover all aspects of animal care of ALL species. It is a very rigorous path over a minimum of 4 years. If you want to specialize, there are additional years to follow.
I think it would be very beneficial as stated by the other posters for you to at least job shadow a vet, talk with some vet tech to get a clear picture.