Hi! I’m currently a high school student, and I just had a few questions on veterinary science.
I know that it is possible to become a veterinarian without going to an undergrad with pre-vet program, but is it harder to get into a vet school without a pre-vet program? Is pre-vet a major, or is it a lot of different classes? Will I need to take specific classes in a normal undergrad school? Can you major in something completely different and go to vet school afterwards? Is it harder for international students to get into vet school?
Sorry for all the questions! Any response will help a lot. Thank you!
Pre-vet is not a major. Many schools do have Pre-vet options within other majors. Each vet school has prerequisites you have to take. Almost all include, biology, physics, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, some math, and humanities classes. Specifics are available for each school you may look into. You can major in anything you want as long as you take the prerequisite classes. My son is animal science with a pre-vet option, others in his class are biology or chemistry or even business with pre-vet options. Many schools will let you apply to vet school as soon as you have completed your pre-requisites and take the GRE (you don’t even have to finish your undergrad degree). BUT is is highly competitive and some schools look more favorably on you having your degree, most do not care what in, they want to see great grades in the prerequisites, particularly the science classes. They also want lots of hours of experience with animals. Try to start that in high school. Shadow a vet if at all possible because that will let you know if you really want to be a vet.
Any undergraduate school will be fine. Go where you can get high grades with low debt. Vet school is expensive so you want to minimize your undergrad costs. There are over a thousand applicants at each vet school each year, some over 3000, for an average of just over 100 enrolled. They usually give preference to in-state students, then OOS, the international so it can be harder.
Don’t overlook the caribbean, british, and australian schools if you are international. Look at all the prerequisites of where you may be interested.
UNITED KINGDOM:
Royal Veterinary College (England):
University College Dublin (Ireland):
University of Edinburgh (Scotland):
University of Glasgow (Scotland):
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND:
Massey University (New Zealand):
University of Melbourne (Australia):
Murdoch University (Australia):
University of Queensland (Australia):
University of Sydney (Australia):
THE ISLANDS:
Ross University (St. Kitts):
St. George’s University (Grenada):
St. Matthew’s University (Cayman Islands)