Veterinary medicine is a scientific field. Therefore you will be taking LOTS of science classes whether you think it makes sense or not! A Bachelor's degree is actually NOT required for admission into veterinary school, but it does improve your chances of getting in if you are working towards completing your degree. Most schools only require that you have 60-90 credits of undergraduate course work to be admitted. Another thing to note, vet schools will say they have "minimums" to get in, these will most likely not get you into vet school. Vet schools say they require a 2.5-3.0 minimum GPA to apply, but the average of accepted students usually ranges from 3.4-3.7. Try to set your standards high!
You can major in anything you want and still apply to vet school AS LONG as your have all the pre-reqs done. The standard pre-reqs for vet schools are
-General Chemistry 1 + 2 (with labs)
-Organic Chemistry 1 + 2 (with labs)
-Biochemistry (some schools require a lab some don't, usually 1 semester will suffice)
-Biology 1 + 2 (Basic level bio class)
-Microbiology with Lab
-Physics 1 + 2 (with labs)
-English/Writing (3 credits)
^^ These are the core pre-reqs for MOST schools-some require more
Additional pre-reqs:
-Algebra or Calculus (Calculus looks better since it is higher level course)
-Genetics
-Animal Nutrition (some schools)
-Upper level Science Courses
-General Electives (3-12 credits)
-Every school is different
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO FIND OUT WHAT EACH SCHOOL SPECIFICALLY WANTS!! DON'T ASSUME IF YOU MEET ONE SCHOOL'S CRITERIA YOU'LL MEET ANOTHER. PLEASE PLEASE CHECK EACH SCHOOL'S REQUIREMENTS.
Applying is expensive!!!! Don't waste your money and chance on a school because you didn't check ahead of time! Also if schools require Algebra and you only took Calculus, don't assume that's acceptable, contact the school and ask. Schools are good at getting back to you in a timely manner. If you are unsure your animal nutrition class will meet their expectation, then ASK. Especially if it is a vet-tech nutrition class, some schools like Florida and North Carolina will NOT accept it (as of 2013).
It is not solely your adviser's responsibility to make sure you are taking all the classes that you need to take. Keep track of this yourself as well and plan out your years/semesters in advance to make sure you will get all your pre-reqs done on time. Most schools will only allow you to have 1-2 remaining pre-reqs that you can take in your last Spring semester. They specifically say that NO pre-reqs can be taken the summer before vet school starts. So get them done early!
Obviously it is important to get GOOD grades in your pre-reqs. These classes let schools know that you can handle the rigorous science curriculum in veterinary school. You do NOT need a 4.0 GPA to get in to vet school. If you have a 4.0 KUDOS TO YOU, that's amazing! If you do not then that is okay because your GPA is only a FRACTION of your application. But with some schools they will use your GPA and GRE scores as the first screening of your application, and if they are not good enough, your application will not make it to the next step :( And I certainly received a few rejections because of this!
These pre-req classes are CHALLENGING and you WILL find yourself thinking "maybe I'm not cut out for this-this is way too hard." I felt like this several times during my freshman and sophomore years! DO NOT GIVE UP! I HIGHLY recommend tutoring and getting a tutor ASAP, the moment you start to feel lost in a class. Ask your professor for help-they will help you! There are lots of resources available to you so that you can do well but it is up to you to use them!
You should definitely strive for A's and B's for obvious reasons. A couple of C's are ok! If you feel that you are doing worse than that and will not be able to pull off at least a C, then WITHDRAW. C is usually the lowest grade a school will take for a pre-req (some say C-). A couple W's on your transcripts will not hurt you. The first time I took Physics I KNEW it wasn't going to end well-and I withdrew.
Some people think that if you take a class twice and received an F in the first time and an A in the second time that schools will only take the A-NO. Most schools average ALL of your classes, whether retaken or NOT. This is why it is sometimes better to withdraw from a class so it does not affect your GPA for the worse.
This all seems complicated, I know. Just do your best-you do need to prove that you can handle these classes but there are also other parts of your application: animal experience, job experience, research experience, veterinary experience, personal statement, honors/awards, GRE scores, that will all be taken in to consideration as well.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Traveling
I think that it is very important to travel to difference places, especially studying abroad. I feel that it really broadens your horizons and opens your mind up to so much more that is out there. It is important to go out of your comfort zone and traveling definitely involves doing that! Also, vet schools LOVE these kind of experiences on your applications and I was questioned about mine at interviews.
During my senior year of high school I was chosen by an organization called "People to People" to be a student ambassador and travel to Europe for three weeks during the summer following my high school graduation. I was told that a faculty member had picked me but that it had to remain anonymous. (I think that they just sent out letters to everyone to see whose parents would fork over the money for the trip, but hey, who knows)
A group of about 40 students were chosen ranging from 7th-12th grade (me being the oldest). We traveled to France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. This was an educational trip and we visited numerous landmarks, museums, chapels, and famous areas. Not only did I learn a TON on this once in a lifetime trip, but I saw so many amazing things and I was able to appreciate all the art and history that I learned about in school. When you travel to different places and countries you learn about the culture, history, and economics and it opens your mind up to things that might be different from what your used to. You may also experience or see a lot of things that you don't see at home such as poverty, different living conditions, etc.
Some of the places that I went to are Versailles/Gardens, the Louvre, Fragonard Parumeur, Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; Strasburg, France, Lucerne, Switzerland, learned how to make apple strudel in a culinary institute in Innsbruck, Austria, stayed with a German family in Munich, Salsburg, Austria, Mauthausen Concentration camp, Vienna (where the famous James Bond ferris wheel is), Medeival Ages camp in Freseich, Austria, Venice, Florence, and Rome in Italy.
Some of my favorite places and experiences from this trip were traveling to Paris, France and seeing the Eiffel tower, it is HUGE. Seeing the Mona Lisa (really tiny).
I LOVED Switzerland, it was so calm and peaceful and beautiful there!
My favorite part was staying with a German family in Munich, Germany, so COOL. I stayed with a family of 4, mom, dad, brother and sister. I became close to the mom and daughter and they showed me around town, we went to a huge museum, the Olympic Park, the beer gardens, I got to try wiener schnitzel! I also got to go to school with Andrea for the day which was cool! Most of the students spoke some English and of course I attended the English class-guess what they were doing that day?? Watching the Simpsons!! (in English)
I got to see around town like a "normal" person instead of with a huge group of obvious tourists. It was nice to see the day life of the town.
The family was super nice! I don't have a picture of the dad because he worked practically the whole time. (Mom stays at home) However, dad worked for BMW and they had 2 BMW cars themselves...very nice.
Olympia Park was huge! It was really cool to be where they Olympics once took place!
And of course ITALY-AMAZING. My favorites cities were definitely Rome and Venice!
The Colosseum!
The leaning Tower of Pisa, Florence, Italy.
I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to go on this once in a lifetime trip!! I encourage you to travel to different places and take advantage of travel abroad opportunities that your school has! Yes, it does cost money to go on these trips. But there are ways to fund raise and pay for them! You will not regret these amazing experiences and like I said before, vet schools LOVE to see that you have these types of experiences!
During my senior year of high school I was chosen by an organization called "People to People" to be a student ambassador and travel to Europe for three weeks during the summer following my high school graduation. I was told that a faculty member had picked me but that it had to remain anonymous. (I think that they just sent out letters to everyone to see whose parents would fork over the money for the trip, but hey, who knows)
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| People to People Student Ambassadors July 2009 |
A group of about 40 students were chosen ranging from 7th-12th grade (me being the oldest). We traveled to France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. This was an educational trip and we visited numerous landmarks, museums, chapels, and famous areas. Not only did I learn a TON on this once in a lifetime trip, but I saw so many amazing things and I was able to appreciate all the art and history that I learned about in school. When you travel to different places and countries you learn about the culture, history, and economics and it opens your mind up to things that might be different from what your used to. You may also experience or see a lot of things that you don't see at home such as poverty, different living conditions, etc.
Some of the places that I went to are Versailles/Gardens, the Louvre, Fragonard Parumeur, Eiffel Tower in Paris, France; Strasburg, France, Lucerne, Switzerland, learned how to make apple strudel in a culinary institute in Innsbruck, Austria, stayed with a German family in Munich, Salsburg, Austria, Mauthausen Concentration camp, Vienna (where the famous James Bond ferris wheel is), Medeival Ages camp in Freseich, Austria, Venice, Florence, and Rome in Italy.
Some of my favorite places and experiences from this trip were traveling to Paris, France and seeing the Eiffel tower, it is HUGE. Seeing the Mona Lisa (really tiny).
My favorite part was staying with a German family in Munich, Germany, so COOL. I stayed with a family of 4, mom, dad, brother and sister. I became close to the mom and daughter and they showed me around town, we went to a huge museum, the Olympic Park, the beer gardens, I got to try wiener schnitzel! I also got to go to school with Andrea for the day which was cool! Most of the students spoke some English and of course I attended the English class-guess what they were doing that day?? Watching the Simpsons!! (in English)
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| My host siblings-at the museum |
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| My host sister-Andrea |
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| My host mother! |
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| Olympia Park |
The family was super nice! I don't have a picture of the dad because he worked practically the whole time. (Mom stays at home) However, dad worked for BMW and they had 2 BMW cars themselves...very nice.
Olympia Park was huge! It was really cool to be where they Olympics once took place!
And of course ITALY-AMAZING. My favorites cities were definitely Rome and Venice!
The Colosseum!
Typical Gonzalo-ing in Venice! The leaning Tower of Pisa, Florence, Italy.
I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to go on this once in a lifetime trip!! I encourage you to travel to different places and take advantage of travel abroad opportunities that your school has! Yes, it does cost money to go on these trips. But there are ways to fund raise and pay for them! You will not regret these amazing experiences and like I said before, vet schools LOVE to see that you have these types of experiences!
Monday, February 17, 2014
One thing that people (probably) don't know about me if they don't know me is that I was born profoundly hearing impaired ( approx 90% loss in my left ear and 70% loss in my right ear) -ever watch Switched at Birth?? Being deaf is NOT a loss it is a GAIN! I fully believe this! My hearing loss has made me who I am today, has taught me many lessons that I may not have otherwise learned, and I would not want it ANY other way. Yes, it caused delays in my learning, speech,and pragmatic skills and yes I still have situations in my everyday life where my hearing impairment gets the best of me. No, I do not know sign language (besides the alphabet and a few signs) I read lips very effectively. I do wear a hearing aid in my right ear which helps me but I do need people to look at me when they talk!
Ironically my vision is awful too ha, legally blind without contacts/glasses and my friends and husband jokingly call me Helen Keller.... Thanks guys! ;)
Along with my hearing impairment, I grew up as an only child, no siblings :( who did I make friends with and talk to? You guessed it- animals! Welcome to the roots of my veterinary career :) I owe my life to animals and I made a promise that I would spend my life helping them in return.
I found myself turning to animals for companionship at a young age and learned how amazing and STRONG the human-animal bond is at a very young age. I later wrote my undergrad thesis paper on the human-animal bond (will post that later).
My first two pets were my 2 cats, Gizmo, FS black DLH, and Silver, MN grey DSH. Miss you babies! I started breeding and showing guinea pigs when I was 8-9 years old. I know most people are like what? Showed guinea pigs? Is this girl serious? Yes lol it is like showing dogs, there are different breeds of guinea pigs and they are judged on their colors and conformation. No I did not run them around a ring on a collar and leash as one of interviewers asked me at Tennessee!
I started a dog walking business when I was 10 and would walk dogs for an hour for a dollar, talk about cheap labor lol if only I knew... I ALWAYS wanted a dog but my parents (mom) would not let me get one for anything until I was 19! I started riding horses and eventually got my very own appendix QH when I was 13 years old after I lost 60 pounds ( a bet I made with my parents and a story for later!) I worked at the barn where I rode and boarded my horse and got thousands of equine animal experience there.
Once high school started (overrated) I was very shy and introverted, well I still am now but feel I have improved and have grown so much as a person since, I mean I'm blogging! I couldn't even talk to boys HA and was scared of what everyone thought of me (what a joke now) and yet I was the youngest and first to get married out of everyone I know... Funny how life works!
I did my first internship at a veterinary hospital during my junior year of high school and shadowed for roughly 70 hours. It helped me get a feel for a veterinary hospital and what a typical day in a small animal hospital was like. I did not really get much hands on animal experience but surprisingly was taught a lot of lab skills. Something to mention is that my 2 mentors, who it still have some contact with almost 8 years later! Were vet techs! The veterinarian actually probably cared less that I was there and the techs showed me everything there and that was when I first heard about Medaille and the vet tech program from both of them. One of them was in the process of applying ( and recently graduated from KSU!!) and told me about the Student Doctor Forum! I'm sure many professional students know about this network and it is ADDICTING, especially during the application cycle. Anyways that was my first experience in the veterinary field and it only confirmed my life's aspirations, and the fact that I love scrubs :)
So anyways my first semester of undergrad was not at Medaille, it was at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, known for its great pre-vet and equestrian programs. I loved the school and professors and the program but did get homesick :( I wasn't very involved in outside activities, didn't attempt to make friends that much, not to mention my roommate and I DID NOT get along and I felt like I was her mother.... My husband ( boyfriend) at the time would meet half way in Mentor, Ohio to see each other EVERY weekend. I just knew that I would be happier in my hometown, good ol Buffalo. I missed working a job, driving my car, seeing my friends, having a life. I was also going through MAJOR pre-vet stress, with the sudden realization that pre-vet classes/ pre-reqs are hard and that vet school is extremely COMPETITIVE, I may not even get in! I was also having anxiety with deaths in my family and hometown. I decided to come back home and attend Medaille for the veterinary technology program to use as a back up in case I don't get into vet school. This was a very hard decision for me and I did not have my family's support at first. Most people ( my friends and parents) probably thought I wanted to come home because I missed my boyfriend, which of course I did but clearly I am much more mature than that and there were many other factors considered. I AM SO HAPPY I WENT THIS WAY AND MADE THIS DECISION! I have no regrets, everything happens for a reason.
I will continue in my next post with my experiences during undergrad!
Ironically my vision is awful too ha, legally blind without contacts/glasses and my friends and husband jokingly call me Helen Keller.... Thanks guys! ;)
Along with my hearing impairment, I grew up as an only child, no siblings :( who did I make friends with and talk to? You guessed it- animals! Welcome to the roots of my veterinary career :) I owe my life to animals and I made a promise that I would spend my life helping them in return.
I found myself turning to animals for companionship at a young age and learned how amazing and STRONG the human-animal bond is at a very young age. I later wrote my undergrad thesis paper on the human-animal bond (will post that later).
My first two pets were my 2 cats, Gizmo, FS black DLH, and Silver, MN grey DSH. Miss you babies! I started breeding and showing guinea pigs when I was 8-9 years old. I know most people are like what? Showed guinea pigs? Is this girl serious? Yes lol it is like showing dogs, there are different breeds of guinea pigs and they are judged on their colors and conformation. No I did not run them around a ring on a collar and leash as one of interviewers asked me at Tennessee!
I started a dog walking business when I was 10 and would walk dogs for an hour for a dollar, talk about cheap labor lol if only I knew... I ALWAYS wanted a dog but my parents (mom) would not let me get one for anything until I was 19! I started riding horses and eventually got my very own appendix QH when I was 13 years old after I lost 60 pounds ( a bet I made with my parents and a story for later!) I worked at the barn where I rode and boarded my horse and got thousands of equine animal experience there.
Once high school started (overrated) I was very shy and introverted, well I still am now but feel I have improved and have grown so much as a person since, I mean I'm blogging! I couldn't even talk to boys HA and was scared of what everyone thought of me (what a joke now) and yet I was the youngest and first to get married out of everyone I know... Funny how life works!
I did my first internship at a veterinary hospital during my junior year of high school and shadowed for roughly 70 hours. It helped me get a feel for a veterinary hospital and what a typical day in a small animal hospital was like. I did not really get much hands on animal experience but surprisingly was taught a lot of lab skills. Something to mention is that my 2 mentors, who it still have some contact with almost 8 years later! Were vet techs! The veterinarian actually probably cared less that I was there and the techs showed me everything there and that was when I first heard about Medaille and the vet tech program from both of them. One of them was in the process of applying ( and recently graduated from KSU!!) and told me about the Student Doctor Forum! I'm sure many professional students know about this network and it is ADDICTING, especially during the application cycle. Anyways that was my first experience in the veterinary field and it only confirmed my life's aspirations, and the fact that I love scrubs :)
So anyways my first semester of undergrad was not at Medaille, it was at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, known for its great pre-vet and equestrian programs. I loved the school and professors and the program but did get homesick :( I wasn't very involved in outside activities, didn't attempt to make friends that much, not to mention my roommate and I DID NOT get along and I felt like I was her mother.... My husband ( boyfriend) at the time would meet half way in Mentor, Ohio to see each other EVERY weekend. I just knew that I would be happier in my hometown, good ol Buffalo. I missed working a job, driving my car, seeing my friends, having a life. I was also going through MAJOR pre-vet stress, with the sudden realization that pre-vet classes/ pre-reqs are hard and that vet school is extremely COMPETITIVE, I may not even get in! I was also having anxiety with deaths in my family and hometown. I decided to come back home and attend Medaille for the veterinary technology program to use as a back up in case I don't get into vet school. This was a very hard decision for me and I did not have my family's support at first. Most people ( my friends and parents) probably thought I wanted to come home because I missed my boyfriend, which of course I did but clearly I am much more mature than that and there were many other factors considered. I AM SO HAPPY I WENT THIS WAY AND MADE THIS DECISION! I have no regrets, everything happens for a reason.
I will continue in my next post with my experiences during undergrad!
Intro
So I wish I could have started a blog sooner (like high school) so I could share my journey and help others with theirs! But it's never to late to start, so here I am!
My name is Lauren, I am currently 22 years old and married ( but that's a different story that I WILL definitely tell another time) and I have recently been ACCEPTED TO VETERINARY SCHOOL!!!!!!! CAN I GET A WOOT WOOT! I have been working towards vet school since I was like 10 years old and it has been one HELL of a journey. It is NOT easy but it is WORTH it. I am going to tell you how I got here, WHO I AM, what experiences I received, education, what classes I took and when, what professionals I networked with and received recommendations from, where I traveled, what I did, etc etc. I am also going to write throughout veterinary school because I think this is a really cool thing to do and I will definitely look back at it.
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| This is me. I make birthday cakes and banners for my pets birthdays. I know I'm nuts ;) |
The title of my blog is LVT2DVM. I am currently working as a licensed veterinary technician in the state of New York. One of the first things you will hear upon learning about this field is how people outside of the field mix up technicians and veterinarians when it comes to education, schooling, and more. You will then learn that most veterinary schools FROWN upon becoming or working as a licensed/registered/certified technician prior to applying...WHAT? Why? I still do not understand the thinking behind that. I have been told that vet schools want students with a "clean slate," no "set way" of doing things, whatever. I feel that my education and experience as a LVT have prepared me me SO much more for veterinary school and being a veterinarian then if I had decided not to go that route. I was lucky to attend an undergraduate institution that offered a dual degree program so I was able to earn my associates in veterinary technology and bachelors in Biology in 4 years, go class of 2013! It was a very rigorous program and prepared me well.
Anyways I guess I will start from the beginning and go chronologically in order here.... I will also include posts on things like euthanasia, certain issues in vet med and life in general :) if anyone reads this??... Feel free to leave comments, questions, or whatever:)
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