To go to Vet school, do you get a bachelors degree first?

Question

And if you do, is it better to go to a well know school or will a community college be just as good?

Answer 1

Yes, you need a bachelors degree, but not necessarily one in vet science, i.e. biology and other sciences. The better the school, the better your chances of getting into a program. You can always start off at a community college and transfer to another college if you need to.

Veterinary schools are actually more competitive than medical school because there are a limited number of veterinary colleges (27 in the US).
Here is a list of veterinary schools in the US and Canada
http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/VETSCI/Vet_Schools.asp

Previous experience working with animals is as important as maintaining a high GPA.
The top-ranked program at Cornell provides good information on the admissions requirements and guidelines that they use for accepting applicants:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/hsinfo.htm

Here are some good resource links:
Personal advice from veterinarians

Talk to the Vet
http://www.talktothevet.com/faqvetcareer.HTM

Animal Planet
Becoming a Vet - An Interview with Dr. Roger Mahr
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/e-vets/interns/become-vet/become-vet.html

Dr. Larry’s Pet Vet.com
http://www.drlarrypetvet.com/featured_veterinarian.htm
Look at the two links at the bottom.

About Vets
http://www.vetinfo.com/aboutvets.html

Professional Association:
American Veterinary Medical Association
Becoming a Veterinarian
http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/animatedjourneys/aboutvets/becomingvet.asp
An extremely reliable source as a professional association, this site provides information on defining What is a Veterinarian?, Becoming a Veterinarian, Veterinary Education, Roles of Veterinarians and Employment Outlook.

Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
http://www.aavmc.org/students_admissions/path.htm
This site will be more useful as you begin to explore applying to veterinary colleges. There are statistics and the college information and prerequisites are complied onto one site.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Technically, you may be able to get into a Vet school after three years (according to UC-Davis's web site) -- however, it is rare that it happens. From a practical point of view, you need a BS.

A community college would not be good enough -- as you can't get a BS from a community college.

There are only 28 Vet schools in the US (including a new one in California). Most have residency requirements, where they take very few students from out-of-state. This means that most people have only one or two Vet schools that they can apply to. It is much harder to get into Vet school than medical school (I actually know someone who went to medical school because he couldn't get into Vet school). Therefore, any edge you can create is important. This means that you should go to the best undergraduate program that you can get into, you should get top grades (the average GPA at UC-Davis is about 3.6)m you should get great GRE scores -- and you should have practical experience working with a Vet.

Answer 3

Yes, go to a well known school if you got the money or you can also go to a community college

Answer 4

It doesn't matter where you go as an undergraduate as long as you get your bachelors degree and meet the minimum requirements.