For all you veternarions now.?

Question

I am a senior in high school this year. I'm unsure what I want to major in when I get to college. I would really appreciate it if some people who are vets or are in the process of becoming one, could give me some detailed information such as: do you have to be super smart?; what does it take?; are classes very difficult?; is it worth it?; is it hard to get into vet school?; please...anything will be helpful....I would greatly appreciate it....I have a huge LOVE for animals, especially dogs.
P.S. If you don't mind, could you tell me what your ACT scores were or should be for people wanting to enter this career? I would just like to compare mine with Veternarians. Thank you.

Answer 1

Thanks, Eric, but I do happen to have my DVM. Glad to know that there are people who think they are psychic, too. ;)

1) No, you do not have to be "super smart". You just have to work VERY hard and MEAN to work hard at what you're doing.
2) It takes alot of confidence .. And you have to know for a fact that you want it.
3) The classes are difficult, but, study hard and the tests will be simple.
4) I think it's worth it. I'm in love with all animals, and I like helping them and their owners.
5) You have again .. WORK hard to get into vet school. Do lots of service. Get a job at PetSmart. I had a job at PetSmart and they helped me. It looks awesome on the application to VetSchool. They get you Avian/Aquatic certifications that stay with you forever! Only 50 students a year get into Vet School in my state, it may be different in yours. I was so happy when I was accepted.

I took my ACT as many times as I could. The highest score stays with you. I took my first ACT score when I was 17 and I got a 31. I was determined. My final score was a 35, though. 36 is the highest, so I was pretty proud.

Never stop trying.

Yes, we do enough hours for the work .. Being on-call is fine with me .. What else do I have to do that is "so very important". It's my CAREER.

Answer 2

It is harder to get into vet school then it is medical school.You need to be strong in math, biology, chemistry.Classes can be very difficult and the hours of study long.Vet school is expensive and it takes years..usually 8. Is it worth it??? If you want to dedicate your life to animals, work long hard hours it is definately worth it. Being a vet can be very rewarding.It can also be extremely frustrating, especially dealing with owners.It can also be heartbreaking..when you loose a pet, have done everything possible for a pet, when the pet belongs to a child or elderly person....
Loving animals is a start but it isn't enough.

Answer 3

why don't you try shadowing a vet in your area. I did this when i was your age and decided screw it they dont make enough for the hours they work, and on call, hell no...

Answer 4

there are no vets here, just people who say they are vets or vet techs

Answer 5

I'm not a vet myself, but I do have a very informative article that answers many of the questions you have. This is from another forum I frequent; ordinarily I'd link to it, but as you have to be a member to view it, I'm just going to copy and paste. This is written by a woman who has a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science - Pre-Veterinary Medicine and is getting her Associates of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology.

"First off, let me describe the different jobs that can be had at a veterinary clinic:

Kennel Attendant:
Pretty self explainatory. Generally the one working in the kennels is a high school student who needs a part time job and wants to work with animals. They are responsible for the feeding, walking/turnout and giving medicine to various boarding and hospitalized patients. It's a good way to get your foot in the door and see what it is like to work in a clinic.

Vet Assistant:
This is a step higher than the kennel attendant, though you normally do have certain duties with the kennel, depending on the place you are at. Vet assistants are able to restrain animals, aid in exams, answer phones, help with whatever the vet or vet tech may require an extra hand in. It's a little more animal involved, but you still should not be doing something that a trained and Certified Veterinary Technician can do. It's a good way to work as you are schooling for vet tech or vet medicine though, as you can put skills to use this way.

Veterinary Technician:
Vet techs are basically like nurses. They do the majority of the work with the animals in the clinic. The only things that a tech cannot do are diagnose, prognose (say what they feel is the outcome of a disease/treatment), prescribe medicine, perform surgery (but in research situations vet techs are often the surgeons) and initiate treatment. They can monitor animals under anesthesia, take and develop x-rays, perform dental prophalaxis, give injections, place and maintain catheters, perform cystocentesis or place a urinary catheter, do the lab and blood work, and many other things that my sleep deprived brain can't think of currently.

If you really love working with animals in a medical field, this is probably the job you will want. Any day I know more about the animals we have in our clinic than my boss does. I spend more time with them, their care is in my hands, and he gets to go and deal with the clients and clinic paperwork. There should be a ratio of 2 techs to every vet. There is probably about .5 techs to every vet. So the job market is huge, and you can be a tech in almost any field. Zoo tech, lab tech, research tech, smallie tech, largie tech, dental tech. Lotsa stuff.

Veterinarian:
The vet spends probably something like 85-90% of their time dealing with clients and paperwork for the clinic that they are in charge of. They rely alot on their technicians and receptionists to keep them on track and make certain that they do what they are scheduled to do for the day. They tend to do as told, going into most exam rooms without knowing what is going on with the animal unless it is one that they have seen enough to know what the problem is. They are the big-wigs, who can diagnose what is wrong with the animal, tell people what the outcomes can be, write out scripts, do surgery (which they are only qualified to do certain things via the training/certification they have) and tend to be the ones to initiate treatment once they decide a course of action that the owner agrees on.

You have to have very good leadership and people skills to be a vet. You will be working with the people more! Every vet that I have worked with/seen works with the clients more than the animal. They come in, do an exam, say what they feel and then head back to either do a surgery or sit back and do the paperwork for the clinic/get caught up on things for the next thing on their list. I do realize that some places have the animals worked with more by the vet, but from what I've seen that's generally largie guys or people who work in such a small town it's not worth having too many people to help them. If they did have help, they could do more and make more money, but location can make a difference. (I know a guy in town here who does the work of a 2-3 vet practice by himself because of how many techs he runs with. Last I knew he had about five.)

That's the basic breakdown of everything there. It's been a year and a half now that I've worked in the vet clinic I have, and from all the others that I've seen. Just so that you have an idea. If you do not want to work with people alot, I do not recommend becoming a veterinarian. They look for people with good social skills, those who are level headed, calm and confident.




Now if after reading that, you do want to be a vet still, I'm going to break that all down for you. If you'd rather go for vet tech I shall break that down for you.

Veterinary Technician:

In order to be a LVT or CVT, you need to go through an accredited school in order to have it count. There is a list of these schools if you go to the vet tech section on www.aasvb.org. Not every state has one and some states have more than one. Each state has different requirements for their vet techs and what they count for you to get licenced either.

Vet tech programs are 2-3 years at a two year school. They cover all things that you need to learn and prepare you for the National Boards. You need to pass this test, graduate from the school and take what exam your state requires for their laws in order to become Certified/Licenced as a vet tech. It's the easier round to go. No it doesn't pay as much but there's jobs everywhere and you work with the animals more.

You have to renew your licence yearly. Each state has a fee. You also have to do continuing education. Each state has a different requirement on CE. Idaho for example requires you to do 14 CE credits in 2 years. Generally going to one convention can set you for that time frame. And some vets will pay for you to go too.

Veterinarian:

I'm going to break this down so that it is broken into various levels so I can give you the tips for each step in the way. Since there is ALOT that's involved for vet's school if you can make it in. Be prepared to have to try and apply more than once. It is RARE that you will ever get in on your first time. The average is 2-3 times before you get accepted. Some go further. And it costs money to apply to colleges.

High School:

The biggest thing you can do in high school is three things.

1. Do well in school. Try for honors/advanced courses. This will help you get into college easier, plus you can take exams for advanced classes and get college credit for them. This cuts back on the amount of credits you will need at college and lets you have more space in your schedule to get ahead or take the time to enjoy yourself. Probably fairly given right?

2. Volunteer at animal shelters/rescues/vet clinics. Get in and see what it is like to work in a vet clinic and just get alot of animal related experience. Even if you are cleaning kennels, or helping people find animals to adopt, you are still working toward those 10,000 hours that you will need in various animal related avenues. There are four different places that they look for you to have experience in: Vet Clinics, Animal Related (Shelters, etc), Government Agencies and Research. It's easier to do government agencies and research (not paper related people. ;D) when you are in college compared to high school. So vet clinic and animal shelters/rescues are good for high school. Also try to do a mix of small and large. It will look better.

3. Join up clubs and more importantly get leadership places in those clubs. Be the treasurer, secretary, vice president or president. If you should leadership and dedication in some groups then it will not only be good on your college transcript and resume, but it will help show that from an early age you have shown an aptitude for dealing with people and taking charge of situations.

College:

Okay. Now that you are in college, save the volunteering/working hours and the leadership you did, the academic feats are moot. They won't help you get into vet's school. Here are the various tips that I have when it comes to things you need for vet's school once you are in college. One big thing to remember. A degree from a certain college is really only as impressive as how much knowledge and expertise you yourself retain and gain from that college. Don't discount state schools or land grant universities simply because they aren't ivy league.

1. Look at what vet schools you want to apply for and make certain to cover all of the requirements for them. Generally most schools have the same requirements with a few twists. Some require more Organic Chemistry. Some want more Math. Others don't require as much. Look up all of the requirements for what vet schools you want to apply for and take as many classes as you can.

2. Take business classes. Why? Because running a clinic requires business know-how. Even if you do not own your own clinic, you may own it with a few other vets and have to share responsibilities. It doesn't hurt to take some classes to prepare for that. It's much easier to do that as an undergrad.

3. The degree you get as your bachelor doesn't matter. As long as you meet the requirements for the vet's school as far as classes go, the end result of the four years you have in undergraduate does not matter. My instructor at the vet tech program had her undergrad degree in microbiology. My degree is in animal science - pre-veterinary medicine. In the end we both meet the requirements.

4. This is a good time to get into research and government agencies. There tend to be research professors on university campuses that need part-time help doing grunt labor in their labs. This is a good way to get hours in research and perhaps get your name on a scientific paper. There are at times alot of government agencies that hire on work in the summers, giving you something interesting and physical to do in the summer. This can all go toward your 10,000 hours. Remember diversity helps you!

5. Keep up with clubs/leadership! There's alot of ways to do this in college. It is important to keep involved, keep showing that you can take charge of a situation and handle the responsibility.

6. Keep your grades up. There are three tiers for the applications for vet's school. If you don't have at least a 3.0 then you don't want to bother applying for a vet's school. It's what stopped me. If you have alot of other things going for you, then as long as you have over a 3.0 then you have a shot!

7. Have fun! Make sure not to let yourself get all burned out. Take some dance classes, or art classes. Show that you have interests outside of studying and harder classes. Not only will they help keep your head together, but they will show that you are a stable person with many interests. It can only help you if you do art/theatre/band instead of hurt you.

Preparing for Vet's School Applicaion:

There is actually alot of things that you need to have in line when you go to apply for vet's school.

1. References/Letters of Recommendation. You want to have these from a few different sources in different areas. Past employers, your professors. You don't want them all from the same place if you can avoid it. Not just everyone from college. Maybe someone you worked for back in high school, or a teacher from then.

2. GRE. Graduate Record Exam. This exam is required for any upperupper division work you want to do. Masters, Doctorate, Medical. You need to have a high score on this in order to earn points in your favor. Everything is scaled when it comes to what points it will earn you for the interview and application status. There are many books to help you prepare and practice exams.

3. Statement of Intent. "I want to be a vet because I love animals." Say that anywhere and they will throw your whole application out. Just because you love animals means nothing. You have to love people. Because the vet is the one that deals with the people. This statement should say exactly why you want to become a veterinarian, what your purpose in applying for it will be. It needs to be thought through carefully. If you can't come up with a reason other than what I said before, don't bother trying for a vet.

4. Be sure you have those 10,000 hours that are required in vet clinics, animal work, research and government agencies. Have it lined out and written up just like a resume. This will be very useful since the more diverse you can have things the better it goes.

5. Make sure that this is the school you want to apply for. Some schools require that you choose your speciality (small, large, mixed, exotic) your second year and once you go that way you have to go all the way back and repeat if you choose another way. It can really set you back and cost you alot if you aren't 100% certain for what you want. Also some schools require you to take a termination class. Others do not. If you have problems with euthanizing animals, you will want a school that gives you a choice in the matter.

6. Let me touch on specialities as far as specialists go. Generally the only real specialists that you see outside of a vet school are orthopods. The guys who do nothing but TPLOs all day and make a few thousand bucks off of each one that they do. There's no doggie OB-GYN, there aren't any pediatric or geriatric vets. Generally vets will run the realm over all of that, and do basic surgeries. If you want to specialize in something prepare for a few things. One, you will have to charge alot. You only do one thing to make a living. You need to charge alot and handle a decent number of clients. Two. You will basically work off of referrals. You won't have a constant clientele. Three. You will likely have to work at a vet school rather than on your own or work in conjunction with other vets because, once again, you only have one thing you do. It's probably easier to make a living if you do a general small, large or mixed practice.

7. Interview. If you get an interview, which is based off of everything that you send in, you need to prepare for that. Dress nicely, sit up straight and look the panel (as it's more than one person) in the eye. Answer questions quickly and throughly. Be up to date on current events in the vet world. Keep a positive attitude and just be yourself. They really are looking for well-rounded, confident people who can handle the responsibility that being a veterinarian means.

You may not always get an interview. You may have to apply more than one time. Be prepared, be flexible and make certain that you have back up plans in motion so that if you do not make it, you will be doing something until you apply again, as there really is only one time to apply. Schools have limited slots for each state. It's VERY competative. Much harder than med's school.

Vet's School:

This is based off of knowledge that I received when speaking with a representative for the Washington State University's Vet School.

1. Your first year is going to be extremely hard. You will have 18-27 credits average of solid science. Generally you are in classes from 8-5 every day. Little room is left for working as you will be studying alot of that time. You have a test every other week and quizes usually twice a week in your classes. You have to stay atop of things or fall behind and that's really not an opinion you want by any means.

2. Have in mind what you want to do as far as specialities. Take classes according to that. Your second and third year are easier than the first from what I've heard, but you definitely will be challenged throughout the whole thing.

3. Your fourth year is going to be an internship. There's alot of places that you can do this. The earlier you think about interning and if you do summer internships anywhere in the country that you can get one (I've met vet students from Penn State and Oklahoma State this summer to name a few) the better chance you have. There's really good and respected programs and there's just your plain old vet who's willing to give you a chance helping in his clinic for a few weeks.

4. Be prepared for your exit exams. The National Boards for Vets make the National Boards I had to take look like a cake walk. Not only will they cover more, but they cost alot more. Plus you have to worry about what state you want to license in. You will have to take a test for the state. Every state has different rules, and you will be required to know them and keep to them. You do not get to speak your mind to clients and force them into what you want to do. You will have to turn your head to alot of things. As the vet, everything your employees do because your responsibility. It's a huge undertaking. You need to be prepared.

After Vet's School:

The average debt after vet's school is 100k. Even with grants/scholarships/help from family, the likelihood is that you will need to take some loans. The average salery for vet students after they get out of vet school tends to start out around 35k and go up from there. You will not be in your own practice right out of vet's school! One, you will have money to pay back. Two, you have never run a clinic before. Best way to run something into the ground is to leap into it without any knowledge.

Most vet students will be spending 5-10 years in practice with another vet or two to build themselves up a clientele and to learn what running a clinic is like. That way when you go off on your own, you have loyal clients that follow you and you have a handle on what you are doing. You will need to get licenses to sell things, to have medicine within your hospital so that people do not have to go to pharmacies for their medicine. You have to worry about morgage on the clinic, paychecks, taxes, yearly fees for various things. The list goes on and on. I have NO idea what my boss has to go through, but I see the result. >> There's days when you just leave him alone when he's on the computer, save to make a few quick comments about something.

It takes time. Remember that. It takes time to build clientele, it takes time to get your own clinic, it takes time to actually make the 45-65k or so that vets tend to get per year. I think the highest that I know of, last I heard, was around 80k or so for large guys, especially equine. Large animal vets are needed more than small animal vets. There's only so many slots for wildlife vets. There's only so many people who can be specialists.

Choose your path wisely."