high school science recs for future vet

[johnandtinagilbert]

this is a cross post, someone said there may be a vet over here....what would you rec. for a course of study for a student interested in becoming a vet, particularly a herp doctor?

Thank you so much.

[CoffeeBean]

Anybody going into any science major in college should have 1 year each of biology, chemistry and physics. The other year of science could be just about anything but should be a lab course (could be 9th grade earth science or AP bio or high school level anatomy & physiology for example). Vet school, like med school is graduate school and people go into it from all sorts of undergraduate majors. Your child should find a college with a program they are interested in and look at their entrance requirements.

 

Coffee Bean

[Sandy in Indy]

My ds is headed for pharmacy school--they recommended 5 science courses for high school. (Bio, Chem, Physics, Adv. Chem and Adv. Bio) I'd guess vet school would also like to see lots of science. I'd suggest that you contact local vet schools and see what they say. I sent my first email to Purdue when ds was in the 7th grade...

[King Alfred Academy]

I believe she is a vet. I know she will post on the general board periodically for people to ask her animal questions. You may want to PM her or something.

[StephanieZ]

Vet school admissions will be solely based on college stuff. . . So, now, the child just needs to prepare for college. . .

 

Things to think about pre-college (assuming homeschooling):

 

* At least bio/chem/physics in highschool. As much science as possible, especially biological sciences. I'd take at least a year of lab science (bio or chem are the most fundamental for medical sciences) at a community college or similar.

 

* Volunteer at a vet's or get a job there once old enough (usually 16). Develop these relationship(s) with vets longterm with twin goals of

 

1) getting to see the profession and make sure it's what you want and

2) getting personal, in-depth recommendations for vet school when time comes. . .

 

* Volunteer or work in/for other animal related things.

 

* Study really hard and plan for being a straight A college student. Get some AP credits or test out of some foreign language, math, etc if possible to help lighten your course load during college (which will include all your college's graduation/major requirements plus all the pre-vet required courses, which are numerous)

 

During college:

 

* get *great* grades. Anything below a 3.5 is a no-go. At least a 3.7 or 3.8 is needed to be a contender unless you're really lucky, really experienced, or really connected.

 

* find out early on the application requirements for your state's (and/or any other schools you might choose non-resident) vet school(s). Track that list of courses (bio, microbio, chem, O chem, genetics, etc.) and plan them into your course of study. (This is where some strategy in high school of testing out of some required coursework will help make room in your course load for all those requirements w/o taking 20 credits a semester and/or having to use every elective choice for a hard science!)

 

* Test well. ;)

 

* Develop quality relationships with professors at school and at least one good vet, ideally 2 vets. These recommendations are crucial. Plan to work at least 500-1000 hours in a vet hospital before your senior year of college, during summers and/or during the school year. Be a great worker and learn a lot and find a vet who will mentor you. Use these opportunities to learn everything you can.

 

* You can major in anything you want (that's almost encouraged), but if it is not science, you'll have to use a lot of electives to fulfill your science needs.

 

* Demonstrate commitment to the field and to animal health/welfare/etc. Both working and volunteer experiences. . . So volunteering for service dog training or a shelter environment. . . etc is valuable.

 

Re: herp vet. . . Each vet school has a certain specialty (chickens, cows, exotics, etc.) and so one of the ones with a strong exotics program (Georgia and Tennessee off the top of dh's head) would be the way to go. Most vet students who have those kinds of interests early on end up focusing on dogs & cats eventually for a variety of reasons, so keep an open mind.

 

Vet med is so cool, and, unfortunately or fortunately depending on one's perspective, lots of others think so also. So, it is really competitive. Keep options open and have a second choice career in mind. Meanwhile, study your brains out.

[Targhee]

I'm not a vet - I was a pre-vet major in college before I switched to zoology so I am familiar with the college pre-vet courses. With that in mind...

 

Definitely biology, math and chemistry. In college you'll have to take the "harder" course of general biology (sometimes a 2-semester series depending on school), general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemsitry. You'll also have to take microbiology, animal science courses (animal nutrition, animal husbandry, etc.), calculus or applied calculus, genetics, molecular biology, and of course some zoology classes (like herpetology).

 

I think the key is a strong foundation in math (especially algebra and preferibly calculus too, although you can take it in college), biology (preferebly AP biology or 2 years of biological sciences), and chemistry (being sure to firmly understand the basics of balancing equations, acid-base chemistry, and molecular modeling).

 

A lot of this can seem really lame when in the end all you want to do is play with lizards and snakes - so I guess another part of the equation is helping your student keep perspective on what needs to happen to reach the end goal. Maybe some visits or interviews with vets would help. I know that before getting into vet school (after undergrad) they pretty much require this to make sure you have a firm understanding of all the aspects of being a vet.

 

HTH