r/veterinaryschool

I have one more day to accept admissions to LMU and I have been absolutely wrecked over it. Their four year projection is showing that I'll need to take out 200k student loans and 200k private loans. When I was looking at a loan repayment calculator, to pay this off in 10 years, it would cost me 4,853.10 a month, which leaves almost nothing left for a mortgage, food, a life. 15 Years would cost 3,822.61 and that still leaves very little. Yes, I could extend it to 20 years but that's 20 years of a still astronomical number, and it's for a piece of paper; not a house.
I never felt I wanted to be anything other than a veterinarian, but if I'm going to be a doctor making money that looks really good on paper, I want to be able to see that money, too. I know everyone has debt, but 400k is so astronomical.
All I've wanted to do was apply at a general veterinarian clinic, give vaccines, do amazing surgeries (I work in research, and I found to absolutely love doing surgery, and I'm really good at it too) and just be happy in that life. But, not if my life is doing all these amazing things that make me feel fulfilled with the work I am doing while also being in so much debt that doesn't translate the pay for rest of my life.

I'm 28 years old now, and I'm so terrified I'm making the wrong decision if I don't go, but I'm also terrified of the numbers I am seeing that'll be my future.

I am venting. I have been sitting on this decision since May 4th. And I don't feel good in the decision to say yes or no.

Hi all, I was writing to see if I can hear about some people's experience with taking out loans and how they supported themselveswhile attending school. I was curious if it was even possible to live off of student loans while attending veterinary school? It seems like working while also in school would be really difficult, and a lot of people told me it's not realistic. I'm curious of hearing about how people did it, and what kinds of loans they took out (ie. federal, subsidized/unsubsidized, private).

Now entering my 4th and final year of vet school and 6 months away from my NAVLE testing window. I've purchased VetPrep, but don't really know how to use it to its max potential. I have been dreading this exam since my first year and have even had night terrors about it. I am not a great test taker, I know that I know more than I think I do but sitting for 7 hours straight in an exam room is literally my worst nightmare. I have started going through VetPrep questions on the lighter topics (practice management, communications, etc) but not really sure how to follow its 'study plan'. I am creating a study guide for all the diseases listed in the ICVA species and diagnosis list and from the countless videos and reddit posts I have gone through I know to get through all the canine and feline diseases. People have said to study the "top 20" for equine and bovine and "top 15" for porcine and small ruminants, but what diseases are considered "top 20"/"top 15". I know Zuku provides a top 20 list for equine, but VetPrep doesn't seem to have something like that. I have some study guides that have spread around TikTok and Reddit from students who have passed the NAVLE, but I still want to create my study guide and not rely too much on other people's resources.

Any tips on how best to use VetPrep? Any other helpful tips or resources out there?

I’m graduating next week with a Bachelor’s in Animal Science. I’ve spent years working hard to maintain my GPA, getting relevant veterinary experience, conducting research, and making connections. I’ve got great reference letters and have done hundreds of hours of volunteering. All for vet school.

However, I can’t afford to go with the loan changes. I’m now applying to ABSN programs to try and make my undergraduate degree something worthwhile, but it is gutting to not be able to even try to get the job I’ve aspired to have for so long. Are any of you going through similar situations?

Hi everyone! What are some online certifications I can get (preferably under 200€/$230) that I can get to gain skills and improve my CV as a final year student? I’m already planning to get a Cat Friendly certification but other than that I don’t know what other options there are. Thanks!

I tried. I really did. But I took the final I was the most worried about on Friday and grades are back. I was a single point away from getting the grade I needed to pass the course. I haven't gotten the official email yet, but its coming. I'm lost, horrified, and disappointed in myself. I'm knee deep in debt with no other skills besides vet med and a relatively new dislike for school. I dedicated so much of my life to this and now I'm in my late twenties with nothing to show for it. I think I might need advice because there's really nowhere to go from here for me.

I'd be grateful for any advice anyone can give.

I am putting together ideas for potential wetlabs for our Emergency & Critical Care club and would love to hear some ideas/suggestions. Currently we have our "Tubeology" wet lab where we practice all kinds of tube placements (ranging from placing IV catheters, central lines, and endotracheal tubes) and our wound care/closure labs. These are our tried and true labs but would love to hear other ideas!

Hey yall about to finish my master degree soon but I do have a worry.So far I been able to maintain As and Bs currently GPA is a 3.89. I all ready been admitted to vet school but they still want a final transcript will my application be rescind if they see a C for one class its not a prerequisite and I taken the class before and finished with an A. To be honest it’s just a class to meet full time student status. But like I mentioned I’m nervous about submitting transcripts. What are yall thoughts? My other classes are As so it would only be this one class

I am very excited about starting ross in august and my question is that I highly recommend advice from ex or rossies as well as current vet school students.

Please give me any tips to better my study habits, stop procrastinating, and be a better quality student in general.
I am also a bad test taker due to anxiety, and would love any advice about HOW CAN I PREP FOR NAVLE SINCE DAY 1!!!!

I would really appreciate it,
Thank you!

(Not sure if the post follows guidelines but it seemed like the best place to ask!)

As someone who’s owned a variety of small animals over their life (guinea pigs, rabbits, rats), why are vets who “specialize” in small animals so far and few between? Over the years myself and people I have known have had such a hard time getting our pets to vets that can properly treat them. When I was younger and my parents took my guinea pig to the vets for a bladder infection, I remember the first office we had gone to actually turned us away.

It’s not like small animals are uncommon- is it just more work than it’s worth or is it the strain of dealing with pets people don’t routinely take to the vet? I’m genuinely just so curious why vets more aren’t more equipped to treat fairly common pets.

Hi all, despite the slightly click-baity title I am genuinely looking for advice. I apologise that this is long but I want to give you the important info. Thank you to anyone who makes it to the end. I'm not fishing for compliments or doing that thing where you say you think you'll fail just so you can get an ego boost when everyone says you wont. If I say something is a certain way, I promise it is.

I'm from the UK. My academic record is distinctly average, I was never a top of class person. As much as I love science it never came naturally to me, I always say "I have a humanities brain that I force to do science". I'm in 2nd year of vet school after doing a foundation year, I'm a mature student who's moving on from a career in human healthcare. I applied thinking "well if I don't get in at least I've tried, and if I do get in they obviously think I'm capable."

All my life I've struggled with a poor memory, it's not that I forget where I've been or who I've spoken to but I struggle to remember details and particularly numbers. I'm the person who will look at something and think "ah yes I must take that with me when I leave" then will leave 2 mins later and not bring it. This was demonstrated over multiple education psychologist assessments. It has always made revision difficult because I can revise something today, and within a few hours I'm already starting to forget or misremember details, and within 24-48hrs I will struggle to recall most of what I revised (I remember doing it, and I remember in a very basic sense, what I studied canine forelimb, or ectoparasites for eg, but I am very unsure of what was what, or any details, if that makes sense). I have found similar problems with my human healthcare job - I forget to do certain things, even if it's something I've done a 100 times before, and struggle to recall facts. My job is very clinical and autonomous and it really undermines your confidence when you never know if you've forgotten something important.

I got through exams in the past by doing past papers, the repeatition reinfored things enough that pattern recognition got me the rest of the way. Also, I generally find concepts easier to remember than plain facts.

Vet school has been a real struggle. I have still not found the sweet spot of how to work. I think the best way for me to work in a perfect world is to write my own notes based on the lecture slides to distill out the important information rephrased in a way I can easily understand. Then make a combination of flashcards, posters or "mix and match games" to reinforce it. I tried this in 1st year but the volume of content meant I simply didn't have the time and I'd get to the exam period having only just finished writing my flashcards but not having time to study any of them. I somehow passed 1st year, though a combination of getting lucky on some exams and being able to draw upon my existing knowledge from humans. 2nd year has been even worse because the content has been much more about learning facts rather than concepts (eg: individual parasites or diseases). I still work 15hrs a week which doesn't help either.

In 2nd year I decided to focus on making my revision aids (mostly flashcards) early and therefore hopefully having time to practice. I took pre-existing flashcards (from VetRevise) and studied them each day. The problem with this approach was a) there were an average of 30-40 cards per lecture which combined with the amount of content, means even now I'm only getting to studying stuff from January! b) they're written by other people so often I don't always understand what they're asking, c) you end up learning a series of isolated facts without a greater over-arching view which can help understanding, d) the volume means even ones I've seen multiple times don't stick. Basically one way I end up with revision aids that work but no time left to study them, and the other I end up studying from resources that don't work.

I'm now faced with going into the exam season in the next few weeks woefully under-prepared. We've had some revision sessions this week and everyone else is debating with each other the finer details of the content and I don't even have the first clue what they're talking about (and I don't hang out with the proper brain-boxes).

Basically, I fully expect to fail these exams, nor do I think I deserve to pass considering how little I actually know. I might be able to scrape through the resits in August with enough revision but even if I do I just feel like I'm on a downward trajectory. 1st year was tough, this year has been even harder, and if this is such a struggle is it even worth doing the rest of the course if by some miracle I get through? I just feel so behind compared to literally everyone else and the worst part is I don't know what to do about it. Do I really want to qualify into a career like veterinary if I don't have even a basic foundational knowledge that I can rely on? Do I really want to put myself in a position where I need to do surgery when I can't consistently remember basic anatomy or have confidence that I'll remember important parts of the procedure?

Sorry for such a long post but I don't know who else to get advice from. Everyone else I've asked either says "you'll be fine, you always say you'll fail and you always get through" (which isn't true incidentally) or they say "everyone feels this way, it's just what vet school is like" but that doesn't account for why everyone else is able to debate whether a certain muscle is innovated by nerve A or nerve B and yet I don't even know which muscle it is.

Does anyone have any advice? Should I carry on or is this just a sunk-cost fallacy where I'm throwing good money and time after bad? Is it time to admit that I'm just one of those people who isn't capable? If you do think I should carry on, do you have ANY advice on how to cope with the workload and still be able to have the time to revise in the kind of way I need to? Has anyone found a reliable way of revising things like parasites, diseases and other "plain facts"?

Thank you so much

ps: I have spoken to the vet school about the above, they basically say "everyone finds it hard" and "you just need to get to Year 4 and the clinical part then you'll be fine"

I go to Massey in NZ and am planning to take the NAVLE next year. I’m originally from California, but I don’t want to register my state when taking the exam, because I don’t know if I immediately want to return to the states after finishing school. Has anybody registered their state with ICVA and then sent their scores to the state they wish to work in later on? I was wondering if I could get some perspective from people who have done this, and if it’s a possible/realistic plan.

Copied from SDN. I would appreciate any and all advice ❤️

Hello! Thank you for taking a moment to offer any advice!

I am gearing up for my 3rd cycle, and the rejections have definitely been taking a toll on my mental health. I have let the notion of being a veterinarian meld with my idea of self-worth and it’s really messing with my head. I am 28 years old and I feel SO behind. I have mentored so many current veterinary students and it’s so frustrating to watch them achieve my dream. Regardless, I have made a promise to myself to really work on my mental health and start therapy. I think even by making this post and realizing that I have accomplished so much over the years, is very helpful. I hope someone else can look at this as a fellow non trad and maybe not feel so alone.

As for my application, I know my GPA(s) are my main hinderance. I stupidly have a few Fs on my transcript because I didn’t use a Q or a W for health reasons. I regret so much not using my Qs and letting those mistakes tank my GPA. I had quite a few personal and health troubles in undergrad and truly did not do the best I know I was capable of back then.

I have a pretty length “gap” as I found a passion in zookeeping and shadowing under the zoo’s veterinarians immediately after undergrad. This solidified my goal of becoming an exotic animal veterinarian; however, it took much longer than I had planned to step away and refocus on going back to school. I am very proud of my performance in my master’s program; however, I am concerned that I may have made a mistake by choosing not to retake my prerequisite courses at that time and instead focusing on new upper-division science courses. I am commited to retaking more prerequisites and trying to boost my science GPA, I am just not sure the best way to do that.

My big questions:
Which schools look more kindly towards older prerequisites? My oldest is Gen Chem 1/2 taken in Fall of 2015.
I am planning on retaking Ochem 1 and Phys 1through UCSan Deigo extension this summer, but would appreciate any other advice if there is a better option I should consider. I need an online option, but I am worried about certain schools not taking this transfer credit.
Any other schools I should add to the list?
Am I doomed? (this is a joke)
(2024-2025 Cycle)
TAMU (IS): Denied Phase 1
Kansas: Interview Waitlisted, Not offered Interview

(2025-2026 Cycle)

TAMU (IS): Denied Phase 1
Kansas: Denied
Michigan: Denied (Did not meet science prereq)
Iowa: Waitlisted

(2026-2027 Cycle)
I would really like to keep trying at TAMU, but that’s probably futile with my grades.
MSU,Iowa, Oregon, CSU, Kansas? (I think I have officially timed out of their prereqs) + others after some more research

Cumulative GPA: TMDSAS: 3.14 / VMCAS 3.18
Science GPA: TMDSAS 2.92 / VMCAS 3.09 / 3.17 ISU
Last 45: 3.6 / 3.52 ISU

Any degrees achieved:
Bachelor of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries (Vertabrate Zoology) May 2019, final GPA 3.025
Master of Science in Biomedical Science, May 2025, final GPA 3.8

GRE results: Not taken

Veterinary Experience:
- Research Animal Technician for Schubot Center for Avian Health (~4000)
(Current full-time job)
- Wildlife Chemical Immobilization class at Texas A&M (60)
- Veterinary Technician 1 - Ward Nurse in Texas A&M Large Animal ICU (760)
- Veterinary Shadow in South Africa (64)
- Veterinary Technician 1 in Texas A&M Large Animal ICU (525)
- Aggieland Humane Society Spay and Neuter Unit (63)
- Veterinary Technician Assistant in Texas A&M Large Animal ICU (3800)
- Veterinary Shadow at Fossil Rim (35)
- Head Zookeeper (was promoted and focused more 1on1 with veterinarians) (1800)
- Veterinary Shadow in Costa Rica (86)
- Wildlife Rehabilitation with Veterinarian (50)
- Veterinary Shadow with GP/Exotic (156)
- Veterinary Shadow with GP (180)
- Texas A&M Veterinary Enrichment Camp (24)

Animal Experience:
- South African 2-week Study Abroad (160)
- Zookeeper (6000)
- Student worker at Schubot Center for Avian Health (undergrad) (1700)
- Pet Sitting Business (3000)
- Animal Shelter (50)
- Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team (150)
- Intern Coordinator at Zoo (250)
- Hand raised Red Kangaroo, Capybara, Ring Tailed Lemur, Coati

Research Experience:
ABV Vaccine Challenge Study (60)
Quaker Parrot Nutrition Study (90)

Awards/scholarships:
- $3,900 from various sources in undergrad
- $8,000 from various sources in graduate school
- $30,000 TSHA Scholarship that fully funded my room/food during all 4 years of undergrad
- Distinguished HS Diploma
- IB Diploma

Extracurriculars:
- Costa Rica Semester Study Abroad
- DFW Hotline Volunteer (Wildlife Rehab) (Grad)
- Member, Historian and eventually Vice President of Rotaract Club at Texas A&M University (Undergrad)
- Member of Wildlife Society at Texas A&M (Undergrad)
- One Health Learning Community at Texas A&M (Undergrad)
- Cultural Leadership Understanding, and Exploration (CLUES) seminar semester at Texas A&M (Undergrad)
- Member of Zoological Club at Texas A&M (Undergrad)
- Founder of Westlake Academy Interact Club (HS)
- Student Teacher for Junior Naturalist Club (HS)
- Executive Council for Project Unify (HS)
- Aggieland Rotary Club (Grad/Post Grad)
- Purdue University, Conservation and Veterinary Medicine Online Certificate Program

Employment:
- Nanny in HS (1200)
- All other employment is either animal or veterinary coded

As of right now, my dream job is to be a livestock vet, specializing in grazing cattle and wildlife - livestock transmitted diseases, or maybe even a sports dog vet (hunting dogs specifically) I’ve heard bad things about the veterinary profession and vet school so I figured I would say a few things about me to get advice on whether or not vet school would be good for me.

I’m an FFA chapter reporter, I’ve raised turkeys, pigs and lambs. I have an Animal Science CTE pathway, experience with cattle and horses. I’m a very hands on learner and I’m very passionate about animals.

Based on this, would I be good for vet school?

Btw, idk if this breaks the rules and counts as pre-vet. Just ban me if I did.

I got coated this weekend. My mom missed it to walk a half marathon the day after. (She walks it every year) For context my mom and I have a lot of issues. I'm feeling very down today, esp seeing other students post pics with their moms. Idk there's no real point to this post, I'm just sad and angry, I put so much work into getting here. It's been my dream since kindergarten, and she couldn't even try. My dad is my rock and my life and he was there, so that's great, but I wish I had a relationship with my mom like all my friends do.

I was at the pet store today and out of nowhere this young Rottweiler started lunging and barking its head off at me and going crazy just for walking past to get to the register (at a distance and I wasn't even looking at it). For some reason it sent me into a freeze response, like my body genuinely felt like it was in a war zone (had a rough childhood and sudden loud noises make me flinch). I've literally committed to a vet school and will likely be attending this fall but things like this make me worry that I'm not cut out for it. I've worked with dogs before, but the constant barking among many other things used to really get to me and I ended up leaving the clinic after 3 years to explore other avenues of vetmed. In addition I found most dog owners completely insufferable as clients. Well trained dogs are hard to come by and most people humanize their dogs as a way to project onto them. No other animal consistently had batshit crazy humans accompanying them (and we saw all kinds of species). On top of that I found it annoying that most dogs came in for self inflicted conditions (insane foreign bodies, "happy tail", being constantly fed human food and pancreatitis-maxxing which is the human's fault, but they gotta humanize their dogs...). I wanted to learn medicine, not just be spending my day helping these creatures vomit up 12 used tampons and a panty!

I know I'm obviously going to have to be around lots of dogs in vet school and that it's a very canine dominated field, and I'm willing to put up with it for 4 years. Obviously I don't let my feelings show outwardly, I treated my canine patients the same as any other animal and nobody could tell how I really felt about them, and I could never tell my future classmates because I think it's a very taboo outlook to have. But am I doomed? I'm very passionate about so many aspects of this field. I know there are many pathways for DVMs that don't involve direct canine interaction. But it's kind of weird to be a dog-averse veterinarian, don't you think? I didn't expect to get in anywhere and now that I did, I'm having second thoughts.... I'd love some advice or perspective, please be nice to me I know most people probably won't like this post :/ I'm really trying to get out of this feeling and am even working on it in therapy.

I’m going to be a first year at CSU in the fall and I know they have a Colorado business casual dress code… what does that entail? Can any CSU students tell me what flies and what doesn’t, and how strict the dress code is?

Can I wear a plain T-shirt under a flannel? A carhartt jacket? Do people just wear scrubs to class? I’m trying to figure out how much of my wardrobe I have to overhaul 😅

Guys veterinary k liye kya safe score ho skta h