I am starting highschool next year. I have wanted to be a vet my whole life. What are things I can do to help me learn and prepar. I really want to be ready for learning about how to be a vet and I want to start learning things right now because it is very interesting to me!
I'm currently a sophomore at university, and after reflection, I decided to switch from the pre-med (MD/DO) path to the pre-veterinary path. Pre-vet aligned significantly more with my passion, so I made the switch. I didn't grow up around animals at all, and genuinely had no veterinary/animal experience at any kind when making the switch. However, since I decided on changing routes 2 weeks ago, I've already received multiple acceptances into volunteer programs at my local animal shelter.
Outside of Animal experience, my gpa is solid at a 3.7 (and hopefully will increase by the time I apply). I have EXTENSIVE research experience as I started in my freshman year and work in a biomedical mouse lab. I also had a paid internship over the summer to do research at my university. I'm additionally a peer mentor at my university where I represent the science college and get to teach my own freshman advising course to 60 students! On top of these, I'm also very involved in student organizations on campus, (specifically I'm the president of an organization), where I've actively contributed to improving the research scene for undergraduates at my school, making it more accessible to the diverse student population.
The one thing I really lack is animal hours. I want to know if this a plausible switch at this time, and if I could realistically get into a vet school on this track. I'd love to hear any feedback regarding what I would need to pursue veterinary medicine, and how to improve my application as a whole! :)