r/prevets

I am graduating 2027 with my BS, and although I want to apply to vet school, I really want to focus on backups in case I don't get in my first cycle. I have a 3.4 GPA, so I want to focus on doing stuff to boost my gpa. Idk if I should do a master's or just take individual classes online after I graduate or do a graduate certificate. I have less than 1k animal/clinical hours but a diverse set of experiences (the schools I am interested in, I already meet their hour reqs, so I am not going to focus on that rn). I will be moving to Europe for a year and I cannot work due to my visa, which also limits things. Does anyone have any plan B or plan C in case they don't get in the first cycle? I know I will keep applying but I want to genuinely do smth during this gap year/years.

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to get some advice from people who have actually gone through this journey.

My sister-in-law just graduated high school, and she's one of the most driven and compassionate people I know. She absolutely loves animals and has wanted to work in animal care for as long as I can remember.

Unfortunately, she doesn't come from a family that has experience navigating higher education or professional careers. There isn't really anyone around her who knows what resources are available or how to plan a path toward a career like this. I'd like to help change that by making sure she at least has access to good information and can make informed decisions.

Right now, her plan is to become a Veterinary Technician. She genuinely loves the hands-on aspect of animal care, but she's also choosing this route because it's financially more realistic for her. She's also worried that she may not be academically "good enough" to get accepted into, or successfully complete, veterinary school.

I've encouraged her not to sell herself short. My thought was that becoming a Vet Tech could give her valuable clinical experience, allow her to earn a living doing something she loves, and help her decide whether becoming a veterinarian is something she wants to pursue later.

I'd love to hear from people who have been in similar situations.

• Is starting as a Vet Tech a good pathway if the long-term goal might be veterinary school?
• If she eventually decides to become a veterinarian, what would the most efficient educational path look like from here, where she can pursue an undergraduate degree that allows her to become a technician first, but also keeps the door to he becoming a vet later in life without having to pursue any additional pre-requisites for vet school?
• Are there prerequisites she should be planning for now so she doesn't have to start from scratch later?
• Are there scholarships, grants, loan repayment programs, or other financial resources that are especially helpful for students with limited financial support?
• Is there anything she should avoid doing that could make the transition to vet school more difficult later?

My biggest goal is simply to help her keep doors open. Even if she ends up loving life as a Vet Tech, that's a wonderful career. But I don't want financial concerns or a lack of guidance to be the reason she never explores becoming a veterinarian if that's ultimately what she wants.

I'd really appreciate any advice, experiences, or resources you can share. Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

I currently work as an unlicensed tech, which I will be using under my vet hours on my application. However, my clinic asked me to learn and
work in the reception area while others are out on vacation.

This being said, would this count towards animal or non animal experience?

Yes, it relates to animals but I’m not physically handling them or working with them which is why I wasn’t sure what category it would fall under.

Thank you!

Hi everyone, despite my best efforts my grade for English 3 over the summer is a low B (yes I went to tutoring and office hours). I'm wondering if a C in English is so bad that I should withdraw instead? For reference it's not a prerequisite at my instate (UC Davis) but in other schools it is, grades in all my other courses are As. The reason why I'm worried is because I don't have many experience hours right now, I'm worried that by getting a C or having to withdraw from English I have just ruined my strong suit, which is GPA. Any advice appreciated

Hi, long story short my major in undergrad didn’t have me complete physics or Biochem which are obvious major courses to complete for vet school. Should I be completing 1, 2, and labs for the courses or is 1 usually sufficient?

Heyy,

becoming a Veterinarian has always been my absolute dream but it's impossible to achieve it where I live due to multipule reasons. So Europe is my best option to study Vet Med (English taught). I would like to know which European countries are affordable, good & recognized, I'm doing a lot of research but I still need help in some things.

As a 26 years old international (non EU) student who just got back to school, what are the best options for me?

I know I would eventually need to learn the language of the country & of course I will but the programme needs to be taught in English. What are steps I need to take. Also, I would like to know your experience in the country: is it safe, are majority of people friendly, what's the social life like etc. You can message me if you don't want to comment about it~

I really appreciate your advice.

Thank you !

2nd time applying to a Canadian Vet School and was rejected, no issues in my application, no feedback given. I really can't afford to go international but at this point I don't think I have a choice.

What's my best course of action? Which schools are the cheapest for international students (ideally AVMA accredited)?

Any advice welcome.

So I am applying to vet school right now, but I was really dumb spring of 2022 and made one of my general chem grades pass. (I went to davis and was on the quarter system, this was Chem 2c) I want to retake this at a cc but so far have been told no since technically I passed. I have a pretty science gpa of 3.7, but should I even bother applying with a “pass” grade? Anyone with experience?

Wanted to repost and get some new opinions:

I am going to be a 4th year at tOSU and applying this cycle. I wanted to share my stats and receive a bit of advice on where to apply, if i even have a chance, etc.

cGPA: 3.54
sGPA: 3.1

Last 45: 3.7

\*I have a C+ in gen chem and orgo 1, C in orgo 2 and am retaking orgo 1 (going well so far).

\-Will have roughly 1100 small animal vet hours, 300 large animal hours, 50 equine, 41 exotics (australia pre-vet program), total: 1400-1500 vet hours

\-Have roughly 457 non-vet animal hours

\-About 400 research hours w/ a JAVMA publication

\-135 volunteer hours

\-1700 non-animal employment hours

I also am a part of several clubs and have maintained 4 leadership positions throughout my time in undergrad.

I know that my academics are weighing my application down, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on applying to about 10 schools (I have a family member that has set aside funds for my applications). My top choices (most attainable choices) are CSU, LSU, Ohio State, and Michigan State.

hello!

after the new student loan law news, i am incredibly worried about my future in animal science.

i am an incoming pre-vet animal science freshman and am wondering if i should change my major for wider experience just in case the field doesn’t work out someday. i really, really want to become a vet, but i won’t be able to afford it.

does anyone else have these concerns or any similar experiences/situations? i still want to do something with animals but i am so so worried :(

Hi all,
Just trying to get some feedback as to how to maximize my gap year productively. For some context, I just graduated in May with a degree in biology from UNC. I switched to pre-vet from pre-PA my junior year so I’m behind on hours primarily. I wanted to see if there was anything else I could do to supplement my app besides working at a clinic.

Stats:
GPA: 3.95
sGPA: 3.91
Last 45: 3.92

Hours:
0 small animal hours
50 large animal
140 exotic

Haven’t calculated animal hours but I’ve pet sit since middle school so a decent amount plus I’ve volunteered at the animal shelter for over a year now and trained a therapy dog

Extracurriculars:
Tri Beta Service Committee
Alpha Phi sorority + director of Big/Little
UNC hospitals volunteer for a year
Previously was a CNA
Daily Tar Heel cartoonist
Bio lab TA

Hi! This might be a stretch, but I'm looking for people to review my personal statement and give me feedback. Pretty much everyone in my life has already read it, but I feel like people who already know me can only say so much. I don't necessarily want to post it publicly, but if anyone would be willing to review it, I'd love to chat!

Hi all,

Need advice regarding how to raise my GPA. I know I should retake science classes but looking for specifics.

What schools have you guys retaken classes at? (chemistry, physics, etc)

Will any community college do or does it have to be at a university?

And are online classes ok?

Hoping for affordable options.

Im in Los Angeles if it helps. Thx

Hello everyone, I am a pre-vet student currently a sophomore and wanted to know what I can do right now it’s better at my chances of getting into vet school
I’m currently at community college doing my pre reqs and I just applied for the 4 year university I’m transferring to
My gpa 4.0
Small animal vet hours like 200-300
Small animal and exotic vet hours like 600-700
I have no research yet I’m supposed to get some in the fall🤞
I have like maybe 50 animal hours in total from volunteering at the zoo, kennels checks, and large animal pet sitting
And im a Texas resident if that is relevant!
And I am in ptk and like 3 clubs

I don’t think I’m forgetting anything besides Highschool stuff but any advice is so helpful!!

Hey, submitting my application in August and wanted to get some outside opinions before I do.

Stats: 3.79 cumulative, 3.90 last 45, science GPA is 3.63. 3 faculty letters and 1 DVM letter.

Vet hours around 850 split between two different clinics. Animal hours 450 from university farm work including sheep unit, swine production, and cattle. Research around 180 hours.

Graduated May 2026 from a California State University with a BS in Animal Science. CA resident. My whole application is centered around rural veterinary access and wanting to practice mixed medicine in a rural community, which is where I'm from.

Applying to a mix of private and public programs. Curious what people think my realistic chances are and which schools people think are most achievable for a profile like mine.

Thanks

i’m lost on how to reach out to veterinary practices for a possible internship.
i’ve been emailing a few clinics around me asking to intern and giving a little info about my interest in the field but i’m getting crickets in return. should i be calling the practices? or showing up in person and asking if an internship would be possible?
i figured emailing would be best so im not taking up the phone line but im getting no responses!

i completed one internship in high school through a special career catered class for animal sciences but that was so guided and i barely had to set up the internship myself. im just lost! any help would be appreciated!

Hi everyone! I will submit my vet school application in couple days since I am applying to Ross, SGU and LMU also got the wavier and needed to. Has anyone applied this early to these schools and how early did you hear back?

Hello all! I am 17 year old aspiring veterinarian. I'm in the Bay Area California region, and set to start community College in August to transfer into UC Davis for animal sciences. Long story short, About a year ago I was diagnosed with a heart issue that got me interested in veterinary cardiology. If anyone from this field has any advice, that would be super helpful. Is it a good residency to strive for? How difficult are the ACVIM exams? What research should i do to determine if carfiology is fit for me? I don't exactly know what advice im hunting for, so any at all with be greatly appreciated, Thanks 😭​

If anyone wants to send yours over via Google Docs, I’ll happily review yours if you take a peek at mine!
We can all get into vet school together 🤝

idk i’m coming on here for some advice i guess ?? LOL i’m 22 years old and decided at 19 i wanted to go into vet med. i dropped everything i was doing before, got a job as a tech at an animal hospital, and have been going to rutgers for animal science since. however, it has been an extremely rough time for me since then. i have failed classes, specifically gen chem 1 TWICE at rutgers (passed it at cc) and calc. i have many c’s and d’s and with the failed classes my gpa is about a 2.5. i have been working tirelessly to improve my gpa, i do have a lot of vet and animal hours, and i still have about 2 more years of school to graduate undergrad. i’m just looking for some guidance as this is my passion and would give anything to go to vet school, and i refuse to give up.