Choosing the Right Path: A Guide to Colleges with Pre-Vet Programs
The journey to becoming a veterinarian is a challenging yet rewarding one, and it all begins with choosing the right undergraduate program. The "pre-vet" path is not a specific major but rather a track that students pursue while earning their bachelor's degree. This article provides a comprehensive overview of pre-veterinary programs, what to expect, and a list of colleges that offer excellent preparation for veterinary school.
Understanding the Pre-Vet Journey
The idea of veterinary school can be intimidating. The pre-vet journey is crucial for determining your success in veterinary medicine. While a specific pre-veterinary major isn't mandatory for vet school admission, a program that offers exposure to the field can be highly beneficial.
Pre-veterinary programs enhance vet school admission prospects through tailored coursework, clinical experience, and networking. Professors become key recommenders, and research opportunities add depth to applications. Pre-vet programs are essential stepping stones to successful vet school admissions.
What to Expect from a Pre-Vet Program
A strong foundation in mathematics and sciences is essential. Key subjects include biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics. In addition to science courses, a liberal arts education is a key ingredient to becoming a veterinarian, so it's important for your college experience to be well-rounded. Courses in the humanities and social sciences will help prepare you for the "people" side of veterinary medicine, because all pets have owners who consider their pets part of the family.
Essential Prerequisites for Veterinary School
Regardless of your chosen major, certain prerequisites are essential for admission to veterinary school. These generally include:
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- Biology/Zoology
- Cellular Biology
- Physiology
- Biochemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Physics
- Mathematics/Statistics
- English Composition
- Humanities/Social Sciences
- Genetics
- Microbiology
- Electives and science electives
If students have completed the required courses for admission to veterinary school at the end of their third year, it is possible that they could be accepted into veterinary school before obtaining their bachelor’s degree. However, most students entering veterinary school do so having completed their degree.
Choosing a Major: Options and Considerations
Pre-vet is more of a track you pursue, not an actual major. There is no right or wrong answer when choosing a major for vet school. Most vet schools are concerned with the prerequisites, so if you meet these requirements, you stand a chance at getting accepted into vet school, even if you are an art major.
While any major is technically acceptable as long as you complete the necessary prerequisites, some majors naturally align well with the pre-vet track. These include:
- Biology: A biology major prepares you for the science behind all forms of life. Throughout this program, you’ll take classes that cover the basics of biology as well as how to handle diseases in microbiology. You’ll earn most, if not all, of the prerequisites you need to apply for vet school. By choosing a science major, you’ll also gain useful study habits that you can use throughout your vet school journey.
- Chemistry: A chemistry major allows students to blend mathematics and science and proves to be a difficult subject. Choosing to major in chemistry allows you to fulfill any chemistry prerequisites for vet school and builds a strong foundation for your veterinary career. Chemistry is prevalent in medicine, and you need a solid understanding of the subject if you want to succeed as a veterinarian.
- Animal Science: An animal science degree prepares students to handle animals from varying species. This major gives you great experience working with animals, and you can even choose specializations within the major, like animal medicine.
The most important aspect to remember is your grades. Don’t major in chemistry if it’s not your best subject.
Colleges with Notable Pre-Vet Programs
Pre-vet programs aren’t available at every college. We’ve listed some colleges with some of the best pre-veterinary bachelor's programs in the United States to help you decide where you want to pursue your undergraduate studies.
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Clemson University: Clemson University provides a program that gives you first-hand experience with different species of animals to prepare you for the veterinary field. You’ll learn the foundation for the math and science subjects you need to succeed in vet school.
Michigan State University: Michigan State University offers a pre-veterinary medicine track to incoming freshmen and sophomores. This program gives you the information and resources you need to apply to vet school, but this track does not give you a degree.
University of Massachusetts-Amherst: The University of Massachusetts-Amherst offers a pre-veterinary science major that you need to qualify for in order to obtain.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides a pre-veterinary concentration that allows you to prepare for veterinary school.
University of Arizona: The University of Arizona offers a Bachelor of Science with a pre-veterinary track.
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University of Southern Maine: The University of Southern Maine offers a post-baccalaureate pre-veterinary studies certificate once you graduate from college. You have to meet specific requirements before you can earn the certificate. You must earn 14 credit hours in biology, 22 credit hours in chemistry, 10 credit hours in physics, and four credit hours in math.
Tarleton State University: Tarleton State University offers a pre-veterinary program that gives students experience in the field of veterinary medicine while also intertwining classes on genetics and anatomy. This university partners with the Texas A&M University vet school through a memorandum of agreement (MOA).
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus: Pennsylvania State University provides a pre-veterinary program that prepares students for vet school and provides unique opportunities for these students. The university offers many clubs, from pre-vet to small and exotic animal clubs.
Ball State University: Like Michigan State, Ball State University offers a pre-veterinary medicine program that does not lead to a degree, so you must declare a major before joining.
Ohio State University: Ohio State University in Columbus is one of the best veterinary schools that offers a pre-professional program for veterinary medicine.
University of Delaware: You can earn a Bachelor of Science in Pre-Veterinary Medicine from the University of Delaware! You’ll be able to get lots of hands-on experience with domestic animals.
Boise State University: Boise State also offers a Pre-Veterinary Pathway, a non-degree program designed to prepare students for veterinary school. You can choose a major in any discipline as long as you fulfill the requirements.
While these are some of the best colleges for veterinarians, there are plenty of other options for schools when it comes to a pre-veterinary track. Check the universities in your area to see if they offer this program or something similar.
Gaining Practical Experience
Extracurricular activities also are important. Devote some of your free time to either volunteering at your local animal shelter or shadowing a veterinarian. These extracurriculars will give you first-hand experience with animals. Shelters provide experience working with animals from all walks of life and teach you different ways to handle potentially contentious animals. Shadowing a vet shows you the day-to-day operations of a veterinarian and will help determine if you’re cut out for the field.
Our students have firsthand experience working with a wide range of animals in many different venues. Many students are interested in small animals, and have interned with the SPCA and in the numerous local veterinary offices and hospitals in and around the city of Lakeland. Other students are interested in more exotic animals, and Central Florida offers many possibilities. From the Lowry Park Zoo and Big Cat Rescue in Tampa to Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Sea World in Orlando, students have gained experience with a wide variety of animals. And for the very adventurous: Students have traveled to Africa to work with white rhinos and to Thailand to work with elephants.
Gregory Bisignani, M.D., and Carl Hasselman, M.D., clinical professors at Saint Vincent College, describe their teaching laboratory periods in the Liberatore Human Anatomy Laboratory, a gift of Ralph and Donna Liberatore. The laboratory is used by undergraduate students for the study of human anatomy and physiology, facilitated by cadaveric dissection. The lab is also used by external clients for surgical training and demonstrations.
Preparing for Your Pre-Vet Program
The best way to prepare for graduate school is to decide your career path early. Use your high school career to gain basic knowledge in classes like biology and chemistry. These courses follow you throughout vet school and through your career as a veterinarian. The best way to become proficient in these subjects is through consistent practice. If you find yourself struggling in math or science, you could always enlist the help of a tutor. You can find a tutor for any subject you’ll need, like calculus or biology, here. You want to make sure you excel in math and science because they persist throughout veterinary medicine.
We understand the difficulty of choosing a career path early. There are so many options, and it’s hard to pick just one. However, vet school is competitive for a reason, so you want to make sure you participate in opportunities that will set you apart from other candidates.
Career Opportunities Beyond Veterinary School
As with any degree, you want to know that you have options when it comes to employment. Most students participate in a pre-vet medicine program to become a veterinarian. But what if you don’t get accepted to vet school? There are plenty of job opportunities for pre-vet graduates, they include:
- Veterinarian: Veterinarians care for the well-being of animals, working in clinics or animal hospitals. You must have a DVM to be a veterinarian. Though graduate school is hard work, the average salary of a veterinarian is $126,258. This career comes with a lot of responsibility as you’ll be the one in charge of making split-second decisions for your patients.
- Veterinary Technologist or Technician: Veterinary Technologists or Technicians help perform routine and emergency care for animals under the guidance of a veterinarian. Some of their duties include performing x-rays, administering medication, and preparing animals for surgery. The difference between a technologist and a technician lies solely in whether you earn a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree. Both technologists and technicians have to undergo certification before they can practice. The median annual salary for this position is around $40,299.
- Veterinary Assistant: You can achieve a career as a veterinary assistant with little to no training. Many clinics offer entry-level jobs where people learn as they go. It wouldn’t hurt to have some prior experience or a certificate in vet assisting, but it’s not always necessary. The average annual salary of a vet assistant is $43,441.
When it comes to putting your pre-vet experience to use, there are plenty of career paths you can choose from. Take all factors into consideration when making your decision, from the cost of varying degrees to the salary you can earn.
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