Veterinary is a very fulfilling and vocational profession that is ideal for people who love animals. When someone wants to study Veterinary Medicine, they want to have a clear idea of what they will do and learn during the years at Vet School.
What do you do at Vet School?
First Year in Vet School
The curriculum of first-year vet school encompasses teaching students about the different physiology and anatomy of various species. Not only does the vet school try to develop a good study habit, but also the entire structure is based upon the physiology and anatomy of animals.
The first-year curriculum involves conducting a physical exam on the animals.
Second Year in Vet School
The second year of vet school involves an in-depth study of the first-year curriculum such as physiology, anatomy, and histology. It also involves nurturing the clinical skills of the students. Many vet schools also focus on introducing future patients to the students to check how they are coping with patients and how well they work as a team.
You might also see various vet schools focusing on hands-on work experience with animals in the second year.
Third Year in Vet School
The third year involves many changes in the curriculum, maybe you are considering how hard it could be to get into vet school, but it is a unique year that teaches the students about the management of disease, treatments, diagnosis along with developing surgical skills.
Fourth Year in Vet School
The final year of your vet school involves clinical rotations along with practical experiences that will help you to develop as a vet doctor. The students are encouraged to take up animal emergency medicine and ER program. The final year, students are also encouraged to undertake NAVLE before the completion of their course.
How much is Vet School?
If you are wondering how much does vet school costs for obtaining a degree in veterinary science, it is between $28,000-$54,000 per year. However, this rate is only for residents. If you are an out-of-state student, it may cost you around $41,000-$66,000 per year. So, technically, it is a little more expensive for non-state residents as compared to state resident students for obtaining a DVM degree.
The cost of a veterinarian school at the University of Pennsylvania is $41,460 annually for non-residents, and it would cost around $32,450 annually for residents. The overall cost, including tuition and fees in the University of California is around $53,000-$62,000 for residents every year. For non-residents, it would cost $65,000 to $74,000.
Whereas, at Tufts University, the doctorate in Veterinary Medicine for residents would cost you $40,528 every year. For non-resident students, it is $42,640 every year. The duration of the course is four years, including 129-156 credits. The program includes studies on veterinary science, anatomy, physiology of animals, animal nutrition, public health, pharmacology, and zoological medicine.
How many years is Vet School?
For qualifying for a vet school, you need an undergraduate degree in physical science or biological science. Therefore, the study curriculum should include zoology, physiology, anatomy, microbiology, chemistry, and biology.
You also need to obtain a degree in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the American Veterinary Medical Association for reputable and approved veterinary schools. You need to study in vet school for four years to obtain a degree in vet science.
When you complete your studies in vet science, you need to obtain a license to practice as a vet doctor. For this purpose, you need to take up an exam, i.e. North American Veterinary Licensing Exam, to acquire the license.
After attaining the required degree along with the license, you can practice as a veterinary doctor. The entire course path to become a vet doctor is 7-9 years if you combine the 4 years in vet school and 4-5 years in an undergraduate course. You may also choose to study further for a year for any specialty as an intern. Many students also pursue additional 3-5 years of residency training for board certification and practice. You may choose a medical or surgical specialty that would include cardiology, dermatology, orthopedic surgery, equine medicine, neurology, and zoo medicine.
How to choose a Vet School?
The most challenging part of choosing the right vet school is difficult and rather confusing. The below tips will help you pick the right one for you.
Location
While choosing a vet school for you, it is important to select a nearby school from your stay. Apart from the distance, it would help if you considered the commuting aspects such as airport, train station, metro station, or bus services. Nobody wants to travel a long distance from home to school or school to home. Besides, also take into consideration the safety in the area, or else it could be the major worry of concern once you start your semesters.
Price
This is the most crucial factor while choosing your vet school. Moreover, the amount of difference between in-state and out-of-state is also huge. Sometimes it is double the amount that you need to pay in out-of-state tuitions in some vet schools. At the end of the year, you could end up paying an extra $15,000 in just tuitions. Additionally, you need also to pay the loan interest that creates a loan of nearly $30,000 for over 20 years for repayment. This is the money you need to pay for only the tuition, and that is without taking your personal expenses into account. Staggering, isn’t it?
How to get into Vet School?
The following are the pre-requisites to be accepted at a vet school.
STEP 1: Complete Undergraduate Course
Though it is not mandatory to complete your college courses, it will definitely boost your application. This is because most of the vet schools in the US prefer applicants to finish their 4 years bachelor’s program.
To make things easier, you need to choose a major science subject such as biomedical, biology, or animal sciences. Regardless of your undergraduate scores, you need to score in both the maths and science subjects to make the entry process easier. Most of the famous vet schools will judge your application based on the scores of math and science subjects.
STEP 2: Finish your GRE
You need to complete your GRE (Graduate Record Examination) to become eligible for application in one of the vet schools. Although the eligibility criteria may vary from school to school, you need a good score to qualify.
The main objective of completing your GRE is to check your potential for this profession.
STEP 3: Be aware of the Application Deadlines
Getting an entry into a reputable vet school takes a lot of effort along with preparation. For this purpose, you need to filter out the dates for the application in an organized manner. Check Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) to proceed with your application.
What test do you take for Vet School?
You need to undertake several tests to become eligible for a vet school. You have to qualify in the standardized licensing exam along with a few standardized tests.
The list of those test required for a vet school are as follows:
Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
There are 28 certified vet schools in the US. Out of those 28, 22 vet schools require GRE scores for admission to their schools.
VCAT Exam
Among the 28 certified vet schools in the US, only 4 vet schools require the applicants to submit their VCAT (Veterinary College Admission Test) scores. The students need to answer 200 multiple-choice questions within 3 hours.
Apart from this, the students also need to complete 50 questions about inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology. They need to complete 40 questions that would include quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension, and another 50 questions about verbal communications.
The VCAT exam is scheduled in the month between October and November.
Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)
The 28 accredited vet schools in the US also required the applicants to submit their MCAT scores.
How to get veterinary experience for Vet School?
Think about Numerous Options: To gain the best experiences for your vet school, you need to work with various vet doctors. This might include working with vet doctors working in a zoo, food production facilities, or even animal research. This is the reason that you should keep working with every group of vet doctors so that your application stands a better chance of approval as compared to other applicants.
Shadow with a Vet Doctor: Shadowing with a vet doctor will allow you to gain rich experience along with rich exposure to working with animals. You can even collaborate working with various clubs to increase your experience and network. It is also great to develop a network of vet doctors, attend seminars, and labs to boost your application as a strong candidate.
When do Vet School applications open?
The timeline for 2021-22 for vet school applications are as follows:
- January – Applications are open
- May– The students can submit their applications in VMCAS.
- August – This is the last date for undertaking your GRE tests.
- Sept – Deadline for submitting your VMCAS complete application.
- Oct – Application for supplemental exam is pending.
- Late November – You will receive interview offers from colleges. Students who are denied admission can see their applications online in the applications portal.
- December/Jan – In-person interviews.
- Mid to late January – Check the waitlist applications in the applications portal.
- April – Last date for the students to accept or deny the admission offers.
- Mid-August – Start of the vet school session.
What is the easiest Vet School to get into?
Below is the list of easiest vet schools to get into:
- University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
- Oklahoma State University
- Oregon State University
- Tuskegee University
- Western University of Health Sciences