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Veterinary School Admission: The Best of the Best
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November 18th, 2008vetIf a student is interested in veterinary school admission, he is best advised to start early. The competition for veterinary school admission is fierce, even tougher than entrance to medical school, so the more a student has in his favor from the beginning of his school career, the better.
High School
If a student knows in high school that he wants to pursue veterinary school, then he needs to start preparing during his high school career for veterinary school admission to an accredited veterinary school. High school guidance counselors and curriculum specialists are beginning to tailor high school curriculum choices to better match the courses required for the student to pursue the career of their choice at a collegiate level. Regardless, a student pursuing veterinary medicine is wise to take as many math and science courses as possible so that he has a sure foundation in those areas before getting to the college level.
In addition, the student would be wise to do volunteer work or after school and summer jobs in a veterinary office, obedience school, animal shelter, zoo or any other animal related work. These experiences will not only verify to the student that this is the job for her, but will also help to set her apart for veterinary school admission in later years.
Undergraduate Studies
Students pursuing veterinary school admission for grad school should pursue an undergraduate degree in a directly related field of study. The most obvious degree would be a Bachelor’s degree in veterinary technology. This degree would give the student the foundational course study that will be valuable to her time in veterinary school, and will also give her hands on lab experience helpful for later studies. Continuing volunteer work or paid positions during undergraduate study is also beneficial for veterinary school admission after her degree is earned.
Testing
Another area that students can gain outstanding status besides grades, course work and jobs is in the area of the graduate school entrance exams. There is the GRE, MCAT and the VCAT, all of which have test preparation courses that can be valuable to achieving higher scores on these exams than the minimum college requirement. There is also the ability to retake these exams after a certain period of time so that, if a student does not achieve the scores he wants the first time around, he can keep trying until he reaches his goal. The tests do cost over one hundred dollars to take each time, so the retakes are not cheap, but it can be worth it to be set apart from the other applicants in veterinary school admissions. The best part is that only the best scores earned on theses tests are reported to the schools, so they will only see the shiny side of the student’s tests, rather than the failures.
Tags: Veterinary School Admission
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