Adventures in Veterinary Medicine...

[Kara31191]

AVM is this program at Tufts University. I have been debating for a long time whether or not to apply. It's 2500 dollars, and quite frankly, I am not rich, and this would be all of my savings. So here's the thing, I work at a clinic already. I'm getting loads of experience, and I will work as a technician my senior year. How much experience could this possibly give me as a High School student? Is it really worth it?

My vet has never worked with it, but she did go to tufts. She said "Pay me 2500 dollars and I'll let you do whatever you want." HAHA.

But- They will tell us a lot about admissions, career opportunities, etc. But do I really want to pay twenty five hundred dollars for answers to some questions? Will it effect me if I don't bother? I mean, maybe if money wasn't such a big issue for me and my family then it wouldn't be that big of a problem. However, when is this ever the case?

I'm guessing I won't go, but is there anyone here who went to that in High School who could tell me if they feel it is worth the money or not?

Thank you!

-Kara

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[ShelterGirl]

I went to the adult program a couple of years ago. If you already work in a clinic *and* you already know for sure you want to be a veterinarian, then it probably isn't worth that much money. It was good for me b/c I hadn't had much experience at that time and was still on the fence.

In addition to handling some of the teaching animals to do physical exams and the like, we got to look at blood smears, discuss ethics, and they reviewed our application info to tell us what needed improving before applying to veterinary school. If you are a pre-vet major and have a decent advisor in undergrad, I'm sure it will cover the same.

 

[ylrebmik]

Honestly, using all of your savings for a program would suck and wouldn't be worth it. If you have to pay for college yourself, then no way.

 

[Angelo84]

Another option since you already have experience (when I did the program I hadn't worked at a vet) is to simply have a meeting with the director of admissions. They would be able to tell you what needs improving without having to pay 2500.

Good luck!

 

[mbv]

Because you must pay the tuition yourself, it might not be worth it to go, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed participating in the program when I was a junior in high school. It was neat to work with a variety of animals and I especially liked shadowing the 4th year vet students because it gave me an idea of what vet school would be like. It was very fun and felt like summer camp for pre-vets but I learned a lot too. I travelled across the country to go to the program and don't regret it, and then ended up going to Tufts for undergrad because of what learned about the school from going to AVM. However, I am not sure that I would want to spend my entire savings on the program.

 

[Tiraka]

I'd agree that while it might be fun and informative, it's probably not worth it if it's going to stretch you financially. Do you know if there are any other pre-vet programs in your area? I went to one my junior year of high school that was run through the Texas Agricultural Extension. We didn't get a tour of the vet school (it took place in west texas, about 9 hours drive away from A&M), we got lectures from many different types of vets, some hands-on experience, tours of clinics, a vet pharmaceutical company, and an vet/ag research facility, and admissions advice. The week long program cost $150. Maybe you could see if there are any 4-H or other agriculture sponsored programs in your area that might have something like this

 

[thelarson]

I attended the college session of AVM this past summer. I found it very useful in securing my interests in vet med - but the college program is $900, and I probably would not have gone if it had been much more expensive than that. I agree with what others have said - it sounds like you have a strong interest in vet med and a lot of experience, so spending that much money probably wouldn't be worth it. I was surprised by the number of participants, even in the college program, who were pretty unsure about vet med, while I was probably 95% sure of my career path before going to the program.

If you feel like you want an experience like this, but don't want to spend all that money, wait until college - the program fee is much lower (but you must take into account accommodation and breakfast/dinner).

While it was nice to talk to an admissions counselor and hear about the admissions process, it is not top secret information and, if you look hard enough, you can find similar tips online (a lot on this forum, too!). So don't spend $2,500 just to hear about the admissions process. In fact, you'll get darn sick of hearing it by the time you've been pre-vet for a couple of years!

 

[Kara31191]

Thank you everyone! I decided against it!