How Hard Is It To Get A Job After Vet School?

[FutureVet90]

i was curious to know because i've been sitting here thinking about my future. i'm in the process in getting my gpa up for vet school, which means i would have to do a post bacc program since my gpa is only 2.08 right now. thinking about the debt i would be in (undergrad, post bacc, and vet school totaled) as well as the thought of not getting into vet school is stressful. even though i havent gotten any animal experience such as volunteering, i know this is what i want to do. i don't want to waste 4 years undergrad to end up being a vet tech.

have you ever been in this situation gpa-wise and still got accepted into vet school?

is it hard getting a job after vet school?

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[that redhead]

Getting a job after vet school is the last of your worries right now. Most schools will not let you apply with less than a 2.5 cumulative GPA and even then the averages of accepted students are ~3.5. If you're just a freshman in college, you have plenty of time to work on your GPA, but if you're at the end of your college career, you have to realize that even with post-bacc work you don't have much room for improving your cumulative GPA. The best you can do is re-take the classes you did poorly in (you need at least a C- in pre-requisites for the majority of schools, some C or better) and show admissions that you can handle the tough science courses.

No experience in the field whatsoever will also pretty much guarantee a rejection, especially paired with your cumulative GPA. Admissions can (fairly) ask if you know what you're getting yourself in to.

It can be done, but you'll need to pull your grades up by re-taking pre-reqs and start working hard for those experience hours.

 

[OneDay81]

I don't think you answered the question at all.

OP- try asking in the vet student thread since they will be actively looking for jobs.

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[Emiloo4]

I don't think you answered the question at all.

OP- try asking in the vet student thread since they will be actively looking for jobs.

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Yes she did, she said it was the least of her worries right now which is 100% true.
OP, it is difficult but possible to get a job after school. It is a big worry in this profession right now. You may not get the exact job you want right away, and sometimes you will need to relocate, but it is possible if you work hard for it. And yes, posting in the Veterinary thread may be more helpful (although we are mostly still vet students without jobs who hang out in the pre-vet forum )

 

[cowgirla]

1) yes it is hard
2) getting into and THROUGH vet school is probably a lot harder
3) 1.8 --> 2.08 is an improvement but still a long ways to go until you get to the minimum requirements for even applying to vet school. once you have a 2.8 (min at many schools), that would be a good time to start thinking about post- vet school plans like jobs and feline specialties and deciding if that's really what you want to do with your life. have you gotten any veterinary experience at all?

 

[that redhead]

I don't think you answered the question at all.

OP- try asking in the vet student thread since they will be actively looking for jobs.

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If she had only asked about the job market, then yeah, I didn't answer the question at all. But he or she asks: "have you ever been in this situation gpa-wise and still got accepted into vet school?" And I did my best to incorporate my answer to that to give him/her a realistic view of what they have ahead of them. I don't think I was that badly off-base.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Job conditions now are not likely to be relevant to when OP graduates. We are still emerging from a nasty recession in this country and jobs are hard to get in most any profession.

The big question is whether we are heading for a secular decline in vet med (probably not), whether we are flooding the market for new vets leading to prolonged job slump (maybe), or whether, continued increases in pet spending translates into a rebound (I wouldn't count on it... and food animal/equine is not going to drive any growth for sure).

I am sure the people who graduated last year never considered there might be a tough job market when they were considering vet school in the mid 2000s. So extrapolating current conditions to the future is not likely to be very helpful either.

 

[OneDay81]

If she had only asked about the job market, then yeah, I didn't answer the question at all. But he or she asks: "have you ever been in this situation gpa-wise and still got accepted into vet school?" And I did my best to incorporate my answer to that to give him/her a realistic view of what they have ahead of them. I don't think I was that badly off-base.

Sorry- I must have missed that pay of the original post.

Still, I think both questions are more relevant to current students rather than vet school hopefuls. Of course, it ultimately comes down to what the OP is wiling to sacrifice and risk, both with preparing to apply, making it through school, and then finding a job (or not).

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[PetPony]

Sorry- I must have missed that pay of the original post.

Still, I think both questions are more relevant to current students rather than vet school hopefuls. Of course, it ultimately comes down to what the OP is wiling to sacrifice and risk, both with preparing to apply, making it through school, and then finding a job (or not).

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A lot of the people here are already in vet school.

 

[FutureVet90]

1) yes it is hard
2) getting into and THROUGH vet school is probably a lot harder
3) 1.8 --> 2.08 is an improvement but still a long ways to go until you get to the minimum requirements for even applying to vet school. once you have a 2.8 (min at many schools), that would be a good time to start thinking about post- vet school plans like jobs and feline specialties and deciding if that's really what you want to do with your life. have you gotten any veterinary experience at all?

no, i haven't gotten any vet experience yet. i''m honestly thinking about my grades right now, and i also dont plan to apply for vet school right after graduation. i agree that i have a long way to go; being that i just became junior this semester.

Getting a job after vet school is the last of your worries right now. Most schools will not let you apply with less than a 2.5 cumulative GPA and even then the averages of accepted students are ~3.5. If you're just a freshman in college, you have plenty of time to work on your GPA, but if you're at the end of your college career, you have to realize that even with post-bacc work you don't have much room for improving your cumulative GPA. The best you can do is re-take the classes you did poorly in (you need at least a C- in pre-requisites for the majority of schools, some C or better) and show admissions that you can handle the tough science courses.

No experience in the field whatsoever will also pretty much guarantee a rejection, especially paired with your cumulative GPA. Admissions can (fairly) ask if you know what you're getting yourself in to.

It can be done, but you'll need to pull your grades up by re-taking pre-reqs and start working hard for those experience hours.

i just started taking pre-reqs this semester.

 

[that redhead]

no, i haven't gotten any vet experience yet. i''m honestly thinking about my grades right now, and i also dont plan to apply for vet school right after graduation. i agree that i have a long way to go; being that i just became junior this semester.


i just started taking pre-reqs this semester.

Best of luck

 

[wildcatj]

no, i haven't gotten any vet experience yet. i''m honestly thinking about my grades right now, and i also dont plan to apply for vet school right after graduation. i agree that i have a long way to go; being that i just became junior this semester.


i just started taking pre-reqs this semester.

I think that redhead's point is that if you have accumulated a lot of credits (as you will have as a junior) then there is really not a great way to bring your cum GPA up. What could end up saving you is a good science GPA, but if your cum GPA never reaches the point that vet schools will even consider you then you still might be sol. There are some schools that really only look at last 45 and science GPA though, so that may be someplace to focus your school search.

Frankly, if I were you, I would go start getting experience NOW. You're going to have to SERIOUSLY bust your hump to even approach reasonable stats for admissions, so why do that if you don't actually know if this is what you want to do? I would bet vet med in reality is a hell of a lot different than what you're envisioning with out any real experience. Winter break is coming up, so take advantage of those few weeks and find a hospital to go shadow at during that time.

I think this has probably been posted for you before, but it is worth using this GPA calculator: http://www.back2college.com/raisegpa.htm to see how many credits of A's you would have to get to bring yourself up to a reasonable GPA.

 

[vethopeful2011]

One thing you should do is go online and look for GPA calculators to see how many credits you need to take in order to pull up your cum gpa. It might be suprising how much it takes to earn back just 1/10 of a point. Instead of just thinking about pre-reqs, maybe consider grad school or a vet tech program/second degree just for the classes to pull up your numbers. A vet tech program really isn't a bad idea because if you realise vet school isn't feasible for you, or you decide the job market concerns are too risky, it's an alternate career path that will still allow you to work in the field. Depending on the state you're in, techs are allowed to do A LOT. I'm in NYS and we can do everything a veterinarian can legally except officially dx, perform sx (assisting is fine) and Rx meds. I can't speak for other states but there is a big demand for techs in NYS. Just a stray suggestion, it worked for me and helped me earn the exp hours I needed while boosting my GPA and giving me a back up plan all in one.

 

[Emiloo4]

Sorry- I must have missed that pay of the original post.

Still, I think both questions are more relevant to current students rather than vet school hopefuls. Of course, it ultimately comes down to what the OP is wiling to sacrifice and risk, both with preparing to apply, making it through school, and then finding a job (or not).

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The job question won't be helpfully answered from either source except possibly 4th years. And there are lots of current vet students on this forum to help with questions like this.

 

[FutureVet90]

Best of luck

thank you.

I think that redhead's point is that if you have accumulated a lot of credits (as you will have as a junior) then there is really not a great way to bring your cum GPA up. What could end up saving you is a good science GPA, but if your cum GPA never reaches the point that vet schools will even consider you then you still might be sol. There are some schools that really only look at last 45 and science GPA though, so that may be someplace to focus your school search.

Frankly, if I were you, I would go start getting experience NOW. You're going to have to SERIOUSLY bust your hump to even approach reasonable stats for admissions, so why do that if you don't actually know if this is what you want to do? I would bet vet med in reality is a hell of a lot different than what you're envisioning with out any real experience. Winter break is coming up, so take advantage of those few weeks and find a hospital to go shadow at during that time.

I think this has probably been posted for you before, but it is worth using this GPA calculator: http://www.back2college.com/raisegpa.htm to see how many credits of A's you would have to get to bring yourself up to a reasonable GPA.

One thing you should do is go online and look for GPA calculators to see how many credits you need to take in order to pull up your cum gpa. It might be suprising how much it takes to earn back just 1/10 of a point. Instead of just thinking about pre-reqs, maybe consider grad school or a vet tech program/second degree just for the classes to pull up your numbers. A vet tech program really isn't a bad idea because if you realise vet school isn't feasible for you, or you decide the job market concerns are too risky, it's an alternate career path that will still allow you to work in the field. Depending on the state you're in, techs are allowed to do A LOT. I'm in NYS and we can do everything a veterinarian can legally except officially dx, perform sx (assisting is fine) and Rx meds. I can't speak for other states but there is a big demand for techs in NYS. Just a stray suggestion, it worked for me and helped me earn the exp hours I needed while boosting my GPA and giving me a back up plan all in one.

i currently have 66 hours and have 58 more hours to go. i calculated what i wanted to achieve by graduation and it said to raise my gpa to at least 2.8 if i can maintain a 3.0 average from now on, it would take 238 hours.

and when i calculated for a 3.0 if i can maintain a 3.5 average from now on, it would take 122 hours.

 

[Emiloo4]

thank you.





i currently have 66 hours and have 58 more hours to go. i calculated what i wanted to achieve by graduation and it said to raise my gpa to at least 2.8 if i can maintain a 3.0 average from now on, it would take 238 hours.

and when i calculated for a 3.0 if i can maintain a 3.5 average from now on, it would take 122 hours.

So it sounds like you'll need to get 4.0 semesters.

 

[theunraveler]

I am an Australian veterinarian, graduated last year...I found a job in a month's time after graduation

 

[OneDay81]

The job question won't be helpfully answered from either source except possibly 4th years. And there are lots of current vet students on this forum to help with questions like this.

I just figured more forth years would frequent that one than this one. I guys logical thinking is useless on sdn.


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[wolfspeaker]

I just figured more forth years would frequent that one than this one. I guys logical thinking is useless on sdn.


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Anyone that posts over in the Vet Forum usually are on the Pre-Vet Forum as well. There are more people in Pre-Vet Forum and quite a few are currently in Vet school.

 

[twelvetigers]

Yeah, the vet forum is pretty boring so most folks tend to hang around in here instead.

Long time no see!

 

[OneDay81]

No kidding! How are you doing? I got sort of side tracked and I'm working on a masters and updating old prereq courses

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[twelvetigers]

No kidding! How are you doing? I got sort of side tracked and I'm working on a masters and updating old prereq courses

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I'm in 2nd year, not much has changed. My hair is longer than it was. That's about it.