Starting a new chapter...

[blkjkvet]

Hello,

I am looking for some advice and guidance. I'm only 23 - I need 17 credits to have all the pre-req courses for UW-Madison. I plan on applying there because it is a great school and for the in-state tuition. I will not have a bachelor's degree - 3 out of 80 accepted applicants didn't either. I've been out of school for 3+ years (I graduated with an associates degree) and started a business, which is doing well. Is it possible to go to vet school three hours away and still be able to maintain a household (dogs, fiance, house, etc?). I know a lot of it is self-motivation, but are there any other posters that have a similar experience that can relate - or assure that it is possible?

Thanks very much!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Electrophile]

So are you asking if you should move if you got in or are you asking if you should commute 3 hours? I'd move. Vet school is very difficult on your family as it is (I'm married and got 4 dogs and other pets and I live just 15 minutes from the school!). If you're asking if you should finish the bachelors, I just about always answer yes. Heck, you could even take a business elective or two to hone your small business skills. Make sure you work that into your application! Small business skills, especially if you want to run your own practice, are REALLY important...or so the VBMA club keeps saying. What small business are you working on, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[DDoc]

If you're asking if you should finish the bachelors, I just about always answer yes.

I differ in this aspect, and actually disagree entirely. I am in veterinary school without an undergrad degree and I know several vets who have done the same. It's a personal choice when it comes down to the final decision and each person's situation (and desires) is different. I personally feel the undergrad degree is well overrated due to the fact that it really doesn't help you get a job or anything once you get your veterinary degree. At that point it just becomes an accomplishment you've made, which is excellent, but not a necessity.

 

[bakaduin]

Hello,

I am looking for some advice and guidance. I'm only 23 - I need 17 credits to have all the pre-req courses for UW-Madison. I plan on applying there because it is a great school and for the in-state tuition. I will not have a bachelor's degree - 3 out of 80 accepted applicants didn't either. I've been out of school for 3+ years (I graduated with an associates degree) and started a business, which is doing well. Is it possible to go to vet school three hours away and still be able to maintain a household (dogs, fiance, house, etc?). I know a lot of it is self-motivation, but are there any other posters that have a similar experience that can relate - or assure that it is possible?

Thanks very much!

Im really not sure exactly what your question is but if your asking about commuting 3 hours daily I wouldnt think thats realistic. 8 hours of class (roughly) and 6 hours of driving leaves not much time for family/studying/sleep. If your talking about living 3 hours from your family that would also be pretty difficult though not impossible. Your fiance would need to take care of most the responsibilities of day to day life in your house. The best bet would be for you to all move.

 

[dpcdoc]

If only 3 out of 80 were accepted without their Bachelors, doesn't that pretty much answer your question. While it is possible, statistically it doesn't make sense to not complete your degree. Best wishes.

 

[blkjkvet]

Thanks for the advice, I'm sorry that me questions weren't very understandable. I'm planning on living in Madison during the school year and still maintaining my home and things where I currently live. I currently own and operate a real estate business, so it's tough to close shop and leave. At this point I will probably keep it open and hire a manager to run it. I need some income to pay for school, even if the market isn't great.

I was wondering if anyone has just lived near campus during the school year, and kept a home and everything else in another community. I thinks it's possible, but would take a lot of commitment and trust.

As far as the bachelor's degree - 3 out of 80 of the students had no degree, but it doesn't explain how many had applied... if only 6 applied, that's a 50% chance.

Thanks for the previous advice!

 

[bakaduin]

Thanks for the advice, I'm sorry that me questions weren't very understandable. I'm planning on living in Madison during the school year and still maintaining my home and things where I currently live. I currently own and operate a real estate business, so it's tough to close shop and leave. At this point I will probably keep it open and hire a manager to run it. I need some income to pay for school, even if the market isn't great.

I was wondering if anyone has just lived near campus during the school year, and kept a home and everything else in another community. I thinks it's possible, but would take a lot of commitment and trust.

As far as the bachelor's degree - 3 out of 80 of the students had no degree, but it doesn't explain how many had applied... if only 6 applied, that's a 50% chance.

Thanks for the previous advice!

While I certainly won't claim to know if this the rule or the exception I will tell you that in my experiences the people who get in without a bachelor's degree are cream of the crop applicants. Usually it is very bright juniors in college who applied early, with a close to 4.0 GPA, good GRE, and a good amount of experience. If you fit those criteria theres certainly no reason you couldnt be one of the 3. Most people though have there undergraduate when they get in.

 

[Electrophile]

I differ in this aspect, and actually disagree entirely. I am in veterinary school without an undergrad degree and I know several vets who have done the same. It's a personal choice when it comes down to the final decision and each person's situation (and desires) is different. I personally feel the undergrad degree is well overrated due to the fact that it really doesn't help you get a job or anything once you get your veterinary degree. At that point it just becomes an accomplishment you've made, which is excellent, but not a necessity.

Your undergraduate experience, at least in the States, is pretty much the last time you'll be able to take an interesting history, religious studies, Western Civ, psychology, etc sort of class. A classical education is extremely valuable and part of what makes us an overall better vet: better writer, communicator, reader, etc. From vet school on out, it's science, science, science. It's also the last year or two to take it relatively light if you choose or to also take classes that will bolster your vet school experience (reproduction, histology, nutrition, behavior, etc). I also think it's kind of a waste of money to do something 3/4 of the way through and not complete a degree, even if there are programs that will cover you in vet school.

Not to mention if you are involved in some kind of accident or other circumstance that does not allow you to continue vet school, you have no degrees to fall back on. We are only 2.5 months in or so and already 2 people have dropped from our class. Another observation of mine is that the younger 19, 20ish year old students are not as mature as the 22 or 23 year olds that finished their degrees. A few years can really make a difference.

 

[ri23]

I know some of the older people in our class live here during the week and then drive back to a home/family on the weekend, so it can definitely be done, but as you said - takes more of a time committment.

There are several people in our class that did just got in with the pre-requisites and did not get a degree. I also don't agree with Electrophiles post in the fact that you already have a job to fall back on if something doesn't work in vet med. In the fact that you got a degree in a completely different field and started a business, means that you already took non-science and more diverse courses. If you don't have an interest in history, and GEC courses, why take them? If you know you want to go to vet school, and you don't need GPA boosters I would suggest applying and seeing what happens.

 

[DDoc]

Your undergraduate experience, at least in the States, is pretty much the last time you'll be able to take an interesting history, religious studies, Western Civ, psychology, etc sort of class. A classical education is extremely valuable and part of what makes us an overall better vet: better writer, communicator, reader, etc. From vet school on out, it's science, science, science. It's also the last year or two to take it relatively light if you choose or to also take classes that will bolster your vet school experience (reproduction, histology, nutrition, behavior, etc). I also think it's kind of a waste of money to do something 3/4 of the way through and not complete a degree, even if there are programs that will cover you in vet school.

Not to mention if you are involved in some kind of accident or other circumstance that does not allow you to continue vet school, you have no degrees to fall back on. We are only 2.5 months in or so and already 2 people have dropped from our class. Another observation of mine is that the younger 19, 20ish year old students are not as mature as the 22 or 23 year olds that finished their degrees. A few years can really make a difference.

I agree especially with the potential to fall back on and all. But I'm 23 and did some other major life experiences at 21 after 3 years of university and ended up transferring schools. Transferring, if you've ever seen anyone do it, delays the progress of the degree majorly. I was accepted at one school and got an interview offer at another (an nor was I cream of the crop by any means like previously mentioned). If I hadn't gotten in my first try, I certainly would have finished the degree and been happy with it. I fully support people getting the undergrad degrees if that's what they desire. I wasn't disputing that it had its benefits. However, I was simply stating that it's not absolutely necessary as some people would argue and is more of a "to each their own" kind of a choice. Personally I wasn't going to spend another 1.5 years at my new university when I was getting offers to vet school and was plenty ready/mature. This is simply one story of many as to why people would make such a decision, but I truly feel that it wouldn't hurt for anyone to try ahead of time to apply to at least get your name in there. When most people statistically apply more than once to get in, I personally feel it's a good idea to start at it as soon as you have the pre-reqs done. If you get in then awesome, go to vet school. If not, then by all means go for that degree and enjoy. But again, to each their own.

 

[blkjkvet]

Thanks again for the wonderful stories and advice. It's always great to hear if someone has done it in a non-traditional way.

I spent an hour on the phone this morning with my local vet - equine practitioner. We discussed the need for LA veternarians, and she thought that would be a plus for getting into school without a bachelors. The business experience of long hours and self-motivation should also help. I am going to spend sometime with her on farm calls, so that should also help with experience.

If there's a will there's a way.

 

[Pigsfoot]

If you dont get in this time around-you'll at least have that Bachelors degree to help you get a job while you're applying again. cant hurt-seriously-if you can do it, why not.

 

[nyanko]

Transferring, if you've ever seen anyone do it, delays the progress of the degree majorly.

I lost about one semester in transferring from a quarter system school to a semester system school. It doesn't delay progress that much. I managed to graduate in 4.5 years still, and my second bachelors was obtained in 2 years after that after yes, transferring to a different school. That is an excuse and not a good one.

edit: That said, I'm not like condemning you for not getting a BS before you went to vet school. In my case, I changed my mind about twice and ended up with two bachelors degrees in pretty different fields because of it. I feel safer having a backup plan but if you don't then that's good for you. I'm just stating that transferring is a poor excuse.

 

[Electrophile]

I'm going to throw something else in there. This is more of a rhetorical thing and not a specific case in point to anyone's specific situation or whatever. I don't know about the rest of you, but as one of my histology professors AND one of my anatomy professors said, only medical, veterinary, and law students are considered professional students. We are held to a higher academic standard than say folks who choose physical therapy, nursing, etc. Why is that? I would think that part of that is having a full 4 years of well-rounded education plus 4 (or 3 for lawyers) years of additional training is usually considered par for the course/ I personally hate it when med students or doctors in particular are all like, "aww, you want to be a vet...how cute..." Being allowed to just skip years just because we feel like it is not the best of ideas in keeping with this ideal and beyond a small handful of 6 year med schools (in which the students are by and large absolutely miserable), it's not typically done in human medical education. Why not? (that's the rhetorical question)

Here's my take...I know it's "old school" that they still even allow this, but people not getting their bachelors degrees when they just as well could is missing out and honestly kind of lazy. It's not that I don't necessarily think people can cut it who do it, it's just not well-rounded. But that's because there is such a great value in classical, well-rounded education. So you don't want to take an interesting poly sci, history, English, etc sort of class just for fun and the betterment of your all around world view. Alright, whatever, your loss. However, I had 2 bachelors degrees and a masters and I still wish I would have taken more classes (especially in things like anatomy and histology) to help me out in vet school for more thorough understanding. Vet school is very rigorous as we all know, might as well take some good upper level classes to further prepare yourself. I'm sorry, but I just don't see how anyone would regret missing that single year or two of their life to finish up their bachelors beyond the prereqs.

And for the OP, I would think taking a few business classes would be extremely helpful for your current business venture as well as any future endeavors into maintaining your own practice if you so desire.

 

[ratbandit]

I'm sorry, but I just don't see how anyone would regret missing that single year or two of their life to finish up their bachelors beyond the prereqs. quote]

No, but I would miss the 19K I was paying in tuition at my undergrad! 19K to take extra classes that I have absolutely no interest in ( I mean really- how many times do you really have to learn about World War II ). Obviously I'm being facetious but still - I'll go to the library and pick something up for free. I guess it would be cool if I went to a larger Uni to take some art classes n stuff - but not worth the tuition in my opinion. I'm glad my undergrad has a program where I will get my bachelors after my first year of vet school, but if not I'd probably be here anyway . Classical education psshhh I'll never be convinced.

 

[DDoc]

I'm just stating that transferring is a poor excuse.

I'm glad your transfer went through better than mine. However this is hardly an excuse as much as it is just another factor as to why I made my decision.

I think you're all missing the whole "to each their own" concept here. I'm glad you all got degrees, congrats. Just wasn't going to waste more time and money when I could go on to do what I actually wanted, rather than sitting through a another damn botany or history course.
Go ahead and think I'm lazy if you want, but laziness was no factor in this.

 

[Hobiecat1642]

To the OP, I've seen non-trad undergrad students live at school during the week and return home for the weekend, but a three hour commute each day seems like it would be pretty difficult. My feeling is that if you can complete your undergrad degree, you should go for it. However, that's not to say it would be impossible to get accepted to vet school without one, or that those who don't complete an undergrad degree are necessarily lazy. Sometimes it's just not possible for even the most motivated of students to complete their degrees in four years.