what high school classes should i take to better my chances for vet school?

[vet4ever]

ok, so i am sitting in class and i realize that it is almost time for us to sign up for next years classes! so i am kinda caught in a fog for what i should take. i want classes that will better my chances for vet school.
CLASSES I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN-
physical science
biology
world history
american history
english 1
english 2
standards 1
algebra 1
spanish1
spanish2

i do think that i can take double coarses (i.e. biology and chemistry in the same year) i should ask thought.

CLASSES I WANT TO TAKE-
biology 2
chemistry 1
chemistry 2
animal science (elective!)
and much more......................................................

but my questions are if not required, should i take english coarses for the rest of my high school years? any suggestions for what i should take? please let me know soon! thanks!

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[VAgirl]

At this stage, it's most important to take things that interest and excite you. No one will look at classes you took in high school when you apply for vet school, so there are no "right" courses for that purpose. However, colleges look at the difficulty of the classes you've taken as well as your GPA. Also, some AP (and possibly IB) classes can count for college credit if you do well enough.

And I would say that taking more English is imperative. Having a firm grasp of grammar and the English language is essential for both written and spoken communication. Also, taking classes where you get to read literature is so much fun. I wish I had more time to read these days!

 

[pressmom]

I would highly suggest taking English coUrses (not coarses) even if you don't have to. Given your posts on this forum, it is clear your writing and grammar need work. It is important for several reasons: First, communication is important in any field; second, your personal statement will suffer if you don't have proper composition skills; third, you will need higher level English courses in high school to be prepared for college.

Other than that, a foundation in harder science classes and, to a degree, math is important as well.

 

[abou]

ok, so i am sitting in class and i realize that it is almost time for us to sign up for next years classes! so i am kinda caught in a fog for what i should take. i want classes that will better my chances for vet school.
CLASSES I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN-
physical science
biology
world history
american history
english 1
english 2
standards 1
algebra 1
spanish1
spanish2

i do think that i can take double coarses (i.e. biology and chemistry in the same year) i should ask thought.

CLASSES I WANT TO TAKE-
biology 2
chemistry 1
chemistry 2
animal science (elective!)
and much more......................................................

but my questions are if not required, should i take english coarses for the rest of my high school years? any suggestions for what i should take? please let me know soon! thanks!

Whoa, chill. You have a long, long way to go and no Vet school is going to care about what you took in high school unless you have AP credit. Still, AP courses might not even do that much in terms of preparation for college.

Just concentrate on getting into a university, and look around. See what universities might give you a higher chance of research and possibly being published. I go to Illinois State and there are options all over the place - especially in Chemistry. Also, honestly try and become more well-rounded. Continuing with your Spanish is a major boon to you even if you don't realize it yet.

 

[david594]

but my questions are if not required, should i take english coarses for the rest of my high school years? any suggestions for what i should take? please let me know soon! thanks!

Four years of english is a no-brainer because pretty much every university out there requires four years of it.

At this stage of the game what you need to concentrate on is getting into the college you want and can afford. So find the colleges that are possibilities for you, then look at their admissions requirements.

And a crazy crazy idea here... but talk to your parents. Whether you like it or not, they will play a major role in where you end up going. For pretty much any out of state school you are looking at 30k+ per year, private colleges easily 40k to upwards of 50k per year.

 

[Mia]

At the high school level you need to be more concerned about getting into the best undergrad school or the school of your choice, in order to do that:

4 years of English
4 years of science (plus electives)
4 years of math
At least 2 years of social science
At least 2 years of foreign language

All the uni's require pretty much the same thing. Stick to core college prep classes and concentrate on getting A's.

 

[Cheska]

I took as many classes as I could in high school, which meant no study halls, but I felt that getting a good basic introduction to physics and chemistry was very important! Human anatomy was great for beginning memorization of different body parts-- and we got to dissect a cat, that was the highlight of my senior year! (yes, I am a big nerd )

My tiny rural high school didn't offer any Advanced Placement biologies or math, but I felt that my AP US History was the best introduction to how college classes were going to be. The main thing is to do well, have some fun, and learn how you study best.

 

[Beagingese]

Generally, it doesn't matter. Do well enough in whatever classes you take to get into a good undergrad and do well there. Vet school's don't are at all about highschool. They look at college.

Though I supported the suggestions of others...if you have difficulty spelling "acceptance" ("exciptence" in another thread...) you're going to be in serious, serious difficultly trying to spell cranial pancreaticoduodenal artery on a vet school anatomy test and your prof WILL take off points. Just a thought...wanna do well in vet school? Gotta do well in highschool and undergrad...ESPECIALLY writing and spelling.

 

[freyamaxine]

I know American schools and Australian schools are different, but high school seems pretty much universal.

I would advise you to research what classes you want to take in university. In Australia these first year classes have year 12 (senior?) pre-reqs and your year 12 classes have year 11 and year 10 pre-reqs.

I would advise you to push yourself as much as you possibly can. Take the hardest classes your school has to offer. Even if you don't get stellar grades in them, they will teach you proper study techniques which will be extremelly valuble come uni time. As alot of people have told me over the years, its often not the really smart people who do well but the hard working ones!

With that I would advise you to do English and possibly another Humanities based subject that will help you with your essay writing skills. Do high level maths, I only did one out of the high level maths in my year 12 and I really regret it because alot of science subjects assume a high level of maths knowledge.

I would also suggest doing the basics like Chem, Physics and Biology.

In high school you have alot more interactions with teachers and the subject matter moves more slowly. Take the opportunity to learn as much basic knowledge as you can so that you don't get thrown into the deep end come uni. I have also been told that it is the smart people who ask the questions, so ask the questions while you have the chance!

 

[Kara31191]

Well, I would definitely keep on taking English because I believe most colleges want a full four years.

I am in High School. I'm taking AP US History as my only Advanced Placement course simply because I want to be over and done with it as soon as possible and I may fullfill my History requirement in College if I pass the AP test. I hate History, but I do well in it. I would rather take more science and electives in college than waste my time on History. It's pretty useless, in my opinion, for becoming a vet, and I don't enjoy it.

Therefore, only certain classes like that will really make even the slightest difference. I just want to work now and have better (and less stressful) college years. Yeah right! Only in a perfect world. Well, it's an attempt.

This is just high school student to high school student. I am just giving you my personal opinion from my research.

Good luck,
Kara

 

[rexosaurus]

I think Kara has a good point when she says that AP classes will save her from taking history in college (that is if she passes the AP exam, and if her college of choice accepts her AP credit). My point being, if you are that gung-ho about being all you can be to get into vet school, AP credits are probably a great way to go. They will teach how to study first off, and second, they will save you some time in undergrad. For example, my university required 8 credits of history to graduate (and yes, I wanted to complete my B.S. before going to vet school). If I had my AP US History credit, that would have saved me a semester of history when I could have been taking a core science course. It all adds up toward the end when you are taking your upper divisions, and you have accumulated 12 "extra" credits, to use at your disposal. That is 3-4 upper division science courses that could make all the difference in the world on an application, or on your personal knowledge level for that matter. In another thread Pressmom posted that the people doing the best so far in her class are those who had the opportunity to take things like Histology and Biochemistry in undergrad. If you play your cards right in high school, that person could be you; but it will take a lot of planning, a lot of studying, and a lot of dedication.

 

[dyachei]

I know people have said that they don't care about HS, but I think they do to a certain extent. They do ask for it on VMCAS, for instance, but I think its more to see if you were active in activities and the like. And yes, you need to take 4 years of English. They like to see well-roundedness. And you'll need to take English of some sort in college too (for some pre-reqs), so don't get out of the habit now.

 

[nyanko]

I know people have said that they don't care about HS, but I think they do to a certain extent. They do ask for it on VMCAS, for instance, but I think its more to see if you were active in activities and the like. And yes, you need to take 4 years of English. They like to see well-roundedness. And you'll need to take English of some sort in college too (for some pre-reqs), so don't get out of the habit now.

They did not ask for my high school grades, SAT scores, ACT scores or what classes I took at all on the VMCAS application.

And it's a good damn thing they didn't because I graduated from high school in 1999 and there's no way I remember that crap.

 

[dyachei]

They did not ask for my high school grades, SAT scores, ACT scores or what classes I took at all on the VMCAS application.

And it's a good damn thing they didn't because I graduated from high school in 1999 and there's no way I remember that crap.

I just meant the activities were on the transcript. I could barely remember what those were by the time I was applying. The English part is just because they will need it in whatever college that they go to as part of the pre-reqs.

 

[vet4ever]

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[vet4ever]

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[vet4ever]

I took as many classes as I could in high school, which meant no study halls, but I felt that getting a good basic introduction to physics and chemistry was very important!

did you also take electives?

 

[bakaduin]

Just take as many AP/IB classes as possible and make sure you meet all the prereqs to graduate.

You can get 30 credits of college out of the way in high school with these types of classes.

 

[Cheska]

did you also take electives?

Chemistry, physics, anatomy, etc were all electives at my school. I believe that we had to take all 4 years of both english and history, but only 3 years of math and science for our core classes. I just filled up my schedule with the toughest electives that I could find, which left no room for study halls or phys. ed.

One thing to look out for- my senior year we were allowed to substitute our high school honors english classes for the intro to english at the local community college. That is how I got my college English 101 and 102 out of the way before I even went away to college, and didn't have to double up! And those classes were what I used on my vet school application for the english requirement. I don't know if any high schools offer any more, but it was really nice at the time.

 

[ylrebmik]

Yeah, just take things that you want to take.
I only have four classes a day...so if i take a class I dont like... i'm stuck in that class for an hour and a half... no fun. But I'm jealous...animal science class . My school has crappy choices. for what I want to go into. Ohh well...it just the basics.

 

[vet4ever]

I only have four classes a day...so if i take a class I dont like... i'm stuck in that class for an hour and a half... no fun. But I'm jealous...animal science class .

that would stink. we also have a veterinary studies class that i am taking next year! so i am very happy about that!

 

[ylrebmik]

that would stink. we also have a veterinary studies class that i am taking next year! so i am very happy about that!

Veterinary studies class? holy cow...amazing classes. Our school is based around business and arts n' stuff. I've taken almost every science class already. but actually... I LOVE having 4 classes a day. I really have no idea how someone can learn a lot with only 40 minute classes.... everything is so rushed but in my classes I have sooo much time to ask questions.... and you know what... we actually RUN OUT OF TIME (1.5 hours) my middle school had 45 minute classes and i think with block scheduling people pay more attention to a class and ask more questions.... the day actually goes by really fast. so I wouldn't change it. && as much as I'd love to take those classes... I'm glad my school doesn't offer it.. 1. its just basics and i'd rather get my chem, bio, physics solid 2. i have 4 classes a day... i wouldn't get the classes i really need cuz i'd think those classes are so neat... or I'd be bummed cuz i couldn't take them. But either way... my fav thing about my school is block scheduling. <3

 

[vet4ever]

Veterinary studies class? holy cow...amazing classes. Our school is based around business and arts n' stuff. I've taken almost every science class already. but actually... I LOVE having 4 classes a day. I really have no idea how someone can learn a lot with only 40 minute classes.... everything is so rushed but in my classes I have sooo much time to ask questions.... and you know what... we actually RUN OUT OF TIME (1.5 hours) my middle school had 45 minute classes and i think with block scheduling people pay more attention to a class and ask more questions.... the day actually goes by really fast. so I wouldn't change it. && as much as I'd love to take those classes... I'm glad my school doesn't offer it.. 1. its just basics and i'd rather get my chem, bio, physics solid 2. i have 4 classes a day... i wouldn't get the classes i really need cuz i'd think those classes are so neat... or I'd be bummed cuz i couldn't take them. But either way... my fav thing about my school is block scheduling. <3

i guess you could say that they are, but once you complete the class you get your intergate to vet tech certificate, which is not what i want to be.

 

[Pigsfoot]

it may not be but it certainly doesnt hurt to have.

 

[vet4ever]

it may not be but it certainly doesnt hurt to have.

tottly agree!