1. Steps to becoming a veterinarian
SHAH Explorer Program

2. Experience starts in high school!
Vet schools want as much experience, volunteer hours, community service, extracurricular activities as you can get and it all begins in high school! This is a great way to achieve a lot of those points and we will get you going in the right direction by providing as many different opportunities as possible!
In high school, grades are important but they are not everything!
Vet school's do not look at your high school transcripts, only your undergrad ones, so don't sweat that one C in there.

3. When choosing a college for your undergraduate career keep in mind the different areas of study that are available.
You want a major that focuses on science in some way.
They do have what is called a pre-vet major but it really is just a fancy way of saying biology.
With a broad range major, you can plan for a few back-up plans if vet school is not something that you end up doing.
With a biology degree, the options are endless, someone is always looking to hire a biology major in areas of pet care, zoos and aquariums, vet clinics, research labs, human medical fields... the list goes on!
You can also pick from a range of agriculture majors, if instead of a vet you want to raise chickens! Or an animal science major which would focus more on behavior and instincts.

4. Tips
Any of the majors are considered 'pre-vet' majors but they also leave room for a back- up or two! Also consider clubs and honor societies in college, most schools do have a per-vet club or a pre-professional club which will include your pre-vet, pre-med, and pre- pharmacy students.
Some advantages to going to an undergrad college: Connections- if you tried hard enough you could get some good connections with the vet school, you could even work or volunteer at the school's veterinary hospital to get your name in. However, just because you go there for undergrad doesn't mean you will get in to the vet school.

5. Getting ready for vet school
Think of this as your life history pertaining to vet school. This section includes your experience from high school to the present time, every vet, animal, community service, or hobby experience counts, when in doubt put it all! It also includes your references, vet schools require at least 3 but up to 5, the more the better! These are people that will highly qualify you as a good veterinary student, pick vets that you have worked with, professors that you have a good relationship with and any unique experience manager.
SAT so consider the SAT practice for the GRE. It tests verbal, quantitative and analytical skills. Some schools also require the biology GRE. This test makes a little bit more sense. This is a questions test all about biology that you already know from your college classes. Its long and tedious and overall its not that bad, this is a good way to boost up your test score points! And finally the last 25 points are given to what they call your file.

6. Applying to vet school!
vet schools only accept ~100 students each year.
you can apply to vet school after 3 years of undergrad.. if you want to. When it is time to fill that application out here is what they are looking for: out of 100 points, 45 points goes to grades, they want your overall GPA, your science GPA and your last 45 hours GPA, basically to make sure you were doing upper level biology classes instead of art class! 30 points goes to your tests: most vet schools require the general GRE.

7. Colleges
Lots of colleges have great biology programs and sometimes will benefit you more if you are in a small setting. Remember, UGA's average class size for one lecture period in over 100 students, the professor will not take the time to learn who you are or for that matter care how well you do. In a smaller scale university you get more of a personal professor/student interaction and they will take the time to get to know you and help you every step of the way. Some good small scale schools are: North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega, Berry College, Young Harris, just to name a few!

8. School for a vet
4 years of undergrad degree in biology or animal science
4 more years of veterinary school
Possibly have a few years of internships before you start practicing but that depends on the demand for vets.

9. Job description
The vet’s job is to diagnose a pet's problem then be able to treat it with medication or therapy or even surgery.
Surgeon
Cardiologist
Dentist
Pharmacist
Therapist
Radiologist
… and much more depending on the animal's needs.
So unlike human doctors, veterinarians need to know it all!

10. Vet Pay
 The salary all depends on what kind of vet you want to be.
There are small animal practice vets, large animal vets, specialized vets (such as ophthalmology or surgery) and they all get a different salary.
Large animal vets and specialized vets make more money per case however the small animal vet sees more patients because of the higher demand (people's pets for basic care)