1. How did I get into veterinary school??
Presented by :
Devin Smith

2. I’ve wanted to be a vet for as long as I can remember.
THEY WERE WRONG!
Find baby pictures.
Everyone told me that I would probably change my mind.

3. if you do change your mind,
But…
if you do change your mind,
that is OKAY!

4. Inspiration

5. Event: Volunteered at Brazos Animal Shelter
Keeping Track
Name of Event/Organization/Location
For example,
Event: Volunteered at Brazos Animal Shelter
Contact: Dr. Larry Johnson
Description: Helped Dr. Johnson give vaccinations and collect fecal samples. Also helped clean and feed dogs/cats.
Date & Time: July, 16, 2013
8:00 am to 4:00 pm = 8 hrs
List all the contact information you have for anyone you worked with, especially veterinarians.
The best thing I did for myself was record every single hour of volunteer service or experience I ever had.
The date and number of hours you worked.
I knew what I wanted to do so I began researching how to become a vet from an early age. Especially in junior high and high school. I knew I needed animal experience and needed lots of volunteer hours to get into a good undergraduate program.
I made sure to put the date, the number of hours, the contact information of anyone I worked with, and a short description of the event
A short description of the activity.

6. MAKE GOOD GRADES!!!
Also be sure to add these leadership positions to your book for the years you did them.

7. High School GO EAGLES VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
Secretary of FFA and member of the Wildlife Team
U.I.L teams: Feature Writing, Headline Writing, and Debate Team
Add pictures in FFA uniform, feeding jeffrey, working at kennel etc.
Don’t forget to volunteer
Vice President of BETA CLUB – got to meet Lil’ Mama at a convention
Vice President of Student Council
Graduated Top 10% with Honors – straight A student

8. SHADOWING High School Summers
Get a job at a kennel, shadow, volunteer!!!
Shadow to make sure you like your potential job
SHADOWING

9. DO Your research
Pick a college that has a good program for what you want to study or a great pre-vet program. It’s never too early to start researching.
Speak to advisors. You don’t want to pick a college that does not have the classes you require to apply to vet school.
Find a good fit for you and your personality.
Do applications early and make sure you include everything you ever wrote down in your notebook from earlier.
WORK HARD!!

10. Who do you think I picked?
Undergraduate Life
I worked hard and applied to four potential schools. I got accepted into all four and made sure to tour all of them at least twice to make sure they were a good pick for me. Ask me why!!!
Who do you think I picked?

11. Undergraduate SCARY Joined a sorority Found a church
Learned how to manage time
Got involved
Had to learn to ask for help
Found out I wasn’t the smartest student anymore
Major events:
-I joined a sorority to make friends since I didn’t know anyone.
-The classroom sizes were terrifying. I had to get over my shyness.
-Classes were hard for me. I had to learn to swallow my pride and ask others for help. Talk about free tutoring and going to talk to professors. Make sure you make friends in classes, they will help you with homework.
-I had to learn how to time manage.

12. College Extracurricular
I had to work very hard. I also had to accept defeat and swallow my pride. I had to ask for lots of help from professors and tutoring sessions. Most offered through A&M are free. MAKE FRIENDS! They will save you. Meet with your advisors often. Don‘t be lazy, when not working for classes volunteer and get involved just like with high school.
Be a leader!!! Volunteer … a lot
Find picture for AAR

13. Vet School Prerequisites
It is very important to meet with an academic advisor every semester to make sure you are completing all of the necessary pre-requisites for veterinary school.
These pre-requisites vary between veterinary schools so if you are planning on applying to more than one make sure you are meeting the requirements for both.
There are currently 28 veterinary schools in the United States.

14. Example of TAMU Vet School Requirements
TAM – Texas A&M University
Courses (Semester Hours)
General Biology with lab (4)
Must be taken at a 4-year college or university. May not be taken at community or junior colleges.
General Microbiology with lab (4)
Genetics (3)
Animal Nutrition or Feeds and Feeding (3)
General Animal Science (3)
Inorganic Chemistry with lab (8)
Organic Chemistry with lab (8)
Biochemistry I & II (5)
Lecture hours only
Calculus or Statistics (3)
Statistics must be taken at a 4-year college or university. May not be taken at community or junior colleges.
Physics with lab (8)
Composition and Rhetoric (3)
Literature (3)
Speech Communications (3)
Technical Writing (3)
Total semester credit hours 61

15. Became the first intern the animal shelter had ever had.
Freshman Year Summer
BUSTER
&
DEVIN
Became the first intern the animal shelter had ever had.
It’s never to early to start getting experience and volunteer experience
Painted the new kitchen!
Became a professional pooper scooper and puppy caretaker at Texas A&M Small Animal Clinic

16. Sophomore Year Summer Lemurs Fossa Birds Reptiles
Applied and got an internship in Expedition Madagascar as an intern.

17. Junior Year Summer

18. More Jobs
Became a lab tech
Became a tour guide

19. How did I do all of that stuff?

20. I worked hard and kept a schedule. I was persistent.
I had a goal.
I worked hard and kept a schedule.
I was persistent.
I had to get over my shyness.
I asked for help.
I was curious…and creative
Elaborate on these things

21. What makes a good vet school candidate?
Good potential!!
Good Science Comprehension
Compassion for Animals
People Skills
High GPA
Strong work ethic
Determination
Well-Rounded
It is important to realize there is no 100% correct way or list to identify the best vet school candidate. These are just some ideas based on previous classes but it does and will vary.

22. Statistics for Texas A&M Vet School

23. Which vet school do you want to go to?
You have to consider things like:
If it is an out of state school, you must consider higher tuition and that it will be statistically more difficult to get into if you are an out of state resident vs. an in-state resident
Each vet school has different sets of pre-requisites
Are you going to apply to multiple schools? This can get expensive

24. The Application Process
Start EARLY!!! – My application took me an entire summer
The entire application is online
They ask for every bit of experience and volunteering you’ve ever done
You will need documentation/transcripts from every college or institution you have taken classes from-even high school
Again all of this can take awhile to track down so please start early

25. Keep on track!

26. Prepare for and Take the GRE
This is the standardized test required by all students applying to veterinary schools in the U.S.
There are GRE classes you can take or if you learn better on your own you can purchase a book like the example to the right.
Make sure you register for test at least two months in advance. Spots fill up quickly.
Also, if you don’t test well the first time you take the GRE you want to make sure you have time to retake it again before sending in your application.

27. Get an Interview

28. Interview Process
If you are granted an interview, they are typically held in early January.
Texas A&M Veterinary school has recently switched to Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI).
For the interview, you will have 6 rooms to enter. On the doorway to each room, there is an ethics scenario posted. You get 2 minutes to read and take notes on the scenario.
You then enter the room and two veterinarians will ask for your view and choice of action for the given scenario.
You then have six minutes to describe your response and course of action.
There is no right or wrong answer. The interview is just a way of seeing you have the power of reason and can logically explain your reasoning.

29. Let the waiting game begin…
After your interview in January, you probably will not hear back from admissions until March or April
BE PATIENT

30. Congratulations!!! A trip to Maui, Hawaii
Put in pictures of Maui
A trip to Maui, Hawaii

31. I got in. Now what??

32. A little preview of what to expect in vet school
Four years of HARD WORK and FUN

33. So what exactly do veterinarians do?

37. Veterinary medicine is everywhere!!!
Your PETS
Your FOOD
Your SAFETY
Your HEALTH