2006 graduating year!...woot! ^_^

[gatehorse]

wow ... another Biological Sciences student ... that makes at least 3 of us in this thread alone!

I will be! I'm going to be following a pre-vet track, and probably majoring in Animal Science, Equine Science, or something similiar....or I may do some kind of biopsychology major...psych is really interesting. I've always loved horses, and I want to be an equine veterinarian eventually...only 8 more years of school once I graduate this year.

[gatehorse]

Hey cool!...thats not too far from where i live...lol. I'm not 100% sure where i'm going yet...because most of my acceptance letters don't come until around March. So i'm a bit nervous to see if I even get in anywhere. I got accepted to Cal Poly Pomona, but i'm not sure if I truely want to go there yet...so, all i can do for now is sit here and cross my fingers...lol

Not totally sure where I'm going either. As much as I would love to go to Tufts or Brandeis University (if I get in), that price tag....I dunno. Vet school is expensive, and I don't want to have thousands of dollars in debt when I'm done my undergrad degree. So the choice is most likely the U of Rhode Island (full tuition scholarship there).

[gatehorse]

I hated coffee before... and then I let myself start drinking mochas... and then it was all over from there.

I've always been a pop addict, though.

Yeeeeech!!!!!

[xfkirsten]

I will be! I'm going to be following a pre-vet track, and probably majoring in Animal Science, Equine Science, or something similiar....or I may do some kind of biopsychology major...psych is really interesting. I've always loved horses, and I want to be an equine veterinarian eventually...only 8 more years of school once I graduate this year.

Ooooh, that's very cool!! I thought about becoming a vet for a long time, but if I did that, I'd want to get into exotic animals in a zoo or aquarium, and that's TOUGH. There's sooo much competition there, you pretty much have to be top of your class in vet school to get it.

[gatehorse]

Ooooh, that's very cool!! I thought about becoming a vet for a long time, but if I did that, I'd want to get into exotic animals in a zoo or aquarium, and that's TOUGH. There's sooo much competition there, you pretty much have to be top of your class in vet school to get it.

Just getting INTO vet school is hard! It's more competitive than med school (or so I've been told). Kinda scares me...but I'd be in the honors program at RI, and I have a invitation for another honors program, so I'd like to think I'm smart enough to get in. I dunno with my calculus grade though. That makes me feel not so smart.

[xfkirsten]

Just getting INTO vet school is hard! It's more competitive than med school (or so I've been told). Kinda scares me...but I'd be in the honors program at RI, and I have a invitation for the Rutgers honors program, so I'd like to think I'm smart enough to get in. I dunno with my calculus grade though. That makes me feel not so smart.

I'd believe it! You look at something like med school, and you're really only studying one species - humans. You look at vet school, and suddenly you're learning a whole lot of species! That's why I've heard exotic animal veterinary practice is so tough to get into - everyone wants it, and there's an uncountable number of species you need to know about!

[gatehorse]

I'd believe it! You look at something like med school, and you're really only studying one species - humans. You look at vet school, and suddenly you're learning a whole lot of species! That's why I've heard exotic animal veterinary practice is so tough to get into - everyone wants it, and there's an uncountable number of species you need to know about!

If you think about it, it's actually not so bad, because a lot of animals are very similar. Chondrichthyes for example...they all have cartilagenous skeletons. It's a rule, and you can apply it to all of them. All amniotic eggs have the same basic parts. But then, you have everything included in Kingdom Animalia, from sponges to elephants. Humans are a very complex animal, so there is tons to study there, but veterinary medicine is not as impossible as it may seem at first. I do agree, there is still more to learn, so it is more difficult. I would think though, that vets concentrate on one area...for example, I'm going to concentrate on large domestic animals. You probably wouldn't focus on them too much if you were to become an exotic animal vet.

Another reason it's more difficult to get into is because I'm pretty sure there are more med schools than vet schools in north america, so it's more competitive. Which another pretty scary aspect to me.

[xfkirsten]

If you think about it, it's actually not so bad, because a lot of animals are very similar. Chondrichthyes for example...they all have cartilagenous skeletons. It's a rule, and you can apply it to all of them. All amniotic eggs have the same basic parts. But then, you have everything included in Kingdom Animalia, from sponges to elephants. Humans are a very complex animal, so there is tons to study there, but veterinary medicine is not as impossible as it may seem at first. I do agree, there is still more to learn, so it is more difficult. I would think though, that vets concentrate on one area...for example, I'm going to concentrate on large domestic animals. You probably wouldn't focus on them too much if you were to become an exotic animal vet.

Another reason it's more difficult to get into is because I'm pretty sure there are more med schools than vet schools in north america, so it's more competitive. Which another pretty scary aspect to me.

True - the basics stay the same from animal to animal. And if you're working on domestics (which the vet school really only does) there's not really as much to worry about. But if you get into exotics, it's all the little nitty-gritty details that you can get bogged down in! Seriously, I have a copy of the CRC Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine (yes, I am a HUGE cetacean geek) and even that overview is a good 4 inches thick! The big difference really comes when you look at an individual species' environment and how that affects key systems (especially in terms of reproduction, thermoregulation, osmoregulation, etc).

But I think you're right about there being more med schools than vet schools than med schools. 'Course, there's also more med school applicants than vet school applicants, I'd assume. I wonder what the ratio is of applicants to spaces open in each of the two?

[wizengamot]

wooo!! I'm graduating HS this year too! Holler! Then I'm Off to Ithaca College to study Anthropology!

Go class of '06 and '10

[gatehorse]

But I think you're right about there being more med schools than vet schools than med schools. 'Course, there's also more med school applicants than vet school applicants, I'd assume. I wonder what the ratio is of applicants to spaces open in each of the two?

I'll let you know in four years after I've applied to vet school.

[Tiret]

I'm graduating from college this year, and I can't get away soon enough! (The politics wreaking havoc in my school is enough to give one migraines, not to mention my classes have gotten really redundant in the past year.) I can't wait to get out of here and start really working!

Guess I'm the odd one out in this group...looks like most of you on this thread are in science fields. Am I the only theatre major around here, I wonder? (Not that I don't love science too...I just can't handle the math!)

[Tiret]

Yay! Only two weeks to go!!!!

[xfkirsten]

May 17th... I'm counting down! And freaking out at the same time. Anyone looking to hire a zookeeper?

/job search panic

[Tiret]

/job search panic

Yeah, I'm definitely there. Someone, please hire me! Aaaaagh!

[gatehorse]

Yay! Only two weeks to go!!!!

lucky!

here's for me: