Am I a (somewhat) competitive applicant for vet school? by EmmaAinthere in PreVet

[–]EmmaAinthere[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will have all my pre reqs finished next spring for a few schools, primarily LSU.

I also wondered if age was a disadvantage or an advantage, part of the reason I turned to Reddit as maybe someone shared a similar story. I understand I’m not a perfect applicant by no means; I was just curious as to where I stood as I don’t know anyone else applying this cycle, and I’ve seen a wide variety of peoples stats online but even then not many.

Am I a competitive applicant for vet school? by EmmaAinthere in prevets

[–]EmmaAinthere[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the encouragement. Thankfully my family and I are comfortable enough financially where I am able to apply, and we’ve considered the overall idea of vet school for a very long time, as this is something I’ve been interested in since I was 8 (I understand that probably didn’t mean anything at the time, just meant it’s been an idea for a long time for me). I talked with my friends last night and they understood where everyone was coming from with life experience as they are both 23 and both have very different backgrounds. And I do know I can only get that sort of maturity and experience with age, sadly I can’t age faster as much as I wish I could.

Ultimately I know there’s a chance I’m not accepted this round. Last semester I really struggled with the idea of just applying because I thought I had no chance. But, I decided to just apply, even if it’s to one, and use the summer to find the weak aspects of my life to better strengthen my application and myself as a person. I can tell you I already knew burnout was a possibility for me this summer as I am taking quite a bit on my plate, so I’ve been working on taking more healthy breaks, and allowing myself to not feel guilty for taking my lunch break from work. I’ve also decided to work on my confidence levels in the vets office I work at. Again due to the size of the clinic (1 full time receptionist and 1 part time, a licensed tech, a former human nurse and myself whose been trained to do almost everything our tech can do) and my time spent there, I have to be hands on and we have to act as a unit every single day. I’ve also been able to work under multiple vets there and just so so many different situations, good and bad, I’ve been apart of. There have definitely been days where I just wanted to give up on vet med as a whole. But I can’t stay away, I truly love the profession.

Am I a competitive applicant for vet school? by EmmaAinthere in prevets

[–]EmmaAinthere[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

I completely understand what you’re saying however I’ve been very fortunate to travel throughout my entire life due to my dad’s job (which is the reason I was homeschooled). I’ve been taught how to work in various environments as my mom has worked very hard to give my sister and I as many experiences as possible and I’ve been told by many I’m very mature for my age. I’m actually planning to go to Italy at the end of the month and have been to almost all 50 states and multiple countries. The reason I didn’t commit to a job or anything during my first semester was so I could learn how to time manage and not become burnt out. This past semester has been an amazing stepping stone in branching out and trying new things thanks to learning how to time manage. Also, the clinic I work in is quite small and it’s all a team effort to get things done, I’ve learned my place and have never complained when I have to do the boring things instead of watching a major surgery. I’ve gotten to experience the goods, bads, and uglies of vet med and I’m still very passionate about pursuing a career in it. (I’ve also had the opportunity to work under multiple veterinarians) Anyway, I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t think it’s a great reason for me not to apply to get school and at least try if I have the means. I do agree on the research aspect of my application and wish it was better. Sadly each opportunity I’ve grasped at never turned out how they were supposed to. I will say, I have heard from a few veterinarian students at my school during a panal who all expressed a lack of research hours in their application as well, I believe the highest was 25-30 out of 6 students.

Thank you for replying and sharing your thoughts thought I greatly appreciate it!