Monday, December 30, 2013

It's been awhile....

This is my first post in a few months. I've been pretty busy with my fall semester and work, but in the coming months I will be busy with my blog and website! I hope to have everything completed by the beginning of April, so stay tuned in for all of the new information I will be putting up and let me know if there is anything you would like me to add!

As far as for me, January is fast approaching which means hopefully hearing from veterinary schools. I have already heard back from one of my schools this past month and it was my first acceptance!!! I'm still waiting to hear back from three schools, but it is an absolutely amazing feeling to know that I will become a veterinarian. For those of you who have received acceptances, congrats! For those of you waiting to hear back, stay strong and be confident because you have worked very hard to get to this spot.

On a little Christmas note! This past holiday I worked at the Animal Emergency Hospital and probably every other patient that walked in was a toxicity, whether it was chocolate, macadamia nuts, or medications. So be careful with your pets around the holidays because there are so many more opportunities for them to get into toxic substances. Some common signs of chocolate toxicity are vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, increased heart rate, restlessness, increased urination, and even seizures, coma, and death. If you see any of these symptoms or know your dog has gotten into chocolate call your local vet or emergency hospital to find out what level of toxicity it is and if your pet needs to be hospitalized. It is always better to be safe then sorry!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! Good luck on your coming (and hopefully last) semester : D

Friday, October 25, 2013

Success! First Vet School Information Section Completed

I just wanted to let everyone know that the first veterinary school information section on my website has been completed for North Carolina State University! You may wonder why this was the first one to go up. North Carolina State University is one of my top veterinary school picks from those that I applied to and I should hopefully be hearing back from them in January about my application status. It is a fantastic school and the information page is jammed packed with everything you need to know about this school.

Some of the things you can find there are:
- Admissions Contact Information
- Background Information
- Required Coursework
- Veterinary Program Details
- Admissions Statistics
- The Selective Review Process
- Tuition and Fees
- Funding Opportunities
- Important Links

The above information will be laid out for every single college in the United States over the coming months. The next school that I will be doing in my own home state's veterinary school, Michigan State University. I just wanted to take a moment to thank my amazing Writing for Graduate School professor at GVSU, who helped me compile all the information on veterinary schools throughout the class.

Keep posted for more school informational sections because these will help you get a good overview of each school. Instead of sifting through the sometimes complicated websites of veterinary schools, you can look through my website and use the easy links to get direct access to important information.

Monday, October 21, 2013

The Waiting Game

In about two to four months you are going to get the news that is going to dramatically shape the way you live your life in the coming years. Did you get into veterinary school? Which school do you choose? Are you staying in-state or going out-of-state? How will you pay for it?...........and the list of questions, worries, and excitement goes on.

Stop, relax, breath and enjoy the in-between time that so many of us dread. Take your mind off the inevitable because at this point there is nothing that you can change. Everything is submitted and you did your best. So have some fun with your friends, pick up a new hobby, or focus on your last semesters in undergrad.

As far as the questions you have running through your head. The best advice I have for you is to talk them out with your friends, family, advisers, professors, and even strangers. This is a big transition period in your life and the more help you get the better.

- Did you get into veterinary school? This is the big question looming over your head. Just remember that if you don't get in the first time that the world isn't over. There are so many great secondary options and you can always try again next year. Yes, it is a disappointment and a set-back, but remember that there are so many other people in your shoes. Getting into veterinary school is very hard and if it truly your passion than you just need to keep working hard at it.

- Which school do you choose? If you are lucky enough to get into more than one school than you have a big decision to make about which school to go to. All the veterinary school in the US are fantastic, but which is the best for you is what matters. Hopefully at this point you have an idea of where you would like to go, but always make sure to look at all your options. The big things to look at are location, tuition, the school's emphasis, the school's ranking, and will it work for you. A great place to start is looking at the school informational sheets that I have on my website.

- Are you staying in-state or going out-of-state? The big dilemma here is money. Out-of-state tuition is almost always going to be more expensive. There are a few rare exceptions like North Carolina State University that give in-state tuition to second year out-of-state students, but for the most part veterinary schools don't do that. When going out of state you can expect to pay at least double the tuition. The other thing to think about is can you handle being far away from your family and friends?

- How will you pay for it? You have all heard it before. Student loans!!!! When you get out of veterinary school you are going to have lots of loans. 44% of veterinary students in 2012 had debt greater than $200,000. This may be very shocking, so you need to start thinking and preparing now. Hopefully you have been saving up a little bit already and realizing that when you get into veterinary school  you might need to live like a hermit. Most students do end up with this much debt, but it doesn't have to be that. I plan to be out of veterinary school with less than $75,000 in debt because of the choices that I have made. I will talk more about that another time though. So prepare now, understand what you are getting into financially, and do everything you can to get that debt down fast after you graduate.

If you have any questions more broad or specific that I didn't talk about here in this general overview, feel free to send me it through the comments section of my website! I would love to talk more about this and help you out in any way that I can.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

VMCAS Deadline!

Celebration! The October 2nd VMCAS deadline for submission has passed and veterinary schools are officially looking through all of the applications. Congrats and good-luck to all of you pre-veterinary students that got your VMCAS application, transcripts, letters of recommendations, GRE scores and fees in on time. Kick back and relax for a little bit because we all deserve it after going through such a rigorous process. But the stress of the application may be over, but now comes the supplementary applications, interviews, and the waiting game. Just remember to breath, always ask for help or advice when you need it, and be confident.      

For you younger students, here are a few tips for the general application process!
- Start it early!! The VMCAS opens up in early June and isn't due until October 1st. This may seem like a long time, but it goes by very quickly. So the day it opens, make your account and start getting familiar with what you need to do.
- Submit early!! The VMCAS suggests getting your application in by September 1st, but I suggesting doing it even earlier. I submitting my application in mid July and it took them three weeks to verify that my application was correct and sent to my schools. Not only is it piece of mind that your application is all set, it makes it easier to get things corrected before the final deadline.
- Start planning now. The VMCAS application is extremely comprehensive. They want to know everything that you have every done since high school. Hopefully you have been keeping a list, but if not starting thinking back to what you have been doing these past years.
- Give yourself time to retake the GRE and still submit those scores in time for the application. Hopefully you will meet your goal scores the first time, but just in case make sure to give yourself some leeway time.
- Ask your references early and make sure they know you. The more time that you give you references to write the letters, the better they will be and the less stressed you will be. You can ask your references even before the VMCAS opens up. But more than anything make sure that your references know you as a person, know your work ethic, and have some real-word experiences with you whether it is in the classroom, workforce, research lab, or in a veterinary clinic.
- Know the deadlines by heart (but hopefully you turn everything in early anyways). They do not make exceptions for people who turn the application and its materials in late. If the October 2nd deadline passes, then you have to wait a whole year to apply again.

Good luck! Keep posted for more advice blogs and more content to be added to the website.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

A Little Bit About Me

I wanted to talk a little bit about myself to give you guys a sense of how I have gotten to the point in my life where I am applying to veterinary school. Everyone's path is different and mine is just one perspective of how to get there.

I was born and raised in a small farming town in Michigan. My father owns his own vegetable farm and my mother is a financial director for public schools. I spent a lot of my childhood helping my dad on the farm and going to farmer's markets. Through these experienced I learned how to work hard and go after what I wanted in life. I didn't get a lot of hands-on animal experience as a kid because my parent's divorce made it difficult to have the necessary time to devote to such activities as 4-H. However, I have always been a very compassionate person towards animals and I adored the few cats and dogs I was allowed to have.

Throughout middle school and high school I strove to be the very best. I received A's in all of my classes and was always eager to learn more. I took all of the sciences courses I could, but at such a small school my choices of higher education options, such as AP or college courses, was almost non-existent. I participated in sports, had my group of friends, and even won our town's festival queen's pageant. Overall I was a pretty average kid, but my drive to succeed is what pushed me past my fellow classmates. In 2010, I graduated as Valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA and headed off to Grand Valley State University.

My interest in veterinary medicine really emerged during my junior year of high school when I realized that my childhood dream of being a marine biologist simply wasn't practical due to my fear of the ocean. At that point I observed at a local veterinary clinic and volunteered at an animal shelter several times. These experiences really helped jump start my decision and when I arrived at GVSU it was an easy choice to select a biology major with a pre-veterinary emphasis.

Freshman year was definitely an adjustment period for me. The sheer amount of homework and studying that I had to do for my courses in order to continue achieving my high academic standards was at some points almost crushing. But with some late night phone calls to my parents, a little bit of crying, and a lot of determination I made it through my freshman year with my GPA intact. I also made some amazing friends, started volunteering at the Crash's Landing Cat Rescue Center, joined the pre-veterinary club, and even had some fun!

After that adjustment period, classes started becoming more interesting and manageable. By learning how to become a more efficient student I was able to become more active on campus. I joined the National Co-ed Honors Fraternity Phi Sigma Pi and started swing dancing. I was also part of a biochemistry research project and presented at several undergraduate conferences in Michigan. Outside of campus, I was volunteering at various animal rescue centers and observing at multiple veterinary clinics each week. Opportunities kept coming my way and each choice I made has impacted how I have gotten here today.

My lucky break happened the summer after my sophomore year when I was extended a veterinary assistant position at the Animal Emergency Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. This was an absolutely amazing opportunity because it meant that I was going to be going through extensive veterinary related training and working hands-on right beside veterinary techs and doctors. One year later, my list of duties at the Animal Emergency Hospital is extensive. I work in the front with the clients as an exam assistant, I assist with anesthesia in surgery, perform basic and advanced treatments on patients, and have a better understanding of the profession. After my experiences at AEH, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I want to be a small animal veterinarian.

So this is pretty much how I have gotten to the point where I have submitted my VMCAS application. No matter how you get here, what really matters is that you know that veterinary medicine is without a doubt what you want to devote your life to. It has been a very long time coming and now only five months stand between me and knowing where I will going to veterinary school.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

What to Expect as an Incoming Freshman

***As a Frederik Meijer honors college pre-veterinary student at Grand Valley State University, my experiences are limited to their program; but I imagine that it relates to most colleges or universities.***

As you will find out, the undergraduate process for a student hoping to pursue veterinary medicine is pretty much laid out and their is very little deviation from it. Veterinary schools have very specific requirements for applicants and thus students begin their freshman year at GVSU with a slightly different experience than the average student. 

When I walked into freshman orientation during the summer of 2010, I really had no idea what to expect. I was given a tour, wrote some essays, and most importantly registered for my classes. I was assigned to a group of students who were interested in the medical-related fields and a faculty adviser went over my class schedule with me. He handed me a piece of paper and on it was every class I needed to take over the next four years in a precise order. There I was with my schedule basically in hand, while the rest of my peers were choosing which classes they wanted to take. Some may argue that this is a good or bad thing. For me, it certainly made things extremely easy because I was out of the scheduling session in five minutes, while other students took over two hours to piece together their schedule. (for specific veterinary school curriculum requirements, see my website)

It is important to know that you will not really be learning anything specifically related to veterinary medicine during your undergraduate career. Potentially the closest you will get is the required animal nutrition course, which many colleges do not offer. Most of the courses you will be taking are either general education courses or required science courses that will build your knowledge base for veterinary school. Your freshman year will be comprised of classes like general biology, inorganic chemistry, humanities courses, and a writing class. However, every single class is very important because it adds to your GPA, furthers your knowledge, and gets you one step closer to applying to veterinary school. 

While you definitely need to focus more on your studies than the average student because of the high requirements set forth by veterinary schools, you still need to remember to have fun and get involved on campus. A great place to start is Campus Life Night, which is an event held during the second week of classes that showcases all 300+ organizations at GVSU. You could join an honors co-ed fraternity like Phi Sigma Pi, become a member of the pre-veterinary club, learn how to swing dance, play quidditch with a group of friends, or even make your own organization. The choices are endless and it helps make you a well-balanced student.

No matter the college you attend, always know that there are people there to help you through the process. Your first year can be really tough, whether you struggle academically or emotionally. Transitioning from a senior in high school to a freshman in college is just the beginning of making immense changes in your life and you will need help along the way. Talk to your friends, professors, student services, professors, counselors, and your parents. You should never have to go through anything alone, so make sure to reach out and get help when you need it.

Getting Started

If you are reading my blog, then this is a great place to get started on the long path towards becoming a veterinary student. If you are someone who has already started researching into this career, then I commend you and I hope that my website will be of great use to you.

Why do I want to be a veterinarian? This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself whether you are simply starting out or years into the process. Continuously looking inside to make sure you are making the right life choice is imperative because in order to be a veterinarian you should be one hundred percent committed and passionate. A great way to learn about yourself is to talk to your family, friends, veterinarians, professors, or your college advisor. The more you talk about your life goals, likes, dislikes, passions, and fears the clearer your path will become. 

The next step is getting experience. A lot of people love animals, especially cute little kittens and puppies, but there is a big difference between an animal lover and a veterinarian. Learning which group you fall into early can save you a lot of wasted time and the best way to do that is shadowing in veterinary clinics. Starting as early as high school is extremely encouraged, but if you were like me and did not decide until senior year of high school to pursue veterinary medicine then you still have time. I've spoken to many veterinarians who have seen young students become queasy at the sight of blood or faint during a surgical procedure. Now this does not immediately mean that you are not right for this profession, but it is a good indicator that it might not be the best career out there for you. Making sure that you can handle the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of the professions is a must. Another really important aspect is that you can see yourself performing the examinations, building relationships with the clients, diagnosing illness, and performing surgical procedures. If you cannot see yourself enjoying the daily duties, both the pleasant and unpleasant, of a veterinarian; then maybe you should pursue another career path and find an animal shelter to volunteer at to fulfill your passion for animals. 

I also highly suggest doing at least basic researching into the eight plus year process of becoming a veterinarian. Some good places to start are looking into the requirements for undergraduate curriculum, animal and veterinary experience, community service work, scientific research, grade point average, and standardized tests. The biggest mistake that many students make going into their undergraduate career is not being properly prepared for the rigorous requirements of a pre-veterinary student. 

Ask questions, get experience, and do research! After all of that, you will hopefully have a better understanding of the profession and yourself.