I think my question is a little different, so here it goes.. All my life I've been somewhat entertained by drawing, enough to be good at it and accepted into a great art school. I figured, since I'm good at it I might as well pursue it. Recently though, I realized I have a greater gift for caring and nursing things back to health. I also have an ability to understand animals and have them trust me right away (maybe because I watch so much Animal Planet). I've always been interested in science and biology but never had the confidence back in the day to pursue something so ambitious. Now that I'm older with a degree, albeit with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree, I've realized that finding a career is not just settling for something your good at, but it's pursuing something you enjoy. I also feel like I have the confidence now to do well and study. I've moved from New York City to South Carolina, and everyone seems to think I've made the funniest choice, but this just feels right to me, even if pursing a degree in art education is the "practical" way to go. If I don't live and breathe art, then I'm not worthy to be an art teacher, and unfortunately will not be happy. I say unfortunately, because this would be the much less expensive and more logical way to go, considering these hard economical times.. but my boyfriend has family in Athens, GA. At UGA, they have a great vet school and I really enjoyed my experience visiting the school. My question is mainly for future vets and people who are already vets. I'm consider vet tech school FIRST so I can earn some income and experience, but mainly for income. But do you think this is the greatest idea? What do you think I should do? Will already having a degree of some kind (from a great art college that also includes required liberal arts credits) help me or am I back at square one with all the high school incoming kids? I've volunteered, and will continue volunteering at animal shelters, and special needs events. Will that help me as well? What are some schools that you recommend, and how did you get through or are going through vet school, financially? I've never filled out any kind of financial aid previously, mainly because I was fortunate enough to have parents who could pay for it outright. But I feel this is something I need to work hard for and fill financial aid for since my parents are older then most parents for my age, and my dad is about to retire. My mom on the hand, will work until she perishes. I'm a good student and get A's when I focus. I have ADHD inattentive, but that just means I have to study harder, exercise and eat right, which I do. I've never done a drug in my life, which is why the medication for ADHD scares me, and the reason why I treat it naturally. I'm also left handed, which for sure would affect my surgery skills. A few weeks ago I volunteered with MUSC dental students at the Special Olympics and medicine really feels like the place for me. Thank you for reading this (long) inquiry. I understand if I don't get that many answers, but if you can answer this question (again, I prefer medical students/vet medicine students/vets/doctors themselves to answer), I'd appreciate it. Thank you. Jade
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Going to tech school first is a bad idea. You already have a bachelor's degree, but you need to go back and take the pre-requisites for vet school since your fine arts degree probably didn't cover all of them. You're not back at square one, but I bet you'd still need most of the science courses. If you haven't taken any chemistry yet, then you're looking at a minimum of 4 semesters because they have to be taken in sequence (could be more if your school requires 2 semesters of organic). These are specific to each vet school and you can find them here: http://www.aavmc.org Tech school is a bad idea, because essentially you're wasting 2 years. None of the tech school courses will transfer into those pre-requisites. If you're thinking that you can work as a technician while going to school you're wrong. Basically, a veterinarian isn't going to hire a tech that's a new grad, put a lot of time and effort into getting them comfortable and paying them a tech salary only to lose them a year or two later to vet school. Also, technicians don't often work part-time and it won't be very flexible with going to school. As for working while you are in vet school it is absolutely impossible. You are in class all day long and you have to study nights and weekends and once again you won't find an employeer to work with that. Most veterinarians will hire you while you're completing those pre-requisites to work at the front desk or in the kennel. The are the lowest positions at vet clinics, but it will give you the experience you need and an income. You won't be making as much as a technician, but, you wouldn't be paying for 2 years of schooling that you don't need. Your volunteer experience at animal shelters will help, but there is no replacement for time spent in a veterinary clinic. Some schools have a minimum number of clinic hours and some just say it's "suggested". Either way, you need a recommendation from a veterinarian and the more hours you have the better your application is. As for school recommendations, you talk about UGA which is a good school, but you don't mention whether or not you're actually a residen tof Georgia. The best place to go to vet school is the vet school in your state. If you have a vet school in your state then absolutely try to go there. In most cases, it's easier to get accepted as an in-state students and it's half as expensive. However, only 26 states have vet schools so it's very likely your state doesn't have one. You can find the schools on the website I listed above. If your state doesn't have one, then find out if your state has a contract with a vet school in another state. The way vet schools work is that each school sets aside a specific number of seats for their in-state students. Then they either open the rest up to out-of-state students or they contract a portion of them out. We'll use UGA for an example: UGA accepts around 96 students each year. 70 of those seats are for residents of Georgia. The other 25 are for students from contract states which currently are Delaware, South Carolina and West Virginia. Only about 1-2 seats will be taken by an out-of-state student. At UGA a student from a contract state pays more than an in-state student but still much less than an out-of-state student. At most other schools, a contract student pays in-state tuition. Also, the applicant pool for out-of-state seats are usually huge (500+). The in-state and contract pools are much smaller so you're competing against fewer people for more seats. So, it's best to try to stay in-state or if your state doesn't have one, then hopefully your state contracts with a vet school. Otherwise, look for schools that accept a very high number of out-of-state students. I know Kansas State accepts over 50 out-of-state students each year. As far as finances, vet school will likely be 100% loans. Government grants are only available for students who don't already have a bachelor's degree. So, even for those pre-requisites you wouldn't be eligible. Also, there are very few scholarships for veterinary students. You'll run accross some that are a thousand or so, but that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. Some states have rural veterinarian loan forgiveness programs. These are competitive awards where you agree to work in an underserved area for X amount of years and they pay Y dollars toward your loan. Not all states are doing this. The army also has a scholarship where it pays your tuition and then you're committed to 3 years active duty and 5 in the reserves, but that obviously isn't for everyone. Other than that you're looking at around $150-200,000 in student loans. The good news is that your borrowing limit for federal loans as a vet student is very high so it is possible to finance an in-state education on federal loans only (you want to avoid private loans if possible). To get financial aid you simply fill out the FAFSA at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov If you have any other questions I am a vet student and please feel free to contact me.
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