Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Preparation for Veterinary School
What should I major in if I want to go to veterinary school? There is not a specific major that is required for admittance in a veterinary program. With your advisor’s assistance you can design a program that meets the requirements to enter veterinary school while studying what you are most interested. Students who have developed excellent writing and speaking skills, possess analytic and synthetic thinking ability, life-long learners who are enthusiastic, and understand the interpersonal aspects of medicine are they type of students most veterinary schools seek. Your major does not determine your success in being accepted to veterinary school.
Undergraduate Preparation
There are certain criteria that must be fulfilled for admittance to veterinary programs. You and your academic advisor will need to examine
- CHEM 1110/1111 & 1120/1121 - General Chemistry with lab (full year)
- CHEM 3510/3511 & 3520/3521 - Organic chemistry with lab (full year)
- CHEM 4300/4301 - Biochemistry with lab
- BIOL 1110/1111 & BIOL 3060/3061 - Principles of Biology & Zoological Diversity with labs (full year)
- BIOL 2300/2301 - Microbiology with lab (highly recommended)
- BIOL 4110/4111 - Animal Physiology with lab (highly recommended)
- PHYS 2010/2011 & 2020/2021 - College Physics with lab (full year)
- MATH 1530 - Statistics (highly recommended)
- MATH 1730 - Precalculus (required for CHEM & PHYS)
- AGRI 3310 - Animal Nutrition & Feeding
- AGRI 4430 - Genetics or BIOL 4130 - Genetics
Early in your academic career you will need to research some of the veterinary schools you are interested in attending in order to insure you will meet all their criteria for admission. Some basic factors common to all professional schools include:
- Good undergraduate grades (overall GPA of 3.0 minimum)
- Test scores (GRE)
- True interest in profession as demonstrated by shadowing or volunteering in the field
- Service-related experiences in people-oriented environments – long term service preferred to short bursts of unrelated service activities
- Exceptional communication skills
- Strong reference letters from professionals who know your character, as well as, your work ethic