These interviews aim to provide real-life insight to future vet students by examining the steps others took who got accepted.
These interviews also feature vets from many different niches and can be an excellent resource for veterinary students while thinking about life after vet school.
Hi, I’m Diana
Whether you are considering applying to vet school, already in vet school, looking for scholarship resources, or studying tips, I’m here to help you MAKE. IT. HAPPEN.
When I went through the veterinary school application process, I had many unanswered questions. The majority of the information out there was outdated. Providing up-to-date information is why I created this site. I would like it to be a relevant resource for getting into veterinary school.
I applied to 3 schools, one cycle. I got accepted to Ross and decided to go there because I could start veterinary school right away instead of waiting until the next cycle to apply again. The way I viewed it was that at Ross, I would already be two years ahead; I started Ross in September of 2012; if I had waited for another VMCAS cycle and gotten into a US school, I wouldn’t have started until September 2014. Being a nontraditional student, I didn’t feel like I had the time to wait.
I took the GRE twice and scored 322 my second time. (How stressful that was!) luckily for vet school, you can take the GRE as many times as you want. I am positive that if I had something like Magoosh when preparing, I wouldn’t have had to take the test twice.
If you have any questions about Ross or the island of St. Kitts, please don’t hesitate to email me through the contact form above.
Once I decided to apply to veterinary school, I spent every waking hour taking the prerequisites, studying for the GRE, or getting my large and small animal experience hours in.
For my large animal hours, I called six equine vets in my area and asked if I could shadow them. One of them agreed, and I got to ride around all day helping the veterinarian take care of sick horses. I could not believe the hours this vet was on the job; just when he thought he would be going home, he would get another call for a colic horse case, hoof rot, or something else. We worked until midnight many days. I highly recommend that anyone thinking about vet school get some equine experience because you will have to be comfortable around horses while in vet school. They are big intimidating animals, and if you’ve never been around one, you won’t be comfortable palpating one in your anatomy class or large animal medicine class.
I started out being a kennel volunteer for my small animal hours in my local humane society. My goal was to use that to get my foot in the door and eventually work my way into the surgery center. I had heard the surgery center took volunteers, but it was hard to get in. After volunteering four days a week cleaning kennels for three months, I was able to move into the surgery center, where I assisted the veterinarians and 4th-year vet students in mostly spay and neuters. This volunteer work was imperative for me, and it provided me with a wealth of knowledge going into vet school.
If veterinary school is your dream, then don’t give up. You can make it happen; as you can see from these interviews, there isn’t one recipe to follow that will be a sure-fire way to get in. Each person I interviewed has a little bit of a different story. Use these interviews as a source of inspiration. The ideas you will get by reading the interviews can be emulated and tailored to your own life.
NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENTS WHO GOT INTO VETERINARY SCHOOL
- Dr. Gardner started vet school at 31 and then co-found Lap of Love.
- Ryan started vet school in his 30’s and has never been happier.
- Dr. Miller had a 2.92 GPA and went to grad school to boost her GPA and got into UGA.