The Student Room Group

Help! Applying for veterinary Medicine

Hi
I've just got my As results and got the following:
A's in Biology,Geography,History and General Studies and a C in Chemistry.

I was wondering what predicated grades everyone had in order to apply for veterinary medicine? I was thinking about doing zoology or something, but in the back of my mind I still really want to be a vet but wondered if i would have to have an A predicted in Chemistry.
Hope someone can help me please :biggrin:
x

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Reply 1
You need to remember that 95% of applicants have the required (or better) grades and most of them don;'t get in. Why not do a Zoology degree then do grad vet med?

Just an Idea,
Reply 2
look i wouldnt listen to kane fizz at all that is such a pessimistic attitude.........you will have the 3A's in bio,geog and history predicted and an A at g.studies (but the unis wont really take that one into account).....most uni's will want just 3A's at A2 but if you're providing 4 subjects then a B shouldnt matter too much....even so you can quite easily get your chem predicted to an A if you talk to your teachers in 'the right way'.....i know people who got EDUD in the AS's and managed to get predicted AAAB....because they handled the situation well in the first place.....im sure your teachers will know you're a bright person and if you tell them you are 100% commited then they should predict you that all important A!.....hope this helps and good luck! :smile:
Reply 3
If your predicted grades are up to the course requirements then definatly apply. If you have a great PS it can make all the difference.

Just a side note, do you have to do any aptitude tests for veterinary medicine?
Reply 4
Man too many nublets jump in when they see stuff on the front page.

If you don't get the predicted grades, it can be everything. It's extremely important, not pessimistic.
There is the BMAT for certain unis but any serious applicant would know which ones
Reply 5
Obviously Chemistry is the only issue here. Just try and convince your teachers to predict you an A and resit AS modules and work your arse off. I'm having the same issue because I got a C in Chemistry too. I have a meeting with my head of year tomorrow to talk about it.
How is your application besides that? Done a lot of work experience?
You can always work your butt off in your A2 year and get the grades up. Then even if u dont get a place in veterinary this year you can take a gap year and re-apply. Just make sure you have loads of work experience as well. But if that fails then you can do another degree (i did zoology) and then do vet as a graduate...i am in slovakia studying because i just wouldnt be able to afford the costs in the uk as a graduate. It's great, it's a 4 year post grad course and i'll be qualified in 2 years and be working back in England :biggrin: You could even apply to study abroad now - there is usually less competition because there arent many international students applying. So you could do the 6 year course abroad if you dont have a degree. The closing date for this uni is meant to be May i think but if they havnt had many applicants they have been known to take students in even in the first week of term! You just have to do the chemistry and biology exam - apparently really easy if you have done A levels. www.uvm.sk or there is www.medstudy.org but personally id avoid going through this company (IMS) and go directly to the universities. The company just takes more money from you and it's perfectly easy to do it all yourself, especially when a lot of the international students will bend over backwards to help you out because they've all been in your situation. There are also uni's in budapest, warsaw, brno and romania. A lot of ppl transferred from budapest to my uni. Warsaw i havnt really heard much about but a polish erasmus that came to Kosice said she preferred Kosice. And Brno looks awesome (esp if you want more horse stuff) but its more expensive and doesnt do the 4 year course for post grads. So id say it'd be between Kosice and Brno for anyone wanting to go abroad!

Good luck...there are always more options than you think to make your dream come true!
Reply 7
Hi.Thanks everyone for the comments.
Thing is there is no way i can get predicted an a, at my college they have a point blank rule of only predicting you one grade up-no exceptions. So I am thinking its unlikely to be considered with only a B predicted in chem.
I have been volunteering at an animal shelter for 2 years and have a couple of weeks in a vets and then i have a week at West Midlands Safari Park. I also have a couple more things lined up x
With an AAAB prediction for A2 I think you are still in with a shot providing the rest of your application stands out. You would need to work really hard to get your C up to an A but like others have said it can be done.

What are your GCSE results like? If they are particularly good this would strengthen your application. If you are truly commited to doing vet then I would try to get as much work experience as you can (or at least planned so you can include it in you personel statement) and then apply this year with zoologly or something else as a back up.

An alternative to doing another degree and applying to vet as a post-grad (very expensive) would be to take a gap year, make sure you get your Chemistry up to an A and get loads of work experience, then when you applied you would already have your grades and a stronger application.
Reply 9
Kate91x
Hi.Thanks everyone for the comments.
Thing is there is no way i can get predicted an a, at my college they have a point blank rule of only predicting you one grade up-no exceptions. So I am thinking its unlikely to be considered with only a B predicted in chem.
I have been volunteering at an animal shelter for 2 years and have a couple of weeks in a vets and then i have a week at West Midlands Safari Park. I also have a couple more things lined up x


bristol and liverpool both accept a B in chemsitry no problem
vetmedkosice
You can always work your butt off in your A2 year and get the grades up. Then even if u dont get a place in veterinary this year you can take a gap year and re-apply. Just make sure you have loads of work experience as well. But if that fails then you can do another degree (i did zoology) and then do vet as a graduate...i am in slovakia studying because i just wouldnt be able to afford the costs in the uk as a graduate. It's great, it's a 4 year post grad course and i'll be qualified in 2 years and be working back in England :biggrin: You could even apply to study abroad now - there is usually less competition because there arent many international students applying. So you could do the 6 year course abroad if you dont have a degree. The closing date for this uni is meant to be May i think but if they havnt had many applicants they have been known to take students in even in the first week of term! You just have to do the chemistry and biology exam - apparently really easy if you have done A levels. www.uvm.sk or there is www.medstudy.org but personally id avoid going through this company (IMS) and go directly to the universities. The company just takes more money from you and it's perfectly easy to do it all yourself, especially when a lot of the international students will bend over backwards to help you out because they've all been in your situation. There are also uni's in budapest, warsaw, brno and romania. A lot of ppl transferred from budapest to my uni. Warsaw i havnt really heard much about but a polish erasmus that came to Kosice said she preferred Kosice. And Brno looks awesome (esp if you want more horse stuff) but its more expensive and doesnt do the 4 year course for post grads. So id say it'd be between Kosice and Brno for anyone wanting to go abroad!

Good luck...there are always more options than you think to make your dream come true!


If I do not get in this year, I think i might apply for somewhere abroad...:rolleyes: do you miss you family?
I wish people would leave off, not everyone is told just how hard the competition is going to be when applying for Vet Med, I wasn't even told that I needed A's until I'd failed 2 subjects at AS level, only then did they enquire as to what I wanted to do with my life. I'm having to take the animal biology, then vet route because of this. I've still applied at Bristol and Notts for Vet Med this year though as well as animal biology because I'm hopeful like that.
I have one question though, what does the Notts application mean by "important issues in Vet Med"???
Reply 12
painfullynumb
I wish people would leave off, not everyone is told just how hard the competition is going to be when applying for Vet Med, I wasn't even told that I needed A's until I'd failed 2 subjects at AS level, only then did they enquire as to what I wanted to do with my life. I'm having to take the animal biology, then vet route because of this. I've still applied at Bristol and Notts for Vet Med this year though as well as animal biology because I'm hopeful like that.
I have one question though, what does the Notts application mean by "important issues in Vet Med"???


If you really wanted it, you'd of searched the internet or asked vets. There is an insane amount of information out there for those who actually bother to put a bit of effort it.

And as for the 'important issues', that's entirely up to you. What do you consider an important issue? You should be able to think of something you've learned from work experience, but the answer should be something you feel you can elaborate on at interview.

Also, are you aware of how difficult the graduate route is? Have you considering retaking modules and gaining work experience in a gapy year, then applying?
Leave off what? People were just trying to answer the OPs question realistically.

Lots of people are the same as you in that they don't realise until they actually come to apply for uni that they don't have the right alevels (and/or grades), and dont have enough work exp. Tbh, part of the onus has to be on you to check requirements as well though. Sure, colleges/schools should and could do a lot more to help. But, at the end of the day it is up to you to make sure you can apply where you want with what you need to have.

Anyway...I would be really cautious about taking animal biology as a route into vet med. It is a way in, but the grad route isn't as easy as a lot of people seem to think. The grad fees are bankruptingly expensive at all but two unis. Notts and RVC arent as expensive, but it is still expensive to do two degrees. Also, they competition for grad places there is very, very, high. Also, many people redo alevels as well. So it may be quicker and cheaper to redo alevels than do another degree first. Just some info for you to think about before you risk the grad route.
Reply 14
kookabura
The grad fees are bankruptingly expensive at all but two unis. Notts and RVC arent as expensive, but it is still expensive to do two degrees.


Just out of interest, how much are these unis fees?
Reply 15
Hmm although you do have a shot at bristol and liverpool with a B predict in chemistry most applicants will indeed have predicted A. There is the 6 year course at Nottingham for non science people so you could always drop chemistry and apply there. Or you could work really hard this year and try and get an A in chemistry. Should remember though if you really don't like chemistry it is used a hell of a lot in veterinary science so you should really question whether it is the best course for you. If you do enjoy chemistry and just find it hard i would advise extra tuition from teachers and re-sit modules you didn't do well in.
Hope that helps:smile:
Beckybob
Just out of interest, how much are these unis fees?


Notts and RVC charge the same as normal undergrad fees. The others charge whatever they like basically, haven't got the exact figures to hand but the others are £16,000-£22,000ish per year. Edinburgh are the most expensive. Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow fractionally less so. Camb are a bit cheaper (cant remember exactly what). Some of them let you do a 4 year course (so you save a years worth of fees), but obviously it is still a huge amount. Which is why I wouldn't encourage people down this route unless that is a really, really, last option.
i met a miserable 5th year edinburgh vet who's going to qualify with in excess of £100,000 debt. i mean i want to be a vet, but not that much. paying back endless money for most of your working life would actually suck.
Ugh, I swear, I hope not everyone at uni is so unfriendly. My point was, why would I have looked into it so much if I didn't think it was any different from applying to another course? I think it's probably a good thing that some of you are working mainly with animals because you sure don't have any people skills.
painfullynumb
Ugh, I swear, I hope not everyone at uni is so unfriendly. My point was, why would I have looked into it so much if I didn't think it was any different from applying to another course? I think it's probably a good thing that some of you are working mainly with animals because you sure don't have any people skills.

and you do?
being a vet means working with people - if you haven't realised, animals can't talk. sheeeeeeeesh

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