Can't Decide??
Iv'e accepted a place on a Bioveterinary Science course. I love being outdoors, with animals, and had always wanted to be a vet, however I didn't get the grades. I stayed down a year to resit some A levels, which included taking A level graphics ( I did this a GCSE as well ) I found that I really enjoyed it, so now I'm torn, as maybe I'd enjoy a degree etc in Design instead?
Thoughts?
Thanks Beth.
Thoughts?
Thanks Beth.
What kind of work experience have you done for vet? Have you been able to get a variety of placements both in vet clinics and on farms, in kennels, etc? How did you enjoy those?
Ditto for design. Have you been able to get any work experience in the field as yet?
Vet is an academically hard course. What grades did you miss? And did you not quite meet them after resitting? Are there any particular reasons/special circumstances/etc. for that? Don't get me wrong, lots of people don't get the grades first or even second time and go the graduate/other routes. Having said that, if you struggled with say biology at A level, I would be slightly more concerned about you struggling with the academic requirements for the vet course.
Are you talking about going the grad route for vet then (doing biovet science then applying to vet)? Are you aware of what this entails? There is virtually no financial support for a grad vet student, so you are looking at tuition fees of 9,000GBP to over 28,000 GBP per year, not including equipment and costs of living. This is for a degree which in your first few years you might only earn mid-20,000 GBP salary, out of which you need to pay the bills, support yourself, and start paying back your loans. Even a mid-career vet does not earn as much as other "comparable" degrees eg human doctors, lawyers, dentists etc. I did the grad route and learned a lot and I think I benefited from being a little more mature and having the prior knowledge I had from my degrees, so if you can afford it and it is what you want by all means do it. Just trying to be honest.
Both degrees are as I understand it very competitive. How do you feel about that?
Design you may be able to set your own hours etc. a bit more. Vet your hours will likely be set by the clinic you work for and/or the needs of the clients.
I can't think of much else. Is there a design forum you could post in, to get their feedback as well?
Good luck!
Ditto for design. Have you been able to get any work experience in the field as yet?
Vet is an academically hard course. What grades did you miss? And did you not quite meet them after resitting? Are there any particular reasons/special circumstances/etc. for that? Don't get me wrong, lots of people don't get the grades first or even second time and go the graduate/other routes. Having said that, if you struggled with say biology at A level, I would be slightly more concerned about you struggling with the academic requirements for the vet course.
Are you talking about going the grad route for vet then (doing biovet science then applying to vet)? Are you aware of what this entails? There is virtually no financial support for a grad vet student, so you are looking at tuition fees of 9,000GBP to over 28,000 GBP per year, not including equipment and costs of living. This is for a degree which in your first few years you might only earn mid-20,000 GBP salary, out of which you need to pay the bills, support yourself, and start paying back your loans. Even a mid-career vet does not earn as much as other "comparable" degrees eg human doctors, lawyers, dentists etc. I did the grad route and learned a lot and I think I benefited from being a little more mature and having the prior knowledge I had from my degrees, so if you can afford it and it is what you want by all means do it. Just trying to be honest.
Both degrees are as I understand it very competitive. How do you feel about that?
Design you may be able to set your own hours etc. a bit more. Vet your hours will likely be set by the clinic you work for and/or the needs of the clients.
I can't think of much else. Is there a design forum you could post in, to get their feedback as well?
Good luck!
Hey! Regarding work experience, I've done two weeks at a small animal vets, one week lambing and two weeks at a dairy farm, plus various activities with young farmers. I also worked at a equestrian centre for two years at weekends, and lucky enough to have my own horse so that's a bit more experience. I have also work shadowed an equine physiotherapist for a day to see what that area entails. I really enjoyed all the work experience I've done.
In design, I haven't had any work experience to date.
I was considering the 6 year courses for vet med, as I met the criteria and was aiming for the ccc grades and then thought about doing biovet then a post grad course, however as you say this is an expensive and long route to take.
To be honest, I did find A levels challenging, I've got an B in graphics, C in biology and D in chemistry, I think I was close to a B in biology, as I Bs in 2 or 3 of the modules, but didn't do too well in F214 module.
I went to Nottingham uni vet open day and loved it, so to do biovet is like the next best thing, however I'm worried that I won't get a job that i enjoy, as biovet is quite lab based, and silly as it sounds, I don't really want to be stuck in a lab all day. As I did want to be a large animal vet. I did apply to RVC but got rejected. I could of done vet nursing etc, but I didn't like the fact that you're mainly a cleaner, and along with pretty low wages, even for a more experienced nurse, it put me off a bit.
I do like the idea of being my own boss.. who doesn't aha! and design would allow me to be that, but the down side being I'm stuck on a computer quite a lot.
I think what I'm going to do is start the biovet degree and see how it goes and if I don't like it I know that another route is for me!
Thanks for replying!!
In design, I haven't had any work experience to date.
I was considering the 6 year courses for vet med, as I met the criteria and was aiming for the ccc grades and then thought about doing biovet then a post grad course, however as you say this is an expensive and long route to take.
To be honest, I did find A levels challenging, I've got an B in graphics, C in biology and D in chemistry, I think I was close to a B in biology, as I Bs in 2 or 3 of the modules, but didn't do too well in F214 module.
I went to Nottingham uni vet open day and loved it, so to do biovet is like the next best thing, however I'm worried that I won't get a job that i enjoy, as biovet is quite lab based, and silly as it sounds, I don't really want to be stuck in a lab all day. As I did want to be a large animal vet. I did apply to RVC but got rejected. I could of done vet nursing etc, but I didn't like the fact that you're mainly a cleaner, and along with pretty low wages, even for a more experienced nurse, it put me off a bit.
I do like the idea of being my own boss.. who doesn't aha! and design would allow me to be that, but the down side being I'm stuck on a computer quite a lot.
I think what I'm going to do is start the biovet degree and see how it goes and if I don't like it I know that another route is for me!
Thanks for replying!!
Original post by Beth07101
I went to Nottingham uni vet open day and loved it, so to do biovet is like the next best thing, however I'm worried that I won't get a job that i enjoy, as biovet is quite lab based, and silly as it sounds, I don't really want to be stuck in a lab all day.
I went to Nottingham uni vet open day and loved it, so to do biovet is like the next best thing, however I'm worried that I won't get a job that i enjoy, as biovet is quite lab based, and silly as it sounds, I don't really want to be stuck in a lab all day.
You won't enjoy the biovet course then - it is a lot of lab work and is focused to a lab based career afterwards.
The vet course is very rigorous academically (it is much harder than A levels as your answers need to be more specific and you have a huge volume of information to learn, the concepts themselves aren't difficult but it's still very academic. Without any offence meant, but looking at your grades at A level it seems you are more a creative person than a sciency person, what do you think??
As I did want to be a large animal vet. I did apply to RVC but got rejected. I could of done vet nursing etc, but I didn't like the fact that you're mainly a cleaner, and along with pretty low wages, even for a more experienced nurse, it put me off a bit.
What about being a farm worker? Would that interest you? Apparently there is a shortage of dairy farm managers (long hours though, but you would be involved in more of the herd and staff decision making).
There are many other animal orientated career - have you considered any of these? Although I must say, most animal careers aren't well paid.
I do like the idea of being my own boss.. who doesn't aha! and design would allow me to be that, but the down side being I'm stuck on a computer quite a lot.
The design industry is very competitive but, like you say, you could be your own boss. Whilst that may sounds great, being self employed isn't brilliant either since, without a regular salary you don't know when the money is coming in (stressful when you don't have any money to pay for regular bills because no work is coming in) and you can't always turn down jobs when you are busy since you don't know what's round the corner (making going on holiday planning etc. more difficult). I say this as I am a self employed web & graphic designer and I do some work for small businesses - it'd rather have a regular salary which is why I'm going down the vet route.
I think what I'm going to do is start the biovet degree and see how it goes and if I don't like it I know that another route is for me!
have you got a job in mind after the biovet route? Or are you planning on doing the vet degree after (costs of doing this have already been mentioned).
Just my two cents
Just to add to the above, nurses are a lot more than glorified cleaners, and depending on the clinic can be treated as grunt staff or afforded the respect they deserve. I have seen nurses doing the daily checks, routine medications, bandage changes, iv line checks and changes, placing the iv line in the first place...all and all a lot more of the 'daily hospital care' than the vet. They are also often the ones drawing and running the blood tests.
However you are quite right in general the pay is pretty poor.
However you are quite right in general the pay is pretty poor.
Ahhh that's interesting as I've pretty much come to the conclusion that if I don't like the bioveterinary degree I'd just something like product design, but you've done the other way round!.. what is the industry like in design, and did you enjoy the work?
What are you applying or doing at the mo for vet? Money isn't much of a boundary as my parents keep reminding me if it's what you want, do it no matter the cost aha. To be honest I'm not that aware of jobs/ careers avaliable after the finished degree, as I suppose there's more scope to just lab work, and even possibilities of masters etc.
I did actually get a place at hartpury last year for equine nursing as I love horses, but declined in the hope I did better, and perhaps with a bit of chance aimed for the 6 year vet course, I actually applied for equine nursing this year to keep my options open , this time getting declined due to not having enough experience.. Not the case, accept that I regained from waffling on about horses so much on my personal statement! Aha, hartpury is where I've been accepted for biovet!
I did notice that nurses are much more hands on with the care of the animals, is there much career progression as a vet nurse? Do you know?
Best course of action, jump in to the biovet degree and then I'll know if it's for me or not! And maybe curb this nagging design/ graphics thing going on in my head!!
Thanks Beth!
What are you applying or doing at the mo for vet? Money isn't much of a boundary as my parents keep reminding me if it's what you want, do it no matter the cost aha. To be honest I'm not that aware of jobs/ careers avaliable after the finished degree, as I suppose there's more scope to just lab work, and even possibilities of masters etc.
I did actually get a place at hartpury last year for equine nursing as I love horses, but declined in the hope I did better, and perhaps with a bit of chance aimed for the 6 year vet course, I actually applied for equine nursing this year to keep my options open , this time getting declined due to not having enough experience.. Not the case, accept that I regained from waffling on about horses so much on my personal statement! Aha, hartpury is where I've been accepted for biovet!
I did notice that nurses are much more hands on with the care of the animals, is there much career progression as a vet nurse? Do you know?
Best course of action, jump in to the biovet degree and then I'll know if it's for me or not! And maybe curb this nagging design/ graphics thing going on in my head!!
Thanks Beth!
Original post by Beth07101
Ahhh that's interesting as I've pretty much come to the conclusion that if I don't like the bioveterinary degree I'd just something like product design, but you've done the other way round!.. what is the industry like in design, and did you enjoy the work?
What are you applying or doing at the mo for vet? Money isn't much of a boundary as my parents keep reminding me if it's what you want, do it no matter the cost aha. To be honest I'm not that aware of jobs/ careers avaliable after the finished degree, as I suppose there's more scope to just lab work, and even possibilities of masters etc.
I did actually get a place at hartpury last year for equine nursing as I love horses, but declined in the hope I did better, and perhaps with a bit of chance aimed for the 6 year vet course, I actually applied for equine nursing this year to keep my options open , this time getting declined due to not having enough experience.. Not the case, accept that I regained from waffling on about horses so much on my personal statement! Aha, hartpury is where I've been accepted for biovet!
I did notice that nurses are much more hands on with the care of the animals, is there much career progression as a vet nurse? Do you know?
Best course of action, jump in to the biovet degree and then I'll know if it's for me or not! And maybe curb this nagging design/ graphics thing going on in my head!!
Thanks Beth!
What are you applying or doing at the mo for vet? Money isn't much of a boundary as my parents keep reminding me if it's what you want, do it no matter the cost aha. To be honest I'm not that aware of jobs/ careers avaliable after the finished degree, as I suppose there's more scope to just lab work, and even possibilities of masters etc.
I did actually get a place at hartpury last year for equine nursing as I love horses, but declined in the hope I did better, and perhaps with a bit of chance aimed for the 6 year vet course, I actually applied for equine nursing this year to keep my options open , this time getting declined due to not having enough experience.. Not the case, accept that I regained from waffling on about horses so much on my personal statement! Aha, hartpury is where I've been accepted for biovet!
I did notice that nurses are much more hands on with the care of the animals, is there much career progression as a vet nurse? Do you know?
Best course of action, jump in to the biovet degree and then I'll know if it's for me or not! And maybe curb this nagging design/ graphics thing going on in my head!!
Thanks Beth!
Hey cleaning is only a very small part of a VNs job and it is very hands on animal wise - the vets diagnose and tell us what to give the animal but we put their plan into action. In terms of career progression I dont know about for equine nursing, but for small animal nursing there are roles in general practice, working with exotics, in the army, for a charity, for a specialist referral centre where you will probably have a nursing specilism and obviously teaching and loads more
vet nursing is awesome job and no day is the same. I hope I have answered your questions and if you have any more fire away (im a student vet nurse btw)Quick Reply
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