Getting into Vet Med?

Hi guys, so I'm challenging myself this year to get the D*D*D in BTEC, that's the grade I theoretically want, nothing below a DDM. So I was browsing about on a few Uni courses and I see that even if I do get the grades, my GCSE maths grade just misses most of the entry requirements B, I got a C and maths was my worst subject. I see that Unis offer "veterinary biosciences", could I take this course for 3 years then move on to get a PhD in Vet med? Or how would I go about this? Please don't suggest Vet nursing, at the most I'm only going to apply for 1 vet nursing course as a back up because I really don't want to settle for less (also worried about the salary too). Thanks a lot!

Reply 1

Little Tail Chaser

19

You could do postgraduate veterinary medicine, but it wouldn't be a PhD. It would be a bachelor's degree. In this case you would be able to apply for 'accelerated' vet med courses, which are four years instead of five (although you could still apply for the 5 year ones). It's an option, but one worth researching carefully since graduate entry isn't any less competitive, plus some graduate tuition fees can reach £27000/year. Personally if I were in your position, I would just resit GCSE maths (you could take a gap year to do so?). Biovet is a great degree that sets people up nicely for a lot of animal related fields (also, there's nothing 'lesser' about vet nurses at all, they're super important and valuable!), however if you're dead set on being a vet I'd recommending going into a vet degree directly unless you're fortunate enough to comfortably finance the postgrad route.

EDIT: Another option to consider: some vet schools offer six year 'gateway' courses for people fulfilling certain requirements (state school, household income etc). These have lower entry requirements and might be worth looking into? Off the top of my head they're offered at RVC, Nottingham and now Bristol, can't remember any others.

Best of luck with your BTEC :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

MarikaGogo

OP

2

Yeah I have looked into doing a gateway course but often they are based around location and my household income is far too high (not being boasty or anything) to even be considered for the course :s-smilie:

That being said my mum's work has a scheme where they pay for most of the fees? Would that make a difference? To be honest with you I'm not sure I want to resit maths because I know I wont do well, even now with the maths unit I'm doing I'm struggling, I generally have a problem with numbers. I will deffo look into more of the gateway courses, my first choice would of been the London Vet college. Thanks :smile:

Reply 3

Little Tail Chaser

19

I doubt that scheme (which sounds amazing, by the way! :tongue:

) would make a difference to the gateway course, I'm not sure if you meant that with regards to gateway or postgrad? If postgrad, then, well, if fees are less of an issue then that definitely makes it more of an attractive option, just make sure you know the rules surrounding it. Will they definitely pay postgrad fees? Will your mother still work in the same place for the next few years?

Fair enough with the maths, up to you, I just thought it might be easier if you're only resitting one GCSE (as opposed to when you did it the first time and were presumably juggling around 10 other subjects).

For RVC at least their gateway courses don't just rely on household income. If you meet some other criteria (quality of your school, first person in your family to enter HE, that sort of thing) you may still be eligible.

Reply 4

MarikaGogo

OP

2

Yeah I totally get where you are coming from, however with the RVC or any gateway program for that matter I really don't meet any of the criteria Maybe at the most only one. However on the site it does say if you narrowly miss a grade (do they mean by 1) you will still be considered. The biggest issue for me was that my previous school wouldn't allow me to sit A-level, I got a B in science but they thought I wouldn't cope which is ridiculous as I'm coping perfectly fine with the science I'm doing in BTEC, it's pretty much A-level standard. I looked at Bristol but they require that you have attended school or live in the areas of devon etc... so that's not an option. I will probably end up going down the post grad route tbh, my mum will definitely still be working where she is now. Thanks for the help :smile:

Feel free to throw anything else in!

Reply 5

Lizziefickling

11

Original post by MarikaGogo

Hi guys, so I'm challenging myself this year to get the D*D*D in BTEC, that's the grade I theoretically want, nothing below a DDM. So I was browsing about on a few Uni courses and I see that even if I do get the grades, my GCSE maths grade just misses most of the entry requirements B, I got a C and maths was my worst subject. I see that Unis offer "veterinary biosciences", could I take this course for 3 years then move on to get a PhD in Vet med? Or how would I go about this? Please don't suggest Vet nursing, at the most I'm only going to apply for 1 vet nursing course as a back up because I really don't want to settle for less (also worried about the salary too). Thanks a lot!

I went the BTEC and grad route. You need to get DDD in the BTEC though and most unis now want you to have a B or A in A-level/As level chemistry alongside the BTEC.
I did bioveterinary science, then went on to do vet med afterwards. I avoided Edinburgh as they charge the most for graduate vet fees but if you're fortunate that someone will help pay I would go down the grad route, but make sure you keep your work experience up to date

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Reply 6

theninjashroom

1

In some cases graduate entry is more competitive than normal entry because there are fewer places, and (I think) only RVC and Edinburgh do an accelerated graduate course so if you applied to others you'd still have to do the full 5 year undergraduate course. It might be worth applying to normal undergraduate veterinary medicine this year just to see how it goes - some of the unis might consider you with a lower grade in Maths if you have other strengths to your application

Reply 7

Lizziefickling

11

Grad entry is no more competitive than normal entry as an A level student. There are not places allocated specifically to A level students and Grad students. All are interviewed together. Competition is high purely because of the number of applicants. They cant discriminate and only hold a certain number of places for those with degrees already.

RVC, Edinburgh and also the vet school in Slovakia offer a 4 year course. But I have a friend who is at the vet school in slovakia and comparing my first year to his, he had it a lot harder as they've cut off a year for the acellerated grad course. An extra year won't kill you if you do the 5 year undergrad course, I've actually prefered it because at least I've got more understanding now.

Reply 8

Ceris123

Oh so i also want to get into vet medicine by becoming a vet nurse - its the same right?!. Because ive gone to school sixthform for the two years and have done three courses that are irrelevent to vet medicine i am planning to go in animal science in pemb college.I do 2 BTEC and A level photography.
I am hoping the three year course will help me to go into uni to do vet nursing BUT i have only got a C in applied science in GCSE and i still have to resit my maths this year - will i able to go where i want,if the college doesnt let me in what should i do?
Any advice or anything? i'm new here so dont quite understand the whole forums thing yet sorry x

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 9

Little Tail Chaser

19

Original post by Ceris123

Oh so i also want to get into vet medicine by becoming a vet nurse - its the same right?!. Because ive gone to school sixthform for the two years and have done three courses that are irrelevent to vet medicine i am planning to go in animal science in pemb college.I do 2 BTEC and A level photography.
I am hoping the three year course will help me to go into uni to do vet nursing BUT i have only got a C in applied science in GCSE and i still have to resit my maths this year - will i able to go where i want,if the college doesnt let me in what should i do?
Any advice or anything? i'm new here so dont quite understand the whole forums thing yet sorry x

No, veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing are not the same thing. You can't practise as a veterinary surgeon with a nursing qualification. If you still want to be a vet surgeon after qualifying as a nurse then you'll have to go back to university for at least four years.

You'll have to look up the entry requirements for entry onto veterinary medicine courses with a BTEC. The usual route is through or A Levels/IB if you're in England or Wales. Some courses (especially gateway courses, which are an addition year in duration) will let you in with a BTEC but I don't know off the top of my head which ones they accept.

Most places that I've seen ask for 5A*-C as their GCSE requirements for entry onto a nursing course so the applied science grade shouldn't be a problem.

If you don't get in you have several options. You can reapply and take a gap year if you want, or you could go through clearing and try a different course. Alternatively you can become a vet nurse through work-based training, so that might be something to look into.

Reply 10

Lizziefickling

11

Original post by Ceris123

Oh so i also want to get into vet medicine by becoming a vet nurse - its the same right?!. Because ive gone to school sixthform for the two years and have done three courses that are irrelevent to vet medicine i am planning to go in animal science in pemb college.I do 2 BTEC and A level photography.
I am hoping the three year course will help me to go into uni to do vet nursing BUT i have only got a C in applied science in GCSE and i still have to resit my maths this year - will i able to go where i want,if the college doesnt let me in what should i do?
Any advice or anything? i'm new here so dont quite understand the whole forums thing yet sorry x

As LTC said, you can't practice as a vet with a nursing qualification, you still have to go to vet school to get the veterinary degree.
Most of the unis accept the BTEC (it has to be relevant so an animal management one) but they also want other qualifications such as an AS grade B in biology and chemistry (Liverpool) it's worth checking the other unis to see what you need to apply.
You won't be able to get into vet school unless you pull your maths and science GCSE up to a B, as they all (as far as I'm aware) require grade B in maths and science.

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Reply 11

MarikaGogo

OP

2

Original post by Ceris123

Oh so i also want to get into vet medicine by becoming a vet nurse - its the same right?!. Because ive gone to school sixthform for the two years and have done three courses that are irrelevent to vet medicine i am planning to go in animal science in pemb college.I do 2 BTEC and A level photography.
I am hoping the three year course will help me to go into uni to do vet nursing BUT i have only got a C in applied science in GCSE and i still have to resit my maths this year - will i able to go where i want,if the college doesnt let me in what should i do?
Any advice or anything? i'm new here so dont quite understand the whole forums thing yet sorry x

You can't get into vet med by being a vet nurse, it's not the same, a vet nurse course would be missing a lot to even come close to vet med. You would either have to take a BTEC to do with animal science or applied science, one that involves a lot of chemistry and biology as well. If you go down the BTEC route it would be ideal that you have a supporting A-level like Chemistry or Biology. However some unis will take BTEC on their own but it has to be a really good grade.

Reply 12

Ceris123

Original post by MarikaGogo

You can't get into vet med by being a vet nurse, it's not the same, a vet nurse course would be missing a lot to even come close to vet med. You would either have to take a BTEC to do with animal science or applied science, one that involves a lot of chemistry and biology as well. If you go down the BTEC route it would be ideal that you have a supporting A-level like Chemistry or Biology. However some unis will take BTEC on their own but it has to be a really good grade.