my chances?? vet med

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mjf

Thanks...how are things going with you and your A levels?

I dont start A Levels till september at the moment I'm doing Open University courses to keep my brain ticking over. I'm going through a major doubt in myself stage at the moment, I hope it passes. xxx

Reply 21

mjf

Lisx

Doubts over vet med? I sometimes get it when I havent been to the practice for a while...thinking why couldnt I just go for a biology degree or something like that, but then when I go and speak to the vets and get into the subject I know that I have made the right decision. It is difficult at times to keep that focus and determination there but if you want it you will get it. There were times through the chemistry course that I thought Im never going to make it and if I cant do this then Im never going to be able to become a vet, but as it has often been said - it probably dosent take AAB in A levels to be a vet - its just the competition that keeps it at that level so you just fight to get a place and do everything possible to get in.
How is the work experience etc going?

Reply 22

Lisx

The doubt is over my ability to get into Vet School not whether I want to do it or not. Vet Med is what Ive always wanted to do, and to be honest I can't see myself ever being so passionate about another career.

Im trying to persuade myself to believe the self doubt is good because its keeping me on my toes and making me twice as determined to get there, I'm not sure this is working today though :wink:

I have lots of work experience booked for over the summer, first "experience" is this Saturday, I am doing a Lambing course which I'm really looking forward too.

Had to take 2 of my heavily pregnant guinea pigs to vets on Tuesday, the Vet let me help with the tests, did skin strip and looked at it under microscope, they have Lice, was fascinating to see them! (Not so great for my pigs mind you)

The work experience I am most excited about has to be a week I have booked next August at the DEFRA Vet Lab in Shrewsbury.

xxx

Reply 23

Pollo Loco

Lisx

Everybody doubts whether they'll get in to vet school, coz of the competition, i certainly did and everyone i know advised that i do a course that's easier to get in for. If you're as determined as you seem you'll get a place somewhere. I think if you're that determined it shows in your work and your interview and they like that. Your experience sounds good too, what i think they like is the experience which isn't ordinary (i.e. vet work, farm, etc.) more like the Lab work you're gonna do in August, something that's different that they can talk about coz it makes you more memorable.

Reply 24

silverchaired1

My boyfriend got rejected two years in a row and was told not to bother applying for a third year. He had worked his arse off for too long to stop trying and re-applied. He got 2 unconditional offers from Liverpool and RVC. There was no reason for him to be rejected, he had the grades and I've not heard of many people who have gained as much experience as he has, BUT he isn't the best at interviews...turns to a mumbling girlie wreck! So, I reckon that's why he wasn't succesful the first two years. This year though, I went with him as opposed to his mum (mums don't help, people) and he was relaxed and confident in his new designer suit that I bought him (apparently one of the interviewers at Liverpool was admiring it! score) and he was able to talk about his experience and show the interviewers that he was a great candidate. I'm very proud of him and I'm SOOOOO glad he didn't give up when everyone else told him too.
So, don't be put off by rejection if this is what you want.
And Lisx..met a mature student the other day with 4 unconditional offers! She had re-done her exams
Could be you one day.....

Reply 25

Suzy_vet

Also, dont over estimate the competition. If you go round believing everyone is better than you, you'll lose confidence. And to be honest, they arnt all better than you.

People always scared me saying that it was really hard etc, but really if you get experince, show enthusiam, be confident at interview then youve got an outstanding chance.

Reply 26

Lisx

Thanks! I have my confident head on again now :biggrin:

Out on the farm on this coming Sunday. Prep for the next lambing. Was there for interview last week, least stressfull interview ever! He had me help him feed the orphan lambs while he talked about what his farm work ethos is. xxx

Reply 27

Pollo Loco

Lisx

Thanks! I have my confident head on again now :biggrin:

Sounds ok to me, glad to here you feel more confident now, be positive! P.S Wish me luck, it's the 1st night of Les Mis (school production) tomorrow night and i'm playin Valjean, not too nervous but am worried.

Good Luck!!

this may not be of interest to you but up until a year or so ago i was planning on doing veterinary science...why i changed my mind is a long story but i went to a vetsix conference held at nottingham uni and one of the talks was about st george's university in granada which does vet science courses which u can do over there and then u still qualify as a vet in the UK or the USA, and you can do you're fourth year in a selection of vet schools in the UK. they seemed to have slightly relaxed entrance requirements compared to over here...the website is www.sgu.edu
may not be any help but worth a mention!

Reply 30

Pollo Loco

Lisx

Good Luck!!

Thanks, had a couple of dress rehearsals. All is well. :biggrin:

Reply 31

FlutterByKisses

i can't help but feel a teeny bit jealous reading this thread!! I was going to try and get into vet med. Really wanted to do it. But realistically no matter how hard I work at my AS's there is no way I could get into it. :frown:

I have some experience, but the grades aren't high enough. :frown:

Only got 3 As at GCSE. Was predicted 7. still would have been hard to get in with 7 though. I was talking to the careers adviser at college who deals with all the medicene, vet med students and I told her I knew my grades weren't good enough, but she was very nice and showed me pages and pages of psychology courses (including animal behaviour courses) which was my second choice of paths I would like to go down...

Reply 32

Lisx

ainat87

I have some experience, but the grades aren't high enough. :frown:

Dont let your GCSE grades stop you, mine are far worse than yours but i'm determined not to let them stop me, maybe I'll have to work 10times harder to get them to notice me, but its worth it in the end.

Reply 33

lil_crazyflakes

Being a vet is all i have ever wanted to do, i always realised it was tough but never really considered another career. Now i am thinking I just won't make the grades. All my family and friends think i am wasting my time and should change my A level subjects to ones i am good at and consider another career.

My GCSE results were 2A*s 6As and 2Bs

Then i took Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Psychology for AS although i am useless at physics i thought if i could somehow get the grade it would increase my chances of getting a place.
Tp be honest i don't think i worked any where near as hard as i should have i thought they would be ok as long as i did the set work...but i was VERY wrong
My AS results, which i got yesterday were:
Physics :biggrin:

Chem

Biol:B
Psych:A

For A2 i dropped psychology although i love it, because i need the other subjects for Vet Med and i wanted to lighten my work load so didn't carry on 4.
Are my chances out the window? Should i consider changing my subjects? I want to decline units to get my grade up, so will retake in jan whilst doing A2, and will work my butt off this year; but everyone tells me i haven't got the potential... I did work experience in a practice and now i want it more than ever...Any advice?
Lois xxx

Reply 34

lil_crazyflakes

oops i meant D in chem and physics

Reply 35

Tamsin

Hey lil_crazyflakes,

Don't give up! If it's what you want to do, please don't give up. I don't know whether your school will let you change you options now, but RVC, Bristol and Liverpool would definitely still consider you with Biology, Chemistry and Psychology.

Also, AS results are not the end of the world because you can retake. I retook all three of my AS Maths papers in January because I got a C at AS. I got a very high A overall in my retakes, which really took the pressure off my A2 papers. I also retook both my Chemistry papers in June (B at AS) and got As in both.

Don't let people tell you that you can't do it. My head of 6th form told me I wouldn't get in because of the competition. She also told me that I'd never get an offer, even if I did get an interview. I got three interviews and three offers.

I think you should still apply. Get good work experience and write a good personal statement. Even if it doesn't work out, you could always apply next year when you have your A level grades (and a shed load of experience due to the gap year!). And even if it still doesn't happen for you, at least you'll know, rather than giving up now and always wondering if you might have made it. Good luck :smile:

Reply 36

nicki04

i really don't think you should give up either! One of my best friends was in the same position, and got an E for AS chemistry and a D for AS maths. However this last year she worked so hard, and got a chemistry tutor, did a lot of resits and went to both AS and A2 classes. She, like you, didnt think she would get the grades she needed and so didn't apply to uni this year. However in August she got her results and she got AAB and so she can apply next year and probably get an unconditional offer if they like her. Do LOTS of work experience, from a wide range of areas. My friend has got a full-time job in a mixed practice for her gap year, and she worked weekends on a farm and weeknights in a small animal surgery over the summer. We also both did some voluntary work for Riding for the Disabled which was good experience with horses (both being mad about them!) I think the career you want will be worth all the effort you can put into it. good luck!!

Reply 37

lil_crazyflakes

Thanks everyone, i changed physics to psychology this week and am resitting chem and biol... I think i will take a gap year to do work experience :smile:

Reply 38

Tamsin

I had the most fantastic Maths and Chemistry tutors. I seriously (and I really do mean this) could not have done it without them. If you can't get a tutor, ask your teachers if they're willing to give you some extra help. If they think you're keen enough, they should help. Having said that, mine didn't- hence the tutors!