Veterinary science

Hi there, welcome to the vet forum :smile:

There are some really great websites out there full of information, such as TSR's Veterinary Medicine Wiki and the RCVS's website. Perhaps have a look through the Resources Thread for some links to pages with good info. By far the best way of getting a feel for whether veterinary medicine is for you, though, is by doing some work experience, for example at a veterinary practice. This is a requirement for entry onto the course, and summer after year 11 is a fantastic place to start. It will allow you to get a better idea of what being a vet actually entails, and the positives and negatives of the career. Big and Shiny Work Experience Bible is a good introduction covering what you'll do and how to apply.

You don't have to do four sciences at A-Level. The only subjects required by vet schools are biology and chemistry. Maths and physics offer no advantage, apart from at Cambridge, who want to see at least one of those subjects. Other universities may require you to take another science A-Level if you don't get a good pass in it at GCSE. If your GCSEs meet the requirements, though, then someone with four sciences won't be preferred over someone who did other subjects. I'm at vet school right now, and my classmates took subjects such as history, geography, English literature and RS. I would recommend picking subjects that you enjoy and that you think you'll get a good grade in. If that includes maths and physics, great! If not, no worries, there's no point struggling with a subject you dislike for one or two years, as it won't confer any advantage. You can check out vet school A-Level requirements here. I took biology, chemistry and physics for A-Level (dropping maths after AS), so if you have any questions about those feel free to ask, although be aware that the syllabus has changed since I sat my exams.

The BMAT test is only required at the Royal Veterinary College and Cambridge. It is a three-part test carried out in November of the year that you apply. The three sections are aptitude and skills, scientific knowledge (both multiple choice) and finally and essay. The sections are marked out of 9,9 and 5, and in the essay you also get ranked A-E based on your grammar. You wouldn't need to start preparing for ages, but there's loads more info on their website. It's often considered quite difficult, but there is plenty of preparation material out there so don't let it put you off. There's no specific mark that you need to get, so it just depends on the cohort you're applying against.

Typical offers vary between AAB (e.g. Nottingham) and A*A*A (Cambridge), but most ask for AAA (Royal Veterinary College, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool etc). If you go to a low performing school, a university asking for AAA may make you a 'contextual offer' of AAB to make it fairer. People have been let into vet school on results day with grades lower than their offer conditions, however this shouldn't be relied on at all and you definitely need to apply with the correct predicted grades.

Hopefully that answered some of your questions and gave you a starting point for your own research. Let me know if you have any more questions :smile:

Best of luck with your GCSEs!

EDIT: Gah, Nox got there first :tongue:

Sorry for repeating what she said :tongue:

Good work Nox :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

lwescott

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

I'm at vet school right now, and my classmates took subjects such as history, geography, English literature and RS. I would recommend picking subjects that you enjoy and that you think you'll get a good grade in. If that includes maths and physics, great! If not, no worries, there's no point struggling with a subject you dislike for one or two years, as it won't confer any advantage.

I completely agree with this, looking back I chose completely the wrong subjects at A Level (Physics and Maths) which I hated and so struggled with the content. I enjoyed Maths at GCSE but A Level was completely different, I dropped it at AS for Business Studies which I really enjoyed and got an A. I still use some of the things we learnt in Business Studies now. If I could choose again I would like to have done Geography.
Likewise I have friends at vet school who excelled in Art and Music which admissions like as it shows commitment and helps with dexterity for surgery (for example).

Good luck :smile:

Reply 4

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

Hopefully that answered some of your questions and gave you a starting point for your own research. Let me know if you have any more questions :smile:

Best of luck with your GCSEs!

Thanks for the helpful answer! I read Cambridge's entry requirements, and I'm not sure if I misunderstood them but it seemed like if you did Bio, Chem, Physics and math you would stand a greater chance in getting in that just bio, chem and math. I'll take a look at the links because I need to know whether I'm definitely interested in Vet Sci as I will need to start preparing and choosing the right A-Levels. I'm just a bit unsure about physics because it's not one of my strengths and I'm not that interested in it either.I will definitely get going on some work experience this summer, and I have RSPCA that I can volunteer with as I'm FINALLY of age haha. Can I just ask what university you're in and how you're finding it?

I'm watching Young Vets, the BBC documentary of RVC 4th year students, and it seems pretty interesting so far. Are there any other documentaries that are similar to this sort?

Reply 5

Original post by lwescott

Likewise I have friends at vet school who excelled in Art and Music which admissions like as it shows commitment and helps with dexterity for surgery (for example).

Well my options are physics or history. I'm not really interested in the other subjects. Did you find GCSE physics easy? I find some of it hard, but I'm still above 80%. Do you think that is good enough to do well in A level?

Reply 6

Original post by iluvcats

No, from what I understand, you stand a much higher chance if you take chem, bio, and physics OR maths, than if you take chem, bio and any other subject. You don't need to do all four.

I'll take a look at the links because I need to know whether I'm definitely interested in Vet Sci as I will need to start preparing and choosing the right A-Levels. I'm just a bit unsure about physics because it's not one of my strengths and I'm not that interested in it either.

Even if you decide against veterinary, the combinations of subjects accepted by vet schools (i.e. facilitating subjects) will also be accepted by most other universities, especially for science based courses :smile:

If physics isn't your thing then I'd recommend against it. Personally I wasn't the best at it during my GCSEs and didn't like it that much either, but at A-Level it rapidly became my favourite subject :redface:

I can definitely see it being pretty dire if you had no interest, though. If you think you won't enjoy it, choose something else.

I will definitely get going on some work experience this summer, and I have RSPCA that I can volunteer with as I'm FINALLY of age haha. Can I just ask what university you're in and how you're finding it?

Good stuff, best of luck with finding a placement :smile:

I'm a first year at the RVC at the moment. I love it here! :biggrin:

I'm watching Young Vets, the BBC documentary of RVC 4th year students, and it seems pretty interesting so far. Are there any other documentaries that are similar to this sort?
There was a show that aired in ITV last year called 'Vet School', which was filmed at Edinburgh. There's also Supervet, although I can't say I've watched that and I've heard mixed reviews. A while ago CBBC did a show called 'Junior Vets' which was also filmed at Edinburgh, although the target audience is probably a little lower than you'd like :tongue:

Reply 7

Original post by iluvcats

Super vet is good but it's about speciality orthopaedics :tongue:

I like it but I do have mixed opinions eg. I work in a vets were people can't even always afford emergency treatment like pain relief or out of hours fees so I get frustrated seeing people spending like 5 grand to fix a congenital problem that's caused by bad breeding (read up on cavalier King Charles spaniels, they're a good example of this). A good book (which I haven't started reading yet tbh) is the Diary of a Young Vet, written by one of the students on the tv show you've been watching. If you're interested in finding out more about vet medicine I have a list of books you might be interested in?
In terms of placements, a very good charity to volunteer for is Riding For the Disabled and you can volunteer there from being 16 :smile:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 8

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

No, from what I understand, you stand a much higher chance if you take chem, bio, and physics OR maths, than if you take chem, bio and any other subject. You don't need to do all four.

Are you sure? I dropped at maths at GCSE and got an E in AS physics but got three interviews, and Liverpool rejected me because of my WEX as a pose to academic requirements, meaning I got in with my third subject being geography and AS geology :tongue:

most people I know did do maths but I just thought it was because People who wanted to do vet were that way inclined

Reply 9

nox1

Original post by Louiseee_

most people I know did do maths but I just thought it was because People who wanted to do vet were that way inclined

I think she's talking about Cambridge :wink:

Reply 10

Original post by Louiseee_

most people I know did do maths but I just thought it was because People who wanted to do vet were that way inclined

Yeah, Cambridge. I said higher up that the others don't care what your third A2/fourth AS are :tongue:

Reply 11

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

Yeah, Cambridge. I said higher up that the others don't care what your third A2/fourth AS are :tongue:

Oh right, sorry! :tongue:

Reply 12

Original post by Louiseee_

most people I know did do maths but I just thought it was because People who wanted to do vet were that way inclined

So I'm guessing it's not too hard to get into vet school? As long as you get A-A* grades in biology and chemistry?

Reply 13

Original post by iluvcats

So I'm guessing it's not too hard to get into vet school? As long as you get A-A* grades in biology and chemistry?

Hoooo boy

Getting the grades is not the difficult part, and that's coming from someone that didn't even get them! :lol:

The fact that people got multiple interviews/offers does not make it easy, and grades are only a small part of your application. Most vet schools consider applicants holistically, you need to ensure that your work experience, personal statement and interview performance are up to scratch too.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 14

Original post by iluvcats

So I'm guessing it's not too hard to get into vet school? As long as you get A-A* grades in biology and chemistry?

No no, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it is hard. That's why I advise you research it now so you definitely think it's for you. A levels are pretty hard so getting As and especially A* isn't as easy as you'll be hoping. And like LTC says, the grades are the easy part. Then there's the work experience, requirements, writing your personal statement, extra curricular activities and potentially additional qualifications (eg. EPQ, general studies, with although not counted as a third A level it can potentially strengthen your application) + the BMAT for Cambridge and RVC. If you're lucky enough you'll then have to go through an interview to top it off.
I don't want to pu you off but each vet school will have approximately 900-1100 (except Cambridge who have less) applicant for an average of 170 places (I think it's about 70 for Cambridge up to 250 for RVC)

Reply 15