Should I apply to backup courses while I am on a gap year?

I am planning to take a gap year for multiple reasons, one of them being that I want to be a vet but don't have the predicted grades or work experience,

I am thinking of applying to backups before the end of January just in case i don't get the right grades or work experience for October, would this be a good idea?
I'm not really sure what to apply to, should I apply for things similar to vet med like zoology (graduate entry pathway into vet med is far too expensive so I can't do that)?

Also their is a chance i dont want to even be a vet, i don't know since i still haven't done the work experience, in this case what should i apply to?

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 1

Sumikko

12

Hi, just curious but can you apply for uni if you don’t have a predicted grade ?

Reply 2

louisvbird

Universities Forum Helper

9

Original post by DukeAim

I am planning to take a gap year for multiple reasons, one of them being that I want to be a vet but don't have the predicted grades or work experience,

I am thinking of applying to backups before the end of January just in case i don't get the right grades or work experience for October, would this be a good idea?
I'm not really sure what to apply to, should I apply for things similar to vet med like zoology (graduate entry pathway into vet med is far too expensive so I can't do that)?

Also their is a chance i dont want to even be a vet, i don't know since i still haven't done the work experience, in this case what should i apply to?

Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean. Have you already applied to vet med and are thinking of adding backup choices to your UCAS application? If so, then it kind of depends.
You say you're not even sure if you want to be a vet, so in my opinion you should apply to something you are interested in and genuinely want to study and work in the field. Don't just apply to a course in case you don't get into veterinary, apply to something you actually want to do. If you apply to veterinary, you should be sure that you want to be a vet and therefore not need a backup course, because if you get rejected you would want to reapply to veterinary. Does this make sense?

Some people apply to a backup course anyway, with the view they if they get rejected from veterinary they will study their backup and then apply again to veterinary as a graduate, however for this route you must self-fund your tuition so this isn't possible for most people, hence the reason that lots of us don't apply to backup courses and just reapply to vet med. Many people get in on their second tries.

Regardless:
I would strongly advise you to get work experience during your gap year, even if you have already applied - as you say there is a chance you're not sure. The vet course is infamously long, stressful and hard, which very high drop-out rates. To prevent failure and doubtful thoughts, I advise you to do some work experience so you know what you are in for and understand the career and assure yourself that is worth the hard work. It's also unfortunately become quite common for newly-qualified vets to change careers not long after working as a vet, so don't take it lightly!

I hope this helps somewhat. Let us know if you have any further questions. :smile:

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by DukeAim

I am planning to take a gap year for multiple reasons, one of them being that I want to be a vet but don't have the predicted grades or work experience,

I am thinking of applying to backups before the end of January just in case i don't get the right grades or work experience for October, would this be a good idea?
I'm not really sure what to apply to, should I apply for things similar to vet med like zoology (graduate entry pathway into vet med is far too expensive so I can't do that)?

Also their is a chance i dont want to even be a vet, i don't know since i still haven't done the work experience, in this case what should i apply to?

I don't think zoology is really that closely related to vet med. It's like biosciences compared to medicine; there are some core concepts that apply to both, but it's completely non-clinical and also a lot of the topics are probably not as relevant to vet med (e.g. conservation/ecology type topics I imagine are of less important for most vets?).

Also remember zoologists are scientists studying animals - they don't engage in animal husbandry/care themselves really as I understand it. Consequently a lot of what you will end up studying in zoology are model organisms like nematode worms, zebrafish and suchlike, and otherwise the most ecologically important and/or abundant kinds of animals (invariably insects). Large mammals are not going to be a huge focus generally and domesticated species probably even less so (those are more studied by those involved in animal science/agriculture I think). Also a fair bit of the course is going to be things like developmental and cell biology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry, and so on.

In any event, it's up to you whether you wish to apply or not - if you don't mind paying the UCAS fee you have little to lose. Just remember that you would need to reject your offer before reapplying. Also bear in mind if you do miss the grades you may be better off retaking than doing an unrelated degree?

Reply 4

DukeAim

OP

7

Original post by louisvbird

Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean. Have you already applied to vet med and are thinking of adding backup choices to your UCAS application? If so, then it kind of depends.
You say you're not even sure if you want to be a vet, so in my opinion you should apply to something you are interested in and genuinely want to study and work in the field. Don't just apply to a course in case you don't get into veterinary, apply to something you actually want to do. If you apply to veterinary, you should be sure that you want to be a vet and therefore not need a backup course, because if you get rejected you would want to reapply to veterinary. Does this make sense?

Some people apply to a backup course anyway, with the view they if they get rejected from veterinary they will study their backup and then apply again to veterinary as a graduate, however for this route you must self-fund your tuition so this isn't possible for most people, hence the reason that lots of us don't apply to backup courses and just reapply to vet med. Many people get in on their second tries.

Regardless:
I would strongly advise you to get work experience during your gap year, even if you have already applied - as you say there is a chance you're not sure. The vet course is infamously long, stressful and hard, which very high drop-out rates. To prevent failure and doubtful thoughts, I advise you to do some work experience so you know what you are in for and understand the career and assure yourself that is worth the hard work. It's also unfortunately become quite common for newly-qualified vets to change careers not long after working as a vet, so don't take it lightly!

I hope this helps somewhat. Let us know if you have any further questions. :smile:

Alright thank you for advising me again (you also helped me 5 months ago on another thread lol)