Advice re Bristol vet school

Hi, I just wanted to ask, I am in year 13, I have always wanted to do vet med, but I did not take chemistry initially. My A levels are around the corner and I hope to achieve my predicted grades of AAA. I got 4 offers, to study Animal science at nottingham , Bioveterinary science at Liverpool and surrey, and Veterinary nursing at Bristol. None of these courses are what I really want to study, however at the time of applying to vet med which was early entry (last september/october) My predictions were ABB so no chance of getting accepted to vet med and my teachers wouldnt budge. I am considering a gap year if all goes to plan and I get AAA. I went to Nottingham’s open day for vet med, and the Prelim seems perfect for me as I chose wrong subejcts ( I do biology psychology and economics) but have al the relevant work experience and have completed the online work experience form. The University of Liverpool also require AAA and see Psych as a 2nd science but I realise I will be up against A* students who also do chem. What do you think is a better idea- wait till results day, take a gap year and reapply to vet med at notts and liverpool / continue at one of my 4 places and postgrad route (expensive and not guaranteed entry to vet med) or try and do chemistry like the user above, in 1 year/ at least do AS? I did love Bristol and Nottingham’s vet schools, so yeah!! Would really appreciate your feedback.

I'm a mature student at Bristol who doesn't live in Bristol so my experience will be different to others. But you'll get on great being an RVN. Also just read the new format of teaching via more CBLs which is amazing, everyone loved the CBLs vs lectures so nice they're giving this a go 🙂
Pros: I don't get overly involved outside of uni but everyone on the course is lovely, have course mates despite not living in Bristol.
Haven't had to buy a single textbook, the resources at the uni are great.
Teachers are knowledgeable and approachable.
The city is lovely, I live nearby so know Bristol well and love it.
Cons: This isn't specific to Bristol Uni but it is frustrating this whole 'cram for exams' to pass and then forget it all! The volume of information is soooo huge that it makes it impossible to remember 80% of it the second you finish exams, just feels a bit pointless. I think if they focused more on day 1 skills rather than teaching us 40 different surgeries we will never see unless we specialise then maybe we might retain more. Maybe this has changed with CBLs.
Doesn't bother me much but having two different areas, e.g. Bristol for the first 3 years then Langford the last 2 years. This can't be helped with being a city campus but yeah, might be annoying for some.
Style of teaching - there is a huge difference between the quality of teaching between some lecturers, everyone is different so this is to be expected but some teachers can take really difficult and boring topics and make them digestible and simple, whilst other teachers will happily read off lists and lists of diseases and expect you to learn something. Overall the teachers are lovely so don't want to bash them too much but yeah you will notice this as you move through your course.
Car/expenses: Bristol is a really expensive city. Also feel like final year would be really difficult without a car with rotations.
Just an add on, although I enjoyed the limited CBLs we had, that's because I sat with a bunch of older students, like previous RVNs etc, who actually wanted to learn 😂 let me tell you when you get grouped with people who cba (each to their own) it is so annoying and unproductive, the same goes for coursework.
And yeah I work part time but only 20 hours p/m and I find that's the max I could do. I don't know many other students who work part time though.

Firstly congratulations on your offers already! Funnily enough i actually did the same as you; applied and accepted a degree in biovet because I thought there was no way I'd get into Vet School. Anyway I cancelled, took the gap year to apply next year and it paid off for me! Obviously it is a risk, but I definitely don't regret it. Worst case you can always just go next year to the other ones if you don't find yourself getting an offer I would say. Whatever you decide... good luck next year!

Thank you so much! Did you do chemistry by the way, if not which vet schools did you apply to as for me this has been my main obstacle, and where are you now going to study vet med?
I am reluctant to try and do A level chem in a year as it took me a year and a half to actually grasp biology!! i will give applying to nottingham prelim and liverpool a go. I am restricted in the sense that I cant apply to many other vet schools as they do offer gateways but they are for people from low socioeconomic backgrounds which doesnt apply to me . if it doesn’t work out, i’ve got a couple options. i’ll either do a 3 year degree or perhaps explore options in europe as those deadlines aren’t as soon as uk vet schools!

If you're outside of the usual age bracket for A levels then an Access course might be better for you instead. Bristol will accept these for veterinary medicine, too. My friend did precisely that.

I’m actually 18 and in year 13 so have to make my decision on results day. I have heard of the access courses but thank you!

Ah I see now. I wonder if it is worth exploring gateway veterinary medicine in your case then instead?

Hi, I just wanted to ask, I am in year 13, I have always wanted to do vet med, but I did not take chemistry initially. My A levels are around the corner and I hope to achieve my predicted grades of AAA. I got 4 offers, to study Animal science at nottingham , Bioveterinary science at Liverpool and surrey, and Veterinary nursing at Bristol. None of these courses are what I really want to study, however at the time of applying to vet med which was early entry (last september/october) My predictions were ABB so no chance of getting accepted to vet med and my teachers wouldnt budge. I am considering a gap year if all goes to plan and I get AAA. I went to Nottingham’s open day for vet med, and the Prelim seems perfect for me as I chose wrong subejcts ( I do biology psychology and economics) but have al the relevant work experience and have completed the online work experience form. The University of Liverpool also require AAA and see Psych as a 2nd science but I realise I will be up against A* students who also do chem. What do you think is a better idea- wait till results day, take a gap year and reapply to vet med at notts and liverpool / continue at one of my 4 places and postgrad route (expensive and not guaranteed entry to vet med) or try and do chemistry like the user above, in 1 year/ at least do AS? I did love Bristol and Nottingham’s vet schools, so yeah!! Would really appreciate your feedback.

hi, im in a similar situation with the differnce being i do chemistry and still got rejected from all my vet med courses leaving me with one option- bioveternary science at liverpool. i loved liverpool and bristol so am wondering the same thing. do i wait and reapply or go to liverpool and do graduate entry. i am just laying out my thoughts on these as i think it should be helpfull. for me the only con for doing postgrad vet med is the huge cost, but other than that i know it would make my post graduate degree easier, allow me to slightly have a break for three years before the pressures put back on and go to uni alongside friends and i am from london and could come back home and study at RVC post grad. However as you know the other option is to take a gap year but i know UCAS is undergoing significant changes in applications which will prevent the seccond time round advantage for us and i know i personally feel gap year would feel lonley and pointless. hope this makes sense im rushing to get my thoughts down in a revision break. hope this helps and makes you decision a little easier!
Lara xx

hi, im in a similar situation with the differnce being i do chemistry and still got rejected from all my vet med courses leaving me with one option- bioveternary science at liverpool. i loved liverpool and bristol so am wondering the same thing. do i wait and reapply or go to liverpool and do graduate entry. i am just laying out my thoughts on these as i think it should be helpfull. for me the only con for doing postgrad vet med is the huge cost, but other than that i know it would make my post graduate degree easier, allow me to slightly have a break for three years before the pressures put back on and go to uni alongside friends and i am from london and could come back home and study at RVC post grad. However as you know the other option is to take a gap year but i know UCAS is undergoing significant changes in applications which will prevent the seccond time round advantage for us and i know i personally feel gap year would feel lonley and pointless. hope this makes sense im rushing to get my thoughts down in a revision break. hope this helps and makes you decision a little easier!
Lara xx

I 150% agree with @ALEreapp . Doing another degree just to go to uni at the same time as your friends is a very expensive solution unless you are dropping the idea of becoming a vet. Changing your mind is nothing anyone should be ashamed of. Better to decide now than in 10 years time. BUT, if vet med is still your dream doing another degree first will not make getting a place easier, it will just delay the application process, make it more competitive if you are trying for an accelerated course, and lengthen your studies by another 3 years which may at some point in time cause academic burn out. Your first degree will not be a walk in the park even if it is less stressful and content heavy than vet med, but you will be expected to get top grades not just attend . So think twice before making a decision that important. A gap year is not a punishment and almost all vet students that have had one say it was one of the best decisions they made whatever the reasons behind it.

Hi I was wondering has anyone still
Not got the Bristol
Offer ? I’m still on hold and I’ve checked that the offer holder days are over…

Bristol give offers until the deadline, one of my friends in my year got her offer the day before. The offer holder days are scheduled by the central university so unfortunately do not match up with the vet school time line, it’s equally frustrating for the vet school as applicants!