Why do you want to go to veterinary school?

If you are considering veterinary school, the very first question you need to ask yourself is “Why do I want to go to veterinary school?”  In formulating your answer, ask yourself the following questions: What drew you to the profession in the first place?  What draws you to it now?
What career path do you envision for yourself?  How does having a DVM degree help you to achieve that goal?  Is there a particular discipline within veterinary medicine that interests you ?
What makes you want a professional degree in animal medicine rather than an advanced degree in another field such as biology, animal sciences, ecology, biochemistry or another scientific dicipline?  
Have you considered other careers working with animals such as farm manager, veterinary technician, ecologist, educator, behaviorist, for example?
In considering veterinary school, understand that you should enjoying working with many different species, and that you should also enjoy working with people.  While you may only work with a few species once you have graduated from vet school, you will be asked to work with a large range of species that will include cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and wildlife of all kinds.  You should also enjoy working with people and possess strong interpersonal and communication skills.  While veterinarians treat animals, they work with and for other people, so “people skills” are a must. 
Many students  want to go to veterinary school because they like animals and they enjoy science and medicine.  While this is an admirable start, the commitment to become a veterinarian must be made because there is simply no other profession out there that would satisfy your personal and professional interests.  Being a veterinarian is fun, intellectually invigorating and personally rewarding; however, the profession also has its drawbacks.  In school and once you are out in practice, you should expect to work long
hours with duties on nights, weekends and holidays.  You should expect to have many demands on both your time and talents, and you should expect that each day will pose sometimes difficult clinical, professional and personal challenges.  Finally, you should know that the cost of a veterinary medical education has the potential to put a significant financial burden on you and your future family.  
For the veterinarian who truly loves the profession, these challenges are offset by the satisfaction they get from their jobs.  It is important to make sure that you will be happy with the benefits and the drawbacks of your choice to pursue a career in the profession.

The successful applicant 

Once you have decided that veterinary school is right for you, you must find out if you possess the right qualifications to be accepted. 
Admissions standards have increased over the last 20 years as the applicant pool has grown in size and credentials.  Below is a summary of what veterinary admissions committees are evaluating in their applicants. 

Pre-requisite courses

Each veterinary school has its own set of requirements, although in general, the core requirements for admission include:

• One or two semesters of English 
• One to three semesters of courses in the social sciences and humanities
• Two semesters of Biology with a laboratory component 
• Two semesters of General Chemistry with a laboratory component 
• Two semesters of Organic Chemistry with a laboratory component.
• Two semesters of Physics with a laboratory component 
• One or two semesters of Biochemistry
• One or two semesters of Mathematics

You should start taking your pre-requisite courses as soon as you decide to apply for veterinary school.  Some of the upper level classes require that the 100- and 200- level courses be completed as pre-requisites.  Normally, it will take you at least 6 semesters to finish the sequence of science classes you will need.  Make sure to get the list of required courses for each school where you think you might apply, so you can work all of your requirements into your graduation plan while it is still feasible to do so.  Some careful planning at the beginning of your four years of college will help to ensure that you are able to finish your pre-veterinary coursework in a timely manner, and take other courses that are of interest to you.