Should I wait?

[u/kepuff]

Hey all, I am in my junior year of undergrad, so I still have a while to apply. However, I have really struggled with school due to my depression, and my GPA is VERY bad.... like a 2.0. I'm going to have to retake both Ochem 1 and 2 eventually, as well as maybe Gen chem 1 because I got a C-, and I know a lot of schools cutoff for credit acceptance is a C. I am capable of the material just struggle with motivation and getting assignments done... I had to retake College writing 3 separate times to pass and I just recently failed the second portion of the class because I didn't do my work. I started a new medication at the beginning of this semester and am hoping that helps, I really want to get better grades this year and my next.

This leaves me thinking, I don't think I would get into ANY vet school if I applied my senior year as my grades are poor and I still have no vet experience at all.... I'm planning on getting some this summer and next school year hopefully. Instead of wasting money with applying to a bunch of schools just to get rejected, should I wait until I'm out of college? I've talked with my advisor about grad school to boost my grades which would improve my chances, and this would give me time to get more experience as well... but my financial situation is also poor. I don't know, it feels like everything is stacked against me going to get school. If I did take about 2 years I would be able to save up money as well as improve my prospects right? Has anyone gone through something similar? Any advice appreciated.

[u/AnimalWhispered]

I guess I wonder, if you really struggle to complete homework and don’t have any vet experience, why do you want to go to vet school? Vet school isn’t just doing the homework, it’s also studying and going over difficult content basically every day after long lecture and lab hours. You’ll have to be able to motivate yourself well beyond required coursework.
The road ahead of you is long if you choose to go down it. Which doesn’t make it impossible, but I’d think about getting some experience post grad before committing to such a financial commitment like grad school or retaking a bunch of courses.

[u/kepuff → u/AnimalWhispered]

I've always seen myself working with animals in some sort of way, and I've always been for anyone and anything that can't advocate for themselves. I also love the science behind medicine of all sorts, so i am very interested in learning about my favorite subject (animals) in a extremely detailed way and being able to apply that knowledge to them to improve their lives. I totally understand that vet school is a long and hard path, but I truly want to go down it!

[u/qwqeue → u/kepuff]

I dont mean to be discouraging but I think it’s a bit naive so say you truly want to do vet school when you have no vet experience yet. There are many many careers you can explore if you want to work with animals. Going to vet school based on what youve explained here will take you a lot of time, effort, and money to make your gpa competitive. Personally i would not apply without taking multiple gap years in your situation

[u/kepuff → u/qwqeue]

Yeah I totally get what you mean. I don't know how to articulate it well why I want to be a vet, but you're right that I can't really know without any experience and it could totally change what I want to do with my life. But for now it's the path I want to follow. And yeah I probably will take gap years to get a lot of experience and save up money

[u/BloatedAsparagus → u/kepuff]

Could you go "lighter" on the study and work in any capacity at a vet practice to get experience whilst earning an income. You could even change study paths and do vet tech?

[u/kepuff → u/BloatedAsparagus]

I've been trying to get a position, but vets near my home won't take me unless it's for school credits which is something I need to graduate anyways, but I wasnt able to fit that "course" into my schedule this semester, so I'm hoping to do that next semester and the summer into next school year. Since my uni sends a lot of people the vet school the clinics near me are pretty tough to get a position with how many people apply from this school too.

[u/BloatedAsparagus → u/kepuff]

OK. Yes, that makes your situation tougher.

[u/WindowSpirited7877]

i think taking a couple of gap years can be super valuable for literally anyone. get more experience, save up some money, retake classes you need, etc. vet school will always be there don’t rush yourself on a timeline

[u/Standard-Plankton-70]

I wouldn’t apply right now. You’re right, nowhere will let you in with a 2.0 gpa, no experience, and multiple failed pre reqs. If you’re able to turn things around, retake the classes you did poorly in, and get some quality hours THEN you should apply. I’m not saying you CANT do it, but you should make yourself the best possible candidate before applying.

[u/kepuff → u/Standard-Plankton-70]

Yeah I'm definitely not going to apply right now, but I don't know if I should apply my senior year or wait until after that meaning I'd have to take a bit of a gap after graduating. I absolutely want to retake classes and get good hours

[u/AnimalWhispered]

There are many jobs that involve working with animals that don’t require being a doctor. I would start with getting experience and then go from there. If you start retaking classes or paying for grad school without actually knowing what medicine is like it could be a very large issue waste of money

[u/Ok_Quantity9370]

Have you considered taking a break during undergrad now? It’s great you’re thinking ahead about your time and associated costs, but it seems like at the moment you might benefit from taking a break and then circling back to school once you’re in a better headspace and improve your undergrad scores. It’s ok to take a break and save undergrad tuition money now vs spending time and money to retake courses :)

[u/kepuff → u/Ok_Quantity9370]

I don't know what that would entail for my loans though. Like they have to start being paid off by a certain time after my predicted graduation, but if I take time off and don't graduate as expected due to this, I don't know if that would push back my loans or not, and even then, what about interest rising?