There are many things that a student has to accomplish before their summer of senior year is over, especially someone who is applying to veterinary school. There are tests that need to be taken, there are applications that need completed, and a few other things that need to be completed during summer. While all of these steps are possible, it takes a lot of time and effort to get through it that not everyone realizes.
GRE
You have to take the GRE (graduate record exam) before you can be accepted into grad school. It's to test your knowledge about three subjects and to see how well you preform under pressure. It's similar to the ACT or SAT you have to take to get into college, except the GRE requires more studying. They tell you it's probably best for you to take it twice, to get the best score you can. You spend the majority of your summer before your senior year studying for it.
Picking a vet school
In order to apply to vet school you have to pick which schools you want to go to. They tell you it's best to pick five schools to apply to. You should base your choices off of where they are, how expensive they are, what they are known for, the classes they require and many other things. You are supposed to spend an adequate amount of time researching each school to figure out your top five from the list of twenty-eight schools. And once you narrow that list down to around five, you can begin the whole process of applying.
Vet school applications
Applications open for vet school in the beginning of May. There is a universal application that opens for all schools. When you apply you have to determine where you want to go to vet school, and then you have to take the time to fill out the never ending application. It's a long application that has you fill out everything you have done since high school. The application is due at the beginning of September, and if you don't have everything filled out by the deadline you can't apply that year. It's a grueling process that requires a lot of time and effort, but it's a big part of deciding what your future holds.
What you don't realize before you go through all of this, is that it is really hard as a twenty-one year old to decide your future. It's hard to decide where you want to go to vet school without ever visiting the schools. It is hard to know if this school will be the right fit for you or not, or if you will be able to graduate from a school and be able to get a job as a doctor of veterinary medicine. No one tells you how long the process will take, or how expensive it will be. The whole process takes a long time, and after you have applied then you have to go through interviews and everything else to determine if you get in or not. This process is also very expensive, more than anyone would tell you. Even after all of the time, effort, and money you put into everything, you come to realize that if something is meant to be, then it will be. And hopefully, sooner than later, you will be rewarded with an acceptance letter into vet school where you will one day become a licensed veterinarian. You just have to make it through that first step, and then you are on your way.
