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My daughter is following a pre-vet curriculum, and while that does not make me an expert--at all--on the subject, I will share her conclusion while doing a college search: think first about which vet college you will be applying to, and then look at their web site to see which schools they have accepted students from in recent admissions cycles.
Some public vet schools--which is most of them--accept very few students from outside their own state, or states with which there is an established consortium. Even within their own state, there may be very few undergraduate programs represented. In our state, the flagship campus is where the vet college is located, and the large majority of admits are graduates of that same campus. Even the well-thought of public LAC, which includes a pre-vet program, had ZERO admits last year.
If a student is really outstanding, with top test scores and gpa, along with an impressive animal work record, it may not matter a lot. But if a student is running with the pack at admission time, it might be helpful to have had very good pre-vet advising, a pre-vet club, and the recommendations of professors known to the admissions committees.
At any rate, that sort of thinking is what led my daughter to enroll at the large public flagship, even though in some regards a different kind of school would have been her preference. So far, so good; her summer job (already begun) is as an animal tech, part of an externally funded research program, and she was directed to the job via the pre-vet program. The hours will count toward the all-important 'animal work' prerequisite for vet school admission at many, if not all, vet schools.
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