Pre-vet questions

nmparents
Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:36:48 +0000

This summer we checked out schools for my oldest daughter with a focus on Environmental Science programs in the east. During the tour we discovered that D1, at her guidance counselor’s suggestion, is thinking long term about becoming a veterinarian, although she still has some reluctance because of the frequency of euthanasia on pets. We are therefore trying to consider how to evaluate different schools pre-vet programs. Some statistics on D1:

Academic program: more difficult at a very good public school, 2 AP classes junior year, 4 this year. School doesn’t rank.
GPA: 3.95 (U), 4.05 (W)
SAT 1: 680 (CR), 650 (M), 720 (W)
SAT II: 620 (Math II), 680 (Biology)
ACT: 32 (best in Science, Math, and Writing, weakest in English?)
AP: French 3, English Language 5

Her ECs are good ones for Environmental Sciences and animal sciences, but not for most other majors. Her fun college ECs are horseback riding and fencing, which she considers a must. She alternates between wanting practical minors in animal sciences or business, or fun minors in classical studies or medieval studies, both in English.

She will probably apply to eight schools. Her current list of schools:
Reach:
Cornell
Wellesley
Colby
Match:
William and Mary
Mt. Holyoke
Safety:
Gettysburg
UVM
Allegheny

She has visited all of the above except Allegheny and William and Mary. She will probably replace Allegheny with UC Davis, where we are considered instate as my employer is the UC. She is considering alternatives to William and Mary. She has been intrigued by recent mailings from Tulane and Kenyon. I want her to look more closely at Tufts and LeHigh. She tends to prefer smaller schools so Cornell and Davis will require visits during the school year if she is accepted.

Some questions:

Veterinary school is very competitive. Does she read as a reasonable candidate?

How does pre-vet typically differ from pre-med?

What should we look for in a pre-vet program? good counseling? anything else?

Some schools, e.g., JHU, have reputations for very unpleasant competitiveness in pre-med classes, do other schools have that reputation?

Are there any obvious problems with the schools we are considering?