<p>Kid 1 was a 33 ACT top 10%ile in her HS class, with a desire to go to med school, which she finally secured after a very trying last 12 months. Kid 2 was a 35 ACT top 10 in his HS class who wanted to do math/engg/comp from elementary school and is doing just that in Palo Alto. Kid 3 has been interested in small animals since an early age, spent a lot of time in shelters, animal hospitals, vet offices, animal summer camps & summer school; in fact her HS has arranged for her to just stay at HS till noon, and spend each afternoon shadowing Vets at a hospital, something she enjoys. But her credentials are weaker - ACT 27, top 20%ile in class, and given the difficulty of the vet track this has become a huge issue. </p>
<p>DW & I had always encouraged her to pursue the Vet track, but given K1’s ordeal to get into med school, K3 is having second thoughts. She’s been accepted into general BS program at three schools that offer a direct early-admission vet program, but the decision to accept into that Vet track only comes by June-July, after the acceptance deadlines. So K3 decided to have a “safety”, Pharmacy, without really knowing much about it other than the relatively good job prospects in today’s market, and is accepted into a couple of “guaranteed” 0-6 year Pharma programs.</p>
<p>K1 & K2 have been quite vocal with their opinion for K3 to stick with “a bird in hand” rather than pursue any non-guaranteed track, lest she find herself in the position of getting a BS, but no Vet school offers that she seems quite common among many of the students in the Vet hospital she goes to. K1 & K2 were pretty blunt about K3’s test taking and academic skills to the point that K3 seems to have chilled off with schools like Wash State or U Vermont which only make the Vet school offer after a year or two, and completely written off schools like Penn State (great animal sciences dept) which don’t have any tie-in to an early-admission Vet program.</p>
<p>I would really feel sad if she gave up her interest without trying but she’s greatly influenced by her “more at the front-lines” siblings than FOB parents from yesteryear. How would you handle such a situation?</p>
<p>I’d tell her to forget what the siblings are saying, even though they’re trying to be helpful, and pursue what she wants. I’d tell her that her performance in HS GPA and the ACT test don’t pre-destine what her performance will be like in college. She has more maturity now, she might have more focus now, and might perform better than she realizes. </p>
<p>I’d also let her know that she doesn’t have to lay out her entire future right now. She can always switch majors later if she has a change of heart either due to losing interest in an area or having the cold reality that the grades aren’t there for it. But she doesn’t have any grades yet so there’s no reason to forego what she wants now. The siblings need to realize all of this also and make sure they don’t discourage her.</p>
<p>Giving up on her interests and dreams before college even starts sounds like the wrong answer to me–and frankly, K1 and K2 shouldn’t speak for her as if the future is predetermined. She could blossom academically, she could find a great mentor, she could hate Pharma . . . lots can happen and she should go with her gut on this one (not siblings’ opinions).</p>
<p>There’s always veterinary pharmacy (a strange specialty :)) and/or path from that to vet school… </p>
<p>Why do my rodents’ prescriptions come with a warning label “Do not operate heavy machinery after taking this medicine?”… </p>
<p>As for siblings giving advise, I’d say don’t get into competition. It’s not it. Each kid is different in their own way. My own two half Tiger daughters are so different from each other academically it’s not even remotely funny.</p>
<p>If she got into some guaranteed pharmacy programs, she can’t be a very weak student. I think that there are way too many pharmacy schools opening these days. Anything can happen but don’t try pharmacy as a back up. Too many new grad pharmacists are having trouble finding a full time job.</p>
<p>Does she have any interests in which she can major in something that will provide a backup career option if she does not get into veterinary or pharmacy or other professional school? Of course, she would have to take the pre-vet or pre-pharm requirements alongside whatever major that is. But if that is the case, then she may be more willing to take the risk of non-guaranteed paths, since she will have a decent backup option.</p>
<p>But if she has no decent backup option to the professional schools, then the non-guaranteed paths would be more risky in that there is a chance of not getting into professional school and graduating with a bachelor’s degree that she does not know what to do with.</p>
<p>I know a young veterarian. In fact, she was our babysitter way-back-when. I knew she liked animals and always babysat just so she could have enough money to ride horses. Eventually she got jobs in the barns to be with the animals she loved. But I never expected her to ever finish her college and go to med school. And from there, continue to go onto vet school! I never, ever expected she’d do that. But she had tremendous passion for animals and I concluded that was what kept her going. I could have misread her abilities anyway, but I always knew of her dreams. And if that’s what your DD wants, don’t let it stop her.</p>
<p>I would let K3 do what she wants. Pharmacy is pretty boring if you don’t like it. My threat to D1 is that if she doesn’t make in her field in 2years she has to go to medical school. I’m sure with that threat she would certainly work her butt off to be succesful in her field. :D</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a risk if she does not test well, but the tests are not a direct indicator of future success, merely a predictor. DD in med school regularly scores better in class than her friend whose MCAT was over 25% higher. The test is just a test. If your DD can score whatever the recommended required score is AND can be interesting with great LORs and a solid GPA & excellent Vet related ECs, there is no reason why she cannot get into vet school. If that is her passion, she ought to go for it.</p>
<p>Maybe try a different path. In-law’s D went to Junieta (? spelling) full scholarship.Got into every Vet. school she applied to and started Univ. of Penn this August.</p>
<p>OP, I think what your third kid really needs is advice from somebody other than parents and siblings–ideally, somebody who can really evaluate her chances of getting into a field that interests her. I very much believe that kids should be encouraged to follow their dreams, as long as the dream is at least reasonably practical. But family members are likely to be either too risk-averse, or not risk-averse enough, in evaluating this.</p>
<p>Really? She’s going to make a decision about her entire career right now as a high school senior, based on having more gifted (or better test-taking) siblings?</p>
<p>If it were my kid I’d be encouraging her to think holistically about college- choose the place which offers enough options if she decides to pursue neither pharmacy nor vet; choose the place where she’ll stretch herself intellectually and in every other meaningful way; choose a place which isn’t so off the beaten track that she’s closing off Vet school now but where she may fall in love with yet something else.</p>
<p>And tell the sibs to zip it. They mean well, but life is filled with people telling you that you’re too short to be a model and too fat to be a ballerina and too common to be Queen of England. Your D is not trying to be any of those things so why puncture the balloon before she even gets to college?</p>
<p>K1 and K2 need to mind their own business, and fast. And as the parent, you need to enforce K1 and K2 minding their own business if need be. (Why on earth would it ever have been appropriate for them to talk to K3 that way in the first place?)</p>
<p>Really, Dad of 3, the more I read this - the more I think it is completely, completely ridiculous for a hs senior to have to cut out possible paths from her life. Anything can happen, and it’s sad to have a hs senior already think that her life destiny is her “backup” plan. Are you just really, really scared about the future, or what?</p>
<p>One observation regarding hobbies and EC’s translating into career choices… I was a model airplane geek back in my home country, competitions, the works, almost made the national team once. I never thought of aerospace engineering as a career choice. No money, not back there, not here. Likewise, I loved photography, I was (still am) good at it, no money unless you’re exceptionally good.</p>
<p>There’s not a LOT of money in veterinary care unless you are good, with a big practice, and so on, all of which take even more money. My exotic vet does not make a lot of money - she’s awesome, has to be to do micro-surgery on rodents for $120…</p>
<p>One option my d looked when she still wanted to be a vet was Purdue’s Veterinary Technology program. It is a BS degree and those students can still apply to vet school. And, if they don’t make it to vet school can still get a job in a vet clinic. Maybe a win win situation for some students.</p>
<p>K1 is in med school and K2 is in college, which means that they have ZERO job experience and real world experience, which means that they have no business giving advice to K3 about career paths.</p>
<p>If I were speaking to a high school kid who loved animals I’d be able to come up with the following (with no effort whatsoever)</p>
<p>1- pharma rep for an animal health company (i.e. antibiotics, other drugs people give their animals)
2- fundraiser for an animal rights or conservation advocacy group
3- publicist for a zoo or aquarium
4-director of education at a museum of natural history
5- senate aid for committees dealing with land use, ranching rights, cattle import issues
6-researcher for sustainability/climate change think tank focused on animal populations in fragile environments
7-pet store owner
8- merchandise manager for Pet products retail chain
9-financial analyst for dog food company
10- journalist/writer (I’m thinking Michael Pollan) who covers food/animal/responsible slaughter practices</p>
<p>10 ideas off the top of my head. None require attendance at Vet school. Your D may think all 10 sound lame and perhaps they are… but the two common threads are that most people (I would guess all people?) who have those jobs love animals and like working with other people who do.</p>
<p>Surely your D can afford at the tender age of 18, to spend a little time in college exploring all the options for someone who loves animals without being stuck in a 6 year program doing something she might not like? And maybe she’ll want to study linguistics or psychology or economics and just volunteer in an animal shelter on weekends?</p>
<p>Hey- economics-- she could work at the World Bank on animal/family farm financing in rural India, or work at the UN studying the geopolitics of the vegan diet, or work for a large city developing public transportation models which have pet friendly alternatives, or work for a home builder marketing pet friendly housing developments, … I’m really going now!</p>