Vet. in Graduate

[Dr. Polaris]

I am 100% sure I want to do vet. med/science in university. However, I am not sure of my abilities and capabilities for getting into Vet in undergraduate. Therefore, I was thinking of doing Bachelor of Science majoring in somethnig related to animals for example Zoology, then either switching universities and doing Vet., or staying in the current uni if it offers vet.

For example, Uni of Melbourne offers Bachelor of Science, and you will enter Doctor of Vet after 3 years of bachelor, if you do well in the first two years of Bachelor. Cornell university, College of Science then vet. science.

However, plenty of universities offer animal-related science courses, and I am not sure which one to pick. I have looked at universities which offer veterinary science, but I don't know how to look for universities with good animal-related science undergrad. courses.

Also, I am struggling a bit in maths SL, and I was thinking of switching to studies. is that good?

Moreover, I have 4 HLs, and I need to drop one. Should I drop Psychology HL or English A1 HL? So far, I am getting 6s in both subjects (based on the exercises and tests and essays given to me by the teachers [2 unseen poems for English so far, and 2 essay tests for psychology]), therefore I don'y know what to choose.

Thank you very much!

[~Lc~]

Drop the English, Psychology is more science related, which will help with your Uni application. That being said, it probably won't make THAT much of a difference. Which do you enjoy more is the question?

also I'm hoping you're doing 2 other sciences at HL as you'll be needing them to apply for the courses you want to do.

Look at Uni of Aberystwyth they have a good zoology course, and generally good at anything bio related. If you can't get into vet straight away, then do a bio related subject then go into med school (or what ever you call it for vet. studies)

you can do this in the UK as well, I know someone who did genetics at MIT at BSc and is studying Medicine at Oxford now.

[Dr. Polaris]

I am studying

Biology, Chemistry, English A1 and Psychology HL

Chinese A2, Math SL

I am thinking of dropping SL to studies though..

and my english teacher doesn't want me to drop to SL because she said it'll be a waste not to put my writing into good use

so I should just choose a zoology course and take vet? Is zoology the best option? Thanks

P.S: My councellor just now was like "Vet science is "wooooooh" way hard. It'll be harder than Med! Do you really think you can do it? Also, Melbourne and Sydney are even harder to get into than Cambridge!" (i didn't understand that last claim though =.=)

[elmar]

Keep Math SL if you want to go into Veterinary. Studies won't help you do anything relating to that, seeing as it's designed primarily for candidates who are guaranteed to not have a future in math (i.e. Art kids, Humanity kids, History majors, language majors, ect).

If you decided to drop any of those HLs, perhaps English A1 would be the best. Though English A1 HL is not that different than SL, just additional book(s) and a paper for HL, so I don't really see a problem keeping all 4 HLs. Is it a personal decision or is your school uncommon to offer 4 HLs to one student?

[ILM]

I am studying

Biology, Chemistry, English A1 and Psychology HL

Chinese A2, Math SL

I am thinking of dropping SL to studies though..

and my english teacher doesn't want me to drop to SL because she said it'll be a waste not to put my writing into good use

so I should just choose a zoology course and take vet? Is zoology the best option? Thanks

P.S: My councellor just now was like "Vet science is "wooooooh" way hard. It'll be harder than Med! Do you really think you can do it? Also, Melbourne and Sydney are even harder to get into than Cambridge!" (i didn't understand that last claim though =.=)

I think there is nothing difficult, If you like vet.med you can easily go through.

I think you can drop Phsycology or english (if it is your first language,)

[Sandwich]

I would definitely suggest keeping Maths SL if you can, unless when you say you're struggling you mean a really compromising grade in it. It looks better on your application aaaand there's also a reason why they want it, namely that you will actually find a lot of the SL concepts very relevant to any science course. I'm on a science course and one of my friends also on the course did Studies -- and is totally stuffed when it comes to a lot of more complex equation/log type stuff! And I'm doing possibly the most Mathematically-minimal course

Personally I would keep English as higher, mostly because it requires very little revision (or general effort) so you're effectively maximising your chances of doing well in Biology and Chemistry (which I assume you've taken?) which are going to be a hell of a lot of memorising in a very short space of time (the day they spread the IB exams over an extra week everybody's grades will go up!). However, it's your choice.

We can't really decide these things for you, you'll have to consider what's best from your point of view. What are the benefits of doing a Zoology course beforehand? You should look at the statistics for how many graduates get into Veterinary Medicine v.s. how many people get in fresh from school. I know that for courses like Medicine in the UK, graduate entry is actually statistically way more competitive, for instance.

How many years will it add on to your overall Veterinary degree to do a degree beforehand?

What sorts of degrees do those graduates undertake?

Why do you think it's a good idea to do a different degree first if your ultimate goal is Veterinary Science -- are you worried about the course or that you won't get in?

It's tempting to try and get people to tell you what to do, but at the end of the day if it's a difficult decision you're always going to be undecided even if everybody tells you to go and do the same thing! When people ask somebody to give them the answer, they rarely take it, even if it's what they want to hear In my experience, anyway. The best method is to ask yourself questions and try to get to the heart of the problem and your indecision

Also, Veterinary Science IS a very difficult course. It's easily as hard as Medicine in some respects if not harder because you're learning a lot more animals, even if in slightly less ultra detailed ways (!). On the other hand, it's not impossible. If your Biology is up to scratch, you enjoy it and you're making the grades to apply for the course in the first place, there's no reason why it should be too hard.

[~Lc~]

I'm not sure about the zoology, look at prospects.ac.uk for more about what the best course of action is for this career path they have good advice on there.

Don't drop to studies, it won't help you!

I don't think it will make that much of a difference with those 2 HLs as the ones you need are Bio and chem which you have.

so pick which ever one you think will be easier.

I have to disagree with Alice, I think English HL is a lot of work! I think you only have 1 IA for psych, English has 2, and the presentation and the indv. oral!

So in terms of less workload I'd say go for the psych!

[Sandwich]

I have to disagree with Alice, I think English HL is a lot of work! I think you only have 1 IA for psych, English has 2, and the presentation and the indv. oral!

So in terms of less workload I'd say go for the psych!

I meant less work at exam time, really. I'm assuming you have to do quite a bit of cribbing for Psychology? I actually don't know Personally I found the crunch at exam time lay mostly in cramming so much into a tiny space of time, so English was an excellent choice in that respect. Also you kinda have to do most of the English coursework for SL in any case.

[Dr. Polaris]

Personally I would keep English as higher, mostly because it requires very little revision (or general effort) so you're effectively maximising your chances of doing well in Biology and Chemistry (which I assume you've taken?) which are going to be a hell of a lot of memorising in a very short space of time (the day they spread the IB exams over an extra week everybody's grades will go up!). However, it's your choice.

I have chosen to keep Psychology as HL, along with Biology and Chemistry. English A1 SL now

What are the benefits of doing a Zoology course beforehand?

I could also choose Ecology

How many years will it add on to your overall Veterinary degree to do a degree beforehand?

Same as if I start directly from undergrad -- 6 years. It's just split into two parts of 3 years

What sorts of degrees do those graduates undertake?

Anything science related as long as pre-reqs are met

Why do you think it's a good idea to do a different degree first if your ultimate goal is Veterinary Science -- are you worried about the course or that you won't get in?

Afraid I might party a bit too much or something like that, and fail miserably.