[CameronS]

This may seem a little strange but i was wondering if i may pick your brains?
[space for answer]

For those of you who answered yes, here is my quire.

In about 4 weeks time i will making my choices for Higher. I have had a life long dream of being a vet, am sitting standard grades in Biology,Chemistry,Maths,English,Geography,German,Art and Computing.
I was wondering which subjects i should keep doing, and what grades i need to be considered for vet college.

Many Many Thanks

Cameron

[doganjo]

You need more than if you were going to medical School - as far as I know it's straight A's in 6 subjects but I could be out of date, that was a good while ago.

[Womble]

Hi Cameron,

A wee bit of googling should sort you out, but this is a good place to start.

"SQA Highers and Advanced Highers

Candidates are required to take a sixth year and undertake Advanced Highers.

    * AAABB at Higher to include Chemistry and two of Biology, Maths, Physics - including AA in Chemistry and one other science subject.
    * BB at Advanced Higher in Chemistry and another science subject.
    * If possible Advanced Higher Biology, as this will be beneficial for the first year of the course.
    * If Biology has not been studied in fifth year, it should be taken in sixth year to Higher level.
    * If Physics has not previously been studied to Standard Grade or Higher level, it should be studied in sixth year to either Standard Grade, Intermediate 2 or Higher level.

All grades must normally be obtained in one sitting and at the first attempt.

But, I'm only posting the above, so you don't think the next bit is too patronising (I hope!!).  Yes, you need the grades, otherwise you won't get in - simple!  However, for a course as over-subscribed as vetting, you need something else as well - a spark about you that the admissions people can see, and that sets you apart from the rest of the crowd.

My Sister is a vet, and what she did to get in was to spend her weekends and holidays in the years between standard grade and SYS getting as much experience as she could in all sorts of vetty things. For example, she managed to get work experience with the local vet, and abbatoir (yuk!, but it teaches you a bit about anatomy, and it did impress the admissions folks). She also worked weekends at a local farm and cattery, volunteered at the local RSPCA centre, and generally got as much experience as she possibly could.

Basically this approach worked. By the time she went for interviews at Universities, she could show that vetting was something she'd considered carefully, found out a lot about, and was still dead keen on (there's nothing worse than getting half way through a uni degree and finding out you've picked the wrong thing, so doing some homework to make absolutely sure beforehand is a great idea). This put her a long way ahead of the folks who'd just held vetting as a vague notion up until the point they filled in their UCAS forms.

Hope that helps, and good luck!!

[CameronS]

yes thats a massive help.  I have been told that i need to get experience under my belt of working with different animals in different situations, i have taken the advice, and sometimes wonder where education fits in
I have recently done my work experience in our local vets and are welcome to go back during holidays, i work 8-12 sat and sunday, weekly in my local Kennels, i do one night a week at my local riding school, i work on the farm on holidays and some weeknights, during harvest etc, have a wide variety of animals at home.

I have a cousin who is a vet, she has been trying to put me off for years now, but i haven't swayed so i guess that counts for something.

Thanks for the response
Cameron

[Womble]

Fantastic - you're well on the way then!

Google is your friend though, as all of the Unis will have their entry qualifications listed on their websites. One thing to be sure of is that the course is 100% accredited by the vet board / council / whoever they are, as I believe there has been some bother with this in the past with a few courses losing their accreditation.

[doganjo]

there's nothing worse than getting half way through a uni degree and finding out you've picked the wrong thing

Dead right!  I often wonder how I became an accountant!  I'm sure I'd have been much better at something else.  I kind of slipped into it because I had a crush on our family business company accountant

[ballingall]

Google will tell you what you need in terms of subjects. But one bit of advice- as stated there they will generally want 2 out of 3 of Maths, Biology or Physics. Biology is the easier subject to crash. So, you might be best for your first stab at Highers, making sure you have the other two. You can always take Biology in your last year.

So for this year, I would say take Maths and Chemistry anyway. You will have to take physics in some form either this year or next, and Biology as well.

How many Highers will you be sitting in fifth year?

I totally agree with what other people have said- you need to stand out from the crowd, and prove you really want to do it. Think outside the box too- if you take a year out, make sure it is animal related in some way.

Let us know what you decide!

Beth

[doganjo]

Oh, and they don't allow resits - passes have to be first time around.

[Womble]

I kind of slipped into it because I had a crush on our family business company accountant

Eeek!  Your family should have used my accountant instead - no danger of any crushes then!     (I shouldn't be harsh really - he just compiled my tax return this week, and it turns out I only owe Hector £1.27, so I'm well chuffed!  )

[CameronS]

We sit a maximum of 5 highers, but if you are allowed to sit a subject at higher, is decided once they get my Standard Gade results, in june/july

[ballingall]

I just wondered, when I sat mine, they wanted you to do 5. But I know within a few years they had changed their way of thinking to that 4 was plenty.

One other thing I thought of too- try and get experience with more unusual animals. My cousin is a vet, and it helped his uni application, and secured him his first position at a vet's practice after he qualified that he had practical experience of goats. Both my mother (his aunt) and his own mother kept goats which gave him an advantage. You could try and get some practical experience with say, goats, alpaca's, ostrich's? I'm sure that would help your cause as well. It maybe depends on what you want to do ultimately- but if you want to do large animal practice it may help.

Beth

[lab7]

Hi,
The best thing to do is talk to the vet school that you would like to go to. They will tell you exactly what they are looking for. When I got in (a lot of years ago!), they were looking for the qualifications, experience in a vet practice / with animals and to show that you were an outgoing person - involved in clubs, societies etc. Although we deal with animals, we also need to deal with the owners and so need to be able to talk to people.
Hope all goes well,
Mary.
http://www.theveterinarysmallholder.com/