Pre-Veterinary Medicine

Admission Requirements for Veterinary School
From the time you begin college, you are assembling a complete universal application to apply to these professional schools. Veterinarian schools will review your application as a whole; you can work with your advisors to provide a competitive application.

Education and Training
Prospective veterinarians must graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M. or V.M.D.) degree from a 4-year program at an accredited college of veterinary medicine. There are 30 colleges that meet accreditation standards set by the Council on Education of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in the United States and 19 colleges outside of the U.S.

College Major
You are not required to select a particular major in order to be eligible for admission to a Veterinarian program. In selecting a college major, consider how you will satisfactorily complete the prerequisite courses for your designated program in addition to the college/university's degree and major requirements.  Work with your academic and/or pre-veterinarian advisor to plan your course schedule.

You have the option to choose from a variety of undergraduate majors to prepare you for a veterinarian program. Suggested undergraduate majors include Biology, Biochemistry, and Chemistry.

GPA
Most programs look for a minimum undergraduate cumulative 3.0 GPA but the average GPA for matriculates is a 3.6 cumulative and a 3.5 in the sciences. Keep in mind these numbers are averages and various schools can have their own averages that are higher or lower. Also, these averages are climbing higher each year and admission to veterinary medical schools is more competitive than ever. Be sure you take your studies seriously and put in the proper time for reading, studying, and review for each course.

The choice of an undergraduate major while preparing for veterinary school is not especially critical for successful admission, but the selection of certain coursework and the right combination of sciences, social and behavioral sciences and electives is important.

Certain basic requirements must be fulfilled before you can be accepted to a veterinary school. This is a GUIDE only.  Students must consult with their advisors AND the appropriate veterinarian schools on a regular basis for revisions to course requirements and to identify and ensure completion of all required courses.

• 1 year general Chemistry with labs
• 1 year Organic Chemistry with labs
• 1 year Physics with labs
• 1 year Biology with labs
• 1 year English
• 1 semester Biochemistry
• 1 semester Genetics
• 1 semester Mathematics
• 1 semester Statistics

Some veterinary schools may have additional courses required or recommended. Review the admission requirements of the veterinary schools you plan on applying in advance.

All required courses must be taken for a grade. Each school has its own policy regarding AP credit. Usually, AP credit in these areas should be followed with additional upper level work in the discipline including labs.

Additional Courses

To further strengthen you application and your ability to succeed in veterinary school, here are some additional courses you could take:

Job Outlook
Veterinarians held about 78,300 jobs in 2014. 

Excellent job opportunities are expected because there are only 30 accredited schools of veterinary medicine in the U.S., resulting in only 3,000 graduates each year.

Employment of veterinarians is expected to increase 9 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. Job opportunities should be particularly good in government and in farm animal care.

Earnings
Median annual wages of veterinarians were $88,770 in May 2014. 

Online Resources
For information on a career as a veterinarian and a list of U.S. schools and colleges of veterinary medicine: 

•  American Veterinary Medical Association
  

For information on veterinary education:

•  Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges

For general veterinary information:

• Explore Health Careers
• Pre-Vet Advisor Blog​
  

Entrance Exams
You may be required to submit test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), depending on the preference of the college to which you are applying. Currently, 38 schools require the GRE and 5 accept the MCAT.

GRE (Graduate Record Examination)
This is a computerized exam offered year-round. Examinees may take the test once every 21 days, but no more than 5 times within a 12-month period.

In order to register for the GRE you will need to complete the following:

• Create a GRE user account: https://mygre.ets.org/greweb/login/login.jsp
  
• Register for the GRE
• Take the test

MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test)

In order to register for the MCAT you will need to complete the following:

• Create an AAMC user account by clicking here
• Register for MCAT by clicking here
• Take the test