UC Davis Vet School – Year 1 – First Year Fall Curriculum

Happy New Year everyone! With one semester of vet school under my belt, I wanted to share a little bit about the Fall Year 1 Curriculum. Prologue Length: 2 weeks Many upperclassmen told me that Prologue was “basically summer camp.” Especially compared to other blocks, I would agree with this assessment! The first week consisted Read More …

UC Davis Vet School Admissions – How UC Davis Selects Veterinary Students

After talking to some of my friends that went to UC Davis for undergrad and had presentations from the vet school admissions director, I learned that the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine makes its admissions decisions based almost entirely on your numbers. I was surprised that it was this objective and thought it would Read More …

New Contributing Writer: Meet Lauren!

Hello everyone! Since Dr. Ostermann graduated from UC Davis a few years ago, a lot has changed! To keep the site up-to-date and helpful for current pre-veterinary students, Dr. Ostermann has graciously allowed me to do some writing about the new application process and new curriculum. But before I get into all that, I will Read More …

RESPONSE TO: I paid off my student loans in five years

I was at work when a colleague asked me if I had seen a new article that was floating around the internet about a newish veterinary grad who paid off her student loans in five years. I had not. The colleague who inquired had been out of vet school for over a decadeĀ and knew very Read More …

Q&A: How do you compare schools for what they specialize in?

How do you compare schools for what they specialized the most in, or what type of medicine they offer the most experience in before graduation/residency? Which veterinary school offers the most for food animal medicine, for equine, for zoo medicine. Every school claims to be the best at one thing or another on their websites, Read More …

Q&A: Taking Time Off After Graduation – Are There Time Constraints On Vet School Applications?

I would like to join the Peace Corps at some point, and I believe that after receiving my bachelorā€™s degree in biochemistry, and before enrolling in veterinary school would be the best time. I was wondering if there were any time constraints on application of veterinary school, such as if I had to apply within Read More …

Should I Waive My Rights to See My Letters of Recommendation?

I absolutely recommend waiving the right to access your letters of recommendation. The way I think about it is that if a student is going to see the letter, the recommender may not be as honest as they would be if you waived your right. The admissions committee may consider such a recommendation to be Read More …

First Day (and Year) as a Vet Doing High Volume Spay & Neuter Surgery

Upon graduating from veterinary school I started working as a high volume spay & neuter (S/N) surgeon one day per week. This was probably one of the best (and yet scariest) first steps I could have made. When I graduated from veterinary school, I likely had more surgical experience than all of my classmates and Read More …

Pre-Health Conference 2014 at UC Davis

The 12th Annual Pre-Health Conference at UC Davis is coming up! This conference is a venue where undergraduate students interested in careers in health-related fields can learn about different health fields and specialties as well as what the admissions process is like for these schools. It’s a lot of very useful information crammed into two Read More …

Public Sector Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Changes That Should Scare You

There are some proposed changes to the law as part of the new budget that have the potential to save many tax dollars while at the same time crippling students who have been counting on loan forgiveness through public service. While most articles that I’ve read do not address the direct impact on the veterinary Read More …