Mercer students who are planning to apply to veterinary schools are designated as pre-medicine students for the purposes of academic advising.  Thus, they should read through the "Health Vocations Advising Frequently Asked Questions" (hvafaq08.doc), noting the "Additional Courses" section under Question 6, and use the "Pre-Medicine Advising Checklist" (Pre-Med Checklist.doc) as a guide for scheduling courses and extracurricular activities.  In addition to completing the courses recommended in these documents, pre-veterinary students should make themselves aware of any other courses that are required or recommended by the specific veterinary schools in which they are interested; students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the admissions requirements of the schools to which they intend to apply.

It is important for pre-veterinary students to note that the pre-veterinary/pre-med designation is not the same as an academic major.  A pre-veterinary student who intends to earn a bachelor's degree must declare a major and complete the course requirements for that major, in addition to completing the prerequisite courses for admission to specific veterinary schools.  No specific undergraduate major is required or preferred by veterinary schools, so a pre-veterinary student should choose a major that s/he is passionate about; a student who majors in a topic in which s/he is genuinely interested is more likely to achieve the academic success that will enable her/him to get into a veterinary school.  Note that any student who completes the chemistry courses recommended for the pre-veterinary/pre-med track (CHM 111, 112, 221, and 222) will earn a minor in chemistry (a minimum of 6 credits in chemistry must be completed in-residence at Mercer University in order for Mercer to award a student a minor in chemistry; see Mercer's catalog for further details).

Students should also note that, while most veterinary schools do not require a student to have a bachelor's degree prior to enrollment, the vast majority of accepted veterinary school applicants do have bachelor's degrees.  As the rules for acceptance of students without bachelor's degrees vary from school to school, students interested in this option should look carefully at the requirements for the particular schools in which they are interested.  Note that the fact that an applicant does not have a bachelor's degree does not exempt him/her from having to complete all the prerequisite classes that a veterinary school recommends, as well as any standardized tests that are mandatory.  Further, since veterinary schools accept only a relatively small number of applicants each year, it is important for students to have alternative plans in case they are not accepted to the veterinary schools to which they apply; a bachelor's degree will be extremely valuable to any student who ultimately opts to pursue other educational/career paths besides veterinary school.

Beyond the academic preparations students should make when getting ready to apply to veterinary schools, they should also keep in mind that some type of experience with the veterinary profession is advisable. This experience should include shadowing veterinarians extensively, as well as working with animals in some capacity.  Such experience will, of course, serve as evidence to veterinary schools that a student is truly interested in and knowledgeable about the veterinary profession, but it will also help the student determine if s/he is making the right choice by going to veterinary school.

In addition to gaining experience with the veterinary profession, pre-veterinary students may also wish to join Mercer's pre-health club, MerPMed.  For more information, students should visit the club's website, located at http://www2.mercer.edu/AAS/Pre-professional Information/MerPMed.htm, or send an e-mail to merpmed@yahoo.com.

Useful information about veterinary schools can be found on the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges' (AAVMC) website (http://www.aavmc.org/).  The AAVMC website contains a special section for students who are planning to apply to veterinary schools (http://www.aavmc.org/students_admissions/students.htm).  Included in the student section of the site are statistics related to veterinary school admissions (http://www.aavmc.org/students_admissions/statistics.htm) and a list of links to all veterinary medical schools in the United States and Canada (http://www.aavmc.org/students_admissions/vet_schools.htm).  Note that the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia is the only veterinary school located in Georgia (http://www.vet.uga.edu/).

The Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS), which is used by most veterinary schools, has information posted at the following link: http://www.aavmc.org/vmcas/vmcas.htm.  Students planning to apply to veterinary schools should be familiar with both the VMCAS and the specific admission requirements of the schools to which they intend to apply (many schools require information in addition to that which students provide on the VMCAS forms).  Students should start thinking about their veterinary school applications well before their final year of undergraduate studies; the deadline for completing the forms for the VMCAS in 2006 was October 2!

Many veterinary schools require applicants to submit scores from some type of standardized test.  Some schools require their applicants to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test; some also require a GRE Subject Test in addition to the General Test.  See the following link for GRE information: http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.fab2360b1645a1de9b3a0779f1751509/?vgnextoid=b195e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD.  Some schools will take scores from the GRE or the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), which is described at the following link: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/.  Because there is so much variation among veterinary schools when it comes to what tests (if any) they require for admission, it is important that students familiarize themselves with the requirements of each school they are interested in early in their undergraduate careers; this will give students time to properly prepare for the test(s) they must take and to take the test(s) multiple times, if necessary.

For more information about preparing for and applying to veterinary schools, contact  the pre-professional advisor in the Office of Academic and Advising Services, at (478) 301-2646.