To think I can go to Uni to become a Vet

[Lilt1992]

Im mid twenties in a dead end job. I was brought up on a council estate with nothing, never had anyone to look up to, never took school seriously but I had potential, all my teachers kept telling me. I left with fairly ok GCSE's. Signed onto benefits by 18 years old and then went into full time work. Now that I have money behind me and I'm older, I'm regretting not going to Uni and getting a career. My dream would be to be a vet and I'm considering studying Veterinary medicine, a 6 year course. I've been doing a bunch of research but my next step is to speak to a Uni or vet surgery to get an idea of how I'll get accepted. However, part of me feels stupid to even consider myself good enough to do it. I'm having these constant doubts. Family have told me that anything is possible. Has anyone else got any experience with something similar?

You do not need top A level grades. You do not need all top GCSEs (Bristol want 5s in English and Maths, most others want 7s in relevant stuff). AAB will get you a standard offer from 3 Unis and CCC for Gateway at RVC (or an allowed BTEC equivalent). Yes you need work experience, yes it is competitive. But what they seem to look for is enthusiasm and commitment.
I don't like reading that only 'the most academic' will get in as it's not true. DDs friend is doing drama as a third A level, has 7s,6s & 5s in her GCSEs and she has 4 offers. It's more than just exams !

Back to my OP
I wanted to know if anyone experienced similar?
Came from nothing, went to uni late and became a vet?
It seems to me from everyone's response that unless you come from money, have supportive parents that pushed you at school, contacts in the veterinary world then forget it.

@Lilt1992 it is possible, but very, very hard and your family needs to potentially have little or no income provided by yourself for around 5-10 years depending on how you go about.

You should be looking into it with your eyes wide open everything I have told you I say at careers presentations - no one should be considering entering the profession not knowing the current problems and issues.

@Lilt1992 besides the supportive parents my DD did it on her own. No vets or anything similar - work experience was hard fought but she got there through persistence and smiling a lot. We are by no means wealthy and she'll be getting a v large loan. She is going straight from school so I can't help with the mature student bit, but I do know the Gateway courses quite well and you seem an ideal candidate. On offer days we met all ages of students - eldest was in 40s. It will be hard and I know it's a tough career (I'd much rather DD became a plumber), but it is possible with enough perseverance.

@Lonecatwithkitten knowing the issues and problems was asked at every interview DD had. She was grilled at one Uni about why being a vet was not a great job. They still didn't talk her out if it.

It's perfectly possible to become a vet without coming from money, especially as a first degree. Someone I know funded himself through vet school with an ice cream van pitch, he's now a partner in a medium sized mixed practice.

However he got into a stubbornly independent practice at the right time. Many more practices have gone corporate since then... Corporates are not great to work for, independents are very mixed, some are great, some are a bit eccentric...

There are few opportunities for making a comfortable living out of being a vet at the moment, Covid has made an already bad situation worse.

You can be a vet from whatever background, the question remains whether you should.

I was considering a career change (to teaching), the question why go against the tide of people leaving the burning building was asked - I'd say something similar to anyone considering a veterinary career at the moment.

I would think seriously about why you want to be a vet and seriously consider what else would fulfill those aims instead. This is not because I think you can't, but because if you are capable of being a vet you are capable of other better paid jobs with a lot more prospects for decent work life balance in the future.

If you can go through this thought process and are still determined then by all means go for it in the hope that the current mess will get sorted before the whole mess falls over...

You don't have to stay in this country. Mine is not going to. Vets earn a fortune in some other countries 😊

"It seems to me from everyone's response that unless you come from money, have supportive parents that pushed you at school, contacts in the veterinary world then forget it."

No one has said that. They have simply said, its academically challenging, not the job that the public think it is, you need a lot of work experience and prepare for it to become life consuming. It seems you get pretty pissed off with anything other "Follow your dreams, hun, nothing is impossible." All those people saying you don't have to have stunning grades to get accepted on a course, perhaps not, but you have to have a straight A mind to get through it. Anyone paid any attention at all to the actual vets that have come on this thread and pointed out how gruelling it is? People are going to try and put you off at every turn, OP, not because they are snobs who will consider you from the wrong side of the tracks but because they want people on the courses who will stick it out. It's not glamorous, you wade through a lot of shit, you put up with shitty work conditions now that corporations have got their claws into the profession and you will work very long hours. And to get to that position you will be spend 10 years studying and accruing experience, a mountain of debt and you will put a huge strain on your relationships.If people are sceptical it is because you don't seem to have done a lot of research. So sorry its not what you want to hear but it is the reality. I used to desperately want to be a vet when I was a child but I didn't have a talent for the sciences. Now I am relieved and grateful others want to do it for me so that I have medical expertise when my animals need it. I haven't put my daughter off being a vet nurse because she knows all the negatives and is still utterly focused on it so good for her. Go for it if you think it is what you want to do but do it with open eyes. You have the expertise of people working in the profession giving you valuable advice on here so don't dismiss it as negative.

It seems to me from everyone's response that unless you come from money, have supportive parents that pushed you at school, contacts in the veterinary world then forget it

The come from money thing is generally, as an adult, you don’t have as much parental support. If you have an option to live at home while you study that’s a huge financial lift- you’ll save money one rent, likely food and bills too, i know i wouldn’t make my child contribute if on such a tough course.

You’re also less likely to get parental top ups to loans.

Obviously there is a flip side, you may have savings from working, or be eligible for more grants/loans.

With experience intensive courses where you do practical placements it’s very difficult to hold down a part time job on top.

I was only looking at bog standard degrees, but I couldn’t afford to pay rent and living expenses for 3 years, and take the hit on my pension.

There's another thread where people are complaining about vet bills. Read that and think about all the effort that has gone into getting the skills to do that op, the equipment, drugs and premises needed and the salaries etc for the support staff. Then think very carefully about whether you want to deal with the humans that come with the animals.

It seems to me from everyone's response that unless you come from money, have supportive parents that pushed you at school, contacts in the veterinary world then forget it.

How about grew up on a council estate, went to a Comp in special measures, battled the school career advisor who was convinced taking 'general studies A level' would get me into vet school, volunteered every school holiday at kennels, riding stables, farms and vet clinics from the age of 13. Family of cleaners and factory workers. No connections and no money. Just lots of initiative and hard graft.

Or doesn't that fit your narrative @Lilt1992 ?

@Lilt1992

Back to my OP I wanted to know if anyone experienced similar? Came from nothing, went to uni late and became a vet? It seems to me from everyone's response that unless you come from money, have supportive parents that pushed you at school, contacts in the veterinary world then forget it.

My daughter is a vet student. She went in straight from A levels but her friends at Uni are all older than her and went in in their 20's after gaining enough experience and qualifications to get in. Its not impossible but it is incredibly competitive and stressful to get a place. She required a minimum of 8 weeks of varied work placements. Lambing was a must have. She also spent time at a wildlife rescue centre, an equine centre, a vet referral hospital, a vet first opinion practice and got some exotics experience at a small zoo. The interview was incredibly tough and involved mini stations where she had to do various things...calculate drug dosages, be asked about her work experience, do manual dexterity tests etc. She absolutely loves the course but its long hours of studying and spending her holidays on the required EMS placements. I don't want to sound negative or put you off, its tough, but very rewarding.

How many second and subsequent generation vets are there now? I think most current vets would do their absolute utmost to discourage their children from becoming vets in the current climate... just not so much discouragement as to risk them going for it anyway. We will certainly be making sure our DC are well aware of the negative bits of dad's job, try to encourage interests in other directions but if they're adamant at least they will go in with their eyes open.

Plenty of lucrative jobs in the middle East pay is not bad in Australia/NZ either. US/Canada situation is interesting - pick your UK university carefully as some are fully accredited for the US (Glasgow, RVC, possibly Liverpool) and some aren't...

It seems to me from everyone's response that unless you come from money, have supportive parents that pushed you at school, contacts in the veterinary world then forget it

How did you get that from the advice people have given you here?

If this is the level of your analytical skill at understanding data, you really are going to need to do some access courses before taking on more demanding study.

You will be able to get a loan for your tuition fees and living expenses. This may not cover everything so you'll need to start trying to save.

You can kill 2 birds with one stone perhaps by starting to look for work in an animal husbandry/care area. Then you get the experience working with animals that you will need.

But you do need to stop seeing any advice or cautionary tales as negative

Did you only get Ok grades at gcse because you did very little work, and with revision could've got A/A stars? Because if not, you need to be realistic about your academic ability.

@randomsabreuse the last second generation (I am 5thgeneration) I meet was a student who graduated in 2006 and we have loads of students.
My own DD is pursuing a career in musical theatre not know for it's stability and in general high income, but actually I far rather that than vet med.

Of course you can do it if you want it enough.

I've just done 6 years of torturous education & training. A one year access course (uni wouldn't take me without this as it'd been so long since Id last studied) then 5 years of uni. I now have 1 more piece of work to hand in then that's me done. New dream career! I'm a 50 year old single mum by the way & it's been worth every tear, every hour I've had to spend persuading people to give me a chance despite my age, every all night writing session, every long long week & every sacrifice. You won't regret it, good luck.

@Lonecatwithkitten

Might have come across a 2010 2nd+ generation vet once, definitely not as common now.

Of course what the corporates want is a nice production line of cheap innocent new grads keen to look after the animals to give them enough bodies to fill their rotas as the lock in periods from acquisition run out. In house training did sound good a couple of years ago, but it seems to have become less available recently...

I’d start with the A Levels (def chem pref biology and one other) and see how you get on. I’d also start emailing re possible work experience too. If you enjoy the work experience and do very well at A Levels then apply for Vet Science. If you’re A Levels are lower than that consider other careers. We can’t say you have potential to be a Vet until you’ve proved yourself academically. Even if you go into another career decent science A Levels will help a lot.

This has been really interesting to read. A friends dd got in to vet school, it’s all she has ever wanted to be. It has been an enormous commitment to get there -!work experience every holiday and weekend. But she sailed the academic side.
I often thought they didn’t talk through with her enough the downsides to the reality of the profession though. It really does sound an awful working life. Because it does demand such a lot to get on a course and then to slog though 6 years, it must be very hard at then end for vets to leave in the end. I wonder what that does to mental health as many will have been focused on it from around 14 or so.

@Lilt1992

Im mid twenties in a dead end job. I was brought up on a council estate with nothing, never had anyone to look up to, never took school seriously but I had potential, all my teachers kept telling me. I left with fairly ok GCSE's. Signed onto benefits by 18 years old and then went into full time work. Now that I have money behind me and I'm older, I'm regretting not going to Uni and getting a career. My dream would be to be a vet and I'm considering studying Veterinary medicine, a 6 year course. I've been doing a bunch of research but my next step is to speak to a Uni or vet surgery to get an idea of how I'll get accepted. However, part of me feels stupid to even consider myself good enough to do it. I'm having these constant doubts. Family have told me that anything is possible. Has anyone else got any experience with something similar?

You'll need to do A levels or a foundation degree year first I think with only gcses

@Teenageromance

This has been really interesting to read. A friends dd got in to vet school, it’s all she has ever wanted to be. It has been an enormous commitment to get there -!work experience every holiday and weekend. But she sailed the academic side. I often thought they didn’t talk through with her enough the downsides to the reality of the profession though. It really does sound an awful working life. Because it does demand such a lot to get on a course and then to slog though 6 years, it must be very hard at then end for vets to leave in the end. I wonder what that does to mental health as many will have been focused on it from around 14 or so.

Well we have 4x the national suicide rate and a massive drop-out rate from the profession.

There are multiple reasons for that though