Veterinary science-which uni?

[AutisticLegoLover]

Dd wants to do veterinary science and is googling universities and trying to evidence where to apply. We live in greater Manchester (sort of) but are on the edge of the Peak District. She wants to stay fairly close to home.
I've said that nearer the time we will go and look at places but she'd like some pointers before that point because she's a planner.
Any advice would be great. Thank you.

And farm animals are of course there to provide food - she couldn't refuse to treat on a farm because she's a veggie!

Time in an abattoir is an essential part of probably all vet courses.

I’m sure they have to. It’s part of the course, I thought -and an important one. The farming, export of animals and slaughtering process is a crucial one. Similarly, horse racing and zoos. I know she’s only 14, but it’s important to see what actual vets actually do.

From Bristol Uni website (they have their own abbatoir).
"Students from the University of Cambridge and Royal Veterinary College join our own students from the University of Bristol to learn in our abattoir, a unique facility for the Bristol Veterinary School. Learning in an abattoir is an essential part of veterinary training, and an experience all qualified vets must have in order to fulfil their role in safeguarding both public health and the welfare of animals under their care."

I'll have a chat with her about this. I know I couldn't do that. I'm a nurse and have seen some awful things but I couldn't go in an abbatoir. I'm also veggie. Dd will probably be very pragmatic about it to be honest, I just worry about the effect on her. I think I'm quite emotional about her going to uni in general but very proud of her ambitions and she is capable of achieving her dreams.

The vet I know is vegan. But your personal behaviour regarding the consumption of animal products has no bearing on your professional one. Animals are generally bred for a purpose -for eating, for entertainment and for money, as well as companionship. The job is to look out for the welfare of animals in those purposes. Or there wouldn’t be many vets at all.

If it is really what she wants then it doesn’t have to be just the one shot chance to get a place. I know a couple of vets who didn’t get an offer or did get an offer but didn’t quite get the grades. They took a year out and during that year applied directly to the universities and did what they needed to do to get unconditional offers to start a year later. Lancaster is also looking at setting up a vet course I believe so that will also increase the number of places.
It is a good idea to get regular work experience at vets as well as as spending some time working on a farm if possible, as well as the great horse experience she is getting. Specialising in equine only veterinary medicine is an option once qualified but they would want the candidate to show that they’ll work equally in all areas of study before considering specialising.

@AutisticLegoLover DD is a 3rd year at Bristol and absolutely loves it. Year 9 is nice and early to be thinking about it and you've loads of time to get work experience. Some places only count stuff done in the 18 months before applying. Liverpool have the most stringent work experience rules, needing 2 out of 3 animal husband are areas out of equine, farm and small animals, as well as 2 weeks vet experience.

The more varied the better as gives more to talk about at interview, or the forms each Uni requires when applying. They don't really use the PS as have their own individual versions - don't plan on going anywhere Sept- Dec of year 13 !
Happy to help if can. It is a tough process and less places offer it than medicine so more competitive, but more courses opening which will help.
DDs advice. Do business GCSE !

@AutisticLegoLover and she will need to spend time in an abattoir - you can't opt out of any parts of the course. You have to deal with farmers and have to accept their profession.

@AutisticLegoLover as to which Unis, there's not too much choice. Notts, UCLAN and Liverpool, then Bristol, Aber, RVC, Surrey and Harper Keele. Or the 2 in Scotland. That's it for now. Few more planning in next few years.

An abattoir will be somewhere she'll have to go if she's training to be a vet. She'll also need to spend time on a farm and help with calving and lambing as part of training, farm animals that are bred for meat. A friend of mine was a trainee vet and had to do a couple of months helping with lambing, then another couple of months calving, she lived on the farms for the duration. But your dd young now, hopefully as she gets older she'll learn that it is part of life. But she does need to consider all this. Also if she doesn't want to be a vet get her to look at other degrees at places like Harper Adams. There are lots of other animal type degrees too.

My dd is a third year at Nottingham and loves it (hi @mumsneedwine )
most potential vet students know from a very early age that they want to apply and they can use those years to build up some really solid work experience. You can’t fake the genuine commitment which comes from years of working with animals, my dd volunteered at a riding stable from about 12 and also did work at a wildlife rescue centre early on. This was in addition to the many hours required for application and I think shows a genuine desire to work with animals.
She had an abattoir experience recently which although shocking she found fascinating and is even interested in becoming an abattoir vet!

Have to echo other posters and emphasise how insanely competitive it is. Friend's son, very clever boy, all 9s at GCSE, 4 A stars, dad a farmer, mum a vet so bags of work experience only got one offer. Thankfully one is enough! He's in his first year and thriving so far.

But neither the University of Sheffield nor Sheffield Hallam offers Veterinary Medicine, which might be a bit of a limiting factor.

DD is in Edinburgh and absolutely loves it. As others have already said, veterinary medicine is super competitive and even with very good interview skills, loads of work experience, all A* at GCSE and A level, she only received 2 offers. You generally don't chose the vet school, they chose you, but it is worth applying strategically and perhaps the newer ones are less competitive, they were not available when DD was applying. We have also been through the medical school application process with my other DC and it was definitely easier (although that was not a walk in the park either). Good luck to her, the advice at this stage is to focus on school work as top grades are absolutely necessary and get lots of varied work experience.

Dd is off on Wednesday due to the teachers' strike so it will be a great time to have a proper chat with her and I'll pass on the advice given here. It may well be that she already knows most of it and knowing her she does but hasn't gone into details with me.
According to the link above that someone posted there is 1 place for every 2 students.
What age do they have to be to volunteer at a shelter, farm or vets?

@AutisticLegoLover I'd suggest starting volunteering in year 10 if they'll take her. Getting some long term stuff is great to show commitment. A local vet near us takes one student every day after school for 3 hours which has been amazing, so worth asking.
The best thing to do is get a variety of things. You don't need to have done lambing or anything farmy before applying. DD did 2 weeks lambing and 2 weeks dairy in her first year and will probably never do either again.
For any placement she does get her to keep a diary so she remembers what she saw. And get references with dates on headed paper - she'll need to supply all these when she applies.
I think it's more like 4/5 applicants per place and it is competitive, but someone has to get in. It's more than just grades (you don't need all 9s or all A stars at A level - several ask for AAB). It's about knowing what a vet does and being interested in animal science.

And some call it Veterinarian Medicine and some Veterinarian Science. It's the same degree. If want to work abroad then check where each course is accredited as some only apply in EU at the moment.

Liverpool would be a good one and fairly local. She will need to be quite tough, not only re abbatoirs, but it’s a stressful job, often driven by the big corporations that own most vets nowadays.

Id get work experience whenever and wherever she can. If she rides she’ll have plenty of equine experience (assuming she doesn’t just turn up and ride at a stables?). Ask at local farms if she could help lambing/calving. Ask at local rescues or kennels.

She didn't know about the abattoir but after the initial horror she is quite pragmatic about it. She's going to contact the local vets about volunteering and there's a sheep farm close by that age can contact to ask about helping out with lambing. She's very mature for her age and sensible and hopefully by showing an interest now then when she's old enough they will be happy to have her help out.

It is very competitive to get on that course, and work experience would really help I think. Liverpool has an equine hospital if that's an interest of hers so I'd start looking at the departments online to see if she likes any.

Have you had a look at Keele? The Vet School is new, it's a lovely Campus and shouldn't be that far.

But you don't necessarily get a choice in whether you're based at Keele (fairly accessible from Manchester) or Harper Adams (much less so).

I didn't know that @NoNotHimTheOtherOne.

Would she look at Aberystwyth? They have a new veterinary facility and are very well located for agricultural experiences. Its a nice rural location compared to the city based Unis, so would suit some more than others.

@Monkey44 it's run by RVC so in year 3 you move to Hawkshead in Potters Bar.

You don't really choose where you go to vet school, they choose you (much like medicine). If you get one offer from your 4 you go ! If you're lucky enough to get more than one offer that's great, but don't expect it.
All the Unis are super competitive, you'll cover the exact same stuff at all of them (RCVS mandates it), although might be taught in slightly different ways.
For now, get work experience, get the best GCSE grades, choose Biology, chemistry and one other for A level and then be prepared to fill out lots of forms.