Veterinary Medicine-What Route?

kyuss1

Hello there

If anyone could help me out here it would be great as I'm not sure what to do!

So I did the leaving cert this year and got 390 points,which isn't bad at all but way off the mark for veterinary medicine at UCD!

I had no idea what I wanted to do during the leaving cert and as a result I got unmotivated and didn't work as hard as I should have which I really regret as I can't think of anything I want to do more now."Could work harder"(i.e needs a kick up the ass) was the general consensus on all of my report cards :P I wish I realised this a few years back,then maybe I wouldn't be facing the dilemma I am now.I've only decided on veterinary this summer!

I've always loved animals( I know that's not all I need to be a vet but it helps :P ), right from when I was small ,growing up on a farm with horses,cattle,dogs and a few chickens.I've learnt a lot about what can go wrong too, through having bred dogs and raised the puppies,raising chicks and helping with rearing calves and foals and feeding them etc.They always interested me more than the machinery side of things on the farm.I'm not shy to getting my hands dirty either which helps too I guess :P

I did work experience with a mixed vet clinic too during TY twice and loved it,both the large animals and cats dogs etc.I had no problem with the blood and guts side of things or the bad smells and loved hearing about the interesting cases they had and chatting away to clients when we were on call.I particularly loved watching the surgery!

When I saw how hard it was to get into veterinary though I gave up on it as I was lazy and adverse to hard work at the time :P Thought I might go down the zoology route ,but after looking at it now,I think veterinary would suit me more.I do know that a vet's life is far from a walk in the park(long hours,tough calls,bad clients etc.) but after weighing up the pros and cons I'm still all for it.I'm willing to put in the work now

Anyway, it's almost time for college and I don't know what I should do.As I see it I have these choices:

Repeat-Going from 390 to 580 points or more would be mad in one year(especially when I didn't do chem.)Maybe in 2 years? I can't afford any grind school though.

Post grad-Seems the easiest when I have everything sorted for accommodation in Cork already and a grant covering it,and my mates are there,but only one course I threw down that I actually got the points for would be relevant to veterinary I think: bioscience in cit.Also seems a waste when I know what I want to do now?

Also bloody expensive funding a post grad afterwards..Is there any form of postgrad grant?

Go abroad:e.g Eastern Europe-A tempting option but very expensive too and I don't know how difficult the entrance exam would be..could I cover the material in a year at home? How do most students finance this,through loans or is there a grant of some kind?No way parents are paying that much.

So that's all I can think of in terms of routes I could take to becoming a vet. I just don't know what I should do? If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks for you're time and sorry if I made it a bit long,just wanted to give as much info as I could

QCS123

I would say that if you were unmotivated during your actual LC years but know what you want now then you may be able to make the points jump if you repeat. You have to be realistic and if you found it hard the first time then you might not be able to do better, but if you found that you understood the material but just didn't study, then it's entirely possible. So many people in veterinary repeated the leaving to get in. Chem in one year is possible, especially if you drop another subject or two - I'd say talk to your old school's guidance councillor about this and they should have good advice. I *think*, but you'll need to check, that if you passed English, Irish or maths the first time you don't have to do them when repeating, which may take some of the pressure off.

Grad entry veterinary is hard to get in to as there are a limited number of places, you need to have really good results in a science degree and show that you have animal experience. You're already ahead in that you do seem to have a lot of experience in husbandry. I'd say if you do decide to go to CIT but the end goal is still veterinary, continue to get loads of experience on farms, in different practices, abattoirs. Also if you contact the vet college they will probably be able to advise you as to what you need to do to give yourself a good chance in getting in in the future.

There are so many different ways people have come into veterinary, it's something that if you want to do it then you'll keep going until you get it. Best of luck!!