Should I prioritize upper level bio courses over pre-reqs?

[peachkid]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and my first time posting I tried searching for the same question from past posts but couldn't find anything similar.
I'm a non traditional student and have several years of work experience (unrelated to veterinary) and I'm currently doing a DIY post bacc.

I've read that vet schools like seeing several upper-level biology classes on your transcript, beyond the pre-reqs, and are looking for your ability to manage a rigorous course schedule. With that said, should I prioritize taking upper-level bio courses such as Histology or Immunology before trying to cross off all the prereqs? I have several prereqs left (orgo, physics 1 &2, biochem).

For instance, I can prioritize taking upper level biology courses now and take Physics 1 & 2 in the Fall / Spring semesters after I apply. This is just my guess, but I'm thinking adcoms put more weight to upper level bio classes than Physics 1&2?

On a related note, do most students have multiple upper level bio courses completed before they apply to vet school, or are you OK with simply completing the pre-reqs?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[battie]

With that said, should I prioritize taking upper-level bio courses such as Histology or Immunology before trying to cross off all the prereqs? I have several prereqs left (orgo, physics 1 &2, biochem).

A lot of this will depend on the rest of your application and your school application list tbh. Upper level bios are recommended in particular for those that did poorly in the prerequisites and need a GPA boost.

Different schools allow for different numbers of outstanding credits. At my undergraduate, those 4 classes would have been 18 outstanding credits, which I think was 2 credits more than allowed to be outstanding when I was applying.

Financially, it also doesn't make sense to take the extra classes before the prerequisites because you can definitely get into vet school without the upper division classes. No sense in spending the extra money.

From an academic standpoint, there's also the risk that you'll do very well in prerequisites and boost your GPA, but not do as well in the upper level bios. Since you don't need the extra classes to get in, whereas you absolutely need the prerequisites, there's also no sense in risking your GPA.

This is just my guess, but I'm thinking adcoms put more weight to upper level bio classes than Physics 1&2?

Not necessarily. If schools wanted people to have these extra classes, they would be prerequisites. They may help people who struggled with the lower division sciences improve their app by proving that they learned from what went wrong with the original classes.

do most students have multiple upper level bio courses completed before they apply to vet school, or are you OK with simply completing the pre-reqs?

Depends on the rest of the application that. Someone who has a 4.0 across their GPAs and good ECs probably wouldn't benefit as much by having these extra classes when applying compared to someone who used these classes to make up for a poor freshman year (as an example).

 

[PetVet23]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and my first time posting I tried searching for the same question from past posts but couldn't find anything similar.
I'm a non traditional student and have several years of work experience (unrelated to veterinary) and I'm currently doing a DIY post bacc.

I've read that vet schools like seeing several upper-level biology classes on your transcript, beyond the pre-reqs, and are looking for your ability to manage a rigorous course schedule. With that said, should I prioritize taking upper-level bio courses such as Histology or Immunology before trying to cross off all the prereqs? I have several prereqs left (orgo, physics 1 &2, biochem).

For instance, I can prioritize taking upper level biology courses now and take Physics 1 & 2 in the Fall / Spring semesters after I apply. This is just my guess, but I'm thinking adcoms put more weight to upper level bio classes than Physics 1&2?

On a related note, do most students have multiple upper level bio courses completed before they apply to vet school, or are you OK with simply completing the pre-reqs?

Going along a little bit with what's already been said, I wouldn't put off prereqs in order to take extra higher level classes. Not all schools look at things the same, but in general they're going to want to see the prereqs done and that you have a solid GPA. I personally had a handful of upper level bio classes just because of the way my undergrad career went (that's a story for another day), but I also have plenty of classmates that were accepted before finishing their bachelor's and wouldn't have had as many upper level classes. I would definitely recommend checking with the schools you're interested in to see how many outstanding prereqs you can have when you apply.

 

[peachkid]

Thank you so much for the detailed replies and perspectives!! This is super helpful! I'll definitely focus on the prereqs first now. Maybe a few upper level bio classes after I apply since I heard that some schools I'm looking at they let you opt out of some of the foundation courses in the 1st yr if you've already taken them like histology, nutrition etc

 

[EngrSC]

Thank you so much for the detailed replies and perspectives!! This is super helpful! I'll definitely focus on the prereqs first now. Maybe a few upper level bio classes after I apply since I heard that some schools I'm looking at they let you opt out of some of the foundation courses in the 1st yr if you've already taken them like histology, nutrition etc

This is surprising to me but I can’t say with absolute certainty that it’s not true. I can say that at VMCVM we all take the same classes the first 2 years, no exceptions. But our curriculum is different than most (all?) other schools.

I was a non-traditional student and my original degree was in engineering. I took all of my prereqs as a post-bacc student and chose to take a few additional upper division courses because my cumulative GPA was crap. In addition to the prereqs, I took advanced A&P I & II, advanced biochem, microbial diversity (the follow-on to micro), infectious diseases, neurobiology, and animal nutrition. I was accepted my first application cycle. I agree with what was said above ... if your GPA, experiences, and LORs are solid there may be no benefit to taking additional courses above and beyond the prereqs. Save your money if you can

 

[SnowJ]

Thank you so much for the detailed replies and perspectives!! This is super helpful! I'll definitely focus on the prereqs first now. Maybe a few upper level bio classes after I apply since I heard that some schools I'm looking at they let you opt out of some of the foundation courses in the 1st yr if you've already taken them like histology, nutrition etc

I'd verify that with the schools you are applying to; I haven't heard of first years being excused from courses they've taken already. My school did allow us to pass out of certain clinical skills labs but that was it. I imagine sorting through all the courses to see if what you took covered everything you need enough to opt out is a lot more work for the college.

 

[supershorty]

I heard that some schools I'm looking at they let you opt out of some of the foundation courses in the 1st yr if you've already taken them like histology, nutrition etc

Not to pile on you more but this is not really a thing. I think I've heard a mention of it at ONE program ONE time and it was someone on here (@ajs513 I feel like maybe it was you? Is this a Penn thing?). You should be assuming that whatever program you go to, you'll be taking all of the courses - as you should, because the approach to those areas of study is different with a veterinary focus than with a general undergrad one.

 

[ajs513]

Not to pile on you more but this is not really a thing. I think I've heard a mention of it at ONE program ONE time and it was someone on here (@ajs513 I feel like maybe it was you? Is this a Penn thing?). You should be assuming that whatever program you go to, you'll be taking all of the courses - as you should, because the approach to those areas of study is different with a veterinary focus than with a general undergrad one.

Yep, it’s a Penn thing, and *maybe* another school or two. It’s not super common. At Penn you can test out of Biochem if you have a PhD or pass some lengthy oral exam (no one has ever done that though I don’t think), developmental bio if you’ve taken it before and the school accepts that the class was equivalent, and histology if you’ve taken it and can pass an exam including a practical. We used to let students test out of nutrition but not anymore. I think out of my whole class there may have been one who tested out of histology and a handful who got out of developmental bio. Several tried for developmental bio but got denied because their courses in undergrad didn’t cover things like placentation.

 

[peachkid]

Yep, it’s a Penn thing, and *maybe* another school or two. It’s not super common. At Penn you can test out of Biochem if you have a PhD or pass some lengthy oral exam (no one has ever done that though I don’t think), developmental bio if you’ve taken it before and the school accepts that the class was equivalent, and histology if you’ve taken it and can pass an exam including a practical. We used to let students test out of nutrition but not anymore. I think out of my whole class there may have been one who tested out of histology and a handful who got out of developmental bio. Several tried for developmental bio but got denied because their courses in undergrad didn’t cover things like placentation.

That's so useful to know. Thank you so much for this info!