vet school what to do on your gap year with a low gpa
Pic this:
It's your inferior year of college at a competitive, well-respected academy. You've just spent the terminal 2 years of schoolhouse writing endless essays, taking exams and quizzes, and participating in class discussions. You've spent your gratuitous time trying to build a solid resume by volunteering at your local Humane Club, shadowing veterinarians, and joining as many pre-veterinary or animal-related clubs equally you lot could. You endeavour to look forward to this adjacent academic yr, but you're non excited.
You're tired, unmotivated, and honestly, you lot're burnt out.
And who could blame yous? You've just spent your last teenage years striving for perfection, and that's exhausting. Have you heard the term "burning the candle at both ends?" Aye – that'southward not a sustainable lifestyle.
The burnt-out student depicted in this post? She isn't anonymous. She isn't a fictional graphic symbol that I made up to try to chronicle to your bug. That pupil was me. And after talking to a lot of my vet school classmates, that student described them, likewise.
Burnout is real in the veterinarian profession.
Yous're probably familiar with the buzzwords "compassion fatigue" and "burnout" in the context of veterinary medicine. Being a veterinary is not an easy job. This is important to keep in listen even before y'all commence on the journey to veterinary schoolhouse. If yous're tired and unfocused in undergrad, jumping straight into a veterinarian medicine plan will not requite you a break. The hours are long, the material is overwhelming, and the exams are difficult.
I'1000 not telling yous this to discourage you from applying to vet school. I'thou telling y'all this to discourage you lot from applying to vet schoolhouseright now.
I was in your shoes non so long ago. I think how fatigued I was. At that point, I couldn't even imagine taking upper-level classes at my university (and maintaining my GPA) while studying for the GRE and filling out the extensive VMCAS awarding. I still wanted to be a veterinarian more than anything – I just didn't know how I could physically do it.
So I decided to accept a gap year.
Information technology wasn't an like shooting fish in a barrel decision to brand. I was a little embarrassed to admit that Ineeded that time abroad from school. Merely honestly, I needed more veterinary experience to add to my resume before I could really submit a solid application. And looking dorsum, the gap year was 1 of the best decisions of my life.
I spent my junior and senior years of undergrad focusing on schoolwork and on myself. I was nevertheless busy – but man, it felt bully to know that I had extra time to put along the best veterinary school application that I possibly could.
Later on I graduated, I moved back in with my parents (not platonic for everyone, only it was only temporary). I got a job at my local animal shelter as an adoption counselor, and I eventually worked my way up to a clinic position. Previously, I had only ever had avery part-time job during college (babysitting, dog-walking, etc.), and so having a total-time job before veterinary school was a great feel for me. I learned a ton of valuable interpersonal skills, besides as how to multitask in a chaotic environment.
Additionally, I spent my spare time studying for the GRE (read about my GRE written report plan here), working on my VMCAS awarding, and spending time with friends and family. It was neat! So corking, in fact, that I decided to take an additional twelvemonth off. I know what yous're thinking – what if i year turned into ii, and and so two years turned into five? What if I never went back to school?
I have a theory that anyone who is truly meant to be a doctor will ever return to school.
…because a veterinary education is alot longer than 4 years, my friend. Beingness a veterinarian means committing to a lifetime of learning. We accept a lot of sayings in vet school, only i of them is that "veterinary school is a marathon, non a sprint." Merely because I wasn't gear up to start the race at the same time as everyone else didn't hateful that I was never going to run in it. And by taking the time to rest and refocus myself, I was building up my mental stamina for afterward.
Is a gap year for yous?
If yous feel similar you're in the same place that I was virtually six years ago, and so I would strongly urge you to have equally much time as yous need to get to a good place. When you're fix to use to vet schoolhouse, you'll know. You'll exist mentally refreshed, y'all'll be happy, and nigh chiefly, you lot'll beexcitedto hit the books again. And you'll accept all kinds of new skills and experiences in your tool kit to utilise later.
During my second semester of vet school, I remember that one of my classmates asked me how I managed to proceed such a proficient mental attitude during difficult times (i.e., exam weeks). I told them that I made sure I got enough sleep, I talked to my mom on the phone at least iii times a week, and that I had taken a gap yr. Seriously. If you apply your gap yr wisely, that time away from school will make you realize what is important and what you should just shrug off.
In undergrad, I wastotally type-A and I was a hardcore perfectionist. I cried over any form beneath a B+ and I was really hard on myself when I felt similar I didn't perform flawlessly. But later my gap twelvemonth? I don't want to be dramatic, only…
It totally changed my perspective and my outlook on life.
Life is more than important than good grades. That took me awhile to understand, and I didn't truly become it until I stepped back and refocused during my gap year. While I was in school, I couldn't run across the forest through the trees. I was and so fixated on the concept of perfection that I wasn't aware of the damage I was inflicting on myself.
I've seen a practiced number of my classmates self-destruct because in vet school, there's no such matter every bit perfect. By and large, you have to be happy with "good enough." Sometimes, "good enough" is a C- on an anatomy practical – that's a grade that I would have sobbed over in undergrad, you guys!
It didn't happen overnight. I didn't just wake upwards 1 day and accept a killer attitude. It took a lot of soul-searching – but I am so glad that I let myself accept those two boosted years to find information technology.
How do you feel about gap years? Are you planning on taking one yourself?
Let me know in the comments department below!
Source: https://journey-to-dvm.com/taking-a-gap-year/
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