Is anyone here a zoologist or herpetologist?

[Valentine Pirate]

Haha, still in my early years here, but I'm hoping to go to vet school or get a degree in zoology, can't decide what to do yet Figuring I'll shoot for being a veterinarian and see where that takes me. Not much help to you I suppose, but shoot me a pm if you want to bounce ideas around!

[PythonChick]

I have an undergraduate degree in animal science (mostly farm animal species stuff) and am currently a second year Veterinary Student with a heavy interest in Small Exotics.

[JLC]

Dave and Tracy Barker are the two most educated and knowledgeable people I have ever met in the fields of zoology and herpetology. If I had any questions about either, I'd go to them. Simply wonderful people!!

[I<3Dreamsicles]

Im majoring in zoology right now, freshman, just starting...

Im not sure what im going to do yet, what ever I can, I suppose. My original plan was to be a vet, but that is extremely hard, so we'll see if I can meet the requirements. Right now Im sort of undecided (partially because I dont know how well I will do in the courses), I really am just interested in anything working with animals, I would love to work at a zoo, but my guess is that the pay isnt as good as a vet.

Also, here at my university, they really dont have any internship opportunities available. Its up to you, they tell us that if you want to work at a zoo, or some type of animal rescue, they dont even care what your degree is and such, its all about knowing people on the inside, and then getting a better placement. They tell us to volunteer and stuff, get your foot in the door, and its up to you to actually get IN... But im pretty sure if you get do start working at a place, like in intern, you can get credit for your work and stuff like that...

Also we have a zoology/conservation club that Im planning on joining, seems pretty cool. Also they have a study abroad thing where we can go to Costa Rica and do research which I really want to do but its like every other year, only problem is im not sure what I could do research on (have to do a project when we get back)

[I<3Dreamsicles]

Haha, still in my early years here, but I'm hoping to go to vet school or get a degree in zoology, can't decide what to do yet Figuring I'll shoot for being a veterinarian and see where that takes me. Not much help to you I suppose, but shoot me a pm if you want to bounce ideas around!

Cant get into vet school until you do your undergrad stuff... (4 years) + another 4 years for vet school... possibly 1 in between for a pre vet course.

My 4 years = Bachelors in Science, zoology. Its alot of chemistry surprisingly

Oh yeah, also, im not sure how other universities do it, but here, you can only take the Pre-Vet course after your 4 years of undergrad, and the pre-vet course isnt a degree or anything its just an extra class to get you prepared for vet school (so you can test into it

Im also shooting to be a vet you could say, but Ill take what I can get seeing as Im willing to work with animals in anyway I can.

[Valentine Pirate]

Cant get into vet school until you do your undergrad stuff... (4 years) + another 4 years for vet school... possibly 1 in between for a pre vet course.

My 4 years = Bachelors in Science, zoology. Its alot of chemistry surprisingly

Oh yeah, also, im not sure how other universities do it, but here, you can only take the Pre-Vet course after your 4 years of undergrad, and the pre-vet course isnt a degree or anything its just an extra class to get you prepared for vet school (so you can test into it

Im also shooting to be a vet you could say, but Ill take what I can get seeing as Im willing to work with animals in anyway I can.

Oh I know! I appreciate the reminder though that's why I mentioned early years, I'm only a sophomore at the moment. I'm a chem nut and I love animals, so vet and pre-vet seemed like a good idea to aim for. But a lot can happen in that time, so it's why the vet goal is pretty loose.

What uni you at now?

[I<3Dreamsicles]

Oh I know! I appreciate the reminder though that's why I mentioned early years, I'm only a sophomore at the moment. I'm a chem nut and I love animals, so vet and pre-vet seemed like a good idea to aim for. But a lot can happen in that time, so it's why the vet goal is pretty loose.

What uni you at now?

hehe. wasnt sure. I had no idea when I was in highschool. (wasnt sure if you meant THAT earily.. and i still dont haha. sophmore in HS or College?)

Yeah... its pretty loose here too haha. Then again this I had to pick my major my SR year in highschool. I wasnt sure if I wanted to do something with art (architecture?) or animals.

As you can see I chose animals

I failed chemistry in highschool.



I may be in for a rude awakening... But I doubt it. My teacher was horrible in highschool. I plan on hitting the books like its my job and working my rear off..
(and here they actually give you help and WANT you to do good... unlike my HS teacher unfortunately)

oh yeah and i think... Ohio State University vet school, they say something like a 3.6 GPA in college courses is competitive or something like that.... and you need a certain number of hours working/volunteering at a vet office.

[Valentine Pirate]

wasnt sure if you meant THAT earily.. and i still dont haha. sophmore in HS or College?

College, sorry 'bout that xD And it's a tough business! It's actually supposed to be harder to get into vet school than medical school. I'm absolutely on fire for the challenge, but that's just because I finally have control of what I want to study (overbearing parents have good intentions usually, but it made me do AWFUL in high school, 2. something GPA but a 2300 SAT score put me in an awkward position)

And I knew about needing recommendations from Vets and volunteer organizations, but didn't know about the hours... Might just be safe to log 'em anyway though

[I<3Dreamsicles]

College, sorry 'bout that xD And it's a tough business! It's actually supposed to be harder to get into vet school than medical school. I'm absolutely on fire for the challenge, but that's just because I finally have control of what I want to study (overbearing parents have good intentions usually, but it made me do AWFUL in high school, 2. something GPA but a 2300 SAT score put me in an awkward position)

And I knew about needing recommendations from Vets and volunteer organizations, but didn't know about the hours... Might just be safe to log 'em anyway though

Yeah thats for sure. My actual DOCTOR even told me that, but he said its because there are more parts to learn and stuff cause its all different animals and not just ONE subject, like humans..

Yep, im not sure what other vet schools do but ohio state has some odd number of hours required...

Yeah I had a pretty bad GPA my highschool years except my sr year i had like a 3.4 or something...

Ive never taken the SAT

[Valentine Pirate]

Yeah thats for sure. My actual DOCTOR even told me that, but he said its because there are more parts to learn and stuff cause its all different animals and not just ONE subject, like humans..

Yep, im not sure what other vet schools do but ohio state has some odd number of hours required...

Yeah I had a pretty bad GPA my highschool years except my sr year i had like a 3.4 or something...

Ive never taken the SAT

Bahaha, lucky! Standardized testing is so freaking boring 0_0 Urgh.

I'm just so excited to be studing animal specific sciences after the preliminary classes are done. I know a LOT of people on here don't put a lot of stock in a degree, but combining it with the fact I already keep/help keep a bunch of reptiles, it'll probably be an asset, right?