Bachelor in Pre-Veterinary Medicine

Build an extensive record of relevant experiences

• Animal experience – work or volunteer to gain experience with animals
• Veterinary experience – including clinical, lab, volunteer, paid, shadow/supervised by a veterinarian; gain knowledge of the veterinary field and confirm if this is your passion
• Community service – students should have a passion for helping others
• Leadership – roles on and off-campus

Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE)

• The GRE is required for all U.S veterinary schools. It is about four hours long and cost $205.
• Only a few veterinary schools accept either the MCAT or GRE. Search school requirements.
• Students who are on the traditional plan of going to the veterinary school directly following graduation from UT should be prepared to take the GRE in the late spring/early summer of your junior year.
• Take the GRE before applying to veterinary schools.

Veterinary school applications

• Students can start to apply to veterinary school a full year before they intend to start (summer of junior year through fall of senior year).
• Applications open in May and most school's deadline are in September. Applicants are encouraged to apply early!
• Take a look now at what is expected of the application.

Preparing for Veterinary School

Earn a bachelor’s degree

Veterinary school is a graduate program; to become eligible to apply to veterinary school students need to earn a bachelor's degree and take specific pre-requisites (classes that vet schools require). At UT, students can earn a bachelor's degree and take pre-requisite courses. They will need to choose a major, as pre-vet is not a major or a program at UT.

Students who are interested in going to veterinary school typically major in biology, chemistry or biochemistry. These majors include most of the required courses for entrance into veterinary programs. However, other degrees can also prepare students for health professions; thus students are encouraged to major in the field where they excel and should consult the pre-health professions advisor about course work.

Basic pre-requisite* courses required for veterinary school:

• Biology I and II with labs
• General Chemistry I and II with labs
• Organic Chemistry I and II with labs
• Physics I and II with labs
• Biochemistry

*Each veterinary school has its own set of prerequisites, and students need to research the admission requirements of each school to which they are intending to apply. Search prerequisites for each veterinary school.

Veterinary School Information and Beyond

• A traditional veterinary school program is four years long. The first two years are spent in classroom instruction. The remaining two years usually include focused areas of concentrations and clinical rotations/externships.
• There is only one veterinary school in Florida:
  • University of Florida
• After completion, the student earns a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM).
• Internships, residency programs and/or fellowships after graduation may be required for specific fields of interest.

Pre-Health Professions Committee (PHPC)

Members of the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics and the Department of Biology offer guidance to students and write recommendations through our Pre-Health Professional Committee (PHPC) composed of biology, chemistry, biochemistry and physics faculty.