Pre-Veterinary Advising

Contact: Dr. Janice Telfer
Office: 427D Integrated Science Bldg.
Phone: 413-545-5564
Email: telfer@vasci.umass.edu
Website: www.vasci.umass.edu

A student planning to enter a veterinary medical college should select a major department in the field of greatest interest to the student.  The curriculum of the Pre-Veterinary major is designed to satisfy the D.V.M. prerequisite classes of the majority of veterinary colleges and other professional graduate schools. Students in another major should consult with a member of the Pre-Veterinary Advisory Committee in order to ensure that they complete the D.V.M. prerequisite classes in addition to the requirements of their major.

Basic science requirements of most veterinary schools include one year of biology, one year of general chemistry, one year of organic chemistry, one year of physics and one year of mathematics including one semester of calculus. Additional basic science courses required by the Animal Science or Pre-Veterinary majors will prepare them for upper-level science courses, strengthen students' applications and better prepare students for the demanding curriculum of veterinary medical colleges. Students targeting particular veterinary colleges (i.e. their home state veterinary college) should research individual veterinary college requirements, costs, and financial aid through their websites or on the website and the yearly publication of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, Veterinary Medical School Admissions Requirements (http://www.aavmc.org/). 

Pre-veterinary advising of Pre-Veterinary and other majors emphasizes the assembly of a successful application portfolio including a strong academic record in the sciences, a diversity of in-depth veterinary medicine-related experience with small animals, large animals, wildlife or laboratory research, excellent recommendation letters, a strong performance on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE, http://www.ets.org/gre), and application essays that testify to the maturity and written communication skills of the applicant. Students should prepare for the GRE in the winter of their junior year, so that they can take the test again to improve their score before the last date that they can take the test, which is in some cases is as early as July. Students should consult with members of the Pre-Veterinary Advisory Committee to develop their choices of veterinary colleges and to prepare for interviews. All but three veterinary colleges in North America use the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS, http://www.aavmc.org/), so that applicants can submit one application to multiple veterinary colleges. This application portal opens in June before the fall application deadline.

Course requirements for veterinary schools also satisfy all the requirements for entrance to any of the fields of human medicine and provide an excellent foundation for graduate work in the biological sciences.

Pre-Veterinary Advisory Committee Members

Katherine A. Beltaire, D.V.M.

Rafael Fissore, D.V.M., M.P.V.M., Ph.D.

Carlos Gradil, L.M.V, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Janice Telfer, Ph.D.