Pre-Vet

A personalized pre-vet advising program designed to maximize your candidacy for admission to veterinary schools.


Overview for Pre-Vet

Occupations in veterinary medicine are expected to grow three times faster than all other occupations between 2016 and 2026. If you’re interested in caring for animals, conducting research related to animal illnesses, or working with livestock in university or government settings, the Pre-Vet Advising Program at RIT can help you reach your career goals.

What is Pre-Vet Advising?

Being accepted into veterinary school requires a strong academic record, GRE preparation, and accruing hours of direct animal care under the supervision of a veterinarian (DVM), researcher (Ph.D.), or other animal health professional. RIT’s Pre-Vet Advising Program provides students with individual, personalized support that helps you fulfill the veterinary school requirements of the rigorous Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS), a centralized application service used by veterinary colleges.

Housed in the College of Science, the Pre-Vet Advising Program also helps students acquire the research and real-world experience required for these careers in veterinary medicine. Our experiential learning program can help you acquire the hours of animal care needed to help you become a competitive candidate for admission to veterinary colleges. We help students find internships around the country or locally near the RIT campus. Among the local opportunities are internships at Seneca Park Zoo and Rochester Animal Services.

Over the past 15 years, RIT graduates have been admitted to top programs at some of the most highly ranked veterinary colleges, including:

  • Cornell University
  • Michigan State
  • Tufts University
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Ohio University
  • Ohio State
  • North Carolina
  • Purdue University
  • University of Illinois
  • University of Florida
  • University of Guelph in Canada

What can you expect from the Pre-Vet Advising Program?

The Pre-Vet Advising Program provides personalized advising and guidance focused around preparation for admission to veterinary school. This includes:

  • Personalized pre-vet academic advising for course selection, minors, and immersions
  • Support and guidance in identifying opportunities that fulfill veterinary experience requirements. These include direct animal care hours required for vet school admission and internship opportunities
  • Assistance on veterinary school applications
  • Extracurricular activities
  • Guidance on summer, clinical, research, and co-op employment
  • Events

FAQs

Veterinarians must complete a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM or VMD) degree at an accredited college of veterinary medicine. Admission to veterinary programs is competitive and typically requires applicants to have taken many science classes, including biology, chemistry, and animal science. Most programs also require courses in math, the humanities, and the social science. The Pre-Vet Advising Program helps prepare you to become a competitive applicant for acceptance into veterinary schools.

No. At RIT, pre-vet is an advising program, not an academic major. The Pre-Vet Advising Program supplements your academic curriculum and provides support in becoming a competitive candidate for veterinary school admission.

The most common major for pre-vet students is biology because it offers a curriculum that fulfills veterinary school requirements. However, programs in chemistrybiochemistry, and biotechnology and molecular bioscience also include the required pre-requisite courses needed for vet school admission.

Careers in veterinary medicine are diverse and your choice of career path depends on your career goals and aspirations.

  • Companion-animal veterinarians treat pets and generally work in private clinics and hospitals.
  • Veterinary specialists specialize in particular areas of veterinary medicine, such as anesthesiology, dentistry, pathology, and surgery.
  • Food-animal veterinarians work with farm and ranch animals (e.g., pigs, cattle, and sheep), which are raised as food sources.
  • Food safety and inspection veterinarians inspect and test livestock and animal products to identify major animal diseases, and testing the safety of medications and additives.
  • Research veterinarians conduct research to identify and improve methods for diagnosing, treating, and preventing health conditions in animals. They are often employed by government organizations, biomedical research firms, or universities.

You should contact the pre-vet advisors or Dr. Andre Hudson, Head of the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, and enroll as soon as you decide you want to pursue admission into veterinary school. Starting the process early ensures your course selections and curriculum meet the requirements for veterinary school admission. It’s recommended that prospective applicants take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) early in their undergraduate years. The program can assist you identifying internships around the country or locally to help you fulfill hours of direct animal care required by veterinary schools. Local internships include those at Seneca Park Zoo and Rochester Animal Services.

The goal of the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS) is to ensure that you are given all the tools you need to prepare you to apply for admission to veterinary colleges. You will complete your VMCAS application through the VMCAS website and indicate which veterinary colleges you want VMCAS to submit your application submitted to. You may apply to admission to veterinary college a year in advance. Exploring the VMCAS website and understanding the application process and its requirement are crucial.

With an increase in consumer’s pet-related spending, employment of veterinarians is projected to grow by 18 percent from 2016 to 2026. With the advancement of veterinary medicine, today’s veterinarians offer many health care and treatment services that are comparable to those available to humans. Careers in veterinary medicine are diverse and growing. They include positions as veterinarians, veterinary technologists or technicians, veterinary assistants, and laboratory animal caretakers.

Contact

Program Contacts

Larry Buckley, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Science
ljbsbi@rit.edu, 585‑475‑7507

Susan Pagano, Associate Professor, Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences
sbssbi@rit.edu, 585‑475‑7343