Today’s schools of veterinary medicine, while not requiring a particular major, do require that students complete certain courses, including a year in general chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics and English.
Veterinary School Programs Course Requirements
Veterinary Medical School Programs Course Requirements:
Biology: Two semesters or one year with lab.
General Chemistry: Two semesters or one year with lab. It is recommended that these courses be taken in the freshman year since they are prerequisites for organic chemistry.
Organic Chemistry: Two semesters or one year with lab.
Biochemistry: One semester is required.
Physics: Two semesters or one year with lab.
English: Two to three semesters with one semester in speech.
Additional Course Recommendations: Immunology, Genetics, Microbiology, Animal Physiology, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, Statistics, Psychology, Economics, Additional Social Sciences or Humanities courses.
The Veterinary College Admission Test (VCAT)
The VCAT is administered twice a year. There is a registration deadline, usually about eight weeks prior to the test date. The VCAT is only required by Missouri, Tennessee and Alabama veterinary schools. All other schools of veterinary medicine require the GRE, though a small number will accept the MCAT or VCAT instead. If you are going to apply to veterinary school, a good strategy is to plan on taking the general GRE, but also check the schools to which you intend to apply and see if they have additional or alternate requirements. The VCAT consists of 230 multiple-choice questions in the following five content areas: Biology, Chemistry, Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability, and Reading Comprehension and takes approximately 3.5 hours to complete.
After receiving an undergraduate degree, students complete four years of study at an accredited schools of veterinary medicine prior to earning their doctor of veterinary medicine degree.
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