When I started college in 2006, the concept of veterinary school for me was much like the concept of being an adult to a toddler. Hell, it's like the concept of being an adult to me, still. It feels as if everyone else is getting there at a much faster rate, everyone is growing up, everyone is going to veterinary school, and I'm still sitting here trying to memorize the pKa's of the side chains of the amino acids.
That and I'm less than a month away from applying to veterinary schools. That's quite possibly the most terrifying part. Something that my entire life has been building up to is less than a month away and suddenly I feel like I need more time.
Since deciding to pursue the veterinary endeavor, I've given a lot of thought to what will happen if I don't get in. I'll try again. And then I'll try again. And if it doesn't work on that try, if my GRE scores expire and I'm truly ready to call it quits, I'll....what? That's the thing. There's no what. There's nothing on the other side of the "what if I don't get in fence". There's nothing else that I'm prepared to dedicate my life to, short of abandoning society, running away into the woods to live like a hermit in a wooden hut and eat dirt.
So let's consider where I'm applying...
Auburn University: Chances are, I couldn't point it out on a map, but a veterinarian I worked for in high school graduated from there and praised the school. Also, one of the interns that I work with now graduated from there.
Cornell University: Home sweet home, New York State. I know a couple of people that have gone here, including some of my Rutgers friends and several of the doctors I currently work with. This would be a dream.
Mississippi State University, University of Missouri, Ohio State University, : As far as Missou goes... I'll only be able to apply here on this round and after that my phenomenal GRE scores will expire.
University of Pennsylvania: If I suck it up and take both pre-calc AND calculus over the summer, maybe I'll apply here. Or maybe I'll take calc in spring semester with biochem 2. Still need to email them to ask if that is OK
Purdue University: This one follows what's up with UPenn. Gotta calc it up if I want nice things.
Tufts University: My dream school of dream schools. I did a summer program here in high school and fell in love with their campus. It was amazing there and their facilities were SO gorgeous. A little over a year ago, I was invited there as a guest speaker for their Animal Behavior Symposium and I had a great time meeting lots of people there. Hopefully, that could work to my benefit since I would LOVE to end up there.
Tuskegee University: I don't know a lot (okay, fine, I don't know ANYTHING about this school).
Washington State University: Alex would like it if I went to school in the Pacific Northwest. I have also heard INCREDIBLE things about this school.
University of Wisconsin: Don't know much about this school, either, it seems.
I still feel like an asshole that should narrow this down to a maximum of 8 schools, but we'll see. I would really like to keep my options open so I don't spend the rest of my life crying in public transit buses while looking at images taken by the Hubble telescope while little old ladies frown at me.
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| If what you wanted most in the whole world (second only to getting into veterinary school) is to be everywhere in the universe at the same time while hugging everything in the universe at the same time, and to be everywhere everywhere everywhere at once and be able to experience EVERYTHING simultaneously, images like this would make you cry, too. |
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