Pre-Veterinary Medicine (Pre-VET) | Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science

PATHOBIOLOGY majors fulfill these requirements by taking the courses above, and additional courses under the guidance of one of our faculty pre-MED academic advisors. See the PATHOBIOLOGY Pre-Medical Sample Course Sequence for an example.

Consult the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) site within the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and look at the specific and detailed admission requirements for each Medical School that you may apply to. The AAMC/MSAR 2024 Premed Course Requirements Report is summarizes the requirements.

Note that D.O. (Osteopathic Medical School) program information does not appear in MSAR (see D.O. Admissions Requirements instead).

Advanced Placement (AP) Test Credits and Early College Experience (ECE) Credits:

AP and ECE credits accepted by UConn (i.e., credits listed on your UConn transcript) can be generally used to fulfill pre-requisites of most Veterinary Schools (but not all). You will need to check on policies at the specific schools to which you plan to apply to.
To be safe, if you plan to use AP credit for pre-requisite courses other than General Biology, it is advisable to take higher level courses in the same field to have a college course grade for that pre-requisite.
If you use AP credit for General Biology, the advanced Biology courses you will take in the PATHOBIOLOGY major (Biochemistry, Genetics, Medical Microbiology, Medical Cell Biology, Anatomy and Physiology of Animals, Systems Pathophysiology, etc.) will fulfill the General Biology requirement.

Veterinary and Animal Experience:

Pre-VET students should get a broad exposure to veterinary medicine (e.g., shadowing with veterinarians, scientists, working on a farm, volunteering at an animal shelter, pursuing Independent Study at the CVMDL, etc.).
In addition, Veterinary Schools typically may require one summer equivalent (e.g., about 10-12 weeks or ≥400 hours) of full-time compensated employment (paid) in a veterinary clinic/practice (usually, but not necessarily, a small animal clinic), under direct supervision of a veterinarian.
- Sometimes you may need to take an unpaid internship first to get experience and land a paid job in the following summer (you may be able to get academic credit for the internship via the PATHWAYS Program).
Related animal experiences such as a summer internship (paid or not) in large animal, veterinary/biomedical research, lab animal, food animal, production, exotic, aquatic, wildlife, zoo, etc. is highly desirable.
Potential places for wildlife/zoo/aquatic internships in New England include:
- Beardsley Zoo (Bridgeport, CT)
- Mystic Aquarium (Groton, CT)
- New England Aquarium (Boston, MA)
- Roger Williams Park Zoo (Providence, RI)
- Southwick’s Zoo (Mendon, MA)
- Wild Care of Cape Cod (Eastham, MA)
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (Cape Cod, MA)

Plan your time and summers accordingly

Freshman Year → Summer 1 → Sophomore Year → Summer 2 → Junior Year → Summer 3 (Application Due mid September) → Senior Year

Letters of Recommendation:

You must request at least 3 (and may be allowed to request a maximum of 6) recommendation letters. Some schools do not accept Committee or Composite recommendations.

Select your recommenders wisely and ask each to focus on a particular part of your academic and clinical experience. For example:

One referee MUST focus on your clinical experience (e.g., summer internship in a vet clinic, etc.) -- this person should be a veterinarian.
One referee may focus on your overall academic achievements and extracurricular activities (e.g., volunteering) – this could be your PATHOBIOLOGY academic advisor (i.e., another veterinarian) or professor that knows you well and for a long time (referees have to answer the question of how long and in which capacity they know the applicant).
One referee may focus on your research experience (e.g., your independent study or research mentor, or thesis advisor).

Try to identify potential referees early on and keep them informed of your academic progress throughout your studies at UConn. That will help them to get to know you more at the individual/personal level and write engaging and effective letters of recommendation.
Allow plenty of time for each referee to write the letters, which are due in mid August or the busy first month of classes in the Fall semester (i.e., request them online by May or early summer at the latest).
In addition, provide each referee with your resume (or CV), transcripts, statement of purpose, and any other relevant information.
Some Veterinary Schools require that 2 of the 3 referees be a veterinarian (luckily all pre-VET academic advisors in PATHOBIOLOGY are Veterinarians).
ALWAYS waive your right to access the recommendations (recommenders will be aware of your choice).
Schools are basically looking for Red Flags since most letters will be complimentary.

Application Cycle:

Mid September (Senior Year) – Deadline to apply
- Complete applications must be submitted and verified through the Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS)
- Recommendation letters must be received
Around October/November – Applications are reviewed
Around November/December – Interview invitations are sent out
Around January/February – Interviews take place
Around February/March – Offer(s) of admissions sent out
Around Mid April – Deadline to accept offer(s) of admission
Early May – Graduate with a degree in PATHOBIOLOGY
Around August – Begin Veterinary School!

Note that while not all pre-requisite courses have to be completed before applying (they can be taken during your senior year), the PATHOBIOLOGY major allows you to complete all pre-requisites by the end of your Junior Year to give you a competitive advantage during the application process.

Clinical/Animal experience (Veterinary Experience - with a Veterinarian)
Veterinarian Shadowing
Research (Biomedical) Experience
Leadership Activities
Extracurricular Activities
Community/Volunteer Service
Something special (in depth) that makes you stand out: E.g., Additional degree in French, Study Abroad, Vets-in-the-Wild, Biomedical Research, etc.
- Pursuing Independent Study at the CVMDL is a great way to work under the supervision of Veterinarians.
- Engaging with the UConn Pre-VET Club is a great way to learn about these experiences.

Dr. Sylvain DeGuise	Dr. Neha Mishra
Dr. Antonio Garmendia	Dr. Emily Reinhardt
Dr. Kirklyn Kerr	Dr. Guillermo Risatti
Dr. Mazhar Khan	Dr. Elsio Wunder

Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science

Pre-Veterinary Medicine (Pre-VET) Program

PATHOBIOLOGY has eight Faculty members that are Veterinarians:

Dr. Emily Reinhardt is the Pre-VET advising coordinator.

Together, they will guide you on your PATH to becoming a VETERINARIAN.

Veterinary School Requirements

Coursework:

One year of General Chemistry with lab:

One year of Organic Chemistry with lab:

One year of Mathematics (Calculus)/Statistics:

One year of Physics with lab:

One year of English:

General and Advanced Biology courses:

Additional required/highly recommended courses:

Additional recommended courses:

Advanced Placement (AP) Test Credits and Early College Experience (ECE) Credits:

Veterinary and Animal Experience:

Graduate Record Examination (GRE):

Letters of Recommendation:

Tips

Application Cycle:

5 KEY Elements of Successful Vet School Applications:

#1) Academic Performance

#2) Your Experiences

#3) Recommendation Letters

#4) Statement of Purpose / Essay

#5) Personal Interviews

Additional Resources

For Faculty and Staff

Other Links

Phone:	(860) 486-4000
E-mail:	patho@uconn.edu
Address:	61 North Eagleville Road, Unit-3089 Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3089