Dec 11, 2024  
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Pre-Veterinary - Minor


The pre-veterinary minor enhances the competitiveness of students interested in applying to veterinary school. The Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) recommends that interested students, regardless of the major chosen, should select courses that emphasize critical thinking, professionalism and ethics, business, leadership, and animal health promotion.

This minor is highly interdisciplinary and was developed for students preparing for professional or graduate training in animal health care. The courses were specifically selected to focus on the desired  core competencies for veterinary students.  This minor is particularly suited for students with a natural science major (such as Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Biology, or Chemistry) who wish to take a suite of integrative courses that will provide them with perspectives from the social sciences and humanities. Students not majoring in the sciences should meet with the pre-health advisor as early as possible during their program at Nazareth to ensure all the prerequisites are completed.

The Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) is dedicated to all of our pre-vet minors and organizes workshops in personal statement and interviewing practices and conducts formal interviews as part of the comprehensive composite letter preparation for students applying to veterinary school. The (HPAC) Chair acts as the program director, oversees the minor programs and advises students in both individual and group sessions.

Pre-vet students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 and perform a minimum of 200 hours of community/pre-animal clinical service. Interested students should contact the pre-health advisor and HPAC Chair, Amber Charlebois, Ph.D., to develop an appropriate course of study for their four years of college.

Pre-Veterinary Minor Required Courses


Pre-Veterinary Minor Elective Courses


Students must complete a minimum of 11 elective credits. Please note that eligibility for enrollment includes completion of prerequisites noted in the course descriptions. 

Courses Required for Veterinary School Application


This section lists the science and math courses that are required prerequisites to gain entry to veterinary schools. Although not required to complete the Pre-Veterinary Minor, students must complete these courses to be eligible to apply to colleges of veterinary medicine.

This list was structured using the course requirements listed by the Admissions Office at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Students must complete these courses with a grade of C- or better to be eligible to apply to most veterinary schools in the US.

Additional Information


Notes on Advanced Placement (AP) Scores:

  • AP scores of 5 will satisfy the general biology requirement
  • AP scores of 4 or higher will satisfy the general chemistry requirement
  • AP scores of 4 or higher will satisfy the general physics requirement
  • AP scores are NOT accepted for English

Students wishing to apply to any of the 30 U.S. veterinary medical colleges (and/or the 5 Canadian veterinary medical colleges) must do so through the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ (AAVMC website: http://www.aavmc.org/) Veterinary Medical College Application Service (VMCAS). The specific requirements for each college can be found on the AAVMC website. Students applying to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine must take either the GRE General Test (preferred) or the MCAT examination. The average undergraduate GPA of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine is typically between 3.7-3.8; the average GRE Verbal and Quantitative scores are generally above the 80th percentile (typically 1300/1600 or above).

The Cornell formula for evaluating applicants to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program is as follows:

Cornell’s DVM Admissions Formula
25% Overall GPA (all grades from all colleges)
25% GRE (verbal & quantitative only)
5% Quality of Academic Program
20% Animal/Veterinary/Biomedical Research Experience
(supported with Letters of Evaluation)
10% Non-Cognitive Skills
10% All Other Achievements & Letters of Evaluation
5% Personal Statement
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/prep.htm

Please visit the following Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine website for more detailed information: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/admissions/