I will be graduating Purdue University this May with my BS degree in Animal Science and an English minor. I've been employed at a vet clinic for the past six years, mainly working as a kennel technician and an assistant groomer. This past summer I started working as a veterinary assistant and am essentially a tech without the title (although I am still learning a ton). I really enjoy my job, and after graduation in May I am planning to start my associates to become an RVT. I have run into a bit of a snag, though, and I need opinions/ideas.
The future, at the moment, is unpredictable. A few things could happen, at various times, so it is making any future planning quite difficult. The most likely future, and also the most disruptive to my RVT plan, is that sometime later this year or early next year, I may be a military wife. Which means I will not be stationary and who knows how often/where I will be moving/traveling. Because of this, attending a physical school is out. So I started looking into distance learning options (that are accredited by the AVMA). At first I thought everything looked good...and then I realized that a requirement for enrollment was that the student had to be employed at a veterinary clinic.
Although I am currently working at a veterinary clinic and have a ton of hands on experience (and am learning more every day), I can't say for certain that I will be employed at a veterinary clinic in the future because, well, I don't know where I'll be! If I only needed to have access to a veterinary clinic for a set period of time (and not over the course of the entire program) that may be doable...but being steadily employed for at least 20 hours a week may not be an option for me.
So, what are my options? Is there a specific distance learning school that I can look in to that may fit my needs better? Or am I pretty much screwed over?
I realize I have "all the time in the world" to get this degree, but realistically, in the next handful of years I'd like to start raising a family. And going to school, no matter how few the credit hours, during that time is NOT something I want to be doing.
So far, it looks like the schools that offer AVMA accredited distance learning tech programs that DON'T require a student to be employed at a veterinarian clinic over the course of the program is Purdue and PennFoster. Obviously, I'm already a student of Purdue so I know the way the system works, I have contacts in the departments there, and it is in an area that if I ever needed to be on campus for any reason, it is my home town. BUT, it is effing expensive. Almost $350 per credit hour...which means my RVT title will cost me $24,500. Ouch.
I don't know much of anything about PennFoster. A current coworker is enrolled with them and going through the program and she didn't have anything bad to say about it. She also said it was cheap (compared to Purdue), all of the books were included, the classes fit into her schedule very well and weren't super challenging, and taking the exams wasn't that big of an issue. I do know you aren't required to work for a vet save for two 225 hour practicums at the end of semesters 2 and 4. (And, at the very worst, I could just come back home, live with my parents, and do my practicums at the clinic I'm currently working for.) And each semester is only going to cost me around $1,200. I like the sound of $5,000 for a degree more so than $24,000 for a degree...especially when I (well, my dad, anyways) have already spent close to $50,000 for my BS.
However, they seem really... gimmicky? I don't know. Something about their website seems very off putting to me.
So....thoughts? Anyone been there, done that?
The future, at the moment, is unpredictable. A few things could happen, at various times, so it is making any future planning quite difficult. The most likely future, and also the most disruptive to my RVT plan, is that sometime later this year or early next year, I may be a military wife. Which means I will not be stationary and who knows how often/where I will be moving/traveling. Because of this, attending a physical school is out. So I started looking into distance learning options (that are accredited by the AVMA). At first I thought everything looked good...and then I realized that a requirement for enrollment was that the student had to be employed at a veterinary clinic.
Although I am currently working at a veterinary clinic and have a ton of hands on experience (and am learning more every day), I can't say for certain that I will be employed at a veterinary clinic in the future because, well, I don't know where I'll be! If I only needed to have access to a veterinary clinic for a set period of time (and not over the course of the entire program) that may be doable...but being steadily employed for at least 20 hours a week may not be an option for me.
So, what are my options? Is there a specific distance learning school that I can look in to that may fit my needs better? Or am I pretty much screwed over?
I realize I have "all the time in the world" to get this degree, but realistically, in the next handful of years I'd like to start raising a family. And going to school, no matter how few the credit hours, during that time is NOT something I want to be doing.
So far, it looks like the schools that offer AVMA accredited distance learning tech programs that DON'T require a student to be employed at a veterinarian clinic over the course of the program is Purdue and PennFoster. Obviously, I'm already a student of Purdue so I know the way the system works, I have contacts in the departments there, and it is in an area that if I ever needed to be on campus for any reason, it is my home town. BUT, it is effing expensive. Almost $350 per credit hour...which means my RVT title will cost me $24,500. Ouch.
I don't know much of anything about PennFoster. A current coworker is enrolled with them and going through the program and she didn't have anything bad to say about it. She also said it was cheap (compared to Purdue), all of the books were included, the classes fit into her schedule very well and weren't super challenging, and taking the exams wasn't that big of an issue. I do know you aren't required to work for a vet save for two 225 hour practicums at the end of semesters 2 and 4. (And, at the very worst, I could just come back home, live with my parents, and do my practicums at the clinic I'm currently working for.) And each semester is only going to cost me around $1,200. I like the sound of $5,000 for a degree more so than $24,000 for a degree...especially when I (well, my dad, anyways) have already spent close to $50,000 for my BS.
However, they seem really... gimmicky? I don't know. Something about their website seems very off putting to me.
So....thoughts? Anyone been there, done that?
Also I wouldn't necessarily take the courses being easy as a good thing -- to be a RVT you have to pass the national exam (or in some states, the state exam) -- simply graduating isn't sufficient. A harder program may (or may not) better prepare you for the exam.
