Vet Science Cut-Off Mark (1 Viewer)

[bui123]

Hi everyone,

being a current HSC student, it has become strange that I've gained an interest in the area of Veterinary Science, specifically at CSU. However, I have not yet heard of what the cut-off mark was for 2012 so I could estimate on an ATAR to achieve.

Can anyone help?? Thanks

 

[Gigacube]

Here's the list for the 2012 UAC Main Round Cut-offs Vet Sc has a N/A so you should check out the CSU website on how to apply for the course. You may need to have an interview for this course.

 

[Jewls]

CSU has a very low cutoff, maybe less than 90. The rural universities tend to have lower cutoffs because they have difficulty getting good staff and the better students usually choose cities where they have grown up and have more options to find work/spend time with family... whilst they are at uni. I have heard of a student that got into USyd with 93 this year. The vet entry requirements are declining due to the explosion in numbers of vet students leading to a quadrupling of graduate unemployment over the last 6 years.
CSU bases a heavy emphasis on previous farm animal/rural experience and the interview.
Why is it you have become interested in vet at csu? Do you want to work with farm animals? Vet work is quite limited on farm animals and they are often culled because it isn't worth paying to treat them or the treatment may prevent them being used for meat/milk/eggs. Agricultural science is another option with higher graduate wages than vets and probably less weekend/on call work plus a few less years at uni.

 

[bui123]

I guess after some research i found it interesting that CSU apparently works with a variety of animals, i.e. from agriculture to domestic and i thought it'd be a good learning experience or something worthwhile if i was to ever look back at my life. But now I'm kind of anxious since im from the city suburbs and therefore have no experience with farm animals whatsoever. At the same time I have also heard CSU is a better university in contrast to USYD since its equipment and resources are fairly newer than usyd's.

Right now, I'm at that stage where I'm finding it overwhelming to get what i want due to cut-off marks, experience, etc. But I unfortunately dont see myself anywhere else then in Vet Science and i figured CSU would be a good place to start.

CSU has a very low cutoff, maybe less than 90. The rural universities tend to have lower cutoffs because they have difficulty getting good staff and the better students usually choose cities where they have grown up and have more options to find work/spend time with family... whilst they are at uni. I have heard of a student that got into USyd with 93 this year. The vet entry requirements are declining due to the explosion in numbers of vet students leading to a quadrupling of graduate unemployment over the last 6 years.
CSU bases a heavy emphasis on previous farm animal/rural experience and the interview.
Why is it you have become interested in vet at csu? Do you want to work with farm animals? Vet work is quite limited on farm animals and they are often culled because it isn't worth paying to treat them or the treatment may prevent them being used for meat/milk/eggs. Agricultural science is another option with higher graduate wages than vets and probably less weekend/on call work plus a few less years at uni.

 

[Jewls]

something worthwhile if i was to ever look back at my life.

Unless you are one of the growing number of unemployed vets and have then spent 6 years of your life and have to go and do another degree. Plans for having a family or any sort of life might have to change then.

But now I'm kind of anxious since im from the city suburbs and therefore have no experience with farm animals whatsoever.

But I unfortunately dont see myself anywhere else then in Vet Science and i figured CSU would be a good place to start.

No farm experience would make it difficult but not impossible to get into CSU. You would probably have to try and get all of your holidays booked with farm work from now though. Are you happy leaving your family/friends to study?
Why do you want to do vet science? Have you had any experience at a vet clinic? Is it because you want to help animals OR because you want to work with animals?
Vets help people more than animals - they help people breed and confine animals for slaughter and food or confine animals to keep as pets. It is also important to have a big interest in finance because vet clinics need to make profit to survive so you need to try and sell $400 dentals to people's pets when they don't really want to pay for it. Vets mainly help the pets of higher income owners because lower income owners don't really pay for care. Many people suggest that if you can't afford vet treatment you shouldn't have a pet but this is often ignored.
If you wanted to help the animals most in need, they are probably the ones in developing countries where donations are possibly the best option.

 

[sandythehorse]

CSU has a very low cutoff, maybe less than 90. The rural universities tend to have lower cutoffs because they have difficulty getting good staff and the better students usually choose cities where they have grown up and have more options to find work/spend time with family... whilst they are at uni.

*Ahem* I take offence at your comment that the 'better students' choose the city universities. I got the marks to go to Sydney. I chose not to go. Wanna know why? After speaking to a mate who had just finished first year at sydney, one comment which really stood out was "We got to spend a WHOLE DAY out at the farm in Camden, and we got to WATCH the lecturers put the cows in the crushes, and take their temperature! It was SOOO COOOOL!!!". At CSU, you don't simply WATCH the lecturers. You're in there getting your hands dirty from day one, being taught how to handle the animals safely and confidently.

In answer to the OP's original question, the cut off mark is 85 for students who have completed their schooling in rural areas, and 90 for those from city areas. This discrepency is a reflection of the fact that: 1) Students from rural areas are unlikely to have had the same access to educational resources as those from cities, 2) people from cities are more likely to want to return to the city to work after graduating (CSU aims to fill the demand for RURAL vets). BUT, the selection process is based more on the questionnaire, and interview (Assuming you are selected for one. It is a very competitive process - in the year I applied, about 500 students applied, and only 100 of us got interviews. Of that 100, only 50 of us were offered a place). And getting a higher mark does NOT necessarily mean you are more likely to get in - but you DO want to aim as high as possible (will be handy for scholarships too).

And this:

Vet work is quite limited on farm animals and they are often culled because it isn't worth paying to treat them or the treatment may prevent them being used for meat/milk/eggs. Agricultural science is another option with higher graduate wages than vets and probably less weekend/on call work plus a few less years at uni.

is the biggest load of bollocks I've heard in a while. No doubt written by someone who has little to no understanding of how Australian agriculture works. There are MANY opportunities for vets to work with large animals. The only difference is that as most livestock are a source of income for producers, there is a finite amount of money which can be spent on any individual animal. But this doesn't mean that the producers don't get the vet out. It just means you have to be creative with the budget you have. Makes you better at problem solving I think.

If you want to do vet - then by all means go ahead and achieve that dream. I'm almost half way through vet at CSU, and although there are times when it seems althogether too hard, I wouldn't have it any other way. There's something good about knowing you are doing exactly what you were put on this earth to do
But that said - it will CERTAINLY not be a walk in the park. It is 6 years of hell. And you might come out the other side of it and be able to get a job. You WILL graduate at least $70,000 in debt (not including accommodation), and will be looking at a graduate salary of about 30-40k. But Iguess it all comes down to what you want to get out of life. The world is your oyster - choose wisely

(Although: the comment about ag science being a shorter course with likely a better graduate pay is probably pretty correct. I'd definately reccommend you look at the CSU course if you take this option).

 

[sandythehorse]

I have also heard CSU is a better university in contrast to USYD since its equipment and resources are fairly newer than usyd's.

And yes, yes it is. In my humble opinion of course

The course structure is set to change drastically after next years intake - so it will be interesting to see where that takes us.

I will say this though - now that we've got raduates out in the workforce, so many places are turning down sydney students for jobs, saying that they'd rather employ a CSU graduate. Ha.

 

[sandythehorse]

Vets help people more than animals - they help people breed and confine animals for slaughter and food or confine animals to keep as pets....
It is also important to have a big interest in finance because vet clinics need to make profit to survive so you need to try and sell $400 dentals to people's pets when they don't really want to pay for it. Vets mainly help the pets of higher income owners because lower income owners don't really pay for care.

I will agree that vets probably help humans AS MUCH as they help animals, but not for the reason you have cited. I would argue that they help people by being the counsellor - the one who holds the clients hand and tells them that it's time to let fluffy go. You can't possibly try and tell me that vets are simply money grubbing, and don't care about the animals. When you've pushed the plunger to ethanase an animal that has been suffering... when YOU are the one that says enough's enough... that sticks with you. And it haunts you every night. But you keep on doing it, because if you can prevent the suffering of just one critter, then it' all worth it. If you can ease that transition for one owner who is struggling to come to terms with the loss of a much loved family member - it's all worth it.

It's still worth it when you spend every waking minute (away from loved ones and from living your own life) trying your hardest to do what's best for the patient - giving discounts wherever possible so that fluffy can get the care that he needs. When you waive the euthanasia fee for a pet because you know that there is no way the owner can afford it - but the pet deserves to die with dignity. When that waived fee comes out of YOUR pay at the end of the week.

And it's even worth it when some self-entitled person decides to tear you a new one for "only being in it for the money". Honey, if I were in it for the money, I wouldn't be in it. There are PLENTY of other jobs which pay better, which require less training, which require less heart break. But I wonder how many of those careers are as rewarding? I suppose it comes down to whether you work to live, or live to work. Me, I choose the latter - because I love what I do.

Being a vet is not simply a job - it's a life.

 

[Jewls]

I'm almost half way through vet at CSU... There's something good about knowing you are doing exactly what you were put on this earth to do

Is it possible to know what it's like being a vet as a student? Or is it only after putting the real boots on that one can understand. Things like euthanasia, owners that won't pay, bosses that tell you that you're not allowed to give discounts because otherwise the clinic will go broke. It is interesting that many vets are now changing career. Of interest is the fact that about half of vets who start work in rural areas leave within a few years. Many CSU grads have moved into urban areas. Being unable to treat farm animals on limited finances and opting for culling to keep the cost of meat down is possibly one reason.

 

[sandythehorse]

Is it possible to know what it's like being a vet as a student? Or is it only after putting the real boots on that one can understand.

I'm gonna have to say a big "Yep it is possible!" to this question. Having worked in a vet clinic for the last 8 years, with much of that time spent shadowing experinced vets, I feel I have a pretty good idea a pretty good idea of what it's like being a vet. And I think you'll find that most of my fellow students do too. We spend so much time in clinics - before we even get into vet, and then while we are still studying - we see it all - the rich owners who simply won't pay for anything (which is fine - their pet, their money, their choice), the poor owners who simply can't no matter how much they may want to (which sucks, but at the end of the day having pets is a privilege, not a right). If we gave discounts to every person that walked through the door simnply because we love animals, we'd be bankrupt within a week - and then there'd have been no point to any of it because if we go bankrupt then we can't help even the pets who have owners who ARE willing to pay (let alone those who aren't). So yeah, some parts about the job suck (putting down a puppy with parvo because the owner was too stupid/lazy to get it vaccinated? Yep. Sucks.) - but I think you'll find that in any job. I guess it just depends on whether the god bits outweight the bad - which is very much a personal decision, and why many people would absolutely HATE to be a vet. Fair enough - that's their call.

Of interest is the fact that about half of vets who start work in rural areas leave within a few years.

I find this intriguing because although yes there are vets who leave rural areas after a few years to earn the "big bucks" in some swanky inner city specialist clinic - there are just as many jaded "city" vets who seem to be moving out to the country!

culling to keep the cost of meat down is possibly one reason.

... and finally just an FYI - the price a farmer pays in vet bills for an animal has ABSOLUTELY no bearing on the meat price. The butcher doesn't care if you spent $5,000 performing an exploratory laparotomy when Bessy decided it would be a fab idea to swallow a length of wire - he offers what the cow is worth to him - which is generally what the hot standard carcase weight of that beast can fetch him.