The Bel Rea Institute of Animal Technology

Date: Jul 07 2011
Major: Animal Studies (This Major's Salary over time)
At this school you are really going to get out of it what you put into it. I found some of the greatest experience came from being a TA once I had passed a class. Tutoring other students and helping them in labs reinforced what I had already learned. Many students that attend this school can be snooty and arrogant, but that's pretty much any school. So many people come just because they "love animals" and don't realize that being a Vet Tech is a challenging MEDICAL and SCIENCE based career that requires a strong degree of intelligence in biology and chemistry. They assume its going to be some kind of cake walk. Yeah a lot of people also complain about how much it costs, but they knew that when they signed up. If they thought it was too expensive, why didn't THEY go somewhere else? I went to Bel-Rea because I wanted the BEST education in my field and I strongly feel that that is what I received. More Bel-Rea students pass the VTNE than any other tech school in the country. I work with techs who went to other schools and some of them don't even know what GDV is. I feel like my knowledge and experience is vastly superior to theirs right out of the box. Know one is going to know everything coming straight out of school, even most veterinarians do externships for a whole year after they are done with school. Bel-Rea, and all other tech schools, give you a strong foundation to build off of. I couldn't have been happier with my experience and education there. I loved my teachers and they were all eager to help me succeed. Of course they have favorites, every teacher does and every school will have teachers like that, Bel-Rea isn't unique in that regard. Yes their schedules are not very flexible, they usually have 2 versions of dates and times of each class each semester, but they aren't a huge community college with extra resources. They are open during daytime business hours because that's what they're able to do. If you need more flexibility, go somewhere else. Money and schedule wise it really is that simple. If you don't like it, go somewhere else. I wanted the best education and I got it and regret nothing except that I didn't do this sooner. :)