Professor Taylor, who had been integral indispensing veterinary information to Harvardundergraduates, also died suddenly of a heartattack in September, 1995. Without a permanentoverseeing mentor, the club disintegrated.

Harvard's Limited Resources

Lee Ann Michelson, the Office of CareerServices (OCS) health careers adviser, says theveterinary school application process, unlike themedical school one, is a decentralized systemwhere information is hard to come by.

Michelson says the decentralized system hasaffected the advising available in the variousundergraduate Houses.

"When I ask pre-med tutors who are the pre-vetsin their houses, they don't know," she says.

Michelson vividly recalls an admissionsdirector from the Cornell veterinary school whocame to speak at Harvard last year.

"There were eight people sitting around saying,`Oh, I thought I was the only one. I didn't knowthere were other pre-vets at Harvard.' There was nocompetitive feeling, the atmosphere was verycollaborative," she says.

Michelson says it is also difficult for her tocater to the pre-veterinary population at Harvardbecause she doesn't know how many potentialpre-veterinary students exist at the College.

"Pre-vets are not necessarily dependent on theUniversity. A student can have faculty and vetsupervisors directly send letters of reference tovet schools [unlike the Dean's letter ofevaluation necessary for pre-meds], so it's hardto get numbers," Michelson says.

Michelson says she is often unaware of whoexactly the pre-veterinary students are becauseshe does not write their letters of recommendationor receive feedback from them. Furthermore, unlikemedical school applicants, Michelson says she doesnot receive data about successful veterinaryschool applicants, with which she can drawconclusions about the average pre-veterinary GPA,for instance.

A Solitary Struggle

In the meantime, however, this year's seniorshave gone forward in their pre-veterinary paths,aided for the most part by themselves.

Tabitha A. Shanies `98, who is headed forCornell University's College of VeterinaryMedicine, says she was aware that Harvard did notgraduate many future veterinarians from thebeginning.

"I could have majored in animal studies atCornell and tracked myself," says Shanies, whoplans to be a "wildlife or exotic animals"veterinarian. "[But] I wanted a well-roundededucation. I don't think I expected Harvard tohave that little knowledge of the profession,though. There really was none."

Shanies says that while her House office triedto be helpful, for instance, they had noexperience in dealing with pre-veterinarystudents.