Where will the future take you?
That’s a hard question to answer, especially for high school students. UConn’s Pre-College Summer can help students figure it out. Offered during Sessions 1 and 3, our Pre-Vet: Animal Health and Veterinary Science course provides students the opportunity to utilize Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT as a living laboratory. This hands-on course will have students learning from and working alongside aquarium research scientists, veterinarians, veterinary technicians and animal rescue staff. Students will learn through case studies of animals at Mystic Aquarium including beluga whales, penguins, seals, reptiles and fishes.
Primary areas of study will include:
- Genetics: the importance of genetic diversity in marine animal populations
- Hematology: how the components of blood can be utilized to gain information on an animal’s health
- Microbiology: how common bacteria affect marine animals and their health
- Pathology and Anatomy: effects of disease, through participation in a detailed necropsy (animal autopsy)
Students will have the opportunity to:
- Learn about the wide variety of careers both at Mystic Aquarium and beyond in animal health and veterinary science, from staff in all stages of their careers.
- Work with the animal rescue team to learn how we care for and what we learn from, the seals that strand along the New England coastline.
- Participate in behind the scenes tours of Mystic Aquarium to see where the animal care and veterinary staff work every day.
- Tour the state of the art Wiederhold Animal Care Center at Mystic Aquarium.
- Tour the Mystic Aquarium research labs located at UConn, Avery Point.
Transportation: The course involves frequent off-site visits to Mystic Aquarium and the UConn, Avery Point Campus. Supervised transportation is provided by the program and is included in the course cost and fees.
Note: Parents/guardians and students will be required to submit Mystic Aquarium participation forms prior to attending this course.
Costs and fees are determined by the number of sessions a student enrolls in (one, two, three, or four sessions). Enrolling in a weekly session, includes the selected academic course* taught by UConn faculty or experts in their industry, exploratory workshops, social programming activities, as well as administrative costs, all meals, and housing in an air-conditioned residence hall. Laundry machines located inside of the residence halls are available to participants at no cost. Participants must arrange their own travel to and from the Program, at their own expense.
*Additional Course Fees: Additional fees to select academic courses may apply. These fees help to cover the added cost of supply kits, studio fees, travel, entrance fees, etc. For specific course fee information, visit the course's information page. If applicable, this course fee will be applied at time of course enrollment.
Program Cost and Fees:
Application: A non-refundable application processing fee of $45.00 must be paid in order to have your application reviewed. The application fee can be paid at the last step of the application process and is separate from enrollment costs. Our application fee is waived for students who apply before January 6th. After this date our standard application fee will be applied.
Enrollment: A $300.00 non-refundable deposit per session that will be collected at the time of enrollment is required to enroll in Pre-College Summer courses. This deposit will be credited to your program fee’s account balance.
Discounts
Early Bird: Take advantage of a $150 early bird discount when you submit your application by April 1st, 2020
Multiple Sessions: Receive a discount for enrolling in more than one session, as indicated in the pricing table above. Check out our Course Academies for bundling options!
Sibling Discount: If two or more siblings enroll in the Program during the same summer, the subsequent sibling(s) will receive a $100.00 discount off of their total Program fee.
