choosing an undergrad transfer school

[pre_vet_pathology]

hey! first post, definitely not the last! i'll get into the mix eventually!

so i'm nearing the end of my associate's degree at cc. i have 6 courses left to complete and will most likely take a few of those on the summer to speed the process. currently taking microbio, orgo 1, and an art class as a liberal arts elective.
current gpa: 3.21... not good, but it's still early in my career and i feel good about math and science courses. english was my grade breaker. nothing lower than a C (1 of those ).
i also work about 30 hours a week as a tech at a small animal general practice.

i'm from philly area of pa (delco, to be more specific) and looking to get into penn's vmd/phd program.
i've been looking at TONS of schools to transfer to in the area and it seems like once i've seen the best, another school pops up with a better program or better research opportunities or better hands-on animal experience.

any penn vmd/phd students/grads/hopefuls out there? where did you go?
or any other penn people with suggestions?

to get an idea, i was mostly looking at delval, udel, wcu (just because it's CHEAP, anyone have any info about pre-vet opportunity there??), and stockton college in nj.
i'm hesitant to go to psu-university park because it seems to be in the middle of nowhere and i'm living off campus and supporting myself.

any advice is welcome, and i look forward to becoming a part of this community!

EDIT: forgot to mention I'm currently a bio major and i am open to an animal/vet science major however I'm cautious about that because I'd like to have a back-up plan if i don't get into vet school right away. Current back-up plan is getting into drexel's pathologists' assistant program.

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[Gwenevre]

There's a "what are my chances?" thread, post your stats there for advice

 

[thecatastrophist]

For your stats, I'd direct you to the "what are my chances" threads. If you're interested in research, I'd look at the faculty profiles for schools you're interested in, and you might want to email some of the ones you're interested in and see if they're willing to take undergraduates as volunteers or research associates. This is more common for grads to do when they're applying for master's and pHd programs, but I don't see why this can't apply to you if you're basing where you're transferring on what research opportunities there are for you.