So the first step was getting a file review from one of the admissions staff (for several schools). The consensus was the same at all of them; retake as many courses as possible to boost my GPA and science GPA. Because my circumstances were decidedly odd (I'd been in vet school for two semesters before medical problems forced me to withdraw and reapply later), I also needed to know if that coursework would factor in and how it would affect my chances. My file review was sort of different because I had never applied to Ohio State before (the year I would have originally, I could not because I had taken the new GRE and they were not yet taking it since it was very, very new). Shayna Mohr did my file review and was awesome; she even offered to ask the admissions committee if my previous vet school coursework would be counted at all. Since nobody in her experience had gone through this process in that way, they'd need to discuss it at some kind of admissions meeting. She contacted me later and told me they'd decided they could count the vet school work, though I would still need to retake courses and the GRE to be more competitive. She also suggested getting more experience (as much as possible) and more in some of the areas I had less in (equine specific, and to a lesser extent, food animal).
I applied to be a graduate guest student at a local university (not my undergrad one, due to financial reasons) which meant I would not get financial aid, but I had enough saved up (and with some left over loan refund money) to pay for a few courses on my own. Basically I was taking classes at the undergraduate level without the intention to pursue another degree; these classes were the real deal, complete with grades and all, but fewer of them at a time. I think I took 7 or 8 hours during a spring semester (both biology courses; genetics and epidemiology). Genetics was to replace the C grade I got in undergrad, and epi was to help get me to half-time in order to defer my loan payments. Remember, if you are out of school and not enrolled at least half time in classes, you will start to have to repay loans after a while. I got an A in both classes, and signed up for biochem and a general chem course over the summer. Summer courses are sometimes tough because they are over a very short period of time (just 6 weeks a piece in my case). I had class nearly every day and was studying for the next exam nearly all the time. Ended up with an A in biochem (replacing a C+) and B in gen chem II. This added a fair number of course hours to my last 45 hour GPA. After those four courses I could not afford to take more, so I chose to take time off to work and save up money so I could continue to repay my loans, pay for applications and possibly for more coursework should I not get in.
I got my VMCAS done as early as possible, despite difficulties with them regarding my vet school transcripts. Because I had been at a foreign school, they could not verify them and so I ended up having to send them to each school individually (this was free, thank goodness) so they could verify that on their own.
During my OSU interview, one of my interviewers said he was initially a little confused as to why I was there (my GPA was lower than the typical interviewed applicant) but when he saw my grades in vet school and what I had done since being forced to leave, he understood. The fact that I had done well in a professional school curriculum and got very good grades in the undergrad courses I retook demonstrated I could handle vet school coursework. I also think, personally, retaking "hard" courses demonstrates a level of commitment that admissions committees can appreciate.
So, for those looking at reapplying, I would recommend retaking undergrad courses for two reasons: first, because they are generally less expensive than grad school or tech school, and second, because some schools DO replace old grades with new ones. Only apply and go to grad school if the program you're in is a career path you'd be happy spending a significant part of your life in, as it is a substantial investment. Getting a lot of vet experience is important, but the quality of the experience is more important than the number itself. Obviously you want as many hours as you can get, but if the experiences are not informative or valuable, it's not as good for you or your application. Be able to describe in detail what you've seen, done and learned about. Variety is good, but again, quality of experience is super important. I was always told that admissions committees want to see you've explored more of the profession than small animal private practice.
I would also say work on making that personal statement pop. When I compare the one I wrote the first time I applied to the one I wrote most recently, it's a huge difference. Use the explanation statement on VMCAS to discuss extenuating circumstances, but as one admissions person I spoke to said, "don't apologize for the past, own it."
If someone wants to know more specifics about what happened with me in particular, I am happy to answer, but I would prefer to discuss it via PM (though you can see some of the details in some of the Ross threads). I am not exactly a traditional applicant, so my experiences are not typical, but I think some of what I learned in this nearly two year uphill battle can be of use
I think the most important take away is to never give up.
