WAMC c'o 2028, low GPA, 2nd time applicant

[mrk0023]

Cumulative GPA: 3.2
last 3 semester GPA: 3.7

Any degrees achieved
BS in Biology

Veterinary Experience:
-2600 hours as a SA Vet assistant
-36 hours as a SA kennel tech
-70 hours wildlife/exotic study abroad


Animal Experience:
-500 hours as a kennel tech at a shelter
-100 hours volunteering at 2 different shelters
-30 hours volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary

Awards/scholarships:
-Deans list Senior year of undergrad
-1st place in art competition

Extracurriculars:
-Pre-Vet club 4 years. Treasurer for 1 year
-Student Mentor 3 years
-Freshmen orientation leader 1 semester
-Art competition 1 semester
-Added a few hobbies I've picked up during my gap years

LORs:
-Supervisor at shelter I worked at
-2 vets i worked with as a VA

Schools I am applying to:
-Michigan State (IS)

Prereq GPA:2.8​

-Kansas State
-Iowa State
-University of Arizona
Ohio State
-University of Tennessee
-Possibly University of Wisconsin?

I guess I worry the most about the diversity of my animal experience, while having a lower GPA. I will be shadowing an equine vet at the beginning of September and will be getting about 20 hours of experience. I'm pretty well versed in companion animal/GP, but my experiences working with other types of animals is very minimal. Will schools still take this into consideration that I at least have a little bit of diverse experience? Or, are they expecting applicants to have 100+ hours with different categories?

Also, this may be a dumb question, but I'm confused on how schools look at your experiences. Do they actually go through single experience you include, or just skim through them/only look at the ones you've starred?

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[MMLJT3]

Cumulative GPA: 3.2
last 3 semester GPA: 3.7

Any degrees achieved
BS in Biology

Veterinary Experience:
-2600 hours as a SA Vet assistant
-36 hours as a SA kennel tech
-70 hours wildlife/exotic study abroad


Animal Experience:
-500 hours as a kennel tech at a shelter
-100 hours volunteering at 2 different shelters
-30 hours volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary

Awards/scholarships:
-Deans list Senior year of undergrad
-1st place in art competition

Extracurriculars:
-Pre-Vet club 4 years. Treasurer for 1 year
-Student Mentor 3 years
-Freshmen orientation leader 1 semester
-Art competition 1 semester
-Added a few hobbies I've picked up during my gap years

LORs:
-Supervisor at shelter I worked at
-2 vets i worked with as a VA

Schools I am applying to:
-Michigan State (IS)

Prereq GPA:2.8​

-Kansas State
-Iowa State
-University of Arizona
Ohio State
-University of Tennessee
-Possibly University of Wisconsin?

I guess I worry the most about the diversity of my animal experience, while having a lower GPA. I will be shadowing an equine vet at the beginning of September and will be getting about 20 hours of experience. I'm pretty well versed in companion animal/GP, but my experiences working with other types of animals is very minimal. Will schools still take this into consideration that I at least have a little bit of diverse experience? Or, are they expecting applicants to have 100+ hours with different categories?

Also, this may be a dumb question, but I'm confused on how schools look at your experiences. Do they actually go through single experience you include, or just skim through them/only look at the ones you've starred?

Hello!
What is your science GPA? Your last 45 is good. I would recommend calculating your GPAs for each school you plan to apply for using the VMCAS GPA calculator. It was very helpful for me as someone who has applied multiple cycles.I also had a cumulative around 3.2 & a 3.7 last 45 GPA at time of applying last cycle. I highly recommend doing application reviews at the schools you applied to last cycle. Have you thought about adding UMN and LMU to your list of schools? Mississippi might be a good option for you as well. I think Kstate and Wisconsin are known for being pretty competitive for OOS applicants.

When I did an application review with UMN and LMU, I was told that they look through every single experience. I made sure I was very detailed with my experiences. Sentence structure and grammar do matter on the experience section. Most schools, will only look at your experience once you have made it past the intial application review ( usually GPA).

I think your animal experience is fine. If you can get any large animal experience, this will be a plus. Sometimes offering to volunteer on a farm can give you some hours and experience. Do you have any more experiences that aren’t animal related? Working in something other than vet med can show that you have varied work experience!