WAMC: Lack of Animal Experience...Will this harm me?

[BijaTroubleLotion]

Hello guys, just as the title says I'm in a unique position where I believe my application is pretty solid except for animal experiences.

I have a cumulative GPA of 3.77, with last 45 Sem/68 Qtr units GPA of almost a 4.0.

I have about 400~500 veterinary and research experience.

My GRE is on the average, and I believe my eLORS, Personal Statement and Supplemental Essays are pretty solid too.

The problem is, my animal experience, is around ~200 or less.

I am applying this upcoming cycle, and was wondering how much this will hurt me as an applicant. I just realized how short I was on animal experiences, and feel stressed because this is usually the part where a lot of applicants have plenty of hours. I don't think I'm going to take a gap year just to gain more animal experience but was wondering how valuable schools considered "animal experience" over other factors. Thanks in advance.

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[MixedAnimals77]

The answer is it depends, mostly on what school requirements are. Some schools have cut offs-most of them are minimum of 200hrs at least when I applied. Is your 400-500 hrs total between veterinary and research? Or 400-500hrs in each category? Those are 2 separate categories with vet experience having minimums for most schools as well. I think to evaluate this best, evaluating the schools you're applying to is the key to answering your questions, most of which can be found on the schools admissions website. In the mean time it wouldn't hurt to add hours through things like volunteering at the shelter.