WAMC - undergrad senior needing to strengthen my application

[hopetovetmed]

Penn undergrad here with a lack-luster GPA. Reading this forum has really humbled me, and I am daunted by the long road ahead to prove that I do belong in a vet school. Does my application demonstrate that I belong there?

I ended up failing Organic I, which is on my transcript, but I retook it and got an A-. Other than that, I am a mostly B’s with some C’s and A’s (A’s from freshman year of undergrad) kind of student. My explanation for these grades isn’t really special (mental health, pandemic effects, curating work/life balance, handling classes at Penn).

I was going to go part-time my next and final semester, but after reading this forum— I feel like I need more science electives and I MUST Ace those. Do you think taking immunology, neurobiology, and a genetics-focused biological chemistry course could make up for the C in intro biochem? Or should I save money and go part-time, praying that something can makeup for my GPA?

Lastly, am I generally below the standards of successful in-state NCSU applicant? What can I do to be a better member of the vet med community?




Overall GPA: 3.51
Science GPA: 3.18

Applied to: Penn and NCSU (IS)
Degree: BA in Biochemistry with Music minor


Vet experience:

• 150 hrs Turtle rescue
• 500 hrs as a vet assistant

Animal experience:

• Cat and dog foster
• Shelter volunteering from high school (I didn’t put this down, but maybe I should have)

Research:

• 500 hrs in a gut immunology lab, where I work with lab mice
• 200 hrs HIV research through a summer program
• 400 hrs in a food animal pharmacology lab (cows, goats, pigs)

Extracurriculars:

• President of a cappella group
• My state’s Governor’s School summer program

Non-animal employment:

• 280 hrs as a learning assistant (undergrad TA) in Organic lab
• 200 hrs as hospitality at a restaurant (I didn’t put this on my app, but maybe I should in the future?

LOR:

• Professor that I TA’d Organic chem lab for
• One PI in my current lab
• My other PI in my current lab
• English professor

Essays:
I wrote about wanting to be a veterinary scientist and work with small or lab animals. I talked about what being Indian means to me and how it affects my perspective on vet med. Research, biochem major courses, and mentors were things I emphasized too.

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[supershorty]

• Professor that I TA’d Organic chem lab for
• One PI in my current lab
• My other PI in my current lab
• English professor

Are any of these people veterinarians?

 

[hopetovetmed]

Are any of these people veterinarians?

yes! both of my PIs are vets

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You mentioned you had some challenges with coursework. What are your year-by-year GPAs (especially science)?

How many hours as a shelter volunteer (animal or human)? Any other volunteer service where you are addressing community needs?

 

[hopetovetmed]

You mentioned you had some challenges with coursework. What are your year-by-year GPAs (especially science)?

How many hours as a shelter volunteer (animal or human)? Any other volunteer service where you are addressing community needs?

Thank you for the questions!

Freshman year: 3.8 sem 1 and 4.0 sem 2
Soph: 3.0 sem 1 and 3.6 sem 2
Junior: 3.6 sem 1 and 3.3 sem 2
Senior: 3.4 sem 1

I have around 200 hours from high school key club, but other than that no human volunteering.
I did 100 hours on cat care shifts at the shelter

I want to be a vet so bad, and I hope I get the chance to at least plead my case to Penn with an interview...

 

[flotus]

Your GPAs aren’t that bad. Your fail with a retake to an A- is a good success story which you can really play to your benefit.

I think your biggest weakness is your lack of veterinary experience. 650 hours isn’t competitive nowadays (sigh!).

Definitely add all your employment, also any other things you might do that seem unimportant (hobbies etc.)

 

[hopetovetmed]

Your GPAs aren’t that bad. Your fail with a retake to an A- is a good success story which you can really play to your benefit.

I think your biggest weakness is your lack of veterinary experience. 650 hours isn’t competitive nowadays (sigh!).

Definitely add all your employment, also any other things you might do that seem unimportant (hobbies etc.)

thank you flotus!
I am interested in lab animal medicine, so am considering applying to jobs where I can work directly with a lab animal veterinarian. Do you think my gap year would be better served as a vet assistant in GP? A mixed animal practice?

 

[J&F_Vet]

I was going to go part-time my next and final semester, but after reading this forum— I feel like I need more science electives and I MUST Ace those. Do you think taking immunology, neurobiology, and a genetics-focused biological chemistry course could make up for the C in intro biochem? Or should I save money and go part-time, praying that something can makeup for my GPA?

I'd actually recommend retaking your low-grade courses. There are a handful of schools that only look at the retake grade, so if you can do what you did for Orgo 1 and turn those C's into A's it might pull your GPA up more than just taking more classes (I would find a GPA calculator and see which option would give you a higher overall GPA). However, this only matters if you want to go to the schools that do this, some schools won't factor in retake grades so that's a decision you'd have to make for yourself. Also consider schools that only, or mostly, look at your last 45 GPA, if that would be better than your overall.

For your GAP year I think full time vet experience at one place would be helpful. Just one solid high quality and high number of hour experience (could also be an additional vet reference). You could try and continue with your theme of being interested in lab animal and try to work for a lab vet; or pick something different you haven't done before to add diversity. Was your VA position small animal?

(I am applying next cycle so this is just my humble opinion)