WAMC will my masters degree help?

[buttersthecat]

Hey yall, my name is Emily, from Baton Rouge, LA
Currently completing a masters thesis program at the University of New Orleans
First time applying- not sure where I want to apply- Interested in LSU (IS), CST, and NCS
Goals: zoo/wildlife/conservation vet, would love to do wildlife research and work at a conservation or rehab focused facility
Concerns: Undergrad GPA is not the best (3.15), Because of health problems, I went part time for the first 4.5 years and then full time for 2.5 years. My grades definitely show an upward trend and I have a 4.0 in my masters program.

Cumulative GPA: 3.22 (undergrad and grad so far)
Last 45: 3.68

Any degrees achieved
Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences May 2021
Masters in Biological Sciences in May 2024

Veterinary Experience:
450 hours small animal clinic veterinary assistant hours
100 hours zoological vet shadowing (both in the field and at a facility)- My goal is to get at least 250 hours shadowing

Animal Experience:
Hoofstock keeper internship
Bird keeper shadowing
Assisted with procedures on a variety of zoo and large exotic animals
Pet sitting and lifetime pet ownership

Research Experience:
Assisted PhD student during last year of undergraduate school
Completing my master's thesis that focuses on the population genetics of lowland tapir in Paraguay

Awards/scholarships:
TOPS scholarship during undergraduate

Extracurriculars:
President of the biology graduate student association at UNO

Employment:
Teaching assistant at UNO
Research assistant at UNO
Hoofstock keeper 3 month internship
Previous employment at small animal clinic


*Edited for brevity

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[supershorty]

Your masters certainly won’t hurt. However, your hours are fairly middle of the road and not all that diverse, and while your last 45 is good, CSU and NCSU are both extremely competitive for OOS students and applying there might not be the best use of your money. You may want to consider applying to programs that emphasize last 45 more heavily, such as KSU, MSU (both Michigan and Mississippi, Mich looks at last 30), UMN, and maybe Illinois if I’m remembering right.

 

[MMLJT3]

Your masters certainly won’t hurt. However, your hours are fairly middle of the road and not all that diverse, and while your last 45 is good, CSU and NCSU are both extremely competitive for OOS students and applying there might not be the best use of your money. You may want to consider applying to programs that emphasize last 45 more heavily, such as KSU, MSU (both Michigan and Mississippi, Mich looks at last 30), UMN, and maybe Illinois if I’m remembering right.

Illinois is not very holistic and looks at GPA heavily. I would look into Iowa as well as the above schools supershorty mentioned 🙃

 

[supershorty]

Illinois is not very holistic and looks at GPA heavily. I would look into Iowa as well as the above schools supershorty mentioned 🙃

Oh yeah you're right, I knew it was one of the I schools but had just woken up and remembered the wrong one sorry OP

 

[buttersthecat]

Your masters certainly won’t hurt. However, your hours are fairly middle of the road and not all that diverse, and while your last 45 is good, CSU and NCSU are both extremely competitive for OOS students and applying there might not be the best use of your money. You may want to consider applying to programs that emphasize last 45 more heavily, such as KSU, MSU (both Michigan and Mississippi, Mich looks at last 30), UMN, and maybe Illinois if I’m remembering right.

What do you think are my chances at LSU (IS)?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have you talked with admissions staff or any current LSU vet students? Does any faculty at UNO remember students who got into LSU Vet in the recent past?

 

[buttersthecat]

Have you talked with admissions staff or any current LSU vet students? Does any faculty at UNO remember students who got into LSU Vet in the recent past?

I talked to admission staff at LSU before deciding to do my masters and she said my best chance was to re-take some undergraduate pre-reqs at UNO so they would replace my LSU classes in the pre req GPA. I've asked around at UNO and no one remembers a Vet student, the research department here is pretty geared towards conservation, ecology, and behavior and a bit of cell/micro biology.

 

[supershorty]

What do you think are my chances at LSU (IS)?

I will always recommend applying to your in-state

 

[buttersthecat]

Your masters certainly won’t hurt. However, your hours are fairly middle of the road and not all that diverse, and while your last 45 is good, CSU and NCSU are both extremely competitive for OOS students and applying there might not be the best use of your money. You may want to consider applying to programs that emphasize last 45 more heavily, such as KSU, MSU (both Michigan and Mississippi, Mich looks at last 30), UMN, and maybe Illinois if I’m remembering right.

I could take a year between my masters and applying to vet school and work at an exotic animal hospital where I have some connections. Do you think that would help at CSU or NCSU? or is my GPA just a killer?

 

[supershorty]

I could take a year between my masters and applying to vet school and work at an exotic animal hospital where I have some connections. Do you think that would help at CSU or NCSU? or is my GPA just a killer?

That cumulative GPA is going to be a challenge to overcome at programs that are particularly competitive for OOS seats. What is it about those schools that you're particularly interested in?

 

[buttersthecat]

That cumulative GPA is going to be a challenge to overcome at programs that are particularly competitive for OOS seats. What is it about those schools that you're particularly interested in?

For NC State I really like the low tuition cost, the teaching hospital, its near a zoo, theres a good number of zoological diplomats, 4 real seasons (Louisiana weather sucks), living in the research triangle also sounds like a great opportunity for research connections, and I like that it is in a city with a relatively robust LGBTQ+ population (I am a single lesbian and I would love to have wife+kids one day). I also really really like that it is not my hometown (Baton Rouge). For Colorado state, I like their large conservation research program, I think that would be great connections to have moving forward after vet school, and basically all the other things I like about NC state. I do not like the high tuition though!
Thanks for all your help btw! I really appreciate it!

 

[Georgethecat]

I talked to admission staff at LSU before deciding to do my masters and she said my best chance was to re-take some undergraduate pre-reqs at UNO so they would replace my LSU classes in the pre req GPA. I've asked around at UNO and no one remembers a Vet student, the research department here is pretty geared towards conservation, ecology, and behavior and a bit of cell/micro biology.

I'd advise to carefully read through LSU's admissions pages. For example LSU only considers Required Courses GPA and Last 45 Credit Hour GPA. They don't consider your cum gpa and that could be a big boost to your application.

Make sure that your required course gpa is at least a 3.0 or your application won't be considered. If any of your required course are more than 6 years old and you retake the course, the new grade can replace the older grade. If a retake is for a course that is less than 6 years old, the grades will average.

If you have the option to retake pre-req's while doing your masters, I'd advise to strategically take courses that will replace your more than 6 years old courses AND courses that are your lowest grades. Congrats on your success in your masters program! That is definitely boosting your last 45 gpa.

CSU and NCST are 2 of the most popular programs based on applications numbers. CSU gets a ton of applications. It is very tough to get in OOS. NCST is also popular because of its low cost for OOS. I do not think you currently meet their minimum gpa requirements for your application to be considered. Pretty sure they require a 3.4 gpa in all categories. No way would I pay an additional $100k to go OOS to CSU.

How GPAs are Calculated | LSU Vet Med

www.lsu.edu

How GPAs are Calculated​

Only coursework completed and verified by VMCAS at the time of application will be used in calculating GPAs for admissions evaluation.

Note: An applicant's overall/cumulative GPA is not used in the evaluation process - only the Required Courses GPA and the Last 45 Credit Hour GPA as described below.

A minimum grade-point average of 3.0 (“A” = 4.00) in these courses is required for consideration for admission. All prerequisite coursework must be passed with a "C" grade or better. (A "C-" is still considered an acceptable passing grade.) Course requirements are not waived in lieu of work experience and/or earned degrees. Credit earned through advanced standing is acceptable, but is not used in the computation of the grade-point average. Evaluation of the applicant’s record in the pre-professional program is made in accordance with LSU procedures. Credit is not granted for College Level Examination Program (CLEP) general examinations. Granting of credit for CLEP subject examinations may be considered in those subjects recommended by various departments of the University upon receipt of test scores indicating the student meets the minimum acceptable scores required by those departments.

Required Course GPA​

In addition to the specific prerequisite courses, also factored into the Required Course GPA are any other Animal Science, Physical Science or Biological Science courses that are taken and in which an "A" grade is earned. Social science, humanities, business, engineering, kinesiology, and any general education courses are NOT calculated into the Required Course GPA; however these courses (with the exception of kinesiology courses) will still be used for the Last 45 Credit Hour as seen below.

Last 45 Credit Hours GPA​

The Last 45 Credit Hour GPA is computed by using the most recent 45-60 semester hours of course work, with the exception of kinesiology courses. The entire last semester is included when calculating the Last 45 Credit Hour GPA. (If only 3 more credit hours are needed from one semester during which 18 credit hours were taken, all 18 credit hours would be factored into the Last 45 Credit Hour GPA.)

Repeated Courses, Substitutions, etc.​

Applicants may choose to re-take a course to better master the subject at any point or to try to improve upon their Required Courses GPA or Last 45 Credit Hour GPA. If a course that is more than six years old is retaken, the most recent grade will be used in calculating the Required Course GPA, otherwise the grades (and credit hours) from both courses are used when computing grade point averages. If a three-credit hour course is taken twice within the past six years, all six credits and both earned grades will be used. (For instance, for possible fall '18 matriculation, any course taken prior to the fall '12 semester is considered outside of this six year time-frame.) If a course substitution is approved by the Admissions Office, the course being used as the prerequisite will be calculated into the Required Course GPA. (NOTE - Course substitutions are on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed.)

 

[buttersthecat]

Thank you for the advice! What the admissions counselor told me a few years back was a course from a different school will count as a new course. I’ll check with the current admission counselor to see if that is still true. Do you know if the courses are 6 years from the time you apply? Or 6 years from the time you start? I will also check with admissions about this. My intro to bio and intro to chem classes are 2016-2017 😬 on one hand, it would boost my gpa to retake, but on the other hand, I'm pretty crunched for time as it is.

 

[JaynaAli]

Thank you for the advice! What the admissions counselor told me a few years back was a course from a different school will count as a new course. I’ll check with the current admission counselor to see if that is still true. Do you know if the courses are 6 years from the time you apply? Or 6 years from the time you start? I will also check with admissions about this. My intro to bio and intro to chem classes are 2016-2017 😬 on one hand, it would boost my gpa to retake, but on the other hand, I'm pretty crunched for time as it is.

Schools can handle retakes differently. They can decide whatever they want…what one school does may be different from another. Some might replace the old grade with your retake, some might average them in their calculations. You will need to do research with the programs you want to apply to and see how they handle retakes. It may involve contacting programs and asking directly.

 

[Georgethecat]

Thank you for the advice! What the admissions counselor told me a few years back was a course from a different school will count as a new course. I’ll check with the current admission counselor to see if that is still true. Do you know if the courses are 6 years from the time you apply? Or 6 years from the time you start? I will also check with admissions about this. My intro to bio and intro to chem classes are 2016-2017 😬 on one hand, it would boost my gpa to retake, but on the other hand, I'm pretty crunched for time as it is.

Not sure. I just copied and pasted directly from LSU's website. Definitely recommend that you contact each school you are interested in to confirm their policies AND to see if there are special case exceptions.

Just my opinion...but any course that you got a least a B in is not worth repeating, especially if you are crunched for time and energy. Your efforts would be better spent on replacing C's AND maintaining your high grad school gpa (which will also demonstrate good grades in upper level science courses).

If you definitely don't want to go to LSU, it might be worth your while to research other schools that your application stats would match up well with. Move to that state and work for a year or however long it takes to gain IS. Generally speaking it will be easier to gain an acceptance as an IS and be a LOT cheaper. I'd focus on schools that favor last 45 gpa and possibly required courses gpa and NOT cumulative gpa.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree if you really don't want to take advantage as an in-state applicant, you need to do some networking and find out from the other schools how they would handle your application. I agree that you should pay close attention to the residency rules for each vet school.

You should also network with the PRIDE Vet Med Community. They can probably help give you the inside scoop on each of the vet schools' treatment of LGBTQ+ students.

 

[buttersthecat]

Your masters certainly won’t hurt. However, your hours are fairly middle of the road and not all that diverse, and while your last 45 is good, CSU and NCSU are both extremely competitive for OOS students and applying there might not be the best use of your money. You may want to consider applying to programs that emphasize last 45 more heavily, such as KSU, MSU (both Michigan and Mississippi, Mich looks at last 30), UMN, and maybe Illinois if I’m remembering right.

I’ve recently been looking into Oregon state, the website seemed promising for a holistic view- any thoughts?

 

[ali9280]

I’ve recently been looking into Oregon state, the website seemed promising for a holistic view- any thoughts?

I applied there for the 2027 cycle. They have a smaller class size compared to most vet schools (72 seats) and they only have 32 OOS seats. Just something to keep in mind if you decide to apply there as it is competitive.