What are my chances?

[VetMedVetMed]

So I have a question for everyone.. I just received an interview to vet school yay, being a first time applicant it's exciting for me. My question though, is for this fall semester, I have to send my grades to the school.. if i get one bad grade in a class (I am not sure the grade yet b/c this class's grade isn't posted yet), will they then rescind my interview? It also technically is a class that is not required by this particular school either... I'm not sure if that matters..

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[kyky_prevet]

deleted

 

[WildZoo]

So I have a question for everyone.. I just received an interview to vet school yay, being a first time applicant it's exciting for me. My question though, is for this fall semester, I have to send my grades to the school.. if i get one bad grade in a class (I am not sure the grade yet b/c this class's grade isn't posted yet), will they then rescind my interview? It also technically is a class that is not required by this particular school either... I'm not sure if that matters..

Probably not. I mean, I failed a lit class my fall semester and then failed another in the spring (don't do this. Don't be me. I became super apathetic in my last year, especially towards the classes that were for my minor). It never came up. But I do believe I had my interview before I sent my fall grades. It probably depends on the school as well. I doubt they would rescind an interview but it may come into consideration for acceptance.

 

[Jess Monster]

So I have a question for everyone.. I just received an interview to vet school yay, being a first time applicant it's exciting for me. My question though, is for this fall semester, I have to send my grades to the school.. if i get one bad grade in a class (I am not sure the grade yet b/c this class's grade isn't posted yet), will they then rescind my interview? It also technically is a class that is not required by this particular school either... I'm not sure if that matters..

No. They won't rescind your interview. Whatever school it is will recalculate your GPA after receiving your fall transcripts though. That could impact if they accept you this cycle (as Wildzoo mentioned), but it shouldn't affect your interview invitation right now, especially if you've already accepted that interview. Unless you defraud or deceive the school in some way regarding your application or identity, I imagine most schools have internal policies that prohibit them from taking back an interview invite (even if they send an invitation out in error). No school would want to risk getting sued or drumming up negative press over a situation like that.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Cool experiences: Performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall twice, and 5 other times with various orchestras, kind of hoping this just helps me stand out amongst other applicants..?

Um yeah. That's really impressive!

In a similar way that makes high level athletes impressive, it shows you're a very capable and dedicated, disciplined, successful individual. Usually people who are very successful in one thing are also just successful people overall.

 

[harolds89]

Hi Everyone,
I am hoping to apply to vet school in the Fall of 2016 (to start in Fall 2017). I was wondering if I would be an attractive candidate? I have a PhD in engineering but I feel like in order to feel truly satisfied with my career I need to do something that helps animals. I am particularly interested in wildlife preservation. I am not sure how open veterinary schools are to people who are switching from different careers?

Undergrad GPA (chemical engineering, top 10 engineering school) - 3.5
Masters GPA (chemical engineering, top 10 engineering school) - 3.9
PhD GPA (chemical engineering, top 10 engineering school) -3.9

GRE:
Math - 800/800
Verbal - 650/800

Right now I have only about 500 hours worth of experience working with large animals in a behavioral research lab. But, by the time applications are due, I think I could gather about 100 more hours working at an animal shelter, and 100 more hours working at a veterinary clinic. Or, if I want to write in my application that I am interested in wildlife preservation, I could do 70 hours at an animal shelter, 70 at the zoo, and 70 at a veterinary clinic...

Letters of recommendation - I could ask my PhD advisor, my manager from my engineering internship, and maybe a veterinarian that I volunteer with?

What do you think?

Thanks!

 

[Jess Monster]

Hi Everyone,
I am hoping to apply to vet school in the Fall of 2016 (to start in Fall 2017). I was wondering if I would be an attractive candidate? I have a PhD in engineering but I feel like in order to feel truly satisfied with my career I need to do something that helps animals. I am particularly interested in wildlife preservation. I am not sure how open veterinary schools are to people who are switching from different careers?

Undergrad GPA (chemical engineering, top 10 engineering school) - 3.5
Masters GPA (chemical engineering, top 10 engineering school) - 3.9
PhD GPA (chemical engineering, top 10 engineering school) -3.9

GRE:
Math - 800/800
Verbal - 650/800

Right now I have only about 500 hours worth of experience working with large animals in a behavioral research lab. But, by the time applications are due, I think I could gather about 100 more hours working at an animal shelter, and 100 more hours working at a veterinary clinic. Or, if I want to write in my application that I am interested in wildlife preservation, I could do 70 hours at an animal shelter, 70 at the zoo, and 70 at a veterinary clinic...

Letters of recommendation - I could ask my PhD advisor, my manager from my engineering internship, and maybe a veterinarian that I volunteer with?

What do you think?

Thanks!

Having a Master's and a PhD will show schools that you can be successful in a rigorous academic environment. Your GPA's are great. Hopefully you have all of the pre-req's completed (check with every school you're interested in applying to and make sure your coursework is good to go for the 2016 cycle and matriculation in 2017). You might need to contact schools and see if they require you to retake the GRE though. Most schools want grades that are no older than five years unless they have some kind exemption for students with advanced degrees but you'll have to actually talk to admission's people to find that out.

Keep finding hours and experiences. Right now you have plenty but more doesn't hurt.

Make sure you have at least one recommendation from a vet when you apply.

Overall, if this is the career path you're interested in and all your T's are crossed and I's dotted by the next application cycle, you will likely be an attractive applicant to numerous schools.

 

[Vannandy]

First time applicant

Degree : B.A. Biological Sciences

Cum GPA: 3.28
Science GPA 3.10
Preparing for the GRE

Animal Experience
~ 120 hours animal shelter volunteer
1000+ hours animal psychology lab - animal technician (ongoing)
300+ hours marine mammal volunteer (ongoing)

Clinical Experience
~150 hours wildlife clinic through vet school externship program
500+ hours small animal clinic (ongoing)

GPA isn't the greatest but assuming I score well on the GRE and my wide range of animal experience what are my chances?

 

[katashark]

First time applicant

Degree : B.A. Biological Sciences

Cum GPA: 3.28
Science GPA 3.10
Preparing for the GRE

Animal Experience
~ 120 hours animal shelter volunteer
1000+ hours animal psychology lab - animal technician (ongoing)
300+ hours marine mammal volunteer (ongoing)

Clinical Experience
~150 hours wildlife clinic through vet school externship program
500+ hours small animal clinic (ongoing)

GPA isn't the greatest but assuming I score well on the GRE and my wide range of animal experience what are my chances?

What's the GPA of your last 45 credits? You need to do very well on the GREs. I would continue to get more experience, as that will only help you. You also need to find people that can give you great letters of recommendation. GPA isn't everything, but it is important, and you are well on your way to compensating for it

 

[bluenose]

First time applicant

Degree : B.A. Biological Sciences

Cum GPA: 3.28
Science GPA 3.10
Preparing for the GRE

Animal Experience
~ 120 hours animal shelter volunteer
1000+ hours animal psychology lab - animal technician (ongoing)
300+ hours marine mammal volunteer (ongoing)

Clinical Experience
~150 hours wildlife clinic through vet school externship program
500+ hours small animal clinic (ongoing)

GPA isn't the greatest but assuming I score well on the GRE and my wide range of animal experience what are my chances?

Along with kata's question I'm wondering since you're applying this next cycle is there a chance to raise your GPA like potentially retaking classes or taking other upper division biology classes and doing well? But your experience is very diverse so I feel like you have that part of the app covered! I also agree with kata about making sure to perform well on the GRE because scores and GPA do matter a lot because they are easy cut offs for schools

 

[Vannandy]

What's the GPA of your last 45 credits? You need to do very well on the GREs. I would continue to get more experience, as that will only help you. You also need to find people that can give you great letters of recommendation. GPA isn't everything, but it is important, and you are well on your way to compensating for it

GPA last 45 credits is 3.3. I calculated my science GPA with every single science/math course I took. I didn't do too well in my second semester of Physics but for the schools I'm interested in they don't require the full year anyways. Also, with my Biology degree i received one B+ the rest A- and above for the upper level courses. So while my GPA is a bit lowish, perhaps the improvement with course difficulty might offset it? I've been working in my research lab for over 3 years (basically helped the lab start from scratch as we moved rooms.) I have no doubt I will receive glowing recommendations from my supervisors. That being said, do you my wide range of animal/clinical experiences will make my application stand out? Also, does anyone know what the average GRE score of accepted applicants is under the new test format?

 

[Vannandy]

Along with kata's question I'm wondering since you're applying this next cycle is there a chance to raise your GPA like potentially retaking classes or taking other upper division biology classes and doing well? But your experience is very diverse so I feel like you have that part of the app covered! I also agree with kata about making sure to perform well on the GRE because scores and GPA do matter a lot because they are easy cut offs for schools

So I took a bunch of upper level biology courses as part of my Biology degree: Biochemistry A, Biology of Cancer B, Genetics B+, Cell Biology A-, Infectious Disesases A-, Microbiology A, Topics in Biosciences A-, and Intro to Research A-. That being said my Intro to Bio average was a C+. I'm hoping the scores I got in all of my upper level courses will shine a better light on my pre-requisites. Do you have any idea what the average GRE score is looking like for accepted applicants? I mean a max score would be ideal but what's the conversion like from the old test say like a 1100?

 

[battie]

First time applicant

Degree : B.A. Biological Sciences

Cum GPA: 3.28
Science GPA 3.10
Preparing for the GRE

Animal Experience
~ 120 hours animal shelter volunteer
1000+ hours animal psychology lab - animal technician (ongoing)
300+ hours marine mammal volunteer (ongoing)

Clinical Experience
~150 hours wildlife clinic through vet school externship program
500+ hours small animal clinic (ongoing)

GPA isn't the greatest but assuming I score well on the GRE and my wide range of animal experience what are my chances?

GPA last 45 credits is 3.3. I calculated my science GPA with every single science/math course I took. I didn't do too well in my second semester of Physics but for the schools I'm interested in they don't require the full year anyways. Also, with my Biology degree i received one B+ the rest A- and above for the upper level courses. So while my GPA is a bit lowish, perhaps the improvement with course difficulty might offset it? I've been working in my research lab for over 3 years (basically helped the lab start from scratch as we moved rooms.) I have no doubt I will receive glowing recommendations from my supervisors. That being said, do you my wide range of animal/clinical experiences will make my application stand out? Also, does anyone know what the average GRE score of accepted applicants is under the new test format?

So I have stats very similar to yours (cGPA of 3.3, sGPA 3.3, last 45 3.2) and about 1,200 vet experience hours, 5,000 family pet store hours, 4,000 equine hours. I have only gotten waitlisted (at K-State) the last two years and this year I am 4/8 for rejections (rejected from CSU, LSU, Western, and OrSU this year; CSU last year; CSU, WSU, Penn, and Mizzou the year before). I'm not going to sugar coat this for you: your GPA numbers will hurt you. There are definitely people that get in with those numbers, but they aren't common. You have to rock that GRE. Like, get up in the 70% scores. That would probably be upwards of the 310 combined score or higher with all three sections considered and even higher if only the quantitative and verbal considered. Your experiences might help you, but it really depends on what schools you apply to. You have to apply to schools with a strategy. For example, you would not make the cut for LSU as they only give interviews for the top 50 OOS applicants and their first cut off is sGPA and last 45 GPA; however, you may have a chance at Illinois if you make it past the academic cutoff, which fluctuates some every year (I made it past it this year).

Do extremely well on the GRE. Have an application strategy. If you have any other classes to take, ace them all to make that last 45 way more competitive.

 

[Vannandy]

So I have stats very similar to yours (cGPA of 3.3, sGPA 3.3, last 45 3.2) and about 1,200 vet experience hours, 5,000 family pet store hours, 4,000 equine hours. I have only gotten waitlisted (at K-State) the last two years and this year I am 4/8 for rejections (rejected from CSU, LSU, Western, and OrSU this year; CSU last year; CSU, WSU, Penn, and Mizzou the year before). I'm not going to sugar coat this for you: your GPA numbers will hurt you. There are definitely people that get in with those numbers, but they aren't common. You have to rock that GRE. Like, get up in the 70% scores. That would probably be upwards of the 310 combined score or higher with all three sections considered and even higher if only the quantitative and verbal considered. Your experiences might help you, but it really depends on what schools you apply to. You have to apply to schools with a strategy. For example, you would not make the cut for LSU as they only give interviews for the top 50 OOS applicants and their first cut off is sGPA and last 45 GPA; however, you may have a chance at Illinois if you make it past the academic cutoff, which fluctuates some every year (I made it past it this year).

Do extremely well on the GRE. Have an application strategy. If you have any other classes to take, ace them all to make that last 45 way more competitive.

Thanks for your feedback and sharing your application stories!

 

[VetMedVetMed]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. So in regards to my bad grade, yes it was a bad grade and I'm really upset about it. The class is not required by this school technically, and I've never taken any other classes at this school before. Do I still need to send that transcript? Would it be a huge deterrant for an acceptance?

 

[kyky_prevet]

Also, does anyone know how heavily fall transcripts factor into decisions for applicants this round? I have gotten a few Bs this semester, and hope that will not hurt my chances, does anyone have an idea on this?

 

[bluenose]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. So in regards to my bad grade, yes it was a bad grade and I'm really upset about it. The class is not required by this school technically, and I've never taken any other classes at this school before. Do I still need to send that transcript? Would it be a huge deterrant for an acceptance?

I remember the VMCAS saying every transcript had to be sent in so I think you will have to but I don't know enough to comment on how much a deterrent it will be since it's not a prerequisite?

 

[mgp11001]

Also, does anyone know how heavily fall transcripts factor into decisions for applicants this round? I have gotten a few Bs this semester, and hope that will not hurt my chances, does anyone have an idea on this?

most schools don't require fall transcripts until acceptance and at others I know they usually do not factor it into your gpa but they check to make sure prerequisites are being taken as stated. I am in the same boat, I had an early interview at Florida and then was differed and am hoping my first C+ won't be what stops me from being accepted!

 

[VetMedVetMed]

Isn't it the absolute WORST when you do really well and then right before you apply or get an interview you get a bad grade? The worst. So much pressure always!

 

[ANSohschm]

Hi everyone! I am a longtime lurker but newly registered poster.

1st time applicant, currently a junior in undergrad, applying next cycle
Degree: Animal Science Major, Minors in One Health and Chemistry

Overall GPA: 3.91
Science GPA: 3.93
Last 45: 3.97

Animal hours:
780 volunteer hours with small animal rescues - volunteer leader for adoption events and also working at the shelter, feeding, medicating, vaccinating
32 hours in ANS class labs (not sure if this counts) - includes experience with poultry, beef, dairy, sheep, and equine
120 hours working at a dairy
300 hours working with sheep
40 hours house sitting 7 animals and running a boarding facility that had 12 additional dogs
800 hours working in a kennel at a vet clinic

Vet Experience:
100 hours at a small animal vet
1400 hours at another small animal vet - much larger practice than the first one. 400 hours were unpaid, I was later hired, worked in the kennels (see above), and now work as a vet tech during school breaks. About 50 of these hours were spent with a ultrasound specialist.
10 hours with the school veterinarian at the sheep barn - observed several surgeries, autopsies, made a containment plan when there was a pneumonia outbreak (that was quite the adventure)
2 hours observing a cattle surgery
4 hours in a research setting with a veterinarian, will be working much more closely on a project next semester.

Research:
150 hours in a genetics lab - DNA extraction, DNA quantification, also lots of journal review and analysis
10 hours drawing blood from dairy cows for a research project
40 hours on a computer modeling project for the spread of T. gondii in an ecosystem.
2 hours drawing blood from sheep for a research project

Haven't taken the GRE yet, but have looked at plenty of practice exams and resources and don't feel super nervous about doing well. I have no clue what to write about in my personal statement, other than I have really loved the One Health aspect of vet medicine and hope to be able to make a contribution to public health, also find great satisfaction in small animal medicine and love large animals. I would love to join the Army Vet Core after graduation, I have lots of military family members and it would be a good segue into public health.

 

[VetMedVetMed]

Hi everyone! I am a longtime lurker but newly registered poster.

1st time applicant, currently a junior in undergrad, applying next cycle
Degree: Animal Science Major, Minors in One Health and Chemistry

Overall GPA: 3.91
Science GPA: 3.93
Last 45: 3.97

Animal hours:
780 volunteer hours with small animal rescues - volunteer leader for adoption events and also working at the shelter, feeding, medicating, vaccinating
32 hours in ANS class labs (not sure if this counts) - includes experience with poultry, beef, dairy, sheep, and equine
120 hours working at a dairy
300 hours working with sheep
40 hours house sitting 7 animals and running a boarding facility that had 12 additional dogs
800 hours working in a kennel at a vet clinic

Vet Experience:
100 hours at a small animal vet
1400 hours at another small animal vet - much larger practice than the first one. 400 hours were unpaid, I was later hired, worked in the kennels (see above), and now work as a vet tech during school breaks. About 50 of these hours were spent with a ultrasound specialist.
10 hours with the school veterinarian at the sheep barn - observed several surgeries, autopsies, made a containment plan when there was a pneumonia outbreak (that was quite the adventure)
2 hours observing a cattle surgery
4 hours in a research setting with a veterinarian, will be working much more closely on a project next semester.

Research:
150 hours in a genetics lab - DNA extraction, DNA quantification, also lots of journal review and analysis
10 hours drawing blood from dairy cows for a research project
40 hours on a computer modeling project for the spread of T. gondii in an ecosystem.
2 hours drawing blood from sheep for a research project

Haven't taken the GRE yet, but have looked at plenty of practice exams and resources and don't feel super nervous about doing well. I have no clue what to write about in my personal statement, other than I have really loved the One Health aspect of vet medicine and hope to be able to make a contribution to public health, also find great satisfaction in small animal medicine and love large animals. I would love to join the Army Vet Core after graduation, I have lots of military family members and it would be a good segue into public health.

You have great GPA's so congrats on that! Get a great GRE score, and you should be good. Most applicants have several thousand hours of vet experience however, so maybe try and get a little more experience..that would be my only recommendation though!

 

[bluenose]

Hi everyone! I am a longtime lurker but newly registered poster.

1st time applicant, currently a junior in undergrad, applying next cycle
Degree: Animal Science Major, Minors in One Health and Chemistry

Overall GPA: 3.91
Science GPA: 3.93
Last 45: 3.97

Animal hours:
780 volunteer hours with small animal rescues - volunteer leader for adoption events and also working at the shelter, feeding, medicating, vaccinating
32 hours in ANS class labs (not sure if this counts) - includes experience with poultry, beef, dairy, sheep, and equine
120 hours working at a dairy
300 hours working with sheep
40 hours house sitting 7 animals and running a boarding facility that had 12 additional dogs
800 hours working in a kennel at a vet clinic

Vet Experience:
100 hours at a small animal vet
1400 hours at another small animal vet - much larger practice than the first one. 400 hours were unpaid, I was later hired, worked in the kennels (see above), and now work as a vet tech during school breaks. About 50 of these hours were spent with a ultrasound specialist.
10 hours with the school veterinarian at the sheep barn - observed several surgeries, autopsies, made a containment plan when there was a pneumonia outbreak (that was quite the adventure)
2 hours observing a cattle surgery
4 hours in a research setting with a veterinarian, will be working much more closely on a project next semester.

Research:
150 hours in a genetics lab - DNA extraction, DNA quantification, also lots of journal review and analysis
10 hours drawing blood from dairy cows for a research project
40 hours on a computer modeling project for the spread of T. gondii in an ecosystem.
2 hours drawing blood from sheep for a research project

Haven't taken the GRE yet, but have looked at plenty of practice exams and resources and don't feel super nervous about doing well. I have no clue what to write about in my personal statement, other than I have really loved the One Health aspect of vet medicine and hope to be able to make a contribution to public health, also find great satisfaction in small animal medicine and love large animals. I would love to join the Army Vet Core after graduation, I have lots of military family members and it would be a good segue into public health.

You have great stats and diverse experience even if your hours aren't super high although they are much higher than mine and I got in so I think you will be totally fine! I also recommend getting good people to read your personal statement to make sure it's edited for grammar, story flow etc Good luck!!

Edit: Wanted to add that in terms of your experience you've done so much in just three years (that's awesome really good job) and I think that will really help you shine on your app!

 

[vetmedhead]

Hi everyone! I am a longtime lurker but newly registered poster.

1st time applicant, currently a junior in undergrad, applying next cycle
Degree: Animal Science Major, Minors in One Health and Chemistry

Overall GPA: 3.91
Science GPA: 3.93
Last 45: 3.97

Animal hours:
780 volunteer hours with small animal rescues - volunteer leader for adoption events and also working at the shelter, feeding, medicating, vaccinating
32 hours in ANS class labs (not sure if this counts) - includes experience with poultry, beef, dairy, sheep, and equine
120 hours working at a dairy
300 hours working with sheep
40 hours house sitting 7 animals and running a boarding facility that had 12 additional dogs
800 hours working in a kennel at a vet clinic

Vet Experience:
100 hours at a small animal vet
1400 hours at another small animal vet - much larger practice than the first one. 400 hours were unpaid, I was later hired, worked in the kennels (see above), and now work as a vet tech during school breaks. About 50 of these hours were spent with a ultrasound specialist.
10 hours with the school veterinarian at the sheep barn - observed several surgeries, autopsies, made a containment plan when there was a pneumonia outbreak (that was quite the adventure)
2 hours observing a cattle surgery
4 hours in a research setting with a veterinarian, will be working much more closely on a project next semester.

Research:
150 hours in a genetics lab - DNA extraction, DNA quantification, also lots of journal review and analysis
10 hours drawing blood from dairy cows for a research project
40 hours on a computer modeling project for the spread of T. gondii in an ecosystem.
2 hours drawing blood from sheep for a research project

Haven't taken the GRE yet, but have looked at plenty of practice exams and resources and don't feel super nervous about doing well. I have no clue what to write about in my personal statement, other than I have really loved the One Health aspect of vet medicine and hope to be able to make a contribution to public health, also find great satisfaction in small animal medicine and love large animals. I would love to join the Army Vet Core after graduation, I have lots of military family members and it would be a good segue into public health.

As others said, your stats and experiences are great. I just wanted to add that if you're interested in public health you might also consider looking into schools that offer a DVM/Masters in Public Health dual degree program (I believe you can also take MPH courses online through University of Minnesota while you do a DVM at another school). MPH/DVM programs seem like they would complement your interests well.

 

[ANSohschm]

As others said, your stats and experiences are great. I just wanted to add that if you're interested in public health you might also consider looking into schools that offer a DVM/Masters in Public Health dual degree program (I believe you can also take MPH courses online through University of Minnesota while you do a DVM at another school). MPH/DVM programs seem like they would complement your interests well.

Absolutely. I have been advised by several faculty to take that route and it is offered at my in-state vet school. I have yet to find anyone that has completed the dual degree program, rather than taking them separately.

 

[Lady_Koolaid]

Hey guys I was wondering if you could give me any advice on how to improve my application for this cycle. I am a non traditional student and had to take a few pre-reqs to be considered last year. I applied last year and got interviewed and waitlisted at tennessee and also waitlisted at UF.

25 years old, male, Florida resident

Degrees:
B.S. in Biology, University of South Florida

Cum GPA: 3.69
Science GPA:3.5
(I took microbiology in the fall and biochemistry this spring, received A's.


Veterinary Experience:
- 717 hours experience SA
- 1183 hours experience LA

I work at a mixed animal practice and am classified as a large animal technician but obviously do small animal when we are not out in the field.

Animal Experience:
- 1570 hours volunteering at a theraputic riding facility for disabled children and the elderly.

Letters of Recommendation
-University of South Florida Professor
-Jacksonville University professor
-Veternarian I work for
-Owner of the riding facility

GRE: 1110: 540 verbal; 570 quant. I am currently enrolled in a kaplan course and will be retaking it just before the deadline this summer.

My concerns:

-Basically all of the vet experience is from one clinic. I shadowed at a few clinics but only accumulated maybe 100 hours from them before working at this clinic. I have tried to find other vets but I really enjoy working here because we see all species. I have looked for strictly LA vets but my mixed animal vet pretty much has a monopoly on the region.

-All of my animal experience if from this riding facility. I love working there, it is really rewarding and it combines animal experience with community service/extracurriculars.

-I have no other extracurriculars other than the community related service I perform at the riding facility. I basically spend all my time between the clinic and at the riding facility.

I think I have strengthened my application since last year, I had about 900 hours vet experience and applied with no animal experience whatsoever. I am hoping to have significantly more hours once I apply again in october.

I am applying this year to: UF, Tenn, Tufts, UPENN, Cornell and definetly a few other schools. My obvious number one is my IS (UF) but I really like Tufts and it is my top OOS school.

Im sure I have left some things out so please ask me anything.

Thank you so much!

I am also trying to make my way to UF Vet School. I'm not nearly as close as you are though. I'm at SFC right now, and about 10 credits away from an AA in Zoology before I move onto the Animal Sciences program at UF. Long way to go, but if you want to get into UF Vet school you have to start thinking early so you can be prepared (the way I look at it anyways.) They only require a 3.0, (unspoken rule is 3.5), so you should be good there. Your volunteer work is your weak point. They look for people with a variety, including research. You could see about volunteering at Lubee's to get some wildlife / exotic experience in, they love volunteers, or the Veterinary Entomology center. Also, Kaplan is a ACICS accredited school, not regionally accredited - UF isn't going to accept that credit.

 

[bcc0627]

Hi everyone! I am new to this, so please bear with me. I am thinking of applying to vet school this upcoming summer ('16) and I am curious about my chances. Right now, I am afraid I am just a little too "average" and I know that I am definitely lacking diversity within my experiences. I just kind of wanted to know what you guys think! I am a florida resident, so I'm keeping my eye on UF. i was always planning on taking a gap year, (i am a junior currently), but for some reason this semester, I realized that I didn't want to take a gap year and i feel like i am scrambling and behind where i should be in order to be a competitive applicant. any input from anyone is greatly valued and appreciated!!

Overall GPA: 3.8
Science: 3.8
Last 45: 3.82
GRE: taking it sometime this spring!

Vet:
250 hours volunteering at the UF small animal hospital in various departments (ICU, PCW, Radiology)
150 shadowing the vet from my hometown
100 SAH i just got a job at (I am a technician)
*I am hoping to get my veterinary hours to about 1,000 by the time i actually have to apply

Animal:
350 hours at a dog grooming place as a bather
250 hours at a vet's office (i worked in the kennel)
8 hours grooming retired horses

Non-animal employment:
I worked for 5 years as a gymnastics coach

Research:
80 hours working with rodents studying activity based anorexia (i attended lab meetings, assisted with general maintenance, observed and noted their food intake post injections and performed an ovariectomy on a rat)
*it wasn't that in-depth, but it was good insight into research based positions, and i learned it wasn't my thing really

Extracirriculars:
Flute choir for 2 years
orchestra for a semester
Alpha Zeta Honors Fraternity
*i found it really hard to become involved in things in college, i found myself becoming really shy and wanting to avoid activities with a lot of people as bad as that sounds

 

[Emm13187]

Hello!
Do any of you know of any post baccularette programs for pre vet?
I currently have a 2.9 and I am in my last year of my bachelors in biology. I'm looking to raise my gpa but I don't know where to start once I graduate this May ):

 

[katashark]

Hello!
Do any of you know of any post baccularette programs for pre vet?
I currently have a 2.9 and I am in my last year of my bachelors in biology. I'm looking to raise my gpa but I don't know where to start once I graduate this May ):

Just enter a university or community college as a non-degree seeking student.

 

[mht2k3]

Hello everyone! I will hopefully be applying to vet school in the coming year ('16) for the first time. I'm coming at vet school from a completely different direction, but after 10+ years doing something that I dont really enjoy, I'm excited about finally starting on the path of a career I've wanted for a while now. My two big concerns are my original undergraduate GPA (I just didn't feel very focused when I was younger, and it definitely shows in my GPA. I did pretty terrible in non major classes since I just didn't care that much about them). My postbac GPA is basically all As except for A- in OChem lecture, but i'm afraid my original GPA will be a killer for me.

Second concern is the fact that I dont have a *ton* of shadowing hours. This is mostly due to the fact that I work fulltime as a software engineer while i'm in school so its hard to get shadowing hours. I've basically used my vacation time from work plus any spare time I can get to shadow, so hopefully although my hours aren't as much as others, it shows a dedication/work ethic. I'm hoping to get close to 1000 hours before I apply. I'm mostly interesting in production/farm ambulatory vet work so that is where most of my shadowing hours came from, but I'm going to try and get more SA hours as well as emergency before I apply.

Applying to: Tufts, Michigan State, UPENN, Cornell, Wisconsin, Illinois

I'm originally from Michigan, and I apparently can get in state tuition (according to msu) there since I graduated high school and my parents have lived there ever since, but wont get my first year in state since I need to live in michigan a year before school starts for that (I'm also assuming this doesn't help my chances of getting in since i wont be considered in state until my 2nd year).

35yo male non traditional student, Maine resident

B.S (double majored in Mathematics and Computer Science @ University of Michigan) 2003
Postbac - University of Southern Maine (wont be getting a degree from here).

Overall GPA: 3.2 (if factoring in post-bac courses, if not 3.01)
Science: 3.95 (if this is just the science pre-reqs. If it also included my undergraduate math/cs classes its going to be lower, probably around a 3.6 or 3.7)
Last 45: 3.75 (have only taken 36 credits as postbac so the extra 9 have to go back to my undergrad degree)
post-bac courses: 3.95
GRE (Q/V/W) : 163 (86%) / 158 (79%) / 4.0 (56%)

Vet:
~700 hours shadowing a large animal ambulatory vet: Lots of experience giving injections, banding bulls/goats, assisting with calvings, assisting with c-sections, etc
~100 hours shadowing small animal clinic (I will have more by the time I apply. probably around 250+ hours)
~0 hours at emergency clinic but hoping to add some hours here before I apply.

Animal:
Not sure what to put here. Lifetime owning dogs/cats, raising chickens, helping out with friends farms that have cows/goats/sheep.
I was also involved with a greyhound rescue group for about 3 years.

Non-animal employment:
I've been a computer programmer ever since I graduated undergrad in 2003. Worked as several starts ups in various places (Ann Arbor, NYC, Buenos Aires, and now Maine). Held job titles like "Senior Software Engineer", "Technical Team Lead", "Technical Manager", etc. At various jobs responsible for up to 10 developers that I managed. Now back as a Senior Software Engineer and a somewhat well known startup company.

Research:
~1500 hours working for a professor at University of Michigan in the field of Computation Linguistics. 2 papers that have my name on them, and one conference presentation.
(will be) ~800 hours working in a molecular biology medical research lab helping with a project dealing with renal cell carcinoma. Work includes: Cell culture, gene expression analysis, viral transduction, QPCR, imaging, mouse dissection, etc. Hopefully will be publishing a paper while here, but its not set in stone.


Extracirriculars/other:
- NCAA athlete
- Greyhound rescue volunteer
- various math & cs clubs in undergrad
- biology club at postbac school.
- spanish speaker
- knitting teacher

Letters (not sure which ones i'll end up asking but these are the ones available/willing to write me a letter) :
- large animal vet that I've spent most of my time shadowing
- DVM/PHD whose lab I'm currently working in
- Professor who I did CS research with in original undergrad
- CEO of the company I work for
- SA vet that i've been shadowing although I think I would need quite a bit more hours before I ask her to write me one.


So thats my deal. Sorry if that was a big longwinded. I feel like most of the schools I'm applying to are a long shot, but I have to try right? Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

[heyyimhayley]

Hello everyone! I will hopefully be applying to vet school in the coming year ('16) for the first time. I'm coming at vet school from a completely different direction, but after 10+ years doing something that I dont really enjoy, I'm excited about finally starting on the path of a career I've wanted for a while now. My two big concerns are my original undergraduate GPA (I just didn't feel very focused when I was younger, and it definitely shows in my GPA. I did pretty terrible in non major classes since I just didn't care that much about them). My postbac GPA is basically all As except for A- in OChem lecture, but i'm afraid my original GPA will be a killer for me.

Second concern is the fact that I dont have a *ton* of shadowing hours. This is mostly due to the fact that I work fulltime as a software engineer while i'm in school so its hard to get shadowing hours. I've basically used my vacation time from work plus any spare time I can get to shadow, so hopefully although my hours aren't as much as others, it shows a dedication/work ethic. I'm hoping to get close to 1000 hours before I apply. I'm mostly interesting in production/farm ambulatory vet work so that is where most of my shadowing hours came from, but I'm going to try and get more SA hours as well as emergency before I apply.

Applying to: Tufts, Michigan State, UPENN, Cornell, Wisconsin, Illinois

I'm originally from Michigan, and I apparently can get in state tuition (according to msu) there since I graduated high school and my parents have lived there ever since, but wont get my first year in state since I need to live in michigan a year before school starts for that (I'm also assuming this doesn't help my chances of getting in since i wont be considered in state until my 2nd year).

35yo male non traditional student, Maine resident

B.S (double majored in Mathematics and Computer Science @ University of Michigan) 2003
Postbac - University of Southern Maine (wont be getting a degree from here).

Overall GPA: 3.2 (if factoring in post-bac courses, if not 3.01)
Science: 3.95 (if this is just the science pre-reqs. If it also included my undergraduate math/cs classes its going to be lower, probably around a 3.6 or 3.7)
Last 45: 3.75 (have only taken 36 credits as postbac so the extra 9 have to go back to my undergrad degree)
post-bac courses: 3.95
GRE (Q/V/W) : 163 (86%) / 158 (79%) / 4.0 (56%)

Vet:
~700 hours shadowing a large animal ambulatory vet: Lots of experience giving injections, banding bulls/goats, assisting with calvings, assisting with c-sections, etc
~100 hours shadowing small animal clinic (I will have more by the time I apply. probably around 250+ hours)
~0 hours at emergency clinic but hoping to add some hours here before I apply.

Animal:
Not sure what to put here. Lifetime owning dogs/cats, raising chickens, helping out with friends farms that have cows/goats/sheep.
I was also involved with a greyhound rescue group for about 3 years.

Non-animal employment:
I've been a computer programmer ever since I graduated undergrad in 2003. Worked as several starts ups in various places (Ann Arbor, NYC, Buenos Aires, and now Maine). Held job titles like "Senior Software Engineer", "Technical Team Lead", "Technical Manager", etc. At various jobs responsible for up to 10 developers that I managed. Now back as a Senior Software Engineer and a somewhat well known startup company.

Research:
~1500 hours working for a professor at University of Michigan in the field of Computation Linguistics. 2 papers that have my name on them, and one conference presentation.
(will be) ~800 hours working in a molecular biology medical research lab helping with a project dealing with renal cell carcinoma. Work includes: Cell culture, gene expression analysis, viral transduction, QPCR, imaging, mouse dissection, etc. Hopefully will be publishing a paper while here, but its not set in stone.


Extracirriculars/other:
- NCAA athlete
- Greyhound rescue volunteer
- various math & cs clubs in undergrad
- biology club at postbac school.
- spanish speaker
- knitting teacher

Letters (not sure which ones i'll end up asking but these are the ones available/willing to write me a letter) :
- large animal vet that I've spent most of my time shadowing
- DVM/PHD whose lab I'm currently working in
- Professor who I did CS research with in original undergrad
- CEO of the company I work for
- SA vet that i've been shadowing although I think I would need quite a bit more hours before I ask her to write me one.


So thats my deal. Sorry if that was a big longwinded. I feel like most of the schools I'm applying to are a long shot, but I have to try right? Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Honestly? I honestly would be surprised if you didn't get in anywhere! Overall, you look good to me, I'll just leave a few comments.

Your cumulative isn't that low, that with your last 45 hours and science GPAs, I think you're gonna do just fine. The only suggestion would maybe be to edit your list to include more schools that emphasize your last 45 hours. Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa are all ones that come to my mind (Iowa told me they pretty much ONLY look at last 45 and science), but you could do some more research on this. All schools like to see an upward trend though, so I can't really see anyone throwing your application out for it. Plus your GRE's are good, so that'll be fine.

And for experience, hours are a little low, but not that low! And you do have diversity. And you have research. Maybe add some more experiences in different areas? Just a few shadowing hours help to show that you've looked at different options.

I think you'll stand out, and you should use your personal statement wisely. Other people on here who are second career vets may be able to help you with it more, but I would suggest using that space to emphasize what your previous career will help you bring to the field or how it will make you a better veterinarian and to talk about why you decided veterinary medicine is the right career for you after so many years working in a different field.

Good luck!

 

[Skimble]

Hello everyone! I will hopefully be applying to vet school in the coming year ('16) for the first time. I'm coming at vet school from a completely different direction, but after 10+ years doing something that I dont really enjoy, I'm excited about finally starting on the path of a career I've wanted for a while now. My two big concerns are my original undergraduate GPA (I just didn't feel very focused when I was younger, and it definitely shows in my GPA. I did pretty terrible in non major classes since I just didn't care that much about them). My postbac GPA is basically all As except for A- in OChem lecture, but i'm afraid my original GPA will be a killer for me.

Second concern is the fact that I dont have a *ton* of shadowing hours. This is mostly due to the fact that I work fulltime as a software engineer while i'm in school so its hard to get shadowing hours. I've basically used my vacation time from work plus any spare time I can get to shadow, so hopefully although my hours aren't as much as others, it shows a dedication/work ethic. I'm hoping to get close to 1000 hours before I apply. I'm mostly interesting in production/farm ambulatory vet work so that is where most of my shadowing hours came from, but I'm going to try and get more SA hours as well as emergency before I apply.

Applying to: Tufts, Michigan State, UPENN, Cornell, Wisconsin, Illinois

I'm originally from Michigan, and I apparently can get in state tuition (according to msu) there since I graduated high school and my parents have lived there ever since, but wont get my first year in state since I need to live in michigan a year before school starts for that (I'm also assuming this doesn't help my chances of getting in since i wont be considered in state until my 2nd year).

35yo male non traditional student, Maine resident

B.S (double majored in Mathematics and Computer Science @ University of Michigan) 2003
Postbac - University of Southern Maine (wont be getting a degree from here).

Overall GPA: 3.2 (if factoring in post-bac courses, if not 3.01)
Science: 3.95 (if this is just the science pre-reqs. If it also included my undergraduate math/cs classes its going to be lower, probably around a 3.6 or 3.7)
Last 45: 3.75 (have only taken 36 credits as postbac so the extra 9 have to go back to my undergrad degree)
post-bac courses: 3.95
GRE (Q/V/W) : 163 (86%) / 158 (79%) / 4.0 (56%)

Vet:
~700 hours shadowing a large animal ambulatory vet: Lots of experience giving injections, banding bulls/goats, assisting with calvings, assisting with c-sections, etc
~100 hours shadowing small animal clinic (I will have more by the time I apply. probably around 250+ hours)
~0 hours at emergency clinic but hoping to add some hours here before I apply.

Animal:
Not sure what to put here. Lifetime owning dogs/cats, raising chickens, helping out with friends farms that have cows/goats/sheep.
I was also involved with a greyhound rescue group for about 3 years.

Non-animal employment:
I've been a computer programmer ever since I graduated undergrad in 2003. Worked as several starts ups in various places (Ann Arbor, NYC, Buenos Aires, and now Maine). Held job titles like "Senior Software Engineer", "Technical Team Lead", "Technical Manager", etc. At various jobs responsible for up to 10 developers that I managed. Now back as a Senior Software Engineer and a somewhat well known startup company.

Research:
~1500 hours working for a professor at University of Michigan in the field of Computation Linguistics. 2 papers that have my name on them, and one conference presentation.
(will be) ~800 hours working in a molecular biology medical research lab helping with a project dealing with renal cell carcinoma. Work includes: Cell culture, gene expression analysis, viral transduction, QPCR, imaging, mouse dissection, etc. Hopefully will be publishing a paper while here, but its not set in stone.


Extracirriculars/other:
- NCAA athlete
- Greyhound rescue volunteer
- various math & cs clubs in undergrad
- biology club at postbac school.
- spanish speaker
- knitting teacher

Letters (not sure which ones i'll end up asking but these are the ones available/willing to write me a letter) :
- large animal vet that I've spent most of my time shadowing
- DVM/PHD whose lab I'm currently working in
- Professor who I did CS research with in original undergrad
- CEO of the company I work for
- SA vet that i've been shadowing although I think I would need quite a bit more hours before I ask her to write me one.


So thats my deal. Sorry if that was a big longwinded. I feel like most of the schools I'm applying to are a long shot, but I have to try right? Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Could you get an eLOR from a prof that you took classes with recently?

 

[mht2k3]

Honestly? I honestly would be surprised if you didn't get in anywhere! Overall, you look good to me, I'll just leave a few comments.

Your cumulative isn't that low, that with your last 45 hours and science GPAs, I think you're gonna do just fine. The only suggestion would maybe be to edit your list to include more schools that emphasize your last 45 hours. Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa are all ones that come to my mind (Iowa told me they pretty much ONLY look at last 45 and science), but you could do some more research on this. All schools like to see an upward trend though, so I can't really see anyone throwing your application out for it. Plus your GRE's are good, so that'll be fine.

And for experience, hours are a little low, but not that low! And you do have diversity. And you have research. Maybe add some more experiences in different areas? Just a few shadowing hours help to show that you've looked at different options.

I think you'll stand out, and you should use your personal statement wisely. Other people on here who are second career vets may be able to help you with it more, but I would suggest using that space to emphasize what your previous career will help you bring to the field or how it will make you a better veterinarian and to talk about why you decided veterinary medicine is the right career for you after so many years working in a different field.

Good luck!

Thanks!! I will def look more into Minnesota.

what type of experience in different areas would you suggest? I was thinking about shadowing an equine vet, add more SA hours and some emergency. is there anything else you would suggest looking into?

Could you get an eLOR from a prof that you took classes with recently?

Yes I think so. I could ask my cell & molecular bio prof who is also my advisor to write one. I could also ask the prof who was my Ochem professor to write one as I had her for 2 semesters and got to know her, but I kind of assumed both of these would be somewhat 'weak' letters because I haven't worked with them for very long and they dont know *that* much about me (compared to the other recs i mentioned above, would have a more detailed letter since I worked with them for a lot longer). Would it be more beneficial to get one from a prof that I took classes with recently?

Also would be interested in people's thoughts about asking the CS professor that I did research for and wrote papers with to write a letter. On one hand, I worked with him for quite a while and authored papers together, but it was in a completely different subject than vet med, and it was over 10 years ago.

 

[SummerTheLynx]

Hello everyone! I will hopefully be applying to vet school in the coming year ('16) for the first time. I'm coming at vet school from a completely different direction, but after 10+ years doing something that I dont really enjoy, I'm excited about finally starting on the path of a career I've wanted for a while now. My two big concerns are my original undergraduate GPA (I just didn't feel very focused when I was younger, and it definitely shows in my GPA. I did pretty terrible in non major classes since I just didn't care that much about them). My postbac GPA is basically all As except for A- in OChem lecture, but i'm afraid my original GPA will be a killer for me.

Second concern is the fact that I dont have a *ton* of shadowing hours. This is mostly due to the fact that I work fulltime as a software engineer while i'm in school so its hard to get shadowing hours. I've basically used my vacation time from work plus any spare time I can get to shadow, so hopefully although my hours aren't as much as others, it shows a dedication/work ethic. I'm hoping to get close to 1000 hours before I apply. I'm mostly interesting in production/farm ambulatory vet work so that is where most of my shadowing hours came from, but I'm going to try and get more SA hours as well as emergency before I apply.

Applying to: Tufts, Michigan State, UPENN, Cornell, Wisconsin, Illinois

I'm originally from Michigan, and I apparently can get in state tuition (according to msu) there since I graduated high school and my parents have lived there ever since, but wont get my first year in state since I need to live in michigan a year before school starts for that (I'm also assuming this doesn't help my chances of getting in since i wont be considered in state until my 2nd year).

35yo male non traditional student, Maine resident

B.S (double majored in Mathematics and Computer Science @ University of Michigan) 2003
Postbac - University of Southern Maine (wont be getting a degree from here).

Overall GPA: 3.2 (if factoring in post-bac courses, if not 3.01)
Science: 3.95 (if this is just the science pre-reqs. If it also included my undergraduate math/cs classes its going to be lower, probably around a 3.6 or 3.7)
Last 45: 3.75 (have only taken 36 credits as postbac so the extra 9 have to go back to my undergrad degree)
post-bac courses: 3.95
GRE (Q/V/W) : 163 (86%) / 158 (79%) / 4.0 (56%)

Vet:
~700 hours shadowing a large animal ambulatory vet: Lots of experience giving injections, banding bulls/goats, assisting with calvings, assisting with c-sections, etc
~100 hours shadowing small animal clinic (I will have more by the time I apply. probably around 250+ hours)
~0 hours at emergency clinic but hoping to add some hours here before I apply.

Animal:
Not sure what to put here. Lifetime owning dogs/cats, raising chickens, helping out with friends farms that have cows/goats/sheep.
I was also involved with a greyhound rescue group for about 3 years.

Non-animal employment:
I've been a computer programmer ever since I graduated undergrad in 2003. Worked as several starts ups in various places (Ann Arbor, NYC, Buenos Aires, and now Maine). Held job titles like "Senior Software Engineer", "Technical Team Lead", "Technical Manager", etc. At various jobs responsible for up to 10 developers that I managed. Now back as a Senior Software Engineer and a somewhat well known startup company.

Research:
~1500 hours working for a professor at University of Michigan in the field of Computation Linguistics. 2 papers that have my name on them, and one conference presentation.
(will be) ~800 hours working in a molecular biology medical research lab helping with a project dealing with renal cell carcinoma. Work includes: Cell culture, gene expression analysis, viral transduction, QPCR, imaging, mouse dissection, etc. Hopefully will be publishing a paper while here, but its not set in stone.


Extracirriculars/other:
- NCAA athlete
- Greyhound rescue volunteer
- various math & cs clubs in undergrad
- biology club at postbac school.
- spanish speaker
- knitting teacher

Letters (not sure which ones i'll end up asking but these are the ones available/willing to write me a letter) :
- large animal vet that I've spent most of my time shadowing
- DVM/PHD whose lab I'm currently working in
- Professor who I did CS research with in original undergrad
- CEO of the company I work for
- SA vet that i've been shadowing although I think I would need quite a bit more hours before I ask her to write me one.


So thats my deal. Sorry if that was a big longwinded. I feel like most of the schools I'm applying to are a long shot, but I have to try right? Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Can I ask a silly question of why you chose the schools that you chose? The list that Hayley made of schools that focus on last 45 is a very good list that would very much like a student with your stats, and may represent great chances at getting in. I think focusing on schools like the ones she presented would be a great idea, if situations allow for it!

 

[mht2k3]

Can I ask a silly question of why you chose the schools that you chose? The list that Hayley made of schools that focus on last 45 is a very good list that would very much like a student with your stats, and may represent great chances at getting in. I think focusing on schools like the ones she presented would be a great idea, if situations allow for it!

Yeah, for a variety of reasons but this is my main logic:

Everywhere except for tufts: good large animal programs and are in cities that my wife is interested in living in for 4 years.

Tufts/Michigan State: Tufts is close to my wife's family and Michigan State is close to my family. We have a 1 year old daughter so it would be really beneficial to have some family support.

UPENN/Cornell: these are the schools where the vets I've been shadowing went, and they have been talking them up a lot.

Wisconsin: the above reasons, plus its one of the cheapest for OOS tuition.

 

[SummerTheLynx]

Yeah, for a variety of reasons but this is my main logic:

Everywhere except for tufts: good large animal programs and are in cities that my wife is interested in living in for 4 years.

Tufts/Michigan State: Tufts is close to my wife's family and Michigan State is close to my family. We have a 1 year old daughter so it would be really beneficial to have some family support.

UPENN/Cornell: these are the schools where the vets I've been shadowing went, and they have been talking them up a lot.

Wisconsin: the above reasons, plus its one of the cheapest for OOS tuition.

Just to comment on these:
Tufts and Michigan state have very legitimate reasons and you should try and go to places that work for you and your wife!

With regards to Wisconsin, they are raising their tuition by 5 thousand dollars per year for the next 4 years, for OOS students. This unfortunately will make it right in the middle for OOS tuition, if not a bit more expensive then comparative schools. (One of the main reasons I declined my spot from Wisconsin.)

With regards to Cornell and Upenn, I think Upenn would be a good choice, as I know several people with similar stats that have gotten into penn. with regards to Cornell, I feel that your stats, which I would consider to be good, are not quite what Cornell is looking for (a higher cGPA). I grew up in NY and know a bunch of people that ended up going there. I am not trying to discourage you from applying there, but if you are attempting to apply on a limited budget, then it may be more strategic to apply to a different school that is looking for the stats that you have.

 

[mht2k3]

Just to comment on these:
Tufts and Michigan state have very legitimate reasons and you should try and go to places that work for you and your wife!

With regards to Wisconsin, they are raising their tuition by 5 thousand dollars per year for the next 4 years, for OOS students. This unfortunately will make it right in the middle for OOS tuition, if not a bit more expensive then comparative schools. (One of the main reasons I declined my spot from Wisconsin.)

With regards to Cornell and Upenn, I think Upenn would be a good choice, as I know several people with similar stats that have gotten into penn. with regards to Cornell, I feel that your stats, which I would consider to be good, are not quite what Cornell is looking for (a higher cGPA). I grew up in NY and know a bunch of people that ended up going there. I am not trying to discourage you from applying there, but if you are attempting to apply on a limited budget, then it may be more strategic to apply to a different school that is looking for the stats that you have.

Thanks, that is def good advice. I didn't realize they were raising the tuition so much! Where do you learn about the tuition increase? Definitely something to think about. Do you know if they are raising IS tuition as well? One of the options we were thinking of if I dont get into vet school the first year was to move somewhere and establish residency. Wisconsin was at the top of this list for a variety of reasons but if tuition jumps up a ton, it would be less appealing.

 

[SummerTheLynx]

Thanks, that is def good advice. I didn't realize they were raising the tuition so much! Where do you learn about the tuition increase? Definitely something to think about. Do you know if they are raising IS tuition as well? One of the options we were thinking of if I dont get into vet school the first year was to move somewhere and establish residency. Wisconsin was at the top of this list for a variety of reasons but if tuition jumps up a ton, it would be less appealing.

I had heard about it prior to being accepted but after I had applied, and it was then confirmed in the acceptance packet. I don't think it was for IS tuition as well, but I will be completely honest and say I really am not sure...

With your stats, if you apply strategically, I would be surprised if you didn't get in your first time around tbh! Good luck!

 

[heyyimhayley]

Also would be interested in people's thoughts about asking the CS professor that I did research for and wrote papers with to write a letter. On one hand, I worked with him for quite a while and authored papers together, but it was in a completely different subject than vet med, and it was over 10 years ago.

Most schools require an academic letter. Some specify a science professor too. Also just in general, you'll need one from someone who can attest to your academic abilities. I don't personally think that the CS one sounds like it'd be your strongest option, mostly because of the fact that it was 10 years ago, unless you took actual academic courses with him that you did well in. Like Jilary suggested, I would look for someone from your post-bacc program to write it, a science class you did well in would be ideal.

what type of experience in different areas would you suggest? I was thinking about shadowing an equine vet, add more SA hours and some emergency. is there anything else you would suggest looking into?

Zoo? Wildlife? Lab animal? Just some suggestions. Go with what interests you. You don't need extensive experience in every area, but you need variety. And again, it's not that I think you're lacking in that area, but I suggested it if you're looking for ways to strengthen.

The other option is to think about what you've liked most from what you've seen so far, and to try to get more depth there... I don't know exactly what your job descriptions at your LA or SA hospitals have included, but if you could add more depth to areas that you've already done, that could help too.

Experience, they look for breadth and depth. Adding more of those things can only help you make a stronger application. And again, I'm being vague because there are so many different ways to do this.

 

[mht2k3]

Most schools require an academic letter. Some specify a science professor too. Also just in general, you'll need one from someone who can attest to your academic abilities. I don't personally think that the CS one sounds like it'd be your strongest option, mostly because of the fact that it was 10 years ago, unless you took actual academic courses with him that you did well in. Like Jilary suggested, I would look for someone from your post-bacc program to write it, a science class you did well in would be ideal.

That makes sense. I did take a class (and did well) with the CS professor, but it was so long ago that I agree that a more recent science prof would be more beneficial. I can def ask the professor who I took cell & molecular biology with. He's my advisor so knows me a little bit more than other professors and I got an A in his class/left an impression.

 

[cbabs]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you could give me some words of advice.
I have wanted to go to veterinary school for my whole life (cliche, I know, but it's true).
I am currently a senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating May 2016 with a degree in Pre-Veterinary Science.

For the 2015-2016 application cycle, I only applied to 2 schools as my GPA isn't very strong (3.3). I applied to Kansas State and University of Florida (reach school but I absolutely love their program and facilities). My goal is to be a large animal veterinarian, focusing a majority of my time in bovine medicine.

I have only taken the GREs once with my scores not being too great. Quant= 145 (21% percentile- I suck at math), Verbal= 154 (63%), Writing= 3.0 (15%). I didn't study for them (stupid, I know). Obviously I plan on retaking them.

I have approximately 1400 hours in small animal & close to 500 hours in large animal including being a teaching assistant for a beef cattle management class. I have many leadership opportunities including being president of the Pre-Veterinary club and a peer mentor.

So, I was just wondering if anyone has any wonderful words of advice. Unfortunately, my GPA for my fall semester of senior year was only a 3.2 so it didn't improve my cumulative GPA.

 

[heyyimhayley]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you could give me some words of advice.
I have wanted to go to veterinary school for my whole life (cliche, I know, but it's true).
I am currently a senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating May 2016 with a degree in Pre-Veterinary Science.

For the 2015-2016 application cycle, I only applied to 2 schools as my GPA isn't very strong (3.3). I applied to Kansas State and University of Florida (reach school but I absolutely love their program and facilities). My goal is to be a large animal veterinarian, focusing a majority of my time in bovine medicine.

I have only taken the GREs once with my scores not being too great. Quant= 145 (21% percentile- I suck at math), Verbal= 154 (63%), Writing= 3.0 (15%). I didn't study for them (stupid, I know). Obviously I plan on retaking them.

I have approximately 1400 hours in small animal & close to 500 hours in large animal including being a teaching assistant for a beef cattle management class. I have many leadership opportunities including being president of the Pre-Veterinary club and a peer mentor.

So, I was just wondering if anyone has any wonderful words of advice. Unfortunately, my GPA for my fall semester of senior year was only a 3.2 so it didn't improve my cumulative GPA.

I think the best thing for you to do would be retake the classes that you didn't do as well in to try to improve your last-45 GPA. The schools want to see that you can handle the curriculum once you get there, so if you add a post bacc semester and can get As or A-s in classes you got a C or less then in previously.

You already know you need to retake the GRE. I recommend Magoosh for studying. They also have a money back guarantee if your score doesn't go up by at least 5 points, so that's helpful, and it's only 99$, which is much better than the other options I saw when I was studying.

 

[mht2k3]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if you could give me some words of advice.
I have wanted to go to veterinary school for my whole life (cliche, I know, but it's true).
I am currently a senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating May 2016 with a degree in Pre-Veterinary Science.

For the 2015-2016 application cycle, I only applied to 2 schools as my GPA isn't very strong (3.3). I applied to Kansas State and University of Florida (reach school but I absolutely love their program and facilities). My goal is to be a large animal veterinarian, focusing a majority of my time in bovine medicine.

I have only taken the GREs once with my scores not being too great. Quant= 145 (21% percentile- I suck at math), Verbal= 154 (63%), Writing= 3.0 (15%). I didn't study for them (stupid, I know). Obviously I plan on retaking them.

I have approximately 1400 hours in small animal & close to 500 hours in large animal including being a teaching assistant for a beef cattle management class. I have many leadership opportunities including being president of the Pre-Veterinary club and a peer mentor.

So, I was just wondering if anyone has any wonderful words of advice. Unfortunately, my GPA for my fall semester of senior year was only a 3.2 so it didn't improve my cumulative GPA.

Yeah I second magoosh. I only took the GRE once but i studied for a few months beforehand with magoosh and def thought it helped prepare me for the GREs. The gre website also has writing examples with scores and why they scored them what they did. It helps get an understanding of what they are looking for the writing section.

 

[Vickluxe]

So I'm a vet student hopeful, I will graduating next fall( hopefully) with a bachelors in Biology. I would like to apply next summer. However I'm really weary about even applying. My GPA isn't strong, I can improve by the end of my undergrad but I won't be anywhere near ~3.6, if all goes well i d be near 3.0. I've taken many classes over, and I even left my colleges vet tech program to be bio. By the time I apply I would have approx 3 years as a vet assistant, and hopefully some volunteer work in south Africa on a wildlife preserve. I will be taking the GRE next year as well.

Seeing all of the high gpas worry me that my application will not even be looked at, is this only a pipe dream for me? Should I look into other career choices?

 

[bluenose]

So I'm a vet student hopeful, I will graduating next fall( hopefully) with a bachelors in Biology. I would like to apply next summer. However I'm really weary about even applying. My GPA isn't strong, I can improve by the end of my undergrad but I won't be anywhere near ~3.6, if all goes well i d be near 3.0. I've taken many classes over, and I even left my colleges vet tech program to be bio. By the time I apply I would have approx 3 years as a vet assistant, and hopefully some volunteer work in south Africa on a wildlife preserve. I will be taking the GRE next year as well.

Seeing all of the high gpas worry me that my application will not even be looked at, is this only a pipe dream for me? Should I look into other career choices?

My advisor had told me that there are GPA cut offs where they won't look at your application because they need to feel like you'll be able to handle the academic rigor of vet school and GPA is really the major way for them to assess that (especially science GPA) but that said I'm not sure exactly what GPA that cutoff is at if anyone else knows?

To be totally honest though I had assumed that cutoff was around a 3.0 or so

 

[vetmedhead]

My advisor had told me that there are GPA cut offs where they won't look at your application because they need to feel like you'll be able to handle the academic rigor of vet school and GPA is really the major way for them to assess that (especially science GPA) but that said I'm not sure exactly what GPA that cutoff is at if anyone else knows?

To be totally honest though I had assumed that cutoff was around a 3.0 or so

I think cutoffs are school-dependent and will probably have to be researched on an individual basis. NCSU, for example, automatically rejects out of state applicants with a GPA lower than ~3.4. CSU, on the other hand, doesn't technically have a minimum GPA, though I believe they do early file reviews on applications with GPAs lower than about 3.3-3.4 to determine if the applicant is still competitive for the vet school (and move them on to be evaluated in the general admissions pool if they are). I think about 3.0 is usually the cutoff for a lot of schools though.

 

[cbabs]

Has anyone done a post-bac program, either a structured one like Drexel University or just retook classes? If you retook classes, was it at the college you graduated from?

 

[cbabs]

Does anyone know the schools that look more at your last 45 credit GPA? Thanks!

 

[mht2k3]

Does anyone know the schools that look more at your last 45 credit GPA? Thanks!

user heyyimhayley mentioned some up thread:

Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa are all ones that come to my mind (Iowa told me they pretty much ONLY look at last 45 and science), but you could do some more research on this. All schools like to see an upward trend though

 

[mht2k3]

also, as far as I know there is no need to do any sort of structured postbac program. You shuold just figure out what classes you need to retake, and retake them. If you aren't taking them at a 4-year accredited university, I would make sure that wherever you are applying to will accept that school. I would also make sure (if you are retaking a class you took somewhere else) that the schools actually consider the two classes to be the same.

 

[Skimble]

I think Colorado also focuses on upward trends, not so much gpa.