Plan B (grad school, internships, etc.)

It may be worth your time to look at some threads about this from last year... Lots of people had interesting ideas, but I think one of the more common ones were to do a post-bacc in something related to your interest, like animal science or something. Some schools have masters programs that don't take too long to complete; maybe you could look at the schools that you've applied to to see if they have anything along those lines. Hopefully you won't have to do any of this though, good luck!!

emackovjak said:

I submitted my applcations this fall and I am pretty confident that I have the experience, reccomendations, test scores, and GPA needed, but I still have my doubts.

Click to expand...

*If* you don't get accepted, you'll obviously ask all the schools how to improve. Their answers may limit your options somewhat (i.e. if you need more experience, then obviously you need time to get that; if you need to take some more classes, then...).

Assuming anything you need to do for your application will be a relatively small time commitment... This is 100% my personal opinion and not based on any actual success, BUT... It seems like (from other people's reports) admissions committees are often interested in what you've done outside the standard pre-vet track. So taking a year of post-bacc animal science classes or a token masters' degree? Kinda boring. Spending a year with Teach for America? You have a broader commitment to humanity. Getting a job on a factory floor? Make friends and gain an invaluable understanding of the working class. Entry-level job at an accounting firm? A veterinarian often also has to be a businessperson. If you've got money to burn, get a pilot's license, travel to a third-world country, learn Spanish or Cantonese. Or if it *has* to be animal-related, do something "alternative" like get a job at a chicken farm, a racetrack, a meat-packing plant, a USDA lab, a Fish & Game office...

Obviously if there's a school that would be your first choice if only you were in-state, moving there to do any of these things (and thereby living in the state for other than educational purposes) couldn't hurt.

Not that my opinion counts for anything, but given a choice between a reapplicant who says "I spent the year doing this because I hoped it would improve my chances" and one who says "the year off was a blessing in disguise; I explored a totally new field and did non-medical stuff that really mattered to me" I'd be much more impressed with the latter.