Advice for a freshman in undergrad?

[lynne8832]

Hi everyone! I’m finishing up the second semester of my freshman year of undergraduate as a pre-veterinary major and it seems like it has flown by! Although I have gotten good grades and gotten involved in many extracurriculars this year, I am often left wondering if I am doing enough to stand out as a competitive applicant when it comes time for me to apply to vet school. I was hoping that anyone in undergrad or in vet school might be able to offer me some feedback/advice regarding my situation.

Here’s a quick summary of my freshman year:
-1st semester Dean’s list with 3.75 GPA
-currently have mostly A’s and 2 B’s for second semester (one B is in a history gen ed)
-member of my school’s equestrian team
-member of my school’s pre-vet club (I volunteered to work my school’s booth at SCAV last semester)
-I am in another veterinary science club that volunteers at various events and hosts fundraisers for the club
-I am in a class this semester where I was given a pig to care for and train for the semester and I will show her in a livestock show at the end of the semester (which has been a super cool experience!)
I worked at a family owned deli for 3 years during high school and was the secretary and then vice president of my high school’s FFA chapter.
This summer I will be interning at a small animal clinic that I interned for during high school which will give me a few hundred hours and will be working at a dog boarding/training facility. I have also been riding horses since I was in middle school and have thousands of hours from that. I was also elected to be the equestrian team treasurer for next year and plan to continue as a member of the pre-vet club. I also hope to get involved in some research during my sophomore and junior year!
Thank you in advance for any feedback/advice! 🙂

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[Stroganoff]

Continue the momentum of getting those A's -- never let your guard down. Easier than dropping/retaking or doing GPA damage control. That's all the advice I'm qualified to offer. 😛

Edit: Read, read, and read this forum to soak up the knowledge, and please don't get offended if crusty regulars get annoyed that you're asking a question that's been asked before 100x. Best way to reduce this is to use the Search function and just devour this entire forum for wisdom.

 

[EmJayVetMed]

I think exploring what you’re passionate about outside of vet med is important too! It shows admissions committees that you’re well rounded as an individual. Don’t be afraid to do something out of the box that you’re excited about! You’ll grow and learn from it all the same

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Hi everyone! I’m finishing up the second semester of my freshman year of undergraduate as a pre-veterinary major and it seems like it has flown by! Although I have gotten good grades and gotten involved in many extracurriculars this year, I am often left wondering if I am doing enough to stand out as a competitive applicant when it comes time for me to apply to vet school. I was hoping that anyone in undergrad or in vet school might be able to offer me some feedback/advice regarding my situation.

Here’s a quick summary of my freshman year:
-1st semester Dean’s list with 3.75 GPA
-currently have mostly A’s and 2 B’s for second semester (one B is in a history gen ed)
-member of my school’s equestrian team
-member of my school’s pre-vet club (I volunteered to work my school’s booth at SCAV last semester)
-I am in another veterinary science club that volunteers at various events and hosts fundraisers for the club
-I am in a class this semester where I was given a pig to care for and train for the semester and I will show her in a livestock show at the end of the semester (which has been a super cool experience!)
I worked at a family owned deli for 3 years during high school and was the secretary and then vice president of my high school’s FFA chapter.
This summer I will be interning at a small animal clinic that I interned for during high school which will give me a few hundred hours and will be working at a dog boarding/training facility. I have also been riding horses since I was in middle school and have thousands of hours from that. I was also elected to be the equestrian team treasurer for next year and plan to continue as a member of the pre-vet club. I also hope to get involved in some research during my sophomore and junior year!
Thank you in advance for any feedback/advice! 🙂

Congrats on starting out strong with your first year! Keep it up!

I was a horse girl too and had a ridiculous amount of equine experience hours. Try to get some equine veterinary hours too, especially if that’s your interest. A variety of experience helps in any form.

Research is not a requirement but it is a huge benefit. I’m sure it’s what me stand out. Highly recommend getting involved.

 

[ajs513]

Freshman year GPA doesn’t matter all that much. The only way it matters is in making it easier to keep your GPA up if you do well. My GPA was sub-3.0 until second semester sophomore year. It was hell to bring it up, but I did. You’re in a very good spot right now. Keep your GPA at or above where you are now and you’ll be fine. You also want to have a good trend, and make sure you do well in your science courses. Vet schools care very little about who you were. They care about who you are. How well you did freshman year is far less important than how you do in your last two years of school. They want to know that you’re coming into vet school mature and ready to handle the program. Who you were four years ago isn’t too important, specifically if you’re a traditional student who was 18-19 years old when all of this happened. That’s not to say you should slack at all. I’m just saying, don’t freak out over every B or C you get. Do well in your prerequisite courses and maintain overall good grades. But keep yourself sane in the process.

 

[ajs513]

Thank you so much, I needed this! It’s hard sometimes when people make it seem like you absolutely need a 3.8-4.0 to get into vet school and learning not to freak out over a few Bs has been something I’ve definitely had to learn during my first year! 🙂

A 3.8-4.0 is nice to have. It’ll open doors. But there are people with that GPA who don’t get in anywhere. That’s because they focused so much on academics and not enough on experience, volunteering, research, extracurriculars, and proving that they’re a person and not just a collection of numbers. Vet schools seem to have a very different way of selecting applicants than a lot of med schools. They’re much more holistic now. They want to make sure that their students are smart, sure, but they also want to make sure that they’re caring and compassionate individuals who truly want to better the profession.

 

[SkiOtter]

people make it seem like you absolutely need a 3.8-4.0 to get into vet school

Definitely not true. Tons of people on here didn’t have a 3.8-4.0, and were only just a portion of the population.
Also, some schools don’t even care about cumulative GPA and focus more on how you did during your last ~45 credits and in your science or prereq courses.

 

[ajs513]

That’s what I’ve heard! I have a small animal internship for this summer which should give me about 200 hours and i got a job at a dog boarding/grooming place. i’ve also been pretty involved freshman year and i’m in pre-vet club (we have lots of speakers come in) and i’m on my school’s equestrian team and will be treasurer next year, so i’m trying my best to balance a good gpa with extracurriculars and hours!

That’s great! But also make sure to do things outside of animal science/vetmed. Schools want someone who is well-rounded and has shown that they can fit into a lot of categories. Also try to get in with a professor for research next year or the year after. Averages for this year for vet experience, animal experience, and research were ~1200/1200/200 respectively. You have lots of time to get around those averages. But also try to make some money while getting experience if you can. It’ll come in handy when you go to apply, take the GRE, and interview at schools. You sound like someone who is very driven. You can do this if you put your mind to it, and just take a deep breath every once in a while.