Am I going down the right path or about to reach a dead end?

[1snooky]

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Hi,
I am a sophomore at Cornell, double majoring in animal science and biology. I am an RA and have a 3.7 GPA. Like most here, I have always wanted to be a Vet. My major downfall is animal experience hours. Last summer, I volunteered at several rescue places and have a couple hundred hours. This summer, I have applied to 5 internships and am hoping for the best. They are full time, animal wild life hospital, zoo, aquarium, etc. But if I do two full time internships for the next two summers, I still may fall short of the thousand recommended. I am looking for any advice? Am I on the right path? Of course my dream is Cornell Vet School. All they tell us undergraduates is to have a back up plan!!!!!

 

[lareinesoleil]

My $0.02: Go ahead and apply and see what happens. If you get rejected due to a lack of experience (b/c your grades are good), spend that year really working on your experience (work at a clinic, volunteer, internships, whatever) and then try again.

Also, don't just apply to Cornell! Research OOS schools too.

It sounds like you're headed down the right path.

 

[david594]

I would try to get experience at a regular clinic. Wildlife, zoo and aquarium work are a small minority in veterinary medicine and most ad-coms will want to see more normal experiences.

 

[LetItSnow]

Hi,
I am a sophomore at Cornell, double majoring in animal science and biology. I am an RA and have a 3.7 GPA. Like most here, I have always wanted to be a Vet. My major downfall is animal experience hours. Last summer, I volunteered at several rescue places and have a couple hundred hours. This summer, I have applied to 5 internships and am hoping for the best. They are full time, animal wild life hospital, zoo, aquarium, etc. But if I do two full time internships for the next two summers, I still may fall short of the thousand recommended. I am looking for any advice? Am I on the right path? Of course my dream is Cornell Vet School. All they tell us undergraduates is to have a back up plan!!!!!

What part, exactly, are you worried about? Your GPA is ok (avg up here at UMN is 3.58). Your major is fine (and it's debatable whether your exact major matters: you'll find people on both sides of that fence). Your animal experience hours are perhaps on the lower side, but full-time for a summer is another, what, 400+ hours? That brings you to 600 hours, which is far more than I have, and I managed to snag an interview. (Of course, I haven't gotten in.....)

The only advice I would give you is to make sure your experience is under the supervision of a vet, and to try and make sure you have a reasonable amount of experience in the branch of vet medicine you're intending to pursue so that you can demonstrate to the application people that you know exactly what you're getting into.

You're on the right path... you just need to understand that the right path still doesn't guarantee you a seat in a school your first go-around. Hopefully you'll get in, but don't be surprised if you have to spend a year (or two, or ...) gaining experience. It's not the end of the world. 🙂

 

[PendantWorld]

I recently was accepted to Cornell vet school for the c/o 2015. My GPA is less than yours (3.66), and I had just over 500 hours of vet experience. I think I was accepted b/c I stood out in other ways - I had over 1000 hours of research experience (Cornell seemed to really like that) and lots of community service. Would it be possible for you to find undergraduate research opportunities with the vet school while taking undergraduate courses? Then you might get vet research experience during the semester and your internship during the summer.

In your initial message, you stated that you're looking for animal experience hours - have you also been focusing on veterinary experience hours? Cornell does make a distinction and the latter is ranked much higher than the former.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[libster06]

The only jobs I have ever held have been working in clinics, since I was 17 years old. Every summer I have actively sought out a place to hire me for summer work in order for me to gain clinical experience. Most all of my large animal experience (you need both) came from hands on learning within my animal science undergrad classes. Its important not to discount the experience you get working within your classes. Although I didn't have a ton of L.A. experience, I ended up with a ton of S.A. because of my consistent string of jobs at clinics throughout undergrad. I also worked at a small animal clinic during my Junior year.

 

[variegata]

Your grades are totally fine, I think, and I wouldn't be too worried about reaching that "golden number" of 1000 hours of experience. After a certain point, it's more about quality of experience than quantity of experience. I'm pretty sure I had less than 1000 hours when I applied, and I ended up having a choice in which school to attend (granted, I did not apply to Cornell - did not want to get that many LORs). Conversely, I know of people who had more hours than me quantitatively that got into one school or no schools. So I'd say apply with what you have and write an excellent personal statement to show what you gained from those experiences and you'll be in good shape.

 

[Pelagia]

You definitely sound like you are on the right path. Like others here have said, make sure that what you're getting is "veterinary" experience as opposed to just "animal" experience. I think what would be helpful is to do the two internships in different areas. Doing that will show that you are seriously exploring the different areas of veterinary medicine. And I think that one full summer of an internship in say, large animal medicine, is sufficient to show that you're experiencing that part of veterinary medicine.

 

[that redhead]

Hi,
I am a sophomore at Cornell, double majoring in animal science and biology. I am an RA and have a 3.7 GPA. Like most here, I have always wanted to be a Vet. My major downfall is animal experience hours. Last summer, I volunteered at several rescue places and have a couple hundred hours. This summer, I have applied to 5 internships and am hoping for the best. They are full time, animal wild life hospital, zoo, aquarium, etc. But if I do two full time internships for the next two summers, I still may fall short of the thousand recommended. I am looking for any advice? Am I on the right path? Of course my dream is Cornell Vet School. All they tell us undergraduates is to have a back up plan!!!!!

Most people apply as juniors in college, although there are definitely variations of non-traditionals out there (and on this forum) on either end - some apply a year early, for example. I personally believe there is great benefit in completing your full four year program and earning your degree, and many schools favor this life experience as well. Not to say that you can't get in early but it isn't all that common.

Your grades are fine; maintain or improve on it over your next two years at school. You say that you've already accumulated some veterinary experience (how many hours of vet experience do you have, roughly?) but this category is far more important than animal experience to the admissions people, since you aren't only working with animals but you're able to get a good idea of the profession. I would focus on accumulating a diverse range of veterinary and/or animal experiences, since a huge majority of applicants have small animal vet experience. I wouldn't worry all that much about what is "recommended", since applicants with a wide variety of animal/vet hours are accepted.

 

[2short4life]

To be honest with you, you don't have anything to worry about (at least, no more than the typical pre-vet student). You have a solid GPA and animal experience isn't impossible to get (vet experience is a little more difficult but, again, not impossible). I was an intern and worked about 2 days a week during the summer. Ended up getting about 200-300 hours of experience.