Another Low GPA Thread + GRE questions

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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csreed3562

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Hi,

I know a lot of these threads probably show up around here, but after some searching I wasn't able to find any really specific to Pre-Veterinary, so I figured I'd go ahead and make this thread, and hopefully I haven't missed something incredibly obvious.

(I've already read the stickied topics in this forum, but none of them really hit on what I wanted to know, or weren't applicable, unless I've missed something.)

Basically, I have a low GPA, and I want to go to Vet School. When I graduated last December, I had a 3.0 overall GPA, my science GPA is higher, but I'm still trying to get a few things straightened out with the Registrar there, so I don't know exactly what it'll be, nothing phenomenal though. (My major is Biology.) I've read a bunch of the threads on this forum that have people with 4.0s and thousands of hours of experience and awesome GRE scores worrying about whether or not they're going to be accepted, so this kind of makes me wonder if there's even a point in my applying.

I don't really have a whole lot of experience either, about 1500 hours working as a Vet Tech, although by the time I apply that number should be much higher and I'm planning on volunteering with large animals to help get more experience.

I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning on doing so soon. I'm not really sure what to expect from the Biology Section, so I'm not really sure what to study to help my score out here. Is there anything anyone here can recommend doing to help prep for this test? I've also heard two different things, one that it's offered only once a year, and the other that it's offered several times per year. Which is correct?

I've also heard of people completing MS programs to help their applications. How much does this help? Does the program you complete need to be related to Veterinary Science, or just Science related?

If you've managed to read this far, thanks for taking the time. Any and all advice would be appreciated as to what I can do to improve my application and do well on the Bio GRE.

Thanks.
 
I don't really have a whole lot of experience either, about 1500 hours working as a Vet Tech, although by the time I apply that number should be much higher and I'm planning on volunteering with large animals to help get more experience.
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1,500 hours is plenty. You don't need several thousand hours, some places don't even require several hundreds. However, if all your hours are with one species (or category of species, i.e. small, large, exotic) then you may consider branching out into another category. Diversity is your friend in vet school apps.

I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning on doing so soon. I'm not really sure what to expect from the Biology Section, so I'm not really sure what to study to help my score out here. Is there anything anyone here can recommend doing to help prep for this test? I've also heard two different things, one that it's offered only once a year, and the other that it's offered several times per year. Which is correct?
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If you do the computer based test, you can take it whenever you want pretty much. At my testing location you can schedule an appointment for 3 days later and have no problems taking it, though it's a relatively small town so not a whole lot of demand. When you register, it gives you all the dates you can take it at the location you choose.

As far as preparing for it, I've found that trying to memorize vocabulary, at least for me, is a waste of time. Focusing on math did more to improve my score than memorizing a bunch of words I'll never use again, let alone remember. I highly recommend the Barron's GRE book for review of math. The basic book (with sections on all three portions) covers the math concepts very well and has several hundred words to memorize if that's your cup of tea.

I've also heard of people completing MS programs to help their applications. How much does this help? Does the program you complete need to be related to Veterinary Science, or just Science related?
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Don't know. I'm working on an M.B.A. myself and hoping that helps out. I don't think it has to be vet related but it couldn't hurt. Probably doesn't even necessarily have to be science related as long as you can justify your choice for picking that particular discipline.

Most of what helps with the masters is showing the adcoms you can handle the upper level course work (assuming you do well). It's also a chance to get research experience and improve your GPA a bit if you had a little too much fun in undergrad.
 
csreed3562 said:
I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm planning on doing so soon. I'm not really sure what to expect from the Biology Section, so I'm not really sure what to study to help my score out here. Is there anything anyone here can recommend doing to help prep for this test? .....

...Any and all advice would be appreciated as to what I can do to improve my application and do well on the Bio GRE.

Thanks.
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Is there a reason you need to take the Biology GRE? I'm pretty sure every vet school I was looking at only required the general GRE. As for preparation, I bought a couple books, chugged through them over a period of three or four weeks, and took the test. Definitely spent more time on math than on vocabulary, since I've always been weaker on the math, and I figured the odds of my studying the right words were pretty low. If the verbal has always been a weak spot for you, it might be worth devoting more time to it.
 
Keep in mind that the average SDN'er is a little more hard core than the average applicant - thus people having insane GPA's and boatloads of experience.
I know several people who got in last year (to UCD & London) with GPA's hovering around the 3.0 range.

Don't be intimidated - if you want it, then go for it! 😀
 
Oh I dunno...there's still plenty of the "I have a 2.0 GPA but I REALLY want to go to med school because I'm such a special snowflake!" sob story type threads. First I go :laugh: then I go :eyebrow: Oh wait, they're serious? :uhno:
 
Electrophile said:
Oh I dunno...there's still plenty of the "I have a 2.0 GPA but I REALLY want to go to med school because I'm such a special snowflake!" sob story type threads. First I go :laugh: then I go :eyebrow: Oh wait, they're serious? :uhno:
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But then there are the 4.0 students there to tell them that they are worthless human beings and should start applying to the Caribbean ASAP. :laugh:
 
I memorized words for the GRE (probably about 400 of the 500 words in kaplan's flash card set) and my vocabulary went up by 120 points. Everyone learns differently, so just study however is best for you.

Also, the biology GRE is only required for Oklahoma State and Georgia. Otherwise, you will only need the general GRE which has no biology on it.
 
I second just studying word lists. That took my verbal score up 150-ish points as well.

Wouldn't really worry about bio GRE unless you're applying to one of the few schools that requires it.
 
dgm said:
Pretty impressive!
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Why fankyou!

It just happened yesterday, so I'm still pretty excited. My quant went up 20 points, so now my overall GRE is about the SDN average, which I think is good! 🙂

To answer one more question (which may or may not matter after learning that only OKSU and GA require it) but the biology GRE is offered October, November, and April - 3 test dates per year.
 
twelvetigers said:
Why fankyou!

It just happened yesterday, so I'm still pretty excited. My quant went up 20 points, so now my overall GRE is about the SDN average, which I think is good! 🙂

To answer one more question (which may or may not matter after learning that only OKSU and GA require it) but the biology GRE is offered October, November, and April - 3 test dates per year.
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Out of curiosity, what is the approx. SDN average?
 
Lol. Well, my score went from a 1150 to a 1290, and I deemed the latter as 'average' based on the successful applicants thread from last year. However, SDN is a slightly skewed sample (okay, very skewed) and each applicant in the thread has strong points and weak points... so I would suggest for anyone to go look at it themselves. Basically, what I meant was... it's a score I'm comfortable with. (Especially with my lower GPA! I need all the help I can get!)
 
I took the GRE last August. I didn't have a book or a course or anything but I did look at number2.com (it's free!) which I think was pretty helpful, especially for math. Anyway, I think it's funny how the scores and percentiles work out. I ended up not finishing the quantitative on time, but still got a 720 (which sounds good but is only the 75 percentile.)

I finished the verbal way early, because it doesn't take long to realize you have no idea what the word is so you need to guess, and got a 590. That ended up being the 84 percentile. So, who knows... If I studied the words I'm sure I could do better, but I didn't want to take the chance of my math score falling.

As for the writing... Let's not talk about it.😛
 
If I studied the words I'm sure I could do better, but I didn't want to take the chance of my math score falling.
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I think most schools take the best score so it doesn't matter if it falls or not. Unless you do awesome on verbal and terrible in math so that it trumps your other score, but I don't think that'd happen.
 
I took the GRE a of couple months ago. I studied/reviewed for the quantitative part for a couple months and increased my score over 100 points.

As for the verbal, I didn't need help except with the vocab, but even just cramming a bunch of vocab words the week leading up to the exam helped about 50 points or so. If I had known that the Kaplan vocab suggestions were going to be as helpful as they turned out to be, I would've memorized all of their suggestions! They encourage test takers to focus on the positive or negative "charges" of each word, as well as grouping a bunch of words with similar topics together (tools, approval, movements, etc), over plain memorization.
 
The school I'd be applying to is GA, or maybe NC as I'm from SC, but SC is under UGA jurisdiction as far as vet school, I'd be considered out of state at NC, and just by looking at some of the statistics those schools have on their websites, my odds of getting in to NC as an out of state would be miniscule.

GA requires the Bio GRE which is what's worrying me. I don't really know what to expect from that specific test, and that's the one I keep hearing is only offered once per year in Nov., I'm not talking about the standard GRE.

Just out of curiosity, do people who graduate from Vet/Med schools in the Caribbean get good jobs here in the states?
 
Just out of curiosity, do people who graduate from Vet/Med schools in the Caribbean get good jobs here in the states?
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\


Yes they do.
 
The biology GRE is offered THREE times a year - April, October, and November. I believe that you can take it in October or November after you've submitted VMCAS and be fine, or you could take it early if you wanted.

THe things covered on the test should be things you've learned about during your undergrad - genetics, cell biology, ecology, botany...

Here is a summary of what's covered on the test, as well as a link to download a practice booklet as a .pdf file:

http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/...nnel=6ef946f1674f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD

And here are some previous threads about it:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=670863
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=503753
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=572824

Don't freak out, it's not terrible.

Oh, and... if you're taking the biology GRE anyway, you might as well apply to Oklahoma State as well. 😉
 
Electrophile said:
Oh I dunno...there's still plenty of the "I have a 2.0 GPA but I REALLY want to go to med school because I'm such a special snowflake!" sob story type threads. First I go :laugh: then I go :eyebrow: Oh wait, they're serious? :uhno:
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omg i laughed so hard when i read this!! thanks electrophile!! i know exactly what you mean. its like i worked my whole life preparing for vet school and my stats are decent (range from ok to amazing) which im fine with. and then i read some of these posts or i meet some people and all of a sudden they want to do vet med and prepare for it all in a yr and they think they will get in, or they want support. Ok, i'll be nice and give support. But deep down im like wtf ill kill u if you get in and i dont but ive been workin my whole life for it!!! lol 🙂
 
Hey now, some of us who only decided a year (a year and a half myself) ahead of applications shouldn't be judged *too* harshly! 😛

I was pre-med up until the end of my junior year of undergrad, and various things happened that semester which finally encouraged me to just take the plunge and alter my plans. I had been thinking about switching for a while, but didn't want to seem like I was a quitter by changing my mind away from human medicine. Being a vet really had been my dream job since I was a kid though, but various things stopped me from going in that direction, and in the end I decided I didn't care and would put my best foot forward and go full swing towards this career.

That being said, I didn't hesitate for a minute and took swift action in getting my resume together. I have worked my *BUTT* off these last 9 months (after previously only having medical experience) and have raked in a surprising amount of hours and experience in large/small animal, research, wildlife, and shelter medicine on top of a full and heavy science workload to complete the additional necessary prerequisites for vet school. I have more hours now (with another year to go) than some successful applicants do, but it has not exactly been easy to squash everything in and make sure I am not just rushing past things rather than absorbing the value of my experiences.

Although maybe you're referring more to the people who weren't doing anything pre-health at all and with crap GPA's and just decided to pursue vet med like it was nothing on a floosy whim, in which case... I agree whole heartedly with you!

I just find it annoying when people roll their eyes or think they are better than me as a vet candidate just because they were able to stick to one path their whole life and knew exactly what they wanted. Some of us take a little longer to figure that out, and might hurry the process a little just because now we DO finally know what we want to do... but it takes a heck of a lot of effort to catch up in a year or two when competing against the rest of you guys who have known forever that this is what you wanted to do and worked towards it since you were 13.

Sorry for the rant. :-\ Don't hate me lol
 
Another quick question: I'm going to have to take a couple classes that I either didn't take as electives in my degree, or weren't part of my degree. (Namely Organic II, Biochem I, and Anatomy.)

Will taking these courses at a community college negatively affect my application? Do I have to take these at a four year school?
 
Some schools will not accept upper division courses from a community college. Orgo and biochem are probably both considered 'upper-division,' so check with the schools your interested to make sure they would take the classes as pre-reqs.
 
theEvilShoe- no i didnt mean to talk bad about you! I meant the people with bad grades who decide on a whim to apply almost like its super easy or something lol. i think it is amazing how much you have accomplished to fulfill your dream! I know how hard it is to gain that much experience! good luck!

csreed- i dont think you HAVE to take them from a 4 yr college. Did you go to a 4 yr college as an undergrad? if so, it def dont think it will matter. But i guess it really depends where you live. The community college in my area is looked very highly upon and i think it may be ranked nationaly for community colleges. But i mean, as long as the classes are as challenging as they are supposed to be, and as long as you have labs similar to what a 4 yr school has, i think it will be fine. i think that they will just see it as you taking additional classes to help your application. In the end, even if this is a concern,if they really want you they may ask why you decided to do this during your interview 😀 and at that point it won't be the final deciding factor!!
 
csreed3562 said:
Another quick question: I'm going to have to take a couple classes that I either didn't take as electives in my degree, or weren't part of my degree. (Namely Organic II, Biochem I, and Anatomy.)

Will taking these courses at a community college negatively affect my application? Do I have to take these at a four year school?
Click to expand...

At my school orgo is a lower level course offered at community colleges, but biochem is junior level and only available at a university. Now human anatomy is lower level here, but animal anatomy is upper level. So, I think it depends on what your cc offers and what the vet schools prefer. Good Luck! :luck:
 
Go by what the undergrad institution associated with the vet school does for the course. I know that orgo here is CHEM3015, and that's upper division. If you apply to OKSU, you need to have taken orgo (and biochem, animal nutrition) at a university or they won't take it. So be careful!
 
TheEvilShoe said:
Although maybe you're referring more to the people who weren't doing anything pre-health at all and with crap GPA's and just decided to pursue vet med like it was nothing on a floosy whim, in which case... I agree whole heartedly with you!
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Hey now, you might offend some of us with non pre-health undergrads and sub spectacular GPA's. 🙄

See my first post here on SDN: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=438583
 
Awww, cute. First posties.

*silently wonders what her first post was*


ETA:
OKState has a contract with Dell so there is a discount, but it's only a discount. You still have to pay for it... but Dell makes good computers I think, better than Gateway. (I'm like 90% sure it's Dell and not Gateway. Perhaps you have more than one option... but I know Dell is offered...)

By the way, hi, I'm Rhiannon, and I totally got my rejection letter from OSU today. LOL. I work in the hospital itself though so I kind of know what's going on... just apparently not enough to get in!! 😡 Oh well.

I guess I can answer questions about the school, just don't ask me advice on getting in. 😛
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Eeeenteresting.
 
david594 said:
Hey now, you might offend some of us with non pre-health undergrads and sub spectacular GPA's. 🙄

See my first post here on SDN: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=438583
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Aw no, above a 3.0 isn't crap, that's still decently above average 🙂 From what I understand, we're referring to kids who achieve a low 2.0 in some walk-through-the-park major, who haven't even looked into what science classes they'll need and thing that becoming a vet is easy peasy. Heck, even someone with a 2.0 at some point can go back to school and try again and make up for it... no one should be judged over that kind of past mistake if they can prove they've changed their ways. So I think everyone can respect that as they'll have to bust their behinds to make themselves competitive. But there are some people out there that just don't get it and prance around thinking all they have to do is love animals and then TADA acceptance when we all know it doesn't work that way...

And I also think those of us who don't fit the typical pre-vet mold are paranoid about being lumped into that part of the groan-inducing clump of people... see, look how fast we all are to get defensive haha
 
Oh and plus you noted you had good GRE scores and experience, so clearly not part of the groan-club 🙂 Congrats on starting vet school btw... I wish I were in your shoes 😛
 
lol yea you said it right evilshoe! i wasnt trying to attack people i just had one of those down days and then i read the post that made me laugh out loud 😀 its def the "oh its so easy to get in" attitude that bugs me. even my boss thinks like that!! she literally thinks ill get into 5/7 schools, im like uhhh its not that easy!!! lol makes me so mad

**i guess i should mention she's a PhD not DVM, and also foreign. She has an extremely low view of US education
 
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