Applying to vet school with TWO bachelor's degrees, how do they calculate GPA?

[PreVetGirl]

Hi! I'm a senior undergrad and looking to apply to vet school within the next couple years. However with only a 3.1GPA currently and a maximum of 3.3 when I graduate, I'd like to make myself a more competitive candidate. I've thought about getting a masters degree but I've been looking at the acceptance rates for some programs and my GPA isnt competitive for that either. Soooooo, I was looking at my undergrad classes for the Animal Science degree I will be receiving in May and all I need is about a year's worth of classes to receive a second Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Science. A double major in BIMS/ANSC isn't offered but I can go back for a second degree.

My question is if I do decide to get a second bachelors degree, how will vet school calculate my overall GPA and my last 45hrs GPA? Does the overall count both degrees and the last 45 count only my last degree (if it gets to 45hrs)? Would vet school, CSU specifically, look favorable on someone who graduated with a not-so-competitive GPA yet significantly increased it when going back for a second degree? Thanks!

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[EngrSC]

This is actually what I'm in the process of doing after speaking with a 4th year vet student doing a rotation in the vet hospital I work in. However, in my case it's because I'm changing careers altogether. I originally got an engineering degree and worked as an engineer for a few years before deciding it wasn't my thing. I'm not sure how it would look to go back for a second bachelor's back-to-back with your first, especially given that what you would be studying isn't all that different from what you already have.

I would call your school(s) of interest and talk to an academic adviser. He/she should be able to tell you if that's what you should do or if it's a waste of time.

Good luck!

 

[hopefulinva]

I graduated with two bachelor's degrees, both from the same university, with only an additional year of schooling as well.

Your university will track multiple GPA's for you - an overall, a GPA for your primary degree, and a GPA for your other degree. Likely the only GPA of those three that the vet schools will be interested in is your overall GPA (your cumulative). The other GPAs - science, and last 45 hours - the vet schools will calculate for themselves.

Last 45 hours is last 45 hours, not last 45 hours towards a particular degree.

Hope this clarifies. =)

 

[nyanko]

this doesn't apply in your case as your degrees would both be from the same university, but just in case anyone reading this has a different situation - the GPA VMCAS asks for is "primary institution" which it defines as where you did most of your prerequisites, I suppose. If your first degree was in something not related (like mine - computer science) then you would write in your GPA from the second place.

You'd still have to enter all of your classes and I believe that schools calculate their own GPAs based on what you enter anyway, just as a small point of clarification.

 

[LetItSnow]

My question is if I do decide to get a second bachelors degree, how will vet school calculate my overall GPA and my last 45hrs GPA? Does the overall count both degrees and the last 45 count only my last degree (if it gets to 45hrs)? Would vet school, CSU specifically, look favorable on someone who graduated with a not-so-competitive GPA yet significantly increased it when going back for a second degree? Thanks!

Your GPAs are independent of your degrees. Your last 45 credits is just that - the last 45 credits you took. Your cumulative degree is also just that - your lifetime cumulative GPA. So yes it will include both degrees.

With the last 45 they literally start with the very last course you ever took and they go chronologically back through semesters until they hit 45. They count all the classes from whatever semester they were in when they got to 45.

I don't know of any school that considers a GPA only in your major. Are there some?

 

[hopefulinva]

I don't know of any school that considers a GPA only in your major. Are there some?

Not to the point that it means anything. VT recorded my business and my science GPA's separately, but the overall GPA was the one that mattered.

Bummer; I was Magna Cum Laude in business, but the degree simply says Cum Laude. :laughs: Oh well.

 

[Cypress]

I would actually recommend looking into a program that will give you the best chance at getting into vet school or giving you a good lead on a Plan B. The more credit hours you rack up the harder it will be to get your GPA to budge. I know this from experience - I had originally earned a BS graduating in 4.5 years - went on to work and then changed my mind. Unfortunately my GPA was average - right around 3.0 - not good enough for vet school. I had to take additional pre reqs to even apply to as my original degree didn't have enough science. Because I already had a full academic career of credit hours - my GPA just never really moved - no matter how well I did in my classes.

I considered getting an additional bachelors degree but eventually changed my mind because it wasn't really setting me up for a Plan B and wasn't going to help me increase my GPA or set me apart. I decided to pursue my Master's degree - I found it difficult to get into a program that I was interested in because my GPA just wasn't competitive. I eventually found myself in a Pre Professional Non Thesis program that was designed to help improve students pursing professional degrees (med, vet, dental, pharm) beef up their application and prepare for the rigors of the professional curriculum. This program also has had success in helping students pursue careers in other science fields (so it was a good choice to help me pursue a Plan B if I needed one).

My GPA did not really move over the course of this program but it did give me the boost I needed to get into vet school. So its a course of action I recommend. I was accepted with an overall GPA of ~3.10.

Some of the best advice I received about my GPA was that vet schools like to know you can handle the difficult program once you get there - historically students with lower GPAs tend to struggle when they get there - so they like to see that you can handle the stress and rigor of the program. For me what worked was the Master's program in conjunction with working, volunteering, and building new relationships with professors to improve my references. For you it might be a different combination but the goal should be to prove to them that you are capable and will make a strong contribution to their program.

http://biology.iupui.edu/sites/default/files/binder1.pdf (this is the program I did - I highly recommend it or something like it - 4 of the 5 pre vet students I got to know in the program were accepted this year - so its a very successful program)

On a practical note - of course vet school is always the goal - but I highly recommend keeping Plan B in mind as well. Admissions committee's like to see applicants keeping practically in mind. It was one of the questions that was asked of me in my interview and I did have a pretty solid plan in mind in terms of an internship and job lined up (along with plans to apply again).

I would contact one of the universities you are interested in attending and see if you can get some advice from them on what they are looking for, talk with them about your potential plans and see what they have to offer.

Good luck!!

 

[twelvetigers]

I did a second bachelor's. It didn't move my GPA much, but I took upper level classes and did well. I think this helped. I talked it up in my PS.

Mine were both at the same school so the GPA was cumulative between both.