Applying with low vet hours?

[CurrySpice]

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Is it even worth applying to veterinary school if I have low vet experience hours? (~60 small animal, 40 equine, 60 shelter) I see all these successful threads with 10000s of hours... and that worries me :-(

I have many hours of varied animal experience (equine, mixed, food) and a 3.79 GPA, but I am worried I will just be wasting money applying with such low vet experience. I had a shadowing position set up for this summer along with my classes, but hated the clinic, so I didn't accumulate any hours this summer. However, I will be shadowing at both an equine and small animal clinic this fall, so I will get a few more hours to talk about at interviews/updates.

GRE scheduled for 8/25...

I'm looking at Penn (IS), Minn, Wisc, Tufts, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Iowa.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Don't worry. As long as you have other stats (research, community involvement etc) you'll be ok (although I do believe some schools have minimum caps. I applied with only ~250 hours in a clinics and got in. However, I had years of research experience also - so you need to find another "selling point" if you will, than clinical exp. But no, it is not impossible in the least to get in with low hours as long as you have other criteria 😉

 

[Nechochwen]

My strength was definitely not in vet experience. I think I may have had about the same number of vet hours as you, but I did have a good bit of exotic animal experience and had good numbers (GPA/GRE). I got into the school I applied to first time.

I definitely can relate with your concern with seeming to not have "enough" experience. But I have talked with vets and vet students who also had next to no experience: they were accepted and made it through (maybe with some catching up, but still).

I think that applying this cycle would be worth it.

 

[badcats]

Also maybe apply to schools that are known more to focus more on their numbers such as Missouri and VMRCVM?

I applied with only a few hundred and it worked out o.k., just be sure that the experiences you have gave you a good view of the field so you can talk about it in interviews.

 

[bonaparte]

I'm applying with low hours too this year. I'm counting on my grades and research experience to make up for it.

I also don't have any equine vet experience, but I'm hoping that thousands of hours working with horses will, at least somewhat, make up for it? Meh, at this point it's too late to freak out about it, you just have to apply with what you got. ;D

 

[oregonhopeful]

I applied with 75 hours of vet experience. Had a vet tell me not to bother to apply but I did anyway just for practice.... I got in. There are probably some schools that have minimums but just do your research.

 

[xxalic3xx]

I think you're still able to do it with strengths in other places, GRE, GPA, extracurricular, research, etc. Like said, some schools have min. requirement for hours, but they may just be animal experience in general and not vet-specific. You may want to look into the schools in your interest. My hours are on the low side as well. Like noted again, a lot of applicants work part-time jobs or even full time jobs so they have a huge # of hours. Me, being an international student, can't work off-campus unless I apply for OPT which is only 1 year, can only volunteer and I don't have that many hours as others...Just have a good PS, keep up the GPA, do well on GRE and do well on interviews. I don't think you need to worry too much about it.

 

[beautyvuitton]

I applied with 75 hours of vet experience. Had a vet tell me not to bother to apply but I did anyway just for practice.... I got in. There are probably some schools that have minimums but just do your research.

Oregonhopeful,
I'm thinking of applying to OSU vet school in a year or two, would you mind sharing your GPA and GRE score? I currently live in Corvallis and would prefer OSU over an OOS school. thanks.

 

[oregonhopeful]

My gpa was something like 3.45 and the GRE score I'm not terribly sure on. I think it was 760 verbal and 730 math. I wasn't terribly pleased is all I remember. You can send me a private message if you want advice. I'm just sitting around on my butt this summer and have some time if you want to ask me anything. I like OSU a lot. It's a really good school I think.

 

[lmm2014]

I got with with 200 hours of veterinary experience. I think it sounds like you got varied experience which is important, and a good gpa as well which balances everything out. Try to get above a 1200 GRE, and you should be good! 👍

 

[david594]

Everyone is all happy go lucky today. Lets not forget that while experiences is a requirement for the application, it is also essential so you (the applicant) truly understand what the field is about before you get into it.

I think thats something one might not necessarily pick up on when they only have at most 60 hours experience in any particular veterinary setting. What went wrong with the clinic you were supposed to shadow at this summer? And how do you know the issue isn't something that is a field wide as opposed being limited to just that clinic?

 

[breenie]

Everyone is all happy go lucky today. Lets not forget that while experiences is a requirement for the application, it is also essential so you (the applicant) truly understand what the field is about before you get into it.

I think thats something one might not necessarily pick up on when they only have at most 60 hours experience in any particular veterinary setting. What went wrong with the clinic you were supposed to shadow at this summer? And how do you know the issue isn't something that is a field wide as opposed being limited to just that clinic?

Bringing everyone doooownn, way to go, man.

But seriously. I live in a town that has a vet school-- the clinics here are swamped with shadowers, jobs are nonexistent (there is also a vet tech school here, pfft), and it's competitive just for a chance to pet a kitten. When I first started this whole pre-vet thing and realized I had to get a bunch of hours, my initial response was, "But it's so haaaaarrrddd. Why do I have to do that? I know I want to be a vet."

Well, I thought I knew, but I didn't really know. I've got close to 2,000 hours of assorted experience (not all vet, but over 1,000 of it vet) that I've acquired since the start of college. Those hours taught me a lot, and showed me things I really had no idea about, despite thinking I did. I'm glad I got all of that experience. Now I am SURE I want to be a vet, but some of the reasons are different and I have a very different perspective than when I started.

It's entirely possible I could get all of that experience and realize, "Wow, this isn't for me. It's so different than what I thought." That's why the adcoms want you to get that experience. I know you've heard this before, but vet med isn't all sunshine and cute little puppies. Get some experience. It won't kill you, and you might learn something. 🙂

 

[CurrySpice]

Thanks for all the responses!

Just to clarify: I will 100% be continuing to get experiences, my question is simply whether I should submit this year or take a gap (consensus seems to be that it's worth a shot if I have a great GRE). I have a lot of exposure to equine vets as a barn worker (40+ horses who get injured 24/7, lol). I am enrolled to do genetics research this fall, but vmcas looks like that doesn't count as vet experience since it's a phd rather than a dvm. My PS rocks! (haha, or it's getting there...). And the reason I didn't like the clinic I had an internship set up at for this summer is that the techs were very unprofessional (edited out detail), and I learned I was not going to get much interaction with the actual vet NOR was I allowed to handle the animals due to liability. Maybe that will be a problem at other clinics too, but I know that it's not the norm.

I would 100% take a gap year if I were sure I could get a job as a vet assistant/receptionist (or similar) since I'm graduating in 3 years.... but I don't want to be stuck working at walmart wasting a year.

 

[david594]

Thanks for all the responses!

Just to clarify: I will 100% be continuing to get experiences, my question is simply whether I should submit this year or take a gap (consensus seems to be that it's worth a shot if I have a great GRE). I have a lot of exposure to equine vets as a barn worker (40+ horses who get injured 24/7, lol). I am enrolled to do genetics research this fall, but vmcas looks like that doesn't count as vet experience since it's a phd rather than a dvm. My PS rocks! (haha, or it's getting there...). And the reason I didn't like the clinic I had an internship set up at for this summer is that the techs were very unprofessional (edited out detail), and I learned I was not going to get much interaction with the actual vet NOR was I allowed to handle the animals due to liability. Maybe that will be a problem at other clinics too, but I know that it's not the norm.

I would 100% take a gap year if I were sure I could get a job as a vet assistant/receptionist (or similar) since I'm graduating in 3 years.... but I don't want to be stuck working at walmart wasting a year.

I would say definitely apply to at least your in-state school this year. I think once you meet the pre-reqs there is really no reason not to apply. Your chances might not be good, but there is still a chance.

Less than 200 hours of vet experience(on its own merits) is below average and definitely a part of your application that would only benefit you by improving(and vet experiences is generally the easiest part of the application to improve). Doing well on the GRE's and upping your experiences hours are probably the best use of your time at this point. I don't think you will ever meet anyone who will tell you they had too many hours of experiences.

 

[nyanko]

the GRE score I'm not terribly sure on. I think it was 760 verbal and 730 math. I wasn't terribly pleased is all I remember.

Um, if you "weren't terribly pleased" with that score, I think THIS is the right forum for you. Sure, the quant isn't the greatest (if you are a computer scientist, physicist, or engineer) but it's decent for vet school and with a verbal like that..well..

 

[StartingoverVet]

Um, if you "weren't terribly pleased" with that score, I think THIS is the right forum for you. Sure, the quant isn't the greatest (if you are a computer scientist, physicist, or engineer) but it's decent for vet school and with a verbal like that..well..

Now why did you have to post that - as I waste an hour looking at the pre-allo forum. I especially like the poll on how many times logging into SDN.

 

[mhlaur]

Is it even worth applying to veterinary school if I have low vet experience hours? (~60 small animal, 40 equine, 60 shelter) I see all these successful threads with 10000s of hours... and that worries me :-(

I have many hours of varied animal experience (equine, mixed, food) and a 3.79 GPA, but I am worried I will just be wasting money applying with such low vet experience. I had a shadowing position set up for this summer along with my classes, but hated the clinic, so I didn't accumulate any hours this summer. However, I will be shadowing at both an equine and small animal clinic this fall, so I will get a few more hours to talk about at interviews/updates.

GRE scheduled for 8/25...

I'm looking at Penn (IS), Minn, Wisc, Tufts, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Iowa.

You could have a chance of getting into AVC in Canada too. I had 100 h (40 L, 60 S) recent vet experience & 110 h animal experience (required to be <5y ago), 4.0 GPA for the 20 required courses, and 1380 GRE (600 V, 780 Q, 4.0 W). I am Canadian but I think the stats for US students might be less because most with high stats probably get into US schools and choose those for cost or being closer to home reasons.

 

[lmm2014]

I still wouldn't worry that much. I think it is easier to get in with lower vet experience compared to lower GPA. Keep on trying to get experience, especially in food animal, and I think you should be good. I would apply to out of state schools that have a lot of seats for OOS applicants, and only a couple of those.

 

[oregonhopeful]

Um, if you "weren't terribly pleased" with that score, I think THIS is the right forum for you. Sure, the quant isn't the greatest (if you are a computer scientist, physicist, or engineer) but it's decent for vet school and with a verbal like that..well..

It was the quant I wasn't thrilled with. This was previous to any context with the GRE. I just figured "well, I'm in the 55th percentile in math, that can't be good." 🙄 I've always been pretty decent verbally -but I'm in a family of math geniuses.
I've read the pre-med forum: they would tell me to go DO with that gpa, I think. 😀

 

[sunnyshine]

I would say definitely apply to at least your in-state school this year. I think once you meet the pre-reqs there is really no reason not to apply. Your chances might not be good, but there is still a chance.

Less than 200 hours of vet experience(on its own merits) is below average and definitely a part of your application that would only benefit you by improving(and vet experiences is generally the easiest part of the application to improve). Doing well on the GRE's and upping your experiences hours are probably the best use of your time at this point. I don't think you will ever meet anyone who will tell you they had too many hours of experiences.

I agree with what was said above. If you don't apply then you have a 0% chance of getting in, where as if you apply you will at least have some kind of chance. Good luck!

 

[busyvet]

Thanks for all the responses!

Just to clarify: I will 100% be continuing to get experiences, my question is simply whether I should submit this year or take a gap (consensus seems to be that it's worth a shot if I have a great GRE). I have a lot of exposure to equine vets as a barn worker (40+ horses who get injured 24/7, lol). I am enrolled to do genetics research this fall, but vmcas looks like that doesn't count as vet experience since it's a phd rather than a dvm. My PS rocks! (haha, or it's getting there...). And the reason I didn't like the clinic I had an internship set up at for this summer is that the techs were very unprofessional (edited out detail), and I learned I was not going to get much interaction with the actual vet NOR was I allowed to handle the animals due to liability. Maybe that will be a problem at other clinics too, but I know that it's not the norm.

I would 100% take a gap year if I were sure I could get a job as a vet assistant/receptionist (or similar) since I'm graduating in 3 years.... but I don't want to be stuck working at walmart wasting a year.

Woah, I had a similar problem at a vet I worked at this past summer, not being able to handle animals, unprofessional techs. I enjoyed it though because the handling animals ended up being a miscommunication, I think, which leads back to the unprofessional techs. But it ended up being a good experience overall.

Personally I would say go for it and apply. How many schools are you applying for? If it doesn't work out this year, it will be good practice for the future, with an interview and all.