Australian Vet Schools

[sss87]

I recently applied to a few of the Australia vet schools (UQ,USyd, UMel, and Murd). I was just wondering how my chances of getting into one of these schools were with my credentials. I didn't do great in my intro bio and chem courses but did much better in all my upper level bio, orgo, and physics courses.

Overall GPA: 2.9
Science GPA: 3.0
Last 45 credits: 3.4
Animal Experience: Born and raised on farm with 45 horses and 30 black angus beef cows(9000 hours lets say), worked in clinical research facility working with non-human primates, canines, and rodents(1100 hours), volunteered at small animal vet clinic(100 hours), helped herpetologist take care of numerous exotic/reptile species(40 hours)
GRE: 1120

Was also wondering if letters of recommendation were required for UQ, USyd, and UMelb? I didn't see anywhere on the applications that I needed them. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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[lostbunny]

Congrats on applying- Australia is awesome.

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and say considering its a bit late in the application cycle and the last round of application assessments generally has the most applicants- you might want to find a 4-leaf clover or stumble across a horseshoe.

You've got lots of animal experience, but not a ton of vet experience. Your farm experience is definately a bonus however. But, that being said, when I got my application reviewed, they were quite adamant about consistency of marks. I don't know what my GPA is (we don't do GPA in Canada) but its probably not too far off from yours. I had really good marks in some courses, and really bad marks in others, so they held me back on that, despite my experience and letter of intent which I scored high on via the vet assessors.

So I don't want to blow your popsicle stand and say "you've got little to no chance", just want to share what I've learned through the application process to Oz.

On the note of reference letters, not all schools require them and if it doesn't say, then you don't need it. But, they definately do not hurt.

Also- not sure if you are aware but UQ doesn't have AVMA accredation (yet), so if you're wanting to go back to North America (assuming you are American) to practice, you'll have to jump through hoops and rings of fire. But you can also take a risk and hope that in the time you're completing your DVM, UQ gets accredited.

if you need any more info on Aussie schools or going to/living in Oz, please feel free to PM me!

Best of luck- and when it comes down to it, you never really know what happens to your app once its at the admissions office. Who knows, you might just get the most amazing Christmas gift of your life!