Awful GPA

[dvmcatdog]

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I applied this round just because my boyfriend said to give it a shot, but I knew I'd get denied. I have a really crappy GPA in all aspects.
cGPA: 2.78
Prereq GPA: this could range due to schools averaging retakes and replacing grades, but 2.3 - 2.5ish? I assume sci is about the same but I've taken so many science classes I'm not even really sure
Tbh don't even want to know what last 45 are.

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't taken school as seriously as I should have. I'm not trying to have a 'sob story' or anything, but this is my actual life experiences. I have been depressed for a long long time, honestly the only happiness I got for awhile from my job at a vet tech and my current boyfriend. I went through an extremely abusive relationship which I was lucky to get out of but messed me up for awhile, I had an even more abusive father which probably is where most of my depression stems from. Now, I am going to therapy regularly and taking medication. I'm not the person I was back then nor do I want to be. My point in saying all this is I just don't know what to do. I want to go to vet school more than I want anything else. I love my job as a vet tech but I know I want to be a DVM. I have failed more classes than I care to list, sometimes this makes me feel like it's over for me and I'll never get in. I wish I could just start over sometimes. I got my BS in Biology this semester. I am starting a graduate masters in Summer 2021 for medical physiology and medical pharmacology. I guess I just don't know if I should start over and retake classes online through Doane University since they have 8 week courses for Spring 2021. Maybe just retaking classes I've gotten C's in (chem 1&2, org2, biochem, physics 1, calc, genetics) or if I should focus on taking upper level classes. Doane university has other really awesome classes I'd like to take (immunology, pathophysiology, molecular biology, pharmacology). Or do both? I just don't know where to go from here and I feel lost. I know vet school will now be a reach for me because of how badly I messed up my GPA. Is there anything I can do to come back from this or is vet school gone for me at this point? I do assume I'd have to apply smart when I do apply again, to schools that do holistic reviews and ones that replace grades instead of average.
Thanks in advance for reading this long post

Edit: I should also mention I recently got a decent bit of food animal experience and turned out I love it more than I thought. I know food animal vets are also needed but not sure how high the demand is for them and if it's even harder to get into that side of vet med.

 

[Nottodaysatan821]

Granted, I also have not earned an acceptance to vet school so maybe my opinion does not matter.
I wonder if you best chance is to finish your masters, and do as well as you possibly can. You simply cannot afford any more poor grades and you really will need a strong last 45 GPA. If you can retake courses you've gotten a C in, I do believe that will help you as well. My only concern is that retaking courses may not raise your overall GPA or science GPA that much, so you'll have to be careful where you apply and focus on schools that do not average retakes. Also, I do believe your strongest shot will be at Ross or SGU, and possibly the private schools (of course depending on if you will met the GPA minimums), as I feel as though those schools are more holistic in their admission process.

I will warn, though, this will be an uphill battle for you. This process will be long and difficult, and I hope that you will continue to protect your mental health to avoid falling back into old patterns that have hurt you before.

I hope this helps! As I have said, I have not earned an acceptance, but i am going off of what I've heard.

 

[dvmcatdog]

Granted, I also have not earned an acceptance to vet school so maybe my opinion does not matter.
I wonder if you best chance is to finish your masters, and do as well as you possibly can. You simply cannot afford any more poor grades and you really will need a strong last 45 GPA. If you can retake courses you've gotten a C in, I do believe that will help you as well. My only concern is that retaking courses may not raise your overall GPA or science GPA that much, so you'll have to be careful where you apply and focus on schools that do not average retakes. Also, I do believe your strongest shot will be at Ross or SGU, and possibly the private schools (of course depending on if you will met the GPA minimums), as I feel as though those schools are more holistic in their admission process.

I will warn, though, this will be an uphill battle for you. This process will be long and difficult, and I hope that you will continue to protect your mental health to avoid falling back into old patterns that have hurt you before.

I hope this helps! As I have said, I have not earned an acceptance, but i am going off of what I've heard.

I appreciate your reply! Honestly, my mental health is the most important thing. I've learned now how to cope with difficult situations and still focus on studying/classes, it took a long time but I think I've figured out my best healthy coping mechanisms. I would consider island schools but I have quite a lot of animals between all my cats & dogs that I couldn't possibly get them all on the island. Plus my boyfriend would need to find a job which may be hard there. Those are my real concerns involving island schools, otherwise I got nothin against them and it could be a great option since my GPA is so low, but logistics seems tough.

 

[EngrSC]

My cGPA from undergrad was 2.7ish and I had multiple acceptances to US schools. It’s not impossible but it also wasn’t easy. Most importantly I think you need to put distance between your former bad grades and the you of today. I would also use the explanation statement to talk about your former struggles and what you’ve done to overcome them (that’s what I did). My original degree was in engineering so I had to take all of my chemistry and biology prereqs. I also took additional upper division biology courses to bring my cGPA up to 3.0 (could apply to more schools that way) and apply with a strong last 45 GPA (4.0 at my time of application). In my opinion, it’s ok to have a rocky past BUT you need to demonstrate that it’s behind you and that you are capable of succeeding in a professional program.

I would consider reaching out to your top choice vet schools (or the schools you were rejected by) and see what they recommend for you. I’m not sure if they’d want to see you repeat prereqs or just focus on your masters, but either way I wouldn’t attempt any classes until you’re confident your mental health and home life are solid and conducive to success. The rest of your application needs to be super strong - diverse experiences, killer letters of recommendation, essays that help you stand out, demonstrated leadership abilities, etc. If I can do it, you can do it!!

 

[battie]

Agreed with EngrSC that your first step is getting something out of this cycle by doing file reviews with every school. Ask specific questions that are relevant to your future applications: are retaken courses averaged or replaced? do graduate studies count towards my GPAs, or just undergraduate classes? which GPAs are most important to the application, and how important in totality in comparison to other aspects of the app? Use this information to make a plan. I would also not apply next cycle; that is not enough time to get everything you need to do to set up your best application. And there is no rush! Vet school will be there next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, etc. etc. So take the time you need to set yourself up for success! If you go ahead with new classes, regardless of if they're retakes or a masters, you'll have to do amazingly in them, so they will be your primary concern.

When you've got your feedback, look again at all 34 state side schools. Eliminate the ones you for sure won't be able to apply to realistically. Examples may include NC State due to their 3.4 GPA requirement, Texas Tech (only Texas residents at this time), Texas A&M, Georgia, Oregon State, UC Davis, and (potentially) CSU. There definitely may be others and do not be afraid of emailing and asking direct questions about how they evaluate academics. List the 15 to 20 schools you'd have left on the list in order of most likely to least likely, regardless of other factors (such as curriculum or location). Then pick how many you can afford to apply to from application to interview.

 

[dvmcatdog]

My cGPA from undergrad was 2.7ish and I had multiple acceptances to US schools. It’s not impossible but it also wasn’t easy. Most importantly I think you need to put distance between your former bad grades and the you of today. I would also use the explanation statement to talk about your former struggles and what you’ve done to overcome them (that’s what I did). My original degree was in engineering so I had to take all of my chemistry and biology prereqs. I also took additional upper division biology courses to bring my cGPA up to 3.0 (could apply to more schools that way) and apply with a strong last 45 GPA (4.0 at my time of application). In my opinion, it’s ok to have a rocky past BUT you need to demonstrate that it’s behind you and that you are capable of succeeding in a professional program.

I would consider reaching out to your top choice vet schools (or the schools you were rejected by) and see what they recommend for you. I’m not sure if they’d want to see you repeat prereqs or just focus on your masters, but either way I wouldn’t attempt any classes until you’re confident your mental health and home life are solid and conducive to success. The rest of your application needs to be super strong - diverse experiences, killer letters of recommendation, essays that help you stand out, demonstrated leadership abilities, etc. If I can do it, you can do it!!

I guess I just don't know what to do. I could do another bachelors at CSU in animal science which would help with the food animal incentive program. But I just don't know if that's worth it vs taking masters classes.

 

[SardonicWit]

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm certainly no expert on the admissions processes of all of the different vet schools. I do know what it's like to make a lot of mistakes due to trauma and mental illness, and I know how it is to realize that the road to vet school is going to be a lot longer and tougher than it would have been had things gone better from the start. I'm also realizing what being in vet school actually entails, especially with depression and other mental health struggles. So please understand, I'm absolutely not saying anything to try to discourage you. I just want to encourage you to really take a deep breath and do some serious thinking about where to go from here.

I'm SO glad that you've managed to get out of the abusive relationship and that you're getting the therapy you need. That's huge and dramatic and I hope it's the catalyst you need to move your life in a direction that makes you happier. My concern is that this is more of a psychological change (not to undermine that - this is where the change needs to start, so it's fantastic) than an academic change at this point. You didn't give a lot of detail on your application stats, but the detail you did give indicates that your cumulative GPA is low, your prereq and science GPAs are lower, and that your last 45 is apparently a cause for concern. I'm a little afraid that there's nothing here to indicate change to an admissions committee. I very much agree with everyone who has said you need to create distance from your undergrad issues, and at the moment, it appears there is actually no distance yet. Given your current psychological and mental health situation, along with your comment that you "wish you could just start over," I think going forward with the masters program and considering that your fresh start might be your best bet. Is that better for vet school apps than doing an animal science bachelors or retaking prereqs? Eh, I'm not sure. Other people here can help you better with that. But I think doing the masters program and really killing it grades-wise would be much better for you to build confidence - and, yes, provide some distance from your past situation. You need that psychological boost as much as anything if you're serious about vet school, and you need an opportunity to honestly evaluate how you'll do in that kind of environment now that you're changing the rest of your situation. Vet schools don't preferentially take applicants with high GPAs because they're snooty or elitist - it's because the academics and the overall pressure of the situation are incredibly intense, so they're wanting to select students who have shown they're more likely to be able to handle that. For your own benefit, you absolutely want to know for yourself that you can handle it before you get there. Vet school F's can upend your life way more dramatically than undergrad F's do.

Just another thing I noticed... You mention in your original post that you want to go to vet school more than you want anything else, but then in a later post you mention that you're concerned about island schools because of the situation with your pets and your boyfriend. This reads to me like you maybe don't necessarily want vet school more than your pets and boyfriend right now. I'm NOT commenting on this to be critical or judgmental - I applied to a whopping one vet school because one of my parents is terminally ill, I have horses, and it wasn't reasonable to make a big cross-country move this past summer (and that was even before the pandemic situation!). I had to make a decision to prioritize other aspects of my life this year and, if I didn't get in, I could explore other options. Meanwhile, one of my classmates started in an island school while her husband stayed behind in the states because she made the decision to prioritize vet school first. (She moved back when she got her A&M acceptance, but her husband is still living a few hours away because of his own career situation.) You don't necessarily have to give up everything to go to vet school, and you don't need to give up vet school to keep other things that are important to you, but this is a really good time to give some thought to what your priorities really are. If the island schools actually end up being your best bet, would you do it? I think it's important to sort through some of that now, both because you have the benefit of a therapist and because you're at a bit of a crossroads. If you're absolutely dead set on vet school at any cost, your plan might look different than if vet school is your preferred option, but not of the expense of your boyfriend/mental health/way of life/etc. If that's the case, the masters degree will likely open up some much better alternative options than another bachelor's would.

I apologize for the length of this (especially given that, as I said, I am very much not an expert here!). I truly want you to be happy and healthy and successful, whatever that ultimately looks like for you. I do think you can turn this around, and it'll make for some killer "personal growth" essays. It just may take a little bit of time.

 

[dvmcatdog]

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm certainly no expert on the admissions processes of all of the different vet schools. I do know what it's like to make a lot of mistakes due to trauma and mental illness, and I know how it is to realize that the road to vet school is going to be a lot longer and tougher than it would have been had things gone better from the start. I'm also realizing what being in vet school actually entails, especially with depression and other mental health struggles. So please understand, I'm absolutely not saying anything to try to discourage you. I just want to encourage you to really take a deep breath and do some serious thinking about where to go from here.

I'm SO glad that you've managed to get out of the abusive relationship and that you're getting the therapy you need. That's huge and dramatic and I hope it's the catalyst you need to move your life in a direction that makes you happier. My concern is that this is more of a psychological change (not to undermine that - this is where the change needs to start, so it's fantastic) than an academic change at this point. You didn't give a lot of detail on your application stats, but the detail you did give indicates that your cumulative GPA is low, your prereq and science GPAs are lower, and that your last 45 is apparently a cause for concern. I'm a little afraid that there's nothing here to indicate change to an admissions committee. I very much agree with everyone who has said you need to create distance from your undergrad issues, and at the moment, it appears there is actually no distance yet. Given your current psychological and mental health situation, along with your comment that you "wish you could just start over," I think going forward with the masters program and considering that your fresh start might be your best bet. Is that better for vet school apps than doing an animal science bachelors or retaking prereqs? Eh, I'm not sure. Other people here can help you better with that. But I think doing the masters program and really killing it grades-wise would be much better for you to build confidence - and, yes, provide some distance from your past situation. You need that psychological boost as much as anything if you're serious about vet school, and you need an opportunity to honestly evaluate how you'll do in that kind of environment now that you're changing the rest of your situation. Vet schools don't preferentially take applicants with high GPAs because they're snooty or elitist - it's because the academics and the overall pressure of the situation are incredibly intense, so they're wanting to select students who have shown they're more likely to be able to handle that. For your own benefit, you absolutely want to know for yourself that you can handle it before you get there. Vet school F's can upend your life way more dramatically than undergrad F's do.

Just another thing I noticed... You mention in your original post that you want to go to vet school more than you want anything else, but then in a later post you mention that you're concerned about island schools because of the situation with your pets and your boyfriend. This reads to me like you maybe don't necessarily want vet school more than your pets and boyfriend right now. I'm NOT commenting on this to be critical or judgmental - I applied to a whopping one vet school because one of my parents is terminally ill, I have horses, and it wasn't reasonable to make a big cross-country move this past summer (and that was even before the pandemic situation!). I had to make a decision to prioritize other aspects of my life this year and, if I didn't get in, I could explore other options. Meanwhile, one of my classmates started in an island school while her husband stayed behind in the states because she made the decision to prioritize vet school first. (She moved back when she got her A&M acceptance, but her husband is still living a few hours away because of his own career situation.) You don't necessarily have to give up everything to go to vet school, and you don't need to give up vet school to keep other things that are important to you, but this is a really good time to give some thought to what your priorities really are. If the island schools actually end up being your best bet, would you do it? I think it's important to sort through some of that now, both because you have the benefit of a therapist and because you're at a bit of a crossroads. If you're absolutely dead set on vet school at any cost, your plan might look different than if vet school is your preferred option, but not of the expense of your boyfriend/mental health/way of life/etc. If that's the case, the masters degree will likely open up some much better alternative options than another bachelor's would.

I apologize for the length of this (especially given that, as I said, I am very much not an expert here!). I truly want you to be happy and healthy and successful, whatever that ultimately looks like for you. I do think you can turn this around, and it'll make for some killer "personal growth" essays. It just may take a little bit of time.

I appreciate your long response a lot! I agree I need to put distance between my old grades and new ones, so I agree a masters could be worth it. I do want vet school more than anything but I just have a lot of pets and I made a commitment to them so it's hard to just leave them behind, especially when one has cancer, one almost died from being blocked, another almost died from a terrible vaccine reaction, and ANOTHER one almost died from hepatic lipidosis. My boyfriend works full time while doing a masters full time plus having another part time job so it would be unfair of me to leave him with all my pets when he only brought 1 into our relationship. That's why I want to do a masters and go to an in state school so badly.

 

[thankdog]

I appreciate your long response a lot! I agree I need to put distance between my old grades and new ones, so I agree a masters could be worth it. I do want vet school more than anything but I just have a lot of pets and I made a commitment to them so it's hard to just leave them behind, especially when one has cancer, one almost died from being blocked, another almost died from a terrible vaccine reaction, and ANOTHER one almost died from hepatic lipidosis. My boyfriend works full time while doing a masters full time plus having another part time job so it would be unfair of me to leave him with all my pets when he only brought 1 into our relationship. That's why I want to do a masters and go to an in state school so badly.

I’m not sure if anyone mentioned this already but you could look into a post baccalaureate program. I’m currently in one that is for people trying to go to med school/ vet school. I think the grades count as undergrad too, so it will bring up your cumulative gpa. PM me if you want more info!

 

[SardonicWit]

I appreciate your long response a lot! I agree I need to put distance between my old grades and new ones, so I agree a masters could be worth it. I do want vet school more than anything but I just have a lot of pets and I made a commitment to them so it's hard to just leave them behind, especially when one has cancer, one almost died from being blocked, another almost died from a terrible vaccine reaction, and ANOTHER one almost died from hepatic lipidosis. My boyfriend works full time while doing a masters full time plus having another part time job so it would be unfair of me to leave him with all my pets when he only brought 1 into our relationship. That's why I want to do a masters and go to an in state school so badly.

Believe me, I would never judge someone for prioritizing current responsibilities over future vet school - I did the same thing, so I absolutely get it. It just affects how you make decisions from here.

When you say you want to go to an in state school... does this mean your in state school, or a school within the states? If I'm remembering right, your in state is U of Florida, and that seems like it's going to be a difficult road for you. Florida wasn't on my long list, so I'm not overly familiar with their admissions process, but just looking at their published admissions info and stats... there seems to be a fairly substantial weight on GPA there. At the very least, their website implies that they're going to want a minimum of 3.0 on cGPA, sGPA, and last 45 GPA in order to get them looking through the rest of your application, and it's going to take a lot of credit hours at a 4.0 to get you there. Even then, given that their average GPA for in-state interview invites is a 3.63, you'd be fighting an uphill battle.

If you just mean "within the states," you have better options. The more seasoned admissions people here can certainly help you pick out schools with grade replacement (which it seems would benefit you substantially) and criteria that focus more heavily on the subjective aspects of your application like experience. I suspect you'll still need to be doing something academically to bring your GPAs up, but once you're this far into your education, it's much easier to improve the subjective aspects than it is to raise your GPA.

I do think the masters is still your best bet for a lot of reasons. I think consistently high grades in a masters program makes the "I've made serious changes" argument more likely to stick (even when there HAVE been serious and successful changes, that can be a difficult thing to show through an application - by nature they're somewhat cold), and a degree that gives you solid research experience will be a strong positive for a lot of schools. In the meantime, things like retaking prereqs you've gotten low grades in and diversifying your veterinary experience would also be helpful. Another thing that I don't see quite as often on these forums but was met very enthusiastically by my vet school advisor and the admissions people I'd talked to... find something human-oriented to volunteer in extensively. I'd racked up thousands of volunteer hours working in therapeutic riding centers, veterans programs, special needs services, tutoring centers, community outreach programs for the school, etc. - when I was calling around to admissions counselors to see if vet school was even a reasonable goal for me, everyone always went nuts over this stuff, way more so than my vet experience or career training horses. Apparently training vet students to interact well with clients is one of the most difficult challenges for vet schools, so human experience is something that makes them excited. Just something to consider.

Regardless, it's going to be a difficult and busy couple of years to get yourself in a good position to be a competitive applicant, but I think you can look at that as a positive thing in a lot of ways. Assuming all goes well (and I do hope it does for you), it'll put you in a much better position to be successful once you're in vet school. If it turns out vet school isn't in the cards, you'll at least be in a better position to find a career path that makes you happy, even if it isn't the one you're imagining now.