Bad biology grade

Started by OtterMayhem
Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Sorry for all the questions but I have one more! Will schools look at you badly if you've transferred a lot? I transferred from a CC to my current institution and going back to CC to finish a few classes that the University of Florida wants before I transfer there. I have legit reasoning for all the transfers if they ask.
 
OtterMayhem said:
Sorry for all the questions but I have one more! Will schools look at you badly if you've transferred a lot? I transferred from a CC to my current institution and going back to CC to finish a few classes that the University of Florida wants before I transfer there. I have legit reasoning for all the transfers if they ask.
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I don't think that'll hurt you as long as you do fairly well and transitioning doesn't reflect poorly on grades. Plenty of people take classes at both CC and a 4-yr univ. The amount of transfers shouldn't look bad. I'm assuming it was for money, timing, grades, etc.
 
katashark said:
I don't think that'll hurt you as long as you do fairly well and transitioning doesn't reflect poorly on grades. Plenty of people take classes at both CC and a 4-yr univ. The amount of transfers shouldn't look bad. I'm assuming it was for money, timing, grades, etc.
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I started out at a CC wanting to pursue Deaf Education and went onto a four year without getting an AA because I didn't need one. Now that I have switched to vet med I have to go to another CC for spring and summer semester to get chem, bio and physics and finish the two pity classes I needed for my AA, then to my final institution!
 
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OtterMayhem said:
I started out at a CC wanting to pursue Deaf Education and went onto a four year without getting an AA because I didn't need one. Now that I have switched to vet med I have to go to another CC for spring and summer semester to get chem, bio and physics and finish the two pity classes I needed for my AA, then to my final institution!
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Yeah, none of that should count against you. You just essentially changed majors/study tracks, which I did as well. 🙂
 
OtterMayhem said:
I started out at a CC wanting to pursue Deaf Education and went onto a four year without getting an AA because I didn't need one. Now that I have switched to vet med I have to go to another CC for spring and summer semester to get chem, bio and physics and finish the two pity classes I needed for my AA, then to my final institution!
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DeafEducation, eh? Cool. Are you fluent in sign language?
 
Starry-chan said:
DeafEducation, eh? Cool. Are you fluent in sign language?
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I'm not fluent, but I can hold a conversation and teach some neat signs! I still really love the language, my heart was just more in vet med. In St. Augustine it's so cool to see people walking around singing a lot. In South Florida it's rare to see people sign.
 
So I spoke with the admissions officer at UF that works in the animal science dept and apparently I need an average of a 2.5 GPA or higher in the all the pre-req course work. I was told by someone else I HAD to have a B in each pre-req class. So now that I know this awesome information, is getting a C alright? I really don't want to take bio 1 again. I'd rather focus hard on getting an A in bio 2.
 
OtterMayhem said:
I'm not fluent, but I can hold a conversation and teach some neat signs! I still really love the language, my heart was just more in vet med. In St. Augustine it's so cool to see people walking around singing a lot. In South Florida it's rare to see people sign.
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Still cool! What are your favorite signs?

Does that school have a large hard-of-hearing population? Or are most of them signing just because they're learning about it?

I never saw anybody sign at my school. I'm in the southwestern US.
 
OtterMayhem said:
Sorry for all the questions but I have one more! Will schools look at you badly if you've transferred a lot? I transferred from a CC to my current institution and going back to CC to finish a few classes that the University of Florida wants before I transfer there. I have legit reasoning for all the transfers if they ask.
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I had three different schools on my vet school application. Didn't hinder me.
 
KCgophervet said:
That's exactly it. If it was "review this material, quiz before lecture, then lecture for full understanding" I could see it. But when one of the "source material" she provides is a YouTube clip of part of Dr. Pol's show... just no. I don't have the background or the knowledge to sift through primary sources and be able to know which procedures or protocols are better or worse, that's why I'm here, in vet school, to build up the background. I have the rest of my career to work through sorting out the primary sources and CE.
Then again, this is also a professor who wants her class average to be a C "because that's what it should be." And also trying to convince us that "a lower grade won't impact our GPA" because it's only a 1.5 credit class. That may be true, but some of us are applying to residency programs and a low grade on a transcript is a low grade on a transcript. Plus, why am I doing all of this extra outside of class work for a lowly 1.5 credit class in the first place?? BLARG I could rant about this forever apparently
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Which class is this? I have to know. 🙂
 
KCgophervet said:
Yeah I think they're decent for small animal. That being said, their tuition is crazy high. Like, I would consider it a last resort unless you're IS or happen to get into one of the few more expensive schools. Also they're having a problem finding a boarded dentist so they don't even have a dentistry rotation currently, and they just lost their boarded behaviorist. Theoretically they'll take care of that problem before you'd get there, but since they lost the dentist during @LetItSnow's clinical year and they still haven't found a replacement... tough to say
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Wait. They still have a dentistry rotation, don't they? They had a locum coming up from Arizona every other block for it. She was actually pretty cool - my rotation sucked because they didn't hire her until too late, so we had no real cases. But I liked her a lot, and subsequent rotations went well.

Did they lose her, too?
 
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Wow, I knew vet school was expensive but I didn't know that also extends to the application stage.
 
LetItSnow said:
Which class is this? I have to know. 🙂
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Large Animal Surgery. Bane of my existence.

LetItSnow said:
Wait. They still have a dentistry rotation, don't they? They had a locum coming up from Arizona every other block for it. She was actually pretty cool - my rotation sucked because they didn't hire her until too late, so we had no real cases. But I liked her a lot, and subsequent rotations went well.

Did they lose her, too?
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They informed us when they opened the rotation registration that there was no SA Dentistry rotation at this point in time, but that they were hoping to find someone and would let us know. No word since so I think we have to assume not. What is killing it for the SA people is that they won't give them an extra externship or anything so they could go somewhere else to get it, they basically have to burn one of their externships if they want to find a dentistry rotation, yet that's what the school recommended they do. It's not affecting me too much, but I have some very disgruntled classmates.
 
KCgophervet said:
Large Animal Surgery. Bane of my existence.


They informed us when they opened the rotation registration that there was no SA Dentistry rotation at this point in time, but that they were hoping to find someone and would let us know. No word since so I think we have to assume not. What is killing it for the SA people is that they won't give them an extra externship or anything so they could go somewhere else to get it, they basically have to burn one of their externships if they want to find a dentistry rotation, yet that's what the school recommended they do. It's not affecting me too much, but I have some very disgruntled classmates.
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Hahahahha. I'm about 95% certain I know which professor that would be for LAS.

Wow. That sucks about Dentistry. The locum (I'm forgetting her name, but she was great. Carol someone.) was great - loved her. And I know she kept coming back for future rotations. She must have hit the end of her contract or gotten tired of the Arizona/MN commute every month.

That really sucks. Dentistry is a huge deal in modern SA GP practice. They need to make a rotation or put effort into getting students more exposure. It's weird to me that it's been a year now and they haven't resolved the problem. You can get some dentals on the GP rotation if you luck out. I got 0, but some of the GP students when I was on Dentistry literally got more dental procedures on GP than I got on Dentistry. Seemed ... wrong.

I wonder if with the expansion of GP (the new remodeling so that GP basically has its own little mini-hospital) GP will start doing even more dentals in their own treatment area?

Yeah, I'd be annoyed if I were planning my 4th year in that situation. But that said ... at the end of the day you can't take all the rotations you want. It's hard to get neurology, dentistry, oncology, AND optho .... at least, it was when I went through. You kinda had to settle on missing <something>. So you just start picking it up after school. It's life.
 
katashark said:
I definitely wouldn't recommend applying to a lot if you don't have to. I had my reasons and it seems to be paying off. 1 definitely would have been cheaper. But I got over it.
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If it pays off in an acceptance, then it was definitely worth it. ~$1,400 is a drop in the bucket compared to vet school debt.
 
The only thing I can imagine being a problem of attending so many institutions is having to pay for transcripts to get sent from each of them. Each could be $5-10 a shot.
 
LetItSnow said:
Why? I applied to .... uh .... 1. Was a lot cheaper.
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I'm not done with the undergrad but even with straight A's the rest of it I'm looking at a 3.5 cGPA and a 3.61 if I take summer classes. I just don't want to put all my eggs in one basket and be disappointed I guess. If my core GPA is low but science and last 45 is good does that help at all?
 
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dyachei said:
No, it's not. And that kind of thinking gets you in trouble later. 1400 is only app fees, not travel, lodging and such for interviews
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I see what your saying, but at the same time it depends on the person. In my opinion, I'd rather pay the $1400 and travel fees and get into a school on my first try instead of putting all my eggs in one basket. I know I'd kick myself if I didn't apply to more and I'd have to wait a whole year. Now that being said, if someone has a stellar GPA, LOR's, great experience and all that; then yeah maybe it's not worth if they know they have a good shot at their #1 school.
 
That's why the interview process for each school also needs to be researched. Whether they interview at all, how far it is from you, potential travel cost, and whether it could be done via skype. Also, if an acceptance does come through, then there is the potential for not doing an interview at another school and avoiding those costs.

I am by no means recommending applying to a crap ton of random schools, only saying one strategy. Obviously, there are others, like having an amazing app and applying to one school.
 
dyachei said:
No, it's not. And that kind of thinking gets you in trouble later. 1400 is only app fees, not travel, lodging and such for interviews
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I dunno, I have to disagree with this one a bit. As someone without a cheap IS option, it was more important for me to get into one of the 7 schools I applied to, rather than apply to one or two and poss need to apply again the next year.

When I had a couple of acceptances in hand, I just declined other interviews and withdrew my apps for all but my just as expensive as OOS instate school. Just because you paid the application fee doesn't bind you to going forth with further cost incurring aspects of each application. The $2000 or so I spent total on applying for vet school literally was a drop in the bucket. Not worth the maybe $1000 saved that year to spend again the next year, and the lost opportunity cost of a year's worth of DVM salary vs the $30k I would have been paid during the extra gap year instead.

More is definitely not better, and beyond 6-7 schools... If you're getting straight rejected from all of them, I'm not sure extra beyond that is going to help you. Your other choices are to apply outside of the country or to the new schools and hedge your bets there (which I personally wouldn't do), and you'll kinda have to gamble in those cases whether or not waiting an extra year to get in elsewhere may have been a better choice.
 
Minnerbelle said:
I dunno, I have to disagree with this one a bit. As someone without a cheap IS option, it was more important for me to get into one of the 7 schools I applied to, rather than apply to one or two and poss need to apply again the next year.

When I had a couple of acceptances in hand, I just declined other interviews and withdrew my apps for all but my just as expensive as OOS instate school. Just because you paid the application fee doesn't bind you to going forth with further cost incurring aspects of each application. The $2000 or so I spent total on applying for vet school literally was a drop in the bucket. Not worth the maybe $1000 saved that year to spend again the next year, and the lost opportunity cost of a year's worth of DVM salary vs the $30k I would have been paid during the extra gap year instead.

More is definitely not better, and beyond 6-7 schools... If you're getting straight rejected from all of them, I'm not sure extra beyond that is going to help you. Your other choices are to apply outside of the country or to the new schools and hedge your bets there (which I personally wouldn't do), and you'll kinda have to gamble in those cases whether or not waiting an extra year to get in elsewhere may have been a better choice.
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$1400 is still not a drop in the bucket. Yes, you lose DVM salary (if you even get in that first time, which isn't guaranteed) but you can work other jobs, get better/more experience, etc. So it's hard to compare. $1400 is a lot of money.
 
I think there is a certain point where applying to more schools just really doesn't make a difference.

Once you get to 10+ schools you are just running into extra money and the potential for problems. What if you only get two interviews and they are both on the same day? Waste of money to have even applied to one of them because you have to outright decline an interview to one without having an acceptance and hope the interview at the other goes well.

At some point, you are just throwing money into a bucket that really doesn't make sense. I don't think anyone is advising to only apply to one school, just that at a certain number you really aren't doing yourself any favors either.

The better recommendation is to apply smart... if you have a strong science and last 45 GPA but a crap cumulative, apply to those that consider science and last 45 GPA more than cumulative. Etc, etc.

I really do believe that once you are in the 10 or more school range, you really are just spewing out applications in the hope that something sticks. Not only that, you are at the risk that you can't attend all interview offers you are given, which then is a waste of money.

But it is up to each person to decide how many schools to apply to, but be prepared that you may apply to a school and have to decline an interview because of other interviews or whatever. Not only that, there is no guarantee that applying to more schools will get you an acceptance so you can spend the $1400 on applications plus an extra $1000+ on interviews and travel and still end up with no acceptance.
 
dyachei said:
$1400 is still not a drop in the bucket. Yes, you lose DVM salary (if you even get in that first time, which isn't guaranteed) but you can work other jobs, get better/more experience, etc. So it's hard to compare. $1400 is a lot of money.
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We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I really think that would have been a penny-wise, pound foolish situation.Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done anything differently. I was lucky and it worked out for me, and obviously there was a chance it wouldn't have. If I didn't get in on my first try, I prob would have applied one more time, but not beyond that because I literally had spent 7 years doing nothing but everything I could to go to vet school.

That $30k salary for me WAS for getting more experience while preparing me for a plan B option, and I honestly couldn't do anything else that would have earned me much more.

$1400 really was a drop in the bucket when my vet school cost of education was $250k+. Once you decide that you're stupid enough to drink the kool-aid and commit to
A quarter million dollar education with guarded career prognosis, that extra grand really doesn't make much difference. At least that's money you're using to help yourself succeed. It's not money you're spending to play with monkeys in another country just to be able to do your first spay one year before everyone else, or a ski trip, or a one bedroom apartment because you absolutely can't stand having a roommate.

If I was really concerned about cutting costs for vet school, I should have moved to a state and established residency where IS tuition is cheap

I'm a fairly stingy person with my personal life, but when it comes to major career affecting things, I think it makes sense to spend what you think you need to if it means it may significantly increases a favorable outcome. At least that's how I've been raised. YMMV. For some it works, for others it doesn't. Such is life.
 
Minnerbelle said:
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I really think that would have been a penny-wise, pound foolish situation.Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have done anything differently. I was lucky and it worked out for me, and obviously there was a chance it wouldn't have. If I didn't get in on my first try, I prob would have applied one more time, but not beyond that because I literally had spent 7 years doing nothing but everything I could to go to vet school.

That $30k salary for me WAS for getting more experience while preparing me for a plan B option, and I honestly couldn't do anything else that would have earned me much more.

$1400 really was a drop in the bucket when my vet school cost of education was $250k+. Once you decide that you're stupid enough to drink the kool-aid and commit to
A quarter million dollar education with guarded career prognosis, that extra grand really doesn't make much difference. At least that's money you're using to help yourself succeed. It's not money you're spending to play with monkeys in another country just to be able to do your first spay one year before everyone else, or a ski trip, or a one bedroom apartment because you absolutely can't stand having a roommate.

If I was really concerned about cutting costs for vet school, I should have moved to a state and established residency where IS tuition is cheap

I'm a fairly stingy person with my personal life, but when it comes to major career affecting things, I think it makes sense to spend what you think you need to if it means it may significantly increases a favorable outcome. At least that's how I've been raised. YMMV. For some it works, for others it doesn't. Such is life.
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guess so. $1400 is a lot of money. And saying, eh, not such a big deal is foolish. Even if you decide to do it, you should do it with eyes wide open. So agree to disagree.
 
DVMDream said:
I think there is a certain point where applying to more schools just really doesn't make a difference.

Once you get to 10+ schools you are just running into extra money and the potential for problems. What if you only get two interviews and they are both on the same day? Waste of money to have even applied to one of them because you have to outright decline an interview to one without having an acceptance and hope the interview at the other goes well.

At some point, you are just throwing money into a bucket that really doesn't make sense. I don't think anyone is advising to only apply to one school, just that at a certain number you really aren't doing yourself any favors either.
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That's exactly what I was saying. I don't think adding more above 5-7 (given that you apply smartly) isn't going to do you much favors. I wasn't advocating applying to every school you can...
 
Minnerbelle said:
That's exactly what I was saying. I don't think adding more above 5-7 (given that you apply smartly) isn't going to do you much favors. I wasn't advocating applying to every school you can...
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Yeah, but people are suggesting applying to 10+ schools above.

I did the 4 schools one year, 6 the following and 7 the final year. I spent a lot of money over those three years. I am actually still paying off my application fees. Some people are using credit cards to pay for applications and now I am using student loans to pay for those credit cards. It was a stupid move in hindsight. I mean, it did finally work out, but I am paying well more than the 5K that ended up on my credit cards.
 
DVMDream said:
Yeah, but people are suggesting applying to 10+ schools above.

I did the 4 schools one year, 6 the following and 7 the final year. I spent a lot of money over those three years. I am actually still paying off my application fees. Some people are using credit cards to pay for applications and now I am using student loans to pay for those credit cards. It was a stupid move in hindsight. I mean, it did finally work out, but I am paying well more than the 5K that ended up on my credit cards.
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I wouldn't encourage anyone to apply to 10+ schools, I just feel like my GPA is less than stellar and I want to apply to 9 or 10 myself. It's crazy expensive but I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone to do it if they don't feel like they have it.
 
dyachei said:
guess so. $1400 is a lot of money. And saying, eh, not such a big deal is foolish. Even if you decide to do it, you should do it with eyes wide open. So agree to disagree.
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Who said a lot of thought didn't or shouldn't go into it? It's not NOT a big deal. $1400 may not be worth it for you and foolish to spend, but that doesn't mean it isn't for others. That was the point I was trying to make.
 
OtterMayhem said:
I wouldn't encourage anyone to apply to 10+ schools, I just feel like my GPA is less than stellar and I want to apply to 9 or 10 myself. It's crazy expensive but I definitely wouldn't recommend anyone to do it if they don't feel like they have it.
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My GPA wasn't stellar either, but a few more schools wasn't going to make a difference, what did make a difference was improving my application.
 
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Minnerbelle said:
Who said a lot of thought didn't or shouldn't go into it? It's not NOT a big deal. $1400 may not be worth it for you and foolish to spend, but that doesn't mean it isn't for others. That was the point I was trying to make.
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I wasn't only responding to you...Starry I think called it a drop in the bucket. I don't think it is. It's quite a bit of money. Especially when you add interest. And your example only works if you make it in on your first try. What if you dont?
 
dyachei said:
I wasn't only responding to you...Starry I think called it a drop in the bucket. I don't think it is. It's quite a bit of money. Especially when you add interest. And your example only works if you make it in on your first try. What if you dont?
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Is that a reason enough to apply to only one or two every year? I guess yes if you had compelling reasons for why those schools were a good fit for you. But otherwise, for people without any clear benefit to applying between a handful of schools, I would say no. Just because there was a possibility that I could be rejected from 7 schools wasn't a reason for me to only apply to 2.

Like I said, it's always a gamble either way. You won't know if you won out until you see the outcome. You just need to be sensible about it to increase the odds of it being in your favor. You need to know yourself as an applicant, your financial reality, the schools you're applying to and come up with a number that works for you. Sometimes that gets fuzzy.

I also called it a drop in the bucket because it really was for my situation. I was willing to take that gamble and risk $1000 plus interest, and I won out over $60k saved for not having to apply again when considering opportunity costs in both directions.
 
dyachei said:
I wasn't only responding to you...Starry I think called it a drop in the bucket. I don't think it is. It's quite a bit of money. Especially when you add interest. And your example only works if you make it in on your first try. What if you dont?
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I'm not sure what you mean by interest, unless you thought I was suggesting people should pay for their application fees with credit cards. I definitely advocate paying cash for that, if possible.

Minnerbelle said:
More is definitely not better, and beyond 6-7 schools... If you're getting straight rejected from all of them, I'm not sure extra beyond that is going to help you.
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Yeah, I hear what you're saying. Somebody with pretty uncompetitive stats might be better off holding off on applying utntil they improve their application.
 
Minnerbelle said:
Is that a reason enough to apply to only one or two every year? I guess yes if you had compelling reasons for why those schools were a good fit for you. But otherwise, for people without any clear benefit to applying between a handful of schools, I would say no. Just because there was a possibility that I could be rejected from 7 schools wasn't a reason for me to only apply to 2.

Like I said, it's always a gamble either way. You won't know if you won out until you see the outcome. You just need to be sensible about it to increase the odds of it being in your favor. You need to know yourself as an applicant, your financial reality, the schools you're applying to and come up with a number that works for you. Sometimes that gets fuzzy.

I also called it a drop in the bucket because it really was for my situation. I was willing to take that gamble and risk $1000 plus interest, and I won out over $60k saved for not having to apply again when considering opportunity costs in both directions.
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I never said apply to 1 or 2. I just said $1400 isn't just a drop in the bucket.

I applied to 4. I think that was the perfect number for me.
 
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