Choosing a LOR for Vet School

[Mircookies]

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I am applying to WSU this application cycle as an in-state student (first-time applicant, wanting this to be my only application lol!). I have around 2,000 clinical hours (veterinary experience) as a veterinary assistant at an emergency hospital. I am trying to figure out letters of recommendation and this is what I have so far:
1: veterinarian at emergency vet I work with, who asked me to write a letter (yay)
2: second veterinarian I work with at emergency vet
3: former boss I worked with for two years at a mental health hospital - he knows me personally VERY well

Emailed, but have not heard back from yet:
(#4) biology professor from my most recent semester, i did well in his class and I think he enjoyed having me in class
(#5) veterinary social worker, I completed a short internship with (who I am iffy on if she is able to write me a strong letter. I was only a social work minor and the position I was interning for was much more emotionally charged and advanced for me than I could handle after little experience in the field). However, she did teach me a great deal of things that I have applied to the field and I hope to apply to my practice.

Here is where my confusion lies:
If all above are able to write me great letters, I would still want one more academic letter of recommendation. Due to working full time and being diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through my college career, there is a definite dissonance between the grades I received at the beginning and the grades I received later (as in mostly A's few B's to mostly B's and few A's). Cumulative GPA is likely ~3.6 but my last 45 is ~3.3-3.4.

Therefore, I really want professors to discuss my academic strengths to help support this part of the application. I am between three professors to ask:

Professor A: I had taken two classes and my capstone with her. I received solid B's in all classes, mainly due to test scores. I wasn't always on time to class and am pretty sure I frustrated her on occasion. But, she has had me for the most classes and the most recently.

Professor B: Chemistry professor for organic. I did well in organic chemistry (A- and B), but haven't taken any classes with him since organic since ~2 years ago.

Professor C: Physics professor. I did not do as well in his class (B-) BUT I did go to him when I was having difficulties in the class and spent a good deal of time working with him and practicing problems with his help. At my graduation, he actually approached me and I do think he enjoyed having me in his class. I took only Physics II with him approximately 1.5 years ago. Without him, I probably would have done worse in the class.

I think I am leaning towards Professor C, but I don't know if this is the smartest choice. It may be great to have a professor in a class I did NOT do well in writing me a letter describing my academic strengths in a class that I struggled in (kept trying, worked hard, etc) but will they be wondering why I chose a recommender for a class I was weak in?

Any and all input GREATLY appreciated. Feel free to post personal anecdotes or experiences as well.

 

[SkiOtter]

I am applying to WSU this application cycle as an in-state student (first-time applicant, wanting this to be my only application lol!). I have around 2,000 clinical hours (veterinary experience) as a veterinary assistant at an emergency hospital. I am trying to figure out letters of recommendation and this is what I have so far:
1: veterinarian at emergency vet I work with, who asked me to write a letter (yay)
2: second veterinarian I work with at emergency vet
3: former boss I worked with for two years at a mental health hospital - he knows me personally VERY well

Emailed, but have not heard back from yet:
(#4) biology professor from my most recent semester, i did well in his class and I think he enjoyed having me in class
(#5) veterinary social worker, I completed a short internship with (who I am iffy on if she is able to write me a strong letter. I was only a social work minor and the position I was interning for was much more emotionally charged and advanced for me than I could handle after little experience in the field). However, she did teach me a great deal of things that I have applied to the field and I hope to apply to my practice.

Here is where my confusion lies:
If all above are able to write me great letters, I would still want one more academic letter of recommendation. Due to working full time and being diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through my college career, there is a definite dissonance between the grades I received at the beginning and the grades I received later (as in mostly A's few B's to mostly B's and few A's). Cumulative GPA is likely ~3.6 but my last 45 is ~3.3-3.4.

Therefore, I really want professors to discuss my academic strengths to help support this part of the application. I am between three professors to ask:

Professor A: I had taken two classes and my capstone with her. I received solid B's in all classes, mainly due to test scores. I wasn't always on time to class and am pretty sure I frustrated her on occasion. But, she has had me for the most classes and the most recently.

Professor B: Chemistry professor for organic. I did well in organic chemistry (A- and B), but haven't taken any classes with him since organic since ~2 years ago.

Professor C: Physics professor. I did not do as well in his class (B-) BUT I did go to him when I was having difficulties in the class and spent a good deal of time working with him and practicing problems with his help. At my graduation, he actually approached me and I do think he enjoyed having me in his class. I took only Physics II with him approximately 1.5 years ago. Without him, I probably would have done worse in the class.

I think I am leaning towards Professor C, but I don't know if this is the smartest choice. It may be great to have a professor in a class I did NOT do well in writing me a letter describing my academic strengths in a class that I struggled in (kept trying, worked hard, etc) but will they be wondering why I chose a recommender for a class I was weak in?

Any and all input GREATLY appreciated. Feel free to post personal anecdotes or experiences as well.

I wouldn’t ask Prof A. You weren’t on time all the time and frustrated her. I’d say ask B or C but I agree C would write a letter of how even though you struggled you came for extra help and yadda yadda yadda. That professor probably knows you the best because you spent most time with them and would be less generic of a letter.
Other people can also weigh in with their opinions on this.

 

[Mircookies]

I wouldn’t ask Prof A. You weren’t on time all the time and frustrated her. I’d say ask B or C but I agree C would write a letter of how even though you struggled you came for extra help and yadda yadda yadda. That professor probably knows you the best because you spent most time with them and would be less generic of a letter.
Other people can also weigh in with their opinions on this.

That definitely makes sense. That is who I was leaning towards but was a little unsure.

 

[EngrSC]

I agree with SkiOtter for the same reasons mentioned 🙂

 

[Chili_Cat]

(#5) veterinary social worker, I completed a short internship with (who I am iffy on if she is able to write me a strong letter. I was only a social work minor and the position I was interning for was much more emotionally charged and advanced for me than I could handle after little experience in the field). However, she did teach me a great deal of things that I have applied to the field and I hope to apply to my practice.

Here is where my confusion lies:
If all above are able to write me great letters, I would still want one more academic letter of recommendation. Due to working full time and being diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through my college career, there is a definite dissonance between the grades I received at the beginning and the grades I received later (as in mostly A's few B's to mostly B's and few A's). Cumulative GPA is likely ~3.6 but my last 45 is ~3.3-3.4

If you’re iffy on the strength of letter number 5, I would maybe rethink including that one. You can always discuss the knowledge you hope to apply from that experience in your essays, and if WSU has the same questions on the supplemental app as last year I think it would fit perfectly with the second prompt. I agree with what people said above about professor C, especially given your lower last 45 - it could help suggest that while you were struggling, giving up and lack of effort wasn’t the reason for you didn’t get stellar grades.

On another note, I fully support you wanting to make WSU your only app so if you were worried about that, don’t be🙂 I wish I would’ve done the same and saved my money, especially because WSU was my in state and top choice anyway
I personally had 3 LORs, one from a GP vet I worked with for about a year at the time I applied, another from our hospital manager/LVT, and my third from an upper level Bio professor. I took two classes with this professor, the first one I did excellent in, top 5% of the class, and the second I did about average (which is eh, pretty poor performance in mind and in the mind of said professor who saw me do so well before). Throughout both classes, I was always engaged in lecture and asking questions, volunteering answers and helping other students, that sort of thing. I met with her before she wrote my letter to talk about career goals and such so she could get a better idea of that side of my application in addition to the student side, and I think that while she was disappointed in my performance she realized I was working 35-40 hours a week and didn’t have the outside class time the second class required. So idk where I’m really going with this, but ultimately I have so much respect for this professor and knew she would write an honest letter. A good one, but one that knew my weaknesses as well because I think it gave been the committee a better picture of how student me and human me intersect I guess.
Anyway, I got in with a 3.6 cumulative and 3.4 science and 3.75 last 45, had ~1000 vet hours, ~1200 animal hours, ~400 research hours, ~2300 other employment hours, and then a variety of other experiences.

 

[DVMDream]

Remember some schools only read 3 LORs and WSU was one of those when I applied, if I'm remembering correctly.

 

[Chili_Cat]

Remember some schools only read 3 LORs and WSU was one of those when I applied, if I'm remembering correctly.

They’ll take 6, they just require 3 specific ones. So (1) A veterinarian you work with/have worked with extensively; (2) A professor/TA/advisor; (3) someone else like an employer or another vet or professor who knows how well you communicate, especially within science things.

 

[DVMDream]

They’ll take 6, they just require 3 specific ones. So (1) A veterinarian you work with/have worked with extensively; (2) A professor/TA/advisor; (3) someone else like an employer or another vet or professor who knows how well you communicate, especially within science things.

When I applied back with the dinosaurs, it was "we'll take 6 but we only read 3". VMCAS allows for 6 but some schools don't read them all, I'm just mentioning to look out for that.