Current vet student, burnt out from school, feeling hopeless about internship application

[pb&j_smoothie]

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Hello everyone,

I’m currently a third-year veterinary student preparing to enter clinics, and I’ve been struggling quite a bit with my academic performance. My GPA is currently 3.4, and I’m in the bottom 15% of my class. With the possibility of earning another B- this semester, I’m worried my GPA and ranking may drop even further. I don’t want to make excuses, but this past year has been especially challenging. A close family member has been going through significant personal difficulties, and it’s been emotionally taxing trying to balance that with the demands of third year. While I’ve done my best to stay focused, it hasn’t been easy. It just feels like no matter how hard I try I am not good enough.

I’m deeply interested in pursuing exotic animal medicine and potentially becoming ABVP certified in the future. However, given my current academic standing, I’m feeling hopeless about my competitiveness for specialty or exotic-focused internships.

For those who have been in a similar position, how did you cope with lower class rankings? And realistically, is there still a path toward securing an exotic internship with stats like mine? I would truly appreciate any perspective or advice.

Thank you so much for your time and insight.

 

[JaynaAli]

Some internships go unmatched every year, so in general if you want an internship you can probably find something if you’re flexible and really committed to finding some program. GPA isn’t everything; who you know and letters of rec are also big factors. My GPA was lower than yours (I had a 3.2 but my class rank was quite a bit higher at around 53rd percentile, so seems like your school may have inflated grades compared to mine from back in the olden days) and I matched to a rotating and got a path residency. A lot of the reason I think I matched where ai did was because I’d visited and they knew me. There are perhaps not as many exotics programs unfilled compared to rotatings, but the good news is that you don’t really absolutely have to go the specialty route to see exotics and be ABVP boarded. @Trilt is ABVP and used to see exotics, so she may have more insight into that route.

 

[pb&j_smoothie]

Some internships go unmatched every year, so in general if you want an internship you can probably find something if you’re flexible and really committed to finding some program. GPA isn’t everything; who you know and letters of rec are also big factors. My GPA was lower than yours (I had a 3.2 but my class rank was quite a bit higher at around 53rd percentile, so seems like your school may have inflated grades compared to mine from back in the olden days) and I matched to a rotating and got a path residency. A lot of the reason I think I matched where ai did was because I’d visited and they knew me. There are perhaps not as many exotics programs unfilled compared to rotatings, but the good news is that you don’t really absolutely have to go the specialty route to see exotics and be ABVP boarded. @Trilt is ABVP and used to see exotics, so she may have more insight into that route.

Thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate your insights! I am sure every school is competitive, it just feels unreal when you had 3.6 GPA one semester and you were still in the bottom 30% of the class lol. I am willing to relocate or take the time I need to become ABVP certified, it just seems a little bit unrealistic at the moment. 🙂 Hopefully things will get better!

 

[battie]

I was literally the bottom of the barrel at graduation. I had repeated first year and was 134/134 for my class. I did not go for internship or specialty for a variety of factors, but my class rank and GPA (muuuuuch lower than yours) was a factor. However, as soon as my toddler starts Pre-K, I am going to start the experiential process for ABVP boarding (dogs and cats though).

The beauty of ABVP is that you do not absolutely have to go the residency route. There is an experiential route for those who couldn't go with a residency for whatever reason. Visiting hospitals w/ ABVP folks might help assuage your fears. There's one in my neck of the woods in Denver, Colorado Exotic Animal Hospital, and one a bit more south, Peak Exotic Animal Veterinary Specialist. At least 3 ABVP exotic boarded folks between these two hospitals. Never hurts to see if you can schedule a rotation at one or both!

As the bottom of the class person, I want you to know it does get way better. No one can tell where I landed at in class rank. Your rank doesn't define what type of doc you'll be.

 

[pp9]

Hello everyone,

I’m currently a third-year veterinary student preparing to enter clinics, and I’ve been struggling quite a bit with my academic performance. My GPA is currently 3.4, and I’m in the bottom 15% of my class. With the possibility of earning another B- this semester, I’m worried my GPA and ranking may drop even further. I don’t want to make excuses, but this past year has been especially challenging. A close family member has been going through significant personal difficulties, and it’s been emotionally taxing trying to balance that with the demands of third year. While I’ve done my best to stay focused, it hasn’t been easy. It just feels like no matter how hard I try I am not good enough.

I’m deeply interested in pursuing exotic animal medicine and potentially becoming ABVP certified in the future. However, given my current academic standing, I’m feeling hopeless about my competitiveness for specialty or exotic-focused internships.

For those who have been in a similar position, how did you cope with lower class rankings? And realistically, is there still a path toward securing an exotic internship with stats like mine? I would truly appreciate any perspective or advice.

Thank you so much for your time and insight.

I was somewhere around the bottom 25% of my class with a much lower gpa and had no issues getting a rotating, I matched to my #1 choice. Truthfully if I was looking at your app and saw a 3.4 with a super low class rank, I'd be more confused about/annoyed with the school's grading system than I would be concerned about your abilities. That's just me though. You might have actually no trouble getting internships. Not every person reviewing apps really looks past the GPA, and a 3.4 is an objectively high number for vet school (although my guess is your school drastically inflates grades).

Are your clinical rotations graded or p/f?

And I totally get you're stressing now, but really all you can do is try. Don't forget that the GPA/rank is only one part of the application, you still have to have good LORs, essays, etc. and you can absolutely achieve that regardless of what your GPA is.

 

[pp9]

I was somewhere around the bottom 25% of my class with a much lower gpa and had no issues getting a rotating, I matched to my #1 choice. Truthfully if I was looking at your app and saw a 3.4 with a super low class rank, I'd be more confused about/annoyed with the school's grading system than I would be concerned about your abilities. That's just me though. You might have actually no trouble getting internships. Not every person reviewing apps really looks past the GPA, and a 3.4 is an objectively high number for vet school (although my guess is your school drastically inflates grades).

Are your clinical rotations graded or p/f?

And I totally get you're stressing now, but really all you can do is try. Don't forget that the GPA/rank is only one part of the application, you still have to have good LORs, essays, etc. and you can absolutely achieve that regardless of what your GPA is.

I should also add in that I did not apply to any particularly competitive rotating internships FWIW. If I had applied to all academic programs, or only the most well-known/popular PP programs, I probably would have had to scramble.

 

[pb&j_smoothie]

I should also add in that I did not apply to any particularly competitive rotating internships FWIW. If I had applied to all academic programs, or only the most well-known/popular PP programs, I probably would have had to scramble.

Thank you so much for your insights! 🙂)

Our class is generally full of smart people (not saying other classes are not smart), but somehow the class average are always around 85% - 95%. The exams are not easy at least from my perspective, but my classmates work very hard to receive the grades they want.

Out clinics are graded!

I am not planning to apply for the super competitive internships, I'd prefer places with good mentorship and more chill. Hopefully everything will work out well

 

[pp9]

Thank you so much for your insights! 🙂)

Our class is generally full of smart people (not saying other classes are not smart), but somehow the class average are always around 85% - 95%. The exams are not easy at least from my perspective, but my classmates work very hard to receive the grades they want.

Out clinics are graded!

I am not planning to apply for the super competitive internships, I'd prefer places with good mentorship and more chill. Hopefully everything will work out well

Not trying to suggest the grades weren’t earned but grading scales/curriculum style/other and p/f vs. graded clinics absolutely makes a difference. If you are ever in the position of looking at a few hundred intern applicants and seeing what GPAs get them a certain class rank at a certain school, it makes a little more sense!

With graded clinics, your GPA should only get higher which is good news. The downside is that is probably true for your classmates too, so your rank may not budge by much.