Do I have good chance getting into a vet school?

[Eunice Cho]

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Hi, I'm planning to apply for 2011 and wondering if I have good chance getting into a vet school.
overall GPA 3.51
science GPA 3.52
last 45 credits GPA 3.70
I haven't took GRE yet, but my goal is 1300 (600v,700q)
The problem is I don't have much experience..🙁
I have been shadowing a vet at a private clinic since october, 2009, and I'm doing an internship at the zoo at the mammals department (usually at elephants barn).
o,, I'm a regular member in tribeta national biology club.

I guess I'm just really worried I don't have fancy activity/volunteer/experience history like a lot of people who got accepted to vet schools.

Considering my grades and experience, somebody PLEASE help me understand where I'm standing among the thousands of applicants!!

Thanks everyon in advance 🙂

 

[variegata]

It's really too much of a crapshoot for anyone to tell you where you stand compared to everyone else. I'd say your grades are within the "normal" range, but that alone is not gonna get you into school. Experience is very important, though nobody can say how little is too little.

You really won't know until you apply. Schools vary in what they're looking for in a student, so you may or may not fit the bill.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I would recommend you look through the "Successful applicant stats C/O 2014" thread. Many people have kindly posted their profiles and where they were accepted to give others an idea of what worked.

Of course, each individual is different but see who reminds you of your own situation and see where they were successful. It is no guarantee but you are the best judge of how you compare.

Don't be discouraged that some people have amazing grades or amazing experience, just look for profiles that match the most. If you can't find anything, then perhaps there is information in that as well.

I assume there was a similar thread last year if you check, if you want more profiles. Many people (like me) haven't posted yet because they are awaiting all the decisions.

Good luck.

ps - many, many people take some time off after undergrad to gain more experience. nothing wrong with that!

 

[Eunice Cho]

Thanks for your encouraging post 🙂
I'm a new user of SDN, I'll definately take a look at the stats of c/o 2014.

 

[HopefulAg]

I got in with less, so yes, it's possible.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Hi, I'm planning to apply for 2011 and wondering if I have good chance getting into a vet school.
overall GPA 3.51
science GPA 3.52
last 45 credits GPA 3.70
I haven't took GRE yet, but my goal is 1300 (600v,700q)
The problem is I don't have much experience..🙁
I have been shadowing a vet at a private clinic since october, 2009, and I'm doing an internship at the zoo at the mammals department (usually at elephants barn).
o,, I'm a regular member in tribeta national biology club.

I guess I'm just really worried I don't have fancy activity/volunteer/experience history like a lot of people who got accepted to vet schools.

Considering my grades and experience, somebody PLEASE help me understand where I'm standing among the thousands of applicants!!

Thanks everyon in advance 🙂

I don't know, that doesn't sound like "not much experience" to me. Your experience sounds pretty diverse (small & clinic alongside zoo & large), so as long as you work to bulk up the volume of hours, that should be just fine. Remember, too, that how you present that experience is important - not in the sense of padding résumés, but with respect to being able to express the relevance of your volunteer experience to your career goals in essay and interview format.

 

[that redhead]

I'm in the reverse situation: I have enough experience to hand out to a small country but my GPA barely makes most schools' cut-off. I'm going to be banking on good GREs and a stellar last 45 credit hours to even hit a 3.1. I know I'm no school's ideal candidate, but I'm not going to let it deter me.

I'd say get out there and start finding some experiences if you don't feel confident in what you have.

 

[that70sfan11]

and don't worry! you still have plenty of time to get experience! everything counts until you submit your app!

your grades are pretty good, but just in case, definitely spend some time studying for the GRE and if you do well in that, that will help you out in the "stats" section

but keep your head up! I'm super jealous of your internship... I've been working forever trying to get some kind of experience in a zoo, and I always fail haha

 

[gilch]

Hi, I'm planning to apply for 2011 and wondering if I have good chance getting into a vet school.
overall GPA 3.51
science GPA 3.52
last 45 credits GPA 3.70
I haven't took GRE yet, but my goal is 1300 (600v,700q)
The problem is I don't have much experience..🙁
I have been shadowing a vet at a private clinic since october, 2009, and I'm doing an internship at the zoo at the mammals department (usually at elephants barn).
o,, I'm a regular member in tribeta national biology club.

I guess I'm just really worried I don't have fancy activity/volunteer/experience history like a lot of people who got accepted to vet schools.

Considering my grades and experience, somebody PLEASE help me understand where I'm standing among the thousands of applicants!!

Thanks everyone in advance 🙂

I wanted to point out that banking on a certain GRE score is not a good idea. Have you been taking GRE practice tests and are going off those scores? Those may or may not be a good predictor of a test score. Personally, I did about 150 + points better on the actual tests than I had been doing in practice tests but did far worse in the writing than I expected. Others I know rocked the practice tests but did about -150 on the actual test(s). Just don't count your chickens before they hatch.

The elephant internship sounds really great and something that might set you apart from some other applicants. Some vet schools really like variety of experiences, some really like to see dedication to your area of interests, and some really want to see research experience on your application. Your recent GPA is great. You might want to start looking at particular vet schools and try to see which ones might be easier for you to get accepted. Look at your instate or contract schools in particular.

Good luck!

 

[that redhead]

If it makes you feel any better, I've got a weak 3.2, and 1220 GRE, and I've got three waitlists, and another interview to go. I also had craploads of experience, in small animal, equine, large animal, emergency, etc. If they consider me, surely they'll consider you!

It does make me feel better, actually. Thank you and good luck! 🙂

 

[Tobysgirl81]

My GPA was a 3.0 with a 3.7ish for the last 45 hours. GRE was a 1280 q/v with a 5.5 A . I have (not trying to sound bigger/badder than I am) TONS of experience in large and small animal medicine. I managed to get in to VMRCVM this year 🙂 I always figure if I could get in, pretty much ANYONE has a shot at getting in!

 

[Eunice Cho]

Thank you so much everyone!!
Now I feel like I can face this and start preparing for applications. 🙂
I think I'm going to apply to about 10 schools in the states and possibly RUSVM 🙂

 

[twelvetigers]

Post on the successful applicants thread if you haven't!

 

[HopefulAg]

I think I'm going to apply to about 10 schools in the states and possibly RUSVM 🙂

Just be aware that it cost me ~$4,000 to apply to 7 schools and interview at 4 of them. Be sure you can afford to apply to that many.

 

[scubblescully]

I would just try to get as much of a variety of experience as you can and try to learn as much as you can about the profession instead of just trying to get a set number of hours. I think they look to see that you have an understanding of the profession and have tried to see different sides of it more than they look to see if you have 20 million hours. I had a 2.78 after 2 years of college and no experience but in my application I stressed my turn around after I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian and showed how my very limited experiences have given me an understanding of the profession and I was accepted to two schools this year. Good luck over the next year! Your in a great position now to set yourself up as a really good applicant 7 months from now!

 

[Tiktaalik]

Thank you so much everyone!!
Now I feel like I can face this and start preparing for applications. 🙂
I think I'm going to apply to about 10 schools in the states and possibly RUSVM 🙂

Uffda, what HopefulAg said - that sounds super-expensive. I only applied to 2 and the process was still pretty costly. If you want to maximize your chances and minimize costs, it might be better to apply to your IS and 4-5 schools that (a) you like and (b) take a large % of OOS applicants. Remember that most schools will want supplemental applications and (hopefully!) interviews from you as well, and if you take the carpet-bombing approach, you may find that you won't be able to focus enough effort on any individual application.

Of course, if you can afford it and think you have enough time, applying to a lot of schools will statistically be your best bet. On the one hand, you don't want to dangerously reduce your chances, but on the other, you don't want to lay out an excessive amount of money and effort beyond what is actually necessary.

 

[ginger17317]

Definitely do-able...

I have 1 acceptance, 1 waitlist (at a school that goes through most of their wait-list) and waiting to hear from the last school.
All that with a 3.5 Cum at time of application, under a 3.0 science, and about a 3.2 last 45. 780 math, 560 verbal, 5.5 writing. Over 1800 hours Small Animal, clinic (volunteer & work). No large or exotic or research experience.

Tip on how I applied:
rank schools by OOS acceptance rate, then by GPA. Look what fits you the best - the highest OOS acceptances then GPA's in your range. Beyond that, I considered location, which was more important to me than the cost of attendance or other pre-reqs that I might need to take - and GRE over 1200 is usually good enough for most schools, so I ddn't worry about that too much.
Letters of req and whether schools accepted AP credits factored into it, also...
I applied to 7 school - 3 "reaches", 3 "most likelies" & my IS.
I had decided that it would be better to take a year off than apply to out-of-country my first application cycle.

Hope that helps 🙂

 

[ginger17317]

Also, if I had to re-apply, I wouldn't have applied to Missouri (didn't realize their GPA application basis - mistake on my part) or Auburn. So that would have left me with Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Texas, & NC state. 😀