- Joined
- Apr 9, 2009
- Messages
- 196
- Reaction score
- 1
Hi all,
I was hoping some of you may have some insight regarding this concern of mine.
I graduated from college in '05 and was not really planning on ever attending veterinary school. I was a philosophy and environmental politics major in college and naturally assumed I'd go to law school. Even when I began becoming really interested in animals and conservation, I thought my only option would be to pursue conservation/environmental law. After being accepted to law school two years ago and not feeling at all excited about it, I realized I needed a new direction and found my love in vet med.
Okay, so being a more liberal arts based college student, I did not take much science, and of what I did take, I did not do well. I took Into Chem my first year, and General Bio my second year, and I think I got C+s or B-s in both courses. At the time, like I said, I had no real motivation to focus on those courses, plus I was a college athlete and super involved in other activities. They were just not a priority. I went to a very competitive college too, so the competition in the classes was fierce and I just didn't have the passion for them. Had I found my calling back then, I would have probably chosen different priorities and done well. So, the point is, I don't think those courses reflect my capabilities, just where I was in life at that time.
Now, those courses are like seven years behind me, and I am retaking the prerequisites. I am actually retaking the courses at UC Davis, as this is the vet school I would like to attend. So far, I am doing very well in them. I received A+s in chemistry.
I will ideally pull off a very high prereq GPA. However, I am so concerned that those previous courses will forever haunt me. If my old chem grade is averaged in with my new chem grade, well that ends up at about a B. Same with Bio. I also had a B in Calculus in college, which I was not planning to retake. So, if the grades are averaged, I'm looking at more of a B average, which is certainly not screaming out to the admissions committess to grant me an interview.
So, I am wondering if one, the admissions committees are usually pretty strict about averaging old grades with new? two, if they say that they are, but really forgive old bad grades if someone has, years later, taken the courses over again and done really well, especially at their own university, and three, if the admissions committees even individually view changes in courses grades or just average them together on some computer system and never even see the improvement?
I hope this makes sense. I would really appreciate any insight. I would just hate to think I am working this hard, spending all this money (!!) and time if I'm just not even going to have a shot because of poor grades in the past...
Thank you all!
I was hoping some of you may have some insight regarding this concern of mine.
I graduated from college in '05 and was not really planning on ever attending veterinary school. I was a philosophy and environmental politics major in college and naturally assumed I'd go to law school. Even when I began becoming really interested in animals and conservation, I thought my only option would be to pursue conservation/environmental law. After being accepted to law school two years ago and not feeling at all excited about it, I realized I needed a new direction and found my love in vet med.
Okay, so being a more liberal arts based college student, I did not take much science, and of what I did take, I did not do well. I took Into Chem my first year, and General Bio my second year, and I think I got C+s or B-s in both courses. At the time, like I said, I had no real motivation to focus on those courses, plus I was a college athlete and super involved in other activities. They were just not a priority. I went to a very competitive college too, so the competition in the classes was fierce and I just didn't have the passion for them. Had I found my calling back then, I would have probably chosen different priorities and done well. So, the point is, I don't think those courses reflect my capabilities, just where I was in life at that time.
Now, those courses are like seven years behind me, and I am retaking the prerequisites. I am actually retaking the courses at UC Davis, as this is the vet school I would like to attend. So far, I am doing very well in them. I received A+s in chemistry.
I will ideally pull off a very high prereq GPA. However, I am so concerned that those previous courses will forever haunt me. If my old chem grade is averaged in with my new chem grade, well that ends up at about a B. Same with Bio. I also had a B in Calculus in college, which I was not planning to retake. So, if the grades are averaged, I'm looking at more of a B average, which is certainly not screaming out to the admissions committess to grant me an interview.
So, I am wondering if one, the admissions committees are usually pretty strict about averaging old grades with new? two, if they say that they are, but really forgive old bad grades if someone has, years later, taken the courses over again and done really well, especially at their own university, and three, if the admissions committees even individually view changes in courses grades or just average them together on some computer system and never even see the improvement?
I hope this makes sense. I would really appreciate any insight. I would just hate to think I am working this hard, spending all this money (!!) and time if I'm just not even going to have a shot because of poor grades in the past...
Thank you all!
