First time applicant, what are my chances?

[Aye.Calypso]

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Hi guys, I’m a traditional applicant who plans on applying in September of 2025. Currently, I’m a junior entering their second semester, and as my time of application feels only a few months away, I’d really love to hear from successful vet school applicants about what they think about my current standing. Let me preface this by saying that I’m well aware there’s no secret formula to getting into vet school, but, I still enjoy constructive criticism on how my application is coming along. I recently spoke with my college advisor (who is a DVM), about what she thought, and she told me that right now I’m looking good and will be competitive as long as this semester goes as good as all the other ones, but, I still want to receive input from outside sources. 🙂 That being said, here are my stats and such:

Cumulative GPA: 3.82
Science GPA: 3.88

Research Exp: In progress, expected to have at least 50 by summer ‘25 as I’m researching with a nephrology MD this semester

Customer Service Experience: 2000+ hours and counting as a barista

Vet Experience: 580+ hours and counting
- Summer 2023: gained about 280 hours worth of experience at a mixed general practice, which covered small animals and large animals
- Summer 2024: gained over roughly 200+ hours exp at small animal clinic & gained another 100 hours of exp at mixed general practice/equine surgery clinic

Volunteer Experience: 320+ hours and counting
- 25 volunteer hours spent at Therapeutic riding barn
- 10 hours spent with Mountaintop Saddle Club, cleaning up local horse show grounds
- 20 hours of community service with National Honors Society in high school
- 20 Volunteer hours spent with my community’s Lions Club, competing various community service projects
- 80 volunteer hours from coaching MD senior and intermediate horse bowl teams
- 20 volunteer hours spent at my riding stables horse camp
- 45 volunteer hours spent at the 2018 and ‘19 Lions Club Blind Fishing Tournament
- 100 volunteer hours spent as the coaching assistant for junior and intermediate horse bowl teams

Awards & Scholarships:
- Winner of $11k Daniel E. Offet scholarship from my college
- Winner of the Lions Club $500 scholarship
- Winner of 2022 $3k Fresnius scholarship
- 2014 junior team champion at Maryland State Horse Bowl
- 2015 highest scoring junior individual at Maryland state horse bowl competition
- 2018 highest scoring intermediate individual in Maryland state horse bowl competition
- 2018 highest scoring senior individual in Maryland state horse bowl
- 2019 9th place high scoring individual at National 4h horse bowl
Extracurriculars & Leadership:
- 4h member from 2014 to 2023
- Was the president of my 4h club from 2014 to 2023
- Held dual positions in my 4h for one year as secretary and president
- Team Captain of Maryland state horse bowl team in 2019 for the 4h National Horse Bowl
- Team Captain of my county’s horse bowl team from 2014 to 2019 in Maryland state Horse Bowl Competitions
- Represented Maryland as a round table delegate at the 2020 National 4h Conference
- Was on my stables interscholastic Equestrian Association Team (IEA) all 4 years of high school
- Was a member of the National Honors Society in high school (2022)
- Currently am a 4h leader at the 4h club I used to be in
- Competed in 2024 4h livestock master showman contest
- Currently a member and the marketing manager of my community’s Lion’s Club

Animal Handling Exp: At least 10,000+ hours and counting
- 7 years of experience (roughly 3,360 hours) as a dog/cat bather and kennel attendant at two different pet boarding and grooming facilities
- One summer spent as part time stable hand at my IEA lesson stable (paid position, roughly 200 hours)
- Countless animal hours have been earned in various horse riding lesson stables with thousands of hours worth of horse handling and riding experience accumulated from 10+ years of IEA and horse riding lessons, as well as 4h experiences

*This is a rough review of things that I’ll put on my vet school application. Not all achievements, extracurriculars, and volunteer experiences are listed - only the ones I thought most relevant.
Please provide me with some feedback about what areas I should improve on in the nine months before applications are due! Thank you in advance!

 

[mkg323]

I think you have a lot going for you, just keep chipping away at those vet hours! It's awesome you have both large and small experience, at this point I'd probably prioritize what you want to get into (unless you want to do mixed in that case keep doing what your doing lol). Honestly though I think people undervalue the essays, once VMCAS opens put time into that and have several people look at them - your advisor, vets you work with, and there will be a thread on here with personal statement readers as well.

 

[indysadventures]

Hi guys, I’m a traditional applicant who plans on applying in September of 2025. Currently, I’m a junior entering their second semester, and as my time of application feels only a few months away, I’d really love to hear from successful vet school applicants about what they think about my current standing. Let me preface this by saying that I’m well aware there’s no secret formula to getting into vet school, but, I still enjoy constructive criticism on how my application is coming along. I recently spoke with my college advisor (who is a DVM), about what she thought, and she told me that right now I’m looking good and will be competitive as long as this semester goes as good as all the other ones, but, I still want to receive input from outside sources. 🙂 That being said, here are my stats and such:

Cumulative GPA: 3.82
Science GPA: 3.88

Research Exp: In progress, expected to have at least 50 by summer ‘25 as I’m researching with a nephrology MD this semester

Customer Service Experience: 2000+ hours and counting as a barista

Vet Experience: 580+ hours and counting
- Summer 2023: gained about 280 hours worth of experience at a mixed general practice, which covered small animals and large animals
- Summer 2024: gained over roughly 200+ hours exp at small animal clinic & gained another 100 hours of exp at mixed general practice/equine surgery clinic

Volunteer Experience: 320+ hours and counting
- 25 volunteer hours spent at Therapeutic riding barn
- 10 hours spent with Mountaintop Saddle Club, cleaning up local horse show grounds
- 20 hours of community service with National Honors Society in high school
- 20 Volunteer hours spent with my community’s Lions Club, competing various community service projects
- 80 volunteer hours from coaching MD senior and intermediate horse bowl teams
- 20 volunteer hours spent at my riding stables horse camp
- 45 volunteer hours spent at the 2018 and ‘19 Lions Club Blind Fishing Tournament
- 100 volunteer hours spent as the coaching assistant for junior and intermediate horse bowl teams

Awards & Scholarships:
- Winner of $11k Daniel E. Offet scholarship from my college
- Winner of the Lions Club $500 scholarship
- Winner of 2022 $3k Fresnius scholarship
- 2014 junior team champion at Maryland State Horse Bowl
- 2015 highest scoring junior individual at Maryland state horse bowl competition
- 2018 highest scoring intermediate individual in Maryland state horse bowl competition
- 2018 highest scoring senior individual in Maryland state horse bowl
- 2019 9th place high scoring individual at National 4h horse bowl
Extracurriculars & Leadership:
- 4h member from 2014 to 2023
- Was the president of my 4h club from 2014 to 2023
- Held dual positions in my 4h for one year as secretary and president
- Team Captain of Maryland state horse bowl team in 2019 for the 4h National Horse Bowl
- Team Captain of my county’s horse bowl team from 2014 to 2019 in Maryland state Horse Bowl Competitions
- Represented Maryland as a round table delegate at the 2020 National 4h Conference
- Was on my stables interscholastic Equestrian Association Team (IEA) all 4 years of high school
- Was a member of the National Honors Society in high school (2022)
- Currently am a 4h leader at the 4h club I used to be in
- Competed in 2024 4h livestock master showman contest
- Currently a member and the marketing manager of my community’s Lion’s Club

Animal Handling Exp: At least 10,000+ hours and counting
- 7 years of experience (roughly 3,360 hours) as a dog/cat bather and kennel attendant at two different pet boarding and grooming facilities
- One summer spent as part time stable hand at my IEA lesson stable (paid position, roughly 200 hours)
- Countless animal hours have been earned in various horse riding lesson stables with thousands of hours worth of horse handling and riding experience accumulated from 10+ years of IEA and horse riding lessons, as well as 4h experiences

*This is a rough review of things that I’ll put on my vet school application. Not all achievements, extracurriculars, and volunteer experiences are listed - only the ones I thought most relevant.
Please provide me with some feedback about what areas I should improve on in the nine months before applications are due! Thank you in advance!

I think you have excellent stats, and a great shot quantitatively. As another has said, many undervalue the qualitative aspects of your application - LORs, essays, experience descriptions, and your personal statement. Really hone your personal statement, start brainstorming now around “why veterinary medicine?” Get lots of feedback and make your written portions as polished as possible. Lean into non-veterinary and non-animal experiences, and don’t be afraid to discuss these in essays.