How important is being well rounded?

[summerwind]

I've been lurking for a few months and have finally decided to post. I've been working on resumes for internships and various other things over the summer and it occurred to me that in the course of my undergraduate work I've only taken 4 courses not directly related to pre-veterinary science/animal science (I took a few ap tests in high school and got around taking most of the gen ed requirements). Everything has either been a prereq for vet school or some other science/animal science course and most of my extracurricular activities are shadowing, working around animals (mostly horses), and being an undergraduate ta for physiology. Is that going to hurt me a lot when I apply next year? If it makes a difference I have 3 minors in addition to my major (animal science) but they're all in sciences (equine science, endocrine physiology and health sciences, and biology) so I guess that doesn't help me look very well rounded either.....

Any suggestions, advice, input is immensely appreciated. I apply next year so any advice on things I can do this year to make myself a better applicant would be absolutely AMAZING.

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[Cyndia]

Hmmm... Being well rounded is important, but I don't think it'll matter too too much if the rest of your application is really strong. It is always good to find some way to stand out though, since almost all the applicants will be heavily science/animal oriented. For myself, all my coursework was pretty much completely pre-vet/ansci other than a few gen ed requirements, but for my extracurrics I had quite a few non vet related things, like dance, music, and a few volunteer groups. Again, if the rest of your application is really strong, it's certainly not going to prevent you getting in, but if you're concerned, it could help if in the next year you maybe try to get involved with something non-animal related? Anyways, I'm just a fellow pre-vettie at the moment, so maybe some of the other vet students will have some more useful input. I would also stalk some of the stats on old accepted threads, it'll probably give you at least a few examples of people that might have gotten in with a similar backround.

 

[summerwind]

Hmmm... Being well rounded is important, but I don't think it'll matter too too much if the rest of your application is really strong. It is always good to find some way to stand out though, since almost all the applicants will be heavily science/animal oriented. For myself, all my coursework was pretty much completely pre-vet/ansci other than a few gen ed requirements, but for my extracurrics I had quite a few non vet related things, like dance, music, and a few volunteer groups. Again, if the rest of your application is really strong, it's certainly not going to prevent you getting in, but if you're concerned, it could help if in the next year you maybe try to get involved with something non-animal related? Anyways, I'm just a fellow pre-vettie at the moment, so maybe some of the other vet students will have some more useful input. I would also stalk some of the stats on old accepted threads, it'll probably give you at least a few examples of people that might have gotten in with a similar backround.

Hmmm... Being well rounded is important, but I don't think it'll matter too too much if the rest of your application is really strong. It is always good to find some way to stand out though, since almost all the applicants will be heavily science/animal oriented. For myself, all my coursework was pretty much completely pre-vet/ansci other than a few gen ed requirements, but for my extracurrics I had quite a few non vet related things, like dance, music, and a few volunteer groups. Again, if the rest of your application is really strong, it's certainly not going to prevent you getting in, but if you're concerned, it could help if in the next year you maybe try to get involved with something non-animal related? Anyways, I'm just a fellow pre-vettie at the moment, so maybe some of the other vet students will have some more useful input. I would also stalk some of the stats on old accepted threads, it'll probably give you at least a few examples of people that might have gotten in with a similar backround.

Thanks for the input. I'm mostly concerned because chem/ochem kind of slaughtered my gpa so the rest of my application might not be that strong. I did dance for a while but I haven't at all this year. I'm certified as a therapeutic riding instructor though...does that count for anything as far as standing out goes? I looked through the stats thread but that was pretty scary looking....

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Cyndia]

Ah gotcha, yeah I'm kind of in the same place (except for me it was gen chem and biochem that slaughtered my grades). I think the therapeutic riding instructor thing is neat though! And also if your grades are one of the weaker aspects of your app like mine were, I would perhaps focus on trying to take some tough classes your last year and excelling in them to show an upward trend, more so than focusing on the diversity aspect.

Oh and if it does make you feel better, just remember that it's mostly the really overachieving type A's that come posting on forums like these.. so you do tend to see slightly more higher end applicants posting stats. Or at least that's what I tell myself to make me feel better when I start to feel as if my stats are so much worse

 

[Minnerbelle]

I think being "well-rounded" is important, but I don't think academics is the only place to show that. If all of your extracurriculars are sciency +/- animal/vet related, then that might not look so good.

 

[LetItSnow]

I think being "well-rounded" is important, but I don't think academics is the only place to show that. If all of your extracurriculars are sciency +/- animal/vet related, then that might not look so good.

QFT.

It's far more about what you do outside of academics than what classes you took/take. There are positive ways to spin any choice of classes: "look at me, I'm like a laser-sharp focus and took only the pre-reqs because I've wanted to do this my whole life" or "yes, I have five majors, none of which are science, because I have a variety of interests and so thoroughly enjoy the academic process that I wanted to take advantage of this time in life to learn about blah blah blah." Either one merits you a shrug and an 'Ok, whatevs mate.'

But there's really no way to spin "I didn't do anything outside of school to contribute back to the community around me."

So when you think "well-roundedness" I'd think more along the lines of "What do I do outside of school to make myself a worthwhile community member?"

 

[beatles1964]

For me personally, I think the well-roundedness of my application is definitely paying off (I've gotten 3 interviews and 1 acceptance so far ). Ever since I was young, I have dabbled in so many different hobbies and extracurriculars both animal/science related and not. My GPA and GRE scores are about average, as are my animal and vet experience hours so I knew I needed to work on making my application stand out in another way. (I posted my stats here http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-are-my-chances.820748/page-27). Maybe you can volunteer somewhere in your community over breaks or start brainstorming examples of things you've done that aren't science/animal related. If you babysit or have a unique hobby like knitting or photography, you can definitely mention that somewhere on your application. It seems like schools not only like diversity in the types of veterinary/research/animal experiences you've had, but also in the type of person you are.

 

[summerwind]

Thanks for the input everyone. I do a lot of work with kids with disabilities, but most of it is teaching them how to ride horses/work with animals. Does that count for anything or is that have too much to do with animals? Other than that I danced for a while but I haven't been able to afford to for the last year so I'm not sure if that would be worth mentioning. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

[equineconstant]

Thanks for the input everyone. I do a lot of work with kids with disabilities, but most of it is teaching them how to ride horses/work with animals. Does that count for anything or is that have too much to do with animals? Other than that I danced for a while but I haven't been able to afford to for the last year so I'm not sure if that would be worth mentioning. Thanks again for all the advice.

If you only stopped the last year, it's probably worth putting on your app. They ask for high school awards--why wouldn't you put something you were involved in until recently?

 

[bunnity]

As long as you have your vet/animal experience covered, stop worrying about what admissions think and just do some things that make your life better and your community better. Become a well rounded person for yourself, not for your application. There will be times where vet medicine will be eating you alive and you will need to remember that you are more than just a pre-vet/vet student/veterinarian and need to turn to other areas of your life, even for a weekend, to feel happy and confident again. It doesn't have to be something "application worthy" but even if it's just baking cookies for all your friends or walking around some place with trees once in a while you need to step back and do things that have nothing to do with medicine.