How to be a Competitive Applicant without a Science Degree?

[ThePiedPiper]

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I'm new to the forums, graduating with my Bachelor's in Psychology this coming March. The story of why I changed is a long one and, in my opinion, not important enough to include in an opening post, but if anyone's curious, they can ask. All I'll say is that this is not a wavering decision. It is a conclusive one, and three more required years of undergraduate education or not, I am pursuing veterinary medicine regardless of how many times I need apply.

However, I would be lying if I said I'm not concerned about the fact I am a student with a soft science degree, and so I am looking for suggestions on how I can make my application more competitive. My stats are as follows:

Undergraduate GPA: 3.2
Last 45 Units: 3.6
Senior Year GPA (graduating early): 3.8

Science GPA: TBD
GRE Scores: TBD

Animal Experience:
- Veterinary assistant at a small animal dentistry clinic
- Currently being trained as a veterinary assistant at a small animal general practice
- Internship, beginning in April, working with horses and doing research on horse cognition
- This summer, I will be working at the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center as a volunteer and potential foster. I will also be working at another local veterinary hospital if they need help with the boarding kennels
- A couple years' worth of work working with animal shelters in another CA county
- Fostered for an animal shelter relief organization
- A couple years working with therapeutic riding programs and developmentally disabled children and adults

Other:
- Employed as a tutor and life coach for students with autism, Asperger's, ADHD and/or learning disabilities
- Founder of a local pre-vet club
- Involved in running groups/clubs, kickboxing, pilates, yoga, etc. and dance (salsa and bellydance)
- Wide variety of animal ownership and experience, including rehabilitation of aggressive and reactive animals
- I have done a lot of solo travelling and hope to participate in at least one animal-related (spay/neuter clinic, working with sea turtles, working with elephant rehab, etc.) month abroad before applying
- I do cat training and cat agility as a hobby, though not sure if this counts 😛

Notes:
- I have about three years of pre-requisites left to do, so that's why my science GPA is listed as TBD. I am aiming to keep it at a 3.7-4.0.

- I have maintained a 3.8 average GPA in my senior year while working 20-30 hours a week.

- My undergraduate GPA is being brought down by a D in my first quarter of freshman year (I regret that I got a D but do not regret how I got the D) and two Cs from a quarter in junior year, but I am hoping to explain the two Cs as they were the result of the death of someone very, very close to me/my family that quarter. The rest of my grades are As and Bs.
** I should also note that these grades are weighing heavier on my GPA because of part-time quarters in freshman and sophomore year as per my therapist's recommendation, as I was struggling with my mental health. I have maintained full-time status the last two years and will maintain full-time student status until completion of my pre-reqs/electives. I came in with college credits (I was a dually enrolled college/high school student) so I could afford to take them, and they were what was best for my mental health at the time, but I am worried about how vet schools will perceive them.


If it counts, the top schools I'm interested in are:
Western U (IS)
Colorado (OOS)
Davis (IS) or Washington (OOS)

What would you say I should aim for on the GRE given my stats? And how else do you feel I can beef up my application? I will be applying in 2015.

 

[futurehealervet]

First off, I don't think it matters what subject you get your degree in. Everyone is still taking the same prereqs. Based on the fact that you have quite a way to go in terms of classes, you will have a good opportunity to bring your GPA up, which is great. In the book written by the former director of admissions for cornell, he says that optimally, you would want these percentiles for these gpas:
69% 4.0
73% 3.9
77% 3.8
81% 3.7
84% 3.6
87% 3.5
90% 3.4
you get the idea. Your experience sounds pretty varied, just make sure to have a few hundred SA and LA veterinary hours.

 

[equineconstant]

I'm a psychology major too, and I've been accepted to 3 schools and am waiting to hear back from one more, so it can definitely be done. 🙂
-Try to get above average for the schools you're applying to on the GRE to offset your lower cumulative GPA. You should have a better idea what the new GRE scores should be like once the schools post their stats from this year.
-I'm not sure how many credits you already have; with three years of prereqs left you might be able to raise your cumulative GPA to be more competitive. I didn't apply to any of the schools you listed, but check how they look at GPA as well; it will probably go better for you if you apply to schools that focus on science GPA/last 45 more than overall. Also, particularly since those are low courseload semester, depending on how long ago they were you might be able to have those grades forgiven.
-Show your dedication to vet med (founding a pre-vet club definitely helps with this!). I'm a traditional student, and all of my internship experience is vet-related. I think that helps show that vet med is what I really want to do, even if my major doesn't say "animal science" or something.
-Get varied vet experience. It looks like you're on the right track for this with the wildlife and equine stuff in addition to small animal. but make sure you're getting vet experience instead of just animal experience if you can. I actually did some equine vet experience abroad in Ireland; you can PM me if you want to know more about it.
-Play up the connection between psychology and vet med! Every pet comes with an owner. The 2015 MCAT is actually going to require psychology because it's so important for physicians dealing with patients, and that applies to us, too. I'm writing a thesis right now for psychology about communication in vet med (more from a training perspective of what it should look like in education, but it's still relevant).

If you keep up your GPA in the prereqs, especially with full courseloads, I'd say you look like a pretty darn competitive applicant to me. Good luck!

 

[ThePiedPiper]

Thank you both!

To clarify, I am a hired veterinary assistant. I am working at a small animal dentistry clinic and will hopefully be bumped up to 20+ hours a week once I graduate. I am also being trained as a veterinary assistant at another clinic, though that's currently on a volunteer-only basis. Either way, I am expecting to have 1500-2000 SA veterinary experience hours as a veterinary assistant by the time I apply. I am hoping to eventually work in a LA veterinary setting, but as it stands, most of my LA experience is going to be with research and through therapeutic riding programs.

@equineconstant: Nice to meet another psychology major going into the profession! I decided to finish out my pscyhology degree and drop my education minor when I decided to pursue veterinary, so the next three years will be all pre-requisites and electives. I am hoping that maintaining a high GPA in those courses, even if they don't result in a second degree, will help factor in to my undergraduate GPA.

As I stated earlier, I am already hired as a veterinary assistant in two places, so I am obtaining veterinary experience and will continue to gain experience until admission. I am a bit stuck for where to look for LA veterinary experience, but I know one of the assistants at my dentistry clinic is also an assistant for a LA veterinarian, so once I become more skilled as an assistant (as I am being trained from the ground up), I might end up picking her brain. Your experience sounds amazing. I will definitely PM you to learn more about it.

Thank you so much for your help! It definitely helps to hear from someone who is/was in my position. I know that my degree can only serve me - I honestly feel that a lot of professions should require x-amount of psychology courses - but I'm sure we've all had that one person in our lives who tells you you can't and here's all the reasons why. 🙄 My grandfather has pretty much ground into me that if I don't have a 4.0+ GPA or a hard science degree, I'm practically useless, but I'll take your word for it that it can be done.

The tip about applying to schools who emphasise the last 45 units is a good one, too. I didn't think about that or even consider that there were schools who looked at that over the overall GPA! Thank you very much for your help!

Edit: I'll admit I am a bit worried on the GRE because I don't always test well on those types of exams (my SAT scores were average at best) and don't have the finances to do a Kaplan course. However, I have been doing practice tests and have been studying a lot of GRE material etc. and plan to do the best I can and practice as often as I can and then retake the test to obtain higher scores if I need to. I simply am hoping the GRE is not make or break for me.

 

[cowgirla]

Some applicants have degrees in psychology, engineering, theology, languages, music, art, dance, theater, math, whatever. As long as you get your prereqs it doesn't make a difference. And some people think it gives you an "advantage" because you'll stand out from the crowd.

If you're worried about the GRE, take it early and plan on taking it twice.


Oh, and 24 is not necessarily a non-trad. There are vet students who worked "in the real world" for 15-20 years before applying to vet school in their 40s or even later.

 

[ThePiedPiper]

Some applicants have degrees in psychology, engineering, theology, languages, music, art, dance, theater, math, whatever. As long as you get your prereqs it doesn't make a difference. And some people think it gives you an "advantage" because you'll stand out from the crowd.

If you're worried about the GRE, take it early and plan on taking it twice.


Oh, and 24 is not necessarily a non-trad. There are vet students who worked "in the real world" for 15-20 years before applying to vet school in their 40s or even later.

I had assumed I was non-traditional based on my age and the fact I didn't do any of my pre-reqs in my undergraduate course career, but maybe I can remove that part of my thread then. Whoopsies. 😛

Thank you for the suggestion. I plan to take it at some point this year to get a baseline and go from there.

Edit: Signed up for a practice GRE next Saturday. Hopefully that will give me some baseline scores to go from.

 

[Lupin21]

I definitely agree with everyone that your previous degree is not at all detrimental. The biggest thing you have to face is that you need to see if you are in fact a good science student. Having plenty of animal and veterinary experience is great, but you need to make sure that science is for you. When you've got more of these classes done, the evaluation of your stats will be more accurate. In the mean time, GRE scores are something that also vary widely school to school for acceptance percentages. and best wishes for success in your upcoming application! I will always root for anyone willing to put themselves out there 🙂

 

[ThePiedPiper]

I definitely agree with everyone that your previous degree is not at all detrimental. The biggest thing you have to face is that you need to see if you are in fact a good science student. Having plenty of animal and veterinary experience is great, but you need to make sure that science is for you. When you've got more of these classes done, the evaluation of your stats will be more accurate. In the mean time, GRE scores are something that also vary widely school to school for acceptance percentages. and best wishes for success in your upcoming application! I will always root for anyone willing to put themselves out there 🙂

Thank you! I loved biology when I took it in high school (though I'm taking General Bio and Intro to Chem in the fall to get my feet wet again, since it's been six years or so...) and I absolutely adored the science courses I had to take for my GEs. I passed them with good grades, other than the C that was one of the two Cs I mentioned in my original post.

The main reason I shied away from science originally was the fact that my science courses in high school were taught by an incompetent art teacher, and my self-esteem was still low enough by the time I had to choose a major that I didn't think I was smart enough to do science, despite doing well in all my science-oriented classes. I definitely think I'll know more after I've redone my basic Bio and Chem courses though, but I'm dedicated enough to know that so long as I don't hate it, it's something I can do and will excel at. Some subjects might just need a little bit more studying than others! 🙂 Thank you so much for your encouragement.

 

[Trematode]

This may be the stupidest comment ever, but I swore Psychology is a science. My university only offered a BSc in Psychology. It is arguably one of the "easier" sciences but not much so.

 

[Emiloo4]

This may be the stupidest comment ever, but I swore Psychology is a science. My university only offered a BSc in Psychology. It is arguably one of the "easier" sciences but not much so.

At least at my university, you didn't have to take the higher level maths and sciences (reqd for vet school) to receive your psychology degree. I also had issues when doing research bc my canine epilepsy project was through a psychology professor and I had to fight with my biology department to count it as research in my degree. So it may be considered a science, but the pre reqs are less vigorous than your other sciences. Again, just from my exposure of it.

 

[cs5910]

This may be the stupidest comment ever, but I swore Psychology is a science. My university only offered a BSc in Psychology. It is arguably one of the "easier" sciences but not much so.

Trematode, I have thought the same thing since this thread started, but I didn't want to sound dumb if I was wrong! Haha At my school it sounds like the BSc in Psych is about the same as at Emilio's UG. Its a science, but the requirements to grad are nothing like a Bio/Chem degree.... It is a science nontheless.

I would supplement the BSc in Psych with the vet pre-reqs and a bunch of upper science electives to show the adcoms I can handle a rigorous science degree.

 

[Emiloo4]

Trematode, I have thought the same thing since this thread started, but I didn't want to sound dumb if I was wrong! Haha At my school it sounds like the BSc in Psych is about the same as at Emilio's UG. Its a science, but the requirements to grad are nothing like a Bio/Chem degree.... It is a science nontheless.

I would supplement the BSc in Psych with the vet pre-reqs and a bunch of upper science electives to show the adcoms I can handle a rigorous science degree.

Yeah and I'm sure you could replace the usual math and science pre reqs for psychology with vet school pre reqs. Psych only requires the lower level ones, but they will obviously accept higher ones too.

 

[equineconstant]

This may be the stupidest comment ever, but I swore Psychology is a science. My university only offered a BSc in Psychology. It is arguably one of the "easier" sciences but not much so.

Until I saw that OP was a psych major, I was going to start my post with "well, mine's a SOCIAL science..." At my school it's a BA, but so is physics and dance is a BS. It has to do more with how much practical vs. theoretical experience you get, I think.

 

[StartingoverVet]

For Colorado, make sure you take upper level science/bio classes, not just the pre-reqs. That was a major reason I was Waitlisted (and lack of diversity of experience for me). They really want to see you do well in those upper level classes. I am pretty sure that is kind of true for Western as well. I think they have more required pre-reqs than other schools.

Not sure where you are from, but Davis OOS might not be a good choice for you (unless of course you are from California), and really the same thing for Colorado. You have picked 2 of the hardest schools to get into as an OOS student, and then your GPA is going to be problematic.

I think you need to do a little more research about which schools are more realistic to get into as an OOS student, and what the requirements for each school are. I just don't think CSU and Davis are good choices (and I think WSU is also tough OOS) unless you are IS (or stand out more from your peers). I., for example, only applied (as an older non-traditional) to schools that had a minimum of pre-reqs.

 

[ThePiedPiper]

I feel like my wording is being scrutinized here. 😛 A lot of people (at least in my experience) consider psychology a soft science. Something like Biopsychology or Neuropsychology might pass more into the realm of the biological sciences, but as it stands, Psychology is still considered a lesser science than something like Biology, Chemistry, etc. based on the fact it's less rigourous. This might depend on whether you do a B.A. or B.S. but my school offers a B.A. My only science has been for GEs and I'm doing a biologically-oriented course for my last cognitive psych requirement. I also did statistics, but that's about as much math and science was involved in my degree (other than pre-calc). What I meant by "without a science degree" is that I'm not a Bio, Chem, Biochem, Animal Science, etc. major that a lot of people recommend for pre-vet or pre-med tracks if the school does not have a pre-vet or pre-med program specifically. Hopefully that clears up what I meant?

@StartingoverVet: Colorado is OOS. Davis is IS and so is Western U. My main reasons for choosing Colorado are based on some of the professionals I have spoken to (not in the veterinary program, however) that have come out of Colorado or that currently teach at Colorado, and if I had to choose somewhere to live other than California, it would be Colorado. I'm not sure if Davis and Western U being my IS schools changes your opinion any. I have looked at the requirements and realise it's going to be difficult, but I also feel that if I can maintain a 3.7+ science GPA, good GRE scores and have 4,000+ hours of veterinary and animal experience, I'll be a competitive applicant. I also can write a killer personal statement, have people willing to write me glowing LoR, and I interview well, though I'm aware Colorado does not interview.

Western U requires 9 credits of upper division biological and life sciences. I will be taking around 4 electives in the next three years in sciences that count for those upper divs, as I am simultaneously working to meet the requirements of Davis and Western since they're both my IS schools. I figure that if I meet both their requirements, I can apply almost anywhere. My dream school, however, is Western U, and my GPA is not too far behind the average GPA of the 2016 graduating class (3.3). I am hoping that maintaining good grades in my science courses (as I am overall an A, B student) will help me be even more competitive when applying to somewhere like Davis, but we'll see what happens.

What are some schools you would recommend? Or that you applied to? I know I've been told I might want to consider schools in places like Missouri, but I would rather apply a few cycles, I think, than move somewhere I would not be happy. As it stands, my plan is to apply to Western U (IS), Davis (IS), Colorado (OOS), Washington (OOS), Oregon (OOS), and potentially a foreign school as well. This might change as the classes change in three years, but I need a goal to keep in sight and at least a dream school to aim for. 😛

Edit: I also want to note that I am not necessarily competitive anywhere if you look at my undergraduate GPA only at university. /: I'm assuming that my pre-requisite performance will ultimately factor in to my total undergraduate GPA? Even though it will be done at two different colleges?

 

[StartingoverVet]

Being IS for Western is irrelevant, it is a private school.

You need to ace your upper level bio classes to be competitive at CSU. Make sure you take more than just the minimum pre-reqs. They want to see more than that.

I am not the right person to tell you where else to apply.. There are plenty of threads addressing that subject, you should search through some of those, but also look at the VMCAS book or on-line to get an idea of the odds and requirements at various schools.

 

[gugoodoll]

Just as an FYI, this year Davis did not take into account IS/OOS. They took the top 138 scoring MMI interviewees out of the 240 that were chosen based upon everything else (GRE, GPA, experience, etc) and then accepted those 138 without regard to residency 😳)

 

[StartingoverVet]

Just as an FYI, this year Davis did not take into account IS/OOS. They took the top 138 scoring MMI interviewees out of the 240 that were chosen based upon everything else (GRE, GPA, experience, etc) and then accepted those 138 without regard to residency 😳)

Well, that's a big change!

 

[gugoodoll]

Well, that's a big change!

Yes it is 🙁 I got waitlisted far down after majorly sucking at the MMI interview.

Of course Davis had to change their entire admissions procedure the year I decide to apply. Not to mention that it was the only school I applied to 🙄

 

[ThePiedPiper]

@StartingoverVet: I knew it was private (comes with the price tag 😛), but I'm still learning the politics of IS versus OOS. The way I've been approaching it is apply to both IS because from what I've read here, people say you have the greatest chance of getting into IS (although now that Davis is not considering IS/OOS, yikes!), but thank you very much for your advice about Colorado. I do plan on acing a lot of the upper division electives I have chosen and I will have quite a few more classes than what CO requires, so hopefully that and doing well in those courses will count for something. Thank you again!

Edit: And I have print-outs of the requirements and statistics of my chosen schools and also have a book on getting into veterinary school as well, which has also helped me determine where I need to strengthen my app (for example, higher GRE scores to balance out psychology GPA), so that's helped. I'm more about aiming for schools and improving my application to be competitive at those schools since I have three years to do it more than I am about lowering my expectations at this point. So I'll keep those in mind for helping me stay on top of my performance in doing my next three years! 🙂

 

[StartingoverVet]

@StartingoverVet: I knew it was private (comes with the price tag 😛), but I'm still learning the politics of IS versus OOS. The way I've been approaching it is apply to both IS because from what I've read here, people say you have the greatest chance of getting into IS (although now that Davis is not considering IS/OOS, yikes!), but thank you very much for your advice about Colorado. I do plan on acing a lot of the upper division electives I have chosen and I will have quite a few more classes than what CO requires, so hopefully that and doing well in those courses will count for something. Thank you again!

Edit: And I have print-outs of the requirements and statistics of my chosen schools and also have a book on getting into veterinary school as well, which has also helped me determine where I need to strengthen my app (for example, higher GRE scores to balance out psychology GPA), so that's helped. I'm more about aiming for schools and improving my application to be competitive at those schools since I have three years to do it more than I am about lowering my expectations at this point. So I'll keep those in mind for helping me stay on top of my performance in doing my next three years! 🙂

Generally you apply to IS because:
1) It is MUCH cheaper.
2) It is much easier to get in.

Unfortunately, now in CA neither of those are particularly true. There are OOS schools that are much cheaper than IS at Davis (and Western is near/at the top for cost). Oklahoma for example.

And based on gugo's comment you have no advantage at Davis anymore (never did at Western).... so I wouldn't focus on IS in your case.
Sorry.

But like you said, you are focusing on getting the best application possible, and that is all you can do.

 

[hygebeorht]

I have exactly zero science degrees and I've been accepted to five schools so far, so it can definitely be done.

Here are the most important bits of advice I have to offer:

1. Knock out your basic pre-reqs by studying on your own and taking CLEP tests. You mentioned you took Bio back in the day, and maybe some Chem? Passing a CLEP test is cheaper and easier than taking beginning Biology again, and all but one of the schools I applied to will accept that credit. Colorado and Davis certainly do. I took Biology as a HS sophomore and with minimal studying I was able to pass the CLEP. And my sophomore year of HS was like 13 years ago. By knocking out prereqs with test scores, you'll be in those upper-division classes much faster, and they are important. Another option is to just show up for the Bio lectures or Chem lectures and take the CLEP at the end of the semester. This way you can learn the material without paying for more credit hours, which helps if you max yourself out at 18 credit hours. These general classes tend to be huge lectures with many sections, so you shouldn't have trouble finding one to squeeze into your schedule.

2. Take the highest-level classes you can talk your way into. Don't have the prereq taken care of yet (like Bio 101) but you have a decent understanding? Email the professors and explain your situation. While it's important to take classes you are interested in and that you need for your application, if you find you have extra credit hours hanging around, fill them with the highest-level science classes you can talk your way into. 300-level is good, 400- and 500- level is even better. It may take you a semester or two before you can do this, but try. I started taking science classes two years ago in January, and by that August, I was in a 500-level graduate physiology course (I got an A, too). Get into higher-level classes as fast as possible. StartingoverVet knows what they are talking about.

3. Take summer classes. A lot of them. This will significantly cut the time you need to get your ducks in a line to apply. And since summer classes consist of the same material in half the time, taking lots of hard classes over the summer can look very good, especially if you do well.

4. Move and get residency in the state of your #1 choice. While having a non-trad degree helps people like us stand out, we do have to prove that we are dedicated to our new career choice. Talk to the admissions counselors at your #1 choice, tell them you are super-dedicated and are moving to the state to take your prereqs at their school. Not only will you have better odds of getting in, but you can get great recommendations and volunteer or work in their vet teaching hospital. If everyone knows how awesome you are, it can help your cause. And paying OOS for undergrad prereqs for a year is much more affordable than four years of OOS tuition, ESPECIALLY at CSU (2nd most expensive for OOS tuition in the country).

5. Keep cracking away at those vet and animal hours. If possible, go for the most unpleasant and difficult work you can find, or the work where you see a huge variety of things. If the work involves lots of necropsies, euthanasias, slaughter, or whatever, that will probably help you demonstrate your dedication to vet med. As non-trad graduates, we must prove three things: that we are super-dedicated to vet med, we know what we are getting into, and we can absolutely blow the top off of high-level science courses. Of course, paid work is great too, so I guess if you have paid work at a shelter or SA clinic you should probably hang on to that. But look for research work or production animal work too.

6. Find non-trad friends who are trying to do the same thing you are. If you do your prereqs at a school that has a vet program, you will find a few in most of your classes. It's great to have a buddy in your classes who knows what you're putting yourself through. I've had great friends over the last few years who were beefing their apps after coming from either working or a non-hard-science degree. We helped each other out and had a great time studying together. One of my friends is in vet school now, and another finally decided it wasn't really for her after all.

7. Finally, once you have a lot of science under your belt, don't worry if you're rejected on your first application, or second. It may behoove you to pick up a science degree. CSU has some excellent Plan B Masters programs in Biomedical Science and Toxicology that can be completed in a year. That way, you'll be pursuing a grad degree in the sciences next application cycle, and that'll show that you can hack it in graduate science classes.

8. Lastly, let this temper how much you sign yourself up for: you can make up more vet hours, but it is much harder to fix bad grades. Only give yourself a workload that you can handle while getting as many As as you can. Getting bad grades in the sciences after coming from a "softer" degree will be a dealbreaker, so this should be your #1 priority.

Many (not all) science people can be dismissive of those who do not have degrees in the "hard" sciences. Fair enough - there aren't any weed-out classes in English. But while we may have a higher percentage of not-so-sharp people in our disciplines, that doesn't mean that we don't have any brilliant people. People often forget that, and tend to dismiss ALL who didn't study in fields with more rigorous weed-out classes.

Anyway, some science people just LOVE it when they "convert" an arts person to what they see as they only discipline worth pursuing (their chosen field). I don't hold it against them - lib arts people love to "convert" science majors too - but you should keep this in mind. When you write your personal statement, don't waste words defending your previous choice of studies. Talk more about your current passions and what you want from your future career.

That's all I have right now, but feel free to PM me if you want. I started taking science courses when I was only a couple years older than you now, and it took me two years to get admitted. Plan on at least two years of work to get there, plan your path WELL, keep your head down, and get it done. 😀

 

[StartingoverVet]

Oh, and just to be a little contrary to hyge...

Since you are in CALIF, definitely take advantage of the extension classes (especially UCLA and Berkeley) that have an extensive selection. I took almost all of my pre-reqs that way. They are in the evenings/weekends, you are with other non-traditionals looking to go back to school, and they have the same material as the regular classes, but they are way more relaxed. I wouldn't do it any other way.

It was a very enjoyable way to get through the material.

And I would recommend NOT to rush through as quickly as possible. Unless there is a severe financial strain, better to enjoy the classes and learn as much as you can.... I don't agree with the NOW NOW NOW attitude. Enjoy the journey in life... it matters.

 

[turnbackhelly]

I got a BA in psych from a small liberal arts school with no core curriculum (read: I didn't have to take any math or hard science classes, so I didn't because at the time they did not interest me as much as other things) and did 1 year of a 2-yr Masters in Social Work before I decided to go to vet school. I was extremely paranoid that my non-science-y background was going to be a huge blemish on my application, especially since I also got a late start on animal/vet experience. I was accepted to 6 out of 7 schools on my first application cycle, and the feedback regarding my non-traditional background that I got from adcoms at several interviews was overwhelmingly positive. One interviewer (I can't remember which school) actually told me, "We really like you - you're different." I could not believe it. So as others have said, embrace your psych background and play it up!

My best piece of advice is - if at all possible - to take your remaining science pre-reqs full time. Pack your semesters as full of science classes as you possibly can without detriment to your performance, and obviously aim for A's in everything. To this day I really think that is the ONLY reason why I was accepted to several schools on my first cycle. When I left my masters program, I had to do literally ALL of the vet school science pre-reqs. I started with both semesters of gen chem packed into 10 wks (summer courses), then 20-22 credits per semester for the following fall and spring semesters of only bio, orgo, physics, genetics, cell bio, statistics, etc, then the following summer microbio (5 wks) and biochem (5wks) - then I applied to vet school that fall. A schedule like that is about as close as you're going to get to the academic workload of vet school, so if you pack it all in like that and do well in the classes, it makes it harder for adcoms to turn you down since you've proved that you can handle an intense, full time science course load. During the academic year while my applications were pending, I continued to take a similarly heavy load of upper level science classes (immunology, parasitology, comparative anatomy & physiology, embryology) which adcoms could see on my application. Not sure if that helped at all with my applications, but it definitely helped me once I got to vet school the following year since everything was so fresh.

For what it's worth, the only school I applied to among the schools you're interested in was Colorado, and that was my 1 rejection, but I was OOS there and they are one of the schools that take few OOS students relative to the number of applications they receive. I think SOV's comment re: expanding your horizon to include other schools that take a greater percentage of OOS students is excellent advice. The Ohio State comes to mind among the schools to which I applied (although I believe they have a strict GPA cutoff for OOS students), as does Penn.

 

[StartingoverVet]

I got a BA in psych from a small liberal arts school with no core curriculum (read: I didn't have to take any math or hard science classes, so I didn't because at the time they did not interest me as much as other things) and did 1 year of a 2-yr Masters in Social Work before I decided to go to vet school. I was extremely paranoid that my non-science-y background was going to be a huge blemish on my application, especially since I also got a late start on animal/vet experience. I was accepted to 6 out of 7 schools on my first application cycle, and the feedback regarding my non-traditional background that I got from adcoms at several interviews was overwhelmingly positive. One interviewer (I can't remember which school) actually told me, "We really like you - you're different." I could not believe it. So as others have said, embrace your psych background and play it up!

.

👍👍

I wanted to say that as well. Not having a science background did not seem an issue at all with adcoms (there are 1 or 2 though that don't seem as non-traditional friendly, but they are exceptions). ...

 

[hygebeorht]

Oh, and just to be a little contrary to hyge...

Since you are in CALIF, definitely take advantage of the extension classes (especially UCLA and Berkeley) that have an extensive selection. I took almost all of my pre-reqs that way. They are in the evenings/weekends, you are with other non-traditionals looking to go back to school, and they have the same material as the regular classes, but they are way more relaxed. I wouldn't do it any other way.

It was a very enjoyable way to get through the material.

And I would recommend NOT to rush through as quickly as possible. Unless there is a severe financial strain, better to enjoy the classes and learn as much as you can.... I don't agree with the NOW NOW NOW attitude. Enjoy the journey in life... it matters.

Yeah, everyone needs to find their own pace. Once I decided what I wanted to do, I wanted to get it done as fast as possible, for money reasons and because I was tired of living in limbo. Being an older student motivated me to get crackin', but for others, they may prefer to take it slow and work more hours while they are in school. I have known people to do it both ways.

However, I still advocate doing as much as you can handle in as short a time if only for the reasons turnbackhelly mentioned - if you're acing classes while taking a punishing courseload, it tells the adcoms that you can handle the workload of vet school. However, if that's too much for you and you can't hack the grades under such a heavy load, you should step back. Grades come first.

 

[ThePiedPiper]

I have a pretty full schedule (around 15 units, though, not 20-22, but that's mainly because I also work) for the next three years, including summer courses, so it sounds like I'm good there! 🙂 This is in addition to working two part-timers for 20-30 hours a week.

Thank you all very, very much for your help and information. It's especially encouraging to here from people who have psychology degrees! I have taken all of your tips and suggestions into account and will continue to apply them as I go throughout my courses.

 

[485501]

Just as an FYI, this year Davis did not take into account IS/OOS. They took the top 138 scoring MMI interviewees out of the 240 that were chosen based upon everything else (GRE, GPA, experience, etc) and then accepted those 138 without regard to residency 😳)

I'm pretty sure IS/OOS was a factor is picking the 240 who got interviews, though. It's just AFTER that first round of selection that they stopped looking at residency. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what they said.

 

[gugoodoll]

I'm pretty sure IS/OOS was a factor is picking the 240 who got interviews, though. It's just AFTER that first round of selection that they stopped looking at residency. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what they said.

Ooh that's definitely a possibility. I never clarified that with Yasmin. Thanks for that!

 

[ThePiedPiper]

I'm pretty sure IS/OOS was a factor is picking the 240 who got interviews, though. It's just AFTER that first round of selection that they stopped looking at residency. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's what they said.

That would work in my favour, then. All I'm worried about/aiming for is to get to the interview portion (and GPA bit, though it will be higher by the time I apply) for schools that interview. 🙂 Thank you for the clarification!