Is this a deal breaker with admissions?

[russellang]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I got a degree in biology last year. Last month I decided to pursue veterinary medicine and have found a clinic to shadow at and had a plan in place to make up 2 courses before applying. However, I came across something that I feel might be a make it or break it type deal with my transcript: while I have a high GPA, my course load was 12 credits for many of the regular fall/spring semesters and less then that for the summer sessions (might be ok for summer though). I was not working at the time. I will admit that I was living at home and my parents were paying for my education so I was not working and I also had no idea I wanted to be a vet so I wasnt shadowing at clinics while in school.

Is this a deal breaker with vet school admissions? Obviously I cannot go back and change things. I really do not know how to show that I can handle the courseload to vet schools unless I take courses that are not required; based on tuition I would rather not take too many courses that are not required etc. I thought I could possibly try to get as much shadowing in as possible but unfortunately I cannot determine how many hours I can get but will try.

Are there any other careers similar to veterinarians that I can pursue?

Thank you all

 

[clouds815]

i really can't answer all of your questions hopefully others can, but if you feel you need to show you can handle a higher course load (which yes most schools do look at to my knowledge) for low cost, most graduate schools are supposed to Pay You to get a masters in a science field (in exchange for research or teaching or something), that might be a possibility to consider, but it may be difficult to get all your vet experience at the same time

just my thoughts

don't give up on your dream career if thats what you want! it may just take a little longer but thats ok

 

[luplodw]

I think it really depends on the school. I know that at Tennessee they have a point system and I doubt you'd get any points in the section where they evaluate how many hours you have taken. Also some schools won't calculate your GPA using grades from semesters where you take less than 12 hours. You'll just have to check with each of the schools to determine their policies

 

[DPG1700]

I applied this last cycle having mostly 12-13 credits for each semester, and also did not work during the school time. None of my schools mentioned it at all either in my interview or the file review, however, I did also come into school with 23 credits (from APs) and attended a very high rigor school. I do not think there will really be a problem, the amount of credits you took on average seems to count very little in the overall admissions equation.

Was there a reason you only took 12 credits a semester?

 

[No Imagination]

Also some schools won't calculate your GPA using grades from semesters where you take less than 12 hours.

Are you sure about this?

Hell, if this is true, everyone should be taking O-chem, Physics, and whatever they suck at, stay below 12 credits and be done with it.

But to be honest, I've never heard of this, and am skeptical.

To OP. It really depends on how good the rest of your application is. I had several bad grades, and had a TON of "U" (official with drawls) on my application (due to conflicts with work, but still). There were 3 semesters in Undergrad that I only took 9'ish credits.

Not saying you should lie, but perhaps there was nothing you were interested in taking that didn't conflict with something else...

Its certainly not a deal breaker - you application is simply a little less 'stellar'

 

[BlacKAT33]

There was only a few schools i remember that asked for the hours you were working and volunteering during each semester you were in school. I think colorado was one...???

I took a low number of credits each semester too, i had no clue this would potentially be looked down upon for adcoms. Every summer i chose to take a course for the sole purpose of needing less credits during the school year. However, the reason i did this was because I was working in a lab. But, my GPA was just average. So once I joined SDN and found out about adcoms liking to see if you can handle a high course load i got really worried, especially because my grades were average and i had a low number of credits/semester. It ended up being fine in the end. Not sure if this was because of my lab/research experience or what😕

In your situation, i dont think it should matter that much. even though you had low credits, you have a high GPA. So even though you werent working, at least you did the best you could in the classes!! I'm not sure how many undergrads know that adcoms like to see you can handle a high course load (i didnt). If you're worried about it you could always write it in the explanation statement area, but i really dont think it is necessary. Id be more worried if your grades were lower and you had low amt of credits

 

[luplodw]

I should have been more specific. Some don't count grades in the last 45 credit GPA unless the semester was 12 hours

 

[sumstorm]

the only concern that I could imagine is that if you have never taken a challenging course load, they may question your ability to handle the course loads you will encounter in vet school. Easiest way to counter that is to take an intense semester now and perform well. I did something similar returning to school to prove that my academic skills weren't so rusty as to be unusuable.

 

[PrimalMU]

I've been averaging 12 hours/semester for the last two years, with a few semesters actually below 12 hours (i.e. part-time status). Granted, this was mainly due to the fact that I switched my major, only had to take biology courses, and wouldn't have been able to take much more anyway with the crappy course selection at my college. Still, I got into Mississippi my first application cycle.

 

[russellang]

I applied this last cycle having mostly 12-13 credits for each semester, and also did not work during the school time. None of my schools mentioned it at all either in my interview or the file review, however, I did also come into school with 23 credits (from APs) and attended a very high rigor school. I do not think there will really be a problem, the amount of credits you took on average seems to count very little in the overall admissions equation.

Was there a reason you only took 12 credits a semester?

The reason behind this was that I was planning on attending a research based graduate program in ecology and compared to vet school/med school, the course load is not really a factor. I knew I should really try to do the best I could with my grades and thought it might look better to take one less class each semester and get higher grades as opposed to more classes and lower grades. Also during the organic chem/physics semesters I took, it was very difficult to put in another class. I still remember for organic with lab, I had three lectures, a one hour a week time reserved for exams, one four hour block for lab and then a one hour review sessioin for the lab of the following week. So it was very difficult some semesters to take another class but I will not give that excuse for every semester.

 

[that70sfan11]

I'm sure you'll be okay, esp. if your GPA is high.

what you should really do is focus on getting a high GRE. if you got a low GRE then that might cause them to be a little more concerned. but if you nail your GRE, show you have a great cGPA, then I honestly think you'll be fine.

 

[cRose]

the only concern that I could imagine is that if you have never taken a challenging course load, they may question your ability to handle the course loads you will encounter in vet school. Easiest way to counter that is to take an intense semester now and perform well. I did something similar returning to school to prove that my academic skills weren't so rusty as to be unusuable.

I agree with sumstorm. I'd like to add, however, if your GPA is very high, and you have a really solid GRE score, I doubt that many schools will raise too many eyebrows regarding whether or not you can handle the vet school high course loads. However, if you are getting mostly Bs and Cs and are only taking a 12-credit semester, it is more likely that admissions committees may truly question your ability to handle a vet school workload.

I also agree with sumstorm that it may be to your benefit to challenge yourself to a more rigorous semester; this will definitely help demonstrate that you can handle it.

As for your question about your shadowing experiences: I doubt that it will look unfavorably that you got all of your experiences later. You're certainly not the only person who didn't decide to pursue vet med until later in their undergrad careers, and some people don't figure out that they want to do it until MUCH later. Don't stress about that; just make sure that you get varied experiences. That's MUCH more important to most admissions committees.

You asked about careers similar to veterinary medicine. There's always human medicine??? But we all know that real doctors treat more than one species 😀. You could also become a registered veterinary technician, or pursue a PhD in veterinary sciences. Or become a director of an animal shelter or wildlife center. All of those careers share at least a few common threads with veterinary medicine. However, I think that most on this forum would agree when I say that NOTHING can really compare to vet med!!! 🙂 It's good to think about other careers (I know that I was doing it while I was still in the application process), but don't count yourself out; apply and see what happens. If you really want to do it, don't be derailed by rejections. There is nothing wrong with having to apply more than once. I was not accepted the first cycle that I applied to veterinary school.

I hope that this helps!

 

[yesnomaybe]

Uh oh. A new thing to worry about. Does this course load business still apply if you're working full-time and paying for each class in full?

 

[Maschka1]

Ya,
I am curious about other non-traditional students. My first go around ended with a less then stellar grades and around 12 per semester. Now I am working full time (running my own business) and school, but I am only part time. Does anyone have experience with this sort of situation? obviously not everyone can be fully supported through school and take a full load.

 

[quantized]

I didn't have more than 12 credits for my last 3 semesters as a non-trad. They were counted with everything else (last 45 etc) and no one commented on that, although I assume by my application that it was also obvious that I was working 3 jobs at the time as well!

I wouldn't believe the not counting for the last 45 said above unless you can find it in writing from a legitimate source. Sounds like baloney to me, but I'm willing to admit my mistakes if someone shows it to me in writing from something not on a internet forum.

 

[parietal]

Uh oh. A new thing to worry about. Does this course load business still apply if you're working full-time and paying for each class in full?

I asked an Iowa State adcom member about this and he said, unequivocally, no. They realize that a full-time job and family responsibilities are huge loads on peoples' time. They value heavy course loads because they show a person's ability to manage time, but other things, like working full-time through college can prove that just as well.

Of course, other vet schools may be different. I think there is one Canadian school (AVC, maybe?) that won't even accept your prereqs unless they were taken as part of a full load. But I've never heard of that in the U.S.

That said, I would try to take more than one course at a time. Or maybe take a full load one semester just to prove you can handle it.

Edited to add: I've never heard of the won't-count-for-the-last-45-unless-you're-full-time thing either.

 

[sumstorm]

The one thing to remember is that you aren't applying in a vacuum; if you are working 40 hours a week and taking 2 classes it won't be judged just on it's own merit. You will be compared, possibly favorably (the individual taking 2 classes with nothing else going on) and possibly unfavorably (the student going to school full time and working 60 hours a week.) There are a lot of factors involved, they vary from adcom to adcom and year to year. Some of it will depend on how it is presented. Sometimes it is important to ask yourself if you are really committing yourself at the intensity and level required to complete vet school; if you are, that is the best you can do. If not, maybe ask what you can cut out? TV time, net time? As a married non-trad with a foster kid, I came back and, while working 40+ at a clinic, completed two semesters full time (all sciences except 2 business classes) and helped run a non-profit rescue group. It wasn't easy, but I can say that the stress is similar to what I experience in vet school. I do know in my case, the adcoms viewed it very favorably (I had a chance to speak to some individuals that reviewed my initial application.) I was told it took my ability to handle the course load and stress out of the equation, and that every doubt that is answered is a step closer to acceptance. I do know one of my classmates was woring FT, has kids, and was taking an occasional class....came in off the waitlist after a couple years of applying, so different things work for different folks.

 

[SocialStigma]

It would really depend on the school, best thing to do is to check with the schools you want to apply to.

I know for the school I want to apply to, they don't accept courses that aren't from full time semesters (5 courses/semester), and even if you wanted to do 4 and 6 courses (so that it equals 10 courses/year), you have to get special permission to do so.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Except for the rare exception non-trads are not expected to maintain a full-course load.

In my case, I NEVER took more than 2 classes in a quarter to meet any of my pre-reqs (and many times only 1 - or 0 - depending on scheduling).

Of course, whether I could handle the work load came up in every interview, but to be honest, it sounded almost like they asked because they felt obligated to, not because they really cared about how I responded.

The one place I didn't get in (waitlisted), load was not an issue at all.

Of course, as usual, it depends on the applicants overall suitability, so re-read sunstorm's post, it is all relative. But I wouldn't waste much time worrying about it.