Michigan State... repeat grades/withdrawals?

[hopefulvet97]

Hello everyone!

I recently moved to Michigan and have my goals still on veterinary school. I am currently taking a year off from undergrad so I can work and establish residency (living with my parents who are Michigan residents also helping with that!). I just got out of an abusive relationship where it took nearly taking my life in order to get out. Anywho, my grades really suffered. I had no motivation, I was depressed, you see where this is going. I also had tons of withdrawals from classes. I know my veterinary experience will be the key in my application. I do have some at the moment (about 2k veterinary, mixed animal emergency/ICU clinic and about 4k in just plain ol' animal experience from working in kennels/shelters) but I have plans to get a heck of a whole lot more in different areas as I still have 2 years left. But I do have a couple of questions to anyone who could answer them about Michigan State. I know I could email the school directly but I feel pesky asking questions when I am two years out or more from applying!

I know MSU looks at cumulative GPA only - but like really? I seriously have taken like none of my pre-reqs and any I have taken I have actually done well in. So - if my cumulative was like a 3.1 and my science GPA was a 3.8, would they really only count the science/last 45?
How does MSU look at retakes? Do they average or take the final grade?
How does MSU look at withdrawals? I seriously have a ton. It's bad. Really bad. Gonna be the worst part of my application. I know some schools weigh them more heavily than others.

Thank you to everyone who can help!

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[battie]

@SkiOtter is your girl

 

[battie]

And @Teepster87

 

[c0smopolitan]

Michigan State is my IS, I'm applying this cycle. From my understanding, they only care that your last 36 credits (they do last 36 instead of last 45) are >3.0, as well as your science GPA in order to get a file review. MSU also does grade replacement, which is nice (I retook a large majority of my pre-reqs in this past year to make myself as competitive as possible). As far as withdrawals and poor past academic history, VMCAS allows you to do an explanation statement and MSU does too so you get two opportunities to explain why you have withdrawals or grades that have suffered. Someone please correct me if any of this is wrong!

 

[Teepster87]

I've been detached from admissions for a few years now, I do know that they moved away from their old formula based scoring system in an effort to be more holistic in evaluating candidates. I would really suggest reaching out to the admissions staff to get concrete answers to your questions. They're all really helpful, and will definitely be the most correct source of information

 

[Moanswoptr]

Please reach out to the admissions faculty to ask these questions. They are all lovely and will be happy to help. They also can change how they evaluate applicants from year to year. For my class, it was the last 36 credits and science gpa had to be >3.00. If you had that, then GPA was no longer a major consideration and you went on to file review where they look at the holistic portion of the application(LORs, experience, essays). They told me the only time GPA was considered after the 3.00 threshold was met, is if your file review and interview scores tied with another applicant. Then GPA is used as a tie breaker.