Hey, I'm a non-resident who will be starting NCSU in August. Although I think your other stats are pretty good, the person you talked to was right in saying that your GPA is your weaker point. It's true that the non-residents have high GPAs. It's also true that 500 out of state people applied, and they only take 18 of us, even with the class size increasing to 100 (instead of 80) for the upcoming cycle. The DVM/PhD program only takes 1-2 students each year. So, quite honestly, you need to be very excellent in all areas to get into NCSU as a non-resident, as well as stand out in a particular area.
Now, all of that said, I want to say a few things. First of all, I strongly encourage you to apply to NCSU, because I think your stats are pretty good, especially your GRE (you rocked that test)! Especially if you have some kind of unique veterinary experience that makes you stand out, then apply and don't let the numbers deter you. For some reason when I was applying to NCSU I didn't realize they took so few OOS people...but I'm also glad I didn't know, because I probably would have just ruled it out immediately otherwise! Now, the other thing I wanted to say is that you can still enter the DVM/PhD program once you get into vet school. When I was applying, I didn't know about the DVM/PhD program, and when I learned about it, I felt like I had missed my chance to apply for the program. However, I was just at the school a few days ago speaking with a student who is in it, and she told me that you can apply as a second year DVM student, and that the people from the program are actually starting to prefer those applicants over the traditional applicants because they are sure that a PhD is the right route for them. With the "traditional" way the program is set up, you apply to the DVM/PhD program, get in, spend your first year working toward your PhD, then do 4 years of vet school, then spend 2-3 more years finishing the PhD. If you enter the program during vet school, it works like this: first two years are spent in the DVM program, then you spend 3 years getting the PhD, then you finish your last 2 years of vet school.
So if you have your heart set on NCSU's DVM/PhD program but don't think you could necessarily get in with your stats, you might want to apply to just the DVM program, then apply to the DVM/PhD program during your second year of vet school (they still only take 1-2 students for it each year, whether they are the traditional applicants or second year vet students, but you might have a better shot showing you can handle the rigors of vet school and/or your vet school GPA might be higher than your current GPA). Hope this helps and good luck! You can PM me if you have more questions about getting in to NCSU as an OOS person. 🙂
