One D and One F, do I stand a chance?? A lot of life experience!

[JaxysWindow]

Hello and thanks in advance!

I found out today I failed UC Berkeley Extension Biochemistry. I had an A going into the final exam but didn’t pass the exam, therefore, received an F in the class. I am so nervous this means I won’t make it into vet school for my first time applying. I am a Colorado Resident and applied to CSU only this year. I am working through more prerequisites so I will apply to more schools next year if needed.

General Coursework and GPA
I graduated from University of South Carolina with a degree in Exercise Science with a 3.72 GPA in 2017
I received a D in Chemistry II the first time because I skipped an exam to travel to Haiti. (Not my smartest move, I just didn’t know I wanted to do something with science later on.) I retook this course later in my time in college and received a B+, which is reflected in my cumulative GPA. My other grades in college were always A's and B's with one C.
I’m enrolling to retake Biochem at Colorado State University this semester, where I have gotten A’s in both Organic Chemistry I and Genetics this year.
Not sure what my last 45 or science GPA is.

Experience In College
Research assistant in undergrad: 400 hours
Volunteer leader for Young Life, a Christian ministry for teenagers: ~1,000 hours
Horse Wrangler for a camp on weekends and summer: ~600 hours
JV lacrosse coach: 200 hours
Freelance photographer: 250 hours
Part of a service sorority for four years

Work and animal experience after college
I have taken four years off of undergrad, in which I have been a sea kayaking guide for a summer, worked on multiple horse ranches across the west, and traveled solo to volunteer with animals (mainly horses, but also sheep, cattle, yaks, reindeer, camels, goats) in multiple countries.
Hours of horse experience is about 2,500 hours, conservatively
Bison handling: 400 hours
Pet sitting: 200 hours

Veterinary Experience
Working a well-known equine veterinarian clinic: 1,200 hours and counting
Small animal specialty clinic: ~80 hours
Small animal emergency clinic: ~20 hours
Equine only practice: 250 hours

Letters of Recommendation
I have five letters of recs: two equine veterinarians, one of whom is my current boss, my organic chemistry professor, a Spanish professor and mentor I have had for over ten years, and one of my former bosses at the guest ranch I worked at and known for 4 years.

Essays
I talked about my time working with people from all over the world and their animals, and how my experiences outside of school have shaped me to become an equine veterinarian. I addressed that my grade in Biochemistry is solely from time constraints for the final exam in the special circumstances section, and emphasized that I will do better in my retake of it this fall.

I am devastated about failing this class. I don’t want to point blame at this online program, but I know I would have done better if I had just stuck with CSU for taking my prerequisites. Do I still have a shot at getting in this year?

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[deleted676737]

I'm not personally familiar with CSU as I didn't apply there but, doing a little digging, it does appear that Biochemistry is a prerequisite for admission (per this document) and that all prerequisites must be completed with a grade of C- or higher (explicitly stated both in the aforementioned PDF as well as on the Admissions Requirements webpage). I suspect that, if Biochemistry is the only prerequisite for CSU that you have not finished with a satisfactory grade, it's possible that you may still be considered for admission if you demonstrate an intention to retake the class; it's admittedly been a long time now since I applied to veterinary school, but I recall VMCAS having a section of the application where you could enter any anticipated future coursework. You definitely should consider reaching out to veterinary admissions at CSU to explain the situation and confirm either way, though. And, naturally, do your best to really nail the course on your second go!

Apart from that, it is very possible to be admitted to a veterinary school with Ds and even Fs on your transcript. Obviously, if these poor grades are in prerequisite courses and therefore you do not meet minimum grade requirements, then you will need to retake them. I actually was accepted to 3/4 of the schools I applied to with three Ds on my transcript, though I should stress that there was a bit of a caveat there in that those shoddy marks were in non-prerequisite/non-science courses (I floundered a bit during my first year) and my science and last 45 hours GPAs were both very high. Also, that this was way back in 2015 and things have appeared to have only become more competitive since then. But, yes: you still stand a chance with a D and an F on your transcript, provided that you retake your prerequisite Biochemistry course and achieve the minimum required grade of C-. It appears that General Chemistry II is not an explicit prerequisite for CSU, so you can probably get away without retaking that class unless you really want the minor GPA boost. Obviously, should you later choose to apply to schools where it is a stated prerequisite, though, then you will need to repeat it.

More generally, the rest of your credentials as presented—including your cumulative GPA—look decently good to me. Since the F was recent, I might be a little concerned about its impact on the last 45 hours and science GPAs, so it might be prudent to try to calculate those to the best of your ability just to have a better idea of where you stand. Sounds like you've got a great amount of experience, some of which is in pretty unique areas (bison handling!), which will help.

 

[JaxysWindow]

I'm not personally familiar with CSU as I didn't apply there but, doing a little digging, it does appear that Biochemistry is a prerequisite for admission (per this document) and that all prerequisites must be completed with a grade of C- or higher (explicitly stated both in the aforementioned PDF as well as on the Admissions Requirements webpage). I suspect that, if Biochemistry is the only prerequisite for CSU that you have not finished with a satisfactory grade, it's possible that you may still be considered for admission if you demonstrate an intention to retake the class; it's admittedly been a long time now since I applied to veterinary school, but I recall VMCAS having a section of the application where you could enter any anticipated future coursework. You definitely should consider reaching out to veterinary admissions at CSU to explain the situation and confirm either way, though. And, naturally, do your best to really nail the course on your second go!

Apart from that, it is very possible to be admitted to a veterinary school with Ds and even Fs on your transcript. Obviously, if these poor grades are in prerequisite courses and therefore you do not meet minimum grade requirements, then you will need to retake them. I actually was accepted to 3/4 of the schools I applied to with three Ds on my transcript, though I should stress that there was a bit of a caveat there in that those shoddy marks were in non-prerequisite/non-science courses (I floundered a bit during my first year) and my science and last 45 hours GPAs were both very high. Also, that this was way back in 2015 and things have appeared to have only become more competitive since then. But, yes: you still stand a chance with a D and an F on your transcript, provided that you retake your prerequisite Biochemistry course and achieve the minimum required grade of C-. It appears that General Chemistry II is not an explicit prerequisite for CSU, so you can probably get away without retaking that class unless you really want the minor GPA boost. Obviously, should you later choose to apply to schools where it is a stated prerequisite, though, then you will need to repeat it.

More generally, the rest of your credentials as presented—including your cumulative GPA—look decently good to me. Since the F was recent, I might be a little concerned about its impact on the last 45 hours and science GPAs, so it might be prudent to try to calculate those to the best of your ability just to have a better idea of where you stand. Sounds like you've got a great amount of experience, some of which is in pretty unique areas (bison handling!), which will help.

Thank you so much for your reply! I edited to add these things: I did retake General Chemistry II and received a B+ my second attempt and that I am retaking Biochemistry now and made sure to put both attempts on my application. I will be sure to calculate my science GPA to see where I stand.

Thank you for your advice and sharing your own story to vet school, it means so much!

 

[JaxysWindow]

I would like to come back and update -- I DID get into CSU and I am a second year now! If anyone is looking at this thread for advice, know life goes on. I owned my mistakes in my essays and got in first try <3