When I met with someone from the admissions board to discuss my rejection last year, he said that little to no consideration is given to undergraduate major and only care about if you met the prereqs. My GPA is certainly not terrible....I was above average in my small class at Lehigh U, but like I said it's not typical pre-vet competition.
He also said that residency increases chances of acceptance TEN times.....I think the numbers were (for 2012 applicants) 1300 applications, 250 of those were IS, and about 50 from IS and 50 from OOS are accepted....thus the ones accepted IS only need to beat 200 others, vs. the OOS that need to top 1,250 applicants. Obviously there's a lot more to it then viewing it like a raffle, but undeniably in state (at least at UPenn) has a much better shot at it.
I've seriously considered going back to a ChE career, for money's sake, and various vets and UPenn alumni have told me mixed thoughts on their opinions one way or the other. I'm also thinking my "new back up" might be equine dentistry - I need to do more research into it (and please offer advice if you do have experience or info) but I think it's much easier to get into school (8 wk program) and do the certification, do a paid apprenticeship for a year or so, and then make a decent salary. I'll definitely be switching jobs this year to step up my life, since at this point (mid-March that is) it's highly likely I'm about to receive a rejection, and reapplying without a change in life would be pointless and a waste of time and money. I could always reapply with new experience and resume boosters in a year or two.
. 
