Post graduation help

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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pawbri

pawbri

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I'm graduating college this spring (undergraduate with bachelor's in biology).
My plan was to apply to vet school either this summer or the following summer. I don't have a lot of experience as of now, which is why I want to make sure I accumulate quality vet hours this summer. For a frame of reference, I will graduate with a 3.6-3.7 GPA (depending on how my spring courses pan out), I have 150 hours of vet experience, 250 hours of wildlife experience, and about 850 hours of pet experience (pet sitting company and pet hotel). I have no research experience. What do you think is the best plan of action for me? I was thinking of working as a vet assistant full time and volunteering at the zoo on weekends...Is this a good plan? Any additional advice is appreciated. Thank you
Bri
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Highly recommend posting your stats in the "what are my chances thread?" at the top...you'll prob get the most help there!

Your GPA is good (assuming your science and last 45 are about the same). Have you taken the GRE yet? I would definitely focus as much of your time as possible on getting more veterinary experience, especially if you plan to apply this cycle. Animal experience is good. Veterinary experience is better. Plus, you need at least one veterinarian to write you an LOR!
 
mmmdreamerz said:
Highly recommend posting your stats in the "what are my chances thread?" at the top...you'll prob get the most help there!

Your GPA is good (assuming your science and last 45 are about the same). Have you taken the GRE yet? I would definitely focus as much of your time as possible on getting more veterinary experience, especially if you plan to apply this cycle. Animal experience is good. Veterinary experience is better. Plus, you need at least one veterinarian to write you an LOR!
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I can see why you would advise I post this in the what are my chances thread. But I wanted the main focus of this post to ask specifically what I should do after I graduate (considering I will be out of school for at least one year...Maybe two.) I wanted to see if my course of action was good (work as vet assistant) or whether I should do something else prior to applying.
 
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pawbri said:
I can see why you would advise I post this in the what are my chances thread. But I wanted the main focus of this post to ask specifically what I should do after I graduate (considering I will be out of school for at least one year...Maybe two.) I wanted to see if my course of action was good (work as vet assistant) or whether I should do something else prior to applying.
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Also, I am struggling with deciding if I should apply this summer of if I should wait. I'm well aware I don't have enough hours. But maybe I could squeeze out a bunch this summer prior to applying?
 
pawbri said:
Also, I am struggling with deciding if I should apply this summer of if I should wait. I'm well aware I don't have enough hours. But maybe I could squeeze out a bunch this summer prior to applying?
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Kick butt on the GRE and get as many hours as you can and I don't see why you can't apply this cycle...
 
pawbri said:
Also, I am struggling with deciding if I should apply this summer of if I should wait. I'm well aware I don't have enough hours. But maybe I could squeeze out a bunch this summer prior to applying?
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Assuming you can get in at a vet clinic somewhere to get experience, I have to agree. Don't see why you shouldn't apply this summer. Tie up any loose ends up you have, make sure you've completed all the classes you need, take the GRE, and get some more experience. You could also choose to send in your application later in the summer so you can put as many hours of experience as possible on it initially. Your numbers don't look noncompetitive to me, especially if you crank out more hours before sending in your app.
 
mmmdreamerz said:
Kick butt on the GRE and get as many hours as you can and I don't see why you can't apply this cycle...
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This. Your GPA is pretty close to the competitive average. A high quant GRE and more hours is your best bet. Diverse hours if possible, as opposed to a bunch in small animal etc. Research is a plus but not absolutely necessary.
 
pawbri said:
I'm graduating college this spring (undergraduate with bachelor's in biology).
My plan was to apply to vet school either this summer or the following summer. I don't have a lot of experience as of now, which is why I want to make sure I accumulate quality vet hours this summer. For a frame of reference, I will graduate with a 3.6-3.7 GPA (depending on how my spring courses pan out), I have 150 hours of vet experience, 250 hours of wildlife experience, and about 850 hours of pet experience (pet sitting company and pet hotel). I have no research experience. What do you think is the best plan of action for me? I was thinking of working as a vet assistant full time and volunteering at the zoo on weekends...Is this a good plan? Any additional advice is appreciated. Thank you
Bri
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You have next to zero experience. I think working for a year then applying would be my recommendation. Unless you're not opposed to applying multiple years knowing this one might be a test run. If you went that route and didn't get in (and hey, you might) you could do file reviews and see what they recommend to improve your application.
 
This still belongs in the what are my chances thread. Everyone else can manage to post asking questions and advice about improving their applications in that thread, you can too. You aren't a special snowflake that needs her own thread.
 
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DVMDream said:
This still belongs in the what are my chances thread. Everyone else can manage to post asking questions and advice about improving their applications in that thread, you can too. You aren't a special snowflake that needs her own thread.
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I love you. You're so prickly.
 
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Abnerrs said:
I love you. You're so prickly.
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I am a porcupine according to that animal test.

Me:

Porcupine_ZN.jpg
 
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DVMDream said:
This still belongs in the what are my chances thread. Everyone else can manage to post asking questions and advice about improving their applications in that thread, you can too. You aren't a special snowflake that needs her own thread.
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I was NOT asking about my chances of getting into vet school. I was asking about what I could do after graduating, considering I am aiming for vet school.
 
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You already identified your weak spot as hours, and have made a plan to strengthen that area of your application. Besides getting experience, I don't see what else you can do.

Would suggest getting some farm animal/equine experience as well on top of the small animal and zoo.
 
BeautifulBritishColumbia said:
You already identified your weak spot as hours, and have made a plan to strengthen that area of your application. Besides getting experience, I don't see what else you can do.

Would suggest getting some farm animal/equine experience as well on top of the small animal and zoo.
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How many farm animal hours is substantial? Would u say 100 hours? 200 hours? I'm shadowing a bovine vet over spring break, but that will only equate to about 40-45 hours. I know this is a hard question, considering the more hours, the better. But if I want to work at a clinic when I graduate, I won't have time to shadow, you know?
 
pawbri said:
I was NOT asking about my chances of getting into vet school. I was asking about what I could do after graduating, considering I am aiming for vet school.
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You're asking about what you can do to improve your chances. The "What are My Chances" thread is still the appropriate place for this conversation.
 
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PrincessButterCup said:
You're asking about what you can do to improve your chances. The "What are My Chances" thread is still the appropriate place for this conversation.
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The purpose of this forum is to help others who need it. I am feeling anxious about what to do after I graduate, thus I posted this. There is no harm done in posting on here. Maybe it overlaps with another thread, but my intention wasn't to ask what my chances are, I really wanted to be given guidance on the direction I should take after graduating. If you don't like my post, then you don't have to comment.
 
pawbri said:
How many farm animal hours is substantial? Would u say 100 hours? 200 hours? I'm shadowing a bovine vet over spring break, but that will only equate to about 40-45 hours. I know this is a hard question, considering the more hours, the better. But if I want to work at a clinic when I graduate, I won't have time to shadow, you know?
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Go read over the accepted c/o 2021 stats thread. Everyone has their hours listed there. It will give you a good idea. :) There is also successful stats threads from years past.

Edit:
Here is the actual thread since I quoted the wrong name.
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/successful-applicant-stats-class-of-2021.1233806/
 
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DVMDream said:
This still belongs in the what are my chances thread. Everyone else can manage to post asking questions and advice about improving their applications in that thread, you can too. You aren't a special snowflake that needs her own thread.
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Don't disturb the snowflakes
 
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DVMDream said:
This still belongs in the what are my chances thread. Everyone else can manage to post asking questions and advice about improving their applications in that thread, you can too. You aren't a special snowflake that needs her own thread.
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SkiOtter said:
Don't disturb the snowflakes
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DVMD right now:

giphy.gif
 
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pawbri said:
The purpose of this forum is to help others who need it. I am feeling anxious about what to do after I graduate, thus I posted this. There is no harm done in posting on here. Maybe it overlaps with another thread, but my intention wasn't to ask what my chances are, I really wanted to be given guidance on the direction I should take after graduating. If you don't like my post, then you don't have to comment.
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No one here is trying to bash you or be unhelpful. Dozens of people a week post with this type of question, and if they each made their own thread this forum would begin to feel like the spam folder of an email account. The sticky 'What are My Chances' thread exists to help with that. Posts and responses are all in the same place, which makes it easier for people to read through and get advice from the questions that others have already asked. Pre-vet students usually have similar questions/concerns/situations, so it just makes sense for all of these posts to be collected. It's not that I don't like your post, it's that your post doesn't have to be its own thread. :)
 
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pawbri said:
The purpose of this forum is to help others who need it. I am feeling anxious about what to do after I graduate, thus I posted this. There is no harm done in posting on here. Maybe it overlaps with another thread, but my intention wasn't to ask what my chances are, I really wanted to be given guidance on the direction I should take after graduating. If you don't like my post, then you don't have to comment.
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Making overlapping threads is against TOS of the forum that you agreed to when you signed up. The what are my chances is an appropriate place for this post so that it doesn't clutter the forums. There is also a search box in the upper right corner and I bet my right hand that if you type in there "hours of experience" that you will get more information and help that you could ever imagine.
 
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Plus I think there are generally more people kicking around the What Are My Chances thread. I didn't even realize this thread existed until my Sassy Senses started tingling and I had to trawl through the posts on the forum looking for who was setting it off.
 
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vetmedhead said:
Plus I think there are generally more people kicking around the What Are My Chances thread. I didn't even realize this thread existed until my Sassy Senses started tingling and I had to trawl through the posts on the forum looking for who was setting it off.
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I want to be friends with VMH IRL so badly.
 
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pawbri said:
The purpose of this forum is to help others who need it. I am feeling anxious about what to do after I graduate, thus I posted this. There is no harm done in posting on here. Maybe it overlaps with another thread, but my intention wasn't to ask what my chances are, I really wanted to be given guidance on the direction I should take after graduating. If you don't like my post, then you don't have to comment.
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Seriously though, that's what the What Are My Chances thread is for. It's not like people are responding with "88.7% chance of acceptance!" for each comment there- they're telling applicants how to improve their chances. Even if you don't post, reading it should be useful for you.
 
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TrashPanda said:
Seriously though, that's what the What Are My Chances thread is for. It's not like people are responding with "88.7% chance of acceptance!" for each comment there- they're telling applicants how to improve their chances. Even if you don't post, reading it should be useful for you.
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My gettin'-in-but-not-in-the-sexy-way-o-meter needs some calibrating, but this post moved your odds up by like 2%.

You've already gotten in though so I think it might be reporting your odds of graduating with most of your hair instead. I have to go read the manual.
 
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TrashPanda said:
Seriously though, that's what the What Are My Chances thread is for. It's not like people are responding with "88.7% chance of acceptance!" for each comment there- they're telling applicants how to improve their chances. Even if you don't post, reading it should be useful for you.
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I am going to start posting with % now every time I post there :p. Percentage only, no words.
 
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SummerTheLynx said:
I am going to start posting with % now every time I post there :p. Percentage only, no words.
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Oh! If that's the case I'm going to repost my stats on that thread. I didn't like what people said the first time, and I need extra validation.
 
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I do have one piece of advice:

This is a public forum, anyone from anywhere can view it. You probably don't want a picture of yourself as your avatar... keep your anonymity the best you can....it is the Internet, you never know who will be around.
 
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AHEM. I tried to be helpful.

Also, don't take yourself so seriously. Learn to laugh.

PS. I'm getting gas! I'm not even in my car! Was it @vetmedhead that yelled at me for red lights? Snerk
 
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DVMDream said:
I do have one piece of advice:

This is a public forum, anyone from anywhere can view it. You probably don't want a picture of yourself as your avatar... keep your anonymity the best you can....it is the Internet, you never know who will be around.
Click to expand...

Ya like @Trilt :whistle:
 
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pawbri said:
How many farm animal hours is substantial? Would u say 100 hours? 200 hours? I'm shadowing a bovine vet over spring break, but that will only equate to about 40-45 hours. I know this is a hard question, considering the more hours, the better. But if I want to work at a clinic when I graduate, I won't have time to shadow, you know?
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You want to have as many hours as possible, but even if you have only 10 or 20 hours, make the most of the experience. Learn a few things about bovine medicine that you could potentially talk about in an interview. On my application, I put that I went to a horse farm and saw a castration. That was only about 2 hours total, and the procedure didn't even last that long. Still counts. I had no farm animal experience other than working with cows, pigs, and sheep in a lab setting and I was offered 3 interviews.
 
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