Hi, I am interested in going to veterinary school but I have a couple of questions. I recently graduated college with a 3.75 GPA and currently I am trying to get my volunteering hours up by working at a animal shelter. I might also be shadowing a vet soon so hopefully I will have enough hours to apply this year.I have not taken the GREs and wanted to know what GRE score is considered competitive to get into a school? I understand each school is different but could anyone give me a rough estimate? Is the GRE weighed heavily? Any other advice for me? thank you
Pre-vet Question
- Thread starter Arod14
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80th percentile
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Yes, at most schools the GRE is waited at LEAST 25%. Like you said, every school is different so I would look at the averages of where you want to go, and how much each school weighs it. Most schools will show you the exact breakdown in percentages of GPA, GRE, etc. Keep in mind, your cumulative GPA is not the only GPA most schools look at. Some calculate your Science GPA, and some calculate your last 45 hour GPA as well. With the GRE... the higher, the better obviously. I shot for a score of 1300, just as a rough estimate. But obviously higher is better. Many people get in with a lower score as well. They focus more on the percentile, as Newf said above, so it will be different for each test date. (You get a number score and a percentile score for each section of the test). Start taking practice GREs and see how you do, then make a reasonably high goal for yourself. What do you have for veterinary experience as of right now?
I have been volunteering at a nature preserve where I work with different animals. I don't know the exact amount of hours but it's definitely much lower than most of the applicants here lol. There are veterinarians tied with my nature preserve so I am hoping to get some shadowing experience in before I start applying. I think my science GPA is around the same but I have not taken 2 pre-requisite classes for a few of the schools. I am going to start preparing for the GREs now and take the rest of my classes over the summer.
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I would also suggest staying in school. Many schools will want you fresh on your studying habbits because they don't want you picking up 20-22 hours of clinical class-work "cold turkey."
I know many people talk about "number of hours" but I honestly don't think they look at the NUMBERS. You just need to make sure this is ABSOLUTELY what you want to get yourself into and know what vet medicine is about. That way in your statements and in your interview you can tell them why they should accept you, why you want to do this, and what you would do in various scenarios.
Also, knock the GRE out of the park. This year's class at my school averaged around an 1100, but keep in mind that's an average so there were those above and below (me) that score.
I know many people talk about "number of hours" but I honestly don't think they look at the NUMBERS. You just need to make sure this is ABSOLUTELY what you want to get yourself into and know what vet medicine is about. That way in your statements and in your interview you can tell them why they should accept you, why you want to do this, and what you would do in various scenarios.
Also, knock the GRE out of the park. This year's class at my school averaged around an 1100, but keep in mind that's an average so there were those above and below (me) that score.
