Setting my self up for failure or good practice

[fv16107]

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Hi!

I will be able to apply to vet school this term, and I was wondering if it sounds like I am setting myself up for failure, or if this will be a good learning opportunity. I am currently looking at the University of Arizona's program.

High school GPA: 3.98, 4.3
Associates in Arts GPA: 3.96 (Completed in High School)
Current Bachelors GPA: 3.85
Science GPA: 3.12

Animal Hours: 3000+ (Horse training, riding, FFA)
Vet Hours:
50 mixed animals (rabbits, birds, cattle, etc.)
50 (on-going hours) equine practice.

I am a member of the pre-vet club and a sorority on campus.
In high school, I was an officer in FFA and student council, showed livestock, played two varsity sports, and worked for 4 summers as a registered lifeguard.

Is it realistic to apply to Vet School, or do I have a long way to go?

 

[JaynaAli]

Where are you at in terms of completing pre-requisite classes? You need to get some more vet hours to be competitive and keep your GPA up/get it higher. It’s not free to apply and takes a lot of time to enter all the info and write essays, so I’d probably wait another year until you have more vet experience and are more competitive, but if you’ve got money and time to burn you could apply and see what happens. But with only 100 hours of vet experience, your chances are probably pretty slim so I would go into it with low expectations and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Also @supershorty can you move this to WAMC forum?

 

[supershorty]

Hi!

I will be able to apply to vet school this term, and I was wondering if it sounds like I am setting myself up for failure, or if this will be a good learning opportunity. I am currently looking at the University of Arizona's program.

High school GPA: 3.98, 4.3
Associates in Arts GPA: 3.96 (Completed in High School)
Current Bachelors GPA: 3.65
Science GPA: 3.12

Animal Hours: 3000+ (Horse training, riding, FFA)
Vet Hours:
50 mixed animals (rabbits, birds, cattle, etc.)
50 (on-going hours) equine practice.

I am a member of the pre-vet club and a sorority on campus.
In high school, I was an officer in FFA and student council, showed livestock, played two varsity sports, and worked for 4 summers as a registered lifeguard.

Is it realistic to apply to Vet School, or do I have a long way to go?

As your application currently is, I think you're not setting yourself up for success. Your hours are extremely low. Your GPA is average with a low science GPA. I worry that with only 100 hours of experience, you both don't have the experience to know what you'd be getting into with this field and you're not likely to be able to get strong LORs from veterinarians. You can make yourself a much more competitive applicant with more time.

I would take another year to make yourself a better applicant, personally. It's not cheap to apply to vet school - I think you're better off not applying than throwing money away.

 

[supershorty]

I forgot to mention I am also 18, and I don't plan to apply anywhere else besides Arizona for this term. By the time applications are due, I should have around 1000 vet hours.

This doesn't change my answer.

 

[JaynaAli]

I still think you should wait, but whether you go ahead and apply now OR in the future, I would strongly recommend you have multiple people read over your essays and provide feedback. Both people who know you and people who don’t. Your tone in posts here comes off as very young (which isn’t a bad thing, you are young!) but in a field where you’d be several years younger than the average matriculant, you really need to come off as mature and professional. And of course tone in an online forum is likely different than on an application, but if anything your age may be even more of a concern on top of an app that may already have a few deficiencies. It’s not a race. Keep getting experience and keep trying to improve your grades. If anything, the loan situation may improve over time or at least we’ll know more about the fallout.

 

[stinkyfreddy]

maybe think about some research hours to put in as well?

 

[vampyrica]

I think you’re getting some unnecessarily harsh responses in this thread, so I wanted to jump in with a more positive reply!! Your cumulative GPA (bachelors + community college) is great. And assuming you are still completing prereqs as a current student, if you get A’s the next two semesters, you can maybe bring that science GPA up before you apply. You don’t need 1000+ vet hours to get into school. If you get 500 or 600 additional diverse hours by September, that’s enough to get you accepted (I got accepted to multiple schools with 700 vet hours my first cycle). If you are only applying to one school, I say go for it! If money isn’t a big issue, then I don’t see the harm in trying. Regardless of the decision you make, you aren’t setting yourself up for failure. Rejection is redirection and an opportunity to learn and grow your application. Best of luck!!

All indivduals who provided responses to OP have been around SDN for years and are established veterinarians who have seen countless classes go through this process. To call their advise harsh is a bit of a stretch when they are just being honest.

You don't need 1000, but you need more than 100 and variety in hours. It's $241 for the application on VMCAS + $70-80 for UAZ's supplemental. If OP has $300+ to spend with the high chance the results may not be favorable, sure, go for it. But it is important to be realistic. There are older applications who have much more experience, work experience, stronger LOR that are applying alongside OP. It's not setting OP up for failure, I don't believe that's a thing. But why not wait to build a much stronger application and have a much higher chance at acceptance to save yourself heartache and discouragement?

Ultimately, it is up to OP. And you may have gotten in with 700 hours, but your application is also not the same as OP's. Not every application is the same.

 

[vampyrica]

OP- you have many different perspectives here. If you are comfortable with the risks and rewards of applying super early, then go for it. If you feel hesitant, then I would listen to your gut and continue to build a strong, persuasive and dedicated application.

Best of luck whatever you decide 🙂