starting from scratch -- advice/tips Please!

[looey]

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Hi all,

I've been reading through some of the old posts but I still need more help!!

I graduated with a bachelors in biology in 2004... but my overall GPA was under 3.0. In undergrad, I was gearing towards optometry but later realized it wasn't for me. After talking with people and getting a little bit of experience I can't believe I didn't think of pursuing vet school sooner. However, I realize my undergrad GPA is low, any LORs I have are for optometry, I dont think any of my professors will remember me enough to get any new LORs, and I definitely need more animal/vet experience.

I was considering a 1 year masters or something because I know I can get better grades and want to interact with professors for LORs, but I've read mixed comments about doing a masters to get into vet school... Ideally, I am looking for some kind of program that will fulfill vet school requirements and better prepare me, and get into programs/internships for more experience... is there anything like that??

(sorry for long post)

 

[Minnerbelle]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that you have to already have your pre-reqs done for a non-thesis masters. Also, I've heard numerous times on here that your GPA has to be stellar for a masters (that it's easier to get a higher GPA, but if you don't get a super high GPA it's suicide for vet school admissions) so unless you know you can hack it, you shouldn't do it.

If you're a nontraditional applicant, I would say that you don't need to rely so heavily on professor LORs. Maybe get one from a prof as you get to know them while you complete your pre-reqs. Since your undergrad GPA is low, you probably do want to have one from a prof vouching for your academic abilities IMO. But no need to over do it. One HAS to come from a vet, and one other should be from your employer anyhow. If you graduated 6 years ago, you want to show that you haven't been bummin around all this time. Professional development counts for a lot.

As for experience, I'd worry about that once you figure out how you're going to fulfill your pre-req (along with your work schedule). If you're only going to be a part-time student/employee, you'll probably have time to gradually accumulate experience by volunteering or shadowing at the same time. If you're going to be a full time student (no work), you can volunteer some during the semester, and take on summer internships and such full-time. There are places that will at least give you free housing (some even give stipends).

As for figuring out how you're going to fulfill your pre-reqs... how many pre-reqs do you have to take? How many credits have you taken as an undergrad, and will taking upper level biology courses help raise your GPA by much? If anything, I would personally take at least 45 credits of courses and do well on them. Because even if you can't raise your cGPA, esp since it's been a long time since you've graduated, you can at say that you're a different person now.

 

[ColoradoDVM]

Hi all,

I've been reading through some of the old posts but I still need more help!!

I graduated with a bachelors in biology in 2004... but my overall GPA was under 3.0. In undergrad, I was gearing towards optometry but later realized it wasn't for me. After talking with people and getting a little bit of experience I can't believe I didn't think of pursuing vet school sooner. However, I realize my undergrad GPA is low, any LORs I have are for optometry, I dont think any of my professors will remember me enough to get any new LORs, and I definitely need more animal/vet experience.

I was considering a 1 year masters or something because I know I can get better grades and want to interact with professors for LORs, but I've read mixed comments about doing a masters to get into vet school... Ideally, I am looking for some kind of program that will fulfill vet school requirements and better prepare me, and get into programs/internships for more experience... is there anything like that??

(sorry for long post)

Most master's programs require a 3.0 to apply, but some make an exception with compelling reasons and may admit you on academic probation. If you only need a few prereq's, you could take them concurrently with a MS (they wouldn't count towards your masters), but if you need quite a few, you might consider taking them prior to a MS, using those grades to demonstrate to a MS program that you have corrected your issues that kept you from earning higher grades. You will need to show any vet program in the US that you can earn great grades and the only real way to do that is to go back to academia. IMO, you might as well earn a MS. However, if you cannot earn stellar grades, your chances of succes are not good. You would need to also gain vet-related experience separate from your MS program. It looks like you would have at least 2 years of work ahead of you before you could submit an application to a vet program. It can be done, even with the low undergrad gpa. Others on this forum have succeeded this way. It is a longshot but not impossible.

 

[that redhead]

There are a bunch of things to cover, so I'm sorry if I get rambly or hard to follow!

1. Pre-requisites. Each school requires a set of courses (that can differ from the next). Check into these and see if you have any/all of them already. If not, this would be the very first thing to address, since it is, well, a pre-requisite!

2. GRE. Schools need a recent GRE score from you. If you don't have one, start with the GRE website.

3. Letters of Rec. At least one of your letters has to be from a vet. Another could be from an optometrist! From what I understand, though, it would be good to have one from an academic source: professor, counselor, etc. To get the one from a vet you will need....

4. Vet experience.

5. GPA. Nearly all of the schools have a minimum GPA. The lowest I can think of is 2.5. Two schools that I'm aware of will take a minimum GRE score in lieu of the minimum GPA (Georgia and UC Davis. There may be more!). If your GPA is below this, or even just above it, it's worth taking more classes to boost it WHILE you work to gain experience, meet people that will write you letters, etc.

Best of luck 🙂