Sub 3.0 GPA with a lot of experience

[Llama90]

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I want more than anything to go to veterinary school. However, I'm worried that my low undergrad GPA (2.67) will prevent me from getting there. I suffered from heart problems my junior and senior year and discovered that I was struggling with dyslexia 2 months before graduation.

I have a little over 3,000 hours of vet experience ranging from working in vet hospitals, volunteering abroad and working in vet research at one of the top vet schools in the U.S.

When I took the GRE, I got 470V and 650Q. I plan on retaking it this year.

I'm wondering what my chances are of getting into a U.S. vet school.

Is there anything I could do to help my chances?

 

[that redhead]

By using the search function, you can find many others who have been in your situation.

There are so many factors involved in a low-GPA application strategy. Have you completed your pre-reqs for the schools you want to apply to? What were your grades like in those classes? How far removed are you from your class work?

My best advice, without knowing many details, is to re-take all of your pre-reqs and get As in all of them, or as close as possible. Study really hard for your GRE and be ready to have a well-written personal statement and explanation statement. The biggest obstacle to a low GPA applicant is proving that you are now ready to handle the rigors of a veterinary curriculum, either by learning how to handle academics better or addressing health problems or learning disorders. Pure desire to be in the field is not enough. Do you feel that you have changed your lifestyle/study habits sufficiently to be prepared for vet school? How will you demonstrate this to the admissions people?

 

[Jamr0ckin]

I want more than anything to go to veterinary school. However, I'm worried that my low undergrad GPA (2.67) will prevent me from getting there. I suffered from heart problems my junior and senior year and discovered that I was struggling with dyslexia 2 months before graduation.

I have a little over 3,000 hours of vet experience ranging from working in vet hospitals, volunteering abroad and working in vet research at one of the top vet schools in the U.S.

When I took the GRE, I got 470V and 650Q. I plan on retaking it this year.

I'm wondering what my chances are of getting into a U.S. vet school.

Is there anything I could do to help my chances?

With your current GPA, you won't meet most, if not all, of the low-end cutoffs.

You need to retake classes and do exceptionally well in them, really rock the GRE, and explore even more experience options.

I had a 3.18 and had over 15,000 hours and it took me 4 times to gain admission.

I wish you the best of luck, but you are going to have to do quite a bit before you are ready to apply.

 

[Llama90]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I've spent the past year seeing specialist for both my health and learning disorder and have gotten to the point where (moving forward) neither will be an issue academically. I don't have all of the pre req courses required so I'm taking 3 this semester and the 3 others next semester.

Most of my pre req courses are As and Bs. My GPA went down due to low scores in supplemental courses.

I was considering taking the Bio GRE to show that I have a strong grasp. Any ideas if that would be helpful?

I realize taking/retaking several courses is a big endeavor... Would applying/completing a masters be useful in proving my academic abilities?

 

[LetItSnow]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I've spent the past year seeing specialist for both my health and learning disorder and have gotten to the point where (moving forward) neither will be an issue academically.

That's your biggest hurdle, obviously, so congrats. The problem is that you need more than just being able to 'say' it; you need evidence that will compel admissions people to agree with you.

I don't have all of the pre req courses required so I'm taking 3 this semester and the 3 others next semester.

Most of my pre req courses are As and Bs. My GPA went down due to low scores in supplemental courses.

Perfect. It's actually good that you don't have all the pre-reqs done. Make sure you continue to get As. Bs ..... eh. Get As. For those of us with poor academic backgrounds it's all the more important to do well in what pre-reqs you have left.

I was considering taking the Bio GRE to show that I have a strong grasp. Any ideas if that would be helpful?

My instinct is to say it wouldn't help enough to be worth it, but that's just a moderately educated guess. The very best thing to do would be to call the admissions people at a few schools you are interested in and ask them.

You'll likely need to be selective in which schools you apply to; some are more tolerant of past academic difficulties, and some calculate GPAs in ways that are more friendly to recent success while disregarding older failures.

 

[that redhead]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I've spent the past year seeing specialist for both my health and learning disorder and have gotten to the point where (moving forward) neither will be an issue academically. I don't have all of the pre req courses required so I'm taking 3 this semester and the 3 others next semester.

Most of my pre req courses are As and Bs. My GPA went down due to low scores in supplemental courses.

I was considering taking the Bio GRE to show that I have a strong grasp. Any ideas if that would be helpful?

I realize taking/retaking several courses is a big endeavor... Would applying/completing a masters be useful in proving my academic abilities?

First, I'm glad you've got the biggest issues sorted out. What admissions will want to see now is that by addressing your health issues, you are now able to succeed in your courses. Which means getting As in the remaining pre-reqs. I wouldn't retake those courses with Bs, but definitely get those As in what you have left.

As for a Masters, that really depends. There's a lot of misinformation out there saying a Masters will automatically boost your chances, and that isn't necessarily true. It can be beneficial in that you can get great grades to continue to prove your academic merit as well as research, which is always a good thing on your application. But as a friend told me: if your heart isn't in your work, and you don't want to do the work, don't put yourself through the Masters. In your case, it may be beneficial in that you can take more courses and your last 45 GPA will be stronger and get that research experience.

Either way, as LIS said, you will have to select your schools carefully when the time comes.

 

[Mangojuice]

With your current GPA, you won't meet most, if not all, of the low-end cutoffs.

You need to retake classes and do exceptionally well in them, really rock the GRE, and explore even more experience options.

I had a 3.18 and had over 15,000 hours and it took me 4 times to gain admission.

I wish you the best of luck, but you are going to have to do quite a bit before you are ready to apply.

You had fifteen THOUSAND hours and a 3.18 and it took four tries?

If you don't mind my asking, what were the perceived weaknesses in your applicant profile, with all of that?

 

[DVMDream]

You had fifteen THOUSAND hours and a 3.18 and it took four tries?

If you don't mind my asking, what were the perceived weaknesses in your applicant profile, with all of that?

I think vet schools really do look at GPA first. I had a 3.49GPA and nearly 10,000 hours and it took me 3 tries to get accepted.

I really, really believe getting into vet school is a crap shoot.

I was always told that my GPA is just "average" and that I have a lot of experience with small animals and so I needed to broaden my experiences. So I did get some experience with horses and at a zoo, but it still took time to get accepted. The "average" GPA was really the biggest hurdle.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

You had fifteen THOUSAND hours and a 3.18 and it took four tries?

If you don't mind my asking, what were the perceived weaknesses in your applicant profile, with all of that?

I had a subpar GPA and an average GRE. That was the main issue.

I had to work on my personal statement and they wanted only eLORs from veterinarians.

And yes, thousands of hours... I have been in a vet office since 13 and was accepted at the age of 26.

And DVMDream is right... It's a crapshoot. I was flat out rejected for 3 years,no waitlist, then got accepted on my 4th try.