29 years old, F, California resident, second time applicant
goal in vet med: companion animal genetics research/faculty position
BS in Computer Science from an unranked state school, May 2004
BS in Molecular Biology and Microbiology with honors in the major (thesis + minimum GPA requirements), University of Central Florida, August 2007
MS in Animal Biology, UC Davis, in progress, expect to file thesis by June of this year
Applied: Penn VMD/PhD, Cornell DVM/PhD, CSU DVM/PhD, UC Davis DVM/PhD
Rejected: Penn, Cornell, CSU, UCD VSTP
Interviews: UC Davis (for DVM)
Accepted: UC Davis
Cumulative GPA: 3.18
Last 45 credit hrs: 3.74 (includes last year of undergrad + first year of grad)
Graduate GPA: 3.91
Prerequisites: 2.90
GRE: 640 V, 770 Q, 4.0 AW (best over 3 times)
Bio GRE: 770 (not considered for DVM programs)
Honors and Awards:
Dean's list a handful of times
Honors in the Major at UCF
Scholarship for my HIM thesis proposal at UCF
Veterinary Experience (chronological):
50 hours at a shelter spay/neuter clinic (surgical prep, vaccinations)
3,000 hours as a veterinary assistant (tech duties but no license) at a predominantly small animal private practice group
400 hours as a PetNurse at a Banfield
460 hours (at time of application, at least double that now) as a lab assistant in the UCD VMTH diagnostic Microbiology lab
research counted under veterinary experience
900 hours as an undergraduate - trying to find the gene coding for the polyamine transport protein in
Drosophila melanogaster
1,800 hours (at time of application, at least 3x that now
) of graduate level research. My thesis project is on characteristics and heredity of catnip response. I also work on a number of other projects in my adviser's lab, doing some bench work but mostly working with all the data generated (script monkey extraordinaire).
Animal Experience (chronological):
200 hours volunteering at a shelter in middle school/high school
550 hours as a kennel technician at Petland
850 hours volunteering at a shelter during my first BS (same as spay/neuter clinic but I split the hours between animal and veterinary)
80 hours as Whale Watch intern (observing orcas at Sea World Orlando)
1,050 hours as an animal technician at an SPF research cat colony at UCD
not on application but mentioned in interview
Managing my adviser's cat colony, mostly looking out for health issues and revamping the disinfection protocols. Drawing blood, cystocentesis, restraining for vets here, microchipping, keeping records, sedating cats etc etc. I briefly got to touch on a study where I've gotten to help a visiting ophthalmologist anesthetize kittens and perform electroretinograms every 2 weeks, looking at onset of progressive retinal atrophy.
Other employment:
Worked at nursing home run by my extended family when I was in high school
Cedar Point Ride Operations for 3.5 summers in college (was an Assistant Team Leader twice)
Best Buy (PC/Home Office dept)
Buffalo Wild Wings (bartender)
Peer tutor at student tutorial services at my first undergrad school
General IT/coding bitch at a clearing firm for stock brokerages (I was there for three months and still don't really exactly know what the company itself did
)
Undergraduate TA at UCF for Quant Bio Methods lab
Graduate TA at UCD for Bio 1 twice and upper division Genetics once
Extracurricular/Community Activities:
Ice hockey since the age of 4 (always played at high levels of competition)
Various other sports (yes, I made a category for this
I played
everything at some point)
Snowboarding
Musical theatre in high school
Helped my mom at a lot of functions for the women's club she belonged to when I was a kid, random charity fundraising events and such
Letters of Recommendation:
VMCAS:
-MS thesis adviser (faculty member at the UCD SVM, Ph.D.)
-Vet I worked with most often at the clinic where I got most of my clinical experience (DVM)
-Undergraduate thesis adviser (Ph.D.)
-Chief of service for Microbiology at UCD VMTH (DVM, Ph.D., diplomate ACVIM)
non-VMCAS (DVM/PhD):
-Genetics professor familiar with my research AND coursework (faculty member at the UCD SVM, DVM, Ph.D.)
-Professor from psych. department who taught 2 courses I took on animal behavior & behavioral genetics (Ph.D.)
I've got a story. It's a long one, and jeez this took enough time to type out as it is. My first application to vet school was 2 years ago, for class of 2012. I only applied to and got an interview at UCD but was rejected post-interview. I had been rejected from many a Ph.D. program prior to that, though!
Cliff's Notes: I decided nearly 7 years ago to pursue veterinary medicine. My GPA at the 4 institutions I've been to has gone 2.60 -> 3.11 -> 3.38 -> 3.91. I was diagnosed with ADHD late in my academic career, and untreated until just prior to beginning my Masters degree.
If anyone wants to know how I handled discussing my early academic issues and learning disability in my explanation statement, or wants to read my personal statement that sort of details my journey, let me know in PM and I would be glad to share it with you.
I love this place.
